Long-Reads

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Longreads

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Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

I didn't expect to be awake early enough to do these, but it was a wild night, both on the field and in my kitchen (I was bitten by a mouse - it's a long story. Actually, it's not. I was bitten by a mouse I had tried to trap) and light insomnia is something with which I'm coming to terms! So let's recap:




As it stands now, the AL West is:

The Colony (75-57): -

Seattle (75-57): -

Houston: (76-58): -

The Colony has the tiebreaker on Seattle thanks to their 5-1 record against the Mariners. The Astros are in 3rd because their winning percentage is .567 while the Mariners and Rangers have a .568 winning percentage. 

In the event of a tie, the first tie-breaker is head-to-head record. The Astros are 6-4 against The Colony, but 2-8 against Seattle. Houston still has a series left with each one. As long as the Astros get one against the Ramgers next week, they'll take the season series. Thanks to the Astros going 2-5 against Seattle in games decided by 1-2 runs, Seattle will hold the tie-breaker over Houston in the division. 

Since August 1:
Seattle: 20-6
Houston: 16-11
The Colony: 15-11
Oakland: 9-17
Anaheim: 7-19

Let's recap the FanGraphs' AL West Odds as we approach September 1:

Houston: 53.4% 
Anaheim: 19.3%
Seattle: 14.3%
The Colony: 12.7%

Houston (16-13): 59.8%
The Colony (17-11): 22.8%
Anaheim (15-14): 12.3%
Seattle (12-16): 5.0%

Houston (33-23): 48.8%
The Colony (35-20): 41.4%
Seattle (29-27): 5.3%
Anaheim (30-28): 4.6%

The Colony (50-33): 61.2%
Houston (45-38): 26.9%
Anaheim (44-41): 8.9%
Seattle (39-42): 3.0%

Houston (50-41): 43.3%
The Colony (52-39): 43.2%
Seattle (45-44): 9.9%
Anaheim (45-46): 3.6%

Houston (61-47): 60.6%
The Colony (61-46): 34.0%
Seattle (55-52): 3.1%
Anaheim (56-52): 2.3%

August 21 (following Seattle's sweep of Houston at MMP):
Houston (70-55): 44.8%
The Colony (72-52): 33.0%
Seattle (69-55): 22.3%

August 26 (following The Colony's 8-game losing streak):
Seattle (73-56): 36.8%
Houston (73-58): 36.5%
The Colony (73-56): 26.7%

Houston (76-58): 48.6%
Seattle (75-57): 29.6%
The Colony (75-57): 21.7%

To the game!

Houston beat Boston 6-2, led by Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, and J.P. France, who bounced back in a big way against Boston. Dusty:

We've got some guys starting to swing the bat. Breggy's hot, Alvarez is hot, Altuve was hot yesterday. It was a great day for Michael because he hit the ball hard a couple of times and had nothing to show for it. We needed that win bad, so hopefully we can get the sweep and go home.

*J.P. France, August 24 vs Boston: 2.1IP, 11H/10ER, 3K:2BB.
J.P. France, August 29 at Boston: 5.2IP, 5H/2ER.

After striking out seven of the 27 Mariners he faced in a 2-0 loss on August 18, France has struck out six of the last 43 Red Sox he faced.

Still, it's France's 14th appearance (out of 20 in 2023) in which he has allowed two or fewer earned run.


*Alex Bregman was 3x5 with a home run. Since the All-Star Break (43 games), Bregman is hitting .316/.419/.571 - a .991 OPS. 

*Yordan Alvarez was 3x5 with two doubles and an RBI. Since returning from the IL on July 26, Alvarez is hitting .321/.412/.554. 

Alvarez has four straight multi-hit games, and has reached base in 14 of his last 23 Plate Appearances. The longest multi-hit game streak in franchise history is nine games, set by Jose Altuve (2015), Billy Hatcher (1987), and Jesus Alou (1969).

In eight career games at Fenway Park, Yordan is hitting .483/.583/1.035. That's not a typo, and that led to the Stropoll that just ambushed tf out of this "I-Pay-For-Twitter" SuperDouche.

*Jose Abreu was 1x3 with a walk and an RBI. In five games since his return from the IL he's hitting .300/.391/.500. 

*Mauricio Dubon enjoyed his second 2RBI game in his last three. 

*Michael Brantley made his first appearance since June 2022 and went 0x4, but the weakest ball he put in play was 97.6mph off the bat.

*Rafael Montero: 1.1IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:1BB. On June 29 his ERA was 7.29. In 22 games since, Montero is holding opponents to a .624 OPS for a 2.31 ERA/1.16 WHIP. 

*Ryan Pressly is apparently sick, or is just getting a break as he hasn't pitched since allowing all four runs to the Tigers on August 25. 



*Check out my buddy Arctic Reviews' Best Albums of August 2023.

*Leeds United signed Tottenham's Djed Spence on a season-long loan.

*Texas Monthly: What to expect from an El Nino winter.

*91 Comedians reveal the jokes they'd steal if they could get away with it.

*On tap today: 
Rangers (not that one) @ PSV Eindhoven: 2pm Central
Houston @ Boston: 3:10pm Central
Oakland @ Seattle: 3:10pm Central
The Colony @ Mets: 5:40pm Cental

*A Musical Selection: