As the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. DeJong to join the Giants:
The Giants inked shortstop Paul DeJong to a big league deal yesterday, and MLB.com notes that DeJong’s deal with the club is expected to be made official today, at which point he will formally join the club’s roster. The Giants will need to open a spot on their 40-man and active rosters to accommodate DeJong. The 30-year-old infielder spent his entire professional career with the Cardinals until this year’s trade deadline, when he was flipped to the Blue Jays in the midst of an injury scare for Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette. When Bichette was ready to return after just a couple of weeks on the injured list, the Jays opted to designate DeJong for assignment after he went 3-for-44 at the plate with no walks or extra base hits during his time with the club.
While his numbers in Toronto were brutal, they came in a small sample of less than 50 plate appearances and followed a mostly successful bounceback stint in St. Louis earlier this year. In 306 trips to the plate with the Cardinals this year, DeJong slashed .233/.297/.412. That offensive performance was right around league average by measure of wRC+ (95). Combined with DeJong’s strong glove up the middle, that made him a generally a productive player for the Cardinals this year. If DeJong can regain that form, he should be an asset to a Giants club that’s currently relying on Casey Schmitt and Johan Camargo at shortstop with Brandon Crawford on the injured list.
2. Garcia exits with hamstring strain:
Marlins outfielder Avisail Garcia exited yesterday’s win over the Padres with a left hamstring strain, as noted by MLB.com. While Garcia is expected to undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of the issue, a trip to the injured list seems likely for the 32-year-old veteran, who has dealt with multiple hamstring injuries throughout his career. It’s been a second consecutive miserable season for Garcia, who has slashed a combined .215/.260/.316 in 498 trips to the plate as a member of the Marlins. In addition to that weak performance, Garcia has struggled to stay on the field, as he’s appeared in just 37 games this season thanks to a back injury earlier in the season. With Garcia likely headed to the shelf, a bench spot in Miami could be available for a player such as Garrett Hampson, Xavier Edwards, or Dane Myers.
3. Reds @ Angels Doubleheader:
The Reds and Angels are set to partake in a doubleheader this evening after Monday’s series opener was postponed. The pair of games comes on the heels of a 4-3 win by the Reds last night in Mike Trout’s first game back from the injured list. Game 1, which is scheduled to begin at 3:07pm CT, is slated to feature a pitchers’ duel between left-handed rookie Andrew Abbott (2.99 ERA) and two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani (3.17 ERA). Cincinnati has not announced who will take the ball in game two opposite Angels lefty Reid Detmers (4.93 ERA). Fans who had tickets to Monday’s game can use them to attend tonight’s second game, which is slated to begin at 8:38pm CT. More details can be found here.
Hot take: at this point, if I had a vote, Trout doesn’t get my first ballot vote because he didn’t do anything memorable after August 20th ever. I’ll vote for someone else that year, it’s not like there aren’t 20 or so guys anyway
It’s not about you.
It never is. It’s about the growing crowd that is going to see “Trout homers twice and Tungsten Arm O’Doyle does something that’s never ever been done before, the 9th time he’s done so; Angels lose 5-2” and not notice/care about Trout’s career
MLB is not basketball. Superstars can’t carry an entire roster. Mike Trout would do tons of memorable things in the playoffs if he were on teams like Houston, Yankees, Braves, Dodgers or other recent perennial contenders.
The Hall of Fame is meant to celebrate individual achievements, not team ones. So Trout is absolutely a first ballot Hall of Famer. It’s not his fault he’s stuck on a mediocre team.
“It’s not his fault he’s stuck on a mediocre team.” Yes it is. He could have waited for Free Agency and signed with someone else or demanded a trade. That’s the “Hot take”
Everything else you said is fair
Sure he could have signed with someone else, but how was he to know the Angels would never make the playoffs?
But you don’t have a vote, so what’s your point?
What a garbage take. Let’s not vote for a generational player of a team sport because all the other players on his team were trash.
A hot garbage take, if you will.
Ernie Banks was such a terrible baseball player that he never even reached the playoffs.
Ichiro was so pathetic that he only snuck into the playoffs in his rookie year and had to join the Yankees late in his career to get back.
Lets ban them from MLB ballparks, they make me f***ing sick.
Hey don’t worry Arson Judge still wants to play for the Giants, according to Jon Heyman!
1. Jays gave up some prospects, even if it was garbage, only to trade for a guy that they DFA’d and gave it away to the Giants. Jays management are a joke.
2. Won’t be missed. Another poor decision by management of the Marlins.
3. Boring game. Both trash teams, especially since the start of the second half.
15-20 Reds
16-19 Angels
To be fair, they didn’t know the extent of Bichette’s injury and were up against the trade deadline. If the injury was more serious, I’m sure you would be complaining that they didn’t do anything.
@stymeedone
They already had someone that could have played a better role than what they got from him.in Espinal.
1. Schneider really forced their hand with his hot start. Hopefully he can adjust his approach and start hitting high fastballs. Quite possible management was looking to move Espinal but nothing materialized.
2. Haven’t been interested in watching Marlins games, but never understood the interest in Garcia. Thought he was signed to be flipped at some point. Give the young fishes some playing time instead.
3. I think it’s understated how much money Moreno has thrown at the team to make it competitive/better. He has his ego and his warts like anyone else. However, his pride may be the biggest downfall of this team. Trout is a generational talent, will be inducted in the HoF, but he is made of glass. I don’t know if it’s the drinking water, but there seems to be a trend. Holding onto Ohtani shows loyalty, but stupidity is the other side of the coin.
No idea why the Jays traded for him if they were going to pull the chute so quickly. Merrifield was also awful when they traded for him in 2022 and now he’s their leadoff hitter and a regular. You have to give a guy more than basically 10-12 games of at bats.
Merrifield has speed, batting average, and can play CF. He had a track record of performing at a high offensive level. DeJong is a glove first SS. How many at bats would you have given him, when he’s a redundant piece on the bench? Schneider has battled his way to the show, and I’m glad the organization felt he deserves his chance.
No idea why the Jays traded for him if they were going to pull the chute so quickly.
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They traded for DeJong because Bichette was on the IL. Now Bichette is off the IL.
If you had a rental car to cover you for a week while your car was in the shop, would you keep it after you got your old car back?