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Ronald Acuña reached 200/200 in a historic way. Plus: McCullough’s mailbag looks at whose jobs are in jeopardy, we have another rule check and Nico Hoerner made an amazing catch. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!
History: Acuña sets 200/200 record
With a seventh-inning home run in yesterday’s 9-0 win over the Nationals, Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. broke an MLB record: He joined the 200/200 club (home runs and stolen bases) in his 904th game, becoming the fastest player in MLB history to do so, breaking Alfonso Soriano’s previous record of 929 games.
Reaching 200/200 in any number of games is impressive — Acuña was the 57th to do it — but as our Jesús Cano points out, it’s also a testament to the outfielder’s resilience, having twice undergone knee surgery to repair torn ACLs.
Thanks to those injuries, Acuña (who is 28 years and 259 days old) was not the youngest player to reach 200/200 (that was Mike Trout in 2019, who did it when he was 28 years and 24 days old). But it made me curious, so here’s a trivia question:
Who was the youngest player to hit their 200th home run?
A) Mickey Mantle
B) Mel Ott
C) Albert Pujols
D) Eddie Mathews
Bonus question: If you add up the home runs and stolen bases of the 57 200/200 players, there are three whose tally is over 1,000. Who are they? (Answers at the bottom.)
More notable youth: 20-year-old Padres catcher Ethan Salas became the youngest catcher to debut since 1991, when 19-year-old future Hall of Famer Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez debuted with the Rangers. Salas was but one of a few of Keith Law’s top prospects who will get a cup of coffee this September.
Middle Relief: Temperature checks
Today, Andy McCullough’s mailbag answers your questions on managers, coaches and front-office executives who are (or are not) on the hot seat. Here’s an excerpt:
The Phillies just promoted a lot of their front-office guys, mostly from the player development ranks. It’s not like the team’s player development system has been, what’s the word? Oh yeah. “Good.” What exactly is up with that? — Tom R.
As our excellent duo of Phillies beat writers, Matt Gelb and Charlotte Varnes, outlined last week, the moves by Dave Dombrowski were not exactly promotions. It was more of a restructuring. Luke Murton went from farm director to a new position called “assistant general manager for hitting.” The team will search for a new farm director.
But you should read the story from Gelb and Charlotte. They do an excellent job cutting through the legalese of the Phillies’ news release to explain what is actually going on. To put it simply: Dombrowski recognized that the farm system needs to produce better players. They are making changes in hopes of doing just that.
Does playing in a minor-league park help in an assessment of Mark Kotsay? He’s signed through 2028; John Fisher would be on the hook for two years of pay if he fired him, so I’m guessing he stays? — Kevin L.
And don’t forget the club option for 2029!
But yes, your assessment of the situation feels reasonable to me. Kotsay is managing in a challenging situation. The facilities and conditions in West Sacramento present problems. The team is not particularly well-constructed. And they have been crushed by injuries this season. On the shelf currently: Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson. It is hard to blame the manager for what has gone wrong with the Athletics. The problems started before Kotsay arrived.
Seems like Chris Getz and Will Venable are highly favored by White Sox fans at the moment. — Daniel C.
A good counterpoint. The coldest seats in baseball may be in Chicago, between the Cubs and the White Sox, and the greater Chicago suburb of Milwaukee. (I kid, I kid, I kid, send all your angry emails to Will Sammon.)
For the rest of the mailbag, click here.
Rules Check: Gaming the ghost-runner rule
It’s been a little while since we had a rules breakdown. (This one won’t be as complicated as the “apparent fourth out,” I promise.)
In yesterday’s Orioles-Rockies game, Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer exploited a rule that I wasn’t aware of, and it directly contributed to a 6-5 extra-innings win over the Orioles.
Setting the scene: It’s 5-3 Orioles after a two-run top of the 11th inning. The Rockies’ catcher and No. 3 hitter Hunter Goodman was the last out of the 10th inning, so — by the extra-innings “ghost runner” rule — he should be on second base to start the inning.
But Goodman wasn’t on the base. Nor was a pinch-runner. Instead, it was No. 2 hitter Connor Norby. It wasn’t a mistake. Schaeffer just knew this part of Rule 7.01 (b)(2)(B):
“However, if the player in the batting order immediately preceding that half-inning’s leadoff hitter is the pitcher, the runner placed on second base at the start of that half-inning may be the player preceding the pitcher in the batting order.”
But wait: Goodman wasn’t the pitcher. So what gives?
Like any good chess game, there had been some set-up moves. In fact, it wasn’t even the first time Schaeffer pulled this move in this very game.
After losing the DH by moving Adael Amador to second base, Schaeffer made a double-switch (remember those?) in the 10th inning to put the pitcher in the “ghost-runner” position, allowing him to run Amador instead.
Colorado didn’t score in the 10th, so in the 11th, Schaeffer did it again, simultaneously bringing in Blas Castaño to pitch and Brett Sullivan to catch, knowing that Goodman — who is in the 45th percentile for sprint speed — was due to start the bottom of the inning as the runner at second base.
Sullivan (catcher) technically replaced (pitcher) Nick Frasso, and (pitcher) Castaño replaced (catcher) Goodman, allowing Schaeffer to place Norby (70th percentile sprint speed) at second base in the bottom of the inning instead of Castaño. Look at this box score and tell me it doesn’t look like spring training or the NL circa 2017.
Anyway, it worked. Norby scored the first of three runs, and the Rockies walked it off, 6-5. Amador was the winning run!
OK, maybe that was as complicated as the fourth out.
Highlight: Look at this Hoerner catch!
We expected a showdown between MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cy Young candidate Jacob Misiorowski at Wrigley last night. But Misiorowski looked human and PCA was 1-for-3 with two walks.
Instead, the highlight came in the fifth inning, with the bases loaded and two out in a one-run game and Nico Hoerner playing shortstop (since Dansby Swanson is on the IL with an oblique strain).
Man, that is just so fun. I bet it felt so cool to do that.
Still, it wasn’t enough to hold back the Brewers (87-53), who ended up winning the game 9-5 to increase their lead in the NL Central to nine games.
More Cubs: I saw it happen in slow motion, and I’m shocked (but relieved) that Cubs reliever Jacob Webb’s X-rays came back negative after being hit in the forearm by a 102 mph comebacker.
Other important action from last night (find the MLB standings here):
AL West: The Astros beat the White Sox, and the Rangers lost to the Athletics, so Houston’s lead is back up to two games in the division.
AL wild card: The Blue Jays’ 11-0 win over Cleveland, paired with the aforementioned Orioles loss, has the Rangers, Blue Jays and Orioles all tied at 1 1/2 games behind the Guardians for the final playoff spot.
NL wild card: The Padres continued their recent slide with a 7-3 loss in Cincinnati, while the D-Backs beat the Phillies 1-0. That puts Arizona back into a wild-card position, leading San Diego by a half-game for the final spot.
Handshakes and High Fives
Sure, RBIs aren’t everything. But are they still something? If so, Ken Rosenthal says, Sal Stewart has a case for NL Rookie of the Year.
It looks like something is wrong with Shohei Ohtani, doesn’t it?
The Red Sox start a series in Baltimore tonight. Yes, it’ll be a homecoming for catcher Adley Rutschman, but it will also be meaningful for Red Sox (interim) manager Chad Tracy.
Hayden Wesneski is trying to save the Astros’ season.
Cam Schlittler dominated again, and it looks like Austin Wells has shaken off his funk, as the Yankees beat the Angels 6-3 in 10 innings. That game featured a scary moment: A photographer was hit in the head by a foul ball.
Meet the new strength, same as the old strength: The Phillies’ rotation looks like a huge asset as October looms.
Most-clicked in our last Windup: A Little League coach’s viral message to his team.
Trivia answers: It’s B, Mel Ott, who was 25 years, 4 months and 22 days old when he hit No. 200. (He made his pro debut at 17 years old!) The other three options were the next youngest on the list, though!
Mathews: 25 years, 7 months, 30 days
Pujols: 25 years, 8 months, 14 days
Mantle: 25 years, 9 months, 6 days.
Only four others got No. 200 before their 26th birthday: Alex Rodriguez, Juan Soto, Jimmie Foxx and Frank Robinson.
And the bonus question answers: Rickey Henderson (297 HR + 1,406 SBs = 1,703), Barry Bonds (762 + 514 = 1,276) and A-Rod (696 + 329 = 1,025).
Willie Mays (660 + 339) came up one short, at 999.
Want more sports trivia? Here ya go.
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