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Welcome to Billy-Ball, the newsletter that savvy readers and members of the media members use for stats and anecdotes throughout the week. On Thursdays, I offer the full column free to entice you to subscribe. Wait, I meant to say I offer the column free to all out of the goodness of my heart.
LET’S GO AROUND THE LEAGUE
It’s been a rough month of May for the NL West and a great month for the AL Central.
Here were the divisional standings starting play on May 1. The NL West had the best record in the majors and the AL Central had the worst.
Here are the divisional standings starting play on May 29. The AL Central and the NL West have switched places.
AL EAST
Yankees catcher Austin Wells has a heavy beard. He was clean-shaven at the start of this game (that part is a lie). When the Yankees changed their facial hair policy, he and catching coach Tanner Swanson made a pact. They would only shave when the team lost a series. The Yankees have now won seven straight series. The beard keeps growing.
The Red Sox lost their fifth straight game yesterday, their longest losing streak since they lost six in a row in September, 2022. In their streak, they have hit .218 and scored 10 runs. They have a 3.22 ERA and allowed 21 runs.
The Orioles have a -97 run differential through 55 games. Last season, through 55 games, Baltimore’s run differential was +71
AL CENTRAL
Everybody knows how great Tarik Skubal is. The reigning CYA winner is pitching brilliantly. BUT, he may not be the best pitcher in the division. You need to be talking about the Royals’ ace Kris Bubic. Here’s why.
Batters are hitting just .203 against Skubal, but only .199 against Bubic. Skubal has six quality starts; Bubic has eight. Skubal has allowed six homers; Bubic just three. Bubic’s 1.45 ERA is the second lowest in Royals history through 11 starts behind only Zack Greinke’s 2009 Cy Young Award season (1.10).
The Twins are 17-7 this month. They have comeback to win 11 times this month, the most in the majors. They have 16 comeback wins on the season.
The White Sox are 3-13 in one-run games.
The Guardians are 4-0 in extra-inning contests.
In games the Twins, Tigers, and Cubs have lost this season, they each have a .188 BA.
I know this sounds crazy, but the Royals have only allowed nine stolen bases this season and caught eight trying to steal. Nine different players have stolen one base each against the Royals. Seven have been caught once. Wilyer Abreu has been caught twice.
AL WEST
Tuesday night, the Astros’ Jose Altuve went 4-4. It is the 40th time in his career that he has had at least four hits in a game, tying him with Chuck Klein, Carl Yastrzemski, and Luis Aparicio for 47th on the all-time list. Ty Cobb did it 95 times.
Former two-time All-Star Tim Anderson has been DFA’d by the Angels. In 90 plate appearances, Anderson struggled with the bat, hitting .205/.258/.241 with no home runs and just two extra-base hits. Anderson was the AL batting champ in 2019 hitting .335. He will be 32 next month and is on the road to nowhere (or to Triple-A Salt Lake City).
NL EAST
The relationship between baseball and gambling got a little stronger as Mets’ owner Steve Cohen is getting closer to developing an $8 billion casino and entertainment complex adjacent to Citi Field, and in partnership with Hard Rock International. According to Front Office Sports, the New York state senate voted Tuesday to allow New York City to reclassify 50 acres of parking lots around Citi Field and expand the permitted uses of the land to include the Metropolitan Park casino project. The state assembly has already approved the measure, and it now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul for her signature.
This feels like a good time to remind you that the horrific baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn banned Willie Mays from any baseball-related employment in 1979 when Willie accepted a job at Bally's Park Place Casino in Atlantic City. Similarly, Mickey Mantle took a position with Atlantic City’s Claridge Casino Hotel in 1983, and Kuhn banned him as well. Both Mays and Mantle had been signed to simply shake hands and share small talk with the high rollers. Both were struggling financially post-retirement. In 1985, the new commissioner, Peter Ueberroth, reinstated both Mantle and Mays.
Meanwhile, Juan Soto has now gone 75 AB without a homer.
The Mets have an active streak of at least one batter being hit by a pitch in seven straight games. The Nationals last week their MLB-longest streak season of eight straight games with an HBP. The Mets lead the majors being hit by 36 pitches this season. Starling Marte has been plunked eight times, Francisco Lindor and Tyrone Taylor have been hit seven times apiece, and Pete Alonso has been hit six times.
NL CENTRAL
The Cardinals are 32-24 on the season, 3.0 games behind the Cubs. Their eight games over .500 is a season high. The Cards are 18-7 in May with 10 comeback wins, the most in the NL. They have 14 comeback wins on the season.
Their second baseman, Brendan Donovan leads the NL with 69 hits and 18 doubles and is back in the lineup after suffering from hip tightness. The consistent Donovan hit .333 the first month and is hitting .337 this month. he had nine doubles the first month and nine this month. FYI: Donovan was born in Würzburg, Bavaria Germany.
The Cubs have hit 79 homers and driven home 133 runs as a result. More impressively, the 189 RBI they have without a homer are the most in baseball.
NL WEST
We all have heard about the all the injuries sustained by the Dodgers starters and you had to know, the bullpen would eventually pay the price. The Dodgers relievers have thrown the most innings, faced the most batters, and thrown the most pitches of any bullpen in baseball. They have a cumulative 3.98 ERA. In the first month of the season, their ERA was 3.77. This month it is 4.34. Their closer Tanner Scott has a 7.84 ERA this month and a .248 BAA. He has two saves and three blown saves. Dodgers starters have recorded 17+ outs in only 17 games this season, the third fewest in the majors. The Royals and Rays starters each have 34 games with at least 17 outs from their starters.
The Rockies are 3-25 on the road. That makes their 6-22 home record look good in comparison.
The Padres have 457 hits and 379 strikeouts. Their +78 margin is the largest in baseball.
Batters are hitting .196 against the Giants pitchers’ four-seamers, the lowest BAA in baseball.
MANNY BEING MANNY THE HITTING COACH?
“I’m available to work as a hitting coach for any of the 30 MLB teams,” Manny Ramirez said, according to MLB reporter Héctor Gómez. “I’m confident I can help any team significantly improve their offense.”
NAME QUIZ
As you know, the Dodgers are originally from Brooklyn. During their New York residency they had a few other official name for their team. Which one of these was not a Brooklyn team name? The answer is below.
The Robins
The Bridegrooms
The Eagles
The Superbas
WHAT IS JOES-tin-son?
The Billy-Ball Jeopardy clue is “How do you pronounce Jhostynxon Garcia’s first name?”
In case you missed it, Garcia was an actual Jeopardy answer:
BILLY-BALL’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
On Tuesday night, Elly De La Cruz hit a home run that went 451 feet. That same night, Jeremy Pena hit a home run that went 330 feet.
They each counted for just one run!
NAME QUIZ ANSWER
From 1916 to 1931, the team was known as the Brooklyn Robins, after manager Wilbert Robinson.
From 1889 to 1890, they were called the Bridgrooms due to a significant number of team members getting married around the same time, particularly in 1888.
From 1899 to 1910, Brooklyn was managed by Ned Hanlon. They were called the Superbas drawing a link to the popular acrobatic circus act at the time by the Brothers Hanlon (no relation) called The Superba or Hanlon’s Superba.
The team was never called the Eagles, but The Eagle was an important newspaper in Brooklyn from 1841 to 1955. Distinguished editors of the Eagle included Walt Whitman and Thomas Kinsella.
I wondered the same thing with the first question. I never really considered the second question.
Is Thomas Kinsella related to Ray Kinsella? I wonder if Bubik and Skubal were ever a vaudeville act?