As the final month of the regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1, Marte nearing return:
The Diamondbacks have been without one of their stars since Ketel Marte went down with an ankle sprain around three weeks ago. Fortunately for fans in Arizona, it seems that absence will come to an end soon. MLB.com’s Injury Tracker indicates that Marte could return to action as soon as this weekend. It’s possible that Marte’s return will start with reps at DH rather than second base as the club eases their star back into regular duty.
Arizona has a firm grasp on a playoff spot at this point with a 79-62 record, but the club nonetheless figures to get a big boost from the return of Marte, who is slashing an incredible .298/.370/.560 with a wRC+ of 150 in 116 games this year. In his absence, the Snakes have relied on a platoon of Luis Guillorme and Kevin Newman at the keystone, though that partnership will continue for as long as Marte is used at DH — potentially pushing Joc Pederson and Josh Bell to spend more time on the bench.
2. Series Preview: Guardians @ Dodgers
Two of baseball’s best teams this year are set to square off in a three-game set over the weekend that could be a possible preview of the 2024 World Series. The Dodgers entered the season as the presumptive favorite not only in the NL West, but in baseball as a whole after an offseason spending spree that brought Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Teoscar Hernandez into the fold. By contrast, few expected the Guardians to be serious contenders after the club posted a 76-86 record last year and made almost no changes to their roster over the offseason. Even so, Cleveland’s 80-60 record gives them a four-game lead in the AL Central and the fifth-best record in MLB overall.
The Dodgers have mostly met their preseason expectations to this point despite lengthy absences from Yamamoto, Glasnow, and Mookie Betts while the Guardians have greatly exceeded expectations by establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the AL. As both clubs attempt to beat back a pair of divisions rivals nipping at their heels down the stretch and secure a bye through the first round of the postseason, the Guardians will send left-hander Matthew Boyd (2.38 ERA in four starts), veteran right-hander Alex Cobb (2.76 ERA in three starts), and youn righty Gavin Williams (4.55 ERA) to the mound at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers haven’t formally announced their rotation for the series, but rookie Landon Knack (2.72 ERA in eight starts) is expected to start today’s game against Boyd, while right-handers Gavin Stone (3.53 ERA) and Jack Flaherty (3.01 ERA) would be on turn for the final two games.
3. Pitchers’ Duel in California:
Elsewhere in the NL West, two of the NL’s best hurlers face off. In Saturday’s game between the Giants and Padres at Petco Park, groundball specialist Logan Webb is set to take on strikeout artist Dylan Cease. Webb, a Giant for the entirety of his career to this point, has excelled this year with a 3.43 ERA and a 2.97 FIP in an NL-best 183 2/3 innings of work. This season has been more of the same for Webb, who has been among the league’s most consistent pitchers in recent years with a 3.16 ERA and 2.99 FIP in 740 1/3 innings of work since the start of the 2021 season.
Cease gets to his front-of-the-rotation production in an entirely different way. His groundball rate since 2021 is more than 20 points lower than that of Webb, but his strikeout rate (30.3%) is nearly ten points higher. Cease’s 3.62 ERA and 3.18 FIP in 164 innings of work this year aren’t far off from Webb, but his career has had far more ups and downs; Cease posted lackluster numbers in his final season with the White Sox last year that inflate his 3.56 ERA and 3.35 FIP in 690 2/3 innings of work since 2021. The two hurlers are set to face off tomorrow at 5:40pm local time.
Big test for Cleveland’s starting pitching.
Vogt should be manager of the year, hands down. But LAD vs the Guards in the WS? Don’t see it, but who would’ve picked the DBacks against the Rangers last year?
Guard the Vogt;
Maybe.
Guardians are going to be in the playoffs. Those are all about fundamental play and the bullpen. Their team was built for that.
Boyd looks like their ace. Cobb may be a starter in the playoffs as well. Both are rested. So no matter how they set up their starting rotation for the playoffs, 3 of some combination of those 2 and Williams, Bibee, and Lively will be added to what is already the best bullpen in MLB. (Hopefully they leave Scott Barlow off the playoff roster).
God if cease didn’t have these random horrible outings he would be in cy young contention every year, it’s always the bottom line ERA that gets him
Well, consistency still matters, last I checked.
Cease really is the righty version of Blake Snell. High upside, great stuff, stretches of dominance, stretches of struggling with walks, high pitch counts, etc.
He did have 2022 where he put it all together consistently and was dominant (like Snell’s Cy Young seasons).
Hopefully it’ll be a good match-up on Saturday in favor of the Friars. Cease at his best is really something to see.
Glasnow is more or less the same story. At his best, effectively wild. He comes in a package with a full case of Rolaids.
Glasnow is a step above Cease and Snell. Staying healthy is the only thing that has ever held him back.
Dbacks are getting healthy at just the right time. Starting pitching staff is together for the first time and Gallen, Kelly and Rodriguez are all getting the rust off judging from their most recent starts.
Christian Walker came back last week. Now Marte hopefully this weekend. And Gurriel should be back next week. Each has a bit of time to gear back up. Only Moreno is still a question mark.
scottaz: You’ll probably remember this better than me, but didn’t the DBacks have a long losing streak, something like 10 games, late last season, then finished strong to get into the PO? I think it’s much better to be a wild card than take a week off. It just kills momentum.
Avenger
Correct. Dbacks were very streaky at the end of 2023. They started August with 9 straight losses, then immediately went 11-3 to right the ship. Then they basically played .500 ball the rest of the way, winning 4 straight, then losing 4 straight, etc. and ended up backing into the final playoff spot. It was total nail biting time, then in the post-season they turned on the switch, sweeping the Brewers, sweeping the Dodgers and winning another nail biter series against the Phillies, before they ran out of gas and ran out of starting pitching in the WS.
This year’s team is loaded with starting pitching so no more opener nor bullpen games this postseason. They are much better offensively, with a solid lineup 1-9 and a dynamite bench. The bullpen is generally better/deeper, but still subject to shakiness. Biggest difference is at closer where Seawald was solid until the very end of the WS, whereas this year, Martinez is almost elite, but still extremely volatile.
Dodgers-Indians World Series would be pretty decent to watch. But given the Dodgers history in the playoffs, I doubt that happens. More likely we see something like Royals vs. Padres.
Old York: And see Fox executives wet their pants not having an LA, Chicago or NY team in the WS.
@Old york
I think if the Yankees can pull it together in the playoffs (they are similar to the Dallas cowboys) the most likely matchup would be Yankees-Padres :3
Fembot – I’d be very happy with that WS matchup, especially at 50K odds back in April.
Yanks vs Brewers would do too.
agreed.
The Dodgers have been to the World Series 3 times in the last 7 years, and this is, on paper, arguably their best team of those 7. Not sure why you’d doubt them.
Please don’t feed the trolls.
Cease is a very good K pitcher, there’s just something going on with him where he has random bad outings where he goes like 4 innings with 3 runs, but otherwise he’s lights out and is definitely a top 10 pitcher in the league to me.
4. Anthony Rizzo makes his return to Wrigley.
I’m shocked the biggest series in MLB wasn’t mentioned, Sox vs Sox!
Should be an epic battle with plenty of dramatic storylines.
Benintendi’s triumphant return to Fenway.
Liam’s triumphant return to MLB.
Story’s return.
The ChiSox trying to extend their winning streak.
The Red Sox trying to avoid a third straight 78-84 season.
Cora making crazy pitching changes that he decided on yesterday.
Hill making possibly his last appearance in MLB.
Crochet attempting to pitch more than 4 innings for the first time since June.
The Red Sox seeking to end their latest 5-game losing streak.
Bachelorette Night at Fenway.
It’s must see TV!
Story never played for the white sox
Story never plays for Boston either.
Yep, it’s the Woe Sox vs. the Dead Sox.
It look like mlb give the order to substract the w-l record from every pitcher’s record on any given report. It’ll be officially a not official stat from now on….times are a changing!!!
AZ fans are so eager for the Marte Party to start backup. He elevates the play of his teammates like no one else on the roster.
It’s amazing how they’ve had pretty much the best offense in baseball even while Marte and Walker were out.