ATLANTA WON'T SEND EIGHT PLAYERS TO ALL-STAR GAME AGAIN
ALSO: WEAK OFFENSE CRIPPLES TIGERS' BID TO CONTEND IN AL CENTRAL
Pregame Pepper
He’s no Angel: David Fletcher, Shohei Ohtani’s teammate in Anaheim before this year, is not only the latest player to be investigated by Major League Baseball for gambling on sports but also a guy who used the same bookie . . .
Speaking of gambling, Mets players Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil participated in a Poker Showdown at CitiField a few days ago . . .
Weren’t Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays once suspended for two years by MLB when they signed on as “greeters” for Atlantic City casinos? . . .
The 29-year-old Alonso, now represented by tight-fisted agent Scott Boras, is edging closer to free agency after rejecting a seven-year, $158 million contract extension from the Mets . . .
Alonso and Nolan Arenado are the only active players to produce three 40-homer seasons, although Ronald Acuña, Jr. could match them this season if he ever regains his 2023 hitting form.
Leading Off
Struggling Braves Will Have Much Smaller All-Star Game Contingent
By Dan Schlossberg
Last year, the Atlanta Braves sent a club-record eight players to the All-Star Game.
It’s not going to happen again. Far from it.
Newly-acquired starting pitchers Chris Sale, a seven-time All-Star in the American League, and Reynaldo Lopez, a reliever returned to the rotation, are virtually certain to go. Maybe veteran lefty Max Fried, who pitched seven hitless innings in Flushing this season and just went the route with a 9-2 three-hitter at Wrigley Field.
After that, who knows?
Pitcher Spencer Strider, who led both leagues in wins and strikeouts last season, is down for the count following an elbow brace procedure.
Defending MVP Ronald Acuña, Jr. will probably win the fan election — which is exactly the reason the fans shouldn’t be voting.
At the start of Memorial Day Weekend, roughly one-third through the 2024 schedule, he just doesn’t deserve it. His power (41 home runs last year) has vanished, his average (.337 in 2023) has dropped some 60 points, and even his base-running (a team-record 73 steals last year) has morphed into a myriad of pickoffs — including three straight at one point not too long ago this season.
Catcher Sean Murphy, injured Opening Day, has yet to play and back-up Travis d’Arnaud, once an All-Star himself, hasn’t done much other than hitting three home runs in a game and five over a four-day span.
First baseman Matt Olson, after leading the majors with 54 home runs and 139 runs batted in, has spent most of the first two months trying to put bat to ball without much success. Even his defense has declined.
Olson is not about to get more votes than Freddie Freeman, Atlanta’s former Face of the Franchise who is steady-as-she-goes for the Dodgers.
No way Orlando Arcia beats out Mookie Betts or Cincinnati wunderkind Elly De La Cruz at shortstop. ‘Nuff said.
Austin Riley? First disappointing, then hurt. The fans may vote him in, as with Acuña, but he’d be relying on reputation rather than results. Even Alec Bohm of the rival Phillies would be a better choice at third base this year.
Little Ozzie Albies, the switch-hitting second baseman who seems to be the NL’s answer to Jose Altuve, has a shot at the Midsummer Classic and has been there three times before. But he’s never been a starter and might wind up behind Line-Drive Luis — even though Arraez, a two-time batting champion, has switched from the keystone to DH duties after his trade from Miami to San Diego.
In short, this is not the same Braves team that won 104 games, tied a major-league record with 307 home runs, and produced a stand-alone record with a .501 slugging percentage last summer.
The lone survivor of that juggernaut seems to be Marcell Ozuna, definitely the best designated hitter not named Shohei Ohtani. When Ozuna hit his 14th home run Monday night, he took the league lead away from Ohtani, a two-time MVP who is virtually certain to be the NL’s starting DH in Texas when the All-Stars play July 16.
But Ozuna should go as a sub, especially if he keeps hitting the way he has.
So where do we stand? Sale, who once tied a record by starting three All-Star Games in a row, is a lock. Lopez is likely. Fried and Ozuna are probable. Albies is possible. And both Acuna and Riley could win a fan election that shouldn’t exist in the first place.
So seven, at best. Definitely not eight. And four, maybe five, most likely.
Do the math: that’s about half as good as it was a year ago.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is on a talk-and-signing tour for his new book Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron. He’ll be at Authors Day at the Flemington (NJ) Book Fair Sunday and at the Baseball Hall of Fame at 1 pm June 20. Dan’s email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Cleaning Up
Is There Offensive Hope For the Tigers?
By Joe Underhill
Typically, weather is to blame for power outages, especially in the Midwest. On the other hand, the Detroit Tigers cannot blame weather on their lack of offensive punch.
At the start of Memorial Day Weekend, the Tigers ranked in the back third of the league in just about every meaningful offensive statistic: home runs, OPS, batting average, runs, and slugging, ranking 29th, 23rd, 20th, 20th, and 22nd, respectively.
The Tigers have scored two runs or less in 14 of their 49 games this year and have already been shut out five times.
The offense has moments where it looks like it can be league-average or slightly above, but more often looks like it is pressing.
Of the 14 players who have at least 70 plate appearances, eight have a wRC+ of less than 81 (remember 100 is considered average). Six players have batting averages below .220, the team strikes out too much and doesn’t walk enough.
If you follow this team, you already know all of that. But the question remains: is there any hope?
The short answer is yes, but probably not soon enough to make this a playoff-competitive team.
Because of his offensive struggles, the Tigers sent Parker Meadows down to AAA to get an offensive reboot. Meadows has the ability with his speed to impact the game in a number of ways, but he has to be able to get on base enough to be an offensive asset.
Meadows had 145 plate appearances in 2023, when he hit .232 but walked at an 11.7% clip against a 25.5% strikeout rate.
In 2024, Meadows had 85 plate appearances before being sent down, hit only .096, while he did increase his walk rate to 12.9% his strike out rate climbed to an unsustainable 37.6%.
Meadows’ defense allows him some leeway with his offense, but he has to be the 2023 version of himself to carve out a successful MLB career.
With Meadows sent down, the Tigers brought up Wenceel Perez.
Perez has been in the Tigers system for almost seven years and for the most part has been ranked as a mid-level prospect.
Originally a middle infielder, he moved to the outfield because of throwing issues and has made significant improvement. Since coming to the majors, Perez is hitting .297 in 114 plate appearances, while tying for the team lead with triples (the one offense statistic in which the Tigers top of the majors).
Perez has a wRC+ of 146, which is going to come down as teams find his weaknesses, but is providing a switch-hitting presence that is bringing extra-base power and speed on the base-paths.
Perez is doing that while playing average to slightly below-average defense in center and right field.
With Mark Canha on an expiring contract, Perez can place himself firmly in the Tigers’ plans for a future outfield rotation with Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter.
Speaking of Carpenter, Greene and Canha, the outfield/dh trio make up the rest of the top four offensive performers according to wRC+.
The biggest question for Carpenter is whether he could play defense well enough to be a regular.
Playing in both corners in 2024 (predominately right), he is a solid average defender, which combined with his offense has him one of two Tigers with a Fangraphs WAR above 1.0.
Riley Greene is the team leader in WAR with 1.2, which has been buoyed by his defense after a slow start at the plate.
Greene has turned it around at bat and, if that continues, looks like an All-Star-level player.
Canha has been exactly what the Tigers hoped he’d be when they traded for him last off-season. He has competitive at-bats, a positive WAR (1.7) and wRC+ (112), and is a consistent presence in the lineup.
As every baseball fan knows, having four competent hitters does not make a batting order a force to be reckoned with.
The Tigers desperately need Spencer Torkelson to figure things out at the plate, and to Tork’s credit, he has played much better offensively recently. The Tigers are hoping this will be the breakout that will allow Tork to be the power presence the lineup is lacking.
Another bat the team needs to reignite is Jake Rogers. Rogers is a weapon behind the plate, but a strikeout percentage above 34% and a batting average below .200 are not sustainable in the lineup.
In 2023, Rogers had a high strike out rate, but that came with 21 home runs. This year, with about one-third of the at-bats, Rogers has only two home runs.
Lastly the Tigers started the spring by signing Colt Keith to a long-term extension before he had a single major-league at-bat under his belt. The start has been rough, but, like Torkelson, Keith has begun to look more comfortable at the plate and is having more success. Defense was always going to be a learning curve, and that has been the case. On the current roster, Torkelson and Keith are the most likely candidates to become All-Stars along with Greene.
Realistically, if the Tigers want to improve their offense in 2024, they are going to have to swing a trade. The Tigers have pitchers that should be appealing to other clubs, and if they are able to find a trade that lands a long-term offensive upgrade at catcher, third base, or an outfield corner, the team should take that risk.
Long-term the Tigers need someone to emerge from their minor-league system who can be an All-Star.
In the minor leagues, the closest and most likely person is Jace Jung, who is making the defensive switch to third base at AAA and has a bat hitting .275 with eight home runs. The rest of the potential impact bats are mostly likely at least two years away in players like Max Anderson, Josue Briceno, Kevin McGonigle, and of course Max Clark.
Joe Underhill is a high school administrator, diehard baseball fan, and fan of the City of Detroit. Joe currently writes for www.mlbreport.com and HTP Newsletter. You can follow Joe on Twitter @TransplantedDet and @transplanteddet.bsky.social. His email is joe.underhill@auburn.org.
Timeless Trivia: Braves Press Notes
“I would’ve never expected things to have started the way they have or for things to be as good as they’ve been,” Lopez said. “With each outing, the arm becomes more and more adjusted. You get more used to the rhythm of it. My hope is things keep going well.”
— Converted reliever Reynaldo Lopez after posting a 1.54 ERA in his first eight starts for Atlanta
All-Star catcher Sean Murphy, who hasn’t played for the Braves since Opening Day, homered in the first at-bat of his minor-league rehab . . .
Look for postseason hero Ian Anderson to return to the Atlanta rotation late next month after Tommy John surgery . . .
Chris Sale, a seven-time All-Star in the American League, shares the record for most consecutive All-Star starts with Lefty Gomez and Robin Roberts . . .
Home run king Hank Aaron was on the bench for eight of his record 25 All-Star selections.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.