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Are we seeing a new Bash Brothers era in Oakland? Plus: Ken on the NL Rookie of the Year race, the Yankees might have a closer problem and (sigh) more Bally Sports developments. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup!
Dynamic Duos: An unexpected 1-2 punch
We touched on this a bit yesterday, but thanks to a tweet from MLB Network, I think it’s worth digging in a little more today: Are Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker the new Bash Brothers in Oakland? They’re holding their own against some heady company.
I did a little more digging and looked through every other MLB team’s two best hitters, to see how Butler, 24, and Rooker, 29, measure up. All numbers are since July 1, since that was the original premise. Here are the top six:
While Judge and Soto (unsurprisingly) emerge as the best, their margin of victory is shockingly thin. Butler and Lawrence have been raking! (And for that matter, so have Seth Brown and JJ Bleday.)
Just for fun, I decided to match this year’s Oakland duo against the 1988 Bash Brothers — Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco — from July 1 through Sept. 3. Frankly, it’s not even very close.
Ken’s Notebook: Skenes might only be third-best NL rookie
Two weeks ago, we wrote about a motivation for the Pirates to shut down right-hander Paul Skenes. By ending Skenes’ brilliant rookie season, the team could prevent him from finishing first or second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, and thus deprive him of gaining a full year of service time and keep him in Pittsburgh for at least one additional season.
Undaunted, the Pirates keep pitching Skenes. To no one’s surprise, Skenes continues to excel, working five scoreless innings Tuesday and lowering his ERA to 2.13 in a 5-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs. But the way the NL rookie race is shaping up, the Pirates might get their extra year of control over Skenes, anyway.
Crazy, isn’t it? The continued excellence of the Padres’ Jackson Merrill and the electrifying rise of the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio easily could result in the two center fielders finishing 1-2, with Skenes dropping to third.
Merrill hardly was dominant in the first two months, batting .281 with three homers and a .681 OPS through May 31. Chourio downright struggled, batting .210 with five homers and a .581 OPS in that time frame. But both players have ignited since, putting together wondrous seasons. They also have been with their respective teams since Opening Day, while the Pirates waited until May 11 to promote Skenes.
Now consider the numbers of Merrill and Chourio since June 1:
- Merrill: .298 BA, 18 HRs, .902 OPS
- Chourio: .320 BA, 14 HRs, .929 OPS
Merrill is four stolen bases shy of a 20-20 season. Chourio is one home run short. Merrill has six game-tying or go-ahead homers in the eighth inning or later, tied with Frank Robinson for most in a season at age 21 or younger (since 1900). Chourio leads the NL in batting average since June 1, and won’t turn 21 until next March.
Skenes, 22, obviously is no slouch, but he has thrown only five innings in each of his last two starts, and 114 on the season. Voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America are free to choose a hitter or pitcher for the rookie award, but as everyday players, Merrill and Chourio might rate an edge. Merrill has 514 plate appearances, Chourio 478.
A number of other NL rookies also warrant consideration, but the race likely will come down to Merrill, Chourio and Skenes. Again, the whole thing is rather amazing. As good as Skenes has been, as much of an impact as he made on his team and his sport, he might only be the third-best rookie in his league.
Closer Issues: Do Yankees have a Clay Holmes problem?
OK, we’ll get to Clay Holmes in a minute, but first, I want to show you a play — and no, it’s not Rangers rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford’s walk-off grand slam. This one came an inning earlier, with the Yankees leading 4-1.
Infielder Josh Smith pinch hit to lead off the inning and hit an 84 mph bouncer to first baseman DJ LeMahieu. It clanged off his glove, and pitcher Tommy Kahnle swooped in to pick up the rebound on the first base line. That’s when Smith did this:
JOSH SMITH!?!? 🤯@Rangers | #StraightUpTX pic.twitter.com/VxyFaQLY22
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) September 4, 2024
In the moment, it seemed like a relatively harmless little oopsie, but the Rangers went on to score two in the eighth, then loaded the bases in the ninth against the Yankees’ closer Holmes.
Holmes got a little help from home plate umpire Mark Wegner, who called strikes on two pitches outside the zone on Langford. In retrospect, Holmes might not have appreciated the assist — Langford hit a walk-off grand slam; the first time a Rangers rookie has ever done that.
Anyway, about Holmes …
Before last night, he already led all of baseball with 10 blown saves — nobody else had more than eight. And while the Yankees have been very good this year, you can’t let him off the hook with “he’s had more opportunities.” Yes, his 39 opportunities are third-most in baseball, but the two relievers with more chances have converted them at a much higher rate:
But it’s not like there’s a clear successor in the Bronx. The three Yankees relievers with higher K/9 rates than Holmes (9.9 K/9) this year are:
Maybe Cousins, though it’s a little late in the season to find out how he does in the ninth inning. Perhaps one option might be Kahnle, who has an ERA of 2.00 this year. But he also only has seven saves in 381 career games.
We’re over it, too: Latest in the Bally’s saga
One of these days, we’re going to have an update in this newsletter, and it might start with me posting the sheet music for the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s “Messiah.” It will say something like: “The Bally thing is sorted and we never have to think about it again, Hal-leh-hehhh-lu-jahhh.”
Today is not that day. Today, the soundtrack is a deep, annoyed sigh set to a sad trombone.
There is some good news: The NBA and NHL packages seem to be, at least for now, settled. But no such deal has been reached with the nine MLB teams that Bally broadcasts (three more are on one-year deals that expire at the end of this season) and the concern now is that — as we heard from the Twins and Rangers last year — those teams won’t have any way to budget their 2025 season this winter, leaving them in an uncertain place when it comes to free agency.
You can read all about the latest developments here, but if you follow one of the 12 affected teams, it’s worth noting this paragraph, referencing something that Evan Drellich first reported in late July:
MLB and the Players Association recently agreed on a change to the collective bargaining agreement that allows the commissioner’s office to distribute funds to teams who have recently taken reductions in their TV rights fees, up to $15 million per affected team. The union told its players it agreed to the change on the belief it would help player spending.
As far as stopgap measures go, that’s something, at least, but it’s far from a long-term solution. This is ugly, it has been ugly, and it is long past time for a solution. Hopefully the next time you hear about this topic in The Windup, it will come with a glorious classical soundtrack.
Handshakes and High Fives
Sometimes at the trade deadline, teams acquire a pitcher not just for what he has done, but for what they think he could do. Eno Sarris looks at a few pitchers who have undergone changes since changing uniforms.
Good news for the Cubs: Starting pitcher Justin Steele will avoid the IL after some elbow discomfort earlier this week.
Whit Merrifield has had enough. He was hit in the back of the head with a fastball last night, and after the game, he made it very clear: Baseball has to do something about pitcher control issues.
Kyle Harrison hasn’t been dominant as a rookie, but Andrew Baggarly says we shouldn’t worry too much about that — he’ll be fine.
NL wild card check: David Peterson struck out 11, and the Mets won their sixth straight. The Braves also won to maintain a half-game lead in the NL wild card, as Chris Sale became the first left-handed starter in Braves history to surpass 200 strikeouts in a season. Meanwhile, the Cubs lost their second straight, dropping to 4 1/2 games back.
AL wild card check: The Twins wasted a strong start from Matt Festa, but didn’t lose any ground, as the four teams behind them (and the one ahead) also lost.
Most-clicked in yesterday’s newsletter: Tyler Kepner’s guide to baseball slang.
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(Top photo: Neville E. Guard / USA Today)
