The Pirates' Weird & Wild month. Plus: Check out this cool Roki Sasaki card

New York Times

2 days ago

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Heads up, everyone: Weird & Wild is BACK.
Plus: More on Jen Pawol's big-league debut this weekend, the baseball card of the week, and we ask an important question: What the heck is going on with Kyle Tucker? I'm Levi Weaver, Ken Rosenthal is off this week — welcome to The Windup!
In case you missed it, Weird & Wild took the month of July off so Jayson Stark could cover things like the All-Star Game and Hall of Fame inductions. That means today's edition is jam-packed with the weirdest and wildest moments from an entire month.
I am always amazed at the nuggets that Jayson is able to pull from the great game, but the section on the Pirates' season had me literally shaking my head while I read it. Check this out:
Friday — score nine runs in the top of the first (that seems good) … and lose (17-16)!
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Saturday — get a three-homer game from their sweet-swinging first baseman, Liover Peguero (that also seems good) … and lose (8-5)!
Sunday — give up back-to-back-back homers (that seems bad) … but win (of course)!
That seems almost impossible. But do you watch the Pirates much?
Just in the intermission between regular-season Weird and Wild columns, they also …
• Threw a shutout in all three games of a series (against the Cardinals) and then … in the very next series … got shut out themselves in all three games of a series (against Seattle).
• Played another three-game series in which they got swept by the worst team in the American League (the White Sox), followed … immediately thereafter … by a three-game series in which they did the sweeping of the team with the best record in the American League (the Tigers).
There is, of course, so much more.
Who else would get someone at Baseball Reference to dedicate two days to finding a specific play?
Who else would even notice that the Rays went 8-22 after losing a game 22-8?
Would anyone else on this planet inform us that Corbin Martin's line on July 21 — 1 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 K 1 HBP 1 balk 1 HR — was a box-scorigami? (Meaning: It had never been done before).
Welcome back, Jayson.
The first half was a little slice of baseball heaven for Cubs fans. Pete Crow-Armstrong was having the breakout year to define all breakout years, the relief pitching was in the top 10 in the league in fWAR on July 1, and the starting pitching … well, the Cubs were winning a lot of games.
And chief among the success stories was Kyle Tucker, their big trade acquisition from the offseason. When the calendar flipped to July, he was hitting .291/.395/.537 (.931 OPS) with 17 home runs in 83 games.
In the month-plus since?
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.208/.353/.271 (.624) with one home run in 28 games. The on-base percentage is still there, but the average and power have all but disappeared. So, what's going on?
Sahadev Sharma does his best to unravel the mystery today.
One theory: A finger injury sustained on June 1 might be lingering. Or the small changes he might have made to compensate for the pain might be leading to worse results.
One problem: He hit .311 with a .982 OPS in June.
The fact is, while we can point out the differences in the results — and Sahadev has a few good ones here to indicate the problems — it might just … be a slump?
And, as we pointed out above, the fact that he's not chasing is a good sign. It means he's not 'pressing' (getting desperate and trying to force things).
The good news for the Cubs: His slump hasn't affected their winning percentage much. They were 49-35 (.583) at the end of June, and are 17-13 (.567) since.
The bad news for the Cubs: The Brewers are 23-7 (.767) since the first of July, and have overtaken the Cubs for first place. As the pennant race rounds the corner into the back third of the season, the Cubs could certainly use a hot streak from their superstar outfielder.
A follow-up on our section yesterday on Jen Pawol, who will become the first female umpire to work a regular-season MLB game this weekend:
Sam Blum has a story today in which he spoke with the first two women to have worked a big-league spring training game: Pam Postema and Ria Cortesio. He also spoke to Dale Scott, the first openly gay umpire to have worked in the big leagues.
Needless to say, they're all thrilled for Pawol. Cortesio, now a pilot, says she broke into tears when she found out about the promotion.
Meanwhile, Tyler Kepner's 'Sliders' column this week also starts with Pawol. He spoke with former big-league umpire (and instructor at MLB umpire camps) Ted Barrett, who spoke highly of Pawol's bona fides.
If you missed it yesterday, Pawol will work both halves of the Saturday doubleheader between the Braves and Marlins, and is scheduled to work behind the plate on Sunday.
OK, Roki Sasaki is not going to win NL Rookie of the Year this year. Not only has he not pitched since May 9, but he was 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA when he hit the IL. But this is my first Sasaki card, which I pulled from a pack this week.
I'm generally not a fan of die-cut cards (more corners mean more chances to mess up the card), but I like this one. The pitching motion, the fact he looks like he's staring straight into the camera, the RC logo at the bottom noting that it's his rookie card … it's a cool card.
It's also not worth much — you can get them online for well under five bucks.
Your biggest strengths and your biggest weaknesses are often the very same thing. Yankees manager Aaron Boone is his players' biggest advocate — the quintessential players' manager. But as the mistakes pile up, Boone has faced criticism for what some are calling a lack of accountability. Brendan Kuty says Boone's tone has begun to change.
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Tim Britton takes a look at what Roman Anthony's extension might mean for prospects like Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark.
Most teams don't open their books. But in an earnings report Thursday, the Braves reported — despite a very disappointing season — a 12 percent increase in earnings. Interesting, while we keep an eye toward the next CBA negotiations.
Remember Starling Marte's 'Dragonball Z' cleats? Those were made by a 15-year-old who goes by 'EvanTheArtist.' Dhani Joseph caught up with the wunderkind.
You might not recognize the name Jake Riordan, but the Kentucky Little League coach recently made a joke that went viral (in a good way). Rustin Dodd spoke to Riordan about his 'keep it loose' coaching philosophy.
On the pods: On 'Rates & Barrels,' the crew talks about making pitchers uncomfortable, and they discuss the best post-deadline bullpens in the game. Speaking of which …
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Eno Sarris' look at who now has the best bullpen in baseball.
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