The Weekly Rundown: 8/13/23 - 8/19/23
Brutal week for the Rays, Dodgers go streaking, and much more.
Good morning and Happy Sunday!
Final podcast plug in these rundowns, I promise! Last week’s episode featured a great interview with WEEI’s Meghan Ottolini. You can listen below and feel free to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, on YouTube, and here if you haven’t already.
Thanks! Now without further ado…
Tough Week In Tampa
The Rays are hanging tough with the first-place Orioles in the AL East and sit comfortably atop the wild-card standings, but they had a nightmare week that had nothing to do with their on-field performance.
They placed star shortstop Wander Franco on the restricted list after social media posts alleged he had an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic. The Attorney General’s office in the DR has launched an investigation and has since acknowledged there have been allegations from at least two minors.
According to Dominican reporter Hector Gomez, a source close to the investigation believes there is a strong chance Franco has played his final MLB game.
“A person very close to the investigations into the case of Wander Franco: ‘It will be very unlikely that Wander Franco will play in MLB again, judging by the results of the investigations that are currently being carried out, which directly commit him to the accusations against him.’”
Assuming that report is accurate, it seems Dominican authorities have found some damning evidence that Franco did what he has been accused of doing. Obviously, that’s far more serious than anything baseball-related, but this is a tremendous blow to the Rays as they could lose their best player who they hoped to build around for the future.
—
The Rays also lost their ace Shane McClanahan for the rest of the season and the 2024 campaign. The 26-year-old southpaw is set to undergo Tommy John surgery. Before his injury, he was among the top pitchers in the American League with an 11-2 record, 3.29 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 121 strikeouts in 115 innings (21 starts).
Angels In The Infield
The Angels turned the first 6-4-3-2 triple play since 1971 on Friday vs. the Rays. It couldn’t have come at a better time either as the Rays had runners on the corners with the game tied in the ninth inning.
… but in vintage Angels fashion, they ended up losing 9-6 in the 10th inning despite the triple play and a Shohei Ohtani grand slam. Long live Tungsten Arm O’Doyle.
The IL
Steven Matz, LHP, St. Louis Cardinals: 15-day injured list with lat strain, shut down for at least two weeks.
Joe Kelly, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers: 15-day IL due to inflammation in his right forearm.
Ozzie Albies, 2B, Atlanta Braves: 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain.
Manuel Margot, OF, Tampa Bay Rays: 10-day IL due to loose bodies in his right elbow. He will have surgery tomorrow with an expected recovery timeline of three to four weeks
Tony Gonsolin, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers: 15-day IL with an elbow injury. Unlikely to return this season.
Aaron Hicks, OF, Baltimore Orioles: 10-day IL due to a lower back strain.
Ranger Suarez, LHP, Philadelphia Phillies: 15-day IL with a right hamstring strain.
Dominant On The Bump
Max Scherzer, Texas Rangers
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 11 K, 1 BB vs. Los Angeles Angels
Bryce Elder, Atlanta Braves
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 K, 3 BB vs. New York Yankees
Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels
7.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 5 K, 4 BB vs. Texas Rangers
Mike Clevinger, Chicago White Sox
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 2 BB vs. Chicago Cubs
MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals
6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 2 BB vs. Boston Red Sox
Charlie Morton, Atlanta Braves
6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 1 BB vs. New York Yankees
Corbin Burnes, Milwaukee Brewers
7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 2 BB vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 1 BB vs. San Francisco Giants
Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks
7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 5 K, 3 BB vs. San Diego Padres
Eury Perez, Miami Marlins
6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 2 BB vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Big Bombs
Giants rookie Patrick Bailey belted a walk-off two-run homer in the 10th inning against the Rangers.
Dominic Canzone’s first home run as a Mariner was a game-tying blast with two outs in the ninth inning vs. the Orioles.
Jorge Soler, Luis Arraez, and Josh Bell went back-to-back-to-back for the Marlins vs. Astros ace Framber Valdez.
Mariners star Julio Rodriguez hit a go-ahead three-run bomb for his fifth hit of the day.
Reds rookie Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a walk-off bomb against the Blue Jays.
Christopher Morel walked it off for the Cubs vs. the White Sox.
Luis Urias became the first Red Sox player ever to hit grand slams on consecutive pitches faced (final at-bat Thursday vs. Nationals, first at-bat Saturday vs. Yankees). He’s the first Red Sox since Bill Mueller to do it in consecutive at-bats.
First grand slam (6:28 mark below):
Second grand slam (1:49 mark below):
Web Gem Of The Week
Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins belongs in both the “Big Bombs” and “Web Gem of the Week” categories. He robbed what would have been a game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth vs. the Mariners, then hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 10th.
Welcome To The Show
Diamondbacks prospect Bryce Jarvis made his big-league debut out of the bullpen vs. the Rockies on Tuesday. He allowed one run on one hit and one walk in 3 1/3 innings while striking out three (2:18 mark of the video below).
Giants prospect Wade Meckler made his MLB debut on Monday and recorded his first career hit Tuesday vs. the Rays.
Cardinals top prospect Masyn Winn made his MLB debut on Friday and recorded an infield single for his first career hit. Pete Alonso chucked the ball into the stands for some reason but apologized later. (4:35 mark).
The Angels drafted Nolan Schanuel with the 11th overall pick of the 2023 draft. Yes, you read correctly — 2023! On Friday, he collected his first big-league hit (6:26 mark).
Quick Takeaways
The Braves are the first team to reach the 80-win mark, and they’re an absolute wagon, but the Dodgers aren’t far behind. They’re the hottest team in baseball right now with 13 wins in their last 14 games. That incredible run included an 11-game win streak. It feels like we’re destined for a Braves-Dodgers NLCS.
Speaking of hot, Julio Rodriguez cannot be stopped right now. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year has helped put the Mariners back in the AL West conversation by going a ridiculous 17-for-22 at the plate over his last four games. That’s a new MLB record for most hits in a four-game span.
Could Shohei Ohtani and/or Matt Olson cross the 60-homer mark? The two sluggers are tied with 43 and there’s more than a month of baseball left. I like their chances.
Apparently, Trea Turner just needed some Brotherly Love. Since receiving his huge ovation at Citizens Bank Park, the star shortstop has posted a 1.027 OPS. He continued to rake with two homers in the same inning on Saturday.
Wild Card updates: The Rays, Astros and Mariners hold the top three spots in the AL with the Blue Jays (0.5 GB) and Red Sox (3 GB) fighting to sneak into the third spot. In the NL it’s the Phillies, Giants, and Reds/Cubs in the top three wild-card spots with the Diamondbacks (0.5 GB) and Marlins (0.5 GB) in the mix. Should be a fun final month-plus.
Rapid Fire
The Tigers signed Carson Kelly after the catcher was designated for assignment and later released by the Diamondbacks.
White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, who got rocked in his fight with Jose Ramirez, had his suspension reduced from six to five games following his appeal.
Left-handed reliever Richard Bleier signed a minor-league deal with the Cubs after being released by the Red Sox.
The Dodgers signed second baseman Kolten Wong to a minor-league deal.
Cubs ace Marcus Stroman was supposed to make his return from a hip injury on Wednesday, but he was diagnosed with a right rib cartilage fracture and will be shut down for a few weeks.
The Cubs DFA’d catcher Tucker Barnhart.
The Blue Jays DFA’d shortstop Paul DeJong after trading for him at the deadline.
Astros star Jose Altuve recorded his 2,000th career hit. He becomes the third player in Astros history to accomplish that feat, joining Hall of Famers Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell.
Thanks for reading. Catch you next week!