Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:
1. Blue Jays go for ten straight wins:
The Blue Jays have ridden a nine-game winning streak to a comfortable 3.5-game lead over the Yankees for the top spot in the American League East. Toronto is tied with Philadelphia for the fifth-best record in the majors. The Jays are set to go for their tenth consecutive victory today in a road date with the White Sox. Veteran righty Chris Bassitt (4.32 ERA) takes on right-hander Aaron Civale, whom the Sox acquired just under one month ago. Civale has a 4.60 ERA in nine starts this year but a 3.83 mark in 40 innings since returning from the injured list in late May.
2. Setback for Greene?
Reds ace Hunter Greene has been on the injured list since June 4 due to a groin strain — his second of the season — but has been expected to return to the majors not long after the All-Star break. That timeline is being thrown off course, however, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer noted yesterday that the righty has been scratched from his scheduled rehab start today after consulting with the team’s medical staff. Neither Greene nor manager Terry Francona provided much clarity on a timeline for the right-hander’s return, but Wittenmyer suggests that Greene’s timeline could be pushed back into August.
The Reds are just 46-45 this year despite going 15-11 in June without Greene, who has posted a 2.72 ERA in 11 starts this year. As the trade deadline looms, the Reds face an increasing deficit in both the NL Central (8.5 games) and the Wild Card race (3.5 games). Will they be able to stay afloat long enough for Greene to make an impact down the stretch? Will his murky outlook spur the front office to pursue additional help?
3. MLBTR Chat today:
We’re now into the second week of July, which means we’re just a few short weeks away from this year’s trade deadline. While it will be difficult for another in-season blockbuster to top the Rafael Devers deal from June, MLBTR recently published our Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline list with a number of intriguing names in the mix. Whether you’re looking ahead to the deadline or still trying to sort between the contenders and pretenders, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.
Toronto has a fantastic opportunity to stockpile road wins all this week against the 2 worst AL clubs. They should be feeling great and putting pressure on division rivals heading into ASB.
Blue Jays should plow right through the White Sox, that is low hanging fruit ripe for the taking.
The thing is though, the Jays dropped 2 of 3 to the White Sox when they played a couple weeks ago. It’s sometimes easy to overlook ‘lesser’ opponents.
Low hanging fruit is the easiest to trip over.
True, but I think the Blue Jays are running on momentum right now and they might take care of the White Sox this time around. Baseball is funny like that sometimes the low hanging fruit gives you more trouble than the playoff contending team lol
Acoss – And the Jays deserve that fruit, as they’ve had the 2nd-toughest schedule in the league so far this year.
My Red Sox have had the 3rd-easiest, but they start a 13-game gauntlet on Thursday.
As long as Schneider doesn’t keep pulling his starters early to put in fringe relievers. Schneider made that game stressful unnecessarily last night. Reminds me of both times he managed in the post season.
It was a chance to give one of his starters a bit of a breather. Pina is not one of the key bullpen arms. He is likely gone by the all star break.
The managers decision is not a problem from my perspective
Berrios didn’t need relief playing against the whitesox and hardly any pitches thrown. Captain Hook wants to have the BParms throw 90 innings each by the end of the year.
@Ducey
When they were losing it was Schneider’s fault. I’m glad to see how much he’s learned now that they are winning.
I’m sure there’s a Mark Twain-ism in there.
Greene is injured every year, and not for short periods. That crack Reds medical and/or conditioning staff strikes again.
You would think they would make more effort with their only long term investment.
Jays been doing it with clutch hitting, strong bullpen work, and exceptional defense, which has outperforming their modest run differential and WAR.
They have the great Donnie Baseball as their Bench Coach. Of course they can hit! 😁
+55 run differential since May 1st.. That’s quite good. Better than the Yankees even. March/April brings them down.
The Giants are really gonna regret that Devers deal. Woof! Way too much money for too long for that guy.
Red Sox messed things up with that situation but the deal itself will turn out very well for them.
Old man grandpa who doesn’t do any homework, Keith Hernandez was lamenting about how (he thinks) the Mets should not have let Bassitt get away a couple of years ago.
Old man doesn’t know squatola. Bassitt has a 4.32 ERA. Bassitt has a whopping 0.6 bWAR over the past season and a half. Old grandpa Keith should retire right now. He’s now unofficially a net negative in the Mets broadcast booth. He’s well past embarrassing at this point. Can’t stand his stupid muttering about the 1970s. “Back when I was playing..
blah blah blah”. STF up KEITH.
Bassit has thrown 111 innings so far so although he hasn’t been great he eats up innings
Reds must acknowledge it was another bad investment.
They never acknowledge anything.
@Boston’s Alignment
I miss the good ol’days of baseball in the 1920s. Players played with full effort and cared about the game. Now we just have nerds controlling the game and mostly DH players in the lineup. Not a lot of well-rounded players who can play the field and hit or pitch and bat.
Old York, I have to disagree. You’re romanticizing the sport when it could be cruel to players. Injuries didn’t matter to the team. They just sent guys out regardless, because players could always be replaced. They didn’t see players as assets to be protected, just assets to be used until the value was gone.
Players today are much better conditioned. Back then they didn’t have a very good understanding of conditioning and nutrition. In the 1920s, players got paid very little, and needed to work in the offseason, instead of working out like they do today. Players took jobs like pumping gas. They came to ST to get into shape, unlike today where they’re never out of shape.
None of those guys in the 1920s faced pitchers throwing mid-90s, or higher, fastballs. The pitchers back then threw the FB, and curve. and a minority of guys threw the knuckleball, and screwball. There were no sliders, splitters, change-ups, cutters or any of the vast number of pitches used today.
Most ML players from the 1920s, in their condition back then, couldn’t make it as high as AAA today They average player size was 5’11”, 170-180 lbs. In the 2020s the average size is 6’2″, 209 lbs. You’re idealizing the game from a time that wasn’t nearly as good as it is today
@Jean Matrac
If they’re better conditioned, they wouldn’t be injured all the time. Guy’s back then built natural muscle through hard work on and off the field in jobs they did. Today, we got guys lifting weights and then going on the injured list because of tendinitis in his elbows from lifting weights. Men used to play full seasons and pitch full games to the finish. Today, guy’s can’t even go 5 innings without having to leave and any small issues they end up on the IL. Ridiculous. Time for these guys to man-up and actually earn their pay check.
It makes no sense that guys working at a job in the offseason, like pumping gas, would be in better shape than guys working out year round.
The players today aren’t injured more. Today’s players aren’t sent out to play through injuries, like they used to be. Players were injured in the 1920s, but if they didn’t play through it, they were replaced. The teams had all the power, with no free-agency, and no 10-5 rights. The teams owned them.
Guys like Smoky Joe Wood had a HoF career fall short because of his mishandling. In his age 20 through 25 seasons he had a 155 ERA+. It was 188 in his age 25 season, and he had a 10.2 bWAR season at age 22.. He was sent out to pitch despite injury. He was sold as damaged goods to Cleveland where his career was over at age 30.
In case you hadn’t noticed position players play full games all the time. Pitcher’s don’t pitch full games, not because they can’t, but because the team has a better chance to win when they don’t. Stats show that limiting a pitcher to 3 times through the lineup, then going to the pen, makes the pitching much more effective. It’s about winning games, not guys proving their manhood.
Plus, another reason why pitchers don’t pitch complete games is that they’re not pacing themselves for a full 9 innings. That’s why most pitchers throw 95+. Pitchers are told to use everything they’ve got while they’re on the mound, which they do, since they’re not saving their energy for the later innings.
Prior to 1994 hitters were not wearing padded protection in their front arm and hands. Prior to 1994 hitters set up comfortably in the box and most hitters hid their hands behind their body for protection. Today, they crowd and are protected by the umpires. Combine the open space of ballparks then vs now, different baseballs, different bats, and there is good reason why pitchers today throw max effort and not finish ballgames.
Pitchers throw much harder than they did in 1994. No one threw 100 mph then. Now almost every team has at least one guy who can.
They throw harder because they are throwing with max effort. Bet the average pitcher weighs more today than they did 30+ years ago. If you took the padded protection off the hitters you would start seeing a decrease in velocity over a 2-3 year period by starting pitchers as hitters would crowd the plate less. 95-97 would live at 92-94 like many did in 1994.
As I said above, pitchers don’t try to go 9 innings anymore because they throw with max effort now.
“… seeing a decrease in velocity over a 2-3 year period by starting pitchers as hitters would crowd the plate less.”
Why? There’s no incentive to throw with less velocity if the batter crowds the plate less.
Batters crowd to get better coverage outside the plate. So what you would see is pitchers throwing with the same high velo, but more so on the outside of the plate, and less inside.
It’s simple, pitchers throw with high velo because it’s harder to hit the ball. Pitchers aren’t giving up that advantage just because they take off the protection, and crowd less.
Blair and Barker, particularly Barker, accurately pointed out the Jays benching key players despite having an off-day tomorrow AND playing 6 innings and change last night. With the Giants, Yankees and Tigers coming after the break take the wins now. We are also close to the all-star break. Plenty of off days coming.