White Sox manager Pedro Grifol was fired this morning, two days after his team finally broke a 21-game losing streak (tied for the longest streak in AL history).
The Sox are an MLB-worst 28-99, on pace to lose over 120 games. Grifol’s record, over close to two years as the team’s skipper, was 89-190.
I clicked on that link from ESPN. The next story really caught my eye. In the Dodgers/Phillies game, the 3rd base ump called obstruction on the Dodgers shortstop, which led to a big inning. I have no idea how the ump made this decision.
I see the Marines trail Astros by a half game, I hope they pull ahead.
Yanks are in an exact tie for top of AL with Orioles. Cleveland is only a half game behind them leading the AL Central.
The NL leader in batting average, Shohei Ohtani, is batting .302. (So is Luis Arraez, who is a fraction of a point behind.)
It’s unlikely given how ,many guys are around the .300 mark, but quite possible, that the NL batting champion will hit under .300. I’m sure most know Carl Yastrzemski won the 1968 batting title hitting only .301, and it was that season that started a string of rules changes to get htting back up again.
For once, an in game interview (which I usually don’t like) was pretty decent as Jameson Taillon provided some decent insight during the Cubs/White Sox tonight on Fox.
Also, looks like lots of teams with a scheduled day off on Sunday. I assume it’s related to the last day of the Olympics as well as to the new weird staggered starts and days off the first couple weeks of the season
There are, I believe, six teams that don’t play tomorrow. I cannot ever remember ANY team having a Sunday off, certainly not in August as the pennant races are heating up. Your explanation is as good as any, although I doubt if the Olympics have anything to do with it. There are very few events tomorrow, at least compared to any other day in the past two weeks.
The Brewers only got two hits against the Reds on Saturday night. But, one of those two was a homer by Rhys Hoskins in the 8th, and they won, 1-0.
Devin Williams, who was the NL Reliever of the Year in '23, but who had missed the first four months of the season recovering from stress fractures in his back, struck out the side in the ninth for his first save of 2024.
According to The Athletic this morning, Bobby Witt, Jr. is 49 for 98 in his last 25 games.
KC continues to hold on to the last Wild Card, but I still think their weak bullpen will ultimately cost them a playoff spot. Sure hope I’m wrong.
I think Harvey and Erceg were awesome additions, and should go a long way to shore things up.
The top 5 teams in the AL are within 5 games of each other. Insane.
Unfortunately Harvey just went on the 15-day injured list. ;His ERA is 6.35 since joining the Royals.
Will Wagner, son of Billy Wagner, has started his career with the Blue Jays going 5-for-8 with three doubles. He therefore already has more than twice as many hits as his father did in a 16-year career. 
I’d be thrilled about Wagner as a prospect if he wasn’t already 26. He is a solid player who gets on a base a lot and can play second base reasonably well. If the Jays actually let him play full time - they have ten thousand infielders and it’s sometime hard to tell exactly who their regulars are - he could be a solid MLB player for a few years. I don’t project him lasting a long time though, because
The Jays have a ton of these white chip infielders, guys who can help you if used right but who aren’t gonna be 4-WAR players. Davis Schneider, Will Wagner, Leo Jiminez, Ernie Clement, Luis de los Santos…
Yesterday, Juan Soto of the Yankees hit a home run in each of his final 3 at bats. Today, he hit a home run in his first at bat. Soto became the first Yankee to hit homers in four consecutive at-bats since Reggie Jackson in Games 5 & 6 of the 1977 World Series.
Soto grounded out in his next plate appearance.
Aaron Judge hit his 300th career home run tonight.
And the Cubs have finally been swept in a series, losing 3 in a row to Cleveland.
Judge would have a shot at passing Bonds if only he hadn’t started his career late.
He is also somewhat injury prone and doesn’t seem to be roiding so unlikely to last long enough to even make the 600 club.
I hope he stays generally healthy for his lengthy contract and does make it over 600 and into the Hall.
He is 32 already and the contract runs through 2031. 7 more seasons is a lot. I don’t begrudge it, just hoping for the best.
Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, who has been dealing with back issues for several seasons, announced today that he’s opting for surgery on his back, and will miss the rest of the season.
He’d hit .315 in 75 games this year, having spent time on the IR twice with the back problem.
He’s going to the Hall of Fame as long as he plays until 2026, that matter is settled.
What’s this rumor ive seen in a few articles about a proposed 6-inning minimum for starting pitchers rule? that s bit rough id negotiate it down to 3 … that way if he sucks ya can still climb out of the hole
I can’t see this working at all. If the starting pitcher is getting bombed, then his pitch count is going to be high easily up above120 in 6 innings. A great way to ruin some arms.