The big news of the night: The San Francisco Giants passed the Chicago Cubs for best win percentage in the majors. But that didn’t even make our top five:
1. Mark Trumbo is not slowing down. Here's a fun factoid: As I write this, there are 45 regulars slugging .500 or better. In 2014, there were just 13 such players. At this point last season, there were 25. Offense is up! Home runs are up! It's like we're back in ... wait, let's move on from the rest of that sentence. Anyway, with baseballs flying out of parks this season, maybe it's not surprising that a big strong dude such as Trumbo is leading the majors in home runs. Trumbo hit his 25th and 26th home runs in the Baltimore Orioles' 6-4, 14-inning win over the Los Angeles Dodgers that was completed in a swift 5 hours, 26 minutes. The game featured 36 strikeouts, 14 walks and 526 pitches.
Trumbo's home runs Wednesday came on an 0-2 fastball against Bud Norris and a 1-0 cutter against Casey Fien. What has been the difference? Trumbo's walk and strikeouts rates are basically matches for his career norms, so there hasn't been a change in his approach. His fly ball rate is slightly higher -- 37.9 percent compared to a career mark of 35.2 percent -- so not much of a change there. His average distance on fly balls is actually lower than his career average, 284 feet compared to 287 feet. His average distance on home runs is about the same: 410.9 feet in 2016 versus a career average of 411.9 feet. Yet his rate of home runs per fly ball is up, at 16.5 percent compared to 13.7 percent for his career (which would have been even lower before 2016).
How is Trumbo closing in on his career high of 34 home runs? Two things: He's in a better home park and better division for home runs, with Camden Yards, Skydome and Fenway Park all conducive to home runs for right-handed batters. Second, he's pulling the ball more often. A 360-foot fly ball to left field is a home run; a 360-foot fly ball to right-center is an out. Trumbo's pull percentage is 45 percent this year, up from his career mark of 40 percent. One reason he's pulling the ball more often is that though his walk rate hasn't improved, he is swinging at a few more hittable pitches, as his rate of pitches that are in the strike zone when he swings is up nearly 4 percent. He's also swinging more at high pitches and less at low pitches, which is good because he's slugging .581 on pitches in the upper third of the zone, compared to .446 on pitches in the lower third.
It could just be a hitter on a prolonged hot streak playing in the right park. But it looks like Trumbo has been a little smarter, with just a few minor adjustments leading to this impressive power surge. He's on pace for 50 home runs, and we learned this as well:
Trumbo plans on doing the Home Run Derby he said.
— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) July 7, 2016
Mark Trumbo likes it up or down and in and he's done a better job this year swinging at those pitches: pic.twitter.com/fpvvqNUnSu
— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) July 7, 2016
2. We might have a race in the AL West. The Houston Astros swept the Seattle Mariners, the Boston Red Sox pounded the Texas Rangers, and Texas' lead in the AL West is down from 10 games last week to 6.5 games. It was a dramatic conclusion in Houston, after Robinson Cano doubled in a run to make it 9-8 with runners on second and third and one out. The Astros brought their infield against Nelson Cruz, and Luke Gregerson struck him out on four sliders. After an intentional walk to Kyle Seager, Gregerson fanned Dae-Ho Lee as well, with the final pitch a half-hearted check swing on a slider well off the plate:
Dae-Ho Lee at-bat ... pic.twitter.com/Jh74m7avy3
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) July 7, 2016
3. The Pittsburgh Pirates overtake the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates rallied from a 5-1 deficit to win 7-5 -- their seventh victory in a row. They'll go for a four-game sweep on Thursday. Last Tuesday, the Pirates were 14 games behind the Cubs and four games behind the Cardinals. Now they're in second place and 8.5 behind the Cubs, who have lost 12 of 17. While David Freese is hitting .400 over the win streak, it has mostly been about the run prevention, as the Pirates have allowed 2.6 runs per game. As for Thursday's game, Tyler Glasnow will make his major league debut against Adam Wainwright. Also: Keep an eye on Matt Carpenter, who left the game with an oblique strain. If the injury proves serious, Carpenter will miss next week's All-Star Game (I'd replace him with Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford).
That'll do it. Pirates win, 7-5. They are 44-41, 2nd in the NL Central. Their 7th straight win, 6th comeback in a row. They've won 10 of 12.
— Adam Berry (@adamdberry) July 7, 2016
4. Matt Harvey heads to the DL. It's fair to say this hasn't been Harvey's year. He's out with right shoulder discomfort and flew to St. Louis to meet with a specialist. The Mets' rotation is suddenly very fragile, and with Zack Wheeler's timetable pushed back to August, the Mets could be in the market for a starting pitcher, given the uncertain elbows of Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard.
5. Johnny Cueto says "What about me?" Clayton Kershaw was a lock to start the All-Star Game before he landed on the DL. Madison Bumgarner seemed like the next option, except he starts Sunday and will be inactive for Tuesday’s game. That left Jake Arrieta, Syndergaard and Stephen Strasburg as the next likely options.
Well, Cueto pitched himself into contention with his MLB-leading fourth complete game in a 5-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. He’s 13-1 -- the first Giants pitcher since John Burkett in 1993 to record 13 wins before the break -- with a 2.47 ERA. Who gets the call? Terry Collins might go with his guy, Syndergaard, but I’m partial to San Diego kid Strasburg returning home to get the call.
