Transactions:
September 3rd – Following a hard throw from right field, RF
Nick Castellanos(24, 3.5*, .309-32-82 .946OPS 4.5WAR) came up with
back stiffness one week. Using the option of an extended roster, we recalled OF
Avsail Garcia(25, 2.5*, .271-2-7 .787OPS 0.3WAR 13G MLB).
September 6th – RHSP
Marcus Stroman(25, 3*, 8-5 4.30 99K 2.2WAR 21GS) was activated off the IL today.
September 14th – C
Devin Mesoraco(28, 4*, .252-23-80 .788OPS 3.5WAR)
strained his back today and will be day-to-day for
one week. Instead of IL’ing him, we called up AAA C
Ken Whicker(25, 2*, .243-1-6 .633OPS 0.0WAR AAA) and let
Devin ride the pine for a week.
September 19th – DH
Eugenio Suarez(25, 4*, .284-41-97 .947OPS 4.1WAR) was activated off the IL.
Series:
1-1 @ BOS (SP
Noah Syndergaard 7.1IP 3H 0ER 1BB 5K W(14-6 3.74))
2-0 vs TBR (SP
Juan Gonzales 7.2IP 3H 0ER 1BB 5K W(5-1 3.74), DH
Ian Dellaripa 2-4 R 2RBI BB HR(2))
2-1 @ OAK (3B
Anthony Rendon 2-5 2R RBI HR(11), 3-4 R 2RBI 3DB)
2-1 @ KCR (3B
Anthony Rendon 3-4 3R RBI BB, LF
Jesse Winker 2-4 2R 2RBI 2HR(26))
2-1 @ BAL (LF
Jesse Winker(2-5 R 3RBI HR(27), 3-4 3R 6RBI 2BB 2HR(29))
3-0 vs NYY (SP
Noah Syndergaard 5IP 3H 0ER 2BB 7K W(16-6 3.68), RF
Nick Castellanos 2/3 2R 3RBI HR(33), SP
Henderson Alvarez III 7.1IP 9H 2ER 1BB 8K W(14-8 4.15))
1-2 @ SFG (SP
Marcus Stroman 7.1IP 4H 2ER 3BB 5K W(10-6 4.47))
2-1 @ MIN (SP
Noah Syndergaard 6IP 4H 1ER 1BB 10K W(17-6 3.60, LF
Jesse Winker 2-4 R 4RBI BB DB)
1-2 vs DET (LF
Jesse Winker 3-5 R 3RBI DB)
Record: 109-53 , 1st in AL East, 32G lead over NYY
September: 16-9
Runs Scored: 860(2nd)
Batting AVG: .276(1st)
OBP: .342(2nd)
Home Runs: 246(1st)
Stolen Bases: 96(4th)
Runs Against: 626(1st)
Starters ERA: 3.96(3rd)
Bullpen ERA: 2.91(1st)
Defensive Eff.: .704(1st)
Zone Rating: +50.4(1st)
Toronto Pitcher of the Month: RHSP
Noah Syndergaard 4-0 1.54 27K 0.8WAR 4GS
Toronto Position Player of the Month: LF
Jesse Winker .326-6-26 1.015OPS 1.1WAR 25G
Playoffs baby! We happily await the winner of the Wild Card Series between the
Chicago White Sox(87-75) and the
Cleveland Guardians(89-73) with high hopes for a deep playoff run. We set up our rotation with two year in a row AL ERA king
Jeremy Komosinski,
Syndergaard,
Stroman and
Gonzales. Overall, we got through the season pretty healthy and yes, I personally will terribly miss
Jake Marisnick…. But
Kiermaier was not that bat.
The silent hero of September?
Carlos Gandara, who hit .351-3-10 .914OPS in 23 games, good for 0.8WAR, right out of the gate in his first cup of coffee and will be our shortstop for the playoffs. I bet even he did not see that one coming, but it helps tremendously knowing that we have good defender that can hit in there.
As for the backup outfielder, we were able to choose between
Ian Dellaripa(offense) and
Anthony Gose(defense)… and we went with
Dellaripa for the hot bat off the bench.
Now, some leaderboard appearances:
DH
Eugenio Suárez 42 HR – 1st
RF
Nick Castellanos .596 SLG – 2nd
DH
Eugenio Suárez .575 SLG – 3rd
RHSP
Jeremy Komosinski 3.17ERA – 1st
RHSP
Jeremy Komosinski 3.49 FIP – 4th
RHSP
Jeremy Komosinski 4.5WAR – 5th
RHRP
Kevin Buchanan 39SV – 1st
RHSP
Noah Syndergaard 17 W – 2nd
RHSP
Noah Syndergaard 9.8 K/9 – 4th
RHSP
Noah Syndergaard 4.3 K/BB – 5th
RHSP
Henderson Alvarez III 15 W – 3rd
Around the league,
Clayton Kershaw once again misses the playoffs with a monster season, 14-9
2.10 258K 8.1WAR in 33 games while
Justin Rimmele posted a 11.12WAR season, placing himself first on the revised WAR leaderboard (I deleted all retired players to get a leaderboard of players active at 2012 and beyond), 1.5WAR ahead of
Albert Pujols’ 2003 season.
Talking about pitching and a team effort, the
Atlanta(98-64) are the epitome of that. Led by veteran
Brandon Beachy(30, 2.5*, 12-11 3.18 198K 3.8WAR) and 3x All-Star
Kris Medlen(30, 3.5*, 16-5 3.33 162K 3.9WAR), the loss of
Freddie Freeman to
Minnesota seemingly didn’t hurt them as they led the league in runs against while being a solid 8th in runs scored thanks to anyone in their lineup producing, from veteran
Mark Teixeira(36, 2.5*, .246-27-83 .811OPS 2.4WAR) to rookie CF
Manuel Margot(22, 2.5*, .243-19-61 2.4WAR
32SB), a Rule 5 Draftee from BOS.
Minor League Report and Awards:
S A 2B
Daniel Alvarez(19, 1.5/3.5*) .289-6-20 1.001OPS 1.0WAR 24G
R DH
Carlos Perez(21, 1.5/3*) .323-12-32 1.204OPS 1.1WAR 24G
won Monthly Awards.
AAA RHRP
Jorge Diaz(20, 2/5*) PCL Reliever of the Year 3-7 29SV 3.75 53K 0.9WAR 52G 60IP
AAA LF
Ian Dellaripa(23, 3/3.5*) PCL MvP .377-31-118 1.124OPS 5.5WAR 111G
AA LHSP
John Hall(23, 2/4*) EL PotY 10-6 3.71 134K 2.5WAR 29GS 157.2IP
AA CF
Jake Harris(22, 2.5/3*) EL MvP .356-9-83 .941OPS 19/34SB 4.8WAR 137G
A LHSP
Javier Guzman(20, 2/3.5*) Midwest League PotY 6-7 2.97 123K 3.4WAR 27GS 127.1IP
S A LHRP
James Saunderson(18, 2/3*) Northwest League Reliever of the Year 7-7 30SV 2.41 58K 1.0WAR 59.2IP 54G
won Seasonal Awards
As mentioned before, our AAA team is pretty barren of MLB ready talent… apart from C
bobby Cary… rated 60/50/50/55/55 with 60/50/70/55/55 potential… he is pushing for a job… and a batspeed D-Lab job. He is also our highest rated prospect at #42… followed by a glut of guys in the lower half of the top 100.
The biggest question is… do we invest a D-Lab spot in guys like 24-year old
Tommy Erikson(24, 2/4.5*) to bring him over the hump and keep his hopes of becoming a star alive? Looking at him… waste of time.
International Amateur Discovery Additions and Update:
none
In Other News:
September 2nd –
New York 2B
Robinson Cano(33, 2.5*) became the latest
Yankees player to reach
2000 career hits today. The 5x All-Star, 3x Silver Slugger and 1x Gold Glover is a career .301/.347/.493 253HR 1066RBI 977R 2000H 37.0WAR in 1734 games, all for NYY.
September 2nd –
Atlanta RHSP
Brandon Beachy(30, 2.5*) celebrated his recently signed 3y/$29.1M contract with a complete game 5-hitter with 1BB and 11K in a 10-0 win over the
Cubs: veteran is a strong 11-9 3.14 183K 3.8WAR in 28 games for the second best team in baseball.
September 8th –
Cubs 2B
Javier Baez(23, 2.5/3*) moved one home run shy of his career high of 20 with a
3HR day in a 17-12 win over the
Braves, going 3-4 3R 8RBI 3HR. The fourth year pro is batting .244-20-66 .712OPS 2.9WAR with strong defense in 134 games.
September 9th –
Orioles 2B
Jonathan Schoop(24, 2.5*) banged out
five base hits in a 17-6 rout of the
Yankees, going 5-5 2R 3RBI DB. The 2015 AL Gold Glover is batting .269-32-92 .795OPS 4.1WAR in 134 games, a career year.
September 19th –
Padres C
Yasmani Grandal(27, 3*) is also having a career year and added to that one with a
3HR game, going 3-47 3R 6RBI BB 3HR in a 14-2 win over the
Marlins. The 2x All-Star is batting .262-22-68 .828OPS 5.2WAR in 133 games.
September 24th –
Giants 1B
Victor Martinez(37, 2.5*) collected career hit
#2000 today, being a regular for a playoff bound team at a high age. The 4x All-Star and 1x Silver Slugger is a career .295/.357/.445 199HR 1098RBI 892R 2000H 35.8WAR hitter in 1825 games for CLE, BOS, DET and now SFG.
September 28th –
Minnesota Twins 2B
Justin Rimmele(26, 5*) won the AL Batting Title, batting
.3500-28-110
1.066OPS 129R 56DB 12TP 11.1WAR in 157 games.
September 28th –
Dodgers RF
Yasiel Puig(25, 4.5*) won the NL Batting Title, batting
.346-25-72 1.020OPS 6.0WAR in 131 games.
September 30th –
Minnesota Twins CF
Aaron Hicks(26, 3.5*) agreed to a 5y/$63.52M contract extension, buying out arbitration and the first two years of free agency. The 2016 AL All-Star had a strong .282-26-93 .881OPS 5.5WAR season in 157 games.
October 1st –
Baltimore 1B
Chris Davis(30, 2.5*) was named AL Batter of the Month after batting .353 with 10 home runs, 26RBIs and 20 runs scored for the month. The 2014 home run king is batting .241-36-93 .809OPS 1.4WAR in 155 games.
October 1st –
Giants 1B
Brandon Belt(28, 4*) was named NL Batter of the Month after batting .382 with 8 home runs, 25RBIs and 26 runs scored for the month. The 2x All-Star is batting .268-28-102 .856OPS 5.4WAR in 159 games.
October 1st –
Twins LHSP
Matt Moore(27, 2.5/3*) was named AL Pitcher of the Month after going 4-0 2.28 46K in 27.2IP in 5 starts for the month. Traded for a veteran arm in 2012, he is
18-6 4.82 196K 1.5WAR in 32 starts.
October 1st –
Dodgers LHSP
Clayton Kershaw(28, 5*) was named NL Pitcher of the Month after going 4-1 0.78 37K in 34.2IP and 5 starts for the month. The 4x Cy Young Winner is 14-9
2.10 258K 8.1WAR in 33 starts and for his forth Cy.
October 1st –
Blue Jays LF
Jesse Winker(23, 3/3.5*) was named AL Rookie of the Month after batting .326 with 6 home runs, 26RBIs and 19 runs scored for the month. The #85 prospect prior to the season is batting .264-29-98 .861OPS 2.8WAR in 156 games.
October 1st –
Padres RHSP
Tyler Griffin(22, 2.5/3*) was named NL Rookie of the Month after going 4-1 3.58 23K in 27.2IP and 5 starts for the month. A 13th rounder in 2012, he is 15-7 3.06 141K 3.2WAR in 33 games.