Welcome to Ronnie’s Run Down! This column looks at some fascinating matchups and facts that might pique the interest of the reader as that day’s games are reviewed. This is just my attempt at creating come compelling thought on any given day. There are nine innings in baseball, and nine points in my daily run down.
- Yesterday Kendrys Morales tied a Major League record by hitting home runs in 8 consecutive games. He actually has 9 home runs in those 8 games. That record ties a mark held by Dale Long, Don Mattingly, and Ken Griffey Jr. Tonight Morales faces righty David Hess of the Baltimore Orioles. The switch hitting Morales has a 144 wRC+ from the left side of the plate.
- Javier Baez is a Cub on fire. In his last 28 PA he has 3 home runs, a 33.3% LD, and a 269 wRC+; he has just a 7.1% strikeout rate in that time. Baez ranks 1st in the NL over the last week with 0.7 fWAR.
- David Peralta is 2nd in the NL over the last week with 68.8% HC. In 22 PA he has a .565 wOBA and a .476 ISO. The Diamondback as a team are hitting the ball hard; in addition to Peralta, Eduardo Escobar (62.5%), Paul Goldschmidt (58.3%), and Nick Ahmed (58.3%) are all among the NL leaders in the last 7 days.
- Marwin Gonzalez is hitting the ball well lately. In his last 27 PA he has a .577 ISO while hitting .385/.407/.962 with 55.6% HC. On the season Gonzalez has been incredibly disappointing this season with a just above league average 106 wRC+, after a 144 wRC+ season last year. The Astro shortstop has really turned it on the in the 2nd half with a 169 wRC+, maybe by season’s end his numbers will rise to his projected level.
- Brett Anderson of the Athletics has only given up 2 runs in his last 26.2 innings. In that time he’s given up only 12 hits while striking out 14 and walking just 2 in route to a 3.26 xFIP. Those 2 runs came off of just one pitch resulting in a 2 run home run by Kole Calhoun back on August 10th. He’s also leading all starters in the last 30 days with a 6.1 wSI.
- Avisail Garcia is really not having a good month. He is 2nd in the Majors with a 21.8% swinging strike rate. He is displaying a terrible approach, swinging at 46% of the pitches he sees outside the strike zone, 2nd worst in the AL. This has lead 26 wRC+ in his last 94 PA and an awful looking slash of .140/.202/.267. Unfortunately when he does make contact, he has just a 27.6% HC.
- Patrick Corbin leads all NL pitchers with a 2.53 SIERA in the last 30 days. He’s made 5 starts in that time and has a 11.13 K/9 and a 10.0 K/BB. In 32.1 inning he has a 47.2% GB and is leading all pitcher in the Majors with 8.2 wSL. His opponent tonight, the San Francisco Giants, rank 27th in MLB with a -0.2 fWAR in their last 7 games, and dead last with a -13.8 wRAA.
- The Astros Alex Bregman has a 100% contact rate in his last 28 PA. He hasn’t whiffed on a pitch in 7 games. He’s hitting .400/.464/.600 in that span while making just 4% SC. He’s not just getting by swinging early in counts and putting everything in play, he actually has shown some patience with a 10.7% walk rate.
- On this day in 1939 NBC broadcast the first ever televised Major League Baseball game. The broadcast actually covered a double header between the Reds and the Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. The teams split the games with the Reds winning the afternoon 5-2 and the Dodgers taking the nightcap 6-1.
