Welcome back to weird baseball of the week. While some teams approach the halfway mark in their 60-game season, the St. Louis Cardinals sit at second place in the National League Central with five wins. Can a team make the playoffs this year with single-digit wins?
Shoutout to those scrappy Miami Marlins. They are still winning baseball games. Here’s to hoping that they are this year’s team of destiny.
Both Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu have a real chance to hit .400 this year. As we know, no player has achieved this feat since Ted Williams in 1941. It would totally be legit.
At 21 years old, Fernando Tatis Jr. might already be the best player in the NL. He currently leads the majors in home runs at 11, even if his manager doesn’t like him hitting them. Are we sure that he is not a newer and better version of Alex Rodriguez?
Let’s check out some weird baseball this week.
Buffalo Baseball
The city of Buffalo hasn’t seen major league baseball since 1915. Last Tuesday, that changed when the Toronto Blue Jays hosted the Marlins. In this game, cardboard cutouts were able to witness Travis Shaw hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth off of Stephen Tarpley, meaning Buffalo humans will still have to wait to see some major league baseball.
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Three Betts Bombs
Mookie Betts is one of the best players in baseball. At 5’9 and 180 pounds, his power to all fields is a marvel to watch. Last Thursday, that power went on display as Betts belted three bombs in a Los Angeles Dodgers 11-2 route over the San Diego Padres. Betts now has six career three-home run games tying him for the all-time mark with Sammy Sosa and Johnny Mize. At age 27, Betts will have plenty of time to break the record.
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20 Straight for Cole
Gerrit Cole has been the most dominant pitcher in baseball for about a year now. That has continued into this season with the New York Yankees as he is 4-0 with a 2.76 ERA. This past Friday, he won his 20th straight decision. Only six pitchers in baseball history have done this. The record for the most consecutive wins without a loss is 24. With this current stacked Yankees roster, Cole has a real chance to break that record.
Here is a gif of Cole making Christian Vazquez look foolish as the final hitter faced in his last outing. Don’t worry, Christian. There are dozens of you. Dozens!
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Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back
In baseball, getting to see back-to-back home runs is a fun experience. Seeing three straight home runs is a rare and even more fun experience to watch. Four straight home runs is a major league record. The Chicago White Sox tied that record on Sunday when Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu, and Eloy Jimenez all hit consecutive dingers.
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Sadly for St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Roel Ramirez, this was his major league debut.
Fernando Goes Boom Boom
I mentioned early how great Tatis Jr. is. Here he is last night hitting two tremendous home runs. There is nothing really strange about this. I just wanted to include them because hitting homers is good and fun. This statement is now in writing, making it official.
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On this second home run, notice how the ball obliterated a cardboard fan. Ouch. Notice too how this home run came on a 3-0 pitch in a Padres’ 10-3 shellacking of the Texas Rangers. Padres manager Jayce Tingler was not pleased with this majestic shot as he apparently gave Tatis Jr. the take sign. To that, I say boo hoo and cry about it. Getting mad about stealing a base during a blowout is one thing. Getting mad about your own player hitting a tater is ridiculous. Swing away, Fernando. Baseball loves you.
Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)