Prof: Hey, fam! I took a much needed day off from both jobs and basically took naps and did food prep all day. I’ve spent most of the day away from the internet, for the most part. But I’m back and ready to go, so let’s get started.
Scouts: Sorry all for the late post, I had a early morning Doctors appointment that pushed the rest of my day back a bit. Anyways, let’s get into it!
Also, today’s header gif is the best thing about 2019 hands down.
Astros 3, Brewers 2 F/10 – Prof: Christian Yelich is still going back and forth with Cody Bellinger for NL MVP honors. The guy is a machine. He’s also posed for very tasteful photos in the ESPN Body Issue, which I think is the last one. I appreciate the Body Issue because it puts the lie to the notion that an athlete has to look a certain way. Yelich is lean and in good shape, but he looks a lot like a bunch of guys that I see daily at the mall who are in the Naval Academy. You don’t have to be Yasiel Puig and stacked up with muscles on top of muscles. You could be a lean Christian Yelich, or a teddy bear named Prince Fielder. Anyway, Gerrit Cole went six innings and struck out 14 Brewers. Alex Bregman with an RBI, Yelich with a homer. It was all tied up going into the tenth, but Houston wins the day on a Springer Dinger.
White Sox 3, Spiders 11 – Scouts: After spending a lot of the year under performing, the Spiders are getting really good at the right time. They are also getting stronger. Jake Bauers reported for duty at the MLB level for the first time in 422 days. He came in in the 4th to pinch hit for Jordan Luplow and went 1-2 with 2 RBI’s a walk, and a homer.
Rangers 7, Yankees 0 – Prof: Don’t let anyone ever tell you that something is impossible, because the Rangers are here to prove you wrong. Texas was the first team in 220 tries to shut out the hard hitting Yankees. Mike Minor continues to pitch a career best, and this outing was one of his jewels of the year. Fitting that this show of guts and pure Rangers’ grit happened on the weekend that Texas added Michael Young to the Rangers’ Hall of Fame, a man who is the epitome of hard nosed never-give-up-ism.
Mets 7, Nationals 3 – Prof: [clears throat]
Alonso and Conforto on the base paths now.
Call J.D. Davis! 877-RUNS-NOW!
Likes to hit doubles and how.
877-RUNS-NOW.
Yes, J.D. Davis is my favorite meme right now and I won’t stop because this makes me smile. He, along with the scrappy Jeff McNeil, young Brandon Nimmo, my guy Michael Conforto and Super Rookie Pete Alonso, were super effective against their NL East rivals. If the Mets can just put it together, they will be dangerous for years to come. This lineup is outstanding and they still have some of the best pitchers in the National League. Like Thor, for example; Syndergaard went seven innings and struck out ten.
Orioles 4, Rays 5 F/10 – Scouts: Baltimore gave Tampa a real run for their money, but as has been the case the entire season, the pitching, especially the bullpen let them down in the end. Tommy Pham capped off a 3-3, 3 RBI day with a walk-off single in the 10th that third baseman Rio Ruiz couldn’t quite handle.
Twins 4, Tigers 3 – Prof: The Twins keep mashing and they just don’t care that these other teams have families. Yet another home run was hit in this game, and Max Kepler continues to be one of the greatest European imports in the history of the sport.
Blue Jays 3, Braves 6 – Prof: Baby Braves vs Baby Jays – the future is now! Let’s break it down. First of all, young maple flavored ace Mike Soroka went five innings and struck out six. Ozzie Albies (and veteran Bringer of Rain Josh Donaldson) worked to score four runs. For Toronto, Rowdy Tellez and Randal Grichuk both hit homers, while Grichuk (a doppleganger for both Braves players Dansby Swanson and Charlie Culberson) also brought in Bo Bichette with a sac fly. A wealth of young, upcoming, and talented young men are with these teams, and I am excited to see how they battle for years to come.
Phillies 7, Reds 1 – Scouts: Remember Rhys Hoskins? He’s had a pretty quite year, batting only .241 with 27 homers, and has been one of several reasons the Phillies didn’t contend this year. Yesterday, he reminded everyone just who he used to be going 2-4, hitting 3 RBI’s and smoking a pair of homers. Also homering for Philly was Scott Kingery and Bryce Harper.
Giants 1, Cardinals 3 – Prof: No odd year voodoo, just a wily vet (Adam Wainwright), a well timed single, and a good outing from the Redbirds closer.
Mariners 1, Cubs 5 – Scouts: Chicago utilized a 5 run 7th inning to take apart Seattle and come away with the win. Anthony Rizzo got things started with a RBI single, followed by Kyle Schwarber’s triple. The Cubs weren’t done just yet as Addison Russell was able to bring in Schwarber on a fielder’s choice.
Padres 7, Diamondbacks 14 – Prof: Whew, Lordy. The Gritty Snakes were on fire! After an explosive second inning, where Arizona scored six runs, the next big fireworks display was in the sixth, with three home runs. Christian Walker’s, for example, was a 445 foot bomb.
Rockies 9, Dodgers 16 – Scouts: The Dodgers do what they do best hitting 7 homers off a Colorado pitching staff that just can’t get a break. Clearly I’m not going to list them all, but Joc Pederson hit his 29th and 30th, Cody Bellinger hit 44, and Chris Taylor hit number 10 and 11.
Fan Interference 
Another sad day in baseball. One of the numerous faceless minor league lifers that stay for the love of the game. Maybe they get into coaching in low level pro ball, hoping to maybe make it to the show as a coach. Maybe they eventually move on to “regular” life, have a family, and coach your kid’s little league or high school team. Sounds like Numata was loved by all of his teammates.
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/jeff-seidel/2019/09/02/chace-numata-dies-skateboarding-accident-detroit-tigers-prospect/2194059001/
Also, I want to wish all of out east coast Fam the best as Dorian works it’s way up the coast. Hope y’all are far enough off shore that you don’t get too much water damage.
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Miggy has moved into 31st place on the MLB home runs list. It’s hard to remember he’s still climbing.
Shut up, Jack.
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Yesterday’s game in DC pitted Joe Ross against Thor, and on paper, it looked like it might be competitive, as Ross had been brilliant in his past five starts, pitching to an ERA of 1.05.
However…
Whether it was rust due to his not having pitched for ten days, or just regression to the mean, he didn’t have it, showing little command of his pitches and even losing several MPH in velocity over his three-plus innings. It’s only one game, and no great harm was done to the bullpen, as most of the remaining innings were sopped up by two other candidates for the 5th starter role (Voth and Fedde). There may be four or five more games where the Nats need a fifth starter down the stretch, so whether it’s Ross, Voth, Fedde, or Hellickson remains to be seen.
In other news…
Adam Eaton took an HBP to the knee last Wednesday, and had been sitting ever since. He started yesterday, but only made it a couple innings before it gave him issues and he had to leave the game; MRI today, situation bears watching.
Also, the local media has all jumped on the “Nats fans are terrible and don’t support the team like they should” narrative for some reason. They’re drawing 27K on average, which has them middle of the pack in MLB, to a stadium with limited (and expensive) parking which is also served by a subway system that not only closes relatively early but also has been literally shut down for lines coming from the south all summer, but yeah, let’s blame the fans.
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I’ve attended two games at Nats Park this year, both sullied by rain. And the Metro has been horrible all year. So….yeah.
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Rain hasn’t been nearly as big a problem this year as it was last year.
One thing that drove attendance numbers higher last year was the fact that the Nats hosted the ASG, and in order to get ASG tickets, people had to pony up for season ticket plans, whole or partial. No ASG this year, season ticket sales naturally dropped, and the horrid start this year probably suppressed the buying of tickets in May for games in August, because it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think, “What’s the point?” and allocate those dollars elsewhere.
What I won’t accept, though, is the nonsense that “DC is a town of transients”, because that’s absolute horseshit. Many people come here from elsewhere, but most of them stay long term, put down roots, and raise families. I live in Loudoun County, which used to be exurban, but is now firmly suburban DC. When the 1996-97 school year ended, we had four high schools; since then, twelve new ones have been added to the four we had, and a thirteenth will come online next year, and that ain’t transient.
Fix the Metro and improve its accessibility hours, let the kids who were born here grow up being Nats fans, and attendance won’t be an issue.
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