American League notes
MLB notes: White Sox’s Abreu heats up. Giants go with their top prospect.
Player stats, Pages 16-17 h
Baltimore Orioles
OF Ryan Mountcastle, the 2019 International League MVP, made his highly anticipated major league debut Aug. 21 and had a breakout game two days later with two doubles.
Although the Orioles have had difficulty finding a position for Mountcastle, it might have been a glimpse of Baltimore’s potential future outfield with Mountcastle in left and Anthony Santander in right. “We’re young. We’re inexperienced,” manager Brandon
Hyde said. “It’s fun to see talented guys out there, guys with tools.”
General manager Mike Elias said he expects to call up more prospects this season.
❚ Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. revealed that he underwent surgery in March for prostate cancer and is cancer-free.
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox began their 2021 rotation rebuild by acquiring RHPs Nick Pivetta and Connor
Seabold from the Philadelphia Phillies for RH relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree.
The rotation has several openings and question marks for the future, including LHP
Chris Sale (Tommy John elbow surgery in March) and LHP
Eduardo Rodriguez (shut down because of myocarditis, a complication of COVID-19). RHP
Nathan Eovaldi and LHP Martin Perez (team option on his contract) are other in-house possibilities.
Even if Pivetta and Seabold don’t land in the rotation, they at least could fill one aspect where the organization desperately needs help.
“A really nice addition to the starting pitching depth in the upper levels of our system,” general manager Chaim Bloom said.
❚ OF Alex Verdugo entered the week with a 13-game hit streak, the longest of his career and longest by a Boston hitter since Xander Bogaerts’ 15gamer in 2017.
New York Yankees
The injuries that depleted the Yankees’ roster in 2019 continue to be an unwelcome theme this season.
When their weekend series against the New York Mets was postponed because of COVID-19 concerns, the Yankees had 10 players on the injured list. Even though the club revamped its health and conditioning department in the offseason, 13 Yankees had served 14 IL stints.
“The overhaul came in January,” manager Aaron Boone said of the addition of director of player health and performance Eric Cressey. “(We) haven’t had an offseason yet since we overhauled it. It’s kind of all been on the fly, getting up to speed through spring training.”
❚ The Yankees had homered in 21 straight home games as the week began, matching their longest streak at the current Yankee Stadium.
Tampa Bay Rays
When LHP Josh Fleming made his major league debut Aug. 23, he became the 11th different starting pitcher the Rays have used this year. Their previous 29-game high was eight.
The Rays entered the week with eight pitchers on the injured list and will assess their in-house options ahead of the Aug. 31 trade deadline.
“Given the number of injuries we have at this point, it opens up the possibilities for things you could do to complement the group,” said general manager
Erik Neander, who also wants to see which pitchers step up.
❚ CF Kevin Kiermaier had two walk-off hits in his first 24 games this season compared to one in the first 680 games of his career. Both of his walk-offs this year came against the Toronto Blue Jays, the second one as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning Aug. 22.
Toronto Blue Jays
After being acquired from the Houston Astros at the trade deadline in 2017, OF Teoscar
Hernandez was inconsistent in his first two-plus seasons. But he was leading the team in hits and home runs and had a .993 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) entering the week.
Manager Charlie Montoyo noted that Hernandez’s improved approach at the plate resulted in an OPS over .900 in the second half last year, a trend he continued in spring training. ❚ General manager Ross Atkins said he wants to trade for pitching, and the Jays lost RHP
Matt Shoemaker to a shoulder injury. But Atkins’ first move before the deadline was to send cash to the Seattle Mariners for 1B/DH Dan Vogelbach, a 2019 All-Star who was hitting just .094 (5-for-53) this season.
AL CENTRAL
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox heated up, and so did 1B Jose Abreu. He tied two major league records with home runs in four straight at-bats and six homers in the three-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The power binge vaulted Abreu to the league lead in homers (11) and RBI (28). It also helped the White Sox win seven straight games before they lost 2-1 to the Cubs on Aug. 23. In nine games, they hit 30 homers.
Abreu wasn’t the Sox’s only hot bat. LF Eloy Jimenez entered the week hitting .385 with three home runs in his last 19 games. Through his first 14 games, his batting average stood at .212 with three homers.
❚ RHP Reynaldo Lopez returned from the injured list Aug. 22 and allowed two runs in 31⁄3 innings in a no-decision against the Cubs. Lopez had been sidelined by a strained right shoulder for nearly a month after being injured July 26 against the Twins.
Cleveland Indians
Manager Terry Francona underwent a medical procedure Aug. 21 for a gastrointestinal issue and continued to be away from the team while Sandy Alomar served as interim manager. Francona missed 17 of the Indians’ first 28 games this season because of the ailment. However, he plans to manage again at some point in 2020.
“He wants to do his best to try to manage as much as possible,” president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. “We don’t know exactly how likely that is. We continue to en