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Good morning folks and happy Friday.
The Mariners were officially eliminated from playoff contention yesterday with the Rangers boxing them out in a 3-1 win over the Mets. The M’s also lost in a 6-4 contest to the Angels. With that, we officially turn our gaze towards what will likely be a long offseason.
In Mariners news…
- In case you missed it, the Mariners placed infielder Brock Rodden on the injured list with patella tendon inflammation and called up Leo Rivas for the final series of the season.
- Kate Preusser spoke to Josh Naylor about his disappointing first full season as a Seattle Mariner.
- Josh Hader’s recent collapse against the Mariners illustrates just how shaky the Astros bullpen is heading into the postseason, writes Chandler Rome at The Athletic.
Around the league…
- Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong became just the 7th player ever to join the 40-40 club.
- With their win over the Royals yesterday, the White Sox clinched their ticket to the postseason. However, you will not see Luis Castillo on the playoff roster since he was placed on the injured list with a shoulder injury.
- Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo threw a bullpen session yesterday and was feeling good enough that the team thinks he could be back for the postseason.
- This is not surprising but good confirmation to have.
- Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs did yet another statistical analysis on whether participation in the World Baseball Classic impacts regular season performance.
- In recent years, it’s been extremely rare for a player who qualifies for the batting average title to go homerless in a season. Yet, the Rays’ Chandler Simpson is on track to do just that, writes Davy Andrews at Fangraphs.
- Yes, pitchers really are throwing harder than they ever have before.
- We need more Joey Vottos on television.
