Tag Archives: Yuliesky Gurriel

May 25, 2023

Best Batter Today

Yordan Alvarez of the Astros stands atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. He drew a walk in 4-0 Brewers victory as the Astros get shutout in consecutive games. Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers ranks second after a one for four with a walk in an exciting game won by the Braves 4-3 on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Ozzie Albies. The Dodgers out-hit the Braves 12-5, but Los Angeles went one for ten with runners in scoring position.

Aaron Judge of the Yankees remains third as he drew three walks in five plate appearances to raise his OBP to .406. That and his teammate, Gleyber Torres tying fo the high game score of the day with a 75 isn’t enough as the Orioles take the game 9-6. Torres hit two home runs from the lead-off slot, and now owns nine on the season.

Fourth place belongs to Juan Soto of the of the Padres. He drew two walks in 5-3 Nationals win. Yandy Diaz of the Rays moves back into the top five as he gets a night off. Tampa Bay beat Toronto 7-3.

The other 75 game score came off the bat of Yuli Gurriel of the Marlins. He posts a four for four with a triple, his first since 2020. He raises his batting average to .291 as Miami beats Colorado 10-2.

November 28, 2022

Cuban Replacement

It looks like the Astros are replacing Cuban first baseman Yuli Gurriel with Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu:

The World Series champions have reached a deal with first baseman Jose Abreu, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. The former Chicago White Sox standout and 2020 AL MVP will reportedly join Houston on a three-year deal.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman has also reported that Abreu is headed to the Astros. According to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, the deal “is expected to be around $60 million.” 
MSN.com

Abreu is three years younger than Gurriel, and Gurriel hit poorly in two of his last three seasons. Houston may try to bring him back as a utility man, but at his age versatility may be a thing of the past.

Abreu posted very good WAR values all through his 30s, so sixty million for three years seems like a very reasonable contract. He doesn’t need to be a star, just another very good hitter in a great lineup.

November 5, 2022

Knee to Know

Yuli Gurriel of the Astros will miss the rest of the World Series due to a knee injury he suffered during a rundown in game five:

Catcher Korey Lee will replace Gurriel on the roster, allowing Christian Vazquez to be the designated hitter in Game 6 on Saturday night. Houston will carry three catchers for the final two games, giving them more lineup flexibility.
ESPN.com

Trey Mancini takes over a first base. The story notes that designated hitters for the Astros performed poorly in the series. They were getting good production from first base, however. That may not continue with Mancini, who is 0 for 18 with a walk and seven strikeouts in the post-season.

November 3, 2022

Best Batter Today

The top four in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings did not play on Wednesday. Freddie Freeman, Aaron Judge, Brandon Nimmo, and Pete Alonso rank one through four respectively. Alex Bregman of the Astros drops to fifth after going one for five with a double in the 5-0 Houston win over Philadelphia. He was one of eight Houston batters who wound up with more hits than the Phillies.

Two Astros tied for highest game score of the night with a 57. Yuli Gurriel collect two singles in four trips to the plate, while Kyle Tucker doubled, walked, and hit a sacrifice fly. Tucker ranks 28th, Gurriel 65th.

October 19, 2022

Boxed Out

Yuli Gurriel of the Astros leads off the bottom of the sixth with a shot into the Crawford Boxes to put the Astros up 2-1 over the Yankees. Gurriel reached forty doubles for the third time in his career, but only hit eight home runs during the regular season as his slugging percentage dropped to .360. That shot left the park quickly, however.

Update: With one out, Chas McCormick hits a homer to the rightfield stands, and the Astros lead 3-1. He two for two in the game with a walk.

August 23, 2022

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.

The Log5 Method yields these top picks:

0.326 — Luis Robert batting against Austin Voth.
0.321 — Christian Vazquez batting against Aaron Sanchez.
0.308 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Josh Winckowski.
0.306 — Yordan Alvarez batting against Aaron Sanchez.
0.306 — Jose Abreu batting against Austin Voth.
0.304 — Eloy Jimenez batting against Austin Voth.
0.300 — Jose Altuve batting against Aaron Sanchez.
0.298 — Jose Iglesias batting against Dane Dunning.
0.297 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Aaron Sanchez.
0.296 — Paul Goldschmidt batting against Adrian Sampson.

You can double down with the Gurriel brothers today! Note that the Cardinals and Cubs are playing a doubleheader in Chicago, so be careful which game you choose.

Here are the NN picks:

0.326, 0.739 — Luis Robert batting against Austin Voth.
0.298, 0.727 — Jose Iglesias batting against Dane Dunning.
0.291, 0.721 — Harold Ramirez batting against Jose Suarez.
0.296, 0.716 — Paul Goldschmidt batting against Adrian Sampson.
0.308, 0.715 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Josh Winckowski.
0.283, 0.709 — Paul Goldschmidt batting against 21741.
0.321, 0.706 — Christian Vazquez batting against Aaron Sanchez.
0.304, 0.704 — Eloy Jimenez batting against Austin Voth.
0.306, 0.704 — Jose Abreu batting against Austin Voth.
0.283, 0.704 — Yonathan Daza batting against Dane Dunning.

Robert extended his hit streak to twelve games on Monday. Lourdes Gurriel is the consensus double down pick.

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!

October 17, 2021

Best Batter Today

The top four of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings remain the same, but Kyle Tucker of the Astros moves back into the fifth slot ahead of Corey Seager of the Dodgers. Tucker posted a two for four game with a double, while Seager’s double was the only hit of the night for him.

Two batters tie for best game score of the day at 66. Yuli Gurriel of the Astros and Enrique Hernandez of the Red Sox each go two for four with a home run. Hernandez also draws a walk, and drives in one run, while Gurriel drives in three runs. Hernandez continues to hit .500 in this post season and now ranks 37th on the list. Gurriel ranks 34th.

September 28, 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:

0.350 — Frank Schwindel batting against Mitch Keller.
0.327 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Michael Wacha.
0.314 — Bryan De La Cruz batting against Trevor Williams.
0.312 — Kyle Tucker batting against Michael Wacha.
0.311 — Alcides Escobar batting against Kyle Freeland.
0.309 — Rafael Ortega batting against Mitch Keller.
0.308 — Nico Hoerner batting against Mitch Keller.
0.304 — Ketel Marte batting against Logan Webb.
0.304 — Juan Soto batting against Kyle Freeland.
0.303 — Brendan Rodgers batting against Patrick Corbin.
0.303 — Yordan Alvarez batting against Michael Wacha.
0.303 — Matt M Duffy batting against Mitch Keller.
0.303 — Starling Marte batting against Tyler Anderson.

Duffy owns a seven game hit streak in which he’s hitting .400.

Here are the NN picks:

0.350, 0.739 — Frank Schwindel batting against Mitch Keller.
0.304, 0.736 — Ketel Marte batting against Logan Webb.
0.293, 0.733 — Tim Anderson batting against Riley O’Brien.
0.327, 0.729 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Michael Wacha.
0.299, 0.724 — Luis Robert batting against Riley O’Brien.
0.277, 0.721 — Trea Turner batting against Yu Darvish.
0.303, 0.715 — Starling Marte batting against Tyler Anderson.
0.297, 0.710 — Jose Iglesias batting against Bruce Zimmermann.
0.300, 0.709 — Xander Bogaerts batting against Bruce Zimmermann.
0.312, 0.709 — Kyle Tucker batting against Michael Wacha.

Schwindel is the unanimous top pick, with Gurriel the consensus double down choice. Note that the Mets and Marlins play a doubleheader today.

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!

September 26, 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:

0.328 — Trea Turner batting against Humberto Mejia.
0.317 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Paul Blackburn.
0.314 — Donovan Solano batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.314 — Buster Posey batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.310 — Brandon Crawford batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.305 — Kyle Tucker batting against Paul Blackburn.
0.301 — A.J. Pollock batting against Humberto Mejia.
0.297 — Jean Segura batting against Max Kranick.
0.295 — Yordan Alvarez batting against Paul Blackburn.
0.294 — Cedric Mullins II batting against Dane Dunning.

Turner currently owns a twelve game hit streak. It also looks like a good day to double down on Giants.

Here are the NN picks:

0.328, 0.750 — Trea Turner batting against Humberto Mejia.
0.289, 0.730 — Ketel Marte batting against Julio Urias.
0.314, 0.724 — Donovan Solano batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.317, 0.718 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Paul Blackburn.
0.314, 0.714 — Buster Posey batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.301, 0.710 — A.J. Pollock batting against Humberto Mejia.
0.310, 0.706 — Brandon Crawford batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.293, 0.706 — Frank Schwindel batting against Jake Woodford.
0.284, 0.704 — Bo Bichette batting against Griffin Jax.
0.305, 0.702 — Kyle Tucker batting against Paul Blackburn.

The two systems agree on Turner at the top and totally disagree on Marte. Solano and Gurriel tie for the consensus double down pick.

The NN saved the best for last this season. In general, it underperformed in 2021, and did not reach double digit streak until September. This month, it got ten days right in a row, followed by a twelve game streak that ended yesterday. Overall, the expected value was 128 days correct, and it was correct on 126 days.

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!

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.

July 27, 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:

0.331 — Tim Anderson batting against Brad Keller.
0.330 — Michael Brantley batting against Chris Flexen.
0.320 — Bo Bichette batting against Garrett Richards.
0.314 — Trea Turner batting against Matt Moore.
0.313 — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. batting against Garrett Richards.
0.310 — Bryan Reynolds batting against Brett Anderson.
0.308 — Teoscar Hernandez batting against Garrett Richards.
0.297 — Santiago Espinal batting against Garrett Richards.
0.293 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Chris Flexen.
0.293 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Garrett Richards.

Both Gurriel brothers make the cut with identical projected hit averages. Both have a low OBP for their high batting averages, making them good candidates for getting a hit.

Here are the NN picks:

0.331, 0.753 — Tim Anderson batting against Brad Keller.
0.330, 0.747 — Michael Brantley batting against Chris Flexen.
0.314, 0.738 — Trea Turner batting against Matt Moore.
0.320, 0.731 — Bo Bichette batting against Garrett Richards.
0.313, 0.716 — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. batting against Garrett Richards.
0.308, 0.708 — Teoscar Hernandez batting against Garrett Richards.
0.310, 0.707 — Bryan Reynolds batting against Brett Anderson.
0.258, 0.698 — David Fletcher batting against Austin Gomber.
0.254, 0.698 — Jose Iglesias batting against Austin Gomber.
0.276, 0.697 — Jean Segura batting against Erick Fedde.

Anderson is just 4 for 22 with seven strikeouts against Keller. He and Brantley are the unanimous double down picks.

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!

June 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:

0.402 — Michael Brantley batting against Matt Harvey.
0.364 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Matt Harvey.
0.358 — Yordan Alvarez batting against Matt Harvey.
0.340 — Carlos Correa batting against Matt Harvey.
0.332 — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. batting against Justus Sheffield.
0.330 — Jose Altuve batting against Matt Harvey.
0.327 — Kyle Tucker batting against Matt Harvey.
0.324 — Teoscar Hernandez batting against Justus Sheffield.
0.320 — Bo Bichette batting against Justus Sheffield.
0.316 — Myles Straw batting against Matt Harvey.

The Orioles keep trotting out Harvey, and the league keeps hitting him. Harvey allowed a .318/.368/.532 slash line this season. He has a relatively low OBP for the batting average against him, translating to a high hit average. He’s the pitching version of Brantley. Note that the .402 is a hit average, not a batting average, and the position player hit average this season is .215. This is a match made in heaven for Bet the Streak contestants.

Here are the NN picks:

0.402, 0.790 — Michael Brantley batting against Matt Harvey.
0.364, 0.746 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Matt Harvey.
0.358, 0.742 — Yordan Alvarez batting against Matt Harvey.
0.305, 0.731 — Tim Anderson batting against Bailey Ober.
0.332, 0.730 — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. batting against Justus Sheffield.
0.300, 0.724 — Xander Bogaerts batting against Mike Minor.
0.320, 0.722 — Bo Bichette batting against Justus Sheffield.
0.324, 0.718 — Teoscar Hernandez batting against Justus Sheffield.
0.340, 0.718 — Carlos Correa batting against Matt Harvey.
0.311, 0.709 — Harold Ramirez batting against Jose Urena.
0.291, 0.709 — Jose Iglesias batting against Domingo German.

The NN agrees that the probability of Brantley getting a hit in this game is very high. The .790 mark is the highest value seen this season. Of course, even with that high a probability, there is a one in five chance that the hit won’t happen. Maybe today is the day Harvey’s new cutter starts to actually work. Gurriel is the unanimous 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!

June 10, 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:

0.340 — Michael Brantley batting against Eduardo Rodriguez.
0.330 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Eduardo Rodriguez.
0.324 — Yordan Alvarez batting against Eduardo Rodriguez.
0.309 — Tim Anderson batting against Hyun-Jin Ryu.
0.307 — Harold Castro batting against Justus Sheffield.
0.304 — Starling Marte batting against Chi Chi Gonzalez.
0.303 — Jose Altuve batting against Eduardo Rodriguez.
0.302 — Salvador Perez batting against Frankie Montas.
0.301 — Carlos Correa batting against Eduardo Rodriguez.
0.301 — Xander Bogaerts batting against Zack Greinke.

The Astros appear to matchup well against Boston starter Rodriguez. Rodriguez owns the strange combination of a high strikeout rate, 10.09 batters per 9 IP, with an extremely hit BABIP .369. He also allows a good number of home runs. It seems batters either miss a pitch or hit it real hard.

Here are the NN picks:

0.340, 0.745 — Michael Brantley batting against Eduardo Rodriguez.
0.309, 0.739 — Tim Anderson batting against Hyun-Jin Ryu.
0.330, 0.726 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Eduardo Rodriguez.
0.324, 0.724 — Yordan Alvarez batting against Eduardo Rodriguez.
0.301, 0.722 — Xander Bogaerts batting against Zack Greinke.
0.307, 0.716 — Harold Castro batting against Justus Sheffield.
0.284, 0.715 — Trea Turner batting against Anthony DeSclafani.
0.304, 0.705 — Starling Marte batting against Chi Chi Gonzalez.
0.297, 0.705 — Hanser Alberto batting against Frankie Montas.
0.284, 0.701 — Alex Verdugo batting against Zack Greinke.

Brantley came off the illjured list on 6/8, and is four for nine with a double and no strikeouts in the two games he played. He is the unanimous first pick, with Gurriel the consensus double down choice. This season, Gurriel struck out just twenty two times in 239 plate appearances. He puts the ball in play, which is tantamount to collecting hits.

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!

May 8, 2021

Best Batter Today

Jose Ramirez of the Indians remains at the top of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings despite an 0 for 3 in Wade Miley‘s no-hitter against Cleveland. His lead drops to seven points as Corey Seager of the Dodgers draws two walks in a 9-2 Angels victory. In the same game, Mike Trout of the Angels moves up to third place with a two for four night, hitting his first triple of the season. That raises Trout’s BA to .385. Also in that game Justin Turner of the Dodgers moves to fourth place with a single in four trips. The two are separated by less than a point. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays drew a walk in a 10-4 win by the Astros for fifth place.

In that same game, Yuli Gurriel goes four for four with a home run for a game score of 79, best of the day. He’s now batting an impressive .342/.420/.553 on the season and ranks 14th in the standings, ten points behind Guerrero as there gathers a nice group looking to make an assault on the top five.

October 12, 2020

Lazy Play

With two out, Randy Arozarena of the Astros singles, then Ji-Man Choi hits a grounder to Jose Altuve in short rightfield. Choi is not hustling down the line on the routine play. Altuve lobs the ball to Yuli Gurriel. The ball short hops Gurriel, who drops it. He has time to pick up the ball and step on the bag, but instead of stretching for the ball, he steps off the bag. Choi thinks he’s out, and doesn’t hustle, but makes it to first safely anyway. Altuve is charged with the error on the throw, although it was really on both of them.

The Rays make the Astros pay, as Manuel Margot takes a pitch over the centerfield fence for a three-run homer. At the end of one, the Rays lead the Astros 3-0. Never take a play for granted. Choi got lucky there.

August 18, 2020

Beat the Streak Picks

For the past few years Baseball Musings tried to help with playing Beat the Streak. MLB is not offering the game during the short 2020 season, but people indicated they can still use the data. 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. If you find this useful, please support Baseball Musings with a donation.

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:

0.305 — Charlie Blackmon batting against Zack Greinke.
0.294 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.284 — J.T. Realmuto batting against Zachary Godley.
0.284 — Howie Kendrick batting against Josh Tomlin.
0.275 — Carlos Correa batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.275 — Didi Gregorius batting against Zachary Godley.
0.274 — Josh Reddick batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.272 — Jean Segura batting against Zachary Godley.
0.270 — Alex Verdugo batting against Zach Eflin.
0.270 — Mookie Betts batting against Marco Gonzales.
0.269 — Yordan Alvarez batting against Antonio Senzatela.

Blackmon continues to top the list. The Rockies picked up just two hits against Houston last night, and Blackmon collected one of them. It also looks like a good day for the Phillies offense.

Here are the NN picks:

0.305, 0.735 — Charlie Blackmon batting against Zack Greinke.
0.284, 0.721 — Howie Kendrick batting against Josh Tomlin.
0.294, 0.704 — Yulieski Gurriel batting against Antonio Senzatela.
0.262, 0.701 — Hanser Alberto batting against Nate Pearson.
0.267, 0.700 — Tim Anderson batting against Tarik Skubal.
0.259, 0.694 — Donovan Solano batting against Dylan Bundy.
0.256, 0.693 — Ketel Marte batting against Frankie Montas.
0.259, 0.691 — Jose Iglesias batting against Nate Pearson.
0.266, 0.688 — Whit Merrifield batting against Luis Castillo.
0.270, 0.688 — Mookie Betts batting against Marco Gonzales.

Both systems like Blackmon as the top choice, with Gurriel as the consensus number two.

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!

August 11, 2020

Best Batter Today

1 Reply

Alex Bregman of the Astros doubled and walked in the 6-4 win over the Giants as Bregman reclaims first place in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Nelson Cruz pf the Twins falls to second place as he gets hit by a pitch in four plate appearances against the Brewers, Milwaukee winning 4-1.

Justin Turner of the Dodgers is the only member of the top five who holds his position. He keeps third place with a single in four trips to the plate as the Padres win the game 2-1.

Anthony Rendon of the Angels shoots back into the top five with two home runs and two walks and stands in fourth place after a 10-9 win over the Athletics. His teammate, Mike Trout, goes four for five with two homers as well. Trout now ranks 28th, low in the ratings due to his injury last season and the long layoff. Trout now leads the AL in slugging percentage, and he may be back in the top five very soon.

Yuli Gurriel of the Astros had a double and a hit by pitch to move into fifth place.

October 30, 2019

First Run

Yuli Gurreil gets Houston’s first hit leading off the bottom of the second inning as he launches a 2-1 pitch into the Crawford boxes. The Astros lead the Nationals 1-0. Yordan Alvarez follows with a single to rightfield. Max Scherzer has been falling behind batters early.

Update: Scherzer gets ahead of Carlos Correa, but Correa grounds a single against the shift to put runners on first and second with none out.

Update: Robinson Chirinos pops up a bunt attempt for the first out.

Update: Josh Reddick grounds out to first, advancing the runners. The ball hit the bag, but bounced right to Ryan Zimmerman.

Update: George Springer gets ahead 2-0. He swings at a 3-0 pitch and hits a sinking line drive to leftfield. It handcuffs Juan Soto, but he hangs on for the catch. The Astros lead the Nationals 1-0 at the end of two innings, but Washington dodged a bullet.

The Nationals should get someone up in the bullpen.

October 27, 2019

Cuba Connection

A pair of Cubans put the Astros on the scoreboard. Yuli Gurriel reaches on an infield hit with one out in the top of the second, the ball just ticking off Joe Ross‘s glove. Yordan Alvarez follows with an opposite field home run to left-center and the Astros take a 2-0 lead on the Nationals. Ross fell behind on Alvarez, and Alvarez did a nice job of going with the pitch with power.

October 23, 2019

Double Trouble

Yuli Gurriel doubles with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Astros a threat. They are still tied with the Nationals at two. Gurriel is now three for eight in this World Series. The Nationals intentionally walk Yordan Alvarez to face Carlos Correa.

Update: Correa pops up a 3-2 pitch for an infield fly. Two down.

The Astros keep working 3-2 counts. There were at least two pitches in that plate appearance that could have been called strikes. It looks like the pitchers are not getting the edges tonight.

Update: Kyle Tucker pinch hits, and also works the count full against Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg then gets a curve ball just inside the strike zone on the high, outside edge, and Tucker strikes out looking.

The game goes to the seventh inning tied at two.

October 19, 2019

Yuli Tide

Yuli Gurriel gets just his second hit of the ALCS, but it’s a big one. After a double and a walk put men on first and second with two out, Gurriel drives a home run into the leftfield Crawford boxes for a 3-0 Astros lead over the Yankees. So far, the Astros are winning the opener strategy as Brad Peacock threw seven pitches, all strikes, to set down the Yankees in order in the top of the first.

September 6, 2019

Best Batter Today

Ketel Marte slides into first place in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Marte and the Diamondbacks had a day off. Anthony Rendon singled early in the Nationals 4-2 loss to the Braves, and for a long time that was the only hit for the Nationals. Alex Bregman doubled, but a one for six in a extra-inning game drops him to third place. Juan Soto had the same one for four as Rendon and ranks fourth.

Yuli Gurriel also doubled in the Astros win over the Mariners, but with two walks in the game he moves up to fifth. Fifth to twenty-second place are now separated by ten points.

September 3, 2019

Best Batter Today

2 Replies

There is a bit of a reordering in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings this morning. Anthony Rendon stays in first as ~~the Nationals gave him a day of rest on Labor Day~~ as he went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. That allowed Alex Bregman to close the gap as he went four for five with a double and now trails Rendon by 2 1/2 points. Ketel Marte doubled and homered to take third place. Boston did not place as J.D. Martinez sits in fourth place, while Yuli Gurriel went hitless in four trips to drop to fifth place.

Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger, the leading NL MVP candidates, are ranked nine and ten, separated by 0.24 points.

September 2, 2019

Best Batter Today

Anthony Rendon homered, singled, and walked on Sunday to stay atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Alex Bregman doubled and walked in Justin Verlander‘s no-hitter, while his teammate Yuli Gurriel had the day off. They rank second and third respectively.

Juan Soto makes the top five for the first time after hitting a home run and two doubles on Sunday. The seasonal age twenty player is on an extra-base tear, with fourteen of his last twenty one hits resulting in the long variety.

J.D. Martinez moves into the fifith slot. The Player of the Month for August started September with a home run and two walks.

August 31, 2019

Best Batter Today

2 Replies

Alex Bregman posted a two for five night to stay atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. His teammate, Yuli Gurriel, doubled in the Astros 7-4 win over the Blue Jays to take fourth place.

Anthony Rendon claims second place as he collects a double, two singles, and a walk against the Marlins. His final single drove in two runs in the bottom of the ninth to win the game and bail out the Nationals bullpen. Ketel Marte, hamstrung by a hamstring injury, did not play on Friday and drops to third place. Christian Yelich singled twice in the Brewers loss to the Cubs, putting Yelich in fifth place.

Ten points separate one through six on the list, and and ten points separate five through twenty four. That’s a testament to the number of hitters have great seasons. Wilson Ramos, as hot as anyone with a twenty-three game hit streak, is stuck at 25.

August 30, 2019

Best Batter Today

Alex Bregman stays atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings after going one for five on Thursday. His teammate Yuli Gurriel went one for four with a walk to stay in third place, but trails Ketel Marte by 0.01 points. Marte also went one for four.

Anthony Rendon had the night off and stays in fourth place, while Justin Turner moves back into the top five after going two for four with a double, a home run, and a sacrifice fly.

August 29, 2019

Best Batter Today

Alex Bregman continued his hot hitting with a three for four night, collecting two doubles along the way. That keeps him atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. His teammate Yuli Gurriel homered and walked for third place, but Michael Brantley went 0 for 4, ending his hit streak and dropping him to sixth place.

Ketel Marte and the Diamondbacks took the night off, keeping Marte in second place. Anthony Rendon singled and doubled for fourth place, and Carlos Santana singled and doubled for fifth place. Then points separate fourth from fifteenth place.

August 28, 2019

Best Batter Today

The Baseball Musings Batter Rankings saw some shuffling as a result of Tuesday’s games. Alex Bregman sits on top as Houston pounded Tampa Bay 15-1. Bregman singled three times for first place, Michael Brantley extended his hit streak to nineteen games with a 1 for 3 night, for third place, and Yuli Gurriel doubled for fourth place. Ketel Marte singled and homered to move into second place, while Anthony Rendon walked twice as Washington fell to Baltimore 2-0. Rendon moves into fifth place.

Wilson Ramos remains one game ahead of Brantley with a 20-game hit streak. Ramos is on quite a tear, and now ranks 27th on the list.

August 27, 2019

Best Batter Today

There was no change in the rank of the top five players in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings, as four of the five players played on teams with a day off. Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, and Yuli Gurriel remained 1-2-3 as the Astros did not play, and Anthony Rendon remained fifth as the Nationals took the day off. Ketel Marte did go one for four with a walk, and remains in fourth place.

August 25, 2019

Best Batter Monday

Michael Brantley returns to the top of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings after Sundays games. He singled and walked twice, while his teammate Alex Bregman doubled in five trips to drop to second. Yuli Gurriel hit two singles to remain in third place, while Ketel Marte collected three hits, including a double, to remain in fourth place.

Entering the top five for the first time in a while was Anthony Rendon, who went four for five as the Nationals swept the Cubs. Rendon homered, singled three times, and drew a walk. In his last sixteen games Rendon owns a .408/.442/.718 slash line, with eleven of his 29 hits going for extra bases. Four points separate the top five on the leader board.