TWiB Notes -- June 11 - 17, 2024

[Frayed Knot]

* Braves @ Orioles for a three games set, two good teams chasing two teams threatening to run away with things.
O's shut 'em out 4-0

* Phils are in Boston for three. Lead 4-1 in the 7th
The bigger news is that JT Realmuto is having knee surgery and will miss at least a month

* Paul Skenes and the Pirates and in St Loo but it's StL's Miles Mikolas with the no-hitter in the 6th

[Frayed Knot]

Toronto breaks up part of the nepo-baby contingent on their team by trading Cavan Biggio to the Dodgers for relief help.
The Jays had recently designated the slumping Biggio for assignment so a deal doesn't come as a surprise and, as they languish
in 4th place, speculation centers on whether either Bo Bichette and Vladdy Jr ends the season where they started.

[Frayed Knot]

The Royals have actually been good so far this year, 39 - 27 when the week started.
Then they go out and get blitzed by the Yanx to the tune of 25 - 8 over three games.

[Edgy MD]

The Yankees just don't seem this good on paper, but the record is the record.

And the record is also on paper, so ... .

[Frayed Knot]

Their pitching has been the unanticipated strength.
Last year they rode a CY year from Gerritt Cole to a 4.31 team ERA, good for T-9th among the 30 clubs.
This season, played entirely without Cole so far, it's more than a full run lower at 3.26 and best in MLB
- Carlos Rodon, awful last year, sub-3.00 this year
- Marcus Stroman: sub-3
- rookie Luis Gil was sub-2 until his last start and still has a sub-1 WHIP
- Clarke Schmidt, tho recently IL'd, nearly halved his ERA from last year [4.64 to 2.52]
- Nestor Cortes dropped more than a full run/G off his [4.97 to 3.68]

I said somewhere here that I thought Cole was the most important injury starting the year because of how much
the Yanx relied on him to give them a likely win every fifth day and how there was no logical replacement to pick
up the slack. Instead, Rodon, Stroman, Gil, and Schmidt combined are as stingy this year and Cole was in his CY
campaign last season, so instead of losing him it's more like he's been quadrupled.

...
Now having said all that, I didn't realize that this was a four game series and it turns out that the Royals won the
finale this afternoon. Yanx scored 3 in top 8th to take a 3-2 lead, but then Royals got a 2-out/2-run 2B in the 9th
for the walk-off. So, y'know, there's that.

[Frayed Knot]

Phils at Orioles, Yanx @ Boston, and Rays @ Braves are among the featured series this weekend.


Rangers coming off winning the final two vs LAD (after getting smoked in the opener).
With a two-run lead on Wed former NYM David Robertson came on in the 8th to K Betts, Ohtani, and Freddie consecutively (3, 3, and 9 pitches).
He had so much fun doing that he did it again in the same circumstances on Thursday night (3, 3, and 5 pitches) only this time with two men on.


Jose Abreu was the 2020 AL MVP w/CHW [987 OPS / 165 OPS+]
He followed that up with good years in '21 [831 / 124] and '22 [824 / 134]
Then he signed a 3yr deal with Houston during the '22/'23 winter and plummeted to [680 / 87] while still playing nearly every day.
This year he was 14 for 113 w/4 XBHs ... and today was released. He's owed $19.5M for 2025

[batmagadanleadoff]

Jose Abreu was the 2020 AL MVP w/CHW [987 OPS / 165 OPS+]
He followed that up with good years ....

He was also the AL ROY in 2014, the same year that Jake deGrom won the award with the Mets.

Anyways, right now, the Mets are the hottest team in all of baseball.