One other week, one other jam-packed baseball schedule. The largest story of the week, little doubt, is Shohei Ohtani’s torn UCL, probably the most profound baseball-related bummer of the 12 months in my view. Ohtani is such a globe-spanning celebrity that information of this magnitude will naturally overshadow the remainder of what’s occurring within the sport. However I’m not right here to mope. Like Zach Lowe and his seminal Ten Issues basketball column, we’re right here to rejoice some little oddities. So let’s get right down to enterprise. This week’s column is crammed with pleasant weirdness, and delightfully odd groups, to offset the Ohtani unhappiness. Do you want bunts? Do you just like the Marlins doing bizarre stuff? Do you want baserunning adventures and underdogs taking up bullies? Then learn on, as a result of this column has all of that and extra.
1. The Marlins Go Inverted
If the Marlins miss the playoffs this 12 months, will probably be as a result of their offense couldn’t rating sufficient runs. They’re fifth-worst within the league in run scoring, and that’s regardless of the contributions of Jorge Soler and Luis Arraez, who’ve been their greatest hitters this 12 months. Including Jake Burger and Josh Bell on the deadline has labored out – each are raking in Miami – however the offense nonetheless hasn’t produced; they’re twenty fourth in runs scored up to now month. So that they got here up with a brand new plan: swap the nice gamers round.
In current video games, Soler has been main off and Arraez has batted second. That sounds so bizarre. The large man who smashes homers is hitting with nobody on base, after which the hitter with a .400 OBP and no energy to talk of goes subsequent? One thing unusual is afoot.
Previous-school baseball followers would in all probability inform you that is backwards. New-school sorts would possibly inform you that lineup order doesn’t matter that a lot. I believe there’s an opportunity that the Marlins had been going for a 3rd choice. Consider it this fashion: the factor that makes Arraez distinctive is the sheer variety of singles he hits. Singles are much less useful when nobody’s on base; individuals yell “a stroll is pretty much as good as successful” in particular conditions as a result of it often isn’t pretty much as good as successful. However main off an inning, Arraez’s singles aren’t any higher than a stroll as a result of they don’t give runners an opportunity to advance as a lot.
In the meantime, Soler has a strong batting eye however intermittent swing-and-miss points. Should you’re pitching to Soler in entrance of Arraez, are you going to throw him pitches exterior the strike zone? In all probability not – it’ll by no means be much less painful to surrender a house run than main off, and by no means extra painful to stroll him than in entrance of Captain Singles. So you would see this figuring out, as unusual because it sounds; Soler will get extra hittable pitches and Arraez will get extra baserunners.
Has it labored? The outcomes are combined. Pitchers are throwing Soler fewer pitches within the coronary heart of the strike zone and fewer strikes total, however they’re throwing him extra fastballs, a pitch he’s traditionally feasted on. His line out of the leadoff spot is weird: .214/.298/.571 with extra homers than singles, and a 31.9% strikeout price. He’s not getting on base in entrance of Arraez fairly often, however that’s as a result of he’s steadily driving himself in earlier than anybody else can.
Would it not be good to hit these homers after Arraez reached? Little question. However two of the 5 have been two-run photographs, and he’s really cashing in about as many runners per homer as he did earlier than switching to leadoff. Improbably, he’d solely pushed Arraez in with a homer 3 times this 12 months regardless of batting instantly after him for almost all of the season.
As for Arraez’s half of the equation, the much less stated the higher: he’s hitting .214/.228/.375 since Soler took over leadoff obligation on August 8, with a 1.8% stroll price and three.5% strikeout price that each sound like made up numbers. So it’s not apparent that this batting order inversion has completed something in any respect. That doesn’t make me chuckle any much less once I see Miami’s lineup, although. The bopper first, the slap hitter second; it makes extra sense than you’d suppose, and but it’s nonetheless figuring out about as surprisingly as you’ll be able to think about.
2. Eury Pérez Is Not Afraid
Final month, the Marlins demoted Eury Pérez to Double-A. It wasn’t for efficiency causes; you don’t demote a man with a 2.36 ERA and three.70 FIP fairly often. It was for upkeep (and probably service time) causes, and he pitched solely 5.2 innings in his month on the farm. I wasn’t a fan of that transfer on the time, and I’m certain the gamers on the crew weren’t both. Their odds of reaching the playoffs fell from 64.3% to 26.8% whereas Pérez was out. Maybe it was inevitable that he’d want some relaxation, on condition that he’s already exceeded his 2022 innings rely regardless of the month off, however the timing can be disappointing to anybody, by no means thoughts an ultra-competitive skilled athlete breaking into the massive leagues.
Nice information, although: Pérez is again and displaying no indicators of a insecurity. Final weekend, he confronted the red-hot Dodgers in Los Angeles. That isn’t a matchup for the faint of coronary heart, however he was greater than as much as the duty. Enjoying the primary sport of a hurricane-related double header, he pitched like he had an appointment to get to later that afternoon. After a nine-pitch battle with Mookie Betts to open the sport, he acquired proper right down to enterprise. That enterprise? Strikeouts.
Pérez threw solely 81 extra pitches after that opening duel with Betts. He turned these into 10 strikeouts. He beat Dodgers batters excessive:
He beat Dodgers batters low:
He went proper at them along with his dominant fastball:
Heck, he threw his secondaries within the zone and let the Dodgers do their worst:
There aren’t any two methods about it; this was a masterclass. Pérez left the Dodgers dispirited. He walked off the mound trying like somebody who knew that what he simply achieved was particular, but additionally considerably anticipated:
His remaining line was attractive. Six innings pitched, 10 strikeouts, two hits, no walks, and no runs. It was the perfect begin of his younger profession, and it got here towards one of many hardest lineups in all of baseball. The Marlins wanted each final little little bit of it, too; they may solely muster one run towards Ryan Pepiot. Pérez was downright electrical, and everybody watching the sport knew it.
The Marlins didn’t rating once more. The Dodgers pushed three runs previous David Robertson within the eighth inning to win it. Not each story has a cheerful ending. However in watching Pérez, you’ll be able to’t assist however suppose that there can be many extra alternatives to rejoice in his future.
3. Okay, Perhaps Joc Isn’t a Baserunning Genius
I acquired very enthusiastic about Joc Pederson’s baserunning prowess final week, and I believe it was with good cause. That sliding leg-swim transfer was phenomenal, the form of play that can be on spotlight reels after the season. Have a look at the athlete in full splendor, turning an out right into a run with sheer bodily brilliance. Yeah, effectively, this one gained’t go on that spotlight reel. Let’s decide it up as Pederson’s laser beam line drive smacks into the left discipline wall:
There are a whole lot of issues to concentrate to on this one, however we’d as effectively begin with Kyle Schwarber, one other bat-first lefty who generally moonlights within the discipline, displaying off the perfect a part of his protection — or if nothing else, the least dangerous a part of it. That’d be his cannon arm; Schwarber was a catcher in faculty and it confirmed when he first made it to the bigs. He put up gaudy throwing numbers early in his profession, and he’s been value round 10 runs above common along with his throwing arm alone, relying on which system you take heed to. Now, he’s additionally one thing like 50 runs beneath common based mostly on the remainder of his protection, and his arm energy is right down to the twenty fourth percentile, however nonetheless, it is a good catch and launch:
That’s a strong flip and an correct throw, however for many hitters, the outcome would nonetheless be a clear double. However Pederson isn’t notably quick, and he wasn’t notably quick out of the field on that one. The mix meant that it wasn’t even a bang-bang play. As you’ll be able to see from the above GIF, he wasn’t even near the bottom when Bryson Stott caught Schwarber’s correct peg.
That simply meant it was time for evasive maneuvers. Once more, Pederson’s no stranger to that; he may not be quick, however he’s actually shifty. His plan: are available in sideways (?!) and hope that Stott couldn’t work out the place to tag him:
Amazingly, it nearly labored. Stott went for his legs, however Pederson was really going for a wraparound left-handed tag. If he’d held up only a fraction of an inch sooner, Stott may need discovered air along with his sweep and ended up simply one other sufferer of Joc’s unconventional slide sport. However nobody can cheat demise each time, and are available on, he was out by a lot that you simply’d want one thing actually transformational to flee there.
As an additional advantage, we acquired handled to a different post-out tableau I’ll bear in mind for some time. Should you don’t give it some thought too onerous, you’ll be able to think about this as umpire Jacob Metz unleashing a fearsome, anime-esque punch that despatched Pederson flying and knocked Stott to his knees within the course of:
4. Ha-Seong Kim’s Bunt Bluffs
I’ve had this matter in my pocket book for almost a 12 months now, and whereas nothing specifically occurred this week to make me revisit it, it’s simply been on my thoughts too lengthy to not say one thing. Ha-Seong Kim pulls off among the silliest bunt bluffs within the majors, and I adore it. Have a look at this exaggerated pretend 3-0 bunt, with nobody on base, in freaking Coors Area:
He’s clearly not bunting there. He’s by no means bunted a ball in play in a 3-0 rely in his profession. He’s by no means hit a foul bunt in a 3-0 rely in his profession. It’s completely for present, simply to mess with the pitcher and perhaps change his strike zone a little bit bit. However he loves doing it! Right here’s one other one from the previous month:
And one other from July:
And why not, a montage of his different three bluffs this 12 months:
This little idiosyncrasy first got here to my consideration in final 12 months’s playoffs. He reached a 3-0 rely 4 instances that postseason. Listed here are three of them:
I assume the concept right here is that for those who’re taking all the best way anyway, you would possibly as effectively give the pitcher a little bit little bit of eye sweet. Kim actually doesn’t swing on 3-0. He’s completed so precisely as soon as in 67 alternatives throughout his main league profession. It was hardly a ferocious lower:
Perhaps it’s all a part of some grand plan. He’s reaching 3-0 counts way more steadily this 12 months than ever earlier than, because of a new strategy on the plate. In some unspecified time in the future, pitchers will suppose “oh, that’s the man who bluffs bunts and by no means swings” and begin grooving him meatballs. Hey, it labored for teammate Matt Carpenter earlier than.
Principally, although, I similar to watching it. “I’m bunting!” Kim says. “Yeah certain buddy, I guess,” say the pitchers’ actions. However hey, for those who’re taking anyway, why not give the followers a little bit present when you’re at it. Given how effectively this season has gone for Kim, I don’t suppose he’s prone to change his plans an excessive amount of, and so they’ll absolutely contain extra pretend bunts.
5. Excessive Stakes in Pittsburgh
After an thrilling early-season run, the Pirates have regressed onerous. They had been in first place within the NL Central on June 15, no fooling. Since then, they’ve gone 23-37 and gotten outscored by 68 runs within the course of. It’s been grim; their greatest hitter in that prolonged stretch is the since-traded Carlos Santana, and their greatest starter has in all probability been Johan Oviedo, proprietor of a 4.74 ERA and 4.84 FIP over that span. It’s dangerous, is my level.
However there’s nonetheless one thing to play for in Pittsburgh. As I discussed final week on Successfully Wild, the Pirates have completed behind the Cardinals within the NL Central for 23 straight years. The final time they beat out the Redbirds was in 1999, when their 78-83 file clipped St. Louis’s 75-86 mark. Since then, the Cardinals have been the category of the division, with a competing solid of groups jockeying with them for the primary spot. All the opposite groups have had a style of divisional glory, however not Pittsburgh.
Regardless of their current slide, they’ve an opportunity at ending this ignominious streak this 12 months, and for beleaguered Bucs followers, it will be a significant silver lining in what’s been a disappointing season. The Cardinals visited Pittsburgh earlier this week with a scant half sport separating them. St. Louis has entered the “simply throw some youngsters on the market” part of its season, which is basically what Pittsburgh’s existence has been for the previous 5 years. It’s a battle on even footing, or at the very least as even because the footing seems prone to get any time quickly in western Pennsylvania.
The Cardinals outspend the Pirates. They out-develop them. Their team-building technique appears to focus notably on minimizing down years, which makes it tougher for the Pirates to drag a quick one on them. “If not now, then when” sounds hyperbolic, however it would possibly really apply right here. The deck is stacked towards the Pirates, however that is their 12 months to beat the home.
They began this current collection off robust, walloping the Cardinals in two straight video games by a mixed 17-4 rating. However the Cardinals scraped out the final sport of the set, which pulled them again inside 1.5 video games. The 2 groups solely meet as soon as extra this season, for 3 video games from September 1-3 in St. Louis, and that may go a great distance in the direction of figuring out whether or not this surprising streak, the longest of its variety in any main North American sport within the fashionable period, continues.
The Pirates have already clinched the season collection over the Cardinals. Just a few extra head-to-head wins would possibly put St. Louis too far behind to get better. And that will result in one other main streak being damaged: the Playing cards haven’t completed in final place of their division since 1990, once they performed in a six-team NL East. The Pirates gained 95 video games that 12 months, by the way; issues seemed so much totally different again then.
The way in which issues are going, the long run feels considerably ordained; St. Louis will spend so much and compete for playoff spots yearly, and the Pirates will attempt to scrape their method above .500 on a shoestring finances. However this 12 months, and maybe this 12 months solely, the underdogs have an excellent shot at taking down the longest-standing bully in baseball.