Baseball Chatter Aug 15

Major-league teams are on pace for the fewest amount of stolen base attempts since 1973, when there were 24 teams

Arizona Diamondbacks
  • Zack Greinke is striking out 10.1 batters per nine innings, the second-best rate of his career, and his average fastball velocity of 90.9 mph is a career low.
  • Robbie Ray is expected to make a rehab start for Class A Visalia on Thursday, so a return to the mound Friday is unlikely
Atlanta Braves
  • Julio Teheran entered yesterday:
    • 1-6 in his past nine starts
    • 0-4 with a 7.00 ERA in his last five starts
    • Allowed eight homers in his past four starts, including six homers in 11 innings in his past two road starts
  • Matt Kemp will be activated from the disabled list Friday, leaving Matt Adams‘ playing time up in the air
Baltimore Orioles
  • Within two games of the second AL wild-card spot
    • Third place in the AL East for the first time since June 10.
  • Manny Machado is hitting .386 with eight doubles, a triple, five homers and 20 RBIs over his past 16 games
  • Kevin Gausman has an ERA of 1.80 over his past six starts.
    • (9-8) held the Mariners (59-61) to two runs and six hits over seven innings.
    • Allowed just four baserunners after allowing the first three to reach base
  • Adam Jones is hitting .409 with seven RBIs since moving to the cleanup spot five games ago
Boston Red Sox
  • Eduardo Nunez had three singles for Boston, which lost for just the second time in 12 games.
  • David Price had a day off from his ‘throwing program’ yesterday, will start again today.
    • John Farrell said it was too early to determine whether David Price would need a rehab start in the minors.
Cleveland Indians
  • Have won four straight
  • Edwin Encarnacion hit consecutive two-run homers in the fifth and sixth innings
    • his third multi-homer game this season and the 28th of his career
  • Trevor Bauer allowed three solo homers on seven hits and walked two and struck out eleven
    • 4-0 with a 2.41 ERA in his last five starts
    • 39 strikeouts and eight walks over 33 2/3 innings
Chicago Cubs
  • First of 24 consecutive games against teams under .500
  • Kris Bryant reached base 13 times in 15 plate appearances over the last three games and had back-to-back-to-back three-hit outings.
  • Jose Quintana walked four hit two over five innings.
    • 56 pitches were in the strike zone and 49 were not
Chicago White Sox
  • Have traded 10 veteran players since last season for 19 prospects.
  • Yoan Moncada is hitting .205 with nine RBI and two home runs in his 22 games with the Sox
Cincinnati Reds
  • Lost 15-5 to the Chicago Cubs
Houston Astros
  • Have lost 10 of their last 13 games.
  • Shut out for the fifth time in 118 games this season
  • Jose Altuve struck out three times
  • Brian McCann hit the disabled list with right knee soreness.
Colorado Rockies
  • Chad Bettis pitched seven scoreless innings, gave up six hits,struck out two and walked none in his first major league start since having testicular cancer surgery last fall
  • Ian Desmond took indoor batting practice for the first time on his disabled list stint, but “he still has some hurdles to get over” before a rehab assignment, Black said
Detroit Tigers
  • 2-8 in last 10 games
  • Michael Fulmer made his first start in 14 days
  • James McCann is is hitting .364 since July 16
    • the highest average of any catcher in baseball since that point.
The simple answer is I shortened my swingMcCann
Kansas City Royals
  • In a second-place tie with the Twins and five games behind the Indians
  • Cam Gallagher hit a grand slam for his first career home run and second big league hit
    • The first grand slam by a Royals rookie since Paulo Orlando in 2015.
  • Jake Junis was recalled for the seventh time this season
    • allowed two runs on four hits in six innings with two strikeouts and no walks.
Los Angeles Angels
  • Have won six straight and 12 of their past 16 games.
  • Worst offense in the league, at least by OPS
  • C.J. Cron is hitting .373 with four home runs and has started 11 of 12 games in August
Los Angeles Dodgers
  • Have not lost a series in 9 1/2 weeks
Miami Marlins
  • Giancarlo Stanton has hit 10 home runs in the past 11 games, including the past five straight
Milwaukee Brewers
  • Entered the break 50-41 with a 5.5 game lead over the Cubbies
  • Run production dropped from 4.96 to 3.12 per game when home runs dropped from 1.52 to 1 per game
  • went 0-for-33 with runners in scoring position
  • If Eric Thames doesn’t hit 30 home runs by the end of September, I am wonder woman
New York Mets
  • Rafael Montero earned two runs over six innings
    • Entered yesterday 0-3 with a 6.49 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break
New York Yankees
  • Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez hit their 40th home run
    • Aaron Judge homered for the first time in 11 games and extended his strikeout run to 31 games straight
    • Gary Sanchez hit his 20th homer of the season
Oakland A’s
  • Jharel Cotton allowed six runs on eight hits, struck out two and walked three
    • 5-10 with an ERA of 5.92
    • Has an 8.71 ERA in four starts since coming off the disabled list July 30
    • Has allowed at least four runs nine of his 18 starts
  • Matt Olson showed he can hit lefties when he bashed a homer off Zach Britton, who hasn’t allowed a leftie to hit a home run since 2013
Philadelphia Phillies
  • Entered yesterday on pace to attempt the least number of stolen bases since 1973.
    • May not have any player reach 20 stolen bases for the first time since 1997.
    • Cesar Hernandez has been successful 80 percent of the time after only 57 percent last season
  • Rhys Hoskins hit his first two career home runs
    • First Phillies hitter to hit his first two career homers in the same game since Scott Rolen in 1996.
  • Jerad Eickhoff needed 95 pitches to get through five innings and allowed the first batter to reach base in four of five innings.
    • He could not command the ball
Pittsburgh Pirates
  • Ivan Nova is throwing 66.7 percent of his pitches for strikes this season, more than he has in any other season. This could be part of his problem according to pitching coach Ray Searage
    • seventh-highest rate in the National League
What is frustrating is I see how the other guys are pitching, and I know we need to win games, and I’m not helping. The intention is not to hit anybody, but you don’t want the hitter to feel comfortable, That’s what’s been happening lately: They feel too comfortable. They know I throw a lot of strikes, so they’re aggressive in the strike zone. I’ve got to do whatever I can to get back on track. I pitched very well early (in the season), and I’m struggling now, But I still have eight or nine starts left. That’s a lot of games. You’ve got to start again at the beginning. I want to get a good one in Milwaukee (on Tuesday) and go from there. Ivan Nova
Batters know he’s a strike-thrower, so they’re sitting on him,What he’s got to do is make them uncomfortable a little bit more, move their feet.Pitching Coach Ray Searage
With Nova, everybody knows about the two-seamer down, He’s going to stay down there 90 percent of the time. You’ve got to show them up-and-in and sometimes off the plate, just to back them up and let them know it’s not going to be the same thing every time. It puts something different in their heads, as well. I think just the physical grind of the season is starting to wear on him a little bit,” Stewart said. “He’s a little inconsistent (with arm angle), and he’s getting hurt by it a little bit. It’s a matter of being focused every pitch. When he’s on, the ball’s still moving, and he’s getting ground balls. He’s just not doing it consistently through the whole game. Catcher Chris Stewart
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St Louis Cardinals
Tampa Bay Rays
  • 59-61
    • closer to last place in the American League East than a wild-card spot
  • Alex Cobb‘s return from the Disabled List remains unclear
  • Wilson Ramos hit a home run after 74 at bats
Toronto Blue Jays
  • Nick Tepesch earned his first win of the season but that doesn’t mean he is any good as his ERA is still 5.25 with six strikeouts and six walks in 12 innings
  • Josh Donaldson hit his 17th home run of the season and eighth over his last 16 games.
    • hitting .333 with 18 RBIs and a 1.258 OPS
Texas Rangers
  • Elvis Andrus leads the team with 71 runs scored
    • .295 average, .477 slugging percentage, 33 doubles and a career-high 15 home runs
Washington Nationals
  • Stephen Strasburg threw 64 pitches over five innings in a start for Class A Potomac yesterday
    • Allowed one run on three hits, struck out five and walked one
    • Retired eight consecutive batters to end his outing

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