Welcome to a different version of 5 Issues I Preferred (Or Didn’t Like) This Week. As all the time, due to Zach Lowe for arising with the concept for the column, as a result of it’s an ideal excuse to observe a ton of baseball and write about performs that make me smile. This week had somewhat little bit of the whole lot: shut and enjoyable video games, lopsided and enjoyable video games, idiosyncratic batter conduct, and even an all-time main league report (nope, not an excellent one). Let’s get began. One fast notice: 5 Issues is taking per week off subsequent week for workload administration. No phrase on whether or not I’ll be assigned to FanGraphs Triple-A to maintain my typing arm recent, however the column will return per week from Friday.
1. Excessive-Stakes Video games in April
Two division leaders confronted off in Seattle on Monday evening. The juggernaut Braves want no introduction; they’ve the very best report in baseball and gained 104 video games final 12 months. The Mariners have ridden a dominant rotation to the highest of the AL West regardless of a sputtering offense. The primary recreation of the collection pitted Bryce Miller towards Max Fried, and whereas neither was projected as their crew’s ace coming into the season, they each regarded the half on this recreation.
Miller began issues off along with his customary dominant fastball. He bought Ronald Acuña Jr. wanting and Ozzie Albies swinging within the first inning, and saved going from there. When Miller’s fastball is cooking, it’s exhausting to think about making contact towards him, by no means thoughts getting successful:
Fried bought off to a sluggish begin this 12 months after lacking half of final season with harm, however he’d simply thrown a three-hitter towards the Marlins, and he picked up proper the place he left off. He baffled the Mariners with an array of fastballs, sliders, and pleasant sluggish curves:
These two battled lengthy into the evening, exchanging scoreless innings and assured struts. One factor they didn’t change was baserunners; by way of six innings, they mixed for 3 walks and no hits allowed. They traded strikeouts – 10 for Miller, seven for Fried – and made each 2-1 rely really feel like a rally.
The Braves lineup is just too good to carry down ceaselessly. Acuña recorded the primary hit of the sport with a smashed groundball single within the seventh. Then he stole second. Then he stole third. Then Albies cracked a ground-rule double to deliver him dwelling. Miller recovered to flee the inning with no additional harm, however Fried and the relievers that adopted him may work with that. They made it by way of eight innings with none harm, organising a dramatic conflict between Atlanta nearer A.J. Minter, attempting to guard that one-run lead, and the 2 goats of the Seattle offense to this point, Jorge Polanco and Mitch Garver. Polanco led off the underside of the ninth with a single by way of the six gap earlier than Garver clobbered a walk-off blast:
Extra video games like this in April, please. Extra video games prefer it in Might and June. I like whimsical baseball simply as a lot as the following individual – most likely extra, in actual fact. However when video games are this properly performed and this tight, it’s like somewhat piece of the playoffs escaped October and landed in my lounge. My coronary heart couldn’t deal with each recreation being like this, however getting one each infrequently is a delight.
2. Wyatt Langford in House
Wyatt Langford’s debut has been uneven, to be sort. He’s hitting .239/.311/.312, not precisely the offensive juggernaut Rangers followers anticipated after he tore up the minors final 12 months. He has top-of-the-scale energy; he hit six homers in spring coaching this 12 months, and 10 in fewer than 200 minor league plate appearances final season. Thus far, that energy hasn’t proven up. He solely has a single dwelling run within the majors this 12 months. However oh boy, was that dwelling run enjoyable:
It feels bizarre for an influence hitting DH to have an inside-the-park dwelling run and no common ones, however Langford is an odd DH. The truth that he isn’t a plus nook outfielder is shocking, as a result of he can completely fly. Statcast clocks his common dash velocity to this point this 12 months at 29.6 ft/sec, one of many quickest marks within the sport. That by some means hasn’t translated to protection but, however on offense? The person can transfer.
For lots of gamers, this might be a triple. I clocked him at just below 15 seconds across the bases, and that might have been even sooner if he didn’t assume he hit a homer at first:
Now, did the Reds protection assist out? Certain. Jake Fraley didn’t play the carom properly in any respect; if he’d merely been much less aggressive chasing the ball into that nook, this might have been a double or triple at most. However that one mistake is all it took (and for the Sam Miller fanatics on the market, notice Elly De La Cruz taking the cutoff throw from proper subject). However even accounting for the defensive miscue, Langford’s velocity is what made this play occur.
Langford doesn’t look like a observe star to me, although I’m undecided how a lot of that’s as a result of I preserve seeing “DH” subsequent to his identify. (He was enjoying left subject on this recreation, for what it’s value.) However watching him around the bases, you possibly can’t miss it:
I significantly appreciated this close-up angle the Rangers posted:
Perhaps it’s the purple gloves. Perhaps it’s the stride size. There’s simply one thing concurrently soothing and shocking about seeing him around the bases. He’s a big man with flailing arms, however there’s a grace to it too; his torso and head barely bounce round at the same time as he accelerates to full velocity. It’s a pleasure to observe, is my level. And Adolis García cherished it simply as a lot as I did:
3. Stroll Offs
It began with a mistake. Within the backside of the primary inning final Thursday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto missed simply low to Joey Meneses in a full rely. Umpire Brian Walsh didn’t see it that manner:
You’ll be able to see Meneses on the fringe of the body wanting again in shock. That was a ball! However the recreation moved on. The following three-ball pitch Yamamoto threw was a stroll to Joey Gallo. The following one after that? One other one to Gallo with a distinct end result:
I do assume that one was a strike, however Gallo clearly didn’t. And now the battle traces have been set: The Nationals have been strolling to first on each three-ball pitch they noticed. Jacob Younger bought the memo:
After which on 3-2, he bought the memo once more:
Jesse Winker regarded to me like he was able to trot off – however Yamamoto’s 3-2 curveball caught a lot of the plate that he as a substitute pivoted round and marched again to the dugout:
Yamamoto was commanding the perimeters of the plate masterfully, and getting some assist there in addition. However I cherished Washington’s technique. Simply trot all the way down to first base if it’s shut. Perhaps you’ll affect the umpire. Yamamoto threw eight pitches in three-ball counts within the recreation. The Nats swung at one and ran down towards first on 5. That’s aspirational residing proper there. Perhaps Mike Rizzo ought to put up an indication that claims “nobody cares how briskly you run all the way down to first base on strike three.” Or perhaps he shouldn’t – I had numerous enjoyable watching them do it.
4. Revenge
You’ll be able to solely pull off this play when a catcher is hitting:
Don’t get me fallacious, José Ramírez is a good defender. That was a heck of a play, a troublesome barehanded scoop and a formidable off-platform throw. Not many third basemen can mix these two so easily. But when just about anybody else on the Braves have been working, that may have been a single. Travis d’Arnaud is a 35-year-old catcher, and he strikes like one, with 18th percentile dash velocity and tenth percentile home-to-first splits.
A collection of unlikely occasions must occur for that to be such an unfortunate out. Substitute Ramírez with a barely worse defender and it’s successful. Substitute d’Arnaud with a barely sooner runner and it’s successful. Take a mile per hour off of the contact, or transfer it only a bit extra away from Ramírez’s path, and it’s successful. A part of being an excellent defender is making numerous these edge-case performs, however I’m certain d’Arnaud was sad about shedding successful that manner.
It’s OK, although, as a result of he bought his revenge two nights later. With two out and nobody on within the high of the tenth, Ramírez singled off of A.J. Minter. He bought an enormous leap on the second pitch of the following at-bat and stole second standing up. Or at the least, he thought he did:
Blink and also you’ll miss it. Orlando Arcia’s swipe tag was manner late, and it didn’t even make contact. A reverse angle is much more complicated. I do not know why Ramírez didn’t slide, however he seems to be fairly clearly secure on this one:
Absolutely replay would repair this, proper? Fallacious:
What a remarkably good throw. With out which means to, d’Arnaud hit Ramírez’s again pocket batting gloves from 130 toes away. Ramírez was out the second Arcia caught the ball. The after-the-fact swipe was simply instinctual, as a result of Arcia has caught hundreds of throws like that in his life however most likely by no means obtained one which exact. I’ve heard of letting the ball do the work on a tag, however this takes that to a brand new degree.
If Ramírez had been sooner, there could be no play. If he’d been slower, he most likely would have slid – truthfully, he ought to have anyway. If the throw had been three inches off in both path, the tag wouldn’t have been there. Ramírez stole one from d’Arnaud due to a collection of just-so occasions. It’s solely truthful that d’Arnaud did the identical to him.
5. Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory
With their loss to the Astros on Sunday, the Rockies fell to 7-21 of their first 28 video games, which is dangerous sufficient. Even worse, they trailed sooner or later in every of these video games. That tied a “report” set by the 1910 St. Louis Browns for many consecutive video games trailing to start out a season. Any time you’re tying a report set by the Browns, one thing has gone fallacious.
Fortunately for them, the following recreation, on Tuesday, supplied a fast reprieve. They ambushed the Marlins with 5 runs within the high of the primary, and Ryan Feltner was completely dealing. He confronted the minimal variety of batters by way of six innings, with the 2 singles he allowed rapidly erased by a double play and a caught stealing, respectively. He wanted solely 79 pitches to get by way of eight scoreless innings. Bud Black despatched him again out for the ninth to attempt for his first profession full recreation, a shutout in addition.
Issues began to go fallacious immediately. Vidal Bruján snuck a single by way of the infield, Feltner hit Christian Bethancourt so as to add one other baserunner, after which Luis Arraez doubled Bruján dwelling to open the scoring ledger for Miami. Feltner’s first full recreation must wait, as a result of the Rockies wanted this win. Nearer Justin Lawrence got here in to slam the door. However uh… he walked Bryan De La Cruz, after which Dane Myers (within the recreation as a result of Jazz Chisholm Jr. bought ejected for arguing balls and strikes) singled dwelling two runs, after which Josh Bell singled to load the bases, after which Lawrence hit Jesús Sánchez to make it 5-4, after which… properly, you get the concept. By the point Jalen Beeks got here in to exchange Lawrence, the sport was tied and there was nonetheless just one out. However Beeks wriggled out of the jam with out conceding something additional. The Rockies nonetheless had an opportunity to bury this accursed streak – they hadn’t trailed at any level on this recreation.
They scored a run within the high of the tenth when Ryan McMahon stroked a two-out double. Nevertheless it wasn’t to be. De La Cruz doubled within the backside of the inning to even the rating. Then Myers – c’mon, the man who wasn’t even alleged to be within the recreation! – gained it for Miami with a seeing-eye single. Or perhaps De La Cruz gained it by remembering to the touch dwelling. Or perhaps catcher Elias Díaz misplaced it with a bobble:
Oh boy, that one’s gonna sting. The Rockies can’t get out of their very own manner. They’ve trailed within the two video games they’ve performed since this collapse, too, extending the report to an outrageous 31 straight video games trailing to start out the season. Embody the top of final 12 months, and it’s 37 straight video games trailing. I’m sorry for the Rockies followers enduring this, and for Patrick Dubuque for selecting to reside the Rockies fan life for a 12 months on this 12 months of all years. At this level, there’s not a lot you are able to do aside from stare, like rubbernecking however for sports activities.