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The Oakland A’s are on fire. No, no — in the good way this time!Shohei Ohtaniis putting up MVP numbers again, and it was absolute chaos in Phoenix last night. I’mLevi Weaver, here withKen Rosenthal— welcome to The Windup!
Don’t worry ‘bout me, I’m doin’ good, I’m doin’ great, alright?
Ken Waldichuk is congratulated by catcher Shea Langeliers after the A’s win their sixth straight. (Cary Edmondson / USA Today)
In the press box in St. Petersburg last weekend, one of the locals asked if I was going to Oakland to cover the Rays/A’s series. I joked that I’d made it my whole life without witnessing a murder, and I had no plans to change that now.
Well, well, well. Who’s making jokesnow?
The Athletics have wonsixstraight games. By comparison, in the 32-day stretch between May 5 and June 5, they went 6-24.
What’s crazier:All three series came (sorta) against first-place teams. The Pirates were leading the NL Central by a half-game when they beat the A’s in the first of three games in Pittsburgh. They were 1 1/2 back by the time the A’s left, but jumpedbackinto first place over the weekend because the A’s flew to Milwaukee and swept the Brewers.
Last night, Oakland faced the league-best Rays and pulled off a 4-3 upset, withJames Kaprielianholding the Rays to three runs over six innings andKen Waldichukgetting the old-school three-inning save.
Tonight’s “reverse boycott” was already going to be a party. Now fans get to embarrass A’s ownershipandcheer for the hottest team in the league? Heck yeah.
More A’s: Ranking the A’s dream ballparks throughout the years, fromFremont to Las Vegas
Ken’s Corner: Another MVP season for Ohtani?
For today’s installment of “Fun withShohei Ohtani,” let’s compare the two-way star’s offensive pace to his numbers from 2021, when he was voted American League MVP:
- 2021 final: .257, 46 HRs, 100 RBIs
- 2023 pace: .291, 48 HRs, 119 RBIs
Ohtani’s OPS is .955, compared to .965, but let’s not nitpick.Offensively, he’s pretty much the same guy he was in ‘21. His ERAs (3.18 in ‘21, 3.32 this season) are also comparable, and his 33.3 percent strikeout rate is a career-high.
On Monday night, in between Ohtani’s two homers against the Rangers, the second a go-ahead shot in the 12th inning, the great Sarah Langstweeted an amazing stat: Ohtani last season became the first player to finish among the league’s top 15 in both homers and strikeouts since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893 … and he’s currently top 3 in each in 2023!!!!! (Exclamation points … Sarah’s!)
OHTANI GIVES THE HALOS THE LEAD‼️‼️@Angels | #GoHalos pic.twitter.com/FbFyslY9Fy
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) June 13, 2023
There’s just one problem, if we can even call it that: Ohtani’s 3.32 ERA is almost a full run higher than it was last season, when he was second in the MVP voting and fourth in the Cy Young. Ohtani, citing his increased workload, said Friday through his interpreter, “There are times I feel a little more fatigued.”
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So, asThe Athletic’sSam Blum wrote Monday, the Angels are mulling whether to return to a strict six-man rotation, as they did the last two seasons to reduce the wear and tear on Ohtani.
Such an adjustment would seem appropriate, considering Ohtani’s 4.88 ERA in his last eight starts. Fatigue might not be the only explanation; Sam noted pitch selection and mechanics also might be part of Ohtani’s recent struggles.
Well, if Ohtani can get his pitching back on track and continue hitting at his current level, it could be 2021 all over again. Which would mean a second MVP. And an even more frenzied free agency than we imagined.
In the weirdest of moments and the stupidest of ways
OK, that header makes it sound like those things happened all at the same time, which would’ve been evenmorechaotic. But, no — they happened six innings apart.
The benches cleared in the bottom of the third inning.Corbin Carrollwas hit by aMatt Strahmpitch for the second time in the game, and Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was very annoyed. He stomped over to home plate umpire Vic Carapazza, and could clearly be seen saying “I don’t f—ing like it!” which is an objectively funny standalone phrase.
He was quickly ejected but needed to yell atJ.T. Realmutofor a while before leaving, then yelled at the Phillies dugout, which I guess couldn’t hear him very well, so they all came out to have a closer listen, as did the Arizona dugout. That was basically it. The umpires got everyone settled down … until they didn’t:
Benches clear in Arizona vs. the Phillies and it was a whole lot of nothing. Umpires nearly get everyone cleared off and thought it was settled.
Oh ho ho they forgot about one man pic.twitter.com/LEPmms9TgY
— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) June 13, 2023
That’s bench coach and former Rangers manager Jeff Banister, who was never averse tomixingit upin his time in Texas.
It all eventually dissipated, and in the top of the ninth, with the score 9-7 for Arizona, Realmuto doubled, becoming the third player this year to hit for the cycle (Luis Arraez, Miami andCedric Mullins, Baltimore are the others). Realmuto is the first Phillies player to hit for the cycle since current Reds manager David Bell did it in 2004. The last catcher to do it was George Kottaras, with Milwaukee in 2011.
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Later that inning,Kody Clemenshit a two-out, two-run home run offMiguel Castroto give the Phillies a 10-9 lead. But the call was overturned — it was foul. Clemens struck out on the next pitch to end the game, but thenthe game kept going, because the ball hit the dirt.
D-backs catcherCarson Kellyfinally threw it to first, and as far as we’ve been able to tell (so far) the game is over. The final score was 9-8; Arizona hasalsowon six in a row and leads the NL West by four games over the Dodgers.
Matt Gelb has more on abullpen game gone wrongfor the Phillies.
Don’t bother calling, I’ll call you
This week’s power rankingsfocus on potential first-time All-Stars. Did you know the Rays only haveoneactive player who has been an All-Star? It’sShane McClanahan, who should go again this year. But as many as seven position players are deserving of a first-time nod.
Others were trickier. Sure, the A’s are world-beatersnow, but there haven’t been many inspiring performances over the first half. Our crew went withRyan Noda, who has been good!
One I’m invested in:Elly De La Cruz, who wasn’t called up until June 6. If he plays in every Reds game from now up to the All-Star Game, that’s just 31 career games.
Is it the traditional .300/.400/.500 threshold enough? Maybe not, with that few games. Does a 1.000 OPS do the trick? Given the level of excitement he has generated in just one week in Cincinnati, Ithinkso. If he can get the OPS over 1.100 (he was at 1.118 before an 0-for-5 in the Reds’ 5-4 win over the Royals knocked it down to .925), that should be a lock.
Baseball Card of the Week
In honor of the A’s win streak, here’s one of my favorite A’s cards from the junk wax era: a 1990 Collect-a-Books Dave Stewart. These were basically card-shaped pamphlets of current and former stars. Fun fact:according to Beckett, the cards were designed by big-league pitcher, author of “Ball Four” and inventor of “Big League Chew” Jim Bouton.
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Handshakes and High Fives
“C. Notes” — the weekly notes column from C. Trent Rosecrans — has temporarily become “E. Notes” as he recounts Elly De La Cruz’s first week in the bigs. One stat I’d missed: De La Cruz now has the fastest throw by any infielder in the big leagues this year, at 96.6 mph.
I’m starting to think that maybe the Cubs just aren’t good this year. Patrick Mooney says the same thing, but givesa lot more detail.
Pre-season playoff predictions? You’d have heard a lot of Mets, Padres, Cardinals, Mariners and …ehhhhmaybe some White Sox. Britt Ghiroli lays out how all five of those teamswill need a turnaroundif they’re going to play past game 162.
With the Subway Series starting tonight, our writers look at which of theNew York teamsis getting more bang for its (many millions of) buck(s).
In the world of college baseball, the eight-team field for theCollege World Series is set. Games start Friday.
And staying with the college theme, Stephen Nesbitt has this story about a college student’s serious affinity forweird high school baseball fields.
(Top photo: Tim Heitman / Getty Images)
