The Cycle, Issue 78: Go The Distance
Deadline additions make an impact, eastern divisions tighten up, a viewer's guide to the weekend & beyond, remembering J.R. Richard, regretting the Field of Dreams uniforms, Hamels, Rendon, and more!
In this issue of The Cycle . . .
Upcoming Schedule: The Cycle is taking a time out in August
Did You See That?: Astros-Dodgers, familiar faces thriving in new places, great plays and oddities from the week
Series 36: Things are tightening up in the eastern divisions
On Deck: A viewer’s guide to the weekend’s action . . . and beyond
Rooting for Laundry: “Field of Dreams” uniforms unveiled
Newswire: J.R. Richard (1950–2021)
Injured List: Anthony Rendon, John Axford, Anthony DeSclafani, and more COVID positives
Transaction Reactions: Dodgers sign Cole Hamels to major-league deal
Feedback
Closing Credits
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Upcoming Schedule
As I mentioned on Monday, due to a combination of family vacations and a bill-paying, on-deadline, non-Cycle project, The Cycle’s publishing schedule will be intermittent at best over the remainder of August. I will not publish an issue next week (the week of August 9). I hope to be able to publish Wednesday issues (or the equivalent on a different day) the two weeks after that, but I will have to see how the project is progressing before I can be sure I’ll have time.
The Cycle will return to its normal schedule starting with the Friday, September 3 issue. My intention is to then go straight through to the end of the World Series without further interruption. As I did in June, I will pause the payments during this period so that no one is charged for any issues they don’t receive. I’ll then flip the switch back on at the end of the month, the exact timing dependent on how many issues I’m able to write during this down period.
As always, I thank you for bearing with me during these dog days of the season, and for your continued readership and patronage.
Did You See That?
Monday, August 2
Jesús Luzardo and Josiah Gray made their first starts for their new teams, Luzardo earning the (traditional) win for the Marlins, but Gray having the better outing (5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K). Speaking of faces in new places, Eduardo Escobar tripled and homered, driving in four runs in the Brewers’ 6–2 win over the Pirates. The best play of the day was this ridiculous sliding stop and seat-of-his-pants throw by the Rangers’ rookie second baseman Andy Ibañez. However, the big news of the night was the unexpected wildlife on the field. In the Bronx, a housecat led the Yankee Stadium grounds crew on a prolonged chase through the outfield (I’m not linking the video out of respect for the cat, who was clearly scared to death). Meanwhile, in the nation’s capital, a praying mantis took up residence on Nationals centerfielder Victor Robles’s cap, remaining there for a prolonged period. So much so that, in the top of the ninth, Robles made sure the mantis new how many outs there were, a gesture that has endured Robles to many animal-loving baseball fans, myself included.
Tuesday, August 3
All eyes on Tuesday night were on the Astros-Dodgers game, the first meeting between the two teams at Dodger Stadium with fans in the stands since the Astros’ cheating scandal broke. Just two of the hitters in the Astros’ lineup on Tuesday were on the 2017 club, and, of those two, Jose Altuve told his teammates not to signal him during his at-bats that season, but the Dodgers fans let him have it nonetheless. Altuve responded by going 2-for-4 and (accidentally) smashing a camera lens with a foul ball.
Lance McCullers Jr., who was also on that 2017 team, kept the Dodgers bats quiet and Houston won 3–0, but the most impressive play of the game came from newly minted Dodgers second baseman Mookie Bets, who has started exclusively at second base since returning from the disabled list to allow the Dodgers to get their best bats in the lineup (Corey Seager is back at short, which has pushed Chris Taylor to center, Cody Bellinger to right, Betts to the keystone, Max Muncy back to first, and Albert Pujols to the bench. What happens when Trea Turner comes off the COVID-19 IL remains to be seen).
Elsewhere, blue-chip Angels prospect Jo Adell was called up for the first time this year and reintroduced himself by going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and a stolen base, and three RBI while playing right field in an 11–3 Angels win.
The play of the day, however, came in Milwaukee, where, after his big day on Monday, Eduardo Escobar appeared to hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth only for Gregory Polanco bring it back. In the seventh inning of that game, Polanco broke up the Brewers’ bid for a combined no-hitter, and in the tenth he drove in the tie-breaking run in what was eventually an 8–5 Pirates win.
Wednesday, August 4
Max Scherzer was excellent in his Dodgers debut on Wednesday, holding the Astros to two runs over seven innings while striking out 10, though the Dodgers’ bats put the game away early by scoring seven runs in the first three innings against Jake Odorizzi, with Betts contributing a pair of home runs in a 7–5 win.
Earlier in Miami, the Mets Javier Báez lived up to his El Mago nickname with this evasive slide to score a run in the top of the second, then later hit a tie-breaking home run to lead off the eighth in a game the Mets won 5–3. (Báez being Báez, he followed that performance up by striking out five times in a loss on Thursday).
Thursday, August 5
Sticking with our theme of familiar faces in new places, Joey Gallo hit his first home run as a Yankee on Thursday night, part of a three-hit night that also included two doubles. Gallo’s homer came with two on and the Yankees trailing 3–2 in the bottom of the seventh, but it was most notable for its extreme launch angle. I’ll let Sarah Langs explain:
Despite the fact that Gallo seemed to hit it straight up and benefit from Yankee Stadium’s short porch, the ball traveled 347 feet and would have been a home run in 20 other major-league ballparks. The Yankees the opening game of their four-game weekend set against the Mariners 5–3.
Series 36
The Phillies swept the Nationals this week and have now won five in a row while the Mets have dropped four of five. As a result, the two teams are tied in the win column with the Phillies trailing first-place New York by just a half game heading into this weekend’s three-game set in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Braves swept the Cardinals to keep pace, climbing over .500 for the first time all season with a late comeback on Thursday, and are now just a game behind the Phillies.
Things are tightening up in the other eastern division, as well. The Red Sox have lost six of seven, while the Yankees have won six of seven and the Jays have won seven of eight and are 6-1 since returning to the Rogers Centre a week ago. New York and Toronto are just four and five games behind Boston now and just 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 games behind the A’s for the second wild-card spot. As luck would have it, there are also some compelling AL East and AL wild-card matchups this weekend.
On Deck
Series to Watch:
Mets @ Phillies: This is the series to watch this weekend. Not only does it pit the top two teams in the closest division against one another, the pitching matchups are all compelling, as I will detail below. The Mets have the advantage in the season series thus far, leading 8-5, but they have only out-scored the Phillies by a total of five runs in those games, and the two teams have split their first six games in Philadelphia this year.
Mariners @ Yankees: As mentioned above, this is actually a four-game set, and the Yankees took the opener Thursday night behind Joey Gallo’s first Yankee home run. The Yankees now lead the Mariners by two games in the AL wild-card race and have designs on putting Seattle even further in their rearview, while the Mariners are trying to hang with the improved post-deadline Yankees and Jays. One advantage Seattle has in this series is the absence of the Yankees top two starting pitchers due to positive COVID-19 tests. The Yankees will start lefty reliever Wandy Peralta against Marco Gonzales on Friday, deadline “addition” Andrew Heaney against Chris Flexen on Saturday, and rookie Luis Gil against Yusei Kikuchi on Sunday. Those matchups all favor the Mariners, with the possible exception of Sunday, though I’ll get into detail on that below.
Red Sox @ Blue Jays: This is also a four-game set, but it’s four games in three days, with a double-header on Saturday. The Jays enter this set five games behind the now-second-place Red Sox, but they could reduce that deficit significantly if they stay hot and Boston stays cold, which is not insignificant as the Red Sox still occupy the top wild-card spot in the AL. The Sox will send Nathan Eovaldi to the hill Friday night, Nick Pivetta and rookie Tanner Houck in the double-header on Saturday, and Garrett Richards on Sunday. The Jays will counter with rookie Alek Manoah, Robbie Ray, José Berrios, and Hyun Jin Ryu, which strikes me as the preferable quartet right now.
Giants @ Brewers: Unlike the three series above, there’s nothing on the line in this series (it’s too early to think about homefield advantage in the playoffs, and the Giants lead the Brewers by four games in that race, anyway). Rather this is just the two best first-place teams in the National League going head-to-head, the first of two regular-season series this year between the two teams (the second will be four games in San Francisco as August turns into September). Given the quality of the two rotations thus far, the pitching matchups in this series are a bit disappointing. The Brewers will send Corbin Burnes, and Brandon Woodruff in the first two games, but finish with veteran lefty Brett Anderson. The Giants counter with Logan Webb, a spot-starter in place of the injured Anthony DeSclafani, and wily veteran Johnny Cueto. That’s not how they’d line up if this was a playoff series, but it should be fun to see these two go at it, nonetheless.
Friday, August 6
Olympics:
Dominican Republic vs. South Korea, bronze-medal game, 11pm ET
The loser goes home, the winner goes home with the bronze. South Korea is 3-3 in Olympic play thus far. The Dominican Republic is 2-3. The two previously matched up in the first round of the knockout stage. In that game, the D.R. got an early 3–1 lead, but South Korea scored three in the bottom of the ninth for the walk-off win, one of five games in this tournament to end in a walk-off.
Pitching Matchup and Game of the Day
Marcus Stroman vs. Kyle Gibson, Mets @ Phillies, 7:05 pm ET
This game has almost everything you’d want in a post-deadline Friday night contest. It starts with two teams separated by a half game atop their division. Add the first-place team’s best (active) starter in Stroman. Then mix in the big deadline addition to the second-place team’s rotation in Kyle Gibson. Have the second-place team come in a little hotter, and make them the home team, and you’ve got the recipe for a very compelling early August matchup.
This will be Stroman’s fifth start of the year against the Phillies. He has a 1.35 ERA in the first four, but the last was not great, as he allowed four runs (two earned) in just three innings against the Phils on June 27. Gibson turned in a quality start in a lopsided win against the Pirates in his Phillies debut this past Sunday. He hasn’t faced the Mets since 2019.
Runners-up:
Nathan Eovaldi vs. Alek Manoah, Red Sox @ Blue Jays, 7:07 pm ET
Logan Webb vs. Corbin Burnes, Giants @ Brewers, 8:10 pm ET
Saturday, August 7
Olympics:
U.S.A. vs. Japan, gold-medal game, 6am ET
Winner gets the gold, loser gets the silver. Japan is the only undefeated team in the tournament (as structured, there can be only one), having gone 4-0 thus far. The U.S. is 4-1. When the two faced off in the quarterfinals, Japan scored first, but the U.S. quickly answered to take a 6–3 lead. Japan quickly closed that to 6–5, then scored in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and walked off with the win in the bottom of the tenth. This is the same matchup as the gold-medal game in softball. Japan won that one 2–0.
Pitching Matchup of the Day
Tanner Houck vs. José Berríos, Red Sox @ Blue Jays, 7:07 pm ET (Game 2 of double header)
Deadline addition Berríos was excellent in his Blue Jays debut on Sunday, holding the Royals scoreless over six innings while striking out seven, but in his only start against Boston this year, way back on April 14, he allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings. Red Sox rookie Houck, a 6-foot-5 righty from the Midwest, has excellent peripherals in four starts and two relief appearances thus far this season, besting his 2.45 ERA with a 1.71 FIP thanks to 30 strikeouts against just five walks and one home run in 22 innings. His longest start in the majors this year is five innings, but this is a seven-inning game, so five innings could be plenty for Boston.
Game of the Day
Mets @ Phillies, Tylor Megill vs. Ranger Suárez, 4:15 pm ET
Honestly, the gold-medal game in the Olympics is the game of the day, but that is both not a major-league game and will be over by the time many of you wake up, so, on the major-league schedule, I have to stick with the Mets-Phillies series. Six-foot-seven Mets rookie Megill’s last start was his first poor outing in the majors, but he still has a 2.68 ERA after eight starts with solid peripherals, and this will be the Phillies’ first look at him. Meanwhile, the Phillies made a post-deadline decision to move the 25-year-old lefty Suárez into the rotation. In his first start, on Monday, he was almost perfect for three innings against the Nationals, though, as a result, he needed just 33 pitches in that outing. Look for him to go a little deeper, but not much, in this game.
Sunday, August 8
Pitching Matchup and Game of the Day
Taijuan Walker vs. Zack Wheeler, Mets @ Phillies, 1:05 pm ET
The finale of this series features two pitchers who have jumped on and off my Cy Young rankings this year. Walker posted a 2.50 ERA through his first 16 starts, but had a disaster outing in his 17th, failing to get out of the first inning in Pittsburgh, and has a 9.20 ERA in three turns since then, all Mets losses. He has made three starts against the Phillies thus far this year, none of them quality, but all of them Mets wins. Wheeler posted a 2.05 ERA though his first 17 starts, but has a 4.36 ERA in five turns since. He has faced his former team three times this season, the first a quality start in a loss, the second just shy of quality in another loss, and the last seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in a win on June 27.
Runner-up:
Yusei Kikuchi vs. Luis Gil, Mariners @ Yankees, 1:05 pm ET
Gil has made just one major-league start, but it was the best debut performance by a Yankee starting pitcher since 1992, and he is a well-regarded prospect, so I’m very curious to see how he follows it up.
Next Week and Next Weekend:
Next week brings a three-game battle between the Rays and Red Sox at Fenway Park, likely with the AL East lead in the balance.
Next weekend, the Blue Jays and Mariners go at it in Seattle to try to achieve more clarity in the AL wild-card race, while the Dodgers visit the Mets, and the Yankees and White Sox visit Iowa. Speaking of . . .
Rooting for Laundry
The “Field of Dreams” uniforms are giving me nightmares
Originally intended for last year, MLB is finally getting its Yankees-vs.-White Sox “Field of Dreams” game next week. The game will take place at 7pm ET on Thursday on the same Dyersville, Iowa farm where the 1989 movie was filmed. The field, house, and cornfield seen in the film are still there and look exactly like they did when Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, and a six-year-old Gaby Hoffmann populated them 33 years ago.
Or they did until Major League Baseball built what amounts to a minor league ballpark next to the original field. That is where the Yankees and White Sox will play, not on the field from the film, but the new field, which looks nothing like the original and has an outfield fence in front of the corn. You can see the lay of the land in this image from The Des Moines Register. The field at the bottom of the photo is the one from the film. The one at the top is where the major-league game will be played.
If it seems to you that playing in that newly built modern ballpark seems to defeat the entire purpose of the Field of Dreams game, then you’re in exactly the right headspace to understand my opinion of the uniforms the two teams will be wearing in that game.
As revealed on SportsLogos.net on Thursday, the White Sox and Yankees will be wearing throwbacks of their 1919 home and road uniforms, respectively. However, those uniforms will be made of contemporary fabrics, with a contemporary cut, and covered in all of the standard contemporary makers’ marks and MLB logos, rendering them as pointless as the ballpark in which they will be worn. If the entire idea of the Field of Dreams game was to play a major-league game in an atmosphere reminiscent of that of the film, this entire thing is as big a failure as casting Ray Liotta to play a handsome, right-handed Shoeless Joe Jackson with a New Jersey accent.
Technically, MLB, Nike, and New Era got the Yankees’ uniforms “right.” The Yankees will wear gray roadies with a navy block “New York” across the chest with no outline or sleeve stripes, and a boxier “NY” on their navy caps. However, Nike missed the doubled placket pipping on the White Sox pinstriped uniform from that year.
Even if they had included that, aesthetically, these uniforms are all wrong. With no logo on the White Sox’s cap, the New Era flag on the left side is even more of an eyesore (ditto the red-white-and-blue batterman logo on the back, which is not visible in the photos that have been released but can be seen on the caps that are for sale). The same goes for the Nike swoosh on the right breast of the jerseys, particularly on the very sparse Yankee roadies. I suppose eight-panel caps, three-quarter-length sleeves, and cadet collars were too much to ask, but could they have at least gotten the White Sox’s jerseys right and left off the modern logos?
After the missing piping on the White Sox’s jerseys and the refusal to skip the logo clutter for one. damn. game. the worst part of these uniforms is the size and weight of the NY on the Yankees’ caps. Here’s a look at the Field of Dreams cap (left) next to an original cap from around that period (right):
The degree to which the logo on the left looks like the logo on the right is the degree to which the Field of Dreams uniforms resemble the ones they are throwing back to, and also the degree to which Thursday’s Field of Dreams game is likely to resemble what “a major-league game on the Field of Dreams” looked like in your head when you first heard that MLB was going to do this. I’m sure the game will still be fun, for the intimacy, the novelty, and the quality of the two teams involved, but it will be fun despite the failed attempt at throwback aesthetics, not because of them.
Newswire
J.R. Richard (1950–2021)
Like the shooting star streaking across the front of his first major-league uniform, James Rodney Richard’s major-league career was brilliant, fascinating, and extinguished far too quickly. With the Astros in the late 1970s, Richard was one of the game’s most dominant pitchers, but a stroke he suffered in late July of 1980, when he was just 30 years old, ended his career at its peak. Though it took time, and he never was able to compete at the major-league level again, Richard fully recovered from his stroke, but his life after baseball wasn’t without its own tribulations. Richard passed away on Thursday at the age of 71. According to friend and ex-teammate Enos Cabell, Richard died of COVID-19; he was not vaccinated.
Born and raised in northern Louisiana, Richard briefly attended Arizona State University and was drafted by the Astros with the second-overall pick in the 1969 draft. A towering 6-foot-8 with an elite fastball, Richard immediately began blowing away minor-league hitters, but, as is common for tall pitchers with long limbs, he was wild, and it took him some time to learn to repeat his mechanics and control his pitches. Thus, his maturation into the dominant major-league starter he would eventually become was slow.
Richard first reached the majors in 1971 at the age of 21, but he spent four seasons bouncing between the majors and minors before finally becoming a full-time member of the Houston rotation at the age of 25 in 1975, following the death of Astros ace Don Wilson from carbon monoxide poisoning. Even after he was established, Richard led the National League in walks three times, and led the majors in walks in his first full season.
Still, as he learned how best to deploy his vicious fastball/slider combination, every one of Richard’s seasons from that point forward was better than the last. Check out these trends:
In 1976, his second full season, Richard won 20 games, struck out 214, posted a 116 ERA+, and finished seventh in the Cy Young voting. The next year, he struck out the same number of men in fewer innings with far fewer walks and a 120 ERA+. In 1978, he led the majors with 303 strikeouts (in 275 1/3 innings) and the NL in strikeout rate, hit rate, fielding independent pitching (and walks), and finished fourth for Cy Young. In 1979, he led the majors with 313 strikeouts (in 292 1/3 innings), as well as in strikeout and hit rates, FIP, and ERA (2.71), led the NL in strikeout-to-walk ratio, had a 130 ERA+, and finished third in the Cy Young voting.* Eleven of his final 14 starts that year were complete games, including nine in a row and three shutouts. In one of the three exceptions, he pitched 11 innings, walking just one, in a game the Astros won in the 13th. That season, Richard also became just the third modern pitcher to record consecutive 300-strikeout seasons, joining Sandy Koufax and soon-to-be teammate Nolan Ryan.
*Bruce Sutter won the 1979 NL Cy Young, but, in my book, Richard, who threw nearly three times as many innings as Sutter, should have received the award.
That November, the Astros signed Ryan to a three-year, $3 million contract, prompting Richard’s agent, Tom Reich, who passed away earlier this month, to force the Astros to renegotiate Richard’s deal, guaranteeing the big righty $800,000 a year for the next four years. With James Rodney as their ace, the Astros had set a franchise record with 89 wins in 1979, finishing just a game and a half behind the Reds in the National League West. With Ryan in the fold, they would finally reach the postseason for the first time, but, by then, Richard’s career would be all but over.
Over the first four months of 1980, Richard was posting better numbers still (1.90 ERA, 174 ERA+, 1.94 FIP, 0.92 WHIP, plus his lowest hit and home run rates and highest strikeout rate). That July, he made his first All-Star team and pitched two scoreless frames as the National League’s starting pitcher. However, Richard complained of arm fatigue that season. As is an all-too-familiar story for Black Americans, his complaints were not taken seriously. Richard was right to complain.
It turned out Richard had developed a blood clot in his pitching shoulder, which was causing a blockage that we know now as thoracic outlet syndrome. Richard exited his first start after the All-Star game with nausea, blurred vision, and numbness in his arm. The Astros placed him on the disabled list, and an exam at a local hospital detected the obstructed artery that was causing his symptoms, but the doctors either did not see the blood clot, or did not think it required surgery. A couple of weeks later, on July 30, 1980, while the Astros were on the road, Richard visited a chiropractor in an attempt to improve the blood flow in the area. Later that day, he was playing catch on the field at the Astrodome with former teammate Wilbur Howard when the clot moved to Richard’s brain, causing series of strokes that left his entire left side paralyzed.
After a long process of surgery and physical therapy, Richard regained movement on his left side, and even attempted a comeback in 1982, making 12 minor-league starts in the Astros system between 1982 and ’83. He was a September call-up in 1982 and ’83, but he would never pitch in the major leagues again, in part out of others’ concern for his safety, as his vision and reflexes remained impaired by the stroke.
Richard attempted another comeback at the age of 39 with the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989, but failed to make the team. Within four years of that attempt, despite receiving a seven-figure settlement from the Astros for their mishandling of his condition, two divorces and some bad business investments left him houseless, and he spent nearly two years living under Highway 59 in Houston, less than 10 miles from the Astrodome. Fortunately, his friends and former teammates discovered his situation, Richard’s pension soon kicked in, and Richard got back on his feet with the additional help of South Houston’s Now Testament Church, where he eventually became a minister.
Given all that came before it, the final decade-plus of Richard’s life seemed to be a happy one. He was active in his church and with local children’s programs, and he made frequent appearances as an honored guest at Astros games (though the team still hasn’t retired his number). He was inducted into the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s Hall of Game in 2018 and into the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals in 2019, both a testament the impact he made in that brief four-and-a-half-season run of dominance.
Richard’s number-50 tequila sunrise jersey (seen above on what might be one of the greatest Topps cards of all time) is among the game’s most popular throwback jerseys, and his name is still spoken with reverence with regard to both how great he was and how great he might have been had he gotten the proper medical treatment during that fateful 1980 season. What is often forgotten, however, is that he lived another 40 years after that stroke, and those years weren’t always easy.
Injured List
Activated:
Giants 1B Brandon Belt and IF Tommy La Stella
Reds RF Nick Castellanos
Marlins 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Rockies RHPs Antonio Senzatela, Yency Almonte, and Robert Stephenson
Pirates LHP Steven Brault and Anthony Banda
Diamondbacks CF Pavin Smith and RHP Taylor Clarke
Yankees LHP Wandy Peralta
Twins CF Rob Refsnyder
Royals 3B Emmanuel Rivera
Updates:
Angels 3B Anthony Rendon: season-ending hip surgery
Rendon has been on the IL since early July with a hamstring injury, but, while on the IL, he developed a hip impingement that will require season-ending surgery. Rendon struggled to stay healthy in the second year of his seven-year, $245 million contract with the Angels. He ultimately played just 58 games and never got on track at the plate or in the field, finishing with a career-low 92 OPS+. Given that they continue to hang tight around .500, it’s frustrating to consider what the Angels might have been able to do this year with a healthy Rendon and Mike Trout, despite the struggles of their starting rotation. The Halos hope to find out next year, which will be Rendon’s age-32 season.
Rockies UT Chris Owings: out for the season
Owings has mallet finger in his left thumb and needed surgery to insert a pin in the digit. That will end his season. During the brief time he was healthy this season, Owings was tremendously valuable, posting 168 OPS+ and making some great plays at six different positions (second, third, short, and all three outfield spots). That was a small-sample fluke, of course. Owings will turn 30 next week and has a career OPS+ of 73. He will be a free agent this fall.
Brewers RHP John Axford: out for the season
Just to follow up on Wednesday’s tale of the 38-year-old Axford’s manic Monday, in which he was sold by the Blue Jays to the Brewers, made his first major-league appearance since 2018, and left that appearance with an elbow injury: test revealed that Axford has significant structural damage in his elbow. The injury, which the Brewers haven’t specified, but, per manager Craig Counsell, involves Axford’s ulnar collateral ligament, among other things, will end Axford’s season, and most likely his career, though that last remains speculation, however strong the probability might be.
Placed on the IL:
Yankees C Gary Sánchez: COVID-19
Sánchez woke up with symptoms on Thursday and tested positive for COVID-19. He will have to quarantine for at least 10 days. Rob Brantly has been recalled to back up Kyle Higashioka behind the plate.
Brewers LHP Eric Lauer: COVID-19
Lauer is also positive and will have to quarantine for at least 10 days.
Giants RHP Anthony DeSclafani: right shoulder fatigue
This is fatigue, nothing structural. DeSclafani is only expected to miss one start, this Saturday’s against the Brewers.
Blue Jays RHP Joakim Soria: right middle finger inflammation
Soria’s Blue Jays debut was a perfect eighth inning in a loss to Cleveland on Monday. It’s unclear how severe this injury is, but “inflammation” is better than “sprain” or “strain” etc.
Dodgers RHP Jimmy Nelson: right elbow inflammation
Nelson just returned from the IL on July 25 and made just three appearances between that stint and this one. This is a different injury, and it’s only inflammation, but it is in the elbow, and Nelson’s medical history is a mess, so the Dodgers should consider his participation in the remainder of the season a bonus if it happens.
Rangers RHP Dane Dunning: right ankle impingement
Rangers UT Eli White: right elbow strain
Dunning has had pain in his ankle for some time. The Rangers are hoping a 10-day break now will help him get through the remainder of the season. White, meanwhile, has a proper strain and will likely miss a number of weeks.
Royals RHP Kyle Zimmer: neck/trapezius spasms
Transaction Reactions
Dodgers sign LHP Cole Hamels $1M/1yr + $200K bonus per start
Prior to 2020, Hamels had an ERA+ of 113 or better in all but two of his first 14 major-league seasons. He was clearly diminished from 2017 to ’19, but he still averaged a 116 ERA+ in 160 innings over those three seasons, albeit with weak peripherals and a 4.42 FIP. In December 2019, he signed a one-year, $18 million deal with the Braves, but then the pandemic hit. When training resumed in July, Hamels was sidelined with triceps tendonitis. He finally made his Braves debut on September 16, but lasted just 3 1/3 innings, surrendered three runs, and landed back on the IL with a shoulder issue.
Hamels announced his intention to pitch this year back in January, but he didn’t hold a showcase for teams until mid-July. Twenty teams attended, and, after the dust settled from the trading deadline, the Dodgers, who lost Tony Gonsolin to shoulder inflammation within hours of the deadline passing, signed Hamels to a pro-rated $1 million major-league contract that will pay him a $200,000 bonus for every major-league start he makes. Per manager Dave Roberts, Hamels still needs to build himself up, and he has been sent to the Arizona Complex League to do so.
Exactly how long the 37-year-old lefty will need to be ready for the Dodgers’ rotation, what kind of need the Dodgers will have in the rotation by that time, and just how effective Hamels will be in this comeback attempt all remain to be seen, but it seems proper to keep expectations low in all regards.
Orioles claim 2B/OF Jorge Mateo off waivers from the Padres
Once a well-regarded shortstop prospect in the Yankees’ system who made top-100 prospects lists and played in the Futures Game, Mateo was dealt to the A’s in the 2017 deadline deal for Sonny Gray and to the Padres in the summer of 2020 for a player to be named later. Now, after parts of two seasons as a weak-hitting utility man for San Diego, he has fallen another rung as a waiver claim headed to the lowly Orioles. Mateo is one of the fastest players in the game, right there with Tim Locastro and Trea Turner, but he’s also 26, and the prospect shine is all the way off. He can play second, short, third, and all three outfield positions, and his speed makes him an asset in the field and on the bases, but the bat is a huge question at this point and the answer thus far has been “no.” Still, given past evaluations, it won’t hurt Baltimore to give him a look to see if there’s anything there the better clubs that have had him thus far didn’t have time to find.
Twins claim RHP Ralph Garza Jr. off waivers from Astros
The 27-year-old Garza made his major-league debut in late May and posted a 4.09 ERA in 11 relief innings for Houston despite walking seven. The Twins have sent him directly to triple-A.
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Closing Credits
If all goes well, The Cycle will return with a Wednesday(-ish) issue in two weeks. I hope to see you all here then.
In the meantime, here’s a nice slice of mid-’80s Canadian cheese, inspired by the shuffle beat of Tears for Fears “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” co-written by British Columbia’s Jim Vallance, and featuring Vallance’s song-writing partner (and the pride of Kingston, Ontario) Bryan Adams on the call-and-response vocals at the end. Pain finds me everywhere. Oh, but you don’t care!