Hey, and welcome to a different version of 5 Issues I Preferred (Or Didn’t Like) This Week. I’ll hold the introduction brief right this moment, as a result of I’m on the brink of journey to St. Louis for a recreation with my dad and uncle. There’s a Masyn Winn bobblehead ticketed for my memorabilia shelf – and a pile of pleasurable performs to recap earlier than I can go get it. So, in fact, thanks to Zach Lowe of The Ringer, whose NBA columns of likes and dislikes impressed this one, and let’s get began.
1. The Weekend of Wilmer
I’ve a gentle spot for Wilmer Flores via a sheer fluke of geography. I lived in New York throughout his Mets tenure, and I moved to San Francisco across the similar time he did. His walk-up music has been the identical for the final decade: the Pals theme tune. It’s a fan favourite and even comes with a superb story. He’s the quintessential function participant, a man that the majority groups would like to have however no workforce wants to have. He’s been pitching in throughout the diamond, albeit in decreasingly troublesome defensive roles, that complete time. Apart from a down 2024, he’s been constantly helpful, however he’s by no means been a star – the closest factor I do know to a Wilmer Flores spotlight is his charming disappointment when he thought he was getting traded.
For only one weekend, although, that each one modified. Flores has been improbably dueling with Aaron Choose for the foremost league RBI lead all through the primary eight weeks of the season. RBI won’t be an incredible predictive stat, and it won’t be an incredible stat general, however it undoubtedly issues to gamers. Fancier variations of measuring contextual offense – WPA, RE24, and so forth – all suppose that Flores has been a high 10 run producer this 12 months, too. He’d fallen behind Choose by only a hair in these races – and possibly has no likelihood at maintaining all season. I imply, have you ever seen Aaron Choose? However none of that mattered when the Giants performed the A’s final weekend.
Within the first recreation of the set, Flores labored an epic 10-pitch at-bat, then broke a tie with a grand slam:
Earlier than that blast, Flores had fallen off the RBI tempo and was additionally mired in a little bit of a stoop. Certain, he had the gaudy counting numbers, however he was operating solely a 102 wRC+ and an ice-cold 83 wRC+ over the previous month. The slam obtained him inside 4 RBI of Choose, after which he went yard once more…
And once more…
… to rack up eight ribbies and create a tie atop the foremost league leaderboard – a tie between actually Aaron Choose and little outdated Wilmer Flores.
The weekend wasn’t completed, although. Choose had a uncommon two-game stretch with out driving in a run, which meant Flores might take the lead with only a single solitary RBI. Via 9 innings, that regarded fairly unlikely. The sport headed to extras in a 0-0 tie, and the A’s wished no a part of Flores, strolling him twice and usually staying away from him all recreation. Within the backside of the tenth, although, supervisor Mark Kotsay wished to play platoons. With two on and two out in opposition to flame-throwing nearer Mason Miller, Kotsay determined to deliberately stroll Mike Yastrzemski to pitch to Flores with the bases juiced. I hate – hate, hate, hate! – this resolution. Miller is wild! The largest weak point in his recreation is that he may stroll somebody, not that somebody may put the ball in play. And simply as you’d count on:
What a method to take the foremost league lead in a time-honored statistical class. The celebration was raucous – at the least after everybody obtained completed being shocked by the optics of that intentional stroll. And for just some days, Flores obtained his long-awaited place within the highlight.
Only one potential snag: I can’t be certain the sport wasn’t a simulation. Right here’s the place Flores’s grand slam landed:
Right here’s the place his three-run shot ended up:
Actually? The identical group of men, in the very same spot, twice in a row? And considered one of them had sufficient presence of thoughts to troll the opposite for dropping the primary dwelling run ball? If we’re actually residing in a simulation, I’d hope they may repair the randomness just a little bit. How plausible is it that Wilmer Flores hit three homers, with the primary two of them going to the very same spot (the third was fairly shut too)? I depart that as an train for the reader.
2. Texas-Sized Duels
Final Thursday night time, the Astros and Rangers confronted off to kick off Rivalry Weekend (extra on that later). Houston despatched maybe the very best pitcher in baseball this 12 months to the mound: Hunter Brown, whose title is strewn throughout each pitching leaderboard you’ll be able to think about. The Rangers countered with arguably essentially the most dominant pitcher of the final decade: Jacob deGrom. He won’t be at his world-devouring peak anymore, however he’s nonetheless outrageously good even throwing 97 mph as a substitute of 100.
Brown and deGrom each got here out firing. Via 5 innings, they mixed for 10 strikeouts and no runs allowed, with solely two hitters a lot as reaching second base. These numbers may undersell it, too. The image is best advised by how the batters sorted arising empty:
A sixth-inning dwelling run by 5 Issues favourite Jake Burger opened the scoring, however neither workforce might do a lot to observe via on the offensive momentum. Brown answered Burger’s blast by putting out three of the subsequent 5 Rangers he confronted. With a ballooning pitch depend, deGrom began attacking the zone, and he backed Burger’s homer by retiring six of the subsequent seven batters, with solely two even reaching a two-ball depend.
In the event you’re doing the maths at dwelling, that’s a lot of outs recorded after a sixth-inning homer. Neither deGrom nor Brown wished to exit the sport, and so they each went eight innings, with deGrom lastly giving method to reliever Shawn Armstrong to pitch the ninth. The combination pitching efficiency was staggering: 16 strikeouts, one stroll, one run. Neither starter even eclipsed 100 pitches; every was environment friendly along with being overwhelming.
I’m not at all times a fan of pitchers duels, however I’m once they appear to be this. The 2 of them mixed for 26 swings and misses, and I feel that undersells the dominance. Each pitchers spent many of the recreation in cruise management. On the uncommon event {that a} runner reached scoring place, the whiffs got here quick and livid. Whether or not it was a deGrom slider or a Brown four-seamer, batters discovered themselves staring down the enterprise finish of among the finest pitches in baseball and got here up brief.
In the long run, Burger’s solo shot held up. The Astros merely couldn’t break via in opposition to deGrom, and whereas they managed to place a runner on base in opposition to Armstrong, they in any other case went down quietly.
This was already the fifth recreation in 2025 the place Brown went six or extra innings whereas permitting not more than a run. It was his fifth straight nine-strikeout recreation, and solely the second homer he’d surrendered all 12 months. He obtained shelled in his solely begin since then, to be honest, however in any other case, he’s on one other stage proper now, racking up outcomes like peak deGrom. For his half, deGrom continues to be rounding into kind; this was solely his third begin of six or extra innings all 12 months, however he’s gaining momentum each week. In his 5 begins main as much as this gem, he’d compiled a 1.53 ERA (2.13 FIP) and 33 strikeouts to 4 walks. His subsequent begin? Seven innings of two-run ball at Yankee Stadium. (Extra on that later, too.) The AL West goes to be enjoyable this 12 months, and a Texas stand-off between two aces was an effective way to begin the season collection between two divisional and intrastate rivals.
3. Rivalry Weekend
I don’t at all times love MLB’s contrived occasions. Gamers Weekend was enjoyable however erratically executed. Metropolis Join jerseys have been combined at finest. I by no means even know why gamers are carrying camouflage hats nowadays; it occurs so incessantly that I can’t sustain with which holidays they’re purportedly monitoring. Particular jerseys, patches, video games in unusual cities – the league’s promotional staffers are high-volume shooters, throwing every part on the wall to see what sticks.
Rivalry Weekend was a superb instance of the highs and lows of that method. The Rangers-Astros collection crackled. Yankees-Mets was superior – it might have been nice anyway, however the drama of Juan Soto’s return to Yankee Stadium put the followers into overdrive, giving a three-game interleague set in Could playoff power. The upstart Nationals trounced the stumbling Orioles, exhibiting off their very own younger core to woo DC Metro Space sports activities followers who have been falling again into outdated baseball rooting habits with the Nats rebuilding. The Angels swept the Dodgers in an inconceivable flip of occasions. The battle of Ohio was a tense, hard-fought blast. I even loved White Sox-Cubs; it wasn’t at all times aggressive, however there’s one thing about an intra-city recreation that provides stadiums power.
Throwing a ton of pure rivalries collectively multi functional weekend is a enjoyable concept. Throwing all 30 groups into “rivalries” feels meaningfully much less natural and pleasant. I’m right here for geographically handy matchups like Rays-Marlins and Tigers-Blue Jays, even when there’s no nice animus between the fanbases; the identical goes for Pirates-Phillies and Cardinals-Royals. However we’re already on the fringes of rivalrydom there, and to suit all 30 groups into the promotion, compromises needed to be made.
The Mariners and Padres have been forged as rivals for greater than a decade now, and it doesn’t make rather more sense right this moment than it did the primary time the league got here up with that exact pairing. I get it; the West Coast is huge and the cities are scattered. However Braves-Crimson Sox? You’re telling me that two of essentially the most storied franchises in baseball, with their very own wealthy histories of hated opposition, are honorary rivals for 3 days? Certain, the Braves as soon as known as Boston dwelling, however they left Beantown for Milwaukee greater than seven many years in the past. Talking of Milwaukee, I’ve a number of Brewers followers in my prolonged household, and never a single considered one of them considers the Twins a rival.
Why not promote a set of rivalry weekends, with roughly half of every weekend’s collection the “Rivalry Video games,” as a substitute of a single one in mid-Could? That method, the Crimson Sox might play the Yankees as a substitute of an NL workforce they’ve by no means even confronted within the playoffs. The Padres and Dodgers are an actual, honest-to-God rivalry, whether or not it’s a sanctioned weekend or not. Increase the occasion just a little bit to incorporate considered one of their matchups as a substitute of pairing San Diego with one other membership that additionally occurred to attract the brief straw when it got here to close by companions. Oh, and I haven’t even talked about Braves-Mets, Playing cards-Cubs, Giants-Dodgers, Phillies vs. another NL East workforce.
So right here’s my proposal: Rivalry Month, 4 straight weekends the place at the least seven collection function historic or geographical rivals. Each workforce will get at the least one Rivalry Collection, however many could have a number of. That method, we gained’t should name an occasion Rivalry Weekend whereas leaving out Yankees-Crimson Sox. I really like splashes of high-stakes baseball within the common season. I really like them a lot that I’m proposing extra pomp and circumstance round it, even in a league obsessive about pomp and circumstance. Final weekend simply felt like going midway and calling it completed.
4. Tommy Kahnle, Nearer
Everyone has their guys, the gamers they irrationally love regardless of no apparent connection. I wrote about this actual sentiment yesterday in my newest love letter about Isaac Paredes. Clearly, the lift-and-pull king is my favourite participant, however Tommy Kahnle needs to be close to the highest of the checklist. I vividly keep in mind studying this Jeff Sullivan article about Kahnle whereas I daydreamed about in the future changing into a baseball author myself. I saved considering, “This man got here out of nowhere! And he’s actually good! It’s so cool to seek out these.”
Within the years since, there have been much more of these guys, however Kahnle stands out to me for his sheer weirdness. He retains throwing his changeup extra, a lot in order that I hold writing about it. He hardly throws anything at this level. He’s as much as 83% changeups this 12 months, the very best mark of his (or anybody else’s) profession. He doesn’t overpower batters; he befuddles them.
For a lot of the previous half decade, Kahnle has been caught in damage limbo; he’s pitched solely 116 innings because the begin of the 2020 season. However he’s hardly fading away – he has a 2.24 ERA over that point interval, with a 28% strikeout fee and wonderful peripherals. Hitters know what’s coming – that playoff stretch was an incredible instance – they simply can’t do something about it.
Now, for the primary time in his profession, Kahnle is getting common save alternatives. He’s as much as six saves on the 12 months, almost matching his profession whole, and he’s doing it for the workforce with the very best report in baseball. He isn’t Detroit’s on a regular basis nearer – that’d be Will Vest – however the Tigers have put in him as their high setup man, and Kahnle will get the chance if the ninth inning encompasses a ton of lefties. In any case, he could be right-handed, however the one pitch he throws (roughly) is at its finest in opposition to opposite-handed hitters.
Watching him work is tremendously enjoyable for me. Regardless of the reverse of fire-breathing is, that’s how you would describe Kahnle’s method. Right here, he bullies Victor Scott II with mid-80s velocity within the strike zone:
Subsequent, he slows Lars Nootbaar down, then speeds him up with the primary fastball of the night time to attract a fly out:
One run recreation, hot-hitting righty on the plate? Kahnle has simply the factor – a changeup proper down the pipe:
It really works! I don’t know the way, however it works. Our pitching fashions scoff – Stuff+ provides him an 83 Pitching+, the place 100 is common, and his PitchingBot ERA estimate is 5.29. It’s secure to say that the fashions can’t determine him out. Hitters can’t appear to both, to this point, anyway. And “to this point” stretches again to 2019, the primary season through which he threw at the least 50% changeups. Each time I watch a Tigers recreation, I’m rooting for Kahnle to come back in and face the opposite workforce’s finest hitters in an enormous spot. He’s nearly at all times been adequate to fit into that function, even when in an unconventional method. Now, he’s lastly getting some probabilities to do it. I couldn’t be any extra happy.
5. A Double Burger
I promise this column gained’t at all times be about Jake Burger, however he’s been getting concerned in simply my sort of oddity a lot this season that he’s turn into one thing like a column mascot, a man who retains exhibiting up in bizarre performs and conditions and attempting to determine what the heck is happening. I don’t normally consider dwelling runs as highlights, both, however they’re what Burger is finest at, and on condition that I’ve been that includes him for all types of performs that nobody is sweet at – busted rundowns and not possible relays and the like – it’s solely honest to function him going deep, too.
After a troublesome begin to the 12 months – .190/.231/.330 and solely three homers in 108 plate appearances – the Rangers despatched him right down to the minor leagues for a reset. They have been clear that they wished this to be a short journey slightly than an indefinite demotion; Burger is a key a part of their plans, to the purpose that through the offseason they traded away a strong veteran first baseman to release taking part in time for him. He regarded like a strong huge leaguer going through minor league competitors in that 10-day span, slashing .391/.462/.696. Then he returned to the foremost leagues, plugged proper again into the lineup like nothing occurred, and began mashing.
In his 9 video games since coming again up, Burger has a 202 wRC+. He’s minimize his strikeout fee roughly in half, doubled his stroll fee, and matched these three homers in a 3rd of the time. The primary blast got here within the aforementioned pitchers duel in opposition to Hunter Brown. The following two got here at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night time to place the Rangers in entrance and assist one other wonderful Jacob deGrom outing, although the Bronx Bombers rallied to stroll it off within the backside of the ninth.
That current pair of homers demonstrates the explanation to place Burger within the lineup. Smooth-tossing lefty on the mound? Burger will make it rain:
Depart in your LOOGY after he obtained a lefty within the earlier inning? Once more, Burger can take the ball the opposite method, notably at Yankee Stadium:
The Rangers wished righty energy at first base. They’ve obtained it, after a short delay. And it doesn’t damage that Burger is a good interview, both. “I type of thought: New Pope, new me,” Burger advised the Dallas Morning Information. “He’s a Midwestern man like me. I used to be proud.” He’s doing Pope-themed celebrations after hits – a Papal wave for a double, the signal of the cross after a homer, and so forth. The bummer begin to the season is previously. The vibes are immaculate. Do your self a favor and activate the Rangers subsequent time deGrom begins – you’ll get to see among the finest pitchers ever to do it and in addition one of the pleasurable hitters to look at.