The Weekly Rundown: 9/24/23 - 9/30/23
Everything you need to know from the final week of the 2023 MLB regular season.
Good morning and Happy Sunday!
It’s the final rundown of the 2023 regular season as teams are playing Game 162 later today. By next Sunday, we’ll have gone through the wild-card round and Game 1 of the Division Series. October baseball has officially arrived.
I’ll have my postseason predictions posted before the wild-card series begins on Tuesday, so stay tuned for that. Subscribe below if you haven’t already to get those in your e-mail inbox ASAP.
Before we turn the page to the playoffs, here’s went down in the last week of the regular season.
Giants Fire Kapler
Gabe Kapler has been relieved of his duties as San Francisco Giants manager after four seasons with the club. His firing comes as a result of the Giants’ late-season collapse that cost them a spot in the playoffs. Kai Correa is serving as the interim manager for the remainder of the regular season.
"It is a disappointment to say goodbye," Kapler wrote on Instagram on Saturday. "I felt a genuine connection, perhaps not to everyone everywhere, of course, but to most."
"I felt like I had the chance to help people grow and people helped me to grow, and I am grateful for the opportunity. We didn't win enough to satisfy me or our fans; that sucks."
You can read Kapler’s post in its entirety by clicking it below.
Kapler replaced Bruce Bochy as Giants manager in 2020. He led the club to a 107-55 record and an NL West title in 2001, but fell to the Dodgers in the Division Series that year. San Francisco regressed in 2022 (81-81 record) and will finish the 2023 season with a sub-.500 record
Harper vs. Hernandez
If you follow baseball even a little bit, you’re probably well aware of how terrible Angel Hernandez is at his job as an umpire. Yet, he somehow is still employed by MLB and continues to make headlines for his atrocious calls whether he’s behind the plate or on the bases.
He was the third-base ump for Thursday night’s Pirates-Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park. In the third inning, Harper checked his swing on a 3-2 count and took his gear off to walk to first base, but Hernandez ruled it strike three.
The thing is, it wasn’t even close to a swing, and Harper made sure to let Hernandez know it. He was ejected from the game after going off on Hernandez, then threw his helmet into the stands before heading to the clubhouse.
Jomboy’s breakdown sums it up best. Watch below:
"It’s just bad all around," Harper told reporters of Hernandez’s call. "Grinding in an at-bat against a guy I’ve never faced before. I get to a 3-2 count and take a slider down-and-in. I obviously didn’t go and wasn’t even thinking about it in that situation. I was taking my stuff off and heard the crowd’s reaction and was like there’s no way.
"Angel in the middle of something again. It’s every year, it’s the same story, same thing. I’m probably going to get a letter from (MLB exec) Michael Hill. And I’m going to get fined for being right, again. It’s the same thing over and over and over again. It’s just not right."
The story has a happy ending. The helmet Harper tossed into the stands ended up in the hands of a 10-year-old kid. When Harper found that out, he signed the helmet to make the kid’s day.
The entire sequence of events shows why Harper remains one of the faces of baseball.
Chippiness In Seattle
We had a bit of a brouhaha in Seattle on Wednesday as the Astros and Mariners battled with AL West and postseason implications.
Benches cleared after Astros reliever Hector Neris walked toward Mariners star Julio Rodriguez and shouted at him after striking him out in the sixth inning. Tempers flared between the two division rivals, but it didn’t escalate from there.
Watch:
After the game, Neris called Rodriguez his “friend” and said “it’s part of the game.” Mariners slugger Eugenio Suarez heard the words Neris shouted as Rodriguez and wasn’t amused.
“I heard that and that pissed me off,” Suárez said. “I was mad and I let him know, like, 'Why did you do that? Why did you do that to us? If you want to enjoy your strikeout, you enjoy the strikeout and go to your dugout.’ Don't do that, walk and chase Julio and do all that [stuff] he did. For me, I don't take that. That made me so mad. …
“From the beginning I thought it was a joke because before today they have a really good relationship,” said Suárez, who was on deck at the time. “And then he started talking bad words in Spanish. He started doing something that is not good for people who speak Spanish.”
Rodriguez said through a Mariners spokesperson that “he didn’t feel like there was any animosity” between him and Neris and that “he was shocked” that Neris shouted at him. According to MLB.com, “the two have a relationship dating back years, having both trained in the offseason at House of Athlete in Tampa, Fla. And both are represented by Ulises Cabrera at Octagon Baseball.”
It looks and sounds like Neris simply got caught up in the moment. My guess is he probably regrets how he handled the situation and the two sides have moved on. Nothing to see here, just a good ol’ fashioned rivalry getting heated heading into October.
Wainwright Gets His Goodbye
It’s been a memorable month for longtime Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright as he wraps up his stellar MLB career. After earning his 200th career win last week, Wainwright was given one final at-bat and a well-deserved ovation from the Busch Stadium crowd.
Wainwright finishes his 18-year career with a 200-128 record, a 3.53 ERA, and 2,202 strikeouts. He’s a three-time All-Star, 2006 World Series champion, plus the winner of two Gold Glove awards and a Silver Slugger.
RIP Brooks Robinson
The baseball world lost another legend this week as Baltimore Orioles great Brooks Robinson passed away Tuesday at the age of 86.
Nicknamed "the Human Vacuum Cleaner” for his defensive prowess at third base, Robinson won 16 consecutive Gold Glove awards and was an 18-time All-Star during his illustrious career. The 1964 AL MVP spent all 23 of his MLB seasons in Baltimore.
Watch ESPN’s touching tribute to Mr. Oriole below:
Injuries with Playoff Implications
Charlie Morton, RHP, Atlanta Braves: 15-day IL, right index finger inflammation.
Felix Bautista, RHP, Baltimore Orioles: Will undergo Tommy John surgery, out for postseason, all of 2024.
Dominant On The Bump
Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks
6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 8 K, 2 BB vs. New York Yankees
Justin Verlander, Houston Astros
8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 8 K, 1 BB vs. Seattle Mariners
Seth Lugo, San Diego Padres
8.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 3 BB vs. San Francisco Giants
Kyle Bradish, Baltimore Orioles
8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 K, 2 BB vs. Washington Nationals
Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 5 K, 2 BB vs. New York Yankees
Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
9.0 IP (CG), 2 H, 0 ER, 5 K, 0 BB vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Dane Dunning, Texas Rangers
7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 1 BB vs. Los Angeles Angels
Chris Bassitt, Toronto Blue Jays
7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 12 K, 1 BB vs. New York Yankees
Nick Pivetta, Boston Red Sox
7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 10 K, 1 BB vs. Baltimore Orioles
Big Bombs
After walking off the Rangers on Thursday night, Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford had another big moment Friday as he belted a grand slam to give Seattle an 8-0 lead over Texas.
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez recorded the first grand slam of his career.
Web Gem Of The Week
Tigers shortstop Zack Short made an incredible grab aaginst the Royals on Thursday (5:53 mark below):
Welcome To The Show
Right-hander Caleb Boushley made his MLB debut Friday vs. the Cubs, allowing one run on one hit and two walks while striking out five in 2.1 innings pitched.
Righty Yoendrys Gomez debuted for the Yankees on Thursday vs. the Blue Jays. He allowed only one hit and struck out four in two scoreless innings (5:52 mark below):
Quick Takeaways
The Orioles clinched the AL East title with their 100th win of the season - a victory over the Red Sox. It’s incredible to see how far Baltimore has come over the last handful of seasons. With a scary collection of young talent, the O’s will be a tremendously tough out in the playoffs.
More postseason clinchers: The Rangers, Blue Jays, and Astros are in and Mariners are the odd team out in the AL. The Diamondbacks and Marlins clinched in the NL, excluding the Cubs and Reds.
After breaking the Braves’ single-season home run record, Matt Olson also set franchise record in RBIs. He entered today with 137. I said this before but I’ll say it a second (or maybe even third) time: Ronald Acuña is the MVP, but don’t let that distract you from the historic year his teammate Olson had.
Speaking of Acuña, he became the only player in MLB history to join the 30 homer/70 stolen bases club. Sure, the bigger bases and new pickoff limits helped, but it’s a hell of an accomplishment nonetheless. If he produces in the playoffs, we’ll be looking back at Acuña’s 2023 as one of the best years by a player ever.
Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has a long way to go to catch up to Acuña, but here’s a start: he became the first Royals player to join the 30-30 club. Witt was one of the few bright spots for the lowly Kansas City club this year and that’ll be continue to be the case for the foreseeable future.
Carlos Rodon might really be cooked. The Yankees’ southpaw allowed eight runs in his Friday start against the Royals without recording an out. He’ll look to bounce back next year after a healthy offseason but if he doesn’t, we could be looking at one of the worst contracts given to a pitcher (six years $162M) in recent memory.
Rapid Fire
The Twins designated righty reliever Dylan Floro for assignment.
The Diamondbacks designated righty Zach Davies for assignment.
The Brewers designated third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson for assignment.
The Orioles designated righty reliever Jorge Lopez for assignment.
The Rockies signed four-time All-Star outfielder Charlie Blackmon to a one-year contract extension.
The Reds promoted Nick Krall from general manager to president of baseball operations and signed him to a contract extension.
Future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, who’s set to retire, will serve as a special assistant for the Tigers after the season.
Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil suffered a partially torn UCL, but surgery is not currently being considered. The expectation is McNeil will be ready for spring training.
Veteran righty reliever Tyler Clippard announced his retirement.
The Padres reportedly plan to retain both president of baseball operations A.J. Preller and manager Bob Melvin despite the team’s disappointing 2023 season.
Thanks for reading! Postseason rundown coming your way next Sunday morning.