Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:
1. O’Hoppe exits:
The Angels were dealt a tough blow during their win over the Athletics last night when catcher Logan O’Hoppe was struck by a warmup backswing off the bat of A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson. Wilson’s warmup swing hit O’Hoppe under the face mask, and he immediately fell to the ground in pain before exiting the game shortly thereafter. After the game, interim manager Ray Montgomery told reporters (including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com) that O’Hoppe was “doing OK” but added that the club was putting him through testing and the concussion protocol. It’s certainly possible that O’Hoppe will require a trip to the 7-day injured list for concussion-related symptoms, and if he does Travis d’Arnaud will take over regular duties behind the plate. Sebastian Rivero, Zach Humphreys, and Chad Wallach are all in Triple-A as potential depth options, though none of them are on the 40-man roster.
2. Dodgers roster moves incoming:
Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts said yesterday that the team expects to welcome both third baseman Max Muncy and southpaw Alex Vesia back from the injured list today (via The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya). Both have been on the mend from oblique strains. Their returns come at an opportune time for the Dodgers, as the team has been scuffling in recent weeks and currently sits just one game up on the Padres in the NL West. Muncy has only appeared in 89 games this year but has been quite productive when healthy, evidenced by a .258/.389/.491 slash line. Vesia, meanwhile, has been one of the team’s more reliable bullpen arms with a 2.75 ERA and a 33% strikeout rate across 59 appearances.
3. Series Preview: Reds @ Padres
The Reds kept their faint postseason hopes alive over the weekend when they took the final two games of a three-game set against the Mets. Cincinnati still sits four games behind New York and six games back of a San Diego club currently in possession of the second NL Wild Card spot. The Reds head to Petco Park for a three-game set that’ll prove pivotal. A Reds sweep could thrust them right back into the mix, whereas a sweep in the other direction would be close to the end of the road for Cincinnati.
As already mentioned, the Padres are just one game back of the Dodgers in the NL West, making every game critical for manager Mike Shildt’s squad. The Reds will send lefty Nick Lodolo (3.22 ERA) to the mound opposite 39-year-old Padres vet Yu Darvish, who owns a 5.75 ERA in 11 starts this year (but a 4.11 over his past seven). Tuesday will pit an as-of-yet unannounced Padres starter against Reds righty Zack Littell (3.81 ERA), while the series finale on Wednesday will see Nick Pivetta (2.85 ERA) take on Andrew Abbott (2.88 ERA) in a duel between two of the NL’s more impressive pitchers.
As much respect as we have for the Reds, it’s time to break out the shovels and bury ’em.
LFGSD
If Padres take the series, that’s pretty much it for the Reds unless they go on a hot streak.
Yeah…..gotta make up 6 games with 19 to play, and the Padres got well against the Rockies, and play the easiest overall schedule the rest of the way.
Not this time Randy 👊 Francona and reds just like to make it look like everyone else stands a chance and now they bout to turn on the heat ! Starting w sweep of padres. Steer is gonna take Yu yard tonight. Go ahead and let draft kings kno you agree
Hahahaha, love it Whiffa! Be good and enjoy the games, amigo. 🤙🏽😎🤙🏽
🍻
Reds doing the job tonight against Suarez in the 9th.
It’s nice for the Dodgers to get another game of cushion.
Bah! Can’t win ’em all, I guess.
🤙🏽🤪
San diego winning the division would be David vs Goliath
$215MM payroll! David’s on a real shoestring budget!
Uh….checking notes, yep Dodgers at $338.5 for 2025 ($406.7 CBT hit) vs $211.5 ($267.8 CBT).
So yeah, that’s a mighty big gap in payroll any way you slice it.
It’s like 1 deferred contract difference!
I’d be happy to see the dodgers as a wild card, but 200 million is still a lot more than the team they play tonight
Whoever wins the NL West is playing in the Wild Card Series regardless….
211 mil still buys a whole lot of slingshots.
It’s a big pay gap since the dodgers are the highest, but San Diego is still the second biggest payroll in the division and 9th highest overall in baseball. Pretty much anybody over 200 million is a Goliath. In David vs Goliath, David is a huge underdog that nobody believes would win. I saw plenty of people talking about San Diego having a shot at the division. San Francisco and Arizona would be much closer to the David of the division, but ultimately, the Rockies would be David, as they are the underdog of the division and the team that nobody expects to win. Unlike the story though, they just stick true to expectations and don’t win.
I’m not looking it up but Colorado v LAD and SD post all star break has to he pretty good W – L for Col. Playing the spoiler even if not in contention.
As an A’s I feel spoiled to have a $120 mill payroll.
Now the A’s are definitely a David. Both in their division and in baseball altogether.
Halos’ organization is cursed.
Our AA player of the month went into a coma the next night.
Who’s that? Do you mean the high-A player that got into a car accident?
Tri City is High-A, but point made.
Rio Foster, a 16th round draft pick who was just named Northwest League (A+) player of the month, is in critical condition after a car crash.
He is awake though, no coma. All prayers that he can make a full recovery and play ball again!
I’d do this myself if I wasn’t so lazy, but my sense is that a record comparison of with Muncy vs without Muncy would show that he is the most important player in the Dodgers lineup. With their roster there’s no reason for one player to be that important but they have scuffled when he was out in July.
C’mon see what the difference is.
They score two runs more per game with Muncy in the lineup this year. Fairly significant.
Don’t forget about Muncy’s stellar defense.
54-35 with Muncy in the lineup.
……and 11-12 since he went on the IL Aug 13th.
Just because something happened with him, doesn’t mean that it happened BECAUSE of him.
He helps lengthen the lineup in a way others can’t. He has plate discipline, which allows others to see more pitches. He has power, so it’s hard to pitch around the guys in front of him. And he’s generally clutch.
Plus, he gives the team a bit of attitude that’s been missing. And needed.
Juan – Padres fan here so not jaded by anything blue but they do seem to play much better with him in lineup so, there is data to support it.
LTC
“there is data to support it.”
.Stats 101
Correlation is not causation
Yes. Muncy is better than the guys that replace him. So, yes, you’d expect them to play better with him in the lineup. But, he’s not 2 runs a game better. That’s just random noise
One of many who have missed a significant part of the season. It’d be nice to see em get back to pre-July performance….
Reds schedule down the stretch is no joke. If they somehow squeeze in, they will be playing their best ball vs best competition heading into playoffs ! Thats how reds win championships 🔥
You’re quite a big whiffa when it comes to predictions too, it seems…
This may be another swing and a miss, a whiff.
If Reds can hit with RISP they may take games 1 and possibly 3, game 2 depending who starts for the Padres but Littell has been awful the last three starts.
Lodolo’s going to have a great game tonight. I’m expecting a 4-3 win for the Red Stockings.
York – Red legs?
I think the stockings are in Boston.
@Longtimecoming
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Red_Stockings
Thanks for the reminder. I did see that red legs was a 50’s name used due to the McCarthy communist issues of the time.
Maybe he’s trying to cover those gams.
@whyhayzee
Looks like someone doesn’t know baseball history… why am I not surprised?
Oh, O’Hoppe, get well soon!
This will be 30 years since The Reds have won a playoff series. Davey Johnson was the manager.
“Meanwhile” has to start the sentence, not come in the middle between commas.