With COVID-19 still wreaking havoc on some teams, the majority of the league is starting to settle in. Injuries are starting to pile up league-wide, specifically to pitchers. The expanded playoff system would feature some teams who were not expected to do much before this season started. The Miami Marlins are in first place with a 7-3 record. The Baltimore Orioles are in second with a 7-7 record and the Detroit Tigers are also in second with an 8-5 mark. The poor St. Louis Cardinals just want to play a game. The last time the Cardinals played was July 29th and their first three games this week have already been postponed due to COVID-19. But the show must go on. Let’s look at the Week In Home Runs.
Tatis Taters
It was a big week for one of the brightest young stars in all of baseball. Fernando Tatis Jr. led all players with six round-trippers. This also includes one multi-homer game and three straight games with a leadoff long ball. Tatis is red hot and his big week catapulted him all the way into the major league lead in homers. Tatis has eight home runs which ties him with Aaron Judge.
Happy Birthday
Not many people want to go to work on their birthday. But for Mike Trout, he absolutely loves working on his birthday. Trout homered on his birthday this past Friday when the Los Angeles Angels were playing the Texas Rangers. This is the fifth time Trout has hit a home run on his birthday tying the major league record for players under 30 with Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Mark Reynolds hold the major league record with six.
Welcome To The Show
Nothing is more exciting to a batter than hitting their first big league home run. This week five players felt that excitement. On Tuesday Jake Cronenworth of the San Diego Padres went deep off of Dustin May of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The next day Austin Allen of the Oakland A’s hit his first long ball against Ian Gibaut of the Rangers. We stay in Oakland and the next day Anderson Tejeda of the Rangers hit his first big league bomb off of A’s pitcher Mike Fiers.
The last two of these special moments occurred in San Diego in a weekend series between the San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks. First Edward Olivares of the Padres hit his first dinger off of Alex Young. Andy Young of the Diamondbacks had his moment on Sunday against Padres pitcher Dinelson Lamet.
Two Homer Games
For the second straight week, 12 players had multi-home run games with the senior circuit having five including some of the best players in the game. Joc Pederson of the Dodgers, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, and Austin Slater of the San Francisco Giants was joined by Padres teammates Fernando Tatis Jr.and Manny Machado.
The AL had seven which included the birthday boy Mike Trout. Joining Trout was Matt Olson of the A’s, Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians, Renato Nunez of the Orioles, Jorge Soler of the Kansas City Royals who joined Boston Red Sox teammates, Alex Verdugo and Mitch Moreland.
Walk It Off
In normal times the walk-off home run sends the fans home happy. But these are not normal times. Despite not having any fans in the stands, these were still happy moments. This week we had three players walk it off.
Stephen Piscotty
On Tuesday Stephen Piscotty of the A’s decided to end the game in grand fashion. The A’s were hosting the Rangers and the game was tied at one. Veteran pitched Edinson Volquez was on the mound for the Rangers. After two walks and a base hit Volquez loaded the bases.
After retiring Robbie Grossman on a pop-up Piscotty was up next. There were several ways for Piscotty to win this game. A base hit wins the game. Same for a walk or a long fly ball. But Piscotty took the opportunity to pad the stats a bit. Piscotty deposited the first pitch into the centerfield seats. This was the second walk-off grand slam this season for the A’s.
Nick Markakis
Back on July 6th, Nick Markakis informed the Braves he was opting out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 disease. However, less than a month later Markakis has changed his mind and returned to the Braves. Having already rescinded on a contract offer to Yasiel Puig after he tested positive for COVID-19, the Braves welcomed Markakis back with open arms.
On Thursday the Braves were playing the Toronto Blue Jays. This was the first game back for Markakis. The game was tied at three when Markakis stepped to the plate with one facing Wilmer Font.
Mitch Moreland
Lastly, we have Mitch Moreland of the Red Sox. On Sunday the Red Sox were playing the Blue Jays. The game was tied at 2 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Blue Jays pitcher Tom Hatch had retired the first two batters of the inning. After walking Xander Bogaerts, Moreland stepped up to the plate.
Moreland had already gone deep back in the second inning. Moreland took Hatch’s first pitch into the Green Monster giving the Red Sox the 4-2 win.
The Most Exciting Play In Baseball
The inside the park home run is the most exciting play in baseball. Several occurrences have to happen for this play to work. In most cases, the batted ball takes a weird bounce after hitting the outfield wall. Maybe the defense is in a shift or maybe the outfielders were not backing up each other. Maybe the ball got lost in the lights or the ceiling. Whatever the reason nothing is more exciting than watching a runner speed around the bases trying to hit the inside the park home run.
We had two players hit inside the parkers this week. This past Wednesday Kole Calhoun of the Diamondbacks hit a long drive off of Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. The ball hit the rightfield fence at a weird angle and rolled past George Springer along the warning track. Calhoun was able to race home for a standup inside the park home run.
Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers hit his the next day in a game vs the Chicago White Sox. Yelich hit a high flyball down the left-field line off of White Sox pitcher Gio Gonzalez. White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez raced toward the leftfield line but was not able to make the catch.
Jimenez’s momentum carried him into the netting in left field. Meanwhile, the ball bounced high into the corner and rolled onto the warning track. Yelich who runs well raced around the bases for his inside the park home run.
Milestone Watch
Three players are chasing home run milestones. On Tuesday Albert Pujols hit his 659th career home run off of Seattle Mariners pitcher Justin Dunn. Pujols is just one homer away from tying Willie Mays for fifth all time. Miguel Cabrera hit his 481st career home run. He is now 12 homers behind Fred McGriff and Lou Gehrig. Nelson Cruz hit his 405th career home run to close to within two dingers from Duke Snider.
Home Run Leaders For the Week
Fernando Tatis Jr. led all players with six home runs for the week. Mike Trout and Mitch Moreland each had four. For the season the Major League leader in homers is Aaron Judge and Fernando Tatis Jr. with eight apiece. Nicholas Castellanos has seven and Mitch Moreland has six.
The Padres led all teams with 17 home runs this week. The A’s slugged 14. The Dodgers hit 12 and the Braves hit 11. Both the Yankees and Rockies each had 10. For the season the Dodgers and Padres lead all teams with 29 followed by the Yankees with 27, The Minnesota Twins with 25 and the Angels with 24.
