Who’s hotter than Yuli Gurriel and Nelson Cruz? Just about nobody
A pal and co-worker of mine is an enormous Houston Astros fan. I ran into him within the workplace Wednesday afternoon and requested him if he had watched Zack Greinke’s debut with the staff. He joked that in fact he watched it since he has missed solely 10 minutes of Astros baseball all season. Sure, it is enjoyable when your staff is nice and thrilling. I advised him to get pleasure from his World Collection title this 12 months.
Issues are so good in Houston that even Yuli Gurriel, maybe essentially the most nondescript common within the Astros’ lineup, is tearing it up. Within the Astros’ 14-Three win over the Rockies on Wednesday, Gurriel went 2-for-Four with eight RBIs, mashing his 23rd house run and matching the membership report for RBIs in a recreation. Over his previous 35 video games, Gurriel is hitting .379 with 18 house runs and 48 RBIs — an RBI whole that matches what Christian Yelich did in his closing 35 video games of 2018 when he went on the great run to win Nationwide League MVP honors.
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Yuli Gurriel hits a three-run homer within the first and a bases-clearing double within the fourth on his approach to plating eight runs within the Astros’ 14-Three win over the Rockies.
Again on June 22, Gurriel was hitting a lackluster .258/.293/.389, subpar numbers for a primary baseman and particularly subpar numbers for a primary baseman in rabbit ball 2019. Gurriel had been a stable sufficient contributor the previous two seasons — 2.Four WAR in 2017, 2.Three WAR in 2018, making him a barely above-average common — however should you had been to pinpoint a possible weak point on the Astros on June 22, you’ll have prompt Gurriel.
Now not. Since that date he leads the majors in batting common and RBIs — however not in house runs. That honor belongs to Nelson Cruz. He went Zero-for-Four on Wednesday within the Minnesota Twins’ 11-7 loss to the Atlanta Braves, however since June 23 he is hitting .331/.422/.812 with 19 house runs and 40 RBIs.
Not solely are Gurriel and Cruz the most popular hitters within the majors, however in addition they are two of the oldest regulars. Gurriel turned 35 in June. Cruz turned 39 in July. Solely 22 gamers 35 or older have batted at the very least 200 instances this season. Solely 9 of them had at the very least 1.Zero WAR getting into Wednesday’s motion and solely 5 — Cruz (Three.5), Brett Gardner (Three.2), Robinson Chirinos (2.6), Edwin Encarnacion (2.5) and Gurriel (2.Three) — have at the very least 2.Zero WAR. Gurriel and Cruz are excelling in a younger man’s recreation.
Each even have been two of the largest beneficiaries of the juiced ball. Gurriel hit 18 house runs in 529 at-bats in 2017, 13 in 537 at-bats in 2018. This 12 months he has 23 in 423 at-bats. His common exit velocity is precisely the identical as final season and although he is hitting a number of extra balls within the air in comparison with 2018, his fly ball price is definitely barely lower than it was in 2017. The ball is simply going out of the park extra usually.
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Cruz continues to defy the getting older course of. And, sure, now we have to say the PED suspension again in 2013 when he was with the Texas Rangers. When he signed a four-year take care of the Seattle Mariners in 2015, the contract was extensively criticized. All he did was lead the majors in house runs and rank fourth in RBIs over these 4 seasons. He hit 37 house runs for Seattle in 2018, however there have been a number of indicators the bat was beginning to decelerate a bit: He hit .256, his lowest common since he turned a daily, and his extra-base hit price was additionally the bottom.
He may nonetheless mash, nonetheless, and the Twins scooped him up for $14 million plus a $12 million staff choice for 2020. Cruz stated he signed with Minnesota as a result of he appreciated the younger expertise on the staff and thought they’d an opportunity to win. However you additionally surprise how a lot of a market there was for a 39-year-old designated hitter, even one coming off a 37-homer season.
Cruz is hitting .296/.386/.654 with 32 house runs — and keep in mind, he missed nearly a month of motion and has performed simply 86 video games. That is technically his age-38 season (seasonal age is predicated on age on June 30, Cruz turned 39 on July 1), however his 170 OPS+ ranks sixth all time for gamers that age:
Ted Williams, 1957: 233
Barry Bonds, 2003: 231
Babe Ruth, 1933: 176
Bob Johnson, 1944: 174
Ty Cobb, 1925: 171
Nelson Cruz, 2019: 170
Cruz ought to simply attain 40 house runs. The one two 38-year-olds with that many are Bonds in 2003 (45) and Darrell Evans in 1985 (40).
The Twins needed Cruz for his energy and his veteran management. He is offered that and rather more.
The Mets are one recreation out (of the wild card): The Mets beat the Marlins 7-2 to finish a four-game sweep. That is 13 wins of their previous 14 video games as they’ve climbed from eight video games again within the wild-card race to 1 recreation again in two weeks. Superb.
You understand who’s having a quiet but efficient season? Michael Conforto. He hit two house runs and is as much as 25 (I do know, lots of gamers have 25 house runs) and is hitting .261/.370/.512. Good season with out a lot consideration.
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Michael Conforto ups his house run whole to 25 after smacking two solo house runs in opposition to the Marlins.
Now comes the onerous half. The Mets cleaned up on the portion of the schedule they needed to — vs. the Padres, Pirates, White Sox, Pirates once more and Marlins. Of their subsequent 11 sequence, nonetheless, 9 are in opposition to groups above .500. The opposite two are in opposition to the Royals and Diamondbacks.
The Mets have 4 shutouts throughout this stretch with a 2.55 ERA. The bullpen — the much-maligned bullpen — has a 2.89 ERA over the 14 video games, though as a result of the starters have been so efficient, the relievers have needed to common solely 2.6 innings per recreation. Which means Mickey Callaway hasn’t had to make use of the underside of the pen.
It is also value noting that Edwin Diaz stays a query mark. He has had simply two saves within the 13 wins, the identical whole as Seth Lugo, and he allowed a run in each saves. He additionally has allowed house runs in three of his previous 5 appearances. Let’s have a look at what occurs when he is holding a one-run lead and has to get by Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman.
P.S.: The good Joe Posnanski has been taking place a rabbit gap he could not escape from, writing every day in regards to the ongoing streak of consecutive days wherein at the very least one participant hits at the very least two house runs. On most days, it is multiple participant. With Conforto’s two house runs, the streak is as much as 24 days with a multi-homer recreation.
Jose Ramirez could also be heating up: The Indians swept the Rangers 2-Zero and 5-1 in a doubleheader with Zach Plesac tossing six scoreless innings within the first recreation and Terry Francona utilizing 5 relievers in a bullpen recreation within the second win. The massive information, nonetheless, was Ramirez homering in each video games. Ramirez had a sub-.600 OPS as late as June 16, a droop that went again to final August. Since then he has seemed just like the hitter who completed third within the MVP vote in 2017 and 2018: .311/.348/.646.
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Ramirez is a type of excessive launch-angle guys, however he had the double whammy early on: too many pop flies and too many grounders. His breakdowns earlier than and after June 17:
Earlier than: 76 grounders, 59 fly balls, 53 line drives, 29 pop-ups
After: 44 grounders, 50 fly balls, 40 line drives, 12 pop-ups
He is additionally merely swinging and lacking much less — 16.6 % earlier than and 9.Four % since. His general swing price has remained at 43 %, so it would not seem like a change in aggressiveness or something like that. Simply mounted no matter was happening together with his mechanics.
Hit ’em the place they ain’t: The Dodgers beat the Cardinals 2-1 with this walk-off hit from Russell Martin:
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Russell Martin will get simply sufficient on it to get one by the hole, drive in two runs and stroll it off for the Dodgers.
That is 10 walk-off wins for the Dodgers, two greater than another staff, and the way’s this for a outstanding stat: The Dodgers are 5-Four when trailing by one run getting into the underside of the ninth. The remainder of MLB is 17-113.
Yankees play Orioles, hit extra house runs: The Yankees bashed 5 extra house runs in a 14-1 win over the Orioles — Gio Urshela and Kyle Higashioka every hit two and Cameron Maybin added the opposite one — they usually now have 53 in opposition to the Orioles, setting a season report for one staff versus one other:
2019 Yankees vs. Orioles: 53 in 15 video games (13-2 report)
1956 Yankees vs. Athletics: 48 in 22 video games (18-Four report)
2017 Yankees vs. Orioles: 46 in 19 video games (12-7 report)
1956 Reds vs. Dodgers: 44 in 22 video games (11-11 report)
The Yankees have hit 43 house runs in 10 video games at Camden Yards (together with 5 video games with at the very least 5 house runs, which is simply bonkers, I do not know the way juiced the ball is).
After all, it has been a nightmare for many of the season for the Orioles regardless of who they face. That is now 12 video games in a row the Orioles have allowed a number of house runs (sure, that is a report): 2, Three, Three, 5, 2, 5, 2, 2, 2, 5, 6, 5.
The Orioles’ pitching line over these 12 video games: 106⅓ IP, 128 H, 42 HR, 6.86 ERA. Remarkably, the Orioles are 5-7 in these video games.
Oh, and Chris Davis went after supervisor Brandon Hyde within the dugout. Could be time at hand Davis his strolling papers. You must pay him anyway. What is the level in conserving him round?