Baseball Daily Dose: Dose: Moreland! Moreland!
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Mitch Moreland continued his massive power surge in Tuesday’s victory over the Orioles, blasting a pair of home runs for the second consecutive game.
He becomes just the eighth player in Rangers history to have accomplished the feat and the third player in baseball this season, joining Bryce Harper and Todd Frazier.
Moreland wraps up an outstanding month of June hitting .323 with nine homers and 25 RBI in 25 games. He has been especially locked in over the last week, going 10-for-23 (.435) with six homers and 10 RBI in six contests.
For the season, he has been every bit the potent left-handed bat that the Rangers needed him to be, slashing .305/.353/.563 with 14 long balls and 43 RBI. For a player who could have been had in the later rounds of fantasy drafts or plucked from the waiver wire in shallow leagues, Moreland has already delivered a substantial profit to owners who believed in him.
Concern for Cuddyer
Michael Cuddyer was forced to leave Tuesday’s game against the Cubs after experiencing pain in his left knee while running to first base. The 36-year-old outfielder admitted afterwards that he’s “definitely concerned” about the injury.
He’s slated to undergo an MRI exam on Wednesday to determine the extent of the injury, but it would be surprising if he wasn’t heading to the disabled list.
Mired in an extremely disappointing season, Cuddyer is hitting just .244/.297/.368 with six home runs and 28 RBI in his first 71 games with the Mets. Darrell Cecillani replaced him in the lineup on Tuesday and could be in line for increased playing time if Cuddyer requires an extended absence.
Back to the Gallows
With the return of Josh Hamilton to the Rangers lineup on Tuesday, top prospect Joey Gallo became the odd-man out and was optioned back to Triple-A Round Rock.
The 21-year-old performed roughly as expected during his 25-game taste of the show, slashing .218/.306/.448. He flashed his massive power potential by clobbering five long balls and driving home 13 runs. Gallo also displayed the excessive swing-and-miss to his game, striking out a whopping 43 times in 98 plate appearances.
Hopefully he’ll take the taste of the big leagues as motivation and continue to work on his game at the minor league level. Should the Rangers sustain any injuries in the outfield or with Adrian Beltre at third base, he’ll assuredly get another call.
Keuchel continues to dominate
Dallas Keuchel continued his dominance of the American League on Tuesday, firing eight scoreless innings in a victory over the Royals. He scattered just seven hits, didn’t walk a batter and punched out seven on the evening.
After a rough start against the Mariners on June 20, the left-hander has rebounded to throw 17 consecutive shutout frames over his last two outings, lowering his already impressive 2.35 ERA to a miniscule 2.03, the best mark in the American League. He also boasts a tremendous 102/31 K/BB ratio over his league-leading 124 1/3 innings of work.
Keuchel burst onto the scene with a career-year in 2014, and is well on his way to eclipsing those numbers. Now 10-3 on the season, there’s a growing chance that the 27-year-old hurler could get the nod to start the All-Star game for the American League.
National League Quick Hits: Manny Banuelos will be recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday to make his major league debut against the Nationals… Brandon Phillips sat out his second consecutive game with injuries to both hands… Michael Morse (back) suffered a small setback on his rehab assignment, but is expected to rejoin the Marlins before the end of the week… Tim Lincecum (forearm) will be placed on the disabled list Thursday to make room in the rotation for Matt Cain‘s debut… Freddie Freeman (wrist) could be held out of the lineup until after the All-Star break… John Axford will be away from the Rockies for a few days after being placed on the family medical emergency list… Jordan Zimmermann fired 7 2/3 shutout innings in a win over the Braves… Dee Gordon flew around the bases on a three-run inside-the-park home run, his first homer of the season… Kyle Hendricks hurled six shutout innings in a victory over the Mets.
American League Quick Hits: Chris Sale racked up another 12 strikeouts over eight innings on Tuesday, becoming just the second pitcher in major league history to fan 10 or more batters in eight consecutive starts, joining Pedro Martinez from 1999… Mike Montgomery took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, and recorded his second consecutive shutout in a dazzling performance against the Padres… Jacoby Ellsbury was forced to sit out Tuesday’s rehab game at High-A Tampa due to “general fatigue”… Sonny Gray was scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday, and was hospitalized, due to a severe case of the flu… James Loney (finger) began a minor league rehab assignment with High-A Charlotte… Manny Machado extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his 16th home run… Hanley Ramirez (hand) will return to the Red Sox lineup on Wednesday… Hisashi Iwakuma was forced to leave his rehab start at Triple-A Tacoma due to a blister on his hand… Carlos Beltran left Tuesday’s game with a ribcage injury and will be reevaluated on Wednesday… Chris Davis blasted a pair of home runs in a losing effort against the Rangers… Albert Pujols belted his American League leading 24th home run in a win over the Yankees.
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