Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Plug in the Leake
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Mike Leake has had a solid major league career, but even in his good moments he hasn’t been much of a strikeout pitcher. Well, until his last two times out, anyway.
Leake recorded 10+ strikeouts for his second straight start on Monday, whiffing 11 Padres batters across six innings of one-run ball. The right-hander allowed six hits and didn’t walk a batter on the night. With just 88 pitches thrown through six frames, Leake had a chance for more strikeouts but was pinch-hit for with the Cardinals having a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the sixth (it worked, as Matt Adams had a two-RBI double).
Not only has Leake had double-digit strikeouts in two straight outings, he hasn’t walked a batter in either start. In the storied history of the Cardinals, Bob Gibson has been the only other Cards starter to accomplish this feat. Yep, you read that correctly. Leake has joined one of the best pitchers in the history of the game with what he’s done the last two times out.
While Leake still has only 87 strikeouts over 117 innings this season, he’s also issued just 17 free passes. Only Clayton Kershaw and Noah Syndergaard have bested Leake’s 5.12 K/BB ratio among National League hurlers.
It goes without saying that Leake isn’t going to keep things going at this recent pace. The Brewers (who Leake faced in his previous start) have struck out more than any other team against right-handed pitching this season. The Padres are fourth on that list. However, we must also note that Leake has pitched quite well for a while now after a really slow start. Over his last 13 outings, the veteran right-hander has put up a 3.16 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 65/8 K/BB ratio across 82 2/3 innings.
Leake is currently owned in less than half of Yahoo leagues despite a strong 10-week run. The upside still isn’t terribly high even after his strikeout binge, but that ownership percentage figures to rise.
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Lopez Debuting Tuesday
Late last month we saw the major league debut of top Nationals pitching prospect Lucas Giolito. It’s now time to get a look at another one of the Nats’ big arms.
Reynaldo Lopez will be summoned from Triple-A Syracuse to make his major league debut on Tuesday against the Dodgers. While the 22-year-old won’t arrive with as much fanfare as Giolito, he’s a terrific prospect in his own right and has had a better season than his fellow right-hander.
Lopez entered the 2016 campaign ranked No. 92 by Baseball America and No. 75 by Baseball Prospectus among the top prospects in the game. He’s seen those numbers rise to No. 48 and No. 39, respectively, in the BA and BP midseason rankings after putting up a 3.19 ERA and 109/31 K/BB ratio over 87 1/3 innings between Double- and Triple-A. Lopez has been particularly dominant over his last eight starts, holding a 2.01 ERA and 65/11 K/BB ratio across 44 2/3 frames. He also had a scoreless inning in the Futures Game in San Diego, hitting triple digits on the radar gun.
Some feel that Lopez might eventually wind up in the bullpen due to his high-effort delivery and relatively slight frame. However, there’s no questioning his stuff, as the youngster can pump in his fastball in the upper-90s with regularity while also mixing in a hammer curveball. Lopez isn’t guaranteed anything beyond Tuesday with Joe Ross (shoulder) having resumed throwing and Giolito a possibility to get another shot. He’s also on a workload limit, having never topped 100 innings in a season. However, this is a guy with swing-and-miss stuff who is worth a shot in deeper fantasy leagues while he’s up with the big club.
Twins Can Ryan
The Twins will undoubtedly be sellers at the trade deadline in a couple weeks. They’ll have to wheel and deal without a full-time general manager.
One of the longest-tenured GMs in baseball was let go when the Twins announced the firing of Terry Ryan on Monday. The 62-year-old’s association with the organization dates back to when he was a pitcher in their minor league system in the mid-70s. Ryan was the club’s scouting director for several years before ascending to the GM position in 1994. He stepped down from the position in 2007 but returned to the job in 2012, ultimately holding the gig for a total of 17 seasons before his firing on Monday.
“Since joining our organization as a player in 1972, Terry has been a dedicated, loyal and respected member of the Minnesota Twins family,” Twins owner Jim Pohlad said in a statement. “Terry has been a gifted leader of the baseball department for over eighteen seasons. It is impossible to overstate his contribution to our game, our team and the Upper Midwest baseball community. The decision to part with Terry was difficult, painful and not obvious. We are extremely grateful and very thankful to Terry, his wife Karilyn, and their family for being a part of the Minnesota Twins.”
It will be interesting to see where the Twins go from here. Longtime Ryan assistant Rob Antony will serve as interim GM for now, but FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi says the team plans to begin their search for a full-time GM in the coming weeks. The Twins have traditionally been an “old school” organization that relies more on scouting than analytics, but the fact that they were willing to move on from a long-time staple like Ryan could suggest that they’re ready to overhaul things as they head to their fifth 90+ loss season in six years.
Ryan had said previously that he planned to be very active at the trade deadline, and that strategy probably won’t change even though he’s no longer around. Minnesota has a few veteran pieces like Ervin Santana, Kurt Suzuki and Brandon Kintzler who could be of interest to other clubs.
National League Quick Hits: Jose Fernandez struck out 14 batters while holding the Phillies to two runs over 6 1/3 innings on Monday … Trevor Story went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in Monday’s win over the Rays … Jedd Gyorko went 3-for-3 with a solo home run in a win over the Padres on Monday … Joey Votto had an RBI single and a two-run homer in Monday’s victory over the Braves … Aaron Nola rebounded from his rough stretch with six shutout frames against the Marlins on Monday … Jon Lester bounced back from a couple rough outings of his own with 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in Monday’s victory over the Mets … Gerardo Parra‘s rehab from a left ankle sprain has been stalled after he felt soreness during a workout Saturday … Already out for the season after shoulder surgery, Devin Mesoraco underwent surgery recently to repair the labrum in his right hip … Jhonny Peralta didn’t play Monday due to continued soreness in his surgically-repaired left thumb … Both Dexter Fowler (hamstring) and Jorge Soler (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignments on Tuesday …
American League Quick Hits: Corey Kluber exited Monday’s start against the Royals with a right calf cramp after seven shutout innings … Chris Sale tossed eight shutout frames versus the Mariners Monday but didn’t get a win after a blown save … Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said Monday that J.D. Martinez (elbow) is still “a couple of weeks away.” … Yan Gomes is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a separated right shoulder … Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports has reported the Rangers are willing to trade Joey Gallo for a pitched they can control for multiple years … FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal has reported that Andrew Miller is expected to be the Indians’ top trade target … George A. King III of the New York Post has reported that the Yankees have had trade discussions with the Royals about Carlos Beltran … Mike Trout went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer in Monday’s win over the Rangers … Matt Boyd struck out seven across six scoreless frames in Monday’s victory over the Twins … Nick Tropeano exited Monday’s start against the Rangers with a sore elbow and will undergo an MRI on Tuesday … Jarrod Dyson tripled and hit a grand slam in the Royals’ seven-run eighth inning Monday in a comeback win over the Indians … Taijuan Walker (foot) will play catch Tuesday and Wednesday before throwing a bullpen session this weekend … Geovany Soto has been placed on the disabled list with left knee inflammation … Steve Pearce (hamstring) has been activated from the disabled list …
