D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Photos
Hey, and welcome to a different version of 5 Issues I Favored (Or Didn’t Like) This Week. I’ll preserve the introduction quick in the present day, as a result of I’m on the brink of journey to St. Louis for a sport with my dad and uncle. There’s a Masyn Winn bobblehead ticketed for my memorabilia shelf – and a pile of pleasurable performs to recap earlier than I can go get it. So, after all, thanks to Zach Lowe of The Ringer, whose NBA columns of likes and dislikes impressed this one, and let’s get began.
1. The Weekend of Wilmer
I’ve a smooth spot for Wilmer Flores by a sheer fluke of geography. I lived in New York throughout his Mets tenure, and I moved to San Francisco across the similar time he did. His walk-up music has been the identical for the final decade: the Pals theme track. It’s a fan favourite and even comes with an excellent story. He’s the quintessential position participant, a man that the majority groups would like to have however no staff must have. He’s been pitching in throughout the diamond, albeit in decreasingly tough defensive roles, that entire time. Excluding a down 2024, he’s been constantly beneficial, however he’s by no means been a star – the closest factor I do know to a Wilmer Flores spotlight is his charming disappointment when he thought he was getting traded.
For only one weekend, although, that every one modified. Flores has been improbably dueling with Aaron Choose for the most important league RBI lead all through the primary eight weeks of the season. RBI may not be an ideal predictive stat, and it may not be an ideal stat total, nevertheless it undoubtedly issues to gamers. Fancier variations of measuring contextual offense – WPA, RE24, and so forth – all assume that Flores has been a high 10 run producer this yr, too. He’d fallen behind Choose by only a hair in these races – and doubtless has no likelihood at maintaining all season. I imply, have you ever seen Aaron Choose? However none of that mattered when the Giants performed the A’s final weekend.
Within the first sport of the set, Flores labored an epic 10-pitch at-bat, then broke a tie with a grand slam:
Earlier than that blast, Flores had fallen off the RBI tempo and was additionally mired in a little bit of a hunch. Certain, he had the gaudy counting numbers, however he was operating solely a 102 wRC+ and an ice-cold 83 wRC+ over the previous month. The slam received him inside 4 RBI of Choose, after which he went yard once more…
And once more…
… to rack up eight ribbies and create a tie atop the most important league leaderboard – a tie between actually Aaron Choose and little previous Wilmer Flores.
The weekend wasn’t executed, although. Choose had a uncommon two-game stretch with out driving in a run, which meant Flores may take the lead with only a single solitary RBI. By 9 innings, that regarded fairly unlikely. The sport headed to extras in a 0-0 tie, and the A’s needed no a part of Flores, strolling him twice and customarily staying away from him all sport. Within the backside of the tenth, although, supervisor Mark Kotsay needed to play platoons. With two on and two out in opposition to flame-throwing nearer Mason Miller, Kotsay determined to deliberately stroll Mike Yastrzemski to pitch to Flores with the bases juiced. I hate – hate, hate, hate! – this choice. Miller is wild! The largest weak spot in his sport is that he may stroll somebody, not that somebody may put the ball in play. And simply as you’d count on:
What a approach to take the most important league lead in a time-honored statistical class. The celebration was raucous – not less than after everybody received executed being shocked by the optics of that intentional stroll. And for just some days, Flores received his long-awaited place within the highlight.
Only one potential snag: I can’t make sure the sport wasn’t a simulation. Right here’s the place Flores’s grand slam landed:
Right here’s the place his three-run shot ended up:
Actually? The identical group of men, in the very same spot, twice in a row? And one in all them had sufficient presence of thoughts to troll the opposite for dropping the primary residence run ball? If we’re actually residing in a simulation, I’d hope they might repair the randomness a bit of bit. How plausible is it that Wilmer Flores hit three homers, with the primary two of them going to the very same spot (the third was fairly shut too)? I go away that as an train for the reader.
2. Texas-Sized Duels
Final Thursday evening, the Astros and Rangers confronted off to kick off Rivalry Weekend (extra on that later). Houston despatched maybe the most effective pitcher in baseball this yr to the mound: Hunter Brown, whose title is strewn throughout each pitching leaderboard you’ll be able to think about. The Rangers countered with arguably essentially the most dominant pitcher of the final decade: Jacob deGrom. He may not be at his world-devouring peak anymore, however he’s nonetheless outrageously good even throwing 97 mph as a substitute of 100.
Brown and deGrom each got here out firing. By 5 innings, they mixed for 10 strikeouts and no runs allowed, with solely two hitters a lot as reaching second base. These numbers may undersell it, too. The image is best instructed by how the batters taken care of arising empty:
A sixth-inning residence run by 5 Issues favourite Jake Burger opened the scoring, however neither staff may do a lot to comply with by on the offensive momentum. Brown answered Burger’s blast by placing out three of the following 5 Rangers he confronted. With a ballooning pitch rely, deGrom began attacking the zone, and he backed Burger’s homer by retiring six of the following seven batters, with solely two even reaching a two-ball rely.
When you’re doing the mathematics at residence, that’s a number of outs recorded after a sixth-inning homer. Neither deGrom nor Brown needed to exit the sport, they usually each went eight innings, with deGrom lastly giving approach to reliever Shawn Armstrong to pitch the ninth. The mixture pitching efficiency was staggering: 16 strikeouts, one stroll, one run. Neither starter even eclipsed 100 pitches; every was environment friendly along with being overwhelming.
I’m not all the time a fan of pitchers duels, however I’m after they seem like this. The 2 of them mixed for 26 swings and misses, and I feel that undersells the dominance. Each pitchers spent a lot of the sport in cruise management. On the uncommon event {that a} runner reached scoring place, the whiffs got here quick and livid. Whether or not it was a deGrom slider or a Brown four-seamer, batters discovered themselves staring down the enterprise finish of the most effective pitches in baseball and got here up quick.
Ultimately, Burger’s solo shot held up. The Astros merely couldn’t break by in opposition to deGrom, and whereas they managed to place a runner on base in opposition to Armstrong, they in any other case went down quietly.
This was already the fifth sport in 2025 the place Brown went six or extra innings whereas permitting not more than a run. It was his fifth straight nine-strikeout sport, and solely the second homer he’d surrendered all yr. He received shelled in his solely begin since then, to be truthful, however in any other case, he’s on one other stage proper now, racking up outcomes like peak deGrom. For his half, deGrom continues to be rounding into type; this was solely his third begin of six or extra innings all yr, however he’s gaining momentum each week. In his 5 begins main as much as this gem, he’d compiled a 1.53 ERA (2.13 FIP) and 33 strikeouts to 4 walks. His subsequent begin? Seven innings of two-run ball at Yankee Stadium. (Extra on that later, too.) The AL West goes to be enjoyable this yr, and a Texas stand-off between two aces was an effective way to start out the season collection between two divisional and intrastate rivals.
3. Rivalry Weekend
I don’t all the time love MLB’s contrived occasions. Gamers Weekend was enjoyable however inconsistently executed. Metropolis Join jerseys have been blended at finest. I by no means even know why gamers are sporting camouflage hats as of late; it occurs so continuously that I can’t sustain with which holidays they’re purportedly monitoring. Particular jerseys, patches, video games in unusual cities – the league’s promotional staffers are high-volume shooters, throwing all the things on the wall to see what sticks.
Rivalry Weekend was an excellent instance of the highs and lows of that method. The Rangers-Astros collection crackled. Yankees-Mets was superior – it could have been nice anyway, however the drama of Juan Soto’s return to Yankee Stadium put the followers into overdrive, giving a three-game interleague set in Might playoff vitality. The upstart Nationals trounced the stumbling Orioles, exhibiting off their very own younger core to woo DC Metro Space sports activities followers who have been falling again into previous baseball rooting habits with the Nats rebuilding. The Angels swept the Dodgers in an unbelievable flip of occasions. The battle of Ohio was a tense, hard-fought blast. I even loved White Sox-Cubs; it wasn’t all the time aggressive, however there’s one thing about an intra-city sport that offers stadiums vitality.
Throwing a ton of pure rivalries collectively multi function weekend is a enjoyable concept. Throwing all 30 groups into “rivalries” feels meaningfully much less natural and pleasant. I’m right here for geographically handy matchups like Rays-Marlins and Tigers-Blue Jays, even when there’s no nice animus between the fanbases; the identical goes for Pirates-Phillies and Cardinals-Royals. However we’re already on the fringes of rivalrydom there, and to suit all 30 groups into the promotion, compromises needed to be made.
The Mariners and Padres have been solid as rivals for greater than a decade now, and it doesn’t make rather more sense in the present day than it did the primary time the league got here up with that exact pairing. I get it; the West Coast is large and the cities are scattered. However Braves-Crimson Sox? You’re telling me that two of essentially the most storied franchises in baseball, with their very own wealthy histories of hated opposition, are honorary rivals for 3 days? Certain, the Braves as soon as known as Boston residence, however they left Beantown for Milwaukee greater than seven a long time in the past. Talking of Milwaukee, I’ve a number of Brewers followers in my prolonged household, and never a single one in all them considers the Twins a rival.
Why not promote a collection of rivalry weekends, with roughly half of every weekend’s collection the “Rivalry Video games,” as a substitute of a single one in mid-Might? That method, the Crimson Sox may play the Yankees as a substitute of an NL staff they’ve by no means even confronted within the playoffs. The Padres and Dodgers are an actual, honest-to-God rivalry, whether or not it’s a sanctioned weekend or not. Increase the occasion a bit of bit to incorporate one in all their matchups as a substitute of pairing San Diego with one other membership that additionally occurred to attract the quick straw when it got here to close by companions. Oh, and I haven’t even talked about Braves-Mets, Playing cards-Cubs, Giants-Dodgers, Phillies vs. another NL East staff.
So right here’s my proposal: Rivalry Month, 4 straight weekends the place not less than seven collection characteristic historic or geographical rivals. Each staff will get not less than one Rivalry Sequence, however many may have a number of. That method, we received’t need to name an occasion Rivalry Weekend whereas leaving out Yankees-Crimson Sox. I really like splashes of high-stakes baseball within the common season. I really like them a lot that I’m proposing extra pomp and circumstance round it, even in a league obsessive about pomp and circumstance. Final weekend simply felt like going midway and calling it executed.
4. Tommy Kahnle, Nearer
All people has their guys, the gamers they irrationally love regardless of no apparent connection. I wrote about this actual sentiment yesterday in my newest love letter about Isaac Paredes. Clearly, the lift-and-pull king is my favourite participant, however Tommy Kahnle must be close to the highest of the listing. I vividly bear in mind studying this Jeff Sullivan article about Kahnle whereas I daydreamed about sooner or later changing into a baseball author myself. I saved pondering, “This man got here out of nowhere! And he’s actually good! It’s so cool to search out these.”
Within the years since, there have been much more of these guys, however Kahnle stands out to me for his sheer weirdness. He retains throwing his changeup extra, a lot in order that I preserve writing about it. He hardly throws the rest at this level. He’s as much as 83% changeups this yr, the best mark of his (or anybody else’s) profession. He doesn’t overpower batters; he befuddles them.
For a lot of the previous half decade, Kahnle has been caught in damage limbo; he’s pitched solely 116 innings because the begin of the 2020 season. However he’s hardly fading away – he has a 2.24 ERA over that point interval, with a 28% strikeout price and glorious peripherals. Hitters know what’s coming – that playoff stretch was an ideal instance – they simply can’t do something about it.
Now, for the primary time in his profession, Kahnle is getting common save alternatives. He’s as much as six saves on the yr, practically matching his profession whole, and he’s doing it for the staff with the most effective file in baseball. He isn’t Detroit’s on a regular basis nearer – that’d be Will Vest – however the Tigers have put in him as their high setup man, and Kahnle will get the chance if the ninth inning includes a ton of lefties. In any case, he is perhaps right-handed, however the one pitch he throws (roughly) is at its finest in opposition to opposite-handed hitters.
Watching him work is tremendously enjoyable for me. Regardless of the reverse of fire-breathing is, that’s how you would describe Kahnle’s method. Right here, he bullies Victor Scott II with mid-80s velocity within the strike zone:
Subsequent, he slows Lars Nootbaar down, then speeds him up with the primary fastball of the evening to attract a fly out:
One run sport, hot-hitting righty on the plate? Kahnle has simply the factor – a changeup proper down the pipe:
It really works! I don’t understand how, nevertheless it works. Our pitching fashions scoff – Stuff+ offers him an 83 Pitching+, the place 100 is common, and his PitchingBot ERA estimate is 5.29. It’s secure to say that the fashions can’t determine him out. Hitters can’t appear to both, up to now, anyway. And “up to now” stretches again to 2019, the primary season by which he threw not less than 50% changeups. Each time I watch a Tigers sport, I’m rooting for Kahnle to come back in and face the opposite staff’s finest hitters in a giant spot. He’s virtually all the time been ok to fit into that position, even when in an unconventional method. Now, he’s lastly getting some probabilities to do it. I couldn’t be any extra happy.
5. A Double Burger
I promise this column received’t all the time be about Jake Burger, however he’s been getting concerned in simply my kind of oddity a lot this season that he’s turn into one thing like a column mascot, a man who retains exhibiting up in bizarre performs and conditions and attempting to determine what the heck is occurring. I don’t normally consider residence runs as highlights, both, however they’re what Burger is finest at, and on condition that I’ve been that includes him for all types of performs that nobody is sweet at – busted rundowns and unimaginable relays and the like – it’s solely truthful to characteristic him going deep, too.
After a troublesome begin to the yr – .190/.231/.330 and solely three homers in 108 plate appearances – the Rangers despatched him right down to the minor leagues for a reset. They have been clear that they needed this to be a quick journey relatively than an indefinite demotion; Burger is a key a part of their plans, to the purpose that through the offseason they traded away a stable veteran first baseman to liberate taking part in time for him. He regarded like a stable large leaguer going through minor league competitors in that 10-day span, slashing .391/.462/.696. Then he returned to the most important leagues, plugged proper again into the lineup like nothing occurred, and began mashing.
In his 9 video games since coming again up, Burger has a 202 wRC+. He’s lower his strikeout price roughly in half, doubled his stroll price, and matched these three homers in a 3rd of the time. The primary blast got here within the aforementioned pitchers duel in opposition to Hunter Brown. The subsequent two got here at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday evening to place the Rangers in entrance and assist one other glorious Jacob deGrom outing, although the Bronx Bombers rallied to stroll it off within the backside of the ninth.
That latest pair of homers demonstrates the rationale to place Burger within the lineup. Delicate-tossing lefty on the mound? Burger will make it rain:
Go away in your LOOGY after he received a lefty within the earlier inning? Once more, Burger can take the ball the opposite method, notably at Yankee Stadium:
The Rangers needed righty energy at first base. They’ve received it, after a quick delay. And it doesn’t damage that Burger is a good interview, both. “I type of thought: New Pope, new me,” Burger instructed the Dallas Morning Information. “He’s a Midwestern man like me. I used to be proud.” He’s doing Pope-themed celebrations after hits – a Papal wave for a double, the signal of the cross after a homer, and so forth. The bummer begin to the season is previously. The vibes are immaculate. Do your self a favor and activate the Rangers subsequent time deGrom begins – you’ll get to see the most effective pitchers ever to do it and likewise one of the pleasurable hitters to look at.
