The Weekly Rundown: 5/19/24 - 5/25/24
The AL Central is... good? The Phillies are a wagon, and more.
Good morning and happy Memorial Day weekend!
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Now, before you get ready for your Memorial Day cookout, let’s catch you up on everything you need to know from the world of baseball over the last week.
Dominant on the Bump
Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres
7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 1 BB vs. Atlanta Braves
Alek Manoah, Toronto Blue Jays
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 1 BB vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Nick Pivetta, Boston Red Sox
6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 8 K, 0 BB vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Tanner Houck, Boston Red Sox
7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 K, 1 BB vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 0 BB vs. San Diego Padres
Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners
6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 0 BB vs. New York Yankees
Max Fried, Atlanta Braves
9.0 IP (CG), 3 H, 1 ER, 9 K, 0 BB vs. Chicago Cubs
Jesus Luzardo, Miami Marlins
8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 K, 0 BB vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals
6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 12 K, 3 BB vs. Detroit Tigers
Austin Gomber, Colorado Rockies
8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 K, 0 BB vs. Oakland A’s
Luis Gil, New York Yankees
6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 2 BB vs. Seattle Mariners
Braxton Garrett, Miami Marlins
9.0 IP (CG), 4 H, 0 ER, 6 K, 0 BB vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Big Bombs
Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. belted one 468 feet.
Rafael Devers homered for the sixth consecutive game, the longest home run streak ever for a Red Sox player.
Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, and David Fry went back-to-back-to-back for the Guardians.
Giants catcher Patrick Bailey hit a go-ahead grand slam vs. the Mets.
Aaron Judge has homered in four consecutive games and leads MLB with 17.
Web Gem of the Week
Red Sox rookie Ceddanne Rafaela made a sweet diving grab vs. the Brewers.
Welcome to the Show
Guardians outfield prospect Johnathan Rodriguez made his MLB debut Tuesday and recorded his first hit — an RBI single — on Wednesday.
Cubs pitching prospect Porter Hodge struck out the side in his one-inning MLB debut against the Braves on Wednesday.
Quick Takeaways
The AL Central is… good? The top three teams in the division have winning records, which isn’t what we’ve come to expect from this division. In fact, the Guardians and Royals are two of the league’s hottest teams with nine wins over their last 10 games. Oddly enough, the AL Central and AL West have seemingly switched places. The Mariners currently lead the West with a 27-26 record and are the only team over .500 in the division.
The Phillies are a wagon. They boast the best record in MLB at 38-15 and have three Cy Young candidates atop their rotation in Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Ranger Suarez. They also lead the league with a +96 run differential. Philly looks poised to end the Braves’ six-year reign atop the NL East and win the division for the first time since 2011.
The teams that passed on Shota Imanaga during the offseason look foolish. The Cubs rookie southpaw leads all starters with a 0.84 ERA and tops the NL with a 2.19 FIP. He’s the NL Rookie of the Year frontrunner and a serious Cy Young candidate early in the campaign.
Here come the Astros. Houston got off to a horrendous start to the 2024 season amid several injuries to key players, but they’ve turned it around as of late. They’re now only 3.5 games behind Seattle in the AL West. It seems like a foregone conclusion that they’ll eventually reclaim first place in the division and run away with it yet again, especially with the Rangers (24-29) experiencing a World Series hangover.
Notable Injuries
Mariners utility man Sam Haggerty suffered a torn Achilles while playing for Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate and is out for the season.
The Rays placed starter Zach Eflin on the 15-day injured list with lower back inflammation.
The Guardians placed right-hander Carlos Carrasco on the 15-day IL due to an acute neck spasm.
The Brewers placed right-hander Joe Ross on the 15-day IL with a low back strain.
The Padres placed infielder Xander Bogaerts on the 10-day IL with a left shoulder fracture.
The Rangers placed right-hander Jon Gray on the 15-day IL due to a groin strain.
The Orioles placed left-hander John Means on the 15-day IL due to a left forearm strain.
White Sox outfielder Eloy Jiménez was placed on the 10-day IL due to a left hamstring strain and is expected to miss “an extended period of time.”
The Orioles placed righty Dean Kremer on the 15-day IL due to a right triceps strain.
The A’s placed right-hander Ross Stripling on the 15-day IL due to a strained right elbow.
The Rays placed outfielder Josh Lowe on the 10-day IL due to a right oblique strain.
Rapid Fire
The Braves signed veteran infielder Joey Wendle, who was released by the Mets earlier in the week.
The Guardians designated outfielder Ramon Laureano for assignment.
The Giants signed Drew Pomeranz to a one-year deal after the lefty was released by the Dodgers.
The Mets acquired infielder Pablo Reyes from the Red Sox for cash considerations.
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