The Weekly Rundown: 6/23/24 - 6/29/24
Two noteworthy suspensions, another Giants legend passes away, and more.
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Now, let’s jump into this week’s rundown…
Edwin Diaz, Orelvis Martinez suspended
Major League Baseball has been busy disciplining players this season. Betting violations have been the hot topic over the last few weeks.
This week though, we’re back to good ol’ foreign substance and performance-enhancing drug suspensions.
Mets All-Star closer Edwin Diaz was issued a 10-game suspension for having a foreign substance on his hand during Sunday’s game vs. the Cubs. He didn’t appeal the suspension, making him ineligible to play until July 6.
Diaz, predictably, denied any wrongdoing.
“I use the same thing always,” he said. “I rub rosin and sweat and put my hand in the dirt a little bit to get a grip on the ball."
As for the PED suspension, Blue Jays rookie Orelvis Martinez received an 80-game ban after testing positive for the illegal substance Clomiphene, a fertility medication primarily used by women but also taken by men who struggle with low testosterone. Martinez claims he took a drug prescribed by a doctor in the Dominican Republic as he had been trying to start a family with his girlfriend.
“We wanted to keep this matter private, even within our family, and trusted the doctor who assured us this treatment did not include performance-enhancing drugs,” Martinez said in his statement. “Therefore, I made the mistake of not disclosing this to my team or the MLBPA.
“With that said, I took full responsibility for my negligence and accepted my suspension … I will learn from this experience and come back to the field in September.”
Martinez’s suspension came just two days after his Major League debut.
Tempers flare in Nats-Padres
We had some drama in San Diego on Tuesday as benched cleared between the Nationals and Padres.
Nats catcher Keibert Ruiz and Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar exchanged words in the first inning before Padres star Manny Machado intervened. No punches were thrown, but tempers flared between the two sides.
Umpires issued warnings to both teams. Moments later, Nats pitcher MacKenzie Gore plunked Profar in the leg with a pitch but was not ejected, causing Padres manager Mike Shildt to go off on the umpiring crew. He was tossed from the game.
Ruiz likely took exception to Profar taunting the Nationals dugout after hitting a walk-off single the previous night. If that’s the case, he probably didn’t appreciate Profar doing the same thing after belting a grand slam in the sixth inning.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Nationals respond when these two teams face off again on July 23 in D.C.
Another Giants Hall of Famer Passes Away
Last week, we lost the “Say Hey Kid” Willie Mays. This week, Giants legend Orlando Cepeda passed away at 86 years old.
Cepeda was a Rookie of the Year, MVP, 11-time All-Star, and 1967 World Series champion. The Hall-of-Fame first baseman/outfielder amassed 379 homers, 2,351 hits, and a .849 OPS over 17 MLB seasons with the Giants, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, and Oakland A’s.
Dominant on the Bump
Pablo Lopez, Minnesota Twins
8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 14 K, 1 BB vs. Oakland A’s
Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals
7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 8 K, 0 BB vs. San Francisco Giants
Luis Severino, New York Mets
6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 0 BB vs. Chicago Cubs
Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 K, 0 BB vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 1 BB vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals
6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 2 BB vs. Miami Marlins
Gavin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers
9.0 IP (CG), 4 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 0 BB vs. Chicago White Sox
Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 2 BB vs. Washington Nationals
Spencer Arrighetti, Houston Astros
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 0 BB vs. Colorado Rockies
Matthew Liberatore, St. Louis Cardinals
6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 1 BB vs. Atlanta Braves
Davis Daniel, Los Angeles Angels
8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 0 BB vs. Detroit Tigers
Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 11 K, 1 BB vs. Chicago White Sox
Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies
9.0 IP (CG), 3 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 0 BB vs. Miami Marlins
Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks
6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 1 BB vs. Oakland A’s
Big Bombs
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a 471-foot homer at Fenway Park.
Rafael Devers belted a 467-foot bomb, the longest homer of his career.
Jurickson Profar stayed hot with a grand slam against the Nationals.
Profar’s Padres teammate Kyle Higashioka followed suit with a grand slam of his own.
Brewers rookie Jackson Chourio smacked a grand slam against the Cubs.
Brett Wisely crushed a walk-off homer to give the Giants the win over the Dodgers.
Heston Kjerstad hit a grand slam for the Orioles vs. the Rangers.
Aaron Judge is the first player to reach 30 homers this season.
Web Gem of the Week
An Orioles fan made the best catch of the week on a foul ball.
Welcome to the Show
Levi Jordan made his MLB debut for the Reds on Monday vs. the Pirates and recorded a double for his first big-league hit.
Guardians prospect Jhonkensy Noel homered in his first big-league at-bat.
Giants pitching prospect Hayden Birdsong made his MLB debut Wednesday vs. the Cubs. The 22-year-old righty allowed three runs on six hits and three walks through 4.2 innings and struck out five.
Marlins righty Valente Bellozo shined in his MLB debut vs. the Royals on Wednesday, tossing five scoreless innings while allowing only two hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
Twins pitching prospect David Festa made his big-league debut Thursday vs. the D’backs, allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk through five innings with two strikeouts.
Former top Blue Jays pitching prospect Yosver Zulueta made his MLB debut for the Reds on Tuesday vs. the Pirates, allowing one run on one hit and two walks through three innings while striking out four.
Notable Injuries
Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval has a high-grade flexor tear and a torn UCL in his left arm and is out for the season.
The Phillies placed right-hander Taijuan Walker on the 15-day IL due to inflammation in his right index finger.
The Marlins placed left-hander Braxton Garrett on the 15-day IL with a left forearm flexor strain.
The Yankees placed slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day IL with a hamstring issue.
The Pirates placed closer David Bednar on the 15-day IL due to a left oblique strain.
The Cubs placed right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. on the 15-day IL due to a right forearm strain.
The Padres placed right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. on the 10-day IL with a right femoral stress reaction.
Braves left-hander Ray Kerr will need to undergo Tommy John surgery.
The Twins placed right-hander Chris Paddack on the 15-day IL with shoulder fatigue.
The Reds placed lefty Nick Lodolo on the 15-day IL due to a blister on his left index finger.
The Mets placed outfielder Starling Marte on the 10-day IL with a right knee bone bruise.
The Mariners placed righty Bryan Woo on the 15-day IL due to a right hamstring.
The Brewers placed catcher/DH Gary Sanchez on the 10-day IL with a left calf strain.
Astros righty J.P. France will miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
The Phillies placed right-hander Spencer Turnbull on the 15-day IL with a right lat strain. Turnbull is expected to miss six to eight weeks.
The Guardians placed outfielder Will Brennan on the 10-day IL with rib cage inflammation.
The Phillies placed both Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain and left groin strain, respectively.
The Giants placed infielders Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores on the 10-day IL with a left wrist sprain and knee tendonitis, respectively.
Rapid Fire
The Yankees acquired corner infielder J.D. Davis and cash from the A’s for infielder Jordan Groshans. Davis was designated for assignment by the A’s last week.
The Brewers acquired veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel from the Mariners for cash.
The Guardians signed veteran lefty Matthew Boyd to a big-league deal.
The Red Sox claimed right-hander Alex Speas off waivers from the Astros.
The Blue Jays DFA’d left-hander Tim Mayza.