Game of the Week: August 25: COL @ TEX

[Commissioner Erick]

Colorado Rockies (57-75) @ Texas Rangers (77-53)


COL: Joe McCurley (9-10, 4.84)
TEX: Laurente Baffi (7-4, 3.63)


Rockies 3 Key Stats

.548: Colorado’s OPS with the bases full. The Rockies have tied for the most plate appearances with the bases full in the NL, but have the worst OPS. The problem is the club’s average. Colorado is hitting just .158 with the bases full, 65 points shy of Washington’s .225 mark. The team has a respectable walk rate with the sacks full, but the average combined with a 29% strikeout rate has crippled the team. Colorado is hitting .324 with men on second and third, so the intentional walk looks like a strong play against Colorado.

.452: Danny Davis’s August average: Davis has been strong all season, but he’s gone supernova the last two months. He hit .351 with seven homers, seven doubles, and four steals in July—fantastic numbers. Somehow he’s reached an even higher plane in August. The .452 average has paired with 11 walks to seven strikeouts. He has seven doubles, and a whopping nine homers. Plus he has eight steals in nine attempts. Davis somehow has an .846 OPS in 0-2 counts, showing how focused he his throughout an at bat, and he has a .505 average when ahead in the count. Colorado has a sad-sack team, but Davis is staking a claim to being the best offensive player in the National League.

2294: Games played in Nolan Arenado’s career: Though he’ll be passed by Xander Bogaerts before the end of the year, to date, Arenado has been the PBA’s historian with the most games played in league history. He’s an eight-time All-Star, a five time Platinum Stick winner, and a two-time Gold Glove winner. He’s the league’s career home run leader and will likely hold the mark through next year. He’s the current PBA doubles leader and RBI leader. Only Francisco Lindor and David Dahl have more hits. Nobody has more total bases. The closest Third Baseman in homers who is active in the PBA is Manny Machado, 380 homers away. Time has caught up to Arenado and his final season hasn’t been good, preventing him from narrowing his WAR gap to the only five players ahead of him—future first ballot Hall of Famers Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Andrew Benintendi, Seth Beer, and Lindor. The final month of his career may not see much production, but it will see warm sendoffs from Rockies fans and PBA stars as his wonderful career reaches a close.


Rangers 3 Key Stats

.247: Juan Gestoso’s average: After a disappointing stint in Boston, Juan Gestoso appeared to have rediscovered his form last year with a .263 average, 40 steals, and 4.1 WAR. Alas, it was only a mirage. Doorbell’s OBP has sunk to .338, he’s slugging only .357, and he’s turned into a fairly ordinary player. He’s still on pace for a very solid 2.0 WAR fueled by 33 steals, but he has only three triples and seven homers thus far. He still walks, but his .300 averages seem like a distant memory and his 13 errors are most among Third Baseman. Owed nearly $30 million for the next six years, Gestoso is at risk of turning into one of the worst contracts in baseball if he can’t regain his form.

.412: Nick Pratto’s OBP: Pratto continues to be a remarkably steady player. He’s hit at least .281 in nine of the last 10 years; he’s slugged .476 or better in eight of the last 10; and he’s played 155 games in eight of the last nine full years. Despite his consistency, he’s still having one of the best years of his career. His .328 average and .412 OBP would each be the second highest of his career, and his .502 slugging would be the third highest. He’s even already set a career high with 16 steals. A wonderful player, he’s quietly going to pass 50 WAR within the next two years and has a shot at the Hall of Fame.

26: Starts for Laurente Baffi: Baffi the Barbarian has remained healthy this year, and since he arrived in Texas. It’s allowed the Rangers to get the most out of him. He’s already set his career high in innings and rWAR. He has 140 strikeouts in 126.1 innings, and while he’s been a touch homer prone, a solid walk rate and low BABIP has led to a strong 1.11 WHIP that would rank sixth in the league if he qualified with enough innings. Rangers trainer Nathan Lucaro has been with the Rangers since 2017 and continues to earn his keep as one of the best trainers in baseball.


Questions for the GMs:


For Erick Blasco, If Danny Davis = Potential MVP then Tom Gunning = ?

Pat Rapp is in his third season as Rockies’ skipper and the team seems to be going in the wrong direction under his guidance. What discussions have happened internally on his future with the team after 2031?

Now that we’re wrapping up August and about to see the rosters expand, should we be on the lookout for any big names to get September call ups?

For Dave Lowitzki, Josh Weyer will be out for a few days. Will he go on the IL? Who will replace him on the roster?

You signed Ronald Acuna to a minor league deal in May. How has he worked out for you?

Cruz Camargo couldn’t stick on the PBA roster and is now in Triple-A. I know you had high hopes for him earlier in his career. What is his new future outlook now?


TRIVIA: What two Rockies pitchers have thrown for 200 or more strikeouts in a season?

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, If Danny Davis = Potential MVP then Tom Gunning = ?

An underwhelming Third Baseman. He's had a nice second half and it's boosted his OPS to .793. Still, he doesn't hit for average, rarely walks, and doesn't have enough pop to make up for it. He's also way too strikeout prone. He was a solid prospect when he was drafted, but the average just never materialized. I guess I'll keep him around as a second division Third Baseman since my pipeline is so thin. He goes on some streaks, and is competent, but my team probably won't be good as long as he starts.

Pat Rapp is in his third season as Rockies’ skipper and the team seems to be going in the wrong direction under his guidance. What discussions have happened internally on his future with the team after 2031?

He's been pretty terrible. I had such high hopes for him. He was excellent for Hartford, winning the title in 2028 and had a good relationship with Danny Davis. I promoted him based on those two facts when I moved on from Joe McEwing. His relationship with my position players hasn't been strong though and the hitting hasn't been good enough. I don't want to pay a coach to not coach for me, but I probably won't keep him around after his contract expires.

Now that we’re wrapping up August and about to see the rosters expand, should we be on the lookout for any big names to get September call ups?

Nope. I simply don't have big names in my organization. Miguel Diaz will likely be on the roster to add some depth to my staff, and Keith Rasmussen will get some time until David Dahl and Alec Sanchez come off the IL.

[daveltex]

Josh Weyer will be out for a few days. Will he go on the IL? Who will replace him on the roster?

No IL stint for him - he's just down for a few days. We're going to just piecemeal it together, get some players like Acuna and Acheson some plate appearances.

You signed Ronald Acuna to a minor league deal in May. How has he worked out for you?

Honestly, I forgot about him for a while, until someone asked me if he was available to trade. Once I was reminded about him, we eventually moved him up to the big club to get him some at-bats against left-hand pitching, which we all know my team is really struggling against. So, too early to tell, but it’s definitely worth a flyer.

Cruz Camargo couldn’t stick on the PBA roster and is now in Triple-A. I know you had high hopes for him earlier in his career. What is his new future outlook now?

sigh… I definitely had high hopes for him. It’s just not really being able to put it together. I knew he was never gonna be a star, but hopefully he can be a solid role player. I’m hopeful that some time back in the minors can help him remember how to hit the baseball.

[daveltex]

A couple of additional thoughts, unrelated to the questions:

• Erick mentioned how good/valuable my trainer has been. We've had just 1 player on the IL this year, and it was similar last year. A huge strength of this team has been keeping the players healthy and playing. And Baffi is obviously example #1 for this.
• Gestoso... it really doesn't look great, but he does have his 2nd lowest BABIP of his career (and 35 points below his career number), so I'm hoping that we can still see some rebound. If the BABIP recovers, he can and will still continue to be a 3-4 WAR player.
• It looks like we should have 3 players over 40 home runs, and 4 players with 20+ SBs. That's kinda fun.

[Zigmo-Whitesox]

Texas 11 - Colorado 1


WP: L. Baffi (8-4)
LP: J. McCurley (9-11)


The performance of Steve Goode proved critical in helping Texas beat Colorado, 11-1. The Rangers right fielder belted 2 home runs, while scoring 3 runs and driving in 5. The Rangers, at 78-53, have now won 8 straight.

Goode had a key at-bat for Texas early in the game. With a runner on 1st, he hit a 2-run home run. It was his 37th home run of the season and gave Texas an early 2-0 lead.

In postgame comments to the Texas Daily News, Goode said, "If the effort is there, the wins will come."


Questions for the GMs:

For Erick Blasco, You have stuck with the nifty fielding, Kent Guttman as the teams primary SS despite being fairly lackluster at the plate.  With no extension being offered to Perez, are we seeing the end for Michael Perez in Colorado?

If voting ended today do you think Davis should be the NL MVP?

Who would win in a race around the bases:  Tom Gunning who shows 0 effort and is slow as dumptruck rolling uphill or Rogelio Mendizaball who is equally as slow and also looks like he is about to pass out at any moment perpetually?  Why?


For Dave Lowitzki, Your September schedule looks like things could get pretty wild with a pair of series with Oakland another 7 games vs Seattle and 3 on the road vs the Mets and Twins.  Which series are you most looking forward to?

Your in the beginnings of an 18 game stretch with no off days how has your team handled stretches like this in the past?

Steve Goode really showed off his power today.  Who wins in a sumo wrestling match him or Lambert Swinkels?  Why?


TRIVIA: What two Rockies pitchers have thrown for 200 or more strikeouts in a season?

[daveltex]

Your September schedule looks like things could get pretty wild with a pair of series with Oakland another 7 games vs Seattle and 3 on the road vs the Mets and Twins. Which series are you most looking forward to?

I'm going to go with the boring answer - I'm most excited about the Oakland and Minnesota series, as those games will hopefully solidify a playoff slot for us. But, of course... winning 6 or 7 of those 7 against Seattle sure would make things interesting.

Your in the beginnings of an 18 game stretch with no off days how has your team handled stretches like this in the past?

Honestly, this team is so different than previous TX teams (other than last season) that we've seen very little of this kind of stretch from this group. We're going to be intentional about getting our guys some days off, and adding players like Tatis give us the depth needed to manage this. And with the roster expansion, we've also moved up Pastrano to add another arm to the bullpen and Stauffer to add another bat off the bench.

Steve Goode really showed off his power today. Who wins in a sumo wrestling match him or Lambert Swinkels? Why?

Both clearly have incredible strength and power. And Swinkels has the advantage in speed/quickness. But I don't think that Swinkels would be able to handle the 30+ (I say plus, because we're pretty sure that Goode has added some real bulk since weighing in at 200 points) pound advantage that Goode carries.

But, mostly unrelated, I'll also point out that Swinkels and Goode have a combined 36 stolen bases while being caught stealing just 3 times.

[Commissioner Erick]

For Erick Blasco, You have stuck with the nifty fielding, Kent Guttman as the teams primary SS despite being fairly lackluster at the plate. With no extension being offered to Perez, are we seeing the end for Michael Perez in Colorado?

Probably. Perez wants $15 million for multiple years, and with our team struggling so much, and Guttman not incompetent at Shortstop, we can't spare the expense. If we get some good deals next year and look to retool, we'll look at Perez to return. He plays strong defense, has a decent average, and has surprised us with his ability to run. However, we may need someone with some more punch at Second Base.

If voting ended today do you think Davis should be the NL MVP?

Honestly, not really. Davis has been spectacular in the second half, but I think you can tell the story of 2031 without him. With a lot of other great players playing for more competitive teams, I think one of them should win the award. Davis should be on people's ballots though for the production he's provided.

Who would win in a race around the bases: Tom Gunning who shows 0 effort and is slow as dumptruck rolling uphill or Rogelio Mendizaball who is equally as slow and also looks like he is about to pass out at any moment perpetually? Why?

I guess Gunning? He has a little bit more in the way of reaction times which could give him a head start. He has positive BsR value this year as well, while Mendizibal is in the negative. Even if he's not giving max effort, Gunning would win that footrace.

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 1: Luke guessed Michael Fulmer, Daniel guessed Keith Nield