The American League secured its first two postseason participants on Thursday as the Rays and White Sox respectively punched their tickets. But while the White Sox may be winning the war, the Twins won the battle. Well, I guess the White Sox won the battle too. But the Twins were darn entertaining…
Home Run, Run Home
Josh Donaldson managed to get himself tossed from a game during a home run trot on Thursday. Here’s how it went down. Donaldson took a called strike and chirped at the home plate umpire. Clearly unhappy. And I mean that in a macro sense, because, like, this couldn’t have just been about that one borderline call. Donaldson’s got some stuff going on. Anyway, here was that pitch:
Josh Donaldson did not appreciate a strike call, 2 pitches later he hit a HR and got ejected crossing home plate pic.twitter.com/CitbuyMGZa
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) September 17, 2020
And here was the pitch after, when he got ejected. But not in the usual way:
Bringer of trolls.pic.twitter.com/u0BQiW5zqy
— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) September 17, 2020
If you were watching this game without sound like I was, this seemed like a really great moment of reconciliation.
https://gfycat.com/madeupspotlessarrowworm
My favorite part of this moment, however, was how — by getting ejected during his home run trot — Donaldson made his teammates complicit in his ejection. How often have you seen someone get the chorus line of high-fives after an ejection?
https://gfycat.com/tepidunequaledirishwaterspaniel
Throws a fit and gets a hero’s welcome. That’s a veteran move right there.
Umpires With Pizzazz
Let’s be clear, however. This wasn’t Josh Donaldson’s game. This was Dan Bellino’s game.
The real mvp: Dan Bellino pic.twitter.com/iXusfJPeCD
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 17, 2020
Do yer thang, Blue.
I Want Candy
Let’s stay in the AL Central for a minute. We love to see the Tigers stuntin’ for their man here.
Two interesting visualizations of Jeimer Candelario’s season.
First is how he stacks up against the rest of the AL in BA and OBP. The other shows his steady climb in batting average since starting the year on an 0-17 skid. #DetroitRoots pic.twitter.com/GbCeTemZRe
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) September 17, 2020
The Tigers aren’t wrong to give some love to Candelario. It feels like the 26-year-old third baseman has been around forever, but this season he’s slashing .333/.390/.568. Of course, he’s also rocking a totally unsustainable .405 BABIP while walking less than usual (7.9 BB%). If the rise in power is legit — .235 ISO this season — then even a return to normalcy for his BABIP won’t totally sink this “new Jeimer.”
Interestingly, Candelario will go through arbitration for the first time after next season. I wonder if a player has ever RT’ed their team during an arbitration hearing? Keep this tweet in your back pocket, Jeimer.
The End Of The Jed Lowrie Era
Sadly, mercifully, the Jed Lowrie era in New York has come to an end.
Jed Lowrie had to die so Jeff McNeil could live https://t.co/zRBpyNJrD8
— We Gotta Believe (@GottaBelievePod) September 17, 2020
The Mets signed Lowrie to a two-year, $20MM deal prior to the 2019 season. One weird injury led to another, and he just couldn’t get onto the field. It’s not anyone’s fault, but any bummer that happens to the Mets feels like the Mets’ fault. On the plus side, it’s pretty cool that Jeff McNeil popped up out of nowhere to become a better version of Jed Lowrie. McNeil has a 142 wRC+ since making his ML debut in 2018. Not too shabby.
Maybe it’s not the kindest way to be, but I do love to root against the Mets. That said, this isn’t the way it’s supposed to go down. Hopefully, Lowrie can get himself healthy and back to the diamond, and McNeil keeps doing Flying Squirrel things.
It’s Been A Good Week
Six home runs tonight. Seven home runs yesterday. Six home runs the game before that. Bottom line: that’s a rough weekend for Blue Jays pitching. The Yankees took over second place in the AL East. Loudly.
History Machine. pic.twitter.com/VFMF6IAMVD
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 18, 2020
The Yankees aren’t strangers to new records, but in a season when the Rays are running away with the division — on a night when the Rays clinched back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in their history — the Yankees did the most Yankees thing possible to remind everyone that they’re still here.
How should the rest of the league feel about the Yankees come playoff time?
"That is a good word for us, scary is right"
Giancarlo Stanton on the Yankees' offense with everyone healthy pic.twitter.com/tUyX5qoz4Q
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 18, 2020
Scary is right.
Fanatacism
Finally, there’s always time for the Phillie Phanatic shenanigans, right?
.@Phillies come get your mans pic.twitter.com/hrWPXVZueJ
— Cut4 (@Cut4) September 17, 2020
That scamp. Baseball is always more fun with the Fanatic around. Enjoy your Friday slate of games, baseball fans!