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The NL Cy Young race was already tight before a new contender showed up. Plus: Vegasball is gonna be wild and there’s another weird thing I’ve never seen. Ken Rosenthal also asks: Would the Phillies have done this under their former manager? I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!

Ace Behavior: NL Cy Young debate heats up

The NL Cy Young winner won’t be announced for another five months, but the debates have already begun. After all, look at these lines:

Allow me to present two conflicting arguments:

No. 1: This is less competitive than last week. 

This weekend’s Phillies-Brewers matchup was framed (rightfully) as an opportunity to see Cristopher Sánchez and Jacob Misiorowski in the same series.

But Sánchez allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings yesterday, while Misiorowski set a new record on Friday by striking out 15 hitters in a Maddux (a complete-game shutout, throwing under 100 pitches). Misiorowski’s game score of 100 was the highest since Justin Verlander’s no-hitter in 2019, and Misiorowski broke his own record for the fastest pitch thrown by a starting pitcher since tracking began (2008), at 104.5 mph.

(Side note for the curious: The two highest game scores of all time happened in the same game. In 1920, Joe Oeschger of the Boston Braves (153) and Leon Cadore of the Brooklyn Robins (140) each pitched all 26 innings of the longest game in MLB history.)

No. 2: This is actually more competitive than last week.

This has officially gone from a four-man race to a quintet. After retiring the final 22 hitters he faced in his previous start, Yoshinobu Yamamoto retired the first 23 he faced on Saturday before Mookie Betts’ error ended a perfect game bid with two outs in the eighth inning.

The no-hitter ended in the ninth when Tristan Peters homered to lead off the inning. However, Betts’ error also cost Yamamoto a different slice of history: His 45 consecutive hitters retired was one short of the MLB record, set by the Giants’ Yusmeiro Petit in 2014.

More Ace behavior: Given the injuries that have decimated their rotation, the Cubs are being cautious with emergent ace Ben Brown.

Middle Relief: A good man fired

In today’s column, Ken asks what can’t be answered. Let’s hear it from him: 

MILWAUKEE — The lingering question, and one that will never be answered, is whether the Phillies would have rallied the way they did if Rob Thomson had remained their manager.

Their play suggests president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was completely justified in replacing Thomson with Don Mattingly. The Phillies, after starting 9-19 under Thomson, are 29-14 since the change, the second-best record in the majors during that time.

Still, a new manager should not have been necessary to awaken a group of accomplished professionals collectively earning more than $300 million. The players knew it then, and they know it now. They got a good man fired.

Thomson, 62, had the highest winning percentage (.568) of any Phillies manager since 1900. If Dombrowski had given him more time, it’s possible their record now would not look much different, if at all.

The day he was dismissed, Thomson all but predicted the Phillies’ turnaround, saying he thought the team would get hot. Seven weeks later, he continues to follow the Phillies closely, and harbors no bitterness about the way the team ignited.

“I watch every game that I can,” Thomson said in a text message. “When you have built relationships and been through the things that this group has been through, you don’t stop cheering for them. At least I don’t.

“I think that in a lot of situations where managers get fired, most wish that they had a little more time but (there are) no lingering frustrations. You can call it whatever you want but the fact is that the team has been playing so much better since the change and they are back to who they are!!”

One look at the Phillies’ schedule indicated they were in a good position to surge. At the time of the change, they were coming off 13 straight games against two hot clubs, the Cubs and Braves. They went 2-11 in that stretch, including a 10-game losing streak.

Dombrowski acted at the perfect time, with his club about to begin 22 straight games against teams currently at .500 or below — and with star right-hander Zack Wheeler just having returned from thoracic outlet surgery.

“I thought we’d get to where we’re at now no matter what, eventually,” shortstop Trea Turner said.

Catcher J.T. Realmuto, in a recent appearance on The Athletic’s “Starkville” podcast episode, recalled that on the day Mattingly took over, he told the players, “This is on you guys.”

Mattingly’s meaning was clear. The players were to blame, not Thomson. Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber admitted as much to Thomson in the aftermath of the firing.

“You feel responsible,” Schwarber said. “I told him I was sorry.”

For Ken’s full column, click here.

Viva: MLB in Las Vegas will be an adventure

Last week, we told you all about the debut of the A’s in Las Vegas — a 15-14 loss to the Brewers that involved 11 home runs (and 16 ABS challenges, for good measure).

Here’s how the rest of that six-game “homestand” went:

Monday, June 8: Brewers 15, A’s 14 (chaotic)
Tuesday, June 9: A’s 7, Brewers 5 (normal)
Wednesday, June 10: A’s 4, Brewers 3 (normal)
Friday, June 12: A’s 6, Rockies 4 (normal)
Saturday, June 13: A’s 7, Rockies 5 (normal)
Sunday, June 14: Rockies 23, A’s 9 (extremely not normal)

But (aside from that Wednesday game) even the “normal” games were fairly high-scoring. So I was curious: Was that the highest-scoring six-game homestand in MLB history? 

Not even close.

It took Jayson Stark about five minutes to inform me that, while the combined 102 runs did crack the top 20, it was nowhere near the record. Here are the top two:

1. 1890 Buffalo Bisons (141 runs):I’m not sure if we should count a series from back when pitchers were 50 feet from the plate and bats were allowed to have a flat side, but the Bisons, facing the Cleveland Infants (not making that up) and Chicago White Stockings at Olympic Park II, saw a record that does still (technically) stand.

2. 2000 Colorado Rockies (125 runs): This one should maybe come with a caveat, too: This series happened two years before the humidor was introduced at Coors Field. Nevertheless, the stats count, so the Mets and Expos helped set a modern-era record.

It’s probably no surprise that Coors Field features prominently elsewhere in that list. Aug. 1-6 of last year was the only other series in the top 9 that didn’t take place in the 1800s, while five of the top 20 took place then as well.

However …

Despite playing 33 years worth of home games at Coors Field, yesterday’s 23-run outburst was, in fact, a record for the most runs the Rockies have ever scored in a game.

I think baseball in Las Vegas is going to be something we’ve never seen before.*

*Aside from baseball in Denver.

Never Seen This: Yaz hits pole on throw

It always seems a little unlikely when a home run doinks off a foul pole for a home run. Even more so when a player pulls off a proverbial moon landing. But I’ve never seen a player do what Mike Yastrzemski did yesterday:

Yastrzemski’s throw hit the pole that is holding up the protective netting and bounced into center field. (Sorry for the angle, it was even harder to see on the replay from the other side.)

Baseball, man. It’s been happening for a couple hundred years now, and you can still see something new almost every day.

Handshakes and High Fives

Nepotism draft picks used to be the norm, back when there were a million rounds in the draft and before MLB slashed the minor leagues to the bone. But now? Well, they still happen. It’s complicated, Sam Blum reports.

José Caballero versus the pitch clock: I think Caballero was right, and I’m as confused as he is about why it became an issue again on Sunday. While we’re on Yankees drama: Do they owe Aroldis Chapman an apology, as the closer contends?

Jerry Koosman won 222 games in the big leagues, but was always overshadowed on his own rookie card by Nolan Ryan. Brad Balukjian caught up with the Miracle Met, who is selling his 1969 World Series ring.

Love him or hate him, Pete Crow-Armstrong is solidifying himself as a bona fide star.

AL Central hamate epidemic: José Ramírez (Cleveland) and Vinnie Pasquantino (Kansas City) are both hitting the IL after breaking the hand bone.

Jen McCaffrey and Andrew Baggarly revisit the Rafael Devers trade a year later. The winner? Uhh, nobody?

Astros ace Hunter Brown is set to return from the IL tomorrow against the Tigers. He’ll be opposed by a familiar face.

Man, if Spencer Strider never gets back to his 2023 form, I’m going to be so sad. He’s back on the IL.

As if enough hasn’t broken the White Sox’s way this year: Jacob Gonzalez appears reborn from the bust heap and destined for stardom, says Keith Law.

Most-clicked in our last Windup: The Otto Lopez slide into third.

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