San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
A season of bad and good surprises
Simply, it was the greatest moment of the season, and perhaps not even a World Series for the ages would displace it as baseball’s featured highlight of 2019.
The outpouring has been heartfelt for Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who died July 1. His teammates have been amazing with tributes for their beloved teammate — players open with their emotions at a news conference, Mike Trout and Tommy La Stella wearing Skaggs’ No. 45 at the AllStar Game and good friend Andrew Heaney throwing an overthetop curve to begin his last start — Skaggs’ signature pitch.
And then came Friday night and the Angels’ first home game since Skaggs’ death. What transpired was so farfetched that it still seems unbelievable even though we know it happened. After Skaggs’ mother, Debbie, his lifetime pitching coach, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, two Angels pitchers combined on a nohitter, and then one by one, players pulled off their Skaggs 45 jerseys and placed them on the mound, a story that, as Trout said, you can’t make up.
For more on the game, see the story on Page B7.
Everything else in the game seems secondary by a long measure, but the season moves on. With that in mind, here are some thoughts of the season to date:
Three teams that aren’t as lousy as we expected Rangers: Hunter Pence said throughout spring training the Rangers would be good, but everyone thought Pence simply was being his optimistic self. Well, Pence was right, and so much for tanking. Pence, Danny Santana and Logan Forsythe, all signed to minorleague contracts, are key offensive components for rookie manager Chris Woodward, and Joey Gallo, who’s enjoying a career year, joined Mike Minor (also having a career year) and Pence at the AllStar Game. Twins: After finishing six games under .500 last year, they’ve powered themselves to the top of the AL Central and lead the majors in home runs, already reaching their 2018 total. Ten Twins have doubledigit homers, including leaders Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario. They could be the first team with 300 homers, shattering the Yankees’ record of 267 from last year.
Padres: It wouldn’t have been surprising if the Padres struggled one more year before contending in 2020, but they find themselves in the wildcard picture. Do they part with any of their many prospects for Noah Syndergaard or Trevor Bauer? Or do they keep all of the young guns with 2020 in mind? Either way, this is San Diego’s best team since the feisty 2010 bunch that took the Giants to the finish line. Even if the Padres fall out, fans can enjoy the Fernando Tatis Jr. Show.
Three teams that are lousier than we expected Rockies: Maybe DJ LeMahieu was worth keeping. While the infielder is in the Bronx aiming to win another batting title in another league, his old milehigh team — coming off consecutive playoff appearances but seriously struggling on the mound — threatens to overtake the Giants for last place. Phillies: Remember all of the headlines for newcomers Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Andrew McCutchen and Jean Segura? The Phils won the offseason but are looking up at the Braves in the NL East. Mets: An embarrassment on the field and off even with Home Run Derby champ Pete Alonso. One of the season’s weirdest stories involved manager Mickey Callaway snapping at a beat writer who said, “See you tomorrow, Mickey.” Pitcher Jason Vargas threatened the reporter. Perhaps the Mets would be more respectable if they displayed such passion between the lines. Three onfield news items The ball is juiced, and no one in baseball is saying how the problem will be fixed. That should be a priority before next season. A lot of fans want their game back. Between Willie Mays in 1965 and Cecil Fielder in 1990, just one player hit 50 home runs, and that was George Foster in 1977 — six years after one of the Giants’ many awful trades in that era, Foster to Cincinnati for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert. Well, it has gotten ridiculous. This year, we could have a bunch of 50homer guys. Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger, Alonso, Trout, Josh Bell and Hunter Renfroe are in striking distance, all with at least 27 homers at the break. The NL Central, absolute mayhem. The lastplace Reds came out of the break three games out of first place in the loss column. It’s not that all of these teams are playing particularly well, it’s that no team has figured how to get on a streak and create some distance from the pack.
Three offfield news items Here’s why we expect wild activity before the July 31 trade deadline: It’s all there is. No longer does baseball permit August waiver deals, so this is the one and only deadline of the season, the last chance for contenders to load up, and it’s an earlier time frame for mediocre teams to decide if they’re buying or selling. A’s pitcher Frankie Montas was suspended 80 games for violating the performanceenhancing drug policy, and his response was more of the same, saying he took the banned drug “unknowingly.” It’s not just a personal blow, it’s a setback for a team that relied on him at the top of the rotation. He’s ineligible for the postseason but eligible for the final six regularseason games, but would the A’s, if they remain in the hunt, want to rely on someone for a game or two who already had let them down?
Commissioner Rob Manfred reiterated during the break that MLB wouldn’t consider expansion until the A’s and Rays are set with new facilities. The A’s have made strides, but skepticism is front and center because of the many illconceived proposals and failures of the past.
Three players who need to be traded
Madison Bumgarner: Ina weird sort of way, the Giants owe it to Bumgarner to move him. With the wacky freeagent system, if he were to finish the season with the Giants, his free agency would be limited because the team that signs him would be penalized in the draft, which helped slow the free agency of Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel. But if Bumgarner is traded, that all goes away. No qualifying offer and no draftpick compensation. The Giants have benefited from the lefty’s teamfriendly contract, and it would be nice if he could get top dollar in the open market.
Will Smith: Lastplace teams — if indeed the Giants remain in last place — don’t have much use for AllStar closers. Granted, Smith and his lategame buddies have given the Giants the edge in close games, but he’d be a more significant differencemaker on a contender, and no team knows that more than the Dodgers. Smith would be the missing link on a team seeking its first title in 31 years. Zack Greinke: The Diamondbacks are a .500 team, and that’s false hope in a division in which the Dodgers are light years ahead of the pack. Three players who don’t need to be traded Pablo Sandoval: The versatile Giant is one of manager Bruce Bochy’s favorites. It’s questionable whether the team would get much in return. Keeping Sandoval would be a nice favor to the outgoing manager. Syndergaard: With the Mets a mess, it’s easy to call for trading the starting pitcher, but Syndergaard won’t be a free agent until after the 2021 season. Sometimes, assets are good. The Mets have plenty of upcoming free agents they can deal, including pitcher Zack Wheeler.
Jorge Mateo: As the A’s accelerate their pursuit for roster depth, including relievers, teams might target their dynamic middle infielder. It would be nice to see what Mateo could do with his speed and bat in the majors, and perhaps an easier prospect to deal would be Franklin Barreto, who has been up and down on the depth chart and would love an extended bigleague opportunity some place.
Three early leaders for National League awards Bellinger over Yelich for MVP. HyunJin Ryu over Max Scherzer for Cy Young. Alonso over Tatis Jr. for Rookie of the Year.
Three early leaders for American League awards Trout over Alex Bregman for MVP. Charlie Morton over Justin Verlander for Cy Young. Brandon Lowe over John Means for Rookie of the Year.