The Weekly Rundown: 5/14/23 - 5/20/23
Yankees-Blue Jays drama, the Polar Bear is on a tear, and much more.
Good morning!
We gained a few subscribers over the past week, so I wanted to start by sending a big thanks to those of you who are getting the Weekly Rundown in your e-mail inbox for the first time. I hope you enjoy the routine of grabbing a coffee and catching up on the baseball world each Sunday morning throughout the season.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so by entering your e-mail below (FREE!)
Thanks! Now let’s jump in.
You Won’t Like Bryce When He’s Angry
There’s a reason Bryce Harper is arguably the most well-known player in the sport. Not only is he uber-talented, but he’s also extremely entertaining. He’s must-watch material.
Some of that entertainment comes from his hot temper. Tensions boiled over during last Sunday afternoon’s Phillies-Rockies game after Colorado pitcher Jake Bird celebrated a bit too hard for Harper’s liking. The two exchanged words, then Harper took it upon himself to confront the entire Rockies dugout (7:05 mark in the video below).
You can see Harper mouthing the words, “You're a loser fucking organization. Every single one of you,” to the Rockies players. Hey, the truth hurts.
Here’s what he had to say about the incident:
"I get emotion. I understand getting fired up after an inning and stuff like that, but once you make it about a team, or make it about yourself, that's when I've got a problem with it," Harper said, the Philadelphia Inquirer. "You guys saw my reaction. I wasn't very happy."
On the bright side for Bird, he avoided another Hunter Strickland situation.
Yankees-Blue Jays Drama
There were multiple noteworthy storylines from the Yankees-Blue Jays series, but the one that earned most of the headlines was Aaron Judge being accused of cheating.
Toronto’s broadcasters noticed Judge’s eyes darting toward the Yankees dugout during an at-bat on Monday. They wondered aloud what Judge could be looking at just before he belted his second homer of the game.
The implication is that Judge was stealing signs, but he vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
“I’m not happy about it,” Judge said regarding the allegations. “But people can say what they want. I’ve still got a game to play. I’ve got things to do.”
Judge claimed he was looking at his teammates in the dugout who had been chirping at the umpire. The Blue Jays contacted MLB about the situation, but the league won’t be investigating.
For what it’s worth, Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson admitted to tipping his pitches.
“From what I was told, I was kind of tipping the pitch,” Jackson told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. “It was (less) my grip when I was coming behind my ear. It was the time it was taking me from my set position, from my glove coming from my head to my hip. On fastballs, I was kind of doing it quicker than on sliders. They were kind of picking up on it.”
Anyway, the drama carried into Tuesday night’s matchup.
In the third inning, Blue Jays skipper John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker took issue with where Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas was standing. They were up in arms about where Yankees coaches were situated throughout the series.
This prompted some jawing back and forth with Schneider being caught on the broadcaster saying, “shut up, fat boy” at one of the Yankees’ coaches.
It turns out the “fat boy” coach was Yankees assistant hitting coach Brad Wilkerson.
“We try to stay in our dugout, some things happened over at third base and we were trying to defend our guys,” said Wilkerson, per The Athletic‘s Kaitlyn McGrath and Chris Kirschner. “I didn’t know anything about it until after the game, once I saw the write-up [in the New York Post], showing all over TV and all that kind of stuff that I guess it was pointed at me.”
But wait, there’s MORE from this bizarre Yankees-Blue Jays series…
Sticky Situation
During Tuesday’s Yankees-Blue Jays game, Yankees starter Domingo German was ejected for using a foreign substance. When he came out to start the fourth inning, umpires inspected his hands and threw him out of the game for the sticky stuff.
Umpire crew chief James Hoye told reporters that Germán's hand was the "stickiest I've ever felt," and the substance was "definitely not rosin." As a result, German was handed a 10-game suspension.
This isn’t the first time German has been at the center of a sticky stuff controversy. Back on April 15, umps allowed German to wash his hands and remain in the game vs. the Twins. Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected for arguing that German should have been thrown out.
German is 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA and 0.896 WHIP through nine starts this year.
Jason Kipnis vs. Francisco Lindor
Apparently, Jason Kipnis wasn’t all that fond of Francisco Lindor during their time together in Cleveland.
Kipnis fired a shot during his appearance on the Foul Territory podcast this week with former MLB catcher AJ Pierzynski.
“All those veterans and no leadership,” Kipnis said of the Mets.
“You played with Lindor. Was he a leader?” Pierzynski asked.
“I’m gonna repeat it again, all those veterans and no leadership,” Kipnis answered.
Lindor was asked about Kipnis’ comments before Friday’s game vs. the Guardians and took the high road.
“I haven’t talked to him, he told reporters. “I don’t really have much to say.”
Lindor’s wife, Katia, did the talking for him on Twitter.
“My husband is such a classy person, would never say what a bully Kipnis was in the clubhouse. Sounds like a true leader versus the opposite of a leader,” she wrote.
Rather than fire back at Kipnis, Lindor did his talking on the field Friday night. He played the hero with a walk-off single to complete the comeback against his former team in the 10th inning.
The IL
Jazz Chisholm Jr., OF, Miami Marlins
Chisholm was placed on the 10-day injured list with turf toe in his right foot. The MLB The Show 23 cover athlete is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.
John Schreiber, RP, Boston Red Sox
Schreiber was placed on the 15-day IL with a right teres major strain.
Dustin May, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
May landed on the 15-day IL with a right forearm strain. The right-hander, who returned from Tommy John surgery less than a year ago, will be out for at least a month.
Nick Gordon, UTIL, Minnesota Twins
Gordon was placed on the 10-day injured list with a fractured right shin after fouling a ball off his leg on Wednesday. He is expected to miss significant time.
Manny Machado, 3B, San Diego Padres
The Padres placed Machado on the 10-day IL with a small fracture in his hand. He suffered the injury on a hit-by-pitch on Monday.
Jose Trevino, C, New York Yankees
Trevino is on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain.
Wade Miley, SP, Milwaukee Brewers
Miley was placed on the 15-day IL with a strained left lat that is expected to sideline him for 6-8 weeks.
Joc Pederson, OF, San Francisco Giants
The Giants placed Pederson on the 10-day IL with a right-hand contusion after he was hit by a pitch.
Anthony Rendon, 3B, Los Angeles Angels
Rendon was placed on the 10-day IL with a strained groin on Monday.
C.J. Cron, 1B, Colorado Rockies
Cron was placed on the 10-day IL on Monday with back spasms.
A.J. Puk, RP, Miami Marlins
Puk hit the 15-day IL due to nerve irritation in his left elbow.
Ryan Feltner, SP, Colorado Rockies
Feltner was placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday after taking a line drive to the head on Saturday night. It’s the second straight week a pitcher has suffered a skull fracture on a comebacker (Royals’ Ryan Yarbrough).
Brad Keller, SP, Kansas City Royals
Keller was placed on the 15-day IL with right shoulder impingement syndrome.
Dominant on the Bump
Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates
7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 13 K, 0 BB vs. Baltimore Orioles.
Tanner Bibee, Cleveland Guardians
7.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 0 BB vs. Los Angeles Angels.
Michael Wacha, San Diego Padres
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 11 K, 1 BB vs. Kansas City Royals.
Jack Flaherty, St. Louis Cardinals
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 2 BB vs. Milwaukee Brewers.
Merril Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks
7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 9 K, 1 BB vs. Oakland A’s.
Charlie Morton, Atlanta Braves
6.2 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 1 BB vs. Texas Rangers.
Kodai Senga, New York Mets
6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 12 K, 3 BB vs. Tampa Bay Rays.
Chris Bassitt, Toronto Blue Jays
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 1 BB vs. New York Yankees.
Rich Hill, Pittsburgh Pirates
6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 2 BB vs. Detroit Tigers.
Michael Kopech, Chicago White Sox
8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 0 BB vs. Kansas City Royals.
Big Bombs
Juan Yepez, Nolan Gorman, and Paul DeJong hit back-to-back homers for the Cardinals against Julio Urias and the Dodgers.
Freddie Freeman belted a grand slam for his 300th career home run.
Pete Alonso’s league-leading 17th homer of the season was a game-tying grand slam.
Kyle Schwarber crushed a 435-foot grand slam Saturday vs. the Cubs.
Web Gem of the Week
Alex Verdugo robbed old friend Xander Bogaerts of a base hit with a spectacular diving grab (5:17 mark of video below).
Welcome to The Show
Cubs prospect Matt Mervis recorded the first homer of his big-league career off Astros hurler Cristian Javier.
Reds top prospect Matt McClain got the call to the majors and hustled out a double for his first big-league hit.
Giants catching prospect Patrick Bailey collected his first career hit on Saturday.
Quick Takeaways
Nolan Arenado is back. The Cardinals’ superstar third baseman struggled mightily through the early part of the campaign but has homered seven times in his last seven games.
Speaking of the Cardinals, they appear to be back on track after a nightmare start to the season. They’ve won seven of their last 10 games and while they still sit in last place in the NL Central (19-27), they’re only six games behind the division-leading Pirates. I’d still bet on St. Louis climbing to the top spot by September.
Aaron Judge is doing Aaron Judge things again. The AL home run champion, like Arenado, hit seven homers in a seven-game span. He now has 13 on the season.
The Yankees are climbing the AL East standings after taking three of four vs. the Blue Jays. They’ve won seven of their last 10 games and sit three games behind the second-place Orioles, who they’ll begin a series with on Tuesday, in the division standings.
Pete Alonso wants that NL MVP award. The Polar Bear — as you saw above — clubbed his league-leading 17th homer in grand style. He also currently leads the NL with 41 RBIs.
If Alonso really wants that MVP award, he’ll have to step up his game with Ronald Acuña Jr. playing the way he has. Acuña, after looking rusty in his return last season, is back to being one of the best all-around talents in the sport. He’s slashing .343/.433/.610 to lead the majors with a 1.043 OPS. Through 44 games, he has 11 homers and 27 RBIs while leading the NL in hits (59), stolen bases (18), and OPS+ (179). He leads the entire league in runs scored (41) and total bases (105).
Rapid Fire
Former Guardians slugger Franmil Reyes signed a minor-league contract with the Nationals.
Kumar Rocker, the 10th overall pick by the Mets in 2021 and third overall pick by the Rangers in 2022, will undergo Tommy John surgery. The Mets didn’t sign the former Vanderbilt star after drafting him due to concerns with his right elbow, and it turns out those concerns were warranted. He made six starts for the High-A Hickory Crawdads this season, posting a 3.86 ERA in 28 innings.
Jose Altuve is back for the Astros after missing the first month of the season with a fractured right thumb suffered during the World Baseball Classic. He went 0-for-4 in his return on Friday vs. Oakland.
Right-hander Anibal Sanchez has called it a career after 16 MLB seasons. The 39-year-old spent most of his time with the Marlins and Tigers, though he also had stints with the Braves and Nationals. He won a World Series with the Nats in 2019.
The Mets called former Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez up to the big-league club. He has not yet made his Mets debut.
The Cubs designated veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer for assignment. Hosmer, 33, was hitting .234 with two homers and 14 RBIs through 31 games.
Aaron Hicks was designated for assignment by the Yankees after eight seasons with the club. The 33-year-old had $25 million remaining on his contract but has been virtually unusable in recent years. He had slashed .188/.263/.261 in 76 plate appearances this season.
The Rumor Mill
The Pirates and Mitch Keller, who’s in the midst of a breakout season, reportedly are discussing a long-term contract extension. The 27-year-old has found his stride after a rocky start to his big-league career, posting a 2.38 ERA with 69 strikeouts through nine starts (56.2 IP) this season.
Thanks for reading! To get these in your inbox on Sunday mornings, subscribe below. You can also gift a subscription to the baseball fans in your life for free by clicking the “gift a subscription” button.