The Weekly Rundown: 7/9/23 - 7/15/23
The MLB Draft. All-Star festivities, and more.
Happy Sunday!
The second half of the 2023 MLB season is in full swing and we’ve got a lot to get to. But first:
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Alright, let’s jump in…
2023 MLB Draft
It’s a great time to be an LSU Tiger. After taking home the national title, LSU had their stars Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews go first and second overall in the 2023 draft.
Skenes, a 21-year-old right-hander, was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Crews, a 21-year-old outfielder, was picked by the Washington Nationals.
Here’s a look at the top 10 picks in the draft:
For the full list of draft picks, go here.
All-Star Festivities
For the first time since 2012, the National League defeated the American League in the MLB All-Star Game.
Colorado Rockies catcher Elias Diaz earned All-Star MVP honors after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer for the NL. He’s the first Rockies player ever to win the award.
The NL beat the AL by a score of 3-2 in what otherwise was a pretty boring exhibition.
As for the Home Run Derby, Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed in the footsteps of his father as the new champion. He defeated Rays star Randy Arozarena in the final round.
You can relive the best moments from the derby below:
Liam Hendriks
White Sox closer Liam Hendriks earned the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ESPYs after overcoming stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I highly recommend that everyone takes a few minutes out of their time to listen to Hendriks’ powerful speech.
“If I leave you with anything, and I cannot stress this enough, please, reach out to anybody going through anything similar to this... You will not be an annoyance to us. … “You give us that little bit of a text, that could be the singular moment of us picking up our spirits and being able to advance to that next stage ... That one text can be the difference.
“Like Jimmy V said, ‘Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.’ And I won’t.”
The IL
Jose Alvarado, LHP, Philadelphia Phillies
Alvarado is on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation.
Kyle Freeland, LHP, Colorado Rockies
Freeland landed on the 15-day IL with a subluxation in his right shoulder.
A.J. Minter, LHP, Atlanta Braves
Minter was placed on the 15-day IL due to left shoulder inflammation.
Shane Bieber, RHP, Cleveland Guardians
Bieber was placed on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation.
Dominant On The Bump
Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
9.0 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 0 BB vs. Colorado Rockies
Corbin Burnes, Milwaukee Brewers
6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 13 K, 2 BB vs. Cincinnati Reds
Julio Urias, Los Angeles Dodgers
6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 1 BB vs. New York Mets
Charlie Morton, Atlanta Braves
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 K, 1 BB vs. Chicago White Sox
Johan Oviedo, Pittsburgh Pirates
7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 10 K, 3 BB vs. San Francisco Giants
Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 6 K, 2 BB vs. Cincinnati Reds
Big Bombs
Brothers Bo and Josh Naylor homered in the same inning for the Guardians.
Cody Bellinger and Rafael Devers both went deep twice in Friday’s Cubs-Red Sox showdown at Wrigley.
Bellinger also crushed a grand slam on Saturday.
Manny Machado notched homer No. 300 of his career.
Ronald Acuña Jr. continued his MVP campaign with two homers vs. the White Sox
Giancarlo Stanton notched 1,000 RBIs for his career with a three-run bomb vs. the Rockies.
Web Gem Of The Week
Adolis Garcia and Randy Arozarena started the All-Star Game off with a bang with two outstanding leaping grabs at the wall on consecutive at-bats.
Welcome To The Show
The A’s promoted prospects Tyler Soderstrom and Zack Gelof to the majors. Both made their debuts on Friday vs. the Twins.
Gelof collected his first hit on Friday and went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Soderstrom went 0-for-3 with a walk on Friday but made up for it with a 2-for-4 Saturday.
The Pirates called up top pitching prospect Quinn Priester. He’s expected to make his big-league debut on Monday.
Quick Takeaways
There is no valid reason for the Angels not to trade Shohei Ohtani ahead of the deadline unless teams are unwilling to part with top prospects for a rental, which I highly doubt is the case. There has to be a contender out there willing to gamble the future for a few months of the greatest baseball player of all time. The Angels aren’t going anywhere, so letting him walk for nothing in free agency would be malpractice.
Look out for those O’s. They’re only two games behind the AL East-leading Rays, who have lost seven of their last 10. Baltimore, on the other hand, has won seven straight to tie their season-high of consecutive victories. Many consider the AL East to be one of the toughest divisions in baseball, but all I see is two powerhouses in the Orioles and Rays, then mediocrity between the Blue Jays, Yankees, and Red Sox.
Are the Reds and Diamondbacks — two of the most exciting teams so far this season — starting to lose some of their luster? Both clubs have been subpar as of late and have lost ground in their respective divisions. The Reds now trail the Brewers by a game in the NL Central and the Diamondbacks are two games behind the Dodgers, only a half-game ahead of the Giants. If they don’t make some legitimate additions at the deadline, I worry that they’ll continue to slip.
Rapid Fire
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, who has been on the 15-day IL and hasn’t pitched since June 27 due to left shoulder soreness, says he could be out until early August.
Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela will undergo Tommy John surgery.
Marlins reliever Matt Barnes will undergo left hip surgery at the end of the month and likely will miss the rest of the season.
The Dodgers signed outfielder Jake Marisnick to a major-league deal after the Tigers designated him for assignment.
The Rockies signed righty Chris Flexen after he was DFA’d by the Mariners, traded to the Mets, then DFA’d by them as well.
The Yankees hired Sean Casey as their hitting coach after firing Dillon Lawson.
The Phillies plan to test Bryce Harper out at first base. The slugger has been DHing since returning from Tommy John.
The Royals released lefty reliever Amir Garrett. In 27 appearances this season, Garrett has a 3.33 ERA and 1.73 WHIP with 28 strikeouts and 20 walks.
The Rumor Mill
I guess this isn’t necessarily a rumor since Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak came out and said it: they’re “going to trade people.” St. Louis has been one of the most disappointing teams of the season. Don’t rule out a complete firesale ahead of the deadline.
Weirdly enough, shortly after the “trade people” quote, the Cardinals were said to be showing interest in Mariners starter Logan Gilbert. St. Louis definitely needs pitching help, but it’ll be interesting to see how they balance that with being sellers at the deadline.
Speaking of sellers, that’s exactly what the lowly White Sox will be. Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Keynan Middleton, Joe Kelly, and perhaps Dylan Cease are among the names worth monitoring.
The Reds are looking for pitching ahead of the trade deadline and are interested in the White Sox’ starters. I’d expect them to be a strong suitor for Giolito.
Another suitor for Giolito: the Dodgers. L.A. is actively pursuing pitching and has been specifically linked to the White Sox ace.
That’ll do it for this week. We may have some fireworks by the time next Sunday’s rundown comes out with the trade deadline looming. Stay tuned and up to date by subscribing below!