Transactions:
May 5th – Bad news for the
Rangers. In the middle of a 3-game losing streak, they also lost their center fielder as
Cole Brannan had to be placed on the 10-day DL with a
herniated disc and will miss
8 weeks. 2017 1st round selection CF
Bubba Thompson(22, 1/2*) was placed on the 40-man and called up.
May 20th – LHSP
Justus Sheffield(25, 2/2.5*, 1-1 4.58 12K) was sent to AAA for a rehab assignment... because we don't know if we want to have him, or
Albert Abreu(25, 2/2.5*, 2-2 4.05 43K) up in the Majors.
Series:
1-1 vs MIN
1-3 @ DET
2-0 @ LAA(
Michael Fulmer 9IP 2H 0ER 0BB 1K W)
2-1 vs CLE(
Dallas Keuchel 8IP 1H 0ER 1BB 7K W)
4-0 vs HOU(
Jake J. Thompson 9IP 3H 0ER 1BB 8K W)
2-1 @ KCR(
Nomar Mazara 2-3 2R 3RBI 2BB 2HR(9))
2-0 @ BAL
3-1 vs CWS
3-1 vs BAL
0-1 vs CIN
May: 20-9
Runs Scored: 274(2nd)
Batting AVG: .266(5th)
OBP: .351(1st)
Home Runs: 56(9th)
Stolen Bases: 54(1st)
Runs Against: 207(4th)
Starters ERA: 3.61(1st)
Bullpen ERA: 3.02(5th)
Defensive Eff.: .690(4th)
I don't know if it is the
Brannen injury or bad luck, but our offensive numbers, and especially our home run numbers relative to the league, took a nosedive. In addition to that, Logan slashed the ratings of
Chris Seise... and
Thompson,
Fulmer and
Sensley and that
Bracho guy we traded for the last offseason... Logan surely knows how to tilt me on the first of every month...
That does not change the fact that our pitching has been pretty good for two months now... and we made
Justus Sheffield's stay in AAA permanent as
Albert Abreu is 3-2 with a 3.97ERA right now... and does not serve up that many home runs...
Sheffield has an ERA of 4.65 in AAA so....
The bullpen picked up the pace, a big reason for our success in May... and
Kahnle as the closer was a big call... and the right one. 2-2 13SV 1.66ERA in 24 games with just one blown save. Also,
Alex Claudio has been a model citizen, not complaining about his setup role.
Speaking about complaining,
Steven Sensley a.) got his ratings slashed a bit, and b.) is unhappy with his bench role, batting .205 now... Well, he is not getting past
Williams or
Mazara and
McKinney is hitting a modest .362/.437/.540 clip...
In minor news, LHSP
Jorge Anjo was promoted from the international complex to the Dominican Summer league together with OF
Luis Celedon... time to start their professional career.
Speaking of young players, we will have the 21st pick in the upcoming draft and looking at the pool, we see a consensus first overall pick... 1B
Blaze Jordan. 18-years of age, Logan grades his contact at 70 potential, and his home run power at 75 and the OSA is close to that. Personally, I hope that one of two groundball pitchers, namely RHSP
Doug 'Perky* Collier(17) or LHSP
Jorge Arredondo(19) drop to us... with option number three being RHRP
Jimmy Eskew(21), a college kid that already throws 97-99 with a good slider, good movement, and good control potential.
PS: The
Orioles offered us
Manny Machado for a bag of baseballs today... he makes $34.5M per year...
In Other News:
May 2nd -
Phillies SP
Jose Quintana(32, 4*) pitched a 1-hitter today in a 11-0 win over
Washington, allowing three walks while striking out six. The 2x All-Star is 2-3 4.39 38K in 6 starts.
May 8th -
Yankees SP
Nathan Eovaldi(31, 3*) threw a 6-hit shutout in a 8-0 win over
Detroit today, walking one and striking out four. Acquired via trade from WSH in the offseason, he is 2-1 3.70 25K in 7 starts.
May 14th –
Red Sox RF
Mookie Betts(28, 4*) saw a 22-game hitting streak come to an end in a 6-2 loss to the
Yankees today. The 28-year old 5x Gold Glover is batting .390-6-25 1.080OPS in 37 games so far.
May 23rd –
Twins CF
Byron Buxton(27, 4*) had a big 5-hit night in a 10-4 win over the
Rays, going 5-5 3R 2RBI 3DB TP SB for the night. The 4x Gold Glover is batting .266-6-23 .734OPS 7/8SB in 44 games.
May 23rd –
Blue Jays 3B
Josh Donaldson(35, 3*) ripped career home run
#300 in a 5-1 win over the
White Sox today. The 2015 AL MvP, 2x Silver Slugger and 4x All-Star is a career .273/.372/.514 hitter with 300HR, 851RBIs, and 1330 hits in 1309 games.
May 23rd –
Cardinals SP
Clayton Kershaw(33, 5*) collected career win
#200 today in a 7-2 win over the
Astros today. The 3x Cy Young Winner, 2014 NL MvP and 10x All-Star is a career 200-90 2.54 2940K pitcher in 403 games, posting 87.2 career WAR.
May 27th –
Royals SP
Alfredo Mariscal(31, 3.5*) blanked the
Phillies with a 2-hitter with 1BB and 7K in a 4-0 win. The 2020 AL All-Star is 4-4 3.29 52K in 11 starts.
May 30th –
Astros SP
Alec Hansen(26, 2/2.5*) is out for the next 16 months with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow. He was 1-0 2.25 7K in 8 innings at the MLB level...
May 31st –
Blue Jays 1B
Ryan Zimmerman(36, 2*) followed up
Josh Donaldson with his own milestone, home run
#300 in a 5-2 win over the
Red Sox. The 2x All-Star and 2x Silver Slugger is a career .274/.338/.468 hitter with 300HR, 1106RBIs and 1936 hits in 1960 games.
June 1st –
Red Sox 3B
Rafael Devers(24, 5*) was named AL Batter of the Month after batting .368 with 9 home runs, 28RBIs and 21 runs scored for the month and .358-14-53 1.049OPS in 52 games for the season.
June 1st –
Giants 2B
Rougned Odor(27, 4*) was named NL Batter of the Month after batting .410 with 6 home runs, 18RBIs and 19 runs scored for the month and .367-11-31 1.004OPS in 53 games for the season.
June 1st –
Blue Jays SP
Joe Gatto(25, 2.5/3*) was named AL Pitcher of the Month after going 4-0 1.98 40K in 36.1IP for the month and 5-2 3.81 53K in 14G/8GS for the season.
June 1st –
Reds RHCL
Jimmy Herget(27, 4*) was named NL Pitcher of the Month after going 1-0 10SV 0.57 23K in 15.2IP for the month and 1-0 19SV 1.24 35K in 29IP for the season.
June 1st –
Royals C
Kuniaki Takamura(26, 5*) was named AL Rookie of the Month after batting .416 with 4HR, 19RBIs and 19 runs scored for the month and .339-4-26 .876OPS in 45 games for the season.
June 1st –
Pirates RF
Seth Logan(24, 3/3.5*) was named NL Rookie of the Month after batting .230 with 7 home runs, 21RBIs and 14 runs scored for the month and .243-9-29 .806OPS in 51 games for the season.