Thursday, August 27
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.
We’ve been talking a lot about the MVP and Cy Young races this season, but maybe not enough about the Rookie of the Year race. Specifically, the National League Rookie of the Year race, which is a lot more wide-open than it was even a few weeks ago.
There are four legit contenders: Sal Stewart, JJ Wetherholt, Carson Benge and Nolan McLean. So today we’re taking a deep dive into the race.
Here’s a quick rundown of the case for all four candidates:
JJ Wetherholt, 2B, Cardinals
The case: He’s easily the best NL rookie by Wins Above Replacement.
WAR is a pretty good starting point here, and Wetherholt’s 4.5 WAR, according to FanGraphs, is well ahead of Benge’s 3.2, McLean’s 2.8 and Stewart’s 2.3.
Part of that is his offense (Wetherholt has 17 home runs and 14 stolen bases), but the big thing is his elite defense. Wetherholt is one of the best fielders in the league, no matter which stats you look at. Statcast has him behind only Pete Crow-Armstrong — and he’s not that far off.
Sal Stewart, 1B, Reds
The case: He might lead the Major Leagues in RBIs.
Stewart hasn’t just been the best run producer among rookies, he’s been the best run producer in the big leagues, period. His 100 RBIs lead the Majors, and if he finishes the season in first place, he’d be just the third rookie ever to do that, along with Ted Williams in 1939 and Walt Dropo in 1950. There’s a lot more to the game than RBIs, but, well … that’s a lot of RBIs.
Stewart also has 28 home runs; Wetherholt and Benge aren’t even within 10 of him.
Carson Benge, RF, Mets
The case: He’s been red-hot for months.
Benge had a rough first month in the big leagues, but since then, he’s been raking. He’s batting .303 with an .826 OPS since the start of May, which is better than Stewart (.256 average, .766 OPS) and WAY better than a slumping Wetherholt (.242 average, .683 OPS).
Benge is one of just eight .300 hitters in the entire Major Leagues since the start of May, and with 16 home runs and 19 stolen bases on the season, he could easily go 20-20. Benge also has a rocket arm in the outfield. If he stays hot down the stretch, and his fellow Rookie of the Year candidates can’t keep pace, Benge could swoop in and snatch the award.
Nolan McLean, SP, Mets
The case: He’s back at ace level.
McLean was a Rookie of the Year favorite to start the season. But after some rocky starts early on, he dropped a little bit off the radar. Now he’s back on it. McLean has a 1.97 ERA over his last 10 starts, and his numbers for the season are starting to look very strong: a 3.21 ERA in 26 starts, and 168 strikeouts in 148 2/3 innings.
If he keeps it up at the end of the year, you’re looking at a rookie workhorse with a low-3s ERA and close to 200 K’s. That’s a pretty compelling Rookie of the Year stat line.
Read our full NL Rookie of the Year deep dive >>
GAMES OF THE NIGHT
There’s only a handful of games tonight, but they’re good ones. Here are three to watch.
Astros at Yankees (7:05 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
Gerrit Cole has been on both sides of this rivalry, and he faces his old team in tonight’s rubber game at Yankee Stadium. Cole, who pitched for the Astros from 2018-19 before joining the Yankees, is also eyeing a fun bit of history. Cole has 160 career wins, and with one more, he’ll tie Mike Moore for the most wins ever by a No. 1 overall Draft pick.
Brewers at Mets (7:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)
The No. 1 ace in our Starting Pitcher Power Rankings can pitch baseball’s No. 1 team to a series win tonight. Jacob Misiorowski continues to dominate every start, with an MLB-best 1.68 ERA and 216 strikeouts. The Brewers have an MLB-best 82 wins, and just clinched their sixth straight winning season. The Miz is looking for his first win against the Mets.
Dodgers at Braves (7:15 p.m. ET, FS1 / MLB.TV)
This series finale between these two first-place teams is a duel of Cy Young contenders: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Chris Sale. Yamamoto, who ranks fourth in the NL with a 2.61 ERA, has not allowed a run in two career starts against the Braves. Sale, who ranks second with a 2.20 ERA, is a Dodgers nemesis who closed out the 2018 World Series against them. Who will win the battle of aces?
WATCH OUT FOR THE SOX, PRINCESS PEACH
The Red Sox have a new monster mascot in town (sorry, Wally). It’s Bowser himself.
The Super Mario villain has become the face of the Red Sox season. And the fire-breathing, plumber-hating, princess-abducting King Koopa is leading the Sox straight to October.
The literal Bowser first appeared in the Red Sox clubhouse during the team’s last trip to New York in June — when Jarren Duran traded a fan for a foot-tall Bowser figurine. As Boston has gone on a roll toward a Wild Card spot, Bowser has become a fixture in the Boston clubhouse. He now travels with the team in the laundry hamper.
The ballplayer version of Bowser is Willson Contreras, who was given the nickname “Bowser” by Trevor Story. Contreras didn’t even know who the character was at first. But once Story kindly explained — and had a Bowser T-shirt made for Contreras — the star slugger went all-in. He even used a Bowser bat at the Home Run Derby.
Perla Paredes goes behind the scenes on Bowser in Boston >>
A WHITE SOX HAT FIT FOR A POPE
Pope Leo XIV can finally take his White Sox fandom to a level befitting a pontiff.
After the team’s wildly popular giveaway at Rate Field a few weeks ago, the White Sox Pope Hat has officially reached the Vatican.
Father Tom McCarthy, a Chicago native just like the pope, presented Pope Leo with the very special gift: a black-and-gold hat bearing the Sox white stocking logo.
Pope Leo, the world’s most famous White Sox fan, has been spotted wearing a White Sox cap at the Vatican before. Now he has some even fancier headgear, just in time for Chicago’s playoff push.
250 FOR 250: GREATEST RIVALRIES
You know all about the great team rivalries in baseball. Yankees-Red Sox. Dodgers-Giants. Cubs-Cardinals. Mets-Braves. And so on.
That’s not what we’re doing for today’s 250 for 250. Yes, we’re looking at 10 top rivalries in MLB history — but it’s not “team vs. team.” We’re having some fun with it.
We’ve got rivalries like Big Mac vs. Slammin’ Sammy — throwing it back to the great home run race of 1998 between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. We’ve got Billy vs. the Boss — Yankees manager Billy Martin’s long-running feud with owner George Steinbrenner.
And you have to see whose rival Tommy Lasorda is.
See the full top 10 rivalries list >>
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RJ Hamster 