Jose Altuve is having a Cooperstown-worthy profession. Since debuting with the Houston Astros in 2011, the 35-year-old second baseman has logged 2,329 hits, together with 246 house runs, whereas placing up a 129 wRC+ and 59.2 WAR. A nine-time All-Star who has gained seven Silver Sluggers and one Gold Glove, Altuve captured MVP honors in 2017.
Flip the clock again to 2008, and the 5-foot-6 Puerto Cabello, Venezuela native was 18 years outdated and taking part in stateside for the primary time. His supervisor with the rookie-level Greeneville Astros was Rodney Linares.
I just lately requested the now-Tampa Bay Rays bench coach for his reminiscences of the then-teenaged prospect.
“One man that doesn’t get a whole lot of credit score for Altuve is [current St. Louis Cardinals first base coach] Stubby Clapp, who’d been my hitting coach the yr earlier than,” Linares advised me. “He all the time talked about Altuve, as a result of he’d had him in prolonged spring. He was like, ‘You’ve obtained to observe this child; this child goes to be actually good.’ I used to inform Stubby, ‘You assume that since you’re small and performed within the massive leagues, anyone who’s small can play.’”
Linares remembers the Astros group’s wanting him to play 20-year-old Albert Cartwright at second, prompting him to inform Altuve ‘Go to quick, go to 3rd, go to left area. I’m going to just be sure you get your at-bats.”
Al Pedrique — now managing within the Philadelphia Phillies system — additionally performed a job in Altuve’s having an opportunity to show himself. Pedrique had signed Altuve whereas a scout, and as Houston’s minor league area coordinator, he approached Linares with a query.
“He requested me what I assumed,” recalled Linares, who additionally had Altuve in Greenville for a part of the 2009 season. “I advised him I believe that he ought to play every single day. [Pedrique] stated, ‘From in the present day on, he’s going to play every single day.’”
Not solely did that occur, Atuve excelled. He earned a late-season promotion to the New York-Penn League in 2009, and in 2010 he was in Low-A Lexington with J.D. Martinez as a teammate and Linares once more as his supervisor. The next yr, he reached the large leagues.
The participant who arrived in Houston shortly after his Twenty first birthday was each aggressive on the plate and clever past his years. Based on his former supervisor, that had all the time been the case.
“Everyone stored speaking to him about not swinging at all the things, however I believe that was one of many issues that made him into the hitter he’s,” opined Linares. “He can cowl any pitch, anytime, wherever. He’s additionally actually good. He would inform me, ‘I’m making an attempt to arrange this pitcher. I’m going to look unhealthy on this breaking ball so he’ll throw it once more.’ This was in A-ball, as a youngster. The man would throw it once more, and he’d hit a house run. The identical swing you see now, he had then. Altuve took some donkey hacks. He would swing actually exhausting.
“Did I believe he was going to be nearly as good as he’s been? No, I simply thought he was going to be a great participant,” added Linares. “It might be exhausting to foretell {that a} man like that, along with his stature, might do the issues he’s gone on to do. He’s finished some unbelievable issues on this sport. It’s not exhausting to see him going within the Corridor of Fame.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Dave Martinez went 17 for 33 towards Scott Erickson.
Anthony Rizzo went 17 for 37 towards Wily Peralta.
Claudell Washington went 17 for 39 towards Jim Bibby.
Will Clark went 1 for 22 towards Mike Harkey.
Rafael Devers is 8 for 9 towards Dallas Keuchel.
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Jake Hen was featured right here at FanGraphs earlier within the week, the subjects being his success at Coors Discipline and his analytically-savvy strategy to pitching. Left on the chopping room ground from my dialog with the Colorado Rockies reliever was his draft story. Hen was taken within the fifth spherical by his present membership in 2018, and he entered professional ball as a senior signal.
“It wasn’t as much as me,” defined Hen, who performed collegiately at UCLA. “I assumed I used to be in a reasonably good place to get drafted pretty excessive after my junior yr — I used to be anticipating to go someplace between the fourth and Tenth spherical — however I didn’t get any calls. I used to be a little bit confused.”
Just a few weeks earlier, Hen had met with UCLA head coach John Savage and introduced up the opportunity of coming again for his senior yr. Savage advised him, “No, you’re going to receives a commission. Don’t fear about it.” Identical to the younger pitcher, he was taken abruptly when that didn’t occur. Hen had missed time early that season as a result of shoulder irritation — a probable think about his being bypassed within the draft — however he’d additionally logged a 2.75 ERA whereas working each as a starter and out of the Bruins’ bullpen.
Returning for his senior season not solely allowed Hen to complete a level in economics, it turned out to be a blessing.
“My grandpa was nearing the tip of his life — we type of knew that — and he lived about 20 minutes away from faculty,” defined Hen. “That yr, I used to be in a position to transfer in with him, and spend so much additional time with him, earlier than he finally handed away just a few years later. It wasn’t the best way you’d draw it up on paper, however I’m actually grateful that it occurred the best way it did.”
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A quiz:
Willie Mays had 23 All-Star Sport hits, essentially the most of any participant. Which hitter has recorded essentially the most All-Star Sport house runs?
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NEWS NOTES
Joe Coleman, who logged 142 wins whereas pitching for seven groups — primarily the Detroit Tigers and Washington Senators — from 1965-1979, died this previous Wednesday at 78. The suitable-hander was at his finest from 1971-1973, a three-season stretch the place he went 62-28 with a 3.16 ERA for the Tigers. His father, Joe Coleman Sr., and son, Casey Coleman, additionally pitched within the massive leagues.
Lee Elia died on Wednesday at age 87. An infielder who performed for the Chicago White Sox in 1966, and for the Chicago Cubs in 1968, Elia later managed the latter of these groups in 1982 and 1983, and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1987 and 1988.
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The reply to the quiz is Stan Musial, with six. Fred Lynn and Ted Williams are tied for the second-highest whole; every homered 4 instances whereas taking part in within the midsummer basic.
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Essentially the most nice shock on the Cincinnati Reds this season? I requested the NL Central membership’s TV play-play-by voice for his ideas in the beginning of this month.
“Jose Trevino’s identified abilities are pitch framing and sport calling,” John Sadak stated to my query. “He’s an amazing defensive catcher — huge management — however he’s additionally having fun with the most effective offensive yr of his profession. His slash line numbers are all on tempo for profession highs, and as we’re recording this he leads the workforce in doubles. He’s been extra on the aggressive aspect as a hitter, with a whole lot of pull contact down the road.
“Tyler Stephenson was harm popping out of spring coaching, and Trevino stepped into that lead position the primary few weeks,” added Sadak. “You possibly can nonetheless really feel and see that reverb. He’s been spectacular. He’s one of many nice surprises, for positive.”
Coming into the yr, Trevino had a .236/.275/.362 slash line and a 74 wRC+ taking part in for the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees. Now in his first season with the Reds, the eight-year veteran went into yesterday slashing .282/.319/.453 with a 108 wRC+.
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After I interviewed Brady Singer in March 2021, the then-Kansas Metropolis Royals right-hander advised me that he identifies as, “a sinker man.” The outline was apt. By season’s finish, Singer had logged a 50.9% floor ball charge whereas counting on his signature providing 57.5% of the time over his first two big-league campaigns.
How does Singer determine 4 years later?
“I nonetheless have a sinker, however clearly I’ve modified my repertoire a little bit bit,” he stated to that query. “I take advantage of the four-seamer extra, a cutter extra, the sweeper. I take advantage of my different pitches off [the sinker], however earlier than, I used to be just about simply sinker-slider.”
Singer’s floor ball charge this yr is simply 34.4%, by far a profession low. Conversely, his 42.0% fly ball charge is well a profession excessive. Pitching in Cincinnati, that’s not precisely an optimum mixture. Proper?
“I imply, I type of simply pitch,” replied Singer, who sports activities a 4.32 ERA and a 4.02 FIP on the season (coming into the yr these numbers had been 4.28 and three.97). “My floor ball charge is clearly decrease, however I like the place I’m at, particularly towards lefties. The cutter has helped with that so much. That’s why we added it this yr.”
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Earlier this week, the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants performed their tenth consecutive sport that was determined by one run, a Japanese file. The outdated file of 9 straight one-run video games dates again to 1940.
Takumu Nakano has 29 sacrifice hits, essentially the most in NPB (nobody else has greater than 14). The 29-year-old Hanshin Tigers second baseman is slashing .302/.373/.347 with a 131 wRC+. His OBP ranks second within the circuit.
Shinya Matsuyama has 28 saves to go along with a 1.42 ERA and a 0.80 FIP over 31-and-two-thirds innings for the Chunichi Dragons. The 25-year-old right-hander’s 36.1% strikeout charge is second finest amongst NPB pitchers with not less than 30 innings.
Hyun Min Ahn is slashing .356/.465/.648 with 16 house runs and a 203 wRC+ over 260 plate appearances for the KBO’s KT Wiz. The 21-year-old outfielder was drafted out of highschool as a catcher in 2022.
Kyle Garlick is slashing 329/.426/.645 with 17 house runs in 272 plate appearances for the Mexican League’s Charros de Jalisco. The 33-year-old erstwhile MLB outfielder performed for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate final season.
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A random obscure former participant snapshot:
Trench Davis performed in simply 23 big-league video games, 17 of them with the Pittsburgh Pirates 1985-1986, and one other six with the Atlanta Braves in 1987. A Baltimore-born outfielder identified primarily for his good wheels, Davis went simply 4-for-33 on the plate, though he did stroke safeties towards some notable names. Together with a knock towards Scott Terry, he recorded hits off of Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, and Mario Soto.
Davis — his given identify is Trench Neal — had most of his success down on the farm. In 1984, he pilfered 53 baggage whereas taking part in for the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders, and two years later he batted .311 with 27 thefts for that very same membership. In 1988, he batted .371 and had 34 steals with the Mexican League’s Sultanes de Monterrey.
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Garrett Crochet threw the primary full sport of his profession yesterday, scattering three hits and fanning 9 batters in a 1-0 Boston Purple Sox win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Assembly with reporters after the sport, the lefty talked about between-innings dialogues having contributed to his stellar effort. I requested him if he might elaborate.
“The sequences to the hitters we’ve seen previously,” defined Crochet, “Often it’s wanting on the high three hitters coming as much as the plate the following inning. So, what sequences have we run? What have the primary pitches been? What have [they] swung-and-missed at? And what has he not seen? There’s additionally what quadrant we’re making an attempt to get to, primarily based on the place he’s type of seen the upper frequency of pitches in prior at-bats.”
Who’s driving that dialogue?
“Simply myself and [pitching coach Andrew] Bailey,” Crochet stated to my followup. “[Pitching strategist] Devin Rose is fairly big in that as effectively. When [catcher Carlos Narváez] isn’t hitting, he’d down within the tunnel as effectively.”
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Boston’s win was their ninth in a row, and it was additionally their third third straight towards the Rays by only one run. On Friday, they walked off their AL East courtesy of a two-run blast over the Inexperienced Monster by Ceddanne Rafaela. An evening earlier, they’d come from behind with three runs within the seventh. Previous to yesterday’s sport, Kevin Money was requested if these kinds of defeats are harder to cope with than others.
“I believe that’s truthful,” replied the Tampa Bay supervisor. “If you’ve obtained leads going, late in ballgames, and the opposite workforce finally ends up getting massive hits and profitable the video games, these are in all probability harder to deal with. All of them depend the identical. We all know that. Within the second they’re powerful, however the subsequent day you get able to go. They do a great job of flushing it.”
The Rays have misplaced seven of their final 9 and have dropped into fourth place within the East, a sport and a half behind the Purple Sox.
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FARM NOTES
The perfect file within the minors belongs to the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Excessive-A Pittsburgh Pirates), who’re 59-26. Shut behind are the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A New York Mets), at 57-27, and the West Michigan Whitecaps (Excessive-A Detroit Tigers) at 57-28.
On Thursday, the Amarillo Sod Poodles rallied from an 11-3, late-inning deficit to beat the Frisco RoughRiders 13-12. The Arizona Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate scored 5 within the eighth, 4 in ninth, and one every within the Tenth and eleventh innings. Kristian Robinson plated the winner with a walk-off single.
Thomas White has a 2.66 ERA, a 2.25 FIP, and a 35.0% strikeout charge over 47-and-third innings between Excessive-A Beloit and Double-A Pensacola. Drafted Thirty fifth-overall in 2023 out of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, the 20-year-old left-hander is No. 2 on our Miami Marlins Prime Prospects record. He has but to be taken deep this season.
Gage Stanifer has thrown essentially the most innings amongst minor league hurlers to not have allowed a house run. The 21-year-old right-hander has tossed 59-and-two-thirds frames between Low-A Dunedin and Excessive-A Vancouver and has a 2.72 ERA, a 2.18 FIP, a 39.8 strikeout charge, and a 50.0% floor ball charge. A Nineteenth-round decide in 2022 out of Westfield (IN) Excessive College, Stanifer went unranked on our Toronto Blue Jays Prime Prospects record.
Kaelen Culpepper is slashing .311/.398/.488 with 12 house runs and a 147 wRC+ over 324 plate appearances between Excessive-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita. Drafted Twenty first-overall final yr out of Kansas State College, the 22-year-old shortstop is No. 5 on our Minnesota Twins Prime Prospects record.
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James Tibbs III was drafted Thirteenth-overall final yr out of Florida State College by the San Francisco Giants, and subsequently traded to the Boston Purple Sox a month in the past as a part of the blockbuster Rafael Devers deal. The 22-year-old outfielder has been with the Double-A Portland Sea Canine since becoming a member of his new group.
Who among the many pitchers he’s confronted in professional ball most stands out as a difficult at-bat?
“Trey Yesavage,” stated Tibbs, naming the 21-year-old right-hander within the Toronto Blue Jays system. “Prime-100 prospect, fairly strong arm, first-round decide. He was truly [seven] picks after me final yr. I confronted him just a few instances in Excessive-A, and now just a few instances right here — I can’t get away from him! — and he’d punched me out 4 instances earlier than I made a very good adjustment and hit a pair balls exhausting towards him final week. I homered, and hit one other ball 105 [mph] that was caught out by their bullpen, however yeah, he’s a irritating at-bat. He’s obtained a whole lot of confidence. He executes his pitches effectively. He tunnels his pitches effectively. He positively retains you in your toes.”
Yesavage, who represented Toronto in yesterday’sAll-Star Futures Sport, is No. 5 on on our Blue Jays Prime Prospects record, with a forty five+ FV. The Twentieth-overall choice in final yr’s draft has a 3.19 ERA and a 41.1% strikeout charge over 67-and-two-thirds innings throughout three ranges on the season. His final 5 begins have include the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Tyler Naquin has made a late-career transition from outfielder to pitcher. Tim Stebbins has the story at MLB.com.
Who’re the most important Texas Rangers booms and busts within the beginner draft over the previous decade? Shawn McFarland shared his opinion at The Dallas Information.
At The Worldwide Examiner, Emily Hawks talked to Seattle Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo about race, id, and being a job mannequin.
MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince wrote about outgoing SABR president Mark Armour’s “The Satchel Mission,” which chronicles the profession of Satchel Paige.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
The Detroit Tigers will go into the All-Star break with the most effective file within the majors. The final time they did so was in 2006, a season wherein they gained 95 common season video games and misplaced to the St. Louis Cardinals within the World Collection.
Trevor Story performed in his 1,000th profession sport on Friday. He recorded his a thousandth profession hit yesterday.
Steve Carlton went 15-29 with a 5.72 ERA from age 41 onward. Justin Verlander is 5-13 with a 5.12 ERA since turning 40. He’s 0-7 with a 4.70 ERA this season.
Mike Golden went 7-19 with a 1.83 ERA over 113 innings for the Nationwide Affiliation’s Keokuk Westerns in 1885. The Shirley, Massachusetts native allowed 88 runs, though solely 23 went into the file books as earned.
Baltimore Orioles Corridor of Famer Jim Palmer was born in New York Metropolis, adopted two days later, and named James Alvin Wiesen. His father died when he was 9 years outdated, after which his mom moved to California and married a person named Max Palmer.
The American League beat the Nationwide League 6-4 at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium to win the All-Star Sport on in the present day’s date in 1971. Six Corridor of Famers — Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Roberto Clemente, Reggie Jackson, Harmon Killebrew, and Frank Robinson — homered, with Mr. October’s blast caroming off the sunshine tower atop the roof in right-center area.
On in the present day’s date in 2004, the American League scored six first-inning runs off of Roger Clemens and went on to beat the Nationwide League 9-4 at Houston’s Minute Maid Park. Manny Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano took The Rocket deep.
On in the present day’s date in 1938, Joe DiMaggio’s second house run of the sport — a Tenth-inning walk-off with two runners aboard — gave the New York Yankees a 15-12 win over the St. Louis Browns. Jim Walkup surrendered the gopher and noticed his file to fall to 0-10 on the season.
Gamers born on in the present day’s date embrace Robbie Wine, a catcher who went 6-for-41 on the plate whereas showing in 23 video games for the Houston Astros throughout the 1986-1987 seasons. Later the pinnacle baseball coach at Penn State, the Norristown, Pennsylvania native is the son of former Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos shortstop Bobby Wine.
Additionally born on in the present day’s date was Invoice Caudill, a right-handed reliever who spent his first three MLB seasons with the Chicago Cubs, then recorded 27 wins and 102 saves whereas pitching for the Seattle Mariners, Oakland A’s, and Toronto Blue Jays from 1982-1985. A free-spirited flamethrower, Caudill was was a minor league teammate of Scott Boras within the St. Louis Cardinals system, and later turned one of many super-agent’s first shoppers.