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We get a head start on awards season, Ken has thoughts on Mike Trout’s future with the Angels, the Braves’ rotation is in perilous waters, and (of course) we keep you up-to-the-minute on the playoff scenarios. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to the Windup!
Let’s hand out some awards
“You’re the best around, nothing’s gonna ever bring you down”
We’ll know the actual results soon, but that doesn’t mean we can’t ask our cadre of baseball writers who they think should win the major awards. A few that stand out:
• Shohei Ohtani polled at 100 percent as AL MVP. A no-brainer, really. He outperformed each of the other potential candidates at the plate. Before you argue that Corey Seager and Julio Rodríguez played premium defensive positions, Ohtani also pitched 132 innings with a 3.14 ERA and appeared in 135 games.
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• The big question is the other MVP award, with Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mookie Betts each making a compelling case. Our writers went 72.4 percent Acuña, meaning the big round numbers — he finally hit the 40/70 mark last night — are playing well with the voters.
• The closest result was for NL Manager of the Year. There aren’t any metrics to lean on, so it usually goes to the manager whose team is the biggest surprise. But there have been a lot of those in the NL. Our voters couldn’t decide between Craig Counsell of the Brewers and Torey Lovullo of the Diamondbacks, with each getting 28.6 percent of the vote. Skip Schumaker of the Marlins wasn’t far behind, and three Daves (Bell of the Reds, Roberts of the Dodgers and Ross of the Cubs) also got votes.
Ken’s Notebook: Trout can’t be passive if he wants improvement
From my column today on Mike Trout:
On Monday, Trout said he speaks privately with Angels owner Arte Moreno and team president John Carpino after each season and plans to do so again once this season is over. Torii Hunter, his teammate with the Angels in 2011 and ’12, said Trout is not afraid to speak up to management.
“I know a lot of people want him to move and not be there and suffer. But at the same time, he has a voice to kind of say, ‘Hey, let’s change this up a little bit,’ and give his opinion. I’m pretty sure he’s doing that,” Hunter said. “He’s not a guy out there publicly who wants everyone to know his business. He actually does a lot of things very subtle, quietly.”
Trout can only be himself. Just as he is not going to go all James Harden and demand a trade every five minutes, he is not going to rip Moreno, even though a public takedown of the owner would seem entirely justified. Trout also might fear his injuries compromise his influence, considering that over the past three seasons, he has played in less than 50 percent of the Angels’ games.
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Well, the left hamate fracture Trout suffered on July 3 was a freakish thing, occurring when he fouled off a pitch. And while humility is one of Trout’s most appealing traits, he needs to remember he is still a three-time MVP, still under contract to the Angels for seven more years and nearly $250 million, still one of the best and most respected players of this generation.
His career, his future, his legacy, it’s all at stake. The truth is, he holds leverage over Moreno because he could publicly embarrass him. And he surely has opinions, even if he is not willing to share them with reporters, and by extension, fans. A case in point occurred Monday, when a reporter asked if he felt the Angels organization could get him to the playoffs. Trout ducked the question, complimenting rookie first baseman Nolan Schanuel instead.
In the same interview, Trout said he loves playing for manager Phil Nevin, who is unsigned beyond this season. He repeatedly has praised general manager Perry Minasian, who built a team that was 41-33 on June 18, 4 1/2 games out of first place and in possession of the second AL wild card. With injuries mounting, Minasian made additional moves to reinforce the club. But the season could not be salvaged. For Trout, it was just another lost year.
Braves rotation concerns
“All my friends are hurting, but we dance it off”
With their win last night, the Braves clinched home-field advantage through the NL portion of the playoffs. Their magic number to maintain that advantage into the World Series is down to one.
So why am I hearing a worried Marge Simpson groan coming from the general direction of Atlanta?
As David O’Brien tells us here, the rotation is in a bit of a jam. Charlie Morton’s finger and Max Fried’s blister are the latest in a cavalcade of starting pitcher injuries. Right now, the rotation consists of Spencer Strider, Bryce Elder, and uhhhh …
Fried could be back by the end of the regular season, and Morton could be back for the NLCS if the Braves advance. In the meantime, they may need meaningful innings from names like Kyle Wright (7.22 ERA) and 28-year-old rookie Allan Winans, who has a total of 27 big-league innings. Darius Vines, a 25-year-old rookie, got his second career start last night, going six innings and allowing three runs (two earned). The return of ageless wonder Jesse Chavez and his 1.38 ERA should boost the bullpen.
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The lineup is dangerous. Devastating, even. It appears they may need to keep it up for a few more weeks.
Playoff race catch-up
“The party’s almost over; ooh it won’t be long”
AL West: The Rangers beat the Angels 5-0, keeping their lead over the Astros at 2 1/2 games, since Houston beat Seattle 8-3 to take that series. Things got chippy in Seattle when Hector Neris struck out Julio Rodríguez to end the sixth inning then proceeded to march and shout in Rodríguez’s direction.
The Mariners are now four games out in the division, with four games left to play. The only way they can win the AL West is if they sweep Texas and Houston wins two of three in Arizona, creating a three-way tie. It’s complicated. Let’s move on.
AL Wild Card: The Blue Jays lost 6-0 to the Yankees, meaning Houston is now a half-game behind Toronto for the second wild-card spot, with Seattle 1 1/2 games out. It’s still three teams for two spots.
AL East: Both teams won — the Rays over the Red Sox 5-0 and the Orioles over the Nationals 5-1. It was Baltimore’s 99th win of the year, sixth-most in franchise history. Four of the five squads ahead of them went to the World Series. Baltimore’s magic number is down to one.
NL Wild Card: The Diamondbacks held onto the second wild-card position by putting away the White Sox, 3-0. A day after Seiya Suzuki’s “Oh no” moment, the Cubs dropped another heartbreaker to the Braves, 6-5. Atlanta walked it off in the 10th inning, despite trailing 3-1, 4-3 and 5-4.
That loss means that the Marlins — by virtue of splitting their doubleheader with the Mets — gain a half-game and move into a tie with the Cubs for the third wild-card position. The Reds lost 4-3 to Cleveland, so they’re 1 1/2 games back with two teams left to leapfrog. They’ll need a double collapse from the Cubs (at Brewers) and Marlins (at Pirates) to have a shot.
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At longer odds yet: the Padres, who mathematically eliminated the Giants with an extra-innings 5-2 win last night. It was a pyrrhic victory, at best — the Padres will be eliminated unless they sweep the White Sox while the Cubs, Marlins and Reds all lose the rest of their games.
Handshakes and High Fives
Less historic than Acuña’s 40/70, but still impressive: a couple of Mets hit milestones this week. Francisco Lindor has a 30/30 season and Kodai Senga has 200 strikeouts.
Yesterday, in writing about Brooks Robinson, I mentioned how a life can be extended through the memories of others. Steve Buckley does a beautiful job of that today with the little-known story of Tom Maggard, a Red Sox prospect who passed away 50 years ago.
Eno Sarris has his final “Caught Looking” of the regular season, with notes on Julio Rodríguez making an adjustment, George Springer not needing to make one, and a conversation with Matt Olson about the Braves’ historically good lineup.
Could Rhys Hoskins be back by the World Series?! OK, it’s very unlikely, but Matt Gelb has all your other Phillies postseason roster questions answered.
If yesterday’s tribute to Terry Francona wasn’t enough, guess what: We have more from Zack Meisel, who is doing yeoman’s work covering Francona’s last week.
Gerrit Cole didn’t do anything to derail his Cy Young odds, which are … let’s say “pretty great.”
Rustin Dodd and Stephen Nesbitt jump back into the All-30 realm, giving us a “most improved player” for each team.
(Top photo of Shohei Ohtani: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
