This past weekend of baseball showcased a number of exciting matchups, close games, high-scoring matchups and exhilarating plays from some of MLB's biggest stars. While Sunday itself was an absolutely bonkers day of baseball -- as Buster Olney and I discussed on the "Baseball Tonight" podcast -- it capped off a larger, potentially landscape-changing weekend for several high-profile teams.
Now, maybe we're just caught up and overreacting in the moment, but it seems like there's something here. Let's break down some of the key events from this past weekend and what it means for the season moving forward.
Boston Red Sox steal nine bases in 9-3 win over New York Yankees
There were three important takeaways from Sunday's game:
1. The Red Sox exposed a possible flaw in the Yankees: their inability to hold runners. Boston set a franchise record with nine stolen bases, becoming just the fourth team since 2000 with that many in a game. Six of those steals came off the combo of Marcus Stroman and Jose Trevino. Was this a one-off? Stroman had allowed just six steals all season coming into the game and the Yankees are actually still better than the MLB average in stolen bases allowed, but let's see if teams start running wild on the Yankees.
2. Do the Yankees have enough bullpen depth? Overall, the pen has been very good -- it ranks fifth in the majors with a 3.24 ERA -- but on Sunday, Caleb Ferguson, Luke Weaver and Ian Hamilton helped turned a 4-3 deficit into a 9-3 blowout. The Yankees have gotten surprising results from the likes of Weaver (2.74 ERA in 42⅔ innings) and Michael Tonkin (0.81 ERA in 22⅓ innings) along with great work from closer Clay Holmes, but there's some uncertainty on whether this group can sustain that performance.
3. Anthony Rizzo left the game with an arm injury following a collision at first base. The Yankees are second to the Baltimore Orioles in the majors in runs per game thanks to the Herculean efforts of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, but that doesn't mean they can't improve the lineup. Rizzo is hitting just .223/.289/.341. DJ LeMahieu is hitting .188 in his 15 games. Gleyber Torres has an 80 OPS+. They have positions they could look to upgrade at the trade deadline. How about a crosstown trade for Pete Alonso?
As for the Red Sox, it was an important week for them, as they took two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies and two of three from the Yankees. At 37-35 and with several other American League contenders struggling, Boston is in the thick of the wild-card race.
Milwaukee Brewers end game with an assist at home plate to beat Cincinnati Reds
This game had one of the highlight-reel plays of the season when the Brewers attempted to pick off Elly De La Cruz at second base but threw the ball into center field, which led to De La Cruz sprinting home as if he were Usain Bolt to score all the way from second.
The Brewers, however, would rally from a three-run deficit to win the game and take the series, the game ending when Blake Perkins threw out Stuart Fairchild at home plate as Fairchild tried to score from second on a base hit. The Brewers keep finding ways to win while the rest of the National League Central putters along, trying to get over .500 but unable to do so.
Two under-the-radar keys for the Brewers:
The bullpen leads the majors in win probability added as Trevor Megill has held down the ninth inning (13-of-14 in save chances) in the absence of Devin Williams.
Joey Ortiz is slashing .282/.383/.475 and would rank in the top 10 in the NL in OBP and OPS+ if he had enough plate appearances to qualify (he's a few short). Sure, they've missed Corbin Burnes on the mound, but Ortiz has nearly matched Burnes in WAR (2.0 to 2.2) so far in 2024.
Orioles beat Phillies to take the series
This was the most impressive win of the entire day: The Orioles hit four home runs off Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, including Gunnar Henderson's 22nd of the season, to take the series. The Orioles are just 1.5 games behind the Yankees, but the big news for Baltimore was Kyle Bradish landing on the injured list with a right UCL sprain -- his second such IL stint of the season. Even without surgery, he'll miss two to three months in a best-case scenario.
The Orioles' rotation has been ... not necessarily a surprise, but certainly better than expected, ranking second in the majors with a 2.99 ERA. But now Bradish is out, John Means is out for the season and Dean Kremer is out with biceps tendinitis, although he did pitch 3⅔ innings in a rehab start Sunday.
If I'm the Orioles, I look to make a trade sooner rather than later to replace Bradish. Winning the division and avoiding the wild-card series is still important, so they have to keep pace with the Yankees and they need another arm to do it. I'd call the Chicago White Sox and inquire about Erick Fedde (or, heck, even Garrett Crochet if you want to think in even bigger terms).
Seattle Mariners complete sweep of Texas Rangers with a 5-0 victory
Logan Gilbert was brilliant on Sunday, allowing two hits and no walks over eight scoreless innings. On Saturday, George Kirby allowed just one unearned run in seven innings. On Friday, Luis Castillo allowed two runs over six in a 3-2 victory. The sweep increased Seattle's lead atop the AL West to 8.5 games over Texas, the largest in the majors (the Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers have eight-game leads over the second-place teams in their respective divisions). The Mariners are seemingly unhittable at home: They have an MLB-best 2.54 ERA at home and have held opponents to a .195 average. Their starters pound the strike zone and T-Mobile Park, where flyballs go to die, rewards their ability to throw strikes. (The Mariners are just middle of the pack in road ERA at 4.47, so there's an argument to be made that maybe Seattle's pitching is a little overrated and its offense a little underrated.)
Yes, T-Mobile Park crushes offense, but the Mariners do have to improve their own offense. They could use help at first base/designated hitter as well as a corner outfielder. Their farm system has a lot of talent at the top, although president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto won't want to trade shortstop Colt Emerson, last year's first-round pick who has emerged as a top-25 prospect in the game. Alonso could be a possibility or Mariners fans can dream of a blockbuster deal for Luis Robert Jr.
As for the Rangers, it was a devastating weekend. Yes, they're waiting to get some of their starting pitching back -- Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom -- but the rotation hasn't been the biggest problem. They just haven't hit like last season, ranking below the MLB average in runs scored, and the lack of bullpen depth has crushed them in the middle of games. You can point to getting Scherzer and deGrom back as a potential turning point for the Rangers, but they need to start hitting.
Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis are on fire
The Minnesota Twins swept a doubleheader from the Oakland Athletics to run their win streak to five, with seven wins in their past eight games. That eight-game stretch coincides with Correa going on a huge tear: 20-for-36 with 11 runs and 11 RBIs, raising his average from .255 to .308. It's a reminder of how good he can still be when he's healthy.
Then there's Lewis. He homered in both games of the doubleheader and now has seven in the 12 games he's played in 2024. Lewis has only played 82 games in his three-year career, spread out between all the injuries. He's hit .319 with 24 home runs and 68 RBIs. Double those numbers and you get a full season with 48 home runs and 136 RBIs. It's possible he's one of the best hitters in baseball; we just don't know that for sure because he's missed so much time.
With those two players back and crushing, it's now shaping up as a three-team race in the AL Central. The Cleveland Guardians (4.94 runs per game) and Kansas City Royals (4.81) have outscored the Twins (4.64) so far, but if Correa and Lewis can stay on the field, I'd project the Twins as having the best offense among the three teams moving forward.
New York Mets remain undefeated since Grimace threw out the first pitch
We just traded Alonso to the Yankees and Mariners, but there's no guarantee he's going anywhere. The Mets beat the San Diego Padres 11-6 on Sunday to bring their win streak to five as Alonso and Francisco Lindor both homered off Dylan Cease. J.D. Martinez is 9-for-18 during that streak with three home runs, three doubles and nine RBIs. Lindor struggled in April but had a .762 OPS in May and .839 so far in June. Brandon Nimmo is hitting .300 this month. The offense is showing signs of life.
More importantly, the race for the second and third NL wild cards is a hot mess, with nine teams separated by two games for the two spots. It's probably unlikely that New York will be so far back at the trade deadline to ensure a trade of Alonso or any of the other players on expiring contracts (Martinez, Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, Harrison Bader, Adam Ottavino). No team would have as many tradable assets as the Mets, but if they're in the running for the playoffs, president of baseball operations David Stearns may have no choice but to keep everyone and let the season play out.
Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the injured list
The Dodgers took a series between playoff contenders when they beat Kansas City 3-0 on Sunday, but it's whom they lost -- and potentially for how long -- that is the biggest takeaway of their weekend. First, Yamamoto went on the IL with a strained rotator cuff and then Betts joined him after suffering a fractured left hand when he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning.
The Dodgers do at least have an eight-game lead over the Padres, so they can survive these injuries and keep their hold on first place. They also have an able replacement for Betts in Miguel Rojas -- who is probably a defensive upgrade over Betts and has hit well this season, although that's mostly been in a platoon role. Max Muncy is apparently still not close to returning from his oblique injury, so the Dodgers will be running out a light-hitting infield of Rojas, Gavin Lux and Cavan Biggio in Betts' absence.
Still, Yamamoto's injury feels potentially more damaging than Betts' broken hand. He was 6-2 with a 2.92 ERA -- 2.34 since that first start in Korea. Of course, as Buster pointed out on the podcast, let's wait for more information on the severity of the injury, as the Dodgers are known for giving their pitcher a midseason "rest." In Japan, Yamamoto pitched once a week, so he topped out at just 26 regular-season starts over there. Having him sit for a month isn't necessarily the worst thing if it's only a minor injury.
The Dodgers do have Bobby Miller coming off the IL to start on Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies, so they're not scrambling to replace Yamamoto in the rotation. Clayton Kershaw is also ahead of schedule and about to start a rehab assignment in Single-A on Wednesday. Not many teams could suffer the loss of two stars like Betts and Yamamoto, but the Dodgers should be fine.
So, yeah, that was quite a weekend -- and we didn't even mention Houston Astros starter Ronel Blanco getting pulled after 94 pitches and seven no-hit innings, ending his chance of becoming the seventh pitcher to throw two no-hitters in one season. But that's a topic for another time.