News and Notes: Someone please give Noah Syndergaard a hug

News and Notes for Thursday, August 17, 2023

The Guardians split a series with the Cincinnati Reds, playing sloppily on their way to a 7-2 loss. Noah Syndergaard didn’t pitch particularly well, but no one feels worse about it than he does, so let’s take it easy on him. We appreciate the innings eaten, Noah, and hope for better days for you ahead.

I was encouraged that Terry Francona managed to get all three of Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio and Tyler Freeman in the lineup.

Arias hit another nuke (off of a lefty this time!), going 1-3 with a strikeout and grounding into a double-play and an xBA of .550 while playing first base.
Rocchio racked up three singles in four at-bats, had an xBA on the day of .380, and made an error at short.
Freeman played solid defense in place of Gimenez but went 0-4 with a strikeout, hit into a double-play and didn’t hit a ball harder than 96 mph.

Every game is a data point closer to helping the team figure out who is the double-play partner for Gimenez for the future.

For those of you still holding out hope for the division race, the Twins lost to the Tigers, keeping the Guardians 4.5 games back.

Tonight, the Guardians face another tough left-handed pitcher in Tarik Skubal for the Tigers as he continues to work his way back into form after an injury, while Xzavion Curry will go for the Guardians. Skubal had a great start and then a poor start recently, so we’ll see which version the Cleveland hitters see tonight.

Cal Quantrill pitched 3 and 2/3rds innings for Akron and allowed four hits, one walk and one run and struck out 4. Now the Guardians will have to decide if he makes another rehab appearance or if he will rejoin the major league team. Might they send one of their trio of excellent rookies down for a rest period and anger their fanbase? It may be a necessary evil, unfortunately, to protect the incredibly valuable, young arms of Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Logan Allen.

Minor League Wrap-Up

The Columbus Clippers lost 7-3 and James Karinchak continues to scuffle giving up 2 runs on two walks and a wild pitch, but Joey Cantillo had five strikeouts in 5 innings, giving up 1 earned run on five hits and two walks and George Valera had two hits including a double. The Akron Rubber Ducks lost 7-6, but Juan Brito had another couple hits, Petey Halpin hit a leadoff home run, and right-handed reliever Franco Aleman had another two innings of hitless, walkless, scoreless relief, striking out five. The Captains swept a double-header, 5-1 and 2-0. In the early game, Trenton Denholm pitched well in four innings, and Chase Delauter and Dayan Frias had hits. In the night-cap, Delauter had 2 hits, Kahlil Watson, Jake Fox and Frias each had a hit and young left-hander Steve Hajjar looked very good going six innings alllowing 2 hits, 3 walks, one run and racking up 8 strikeouts. The Lynchburg Hillcats won 4-0, behind a good outing from Adam Tulloch and two hits for Wuilfredo Antunez and a homer by Jose Devers, his 9th on the season. Finally, Guardians Blue won 4-3 in the Dominican Summer league, and it may be a good idea to pay attention to Luis Merejo, 17 year-old third baseman there who has an OPS over .900

Around MLB

Shohei Ohtani hit another mammoth home run. Ho hum.

Fernando Tatis Jr. did his best Jose Ramirez impression and stole home.

The Dodgers have won 10 in a row.

Rob Manfred talked about the state of the game of baseball, frantically trying to figure out how he can claim the game is as healthy and profitable as ever while preparing to tell the players that the owners are practically broke in the next round of CBA negotiations.

Christopher Morel executed an incredibly fun walk-off home run celebration for the Cubs who beat the White Sox.

FanGraphs’ writer, Ben Clemens, makes his argument for Win Probability Added as a useful statistic to use when voting for MVP awards.

FanGraphs’ writer and occasional Covering the Corner threads visitor, Dan Szymborski, noted the only real highlight for Kansas City Royals’ fans in 2023, Bobby Witt Jr’s breakout season.

It looks like the situation with Tampa Bay Rays’ shortstop Wander Franco is not good, as it’s in the hands of legal authorities to figure out what went on and make sure any victims receive justice.