Tag Archives: Vladimir Guerrero

September 22, 2021

Best Batter Today

Juan Soto of the Nationals opens up a bigger lead in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Soto goes two for four with a double and a walk in a 7-1 win over the Marlins. He now leads Bryce Harper of the Phillies by six points. Harper goes two for four with a double and an intentional walk. The walk came in the bottom of the tenth inning, and Harper raced around the bases to just beat the throw at the plate on a rare walk-off triple by J.T. Realmuto. The Phillies beat the Orioles 3-2. It was Realmuto’s fourth triple of the season, and he owns 23 for his career. Not bad for a catcher.

Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals took an 0 for 4 in a 2-1 win over the Brewers. He holds third place, and the Cardinals extend their winning streak to ten games. St. Louis leads the second wild card slot by four games over the Reds, and are five games up in the AFILC.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays doubled and singled in a 4-2 over the Rays to keep pace with both the Red Sox and the Yankees in the AL Wild card race. He sits in fourth place and is now hitting .321 on the season. Matt Olson of the Athletics homered and walked, but the Mariners take the game 5-2, putting Oakland’s playoff hopes on the edge of disappearing. Oakland and Seattle are now tied for fourth place in the wild card race, three games behind the second place Blue Jays. One of those teams needs to go on a win streak while the Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Yankees play each other.

Manny Machado of the Padres posts the best game score of the day, a 76. He goes three for five with two home runs in a 6-5 Giants win. The Padres are now just two games over .500, and could finish the season with a losing record.

September 21, 2021

Best Batter Today

The battle continues for the top slot in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Juan Soto of the Nationals singles and walks three times to switch places at the top of the list with Bryce Harper of the Phillies. Harper draws a walk in four plate appearances as both team fall. The Marlins beat the Nationals 8-7 in ten innings, while the Orioles down the Phillies 2-0.

Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals remains in third place as he connects for a sacrifice fly in a 4-2 win over the Brewers, the Cardinals ninth win in a row. His teammate, Tyler O’Neill, singles and walks to claim the fifth slot. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays draws a walk for fourth place as the Rays take a nail-biter 6-4.

The highest game score of the evening goes to Joey Votto of the Reds, an 88. Votto posts a perfect night at the plate, three for three with two walks and two home runs to bring the Reds back from an early 5-0 deficit to a 9-5 win over the Pirates.

September 20, 2021

Best Batter Today

Bryce Harper of the Phillies continues to lead Juan Soto of the Nationals by the slimmest of the margins in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Harper drew two walks and hit a sacrifice fly in a 3-2 loss to the Mets Sunday night. Soto homered in four trips to the plate in a 3-0 victory over the Rockies. They are separated by 0.57 points.

Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals remains in third place as he goes two for four with a double in the 8-7 win over the Padres.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays jumps into fourth place as he goes three for four with a double to raise his league leading batting average to .321. Toronto defeats Minnesota 5-3. Matt Olson of the Athletics drops to fifth place after drawing two walks in a 3-2 win over the Angels.

The best game score of the day goes to Eddie Rosario of the Braves, who hit for the cycle in a 3-0 win over the Giants. Rosario’s four for four day saw him get the triple early, and just need the single for the cycle in the ninth. The game was good for a score of 84.

September 19, 2021

Triple Crown Watch

Bill James once pointed out that one reason triple crowns are difficult to achieve is that they are difficult to win at the team level. Teoscar Hernandez of the Blue Jays drove in three runs on Saturday in a 6-2 win over the Twins, and now leads his teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr.by two RBI. So it’s possible that Guerrero does not win the triple crown on the Blue Jays.

September 17, 2021

Triple Crown Watch

Salvador Perez of the Royals put a stake in the probability of Vladimir Guerrero winning the triple crown in 2021. Perez hit a home run to tie Guerrero for the home run lead. More importantly, Perez drove in two runs, and now leads Guerrero by nine in the RBI race, 112-103.

Chemistry has the concept of the rate limiting step; the speed of a chemical reaction is dependent on the speed of the slowest step of the reaction. The probability of winning the triple crown is controlled by the lowest probability of winning one of the categories. The RBI simulator gives Guerrero just a 5% chance of winning the RBI title. Even if he had a 100% chance of winning the HR and batting titles at this point, the low RBI probability would still make the crown highly unlikely. We’ll see if Guerrero can close the gap quickly, but right now it looks like it will be close, but no cigar.

September 16, 2021

Triple Crown Watch

Figuring probabilities for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays to win the AL Triple Crown became more complicated last night. Salvador Perez of the Royals tied Shohei Ohtani of the Angels with 44 home runs for second place in that race. Yuli Gurriel of the Astros tied his injured teammate Michael Brantley for second place in the batting race. Guerrero is now up two points in the batting race, but Perez’s entry into the home run and RBI races make predictions a bit complicated. It’s safe to say the Guerrero faces a bigger challenge than he did a couple of days ago. Perez could easily win two legs of the triple crown at this point.

September 15, 2021

Triple Crown Watch

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays posted an 0 for 4 night with no RBI as the Rays even the series with a 2-0 victory. Guerrero is not batting .31550, while Michael Brantley of the Astros, who did not play, is at .31498. This estimate of the probability of Guerrero finishing ahead of Brantley in the batting race comes in at .519. Note that Brantley already reached the qualification level for the batting title, so he could not play the rest of the season and stay at .315, which might be enough to win.

Shohei Ohtani of the Angles did not homer Tuesday night. The same spreadsheet puts the probability of Guerrero at least tying for the home run title at .630.

Salvador Perez of the Royals homered and drove in four runs in a 10-7 win over Oakland, and Perez takes over the lead in RBI with 109. Guerrero is now six back in that category, which presents the biggest challenge to Guerrero winning the triple crown. The RBI simulator now pegs the probability of Guerrero at least tying Perez at 0.130. Note that with 43 home runs, Perez is also a threat to win the home run title.

Multiplying those probabilities together results in an overall probability of Guerrero winning the triple crown of 0.043.

September 13, 2021

Triple Crown Probability

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays goes one for five with a home run the Blue Jays defeat the Rays 8-1. He now sits atop the AL home run race with 45 dingers and his .318 BA leads the AL. The only home run of the night comes on the homer, so the now trails AL leader Jose Abreu by four. I use this spreadsheet to calculate the probability of winning the home run and batting titles. He now has a .627 probability of winning the home run title and a .601 probability of winning the batting title. I simulated RBIs for the rest of the season versus Abreu, and he now has a .227 probability of finishing ahead of Abreu. So tonight raised his probability of winning the triple crown to 0.086. Stay tuned.

September 12, 2021

Triple Crown Threat

The Blue Jays ripped the Orioles for 22 runs today as Toronto takes the game 22-7, a score more appropriate for March 14. In that game, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. goes one for three with two walks, home run number 44, and an RBI. Guerrero’s .319 BA led the AL entering play today, and second place Michael Brantley did not play. Guerrero is not tied with Shohei Ohtani for the AL home run lead. He is fourth in RBI at 102, five behind leader Jose Abreu.

This spreadsheet calculates the probability of Guerrero at least tying Ohtani for the home run lead (.512), and the probability of Guerrero beating Brantley for the batting title (.638). I also ran a simulation of the RBI race against Abreu (ignoring the players in between), and Guerrero has a .204 chance of finishing in at least a tie with Abreu. Multiplying those together gives Guerrero a 0.067 probability of winning the triple crown. Not bad.

September 6, 2021

Toronto Taters

Home runs hurt Jameson Taillon of the Yankees again as he allows back-to-back shots to Marcus Semien and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.in the first inning. They put Toronto out in front 2-0. Semien and Guerrero have now combined for 76 home runs on the season.

Update: The Jays now have 72 home runs from the first and second base positions. Since 1974, that’s 13th in the majors for those two positions. In 2006 the Phillies received 89 home runs from those defenders, mostly Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.

September 5, 2021

Around the Infield

Among the AL leaders in home runs, Salvador Perez of the Royals and Marcus Semien of the Blue Jays each homered so far this Sunday afternoon. The top five in home runs just happen to go around the first five positions on the field.

Shohei Ohtani pitches, Perez catches, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.plays first base, Semien plays second base, and Rafael Devers plays third. Kyle Seager is tied with Devers for fifth place with 33 home runs. While Seager is not a shortstop, his brother is, so at least we’re close.

August 3, 2021

Best Batter Today

After a day off Sunday Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays returns to the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings as he goes two for five with a home run in a 5-2 loss to the Guarindians. He now ranks fourth. Manny Machado of the Padres stays on top as San Diego did not play Monday. Juan Soto of the Nationals remains in second place as he singles and walks in a 7-5 Philadelphia win. Matt Olson stays in third place as the Athletics were also idle. Max Muncy and the Dodgers did not play either, and Muncy sits in fifth place.

Eduardo Escobar of the Brewers posts the best game score of the day, an 81. The new addition to the lineup tripled, homered and walked twice in the game as Milwaukee defeated Pittsburgh 6-2. In four games with Milwaukee, Escobar is three for twelve with five walks, a triple, and two home runs.

August 1, 2021

Best Batter Today

Manny Machado of the Padres stays atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings with a single and a walk in a 5-3 Rockies victory. Juan Soto of the Nationals holds second place as he doubles and walks in a 6-3 Cubs win. Matt Olson of the Athletics keeps the top three intact as he doubles in four trips in 1-0 Angels victory.

Max Muncy of the Dodgers moves back into the top five, going two for four with a double and a walk. Los Angeles beats the Diamondbacks 8-3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays drops to fifth place with a single in four trips as Toronto beats Kansas City 4-0. There’s plenty of room for movement in the rankings at slots four though sixteen are separated by ten points.

The best game score of the day also ties the best game score of the season, as Seby Zavala of the White Sox goes four for four with three home runs and six RBI for 97, tying Jessie Winker of the Reds for best game of the season. Zavala’s offense is not enough, however, as the Guarindians mount a comeback to win the game 12-11.

Zavala played the eighteenth game of his major league career on Saturday, and the results up to that point were poor. He collected five hits in forty at bats up to that point, although two of the were doubles. Now, with six of his nine hits going for extra bases, Zavala owns a .205 BA but a .455 slugging percentage. At seasonal age 27 he is no longer a prospect, but in his prime, and with power in the minors, he should be a decent sixth or seventh hitter in the majors. If nothing else, he has a game to remember.

July 31, 2021

Best Batter Today

Manny Machado of the Padres turns in the third best game score of Friday to jump to the top of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. His three for four with two home runs earned him an 81, but the Rockies win the game 9-4. Juan Soto of the Nationals drops to second place on a one for four night in a 4-3 victory over Cubs in a battle of stripped down teams. Matt Olson of the Athletics drops to third place as he draws a walk in five trips to the plate, the A’s beating the Angels 2-0. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays celebrated the team’s return to Toronto with a single and a walk to take fourth place. That helped beat the Royals 6-4.

Moving back into the top five for the first time in a while is Jose Altuve of the Astros. He posts a three for six night with two home runs as Houston beats San Francisco 9-6. He collected multiple hits in five of his last nine games. He also owns nine extra-base hits in that time span.

Just a hair behind Altuve sits Joey Votto of the Reds, who homered in his seventh straight game. His teammate, Jonathan India*, earns the highest game score of the day as he walks, doubles, and homers twice in five trips to the plate for an 85. India turned out to be an excellent lead-off hitter, with a .403 OBP this season.

*There is no truth to the rumor that he will change his name to Guardia next year.

July 30, 2021

Beat the Streak Picks

For the past few years Baseball Musings tried to help with playing Beat the Streak. The Day by Day Database keeps track of hit streak of at least five games. In addition, two programs produce top ten lists of players with a high probability of a hit.

Here are the top picks my programs produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. In addition, this post shows tests on the Neural Network (NN). This post discusses an NN that includes the ballpark. I updated the models, and the results of those tests are here.

Here are the Log5 Method picks:

0.338 — Harold Castro batting against Matt Harvey.
0.329 — Jonathan Schoop batting against Matt Harvey.
0.312 — Tim Anderson batting against Jean Carlos Mejia.
0.308 — Josh Harrison batting against Trevor Williams.
0.305 — Jean Segura batting against Wil Crowe.
0.303 — Jorge Polanco batting against Wade LeBlanc.
0.303 — Jeimer Candelario batting against Matt Harvey.
0.302 — Bo Bichette batting against Daniel Lynch.
0.300 — Akil Baddoo batting against Matt Harvey.
0.298 — Juan Soto batting against Trevor Williams.

It’s a tough day to pick players as you don’t know who will be scratched at the last minute due to a trade. It does look like a good day to be choosing Tigers hitters, however.

Here are the NN picks:

0.312, 0.739 — Tim Anderson batting against Jean Carlos Mejia.
0.338, 0.737 — Harold Castro batting against Matt Harvey.
0.329, 0.721 — Jonathan Schoop batting against Matt Harvey.
0.302, 0.718 — Bo Bichette batting against Daniel Lynch.
0.293, 0.714 — Salvador Perez batting against Ross Stripling.
0.305, 0.711 — Jean Segura batting against Wil Crowe.
0.297, 0.704 — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. batting against Daniel Lynch.
0.264, 0.703 — David Fletcher batting against Chris Bassitt.
0.308, 0.701 — Josh Harrison batting against Trevor Williams.
0.240, 0.700 — Michael Brantley batting against Kevin Gausman.

I would be tempted to double down on Bichette and Guerrero. They are not going to be traded, and I suspect that with the Blue Jays back in Canada for the first time in almost two years, they’ll be putting on a show. Castro is the consensus first pick, with Anderson the consensus second choice.

You can follow the NN results on this spreadsheet. I do not guarantee results. Your best pick is going to have about a 25% chance of not getting a hit. Good luck!

July 30, 2021

Best Batter Today

Juan Soto may be all that’s left of the Nationals star players by the end of the day, but the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings rate him as the best in baseball right now. He singled with two walks in game one of the doubleheader, a 3-1 win over the Phillies. He followed that with a three for five in game two, won by the Phillies 11-8 in eight innings, Brad Miller of the Phillies hitting a walk-off grand slam.

Matt Olson of the Athletics sits five points back in second place. He drew a walk and was hit by a pitch in the 4-0 victory over the Angels. (Shohei Ohtani drew three walks in that game, and ranks 13th.) Manny Machado of the Padres doubled in a 3-0 win over the Rockies for third place.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays used a two for five night with a walk and a home run to help pound the Red Sox 13-1. He sits in fourth place. Max Muncy of the Dodgers goes one for four in a 5-0 loss to the Giants for fifth place. San Francisco now holds a three game lead over Los Angeles.

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers relived his glory days with a three for three day at the plate. He homered twice and walked for a game score of 84, the best of the day as Detroit beats Baltimore 6-2. Cabrera is now three home runs short of 500 for his career.

Joey Votto, who homered in six straight games, now ranks tenth on the list.

July 28, 2021

Best Batter Today

Juan Soto of the Nationals sits atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Soto singled and homered in a 6-4 over the Phillies in a game that saw former Nationals star Bryce Harper hit an inside-the-park home run, and current Nationals star Trea Turner leave due to a positive COVID-19 test. Matt Olson of the Athletics takes second place with a sacrifice fly in four trips in a 7-4 Padres win. In that same game, Manny Machado of the Padres goes two for four with a home run to claim third place, and his teammate Fernando Tatis Jr.doubles, homers, and walks to move back into the top five in fifth place. Rain stopped Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays from playing, and he sits in fifth place.

Harrison Bader of the Cardinals collected three hits, two doubles and a home run for the best game score of the night, a 75. That helped St. Louis to a 4-2 over the Guarindians. Bader only place about 40% of the season. The Cardinals could have used his .548 slugging percentage for the whole year.

July 27, 2021

Best Batter Today

The top two slots flip in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Juan Soto of the Nationals goes 0 for 3 with two walks, and that drops him behind the idle Matt Olson of the Athletics. The Phillies beat the Nationals 6-5 on three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Andrew McCutchen hitting the walk-off blast.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays posted a two for four night in a 5-4 Red Sox win to hold third place. Manny Machado of the Padres and Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates were both idle and hold fourth and fifth place respectively.

Kyle Farmer of the Reds triples, homers, and walks against the Cubs for the best game score of the day, a 72. Farmer, in his first full season of play is showing the best power of his career with a .383 slugging percentage. The Cubs take the game 6-5, as one run decides six of the nine games played in the majors.

July 26, 2021

Best Batter Today

Juan Soto of the Nationals once again tops the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. He drew two walks Sunday in a 5-4 Orioles win as the Orioles get a series sweep. Matt Olson of the Athletics sits second after a single and a home run against the Mariners. That wasn’t enough as Seattle wins 4-3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays takes third place as he singles and walks in a 5-4 Mets win. Manny Machado of the Padres singles and homers, but the Marlins take the game 9-2. Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates singles twice against the Giants, but San Francisco takes the game 6-1.

With the Adam Frazier trade, the Pirates no longer have two hitters in the top 15. The Padres now have three hitters in the top 15.

Chris Taylor of the Dodgers posts the highest game score of the day, a 79. He collects three hits in four at bats, including two home runs as Los Angeles beats Colorado 3-2.

July 25, 2021

Best Batter Today

The top twelve of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings remains tightly packed. Saturday provided more jockeying for position. Juan Soto of the Nationals remained in the top slot as he homered in a 5-3 Orioles victory. Matt Olson of the Athletics holds second place despite an 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 5-4 Mariners win.

Third place goes to Freddie Freeman of the Braves, two for four with a walk and a home run in a 15-3 rout of the Phillies. Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals takes fourth place as he goes two for five with a double in a 5-3 Reds win. Vladimir Guerrero of the Blue Jays returns to the top five with a two for five game, including a double. Toronto beats the Mets 10-3.

Ji-Man Choi of the Rays posts the highest game score of the day, an 82. He goes four for five with two doubles and a home run to help beat the Indians 8-2. Choi is slugging .531 in July.

July 23, 2021

Best Batter Today

There’s little change in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings this Friday morning as Juan Soto of the Nationals and Vladimir Guerrero of the Blue Jays both enjoyed a day off. They stand first and third respectively. Matt Olson of the Athletics drew a walk in a 4-1 win over the Mariners and remains in second place. Manny Machado of the Padres doubled in a 3-2 win over the Marlins four fourth place. Max Muncy of the Dodgers recorded a one for four night against in a game the Giants won 5-3. Kenley Jansen blew another save as get gave up four runs in the ninth inning.

The best game score of the day goes to Yandy Diaz of the Rays. He posts a four for five day, missing the cycle by a double as he triples and homers for a game score of 80. The Rays came back with two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the Indians, then Diaz singled to drive in the winning run in the tenth for a 5-4 final. The Rays did not gain on the Red Sox, however, as Boston won in similar fashion. They scored two runs in the ninth to tie the Yankees at three, then two in the tenth to win 5-4 as reliever Brooks Kriske throws four wild pitches.

July 22, 2021

Best Batter Today

After a brief absence, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays makes it back into the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. He homers and walks twice in the final game in Buffalo before the Blue Jays return to Toronto at the end of July. That good for fourth place as the Red Sox take the game 7-4.

Juan Soto of the Nationals remains at the top of the list as he goes one for three with a walk as Miami wins 3-1 in ten innings. Matt Olson of the Athletics holds second place on a rare Wednesday off day for Oakland. Manny Machado of the Padres sits in third place with a double and walk in game one of the doubleheader against Atlanta, won by San Diego 3-2. Machado did not start game two, suspended with the Padres leading 5-4 in the top of the fifth inning. The date of the completion of that game has yet to be determined.

Max Muncy of the Dodgers rounds out the top five as he draws a walk in four trips against the Giants. San Francisco wins 4-2 and leads the NL West by two games.

Jorge Polanco of the Twins post the best game score of the day in a 7-2 win over the White Sox. His three for four with a walk, double, and home run came in at a 78. He’s slugging .552 in July this season.

July 19, 2021

Best Batter Today

Sunday’s games produce a huge shake-up in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Manny Machado moves into the top slot after going two for five with a home run against the Nationals. Juan Soto of the Nationals sits right behind him after a three for four day with a walk, a double, and a home run. The Nationals win the game 8-7.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr of the Blue Jays drops to third place. He goes 0 for 3 in game one of the double header against the Rangers, won by Toronto 5-0. In game two he homered in three trips, Toronto winning 10-0, two of the six shutouts thrown on Sunday.

Fourth place belongs to Matt Olson of the Athletics. He posts an 0 for 4 day as the Indians take the game 4-2. Mookie Betts of the Dodgers claims fifth place as he does not play in a 6-5 Colorado victory.

The best game score of the day goes to Willy Adames of the Brewers, 78. He goes two for two with a home run and three walks. Adames owns a .398 OBP since joining the Brewers, and that trade with the Rays turned out to give Milwaukee a big offensive boost at a skill position.

July 18, 2021

Best Batter Today

Saturday’s games shook up the top of five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays stays on top as rain washes out the game against the visiting Rangers. That rainout allows three players to pass Joey Gallo of the Rangers, who falls out of the top five. Max Muncy of the Dodgers takes the second spot with the best game score of the day, an 87 as he goes four for five with two home runs in Colorado. The Dodgers take the game 9-2.

Matt Olson of the Athletics sits in third place after collecting a double and two walks in four trips in a 3-2 Indians victory. Fernando Tatis Jr.of the Padres recorded a four for four when a shooting led to the suspension of the game at Nationals Park. That game will be finished today with the Padres leading 8-4, so when we look back at this date tomorrow, Tatis’s ranking might change a bit. One of his hits was a double. Freddie Freeman of the Braves stands fifth after a two for three night with a home run and a sacrifice fly as Atlanta pounds Tampa Bay 9-0.

Ten points separate slots one through eight, so expect more churn in the top five.

July 17, 2021

Best Batter Today

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays returns from the break with a bang as he goes two for three with a walk and two home runs to open up a big lead at the top of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. That game score of 78 ranked fifth highest of the day, the Blue Jays taking the game from the Rangers 10-2. Joey Gallo of the Rangers went 0 for 3 in the game to drop to third place.

Matt Olson of the Athletics moves into second place with a good night, three for five with two doubles in a 5-4 win over the Indians. Freddie Freeman of the Braves returns to the top five for the first time in a while after a four for five night with a home run. The Rays, however, take the game 7-6 in extra innings. Freeman is hitting .419 in July.

Juan Soto of the Nationals now holds the fifth slot as he goes four for five with two home runs against the Padres. That tied for highest game score of the day with Jake Cronenworth of the Padres, whose four for five gave him the cycle.

On a night the Padres treated Nationals Park like Coors Field, slashing balls through the thick humid air as if the nation’s capital was located a mile high, Jake Cronenworth became the first Padres player to hit for the cycle somewhere other than Denver.
That provided a mere starting point for describing what happened in the Padres’ explosive start to the season’s second half.
The Padres scored at least one run in the first six innings, including seven in the second and six in the sixth, and then added four in the eighth to set a franchise record for runs scored in a game in a 24-8 victory over the Nationals that was also the longest nine-inning game in franchise history.
SanDiegoUnionTribune.com

The Padres had a cycle, grand slam, and a steal of home in the game. Tommy Pham, Wil Myers, and Eric Hosmer all posted game scores of 70 or more. It was a game for the ages for San Diego.

July 12, 2021

Best Batter Today

Joey Gallo stays atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings as the Rangers give him an extra day of rest. Vladimir Guerrero of the Blue Jays sits five points back in second place after an 0 for 4 game in a 3-1 win over the Rays. Justin Turner of the Dodgers uses a one for four day to hold third place, while his teammate, Max Muncy, goes three for five with a double and a walk-off home run to jump into fourth place. Muncy’s blast beats the Diamondbacks 7-4. Matt Olson of the Athletics climbs back into the top five with a two home run game against the Rangers, Oakland winning 4-1.

The best game score of the day comes off the bat of David Fletcher of the Angels. He takes a twenty-four game hit streak into the break after a four for five day, including a rare home run. That was good for a 79 in the 7-1 victory over the Mariners.

Fletcher is pretty much built to generate hit streaks. When talking about hit streaks, the best measure to use is something I call hit average, hits per plate appearances (PA). Fletcher ranks sixth in the majors in that category this season at .291 (min 200 PA). With a .309 BA, most of his offense comes from his batting average. He neither walks nor strikes out much, but generates a high BABIP. Due to his lack of power, pitchers are not afraid to go after him, since his hits don’t do much damage. Fletcher is not a great hitter, but this is exactly the kind of combination that can generate a long streak.

July 11, 2021

Best Batter Today

There is a new number one this morning atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Joey Gallo of the Rangers moves into the top slot as he goes one for two with a home run and three walks in an 8-4, eleven innings Oakland win. I find this quite amazing. Gallo represents the low dimensional offensive player; he walks and hits home runs. This year, those two strengths are enough to make up for the .239 BA, as he is getting on base at a .402 clip, having already drawn 72 walks. He hit 24 home runs and six doubles, giving him a .522 slugging percentage and a .283 isolated power.

Note, however, that the rankings are based on both long and short term performance. In his last twenty nine games, Gallo hit for average as well as power. Nothing else changed; he still strikes out a ton, he still walks a ton, and a high percentage of his hits go for extra bases, and he still doesn’t hit doubles. His slash line for this period, however, is .308/.479/.813. That allowed him to climb to the top of the leaderboard.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays drops to second place as he draws a walk in four trips in a 5-2 win over the Orioles. Third place belongs to Justin Turner of the Dodgers, who goes three for four with a grand slam in a ridiculous 22-1 win over the hapless Diamondbacks. The Dodgers hit eight home runs in the game, including two by A.J. Pollock who went four for four with two walks for a game score of 92, the highest of the day.

Fourth place belongs to Manny Machado of the Padres, 0 for 4 in a 3-0 Rockies win. Trea Turner of the Nationals rounds out the top five as he goes one for four with a walk in a 10-4 Giants win.

July 10, 2021

Best Batter Today

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays stays atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. He singles in four trips in a 7-1 Tampa Bay win. Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr.of the Padres rand two and four respectively. Machado walked, singled, and doubled, while Tatis posted an 0 for 4 in a 4-2 win over the Rockies.

Joey Gallo of the Rangers sits in third place as he draws two walks in a 3-2 win over Oakland. Trea Turner of the Nationals rounds out the top five as he goes two for five in a 5-3 Giants win.

A little over six points separates the top five right now, and 12 points separate six through twenty.

The best game score of the day goes to J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox. He collects a double, a home run, and two walks in five trips for a 76 as the Red Sox beat the Phillies 11-5. Martinez currently ranks 46th.

July 9, 2021

Best Batter Today

The top five in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings saw more movement as a result of Thursday’s light schedule. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays leads the field with the game against the Orioles postponed. Fernando Tatis Jr.of the Padres takes second place as he hits his 28th home run of the season, part of a two for five night in a big comeback win against the Nationals. Washington went up 8-0 after batting four times, thanks in part to two home runs by Trea Turner, who uses his three for five night to move into fourth place. Manny Machado drew a walk for fifth place. The biggest plate appearance of the game, however, came from a rookie relief pitcher, Daniel Camarena:

Camarena, who went to San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic High, was called up earlier in the day for his second stint with the Padres. He replaced Yu Darvish starting the fourth inning and allowed Trea Turner’s second homer of the game, a two-run drive that gave the Nationals an 8-0 lead.
With the Padres’ bullpen taxed in recent days, manager Jayce Tingler had Camarena bat for himself against the struggling Scherzer with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth. The left-hander drove a 1-2 fastball into the right-field stands to send the crowd into a frenzy and pull the Padres to 8-6.
APNews.com

The Padres won the game 9-8.

Joey Gallo rounds out the top five in third place as Texas had the day off.

The highest game score of the day goes to Brad Miller of the Phillies. He goes three for five in Chicago against the Cubs, all three hits home runs. That earned him an impressive 87. Miller hit well as a pinch hitter this season, 9 for 31. He made the most of a rare start on Thursday.

July 8, 2021

Best Batter Today

The top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings continues to show volatility. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays moves back into the top slot after going three for four in a 10-2 win over the Orioles. Joey Gallo of the Rangers uses a two homer game with a walk to move into second place. His game score of 78 ranked second on the day, but the Orioles take the game 5-3.

A pair of Padres stand three and four after a 15-5 win by the Nationals. Fernando Tatis Jr.went 0 for 3 before getting the rest of the night off, and he stands third. Manny Machado takes fourth place as he goes two for two with a walk.

Justin Turner of the Dodgers returns to the top five as he posts a three for four night with a home run in a 9-6 Miami win. In the same game, Garrett Cooper goes three for three with a walk and two home runs for a game score of 84, the highest of the day. The game featured eight home runs.