Welcome to a different version of 5 Issues I Favored (Or Didn’t Like) This Week. That title is kind of a mouthful. Each time I submit it, our useful again finish interface informs me that it’s “far too lengthy.” You’re not incorrect, WordPress. However I lifted the title and the inspiration for this column from Zach Lowe’s basketball function of the identical identify, and each time I take into account eradicating the parenthetical a part of it, I keep in mind that the frustrations and failures of the sport are a part of what makes baseball so compelling. For those who by no means disliked something about sports activities, they wouldn’t be so enjoyable to comply with. So whereas each merchandise this week includes one thing I preferred, in addition they all comprise a component of one thing I didn’t look after. Missed performs, bobbled balls, artificially abbreviated outings, below-average defensive models, prolonged harm recoveries – there are issues to dislike in every of those. All of them introduced me excessive pleasure anyway, although. Let’s get going.
1. Relatable Frustration
Mike Yastrzemski has been every part the Royals might have hoped for since he joined the staff on the commerce deadline. He leads off towards righties, will get platooned towards lefties, and performs his ordinary proper subject. He’s been the staff’s second-best hitter behind Bobby Witt Jr., an enormous boon as they chase slim playoff odds. Additionally, when he goofs one thing up, his reactions are very relatable:
You’ll be able to see what occurred there instantly. Yaz’s first step was in, however the ball was really over his head, and tailing in direction of the foul line so strongly that he couldn’t attain it. Certain, it was solely his second begin of the 12 months in left subject. Certain, he hasn’t performed left for greater than a handful of video games since 2019. And certain, the ball had loads of slice on it. However he’d most likely inform you an identical factor you’re considering: Main league outfielders, significantly stable ones like Yastrzemski, ought to make that play.
Misreads and errors occur on a regular basis; much less frequent is Yastrzemski’s mixture of fantastic physique language and talent to get better. Watching his face go from “Right here it comes!” to “There it went” (full with a reflexive glove stab at a ball 4 ft out of his grasp) made me chuckle:
That’s the face I make once I notice that I forgot to refill the ice tray, or when the laundry I’m meticulously stacking tilts and falls over. Unforced errors sting. However even whereas he was down on himself for that route, Yaz was busy being knowledgeable athlete. He performed the ball off the wall, decelerating to maintain it in entrance of him whereas nonetheless in some way conveying his annoyance:
His throw hit the relay man completely; he was by no means going to get Brayan Rocchio at second, however the correct throw stopped the bleeding at a double. Most delightfully to me, although, Yaz was pissed off sufficient to sulk but in addition skilled sufficient to attend till he was carried out along with his job. Take a look at this replay of the cutoff throw. By the point it was arcing down in direction of Maikel Garcia, Yaz had already turned away to stare wistfully on the left subject fence and stroll away:
Baseball is tough. Everybody makes errors. It’s the way you reply to them that issues, and Yastrzemski’s response was each extraordinarily human and managed to get the job carried out. That pissed off face and post-throw stroll actually spoke to me.
2. Gunnar Henderson’s Full-Physique Protection
Gunnar Henderson seems like a center linebacker enjoying shortstop. He’s listed at 6-foot-3 and 220 kilos, and neither looks like an underestimate. Regardless of that massive body, he’s a stable defender. It’s not all the time balletic like Francisco Lindor. Henderson doesn’t have the uncanny knack for off-platform throws that Masyn Winn shows. He isn’t lanky and explosive like Elly De La Cruz, or in good management of his each extremity always like Ezequiel Tovar. However along with having stable vary and a giant arm, Henderson takes benefit of his measurement in refined ways in which assist him restrict errors and switch as many balls in his vary as attainable into outs.
Exhausting-hit ball? Henderson will get his complete physique behind it, then catches it along with his middle of mass, creating an enormous backstop:
It’s a must to put your physique on the road to play like that. That ball was 106 mph off the bat, completely rifled. It received’t all the time find yourself in your glove. Placing as a lot meat between it and the outfield simply provides you extra margin for error. Take this 109 mph grounder from later the identical night time:
With the ball hit that onerous, two issues are true: It’s onerous to subject it cleanly, however there’s time to get better even when it bounces. The one catastrophe situation could be a bizarre hop that kicks away. His physique positioning minimized that danger, although; when the ball kicked up greater than anticipated, he merely smothered it, gathered it, and threw on time for the out.
This talent doesn’t leap off the web page. More often than not, Henderson’s physique doesn’t even come into play. In spite of everything, he’s a reliable main league shortstop; they’re fairly good at fielding balls cleanly of their gloves. However main league protection is about avoiding the unlikely; “more often than not” isn’t on a regular basis, and good fielders hedge towards uncertainty. Earlier this week, with the infield in, Henderson made a pleasant decide the place a backhand stab was the pure play:
Nonetheless, his torso and leg acquired in on the motion as last-gasp blockers. In that state of affairs, even when Henderson bobbled the ball, maintaining it on the infield would give him an opportunity at a redo. He made the play, however his contingency plan for if he couldn’t was fairly good too. He’s usually good at physique alignment in simply that approach. Watch a random video of Henderson fielding a well-struck grounder, and if he has time, he’s getting his shoulders and chest in good place to decelerate a carom. Generally it’s refined, and typically he fields the ball so cleanly that you simply barely discover, however it’s persistently there.
And it’s not like Henderson doesn’t make different sorts of good performs. He can use his lengthy levers to load up for large throws:
He has the steadiness and coordination to make powerful performs up the center:
However his physique positioning and his capacity to smother the baseball each stand out to me. Errors may not be the easiest way to measure protection, however avoiding errors is a key a part of enjoying the infield, the place everybody handles an enormous chunk of routine-ish performs all year long. Henderson had dedicated 19 fielding errors (not throwing) in his profession earlier than this season, one each 106 innings. In 2024, he made 15 fielding errors, one each 92 innings. In 2025, he’s all the way down to a mere 4 in 1,110 innings, or one each 275 innings. These additional outs add up, and I feel that a number of it comes all the way down to him utilizing his torso as an emergency extension of his glove.
For the report, although, even Henderson has limits. When Oneil Cruz ripped one immediately at him Wednesday night time, Henderson took a take a look at the toughest swinger in baseball, took a take a look at (or, extra most likely, heard) a ball hit so onerous it knuckled within the air, and stated “Okay, let’s simply use the glove on this one and hope I catch it.” Generally discretion is the higher a part of valor:
3. Sheer Dominance
I can’t go away that Baltimore-Pittsburgh conflict, considered one of my favourite video games of the month, with no little extra recognition. Paul Skenes confronted off towards the Orioles for the primary time, and he got here out of the gate fired up. Sorry, Jackson Holliday. Thanks for enjoying, Gunnar:
Have a look at the pitch sequence listed on the left hand facet as he blew this fastball previous Colton Cowser for one more strikeout:
Curveball, splitter, sweeper, splitter, splitter – with these splitters topping out at 94 mph, by the way in which – after which he introduces a wonderfully positioned fastball afterwards? It’s diabolical. This sequence turned Dylan Carlson right into a pretzel twice over:
Skenes had the ball on a string, to say the least. He threw a collection of sweepers, beginning middle-middle after which trailing more and more down and away, to get Ryan Mountcastle on three straight pitches:
The Orioles didn’t have any solutions. Carlson was so befuddled after taking a middle-middle curveball to begin his subsequent at-bat that he tried to bunt his approach on, failing miserably en path to a strikeout. Skenes struck out half of the batters he confronted, didn’t stroll anybody, and held the Orioles scoreless over 5 innings.
Wait, 5 innings? Yeah, the Pirates are pulling him from video games early to handle his workload, now that they’re effectively and actually out of the race and constructing for 2026. However what a 5 innings it was: 64 pitches, 12 swinging strikes, at the very least a half dozen Orioles wanting baffled and dismayed as they tried to determine how a baseball might transfer like that. In basic Skenes vogue, Baltimore received 2-1 in 10 innings, however he seemed like the very best pitcher on the planet on the market.
On the superb Orioles Statcast broadcast (extra of those, please!), Brian Roberts stated it greatest as Carmen Mlodzinski got here out of the Pittsburgh bullpen to interchange Skenes for the sixth inning. “I hope the Orioles win, however I used to be glad I acquired to see it.” Me too, Brian. Me too.
4. Beautiful Protection
Have a look at this wonderful play:
I cherished each little little bit of that. First, J.P. Crawford used his full extension and the very finish of his glove to maintain the ball within the infield:
From that location and with a ball hit that slowly, Crawford wanted to get to his ft to throw as a substitute of attempting one thing artistic from the bottom. No drawback, although; watch his footwork on that video above. He merely turned his dive right into a crawl, contorted his left leg up previous his hip to realize buy, then scrambled to his ft whereas concurrently transferring the ball and stepping right into a throw.
The throw sailed, naturally, since Crawford’s momentum was nonetheless so strongly headed into middle subject. Crawford doesn’t have a robust arm, both; to get sufficient on it from such a bizarre beginning place, he needed to put some air on it, making for a harder play on the receiving finish. Josh Naylor performs a reasonably first base, although. He caught the ball, acquired out of José Fermín’s approach, and seemed trendy whereas doing it:
Subsequent batter, Eugenio Suárez acquired in on the act:
That would have seemed smoother, in fact, however his restoration was nice. The subsequent batter after that, Crawford made a wonderful sliding cease on a ball hit too softly to transform into an out:
Suárez wasn’t carried out both. With the sport deep into additional innings, he turned a would-be RBI single into simply one other groundout, with slightly assist from Naylor on the again finish:
Saving that run proved essential. The Mariners tied the sport within the backside half of the inning, however they couldn’t push a 3rd run throughout. They finally pulled it out in 13 innings to take care of their slender lead for the final AL Wild Card slot (and preserve the stress on Houston in a decent AL West race whereas they had been at it). Seattle performs a ton of tight, low-scoring video games due to the staff’s roster building and residential ballpark; turning a number of groundball singles into outs could make all of the distinction.
By the way in which, the Mariners’ infield protection is without doubt one of the worst in baseball. Statcast thinks they’re third worst on the 12 months, and within the backside third of the league for the reason that All-Star break. DRS isn’t way more optimistic. Crawford, Suárez, and Naylor price as under common by each OAA and DRS. Main league defenders are simply ridiculous. That is what the so-so infields do!
5. He’s Baaaaaack
I get it. You thought the Astros had been overdue for a nasty 12 months. Alex Bregman is gone. Kyle Tucker is gone. Justin Verlander is gone once more. Jose Altuve is in the midst of simply his second down season in a decade. Isaac Paredes, their huge offseason acquisition, hasn’t performed since July 19. Josh Hader is out for the remainder of the common season. Yordan Alvarez slumped to begin the season, acquired harm on Could 2, and didn’t play for greater than three months. That common sample – some stars go away, those who stay age or get harm – suggests an ignominious ending.
That suggestion has been misplaced on the Astros. They’ve been atop the division for a lot of the 12 months. Their beginning rotation, anchored by Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez, has been top-of-the-line within the league. The bullpen is deep sufficient that it’s nonetheless formidable even with Hader on the shelf. Most significantly, although, Alvarez is again.
Since his debut in 2019, Alvarez has been top-of-the-line few hitters in baseball. However that season-opening droop was actually hellacious – the bottom barrel price of his profession led to few additional base hits, and he didn’t make up for it wherever else. He’s all the time carried harm considerations, and this 12 months’s mysterious harm (first recognized as muscular, then later revealed to be a damaged bone in his hand) saved lingering. What was he going to do, come again from a protracted IL stint, for a power-sapping harm like a damaged hand, and act like his terrible droop by no means occurred?
Because it seems, sure. Alvarez returned to the majors in late August and promptly turned again into the Yordan of outdated. In 60 plate appearances since he got here off the IL, he’s hitting .449/.533/.694, good for a 234 wRC+. He’s already produced his hardest-hit ball of the 12 months. He’s barreling the ball up proper round his profession price, hitting it onerous as steadily as ever, and strolling greater than he strikes out. A ten% strikeout price! A 7.4% swinging strike price! The peripherals look phenomenal. He’s doing it towards nice pitchers. Sorry Jake, however this was the incorrect time of 12 months to face the Astros:
When somebody scuffles or misses time, it’s straightforward to overlook how they checked out their greatest. Generally, one harm modifications the trajectory of a man’s profession. Heck, it’s solely been two weeks since Alvarez’s return; his .463 BABIP received’t persist without end, and his seasonal line continues to be uninspiring as a result of he slumped for thus lengthy. However I feel he’s the very best participant on the Astros. I feel he’s the second-best hitter within the American League after Aaron Decide. The Astros had been main the AL West with out him. It may be one other lengthy, orange October now that Yordan Alvarez is again and clicking.