Friday Free For All #10

Hello and welcome to Free For All Friday.

If you’re not a paid subscriber, you missed two newsletters this week. On Monday, I discussed my National League No Stars™️—the most disappointing player on each NL squad. Yesterday, Jayson Stark of The Athletic published his mid-season awards, including his Least Valuable Players for each league, and I must say, his list looks remarkably similar to mine. Great minds, I guess.

On Wednesday, my first podcast went live. I interviewed Joe Ritzo, the longtime voice of the Single-A San Jose Giants. Ritzo is player a larger role with the San Francisco Giants this season, calling play-by-play for road games because Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper do not travel with the team, for health reasons.

Next week is the All-Star Break, so in the next few newsletters, I’ll be reflecting on the first half of the season, which teams are really in postseason contention, and what to look for as the July 31 trade deadline approaches.

Best storyline of the first half

The Cincinnati Reds lost 100 games in 2022 and expectations were low heading into the season. FanGraphs predicted the Reds would end the 2023 season at 70-92, a slight improvement over 2022 but well behind the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central. MLB.com’s season preview talks about the importance of a bounce-back year from Jonathan India, Joey Votto returning from injury, and a strong performance from free-agent signing Wil Myers.

The Reds sit atop the NL Central at 49-39, 2 games ahead of the Brewers. The two teams will square off in a battle for first place in a 3-game series this weekend. The Cardinals are in last place. India has bounced back to some degree, Votto returned from shoulder surgery, but not until June, and Wil Myers was designated for assignment.

The vastly improved Reds’ offense is powered by second-year player TJ Friedl, and rookies Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, and Spencer Steer. De La Cruz gets all the headlines, thanks to his height (6’5”), his speed (bat and foot), and his flair. De La Cruz also reached the majors with the stratospheric expectations as a top 6 MLB prospect. So far, he has delivered on the hype: in 122 plate appearances, De La Cruz is batting .325/.361/.544.

But don’t overlook McLain, Steer, and Friedl. Among National League players with 100+ plate appearances, the top 20 in OPS (on base average plus slugging) include McLain and Steer (and De La Cruz). Friedl is in the top 30, and with solid defense, has accumulated 2.4 fWAR, the best on the team.

On the mound, another rookie is leading the charge. Left-hander Andrew Abbott has started six games for the Reds, all of which led to Cincinnati victories. Abbott didn’t allow a run in his first three starts, and in 37 1/3 innings, has allowed only 5.

Pre-season projections were high on closer Alexis Diaz and he has not disappointed. Diaz leads all National League relievers with 1.7 fWAR. He’s blown only 1 save all season and is tied with the Giants’ Camillo Doval for most saves in the National League (25).

The Reds are young, exciting, exuberant and so much fun to watch. Right now, their powerful offense is making up for mediocre starting pitching, but that’s not likely to work in the postseason. Will Reds ownership pony up money to acquire a front-line starter? Let’s hope so. Because some team other than the Dodgers needs to take on the juggernaut from Atlanta.

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Worst storyline of the first half

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Oakland A’s owner John Fisher know only greed and feel no shame. That combination has led to a disastrous decision by Fisher to move the A’s to Las Vegas, with Manfred’s blessing.

Remember that Fisher destroyed the team by trading away all the good players and then pushed fans away with higher ticket prices—all in order to prove that Oakland couldn’t sustain a competitive MLB team anymore. Fans called his bluff and embarrassed the hell out of him with their reverse boycott in mid-June. But again, Fisher feels no shame, so his plans are full speed ahead.

As to timing, it looks certain that the Oakland Athletics will move out of Oakland after the 2024 season, when the A’s lease at the Coliseum expires. Fisher has burned every possible bridge with Oakland officials that it’s difficult to see any talks on a lease extension.

As for a new ballpark in Las Vegas, the A’s say it will be ready in time for the 2028 season. Sure, the A’s got their public money from the Nevada Legislature, to the tune of $380 million, but stadium experts are already questioning whether the 9-acre lot on the site of the current Tropicana Hotel is big enough to construct an MLB ballpark.

Where will the A’s play in 2025, 2026, and 2027? Your guess is as good as mine.

Least surprising storyline of the first half

The Yankees without Aaron Judge aren’t very good at scoring runs.

Judge tore a ligament in a toe as he crashed into—and through—the right field wall at Dodger Stadium on June 3. Here’s the highlight in case you’ve forgotten Judge’s ridiculous catch. He hasn’t returned to New York’s lineup and it’s unclear when he will. 

Without Judge, the Yankees as a team are hitting .219/.290/.381 heading into Thursday’s game against the Orioles. That .671 team OPS is the second worst in the majors since June 4. Only the Royals have been more feeble offensively over the last 33 days.

Still, the Yankees currently own the third wild card spot in the American League, 1.5 games ahead of the Blue Jays and 4 games ahead of the Red Sox and Angels.

Most records set & broken in the first half

All of them, by Shohei Ohtani.

Okay, that’s a bit of an overstatement, but not by much. I’ve tried several times to convey that what Ohtani is doing this season—on the mound and at the plate—is almost beyond our comprehension. With his offense alone, he’s been the most valuable player in MLB as measured by fWAR (4.0). Then you add in his 1.7 fWAR for pitching, and he’s on another planet from every other player in the majors.

Ohtani’s hit 31 home runs and slugged .650—best in MLB. He’s thrown 132 strikeouts, fourth most in MLB. It makes you think of Babe Ruth but Ruth never came close to what Ohtani is doing. In 1916, Ruth struck out 170 batters, the highest of his career. That season, he .272/.322/.419 with 3 home runs. Three! Ruth all but stopped pitching after the Red Sox traded him to the Yankees after the 1919 season. Over his 14 seasons with the Yankees, Ruth pitched 31 innings combined.

Ohtani came out of his last start on Tuesday with a blister on his pitching hand. Hopefully, he can return to the mound quickly after the All-Star Break. And when he does, make time to watch him pitch and bat in the same game. You won’t regret it.