The boys from Flushing are on a run that no one saw coming. After last night’s walk-off, the Mets have now won 14 of their last 15 games and seven in a row. They’re getting big contributions up and down the lineup — J.D. Davis has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball and demands an add in all formats. Davis has recorded a multi-hit game in four of his last six. In three of those games, Davis has gone deep.
Even Mets shortstop Amed Rosario added three hits last night. Rosario has been trending up all year and now looks like a viable option. Rosario has increased his walk rate a tick, increased his exit velocity to above league average, he’s already matched last year’s number of barrels, and with the jump in exit velocity, Rosario has seen a significant increase in his hard-hit rate. Davis and Rosario, you’ve gotten our attention.
The Nationals had themselves a day as well. Their one through five batters all recorded multi-hit efforts — the usual suspects (Turner, Eaton, Rendon, Soto, Adams). The bottom of the order only totaled one hit in 14 at-bats. Victor Robles was caught stealing for the seventh time this season for a success rate of 71%. As Robles matures and learns to be more efficient on the basepaths, man will he be a monster with his elite sprint speed. Someone should really tell him to stop bunting. Robles has a respectable 89 mph exit velocity on fly balls and line drives and he flashed a maximum exit velocity of 110mph! His bat-to-ball skills are there.
Tempers flare in Los Angeles
In the 11th inning, Archie Bradley appeared to have hit A.J. Pollock on the wrist. Now, of course, Pollock thought he got hit, and if anyone knows injuries, it’s Pollock. So you can’t blame him. Bradley picked up his third save since being anointed the D-Backs closer, helping keep Arizona within a game and half of the second Wild Card spot. Bradley is a must-add in any format if you’re hunting saves and he’s available in your league.
Carson Kelly provided the fireworks last night, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and three runs batted in. With a slash line of .268/.354/.553 and an OPS of .906, there are worse options at catcher. His roster rate on Yahoo! is a minuscule 17% and even lower on ESPN at 7%. Robbie Ray looked like his vintage self — doing what he does best, bending but not breaking. To be fair, his WHIP for the night was under 1.00, so his three walks don’t hurt that bad since he only allowed two hits, but as you would expect, Ray struck out more than a batter per inning and only allowed two runs to score in this no-decision, quality start effort.
For the Dodgers, Kenley Jansen blew his fifth save of the season, allowing two runs on three hits. But it was Julio Urias who lost the game for the Dodgers. Urias has been lights out in his multi-inning bullpen role for the majority of the season but has now allowed at least a run in his last four outings. He’s not a guy getting you wins, and he’s only totaled six saves and holds combined (3 and 3). If you can afford that or have been able to afford that on your teams, his ratios have been very helpful. Helpful, but empty.
All Tied Up in the AL Central
Jose Ramirez isn’t hitting, their pitching is decimated with injuries, and their outfield stinks. There’s no way the Indians are catching the Twins in the division.
Fast forward to present day… and oops, those comments did not age well. Cleveland won 6-2 last night to officially tie the Twins for first place in the division. Last week I wrote that Mike Clevinger was the ace of this staff. Well, Shane Bieber has something to say about that. So, co-ace Shane Bieber picked up his 12th win last night with an 11 strikeout performance. Nick Goody pitched well in relief but didn’t notch a save or hold for those who have him rostered in such leagues.
Everyone in this Indians lineup recorded a hit except for Jason Kipnis, who’s been hot recently anyway. Oscar Mercado went 2 for 5 with a run — he’s only rostered in about 40%-50% of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues. Even in shallow formats, he offers a nice combo of average and speed. As for teammate Ramirez, he may not earn first-round value, but he’s earning back our trust. When NFBC ADPs come out this winter, it’ll be very interesting to see where he lands in early drafts.
The Twins as a whole sputtered around last night. Eddie Rosario and Jason Castro provided the offense, each with solo home runs. Miguel Sano finished the night with two strikeouts and also walked twice. If you can stomach the atrocious K rate and his low xBA and a low BA in general, then enjoy the benefits of his power numbers. Because under the hood, those numbers are elite. Top 1-2% of the league, elite.
Teheran Shines
Julio Teheran is very quietly putting together a really nice season. He isn’t sexy, he isn’t exciting and he can actually be pretty frustrating, but after seven innings of one-run ball, Teheran has lowered his ERA to 3.35 AND he struck out seven! He now has 124 Ks in 137 innings and seven wins with 11 quality starts. He’s a fine pitcher. Shane Greene picked up his first hold as a Brave in a third of an inning and Mark Melancon of all people pitched a scoreless 9th with a couple of Ks. It was not a save situation, though. The top of the Braves lineup destroyed the Marlins pitchers. Acuna, Albies and Freeman combined to go 8 for 14. Acuna had a two-homer night.
Most of the Braves damage came off teetering ace Caleb Smith. Smith has now throw back-to-back poor starts, and even his third start back he was touched up for four runs. Home runs continue to plague him. If there is a silver lining here, it’s that Smith still almost had a strikeout per inning last night and though four and two-thirds innings, only walked one batter. He’ll look to rebound next week against the Dodgers. This is probably one of those wait and see starts. There would be no fault in keeping him on the bench for this one. Marlins top prospect Lewis Brinson went 0-for-4 with two Ks.
Battle of the Bottom Feeders
Blast from the past last night in Detroit. Edwin Jackson took the bump against the division-rival Royals. He then went on to pick up his first quality start of the year and his second win. Joe Jimenez grabbed his first save in his new role after John Schreiber gave up three hits and a solo home run to let the Royals get within striking distance. Again, here’s another new closer, whom if you really need saves, go get him, but Jimenez has been awful this year. That doesn’t mean he can’t string together a handful of very good outings with a ton of strikeouts, though.
Jorge Soler is going to hit 40 home runs. He’s now up to 32 after his solo shot off of Schreiber in the ninth inning. It’s time to give him the respect he deserves and please draft this man next year. Khris Davis 2.0. He hits the ball with so much authority, I’m surprised aliens haven’t thrown one of his home runs back to Earth yet. Soler is proving to not be a batting average liability, either. Currently, he’s sitting at .254, but his xBA suggests there’s room for some improvement. This dude is a certified stud.
News and Notes
• Mark Melancon to be named the closer in Atlanta. Greene, Martin, and Jackson will fight for high leverage innings outside of the ninth.
• Nick Vincent added to the Phillies ‘pen. His exact duties in the ‘pen are TBD.
• Nelson Cruz to IL with ruptured ECU tendon in his wrist. His timeline is TBD but says he feels no pain.
• Phillies send Jay Bruce to IL. Bruce hasn’t been playing anyway.
• Mets sign Joe Panik. He’s expected to play second base regularly.
• Yandy Diaz suffers a setback in his recovery. No baseball activities for 6 to 8 weeks… aka an easy drop.
