NL EAST
“I had to pinch myself to make sure that really happened.” Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, after hitting a home run in what could be his last at-bat at Safeco Field
Atlanta Braves Freddie Freeman got off to the worst start of his career in 2016. This season, he started as fast as he ever has, with a major league-leading .400 batting average through his first 17 games.
Freeman also set a Braves record by reaching base in 12 consecutive plate appearances.
Even shifts don’t worry him now.
“Put four guys on the right side of the infield, I don’t care,” Freeman told The Atlanta Journal
Constitution. “It’s on me to beat them. They are trying to beat me in a way. And I got to beat them back. I love it, because I get more hits out of the shift than it has taken away from me.”
Freeman was hitting .177 through April 24 last year before recovering to hit .302 for the season.
While Freeman started fast, rookie shortstop Dansby Swan
son did not. Swanson was hitting .139 through 18 games.
The Braves dropped him from second to eighth in the batting order, though they could point to other statistics to show a picture not quite so bleak.
In a late April game in which he went 1-for-4, Swanson put three balls in play with exit velocities of more than 100 mph.
uRight- hander Julio Teheran has been outstanding since the start of last season, but not against Bryce Harper. The Nationals outfielder has reached base in 20 of 39 plate appearances against Teheran, and 10 of his 15 hits have gone for extra bases. Harper has seven home runs against Teheran; no other hitter has more than three. Miami Marlins When Ichiro Suzuki was getting 200 hits a season — and never more than 15 home runs — there were those who watched him take batting practice and believed he could hit more homers if he wanted to.
Maybe he still could, because in the final at-bat of an emotional trip back to Safeco Field in Seattle, Ichiro homered.
Suzuki played for the Mariners from 2001 until his midseason 2012 trade to the New York Yan- kees, but he hadn’t been back to Seattle since signing with the Marlins in 2015. And even though Suzuki, 43, has vowed to play until he’s 50, there’s no guarantee he’ll be back at Safeco anytime soon.
His ninth-inning at-bat April 19 was thus a big deal, even in a game the Marlins lost 10-5. Ichiro wanted to leave his Seattle fans with something special, and he did.
“I was sitting on the bench, and I said, ‘Of course he did that,’ ” teammate Christian Yelich said. “What else would he do in a moment like that?
“It was pretty cool to see and pretty special, and it’s one of those things where special players do special things.” uToo bad for Giancarlo Stanton the Marlins don’t go to San Diego again this season.
Stanton homered three times in the first two games of the weekend series at Petco Park, after homering there for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic in March and winning the Home Run Derby there in July.
“Being on the West Coast probably (helps),” the California native
said. “It’s always beautiful here and a good time at the park. It’s a great baseball environment.” New York Mets
Injuries have become an issue for the Mets again, with nearly half the everyday lineup missing for part or all of the first series of the season with the division rival Nationals.
The Mets had to put first baseman Lucas Duda (hyperextended left elbow) and infielder
Wilmer Flores (right knee infection) on the disabled list, and left fielder Yoenis Cespedes was out because of a strained left hamstring.
Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera (hamstring) also missed a start, and catcher Travis d’Arnaud (bruised right wrist) could bat but not catch for several days. “I’ve got a good team,” manager
Terry Collins said. “They’re only good when they’re playing. I know when the weather warms up this is going to change. I hope it warms up fast. I want our fans to be entertained.” uJose Reyes was struggling
so much that Collins kept him out of the lineup April 21-22 despite the injuries. Reyes was hitting .095 with a .313 on-base plus slugging percentage through 18 games. Philadelphia Phillies The Phillies gave Jeanmar Gomez the first chance at the ninth inning this season, and when he struggled they turned to Joaquin Benoit.
Next up was 27-year-old righthander Hector Neris, who claimed saves on back-to-back days April 20-21 against the Braves.
“I’m not naming him the closer,” manager Pete Mackanin said. “It is nice to have two guys I feel comfortable with in the ninth inning.”
The two would be Neris and Benoit, the 39-year-old veteran who has 52 career saves but more frequently has been used as a setup man.
uOne positive to come out of right-hander Aaron Nola landing on the 10-day disabled list Monday with a lower back strain is
that it is not a re-occurrence of his season-ending arm injury from 2016. The move is retroactive to April 21 and the Phillies hope Nola misses only one or two starts. Washington Nationals
Blake Treinen had one career save when the Nationals named him their closer. He had four when they took the job away.
Manager Dusty Baker announced the switch 13 games into the season, telling reporters he would use Treinen earlier in games and would use Koda Glov
er and Shawn Kelley with a ninth-inning lead.
Glover is a rookie who at the time of the switch had no major league saves, while Kelley is a 32-year-old veteran who had 12 saves, including one this season.
“We thought (Treinen) was ready,” Baker said. “He thought he was ready. The day will come when we know he has the stuff to be ready.”
While Treinen converted three of four save opportunities, he had a 7.11 ERA and had allowed 16 baserunners in 61⁄ innings. 3
Kelley figures to be Baker’s new first-choice closer, but the Nationals worry about pitching him too much because he has had two Tommy John elbow ligament surgeries.
Baker used Kelley to record saves April 20-21, the first time this season he had pitched on consecutive days, before Glover got a one-out save April 22 against the Mets.
uFor the second consecutive year, Gio Gonzalez seems to love April. The 31-year-old left-hander had a 1.35 ERA through his first four starts this month, and he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning April 22 against the Mets in New York. Gonzalez had a 1.42 April ERA in 2016.