The Weekly Rundown: 4/2/23 - 4/8/23
We had a little bit of everything in the first full week of the 2023 season.
Good morning and happy Easter!
In the offseason, I was worried there wouldn’t be enough to write about for these Weekly Rundowns. There were some dead weeks, but for the most part, there actually was a solid amount of content to cover each Sunday.
Well, now I’m having the opposite problem. So much happened over the first full week of the season that I have a feeling these rundowns will be JAM PACKED from now until November.
So if you want to make it all worth it, and you’re into the whole sports thing, do me a solid by subscribing below (for free, unless you’re feeling extra kind).
I appreciate all of you.
As I said, lots to get to this week. So grab your coffee (and those delicious Reese’s eggs if you have those) and let’s just get right into it…
Anthony Rendon Suspended
We covered it in last week’s rundown but in case you missed it, after a loss to the A’s, Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon confronted a fan who called him a bitch. He grabbed the fan by his collar and took a swing at him before walking away.
MLB has since suspended Rendon for four games. It initially was a five-game suspension but the league agreed to reduce it to four.
“It sucks. My emotions got the best of me,” Rendon said of the incident. “I’m usually pretty good about interacting with fans. Always like to chirp back at them, kind of have fun with it.”
Rendon added that he spoke with the fan on the phone (something the league almost certainly made him do).
“We both apologized about what had happened. We’re both ready to move forward,” he said."
Rendon returned to the Angels lineup on Saturday.
Mea Culpa
Congrats to Manny Machado on making MLB history!
Machado became the first player ever to be ejected for arguing a pitch clock violation. His violation resulted in a strikeout, and he gave umpire Ron Kulpa a piece of his mind. A closer look at what led to the ejection appears to show Machado calling Kulpa a douchebag, which is hilarious.
Machado had a legitimate gripe. He called timeout prior to the pitch clock hitting the eight-second mark, when the batter is supposed to be fully focused on the pitcher.
So if you look at it that way, yeah, Kulpa was kind of being a douchebag.
Minor Leaguer Chirps Tatis
Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. is playing in the minors until his MLB suspension is lifted on April 20. In his second game for Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday, he hit a bomb off of Giants minor leaguer Kade McClure.
Tatis was booed while rounding the bases. We can expect plenty of that this season after he was popped for performance-enhancing drugs. But what happened after the game is what made headlines.
McClure responded to a highlight of Tatis’ homer by calling him a cheater. You can check out the screenshot of his since-deleted tweet below.
Well, he isn’t wrong. And Tatis should expect more vitriol as the season goes on. But at the same time, McClure just comes off as salty with that jab. You’re a career minor leaguer, bud. No professional baseball player, especially Tatis, needs roids to take you deep.
Alex vs. Alek
Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo is not a fan of Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah.
During an interview with Rob Bradford on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast, Verdugo vented about Manoah’s over-the-top antics on the mound.
“If it's a genuine reaction and it’s for the boys, not directed towards somebody, then yeah (it’s fine),” Verdugo told Bradford. “Like I’ll say it right now, I think Alek Manoah goes about it the wrong way, 100 percent I think he does. You can find videos of him, footage of him in Triple-A going like this to hitters. Last year, telling Franchy (Cordero) and Bobby (Dalbec) like go sit, shit like that and looking right at them.
“So it’s like, shit like that just pisses me off. It’s not the way it should be played. It should be played like you’re celebrating it with your team, you’re not fucking disrespecting another player who is – at the end of the day we’re just trying to compete, that’s it.”
The incidents with Cordero and Dalbec occurred last July. Manoah yelled at Cordero to “sit the fuck down” after a strikeout and did the same to Dalbec, prompting a tense back-and-forth.
Manoah brushed off Verdugo’s comments.
“Coming from him? I don't give a shit." Manoah told Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. "My job is to pitch and get guys out.”
Sure, but you can do that without being a dick.
The IL
Lars Nootbaar, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
Nootbaar was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb contusion. He suffered the injury diving into a base on Opening Day.
Johnny Cueto, RHP, Miami Marlins
The Marlins placed Cueto on the 15-day IL with right biceps tightness. The veteran righty made his season debut Monday but lasted only 30 pitches after allowing four runs and recording only three outs.
Joey Wendle, INF, Miami Marlins
Wendle was placed on the 10-day IL with a right intercostal strain. Jon Berti and Garrett Hampson will likely take over at shortstop.
Omar Narvaez, C, New York Mets
Narvaez suffered a medium-to-high-grade strain on his left calf and will be placed on the injured list. He is expected to miss eight to nine weeks. The Mets called up top catching prospect Francisco Alvarez to replace him.
Josh Donaldson, 3B, New York Yankees
Donaldson was placed on the 10-day IL with a hamstring issue. He’ll be replaced at third base with a mix of DJ LeMahieu, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Oswaldo Cabrera.
Eloy Jimenez, OF, Chicago White Sox
The White Sox placed the oft-injured Jimenez on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain. He sustained the injury running the bases on Monday and is expected to miss 2-3 weeks.
Michael Harris II, OF, Atlanta Braves
Harris was placed on the 10-day IL with a lower back strain. The 2022 NL Rookie of the Year left Thursday’s game in the second inning after an awkward slide. Atlanta recalled Eli White in a corresponding move.
Jake Odorizzi, RHP, Texas Rangers
The Rangers’ offseason addition won’t play in 2023. Odorizzi underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his shoulder and will miss the entire season.
Austin Meadows, OF, Detroit Tigers
Meadows, like Rockies closer Daniel Bard, is stepping away from the game to focus on his mental health. He missed the end of the 2022 season for the same reason. The Tigers placed Meadows on the 10-day IL.
Travis d’Arnaud, C, Atlanta Braves
d’Arnaud was placed on the seven-day concussion IL after a collision at home plate with Padres Rougned Odor.
Dominant On The Bump
Jeffrey Springs, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays
6.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 SO vs. Detroit Tigers.
(Something about a pitcher being pulled in the middle of a no-hitter will never sit right with me.)
Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Miami Marlins
9.0 IP (CG), 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO vs. Minnesota Twins.
Alcantara took care of business with a complete-game shutout in ONE HOUR AND 57 MINUTES.
Pablo Lopez, RHP, Minnesota Twins
12.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 16 SO vs. Kansas City Royals and Miami Marlins.
Lopez has been outstanding through his first two starts with Minnesota, including a gem against his former team.
Jacob deGrom, RHP, New York Mets
6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO vs. Baltimore Orioles.
deGrom made up for his rocky Rangers debut with a gem against Baltimore.
Alek Manoah, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO vs. Kansas City Royals.
Another Cy Young candidate who made up for his rough season debut with a strong second start.
Sonny Gray, RHP, Minnesota Twins
7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 13 SO vs. Houston Astros
Gray set a new career-high with 13 Ks vs. the Astros.
Nick Lodolo, LHP, Cincinnati Reds
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 SO vs. Philadelphia Phillies.
Reds southpaw Nick Lodolo struck out a career-high 12 Phillies hitters.
Big Bombs
Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani go back-to-back against the A’s.
Giancarlo Stanton crushes one 485 feet off Giants starter Ross Stripling.
Cody Bellinger gets his first homer with the Cubs.
Xander Bogaerts’ first homer as a Padre.
Yordan Alvarez belts his 100th career homer.
Another milestone: Kyle Schwarber’s 200th career homer.
Ha-Seong Kim walks it off for San Diego vs. Arizona.
Brewers go back-to-back-to-back against Max Scherzer.
Trayce Thompson hits not one, not two, but three homers against the D’backs.
Garrett Mitchell walks it off for the Brewers against the Mets… then credits the homer to his wife not being at the game.
"When my wife doesn't show up to the games, usually something good happens. ... She's not here, so might as well do something fun."
“You won’t say it to my face tho,” she fired back on Twitter.
Yordan Alvarez belts a game-tying grand slam against the Twins that was clocked at 116 mph off the bat.
Nolan Arenado crushes his 300th career homer.
Web Gems
Luis Robert robs Kyle Tucker of a homer.
Bobby Witt Jt. with a stellar diving grab against the Blue Jays.
Ji Hwan Bae conquers the Green Monster.
Jake McCarthy takes a tumble.
Luis Castillo says “Look what I found.”
Druw Jones, the No. 2 overall pick of last year’s draft and the son of Braves great Andruw Jones, made a ridiculous over-the-shoulder grab in his pro debut. Like father, like son.
Welcome to The Show
Brewers rookie Brice Turang blasted a grand slam in front of his parents for his first career homer.
Masataka Yoshida went opposite field over the Green Monster for his MLB homer.
Some controversy with this one. The folks who ended up with Yoshida’s homer — they were given it by a Pirates fan — refused to give the ball back to Yoshida. The Red Sox tried to negotiate for the ball, but to no avail.
I doubt this is a huge deal for Yoshida. The guy hit his fair share of bombs in Japan and will hit many more in the majors. That said, the family that kept the ball isn’t just selfish, they’re stupid. Congrats, now that ball has zero value since you took it home without getting it authenticated. Great job!
No. 1 Cardinals prospect Jordan Walker collected his first MLB homer against the Braves. This kid is going to be a stud.
Top Orioles prospect ( No. 5 in MLB) Grayson Rodriguez made his MLB debut against the Rangers.
The best part was his embrace with his dad after the game. For whatever reason, tweets can’t be embedded into Substack posts right now, so click this link to check that out. Grab some tissues, you might need ‘em.
New Mets pitcher Kodai Senga made his MLB debut. He allowed only one run on three hits and three walks through 5 1/3 innings pitched. He notched eight strikeouts.
Senga made his Citi Field debut on Saturday, allowing only three hits and one run in six innings while striking out six Marlins hitters.
This Week’s Takeaways
Stolen bases are so back. There have been roughly twice as many steals compared to this point last season. We can thank the new rules and the bigger bases for that. The game has noticeably more action in a shorter amount of time. The quality has been excellent.
I told you in my AL East predictions: if you’re still sleeping on the Rays, you haven’t been paying attention the last few years. Go back to bed. They’re off to an 8-0 start and while that can be attributed partly to their weak opponents (Washington, Detroit, and Oakland), there’s no doubt this team is legit. The pitching staff has been dominant and they should get Tyler Glasnow back sometime next month.
Adam Duvall may have been a steal of a signing for the Red Sox. The former Braves and Marlins slugger is hitting .483 with 14 hits, four homers, and 14 RBI through seven games. If he’s healthy, that $7 million contract is an absolute bargain for Boston.
It’s time for the Pirates to pay Bryan Reynolds. The All-Star outfielder is hitting .424 with 14 hits, five homers, and 14 RBI through eight games. Pittsburgh reportedly offered Reynolds a six-year, $75 million extension in November but he declined and requested a trade. I think he has shown he’s worth more than that figure. By the way, are the Pirates (5-3) better than we thought they were?
What would you like included in the rundown each week throughout the season? Let me know in the comments, or send me an e-mail at justinjleger4@gmail.com.
Have a great week!