MLB Rumors: Mariners surge to top of AL West coming at historic pace
In the latest game on Friday's MLB schedule, the Seattle Mariners pulled out of an early deficit against the lowly Kansas City Royals to earn a 7-5 victory, giving them nine wins in their last 10 games. But that's even more crucial for their AL West standing in relation to the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros.
The Mariners were 7.5 games back of the Rangers in the AL West on Aug. 15. They've played nine games since then. But after Friday's win over Kansas City, the M's are now tied for the division lead with Texas and sit a game ahead of the Astros.
How rare is that? Per Stats Perform's OptaStats, it's the largest divisional deficit erased in 10 games or fewer since the Dodgers in 1982 when they overcame a 7.5-game deficit as well, but did so in eight games.
It's not hard to figure out why this has transpired in Seattle, though. Obviously, the Rangers hitting a skid has helped, but after the Mariners were deemed a disappointment in the first half of the season as they sat around .500, they've gotten white hot. Julio Rodriguez has been at the heart of that with a surge into MVP-level form, but the entire roster has backed it up.
Over the last seven days, the Mariners as a team are slashing .340/.422/.536 with 48 runs scored over six games. The pitching has done their part too, posting a team ERA of 3.67 and a team WHIP of just 1.31 over that same span.
Everyone expected the Mariners to factor heavily into the playoff race coming into the year. So it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that they're doing exactly that. How they've surged into the AL West race, though, is certainly worthy of applause.
MLB Rumors: Cubs make long-awaited switch to rotation
If nothing else, Chicago Cubs has been extremely stressful over the past few weeks. Though things like Marcus Stroman's injury have factored into that, the heated NL Wild Card race has been at the heart of it, especially with the Cubs ultimately middling in light of that, going just 6-4 in their last 10 games.
Entering the weekend, Chicago is still holding onto the third wild card spot in the National League (4.0 games back of the Brewers in the NL Central), but with the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds just one game behind them and the Marlins still lurking 2.5 games back.
That has made every decision that manager David Ross has made this season, particularly over this recent stretch, highly scrutinized. And one of the most frustrating things fans have lamented is veteran lefty Drew Smyly continuing to hold his spot in the rotation despite having an 8.33 ERA and 1.56 since the All-Star break.
Thankfully, that's coming to an end.
On Friday, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reported that Smyly, who was initially slated to start on Sunday in Pittsburgh, will instead move to the bullpen with a new starter entering the fray who has yet to be announced. For what it's worth, Smyly is handling the move like a veteran, saying, "You can't have an ego" about moves like this when you're struggling.
As for who takes Smyly's spot in the rotation, that has yet to be determined. Fans are hoping for young Jordan Wicks to get his shot, but we could look at a bullpen game, or a number of other options. In the end, though, this has felt like the right move for some time, and it's mercifully now taking shape.
MLB Rumors: Red Sox one of the favorites to sign Shohei Ohtani in FA
The Shohei Ohtani injury that has left the Angels star with a torn UCL that he will continue to play DH through this season is a brutal blow for all involved. But at the same time, it has made Ohtani's looming free agency this offseason even more fascintating than it was always going to be. Most notably, it now appears far more teams are involved than there otherwise would've been.
One such team who could be more in the mix and, crucially, who may have been more in play all along: the Boston Red Sox.
New York Post MLB insider Jon Heyman ranked the favorites to sign Ohtani in free agency this offseason and, after the Dodgers, Padres and Angels, gave the Red Sox the fourth-best odds to sign the two-way superstar this offseason. He noted that Boston and Chaim Bloom have the means to make up for losing Mookie Betts and, more importantly, that Ohtani's preference to stay on the West Coast has been "overstated".
Bloom's operation of the Red Sox has been under heavy criticism after losing stars like Betts and Xander Bogaerts in recent years, though the team was able to lock up star third baseman Rafael Devers this past offseason. But the club also has long developed a keen relationship with Japanese stars from Daisuke Matsusaka previously to Masataka Yoshida in this year's free agency class. That could work in their favor with Ohtani.
Obviously, the uncertainty surrounding the UCL injury for Ohtani does bring about some concern when it comes to the likely AL MVP. At the same time, though, he remains a generational and all-time-level talent who could be an All-Star playing just one way. The Red Sox need that type of splash to get over the hump and, while they aren't the leaders according to Heyman's intel, they could very well have a real shot at making that splash.
