Sunday morning brought the news of Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez‘s death in a boating accident.
While the news came as a shock to everyone, those who knew the 24-year-old were especially saddened. That held true for ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez, who has provided color commentary for the Marlins on Fox Sports Florida this season.
Perez appeared on SportsCenter and gave a tribute to Fernandez:
Rest in peace, Jose.
[ESPN]
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If there was ever a time for a player to not turn in a poor performance, it’d be the final two weeks of the regular season. Pennant and wild-card races are neck and neck, with division crowns and postseason dreams hanging on every pitch and every swing.
For some, such as the San Francisco Giants’ Hunter Pence, the job of turning those dreams into reality fell to their teammates, as Pence and the rest of this week’s All-Dud squad were unable to contribute much of anything to the cause.
As usual, players on contending teams who deliver dud-worthy performances will get the nod over those not on contending clubs as we fill out our roster. Normally, that includes one player per position, including a designated hitter and starting pitcher.
However, there wasn’t a worthy DH candidate last week, with an average .292/.370/.634 slash line from the guys who rarely, if ever, get a chance to play the field. So we’ll roll with a nine-man squad this time around.
Who joined Pence on this week’s team? Let’s take a look.
Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident, the team announced Sunday morning, per Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald.
Andy Slater of 940 AM WINZ reported the boat Fernandez was on hit rocks going full speed and flew about 30 feet in the air before landing upside down. He added that one victim was found in the water and two were found under the boat. Fernandez was 24.
On Monday, authorities, via Baseball Tonight, revealed the boat was registered to Fernandez and announced that the other victims were Eduardo Rivero and Emilio Jesus Macias. The investigation into the accident continues, via Baseball Tonight.
A public visitation for Fernandez will be held on Wednesday followed by a private funeral ceremony on Thursday, via a Tuesday report from ESPN.com news services.
“The Miami Marlins organization is devastated by the tragic loss of Jose Fernandez,” the team said in a statement on Sunday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.”
Marlins manager Don Mattingly also expressed his thoughts at a press conference, via SportsCenter:
Major League Baseball, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark also released statements:
Sunday’s game between the Marlins and Atlanta Braves was canceled, but the team will play Monday against the New York Mets, team president David Samson told reporters.
The Miami Dolphins will hold a moment of silence in honor of Fernandez before Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Kevin McAlpin of 680 The Fan in Atlanta and Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel passed along photos of the scene at Marlins Park, while Jon Weisman of the Dodgers showed Marlins shortstop Dee Gordon paying tribute to his teammate:
Teammate Giancarlo Stanton took to Instagram to express his thoughts:
Fernandez was one of the most dominant pitchers in the game and a bright young star.
“You recognize how precious life is,” Samson said, per MLB Network Radio. “And how taking things for granted is a fool man’s game.”
“When I think about Jose, I see such a little boy,” Mattingly told reporters. “The way he played, there was just joy with him.”
“We’re not robots,” Marlins infielder Martin Prado told reporters. “We’re humans. He made an impact on everyone. I understand we have to play games. But there’s a lot of pain.”
“Jose Fernandez is one of the most genuine guys I’ve ever played with,” former Marlins starter Dan Haren tweeted. “He loved life, he loved baseball…he will be missed dearly.”
Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer tweeted: “Absolutely crushed hearing the news about Jose. Brought so much energy and passion towards life! You will be missed Papo RIP.”
Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout also passed along his condolences:
Fernandez defected from Cuba at the age of 15. He had previously been caught trying to leave the country and spent time in a Cuban prison. From those humble origins, he became one of baseball’s most charismatic, talented and beloved players.
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The Washington Nationals are your 2016 NL East champions, having clinched the division Saturday night. Their only worry right now is how much champagne stings when it gets in their eyes.
So, it’s up to us to worry about their path through the National League playoffs.
This doesn’t involve taking anything away from the season they’ve had, mind you. The Nats‘ 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park—which combined with the New York Mets‘ 10-8 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies to wrap up the NL East race—was their 90th with eight games to go. They have a shot of making it three 95-win teams in five years.
Even in getting this far, the Nats have made it look easy. There were only six days all season in which they didn’t have first place all to themselves. They’ve taken a division that many thought would be the domain of the reigning NL champion Mets and were a wire-to-wire juggernaut.
An MVP-caliber season out of free-agent signee Daniel Murphy has helped. So has a Cy Young-caliber season out of Max Scherzer, a free-agent signee from a year ago. Wilson Ramos, Trea Turner and Tanner Roark have also starred. Dusty Baker has been as advertised as the cure for what ailed the team under former manager Matt Williams in 2015.
But like an elephant and an elephant seal, making it through a 162-game season and making it through the postseason are two completely different animals.
Doing the former doesn’t guarantee anything with the latter, and the latest odds at FanGraphs don’t favor the Nats as World Series favorites as much as the NL’s other two division leaders:
It’s not surprising that the Cubs are the big favorites to win it all. All they’ve done this season is win 98 games and outscore their opponents by something like 1,000 runs. They’re good. Really good.
But the Dodgers over the Nationals? This despite the fact the Nationals have won more games? This despite the fact they would therefore have home-field advantage in the likely inevitable matchup between the two clubs in the National League Division Series?
It’s not actually that hot of a take.
With a 12-9 record in September, the Nationals aren’t backing into the postseason. But it is fair to say they’re stumbling in, having been tripped up by a roster with increasingly noticeable cracks in it.
Bryce Harper is the big one. There’s a he-said, they-said thing going on between Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated and the Nationals over the state of Harper’s health. Verducci has circled shoulder woes as reasons for Harper’s plummet from last year’s MVP-winning season on two occasions, most recently this week. The Nats have pushed back, with Baker telling Byron Kerr of MASN Sports: “I don’t know where he’s getting that from.”
Injury or no injury, though, Harper’s not right. His .814 OPS and 24 homers mark a pretty good “bad” season, but he entered Saturday with a .761 OPS and 15 homers since April and, even more concerning, just a .630 OPS and one homer in September.
With Harper struggling, the recent news on Murphy looms that much larger. The veteran second baseman is hitting .347 with an NL-best .987 OPS, but the Nats have shut him down with (resists urge to write “bum butt”) with a mild strain in his buttocks. Baker hasn’t promised Murphy will be ready for October.
“I’m not a doctor. I don’t know,” Baker told Bill Ladson of MLB.com. “[The trainers] are doing everything they can to try to alleviate the pain and get rid of whatever is in there. We have a capable [training] staff here. I’m glad he didn’t do it any worse.”
Washington’s lineup is thus dealing with the possibility of having Harper and Murphy at less than full strength in October. In the context of this being the No. 4 run-scoring offense in the NL, that’s not a big deal. In the context of the Nats offense being below average in the second half, it’s a big deal.
Meanwhile, the jury remains out on Stephen Strasburg. He’s been terrific when healthy in 2016, putting up a 3.60 ERA and striking out 11.2 batters per nine innings. But he’s out with a strained flexor mass in his right arm and has only progressed as far as playing catch. His return is up in the air.
On the bright side, Scherzer and Roark are an excellent one-two punch. And with Mark Melancon having cemented a closer role that Jonathan Papelbon routinely bungled, the starters have a good bullpen backing them up. Asking the Nats to win a short postseason series on the strength of their pitching isn’t asking too much.
But it won’t be easy.
Assuming the Nationals come up against the Dodgers in the NLDS, Scherzer and Roark will match up against the formidable trio of Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda. And as good as Washington’s bullpen is, the Dodgers’ pen is arguably the best in the entire National League. Los Angeles is also going into October with a red-hot offense. Only the Boston Red Sox have been more productive in the second half.
Even if the Nationals were to survive the Dodgers, their reward would likely be a date with the Cubs. The matchup problems would be deja vu all over again. It would be Scherzer and Roark against Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks. It would be Washington’s Melancon-led bullpen against Chicago’s Aroldis Chapman-led bullpen. And it would be Washington’s weakened offense against arguably the only NL offense better than the Dodgers.
As ominous as things sound, however, it can always be worse.
Injuries haven’t completely robbed the Nationals of their best qualities, a la the Cleveland Indians and their starting pitching. Strasburg may be out of commission, but even a reasonably healthy Murphy should be considered a threat after what he did last October. Let’s not forget that Harper has also been energized by October before, wreaking havoc in the 2014 NLDS.
And above all, there’s this: After failing as heavy favorites in 2012 and 2014, maybe being underdogs for a change is just what the Nationals need.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.
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A year after they imploded down the stretch, the Washington Nationals put the clamps on a division title, clinching the National League East on Saturday with a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets‘ 10-8 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
The win moved the Nationals to 90-64 on the year, while the Mets dropped to 82-73.
The division crown is Washington’s fourth in franchise history and third since the team moved from Montreal to the nation’s capital.
The Nationals’ official Twitter account relayed several shots of the team reveling in the glory of its accomplishment on Saturday night:
Olympic swimming sensation Katie Ledecky also chimed in after Bryce Harper was spotted wearing a swim cap with her name on it:
The Nationals were nine games up on the Mets when their chief NL East rivals made a trip to town Sept. 12 for a three-game series, and manager Dusty Baker’s club made a statement by winning two of three.
“It’s real big,” center fielder Trea Turner said, per MASNSports.com’s Mark Zuckerman. “It’s the last time we’re going to play them. If they sweep us, it could be a lot different situation. Winning this series has, I think, been very big for us.”
The Nationals, who rank fourth in the NL in runs scored, have been buoyed by a balanced attack at the plate, though Harper entered Saturday batting just .243/.376/.442 with 24 home runs and 82 RBI.
Daniel Murphy—who signed a three-year, $37.5 million deal with the Nationals over the offseason—has mashed the ball, though. With the season drawing to a close, the MVP candidate is batting .347/.391/.596 with 25 home runs, 104 RBI and an NL-best 47 doubles.
“He’s been more than I think anybody dreamed that he would be,” Baker said, per CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Daniel Shiferaw.
Catcher Wilson Ramos has also been a revelation for the Nationals. A year after he batted just .229 with 15 home runs and 68 RBI, the 29-year-old has posted a .304 average, 22 dingers and 80 RBI while serving as a steady presence behind the plate.
Washington’s pitching staff has been similarly strong, ranking second in the NL in ERA. The Nationals bullpen has also thrived, posting the second-best ERA in the NL.
Max Scherzer has been potent with a 2.82 ERA and 0.93 WHIP while leading the National League in strikeouts en route to posting an 18-7 record.
The Nationals have the depth and firepower to challenge for the pennant in October, though besting the Chicago Cubs—whom they’re 2-5 against this season—won’t be an easy task. Washington will likely face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.
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Houston Astros closer Ken Giles suffered a right wrist injury during batting practice Saturday and had to be carted off the field. X-rays came back negative, according to Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle.
It is uncertain when he’ll return to the mound.
Continue for updates.
Giles’ wrist injury is being called a contusion, per Kaplan.
Mark Berman of Fox 26 relayed a video of Giles being tended to by medical personnel:
If the Astros—who were two games back in the American League wild-card race entering Saturday night—lose Giles down the stretch, they’ll be in a tough spot.
Although Giles has struggled with just 13 saves and a 4.31 ERA this season, he’s a fireballer who wields a wicked two-pitch arsenal. According to FanGraphs, Giles is averaging 97.2 mph on his fastball and 86 mph on his slider this season.
Luke Gregerson should serve as the Astros’ closer if Giles misses any time. After he racked up a career-high 31 saves last season, Gregerson notched 15 saves earlier this year before moving to a role as the team’s setup man.
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We are less than two weeks away from the start of the 2016 MLB playoffs, with the AL Wild Card Game set to be played on Oct. 4 and the NL Wild Card Game slated for Oct. 5.
Anything can happen in October—as we’ve seen time and again—and trying to predict how the postseason will shake out is often an exercise in futility.
That being said, it’s still fun to try to guess the results before the postseason festivities begin, and that’s exactly what we’ve done here.
What follows are round-by-round predictions for how the 2016 MLB playoffs will turn out, complete with both relevant regular-season statistics and wildly specific postseason predictions on both a team and individual level.
Enjoy.
Pitching is almost universally central to success in a playoff race. So news of San Francisco Giants starter Johnny Cueto’s groin strain gave reason to question whether his team would have enough firepower to win one of the NL’s two wild-card spots.
While Cueto may still be able to pitch in his next scheduled start, other playoff teams suffered injury setbacks.
Which of baseball’s training rooms were busiest this week?
The Texas Rangers‘ dominance of the American League West continued in 2016, with the franchise clinching its second straight division title Friday with a 3-0 win over the Oakland Athletics.
The Rangers provided video of the final play to clinch the franchise’s seventh division title:
The team also showed footage of the ensuing locker room celebration:
Closer Sam Dyson came ready for the party with a mask that was sure to protect his face:
While there is still a few years left for things to play out, the Rangers are putting themselves on the short list for best AL team of the decade with five playoff appearances, four division titles and two World Series appearances since 2010.
After getting off to a slow start in April and May, the Rangers took over first place in the AL West on May 29 with a 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. They never looked back from that moment, expanding their lead to a season-high 10 games on June 22.
The Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros did put together strong runs in the second half, with both teams still threatening in the wild-card race, but those two teams went a combined 11-27 against the Rangers in 2016.
It’s a testament to the Rangers’ talent and character that they are making another postseason appearance. Their run differential of plus-12 is only eighth in the AL, but they have made up for it with an incredible and historic record in one-run games.
In a 3-2 win earlier this week against the Los Angeles Angels that got the Rangers’ magic number down to three, Ian Desmond delivered one of those one-run wins with a walk-off single:
Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus said that win, which was the team’s 46th come-from-behind victory in 2016, represented who they are as a unit.
“That has been our DNA this year. We didn’t give up until the last out, until the last pitch, and it’s contagious,” said Andrus, per the Associated Press (via the New York Times).
Desmond is emblematic of everything that has gone right for the Rangers in 2016. He turned down a seven-year, $107 million extension from the Washington Nationals prior to the 2014 season, per Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
After Desmond struggled through 2015 with a .233/.290/.384 slash line, the Nationals’ only offer to him was a one-year qualifying offer to help him rebuild his value.
Instead, once again betting on himself, Desmond turned the Nationals down and wound up not signing until February 29, two weeks after spring training started, when the Rangers came calling. He turned in an All-Star performance and is once again in line for a huge deal this offseason.
This season was not all smooth sailing for the Rangers. Yu Darvish didn’t debut until May 28 while still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery the previous year and went back on the disabled list for one month after making just three starts.
Starting pitchers Derek Holland and Colby Lewis both spent time on the 60-day disabled list with injuries. Prince Fielder was a mess at the plate early in the year and was forced to retire in August after spinal fusion surgery.
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels did strike gold at the trade deadline, acquiring catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the Milwaukee Brewers and outfielder/designated hitter Carlos Beltran from the New York Yankees to boost their lineup.
Thanks to strong performances all season from Desmond, Andrus, Adrian Beltre, Cole Hamels, Matt Bush, Dyson, rookie Nomar Mazara and an aggressive front office not afraid to take big swings, the Rangers are celebrating with champagne right now and await another shot to win the franchise’s first World Series.
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It was easy to like the Toronto Blue Jays last September. They made the deals of the summer. For the final two months of the regular season, all they did was win.
They had David Price, they had a lineup that didn’t stop, they had a boost from Marcus Stroman’s return and they had whatever momentum you get from going 21-6 in August and 18-9 in September.
They have almost none of that this year. No David Price, no big flashy trades, no big boost and no late-season momentum. Before Friday, they were 7-12 and had scored the fewest runs in baseball in September.
Blah.
Then the Blue Jays play a game like Friday’s, and suddenly you remember why you shouldn’t dismiss them as October contenders. They beat the New York Yankees 9-0, with Josh Donaldson hitting and Jose Bautista hitting and Edwin Encarnacion hitting and Troy Tulowitzki hitting, and suddenly you remember this is the same group that bludgeoned the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series and took the soon-to-be champion Kansas City Royals to six games in the AL Championship Series.
Price isn’t here, but given his 6.17 ERA last October, are you going to give that as a reason the team that almost won last year can’t win this time around?
Bautista and Encarnacion are free agents this winter, but don’t you think they’d like to put on a big-stage demonstration of why they should be paid big bucks? Don’t you think they’d love to deliver in one last go-round with the organization they’ve served since 2008 (Bautista) and 2009 (Encarnacion)?
It’s been a fun ride—one that has energized the fanbase to the point where the Blue Jays lead the American League in attendance. They broke the longest postseason drought in baseball last year, but they also fell two wins shy of bringing the World Series north of the border for the first time since 1993.
The Blue Jays have had a wildly inconsistent offense—that’s offence in Canada—this season. I remember sitting in manager John Gibbons’ office one day in August listening to him bemoan the lack of big hits and then watching them score 19 runs in two days.
Sure enough, their run totals the last six days are one, zero, three, 10, one and now nine.
The inconsistency is the biggest reason the Jays haven’t been able to hang with the Boston Red Sox atop the American League East. The Red Sox won their ninth in a row Friday and lead the division by 5.5 games with nine days to play. The Jays had one seven-game winning streak in early July, but other than that they haven’t won more than four in a row all year.
They’ll still need a few more wins to clinch a playoff spot. The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles both won Friday night as well, so the Jays ended the night a half-game ahead of the Tigers and 1.5 ahead of the O’s. Two of those three teams likely make it, although the Houston Astros or Seattle Mariners could still sneak in.
The Jays don’t have an easy schedule. After three more games with the Yankees, they have three at home with the Orioles and three in Boston.
They do have Russell Martin, and history says teams with Martin play in October. The veteran catcher is in his 11th major league season, with his fourth organization. He’s been in the playoffs every year but two, and in one of those years (2010 with the Los Angeles Dodgers), he was hurt and couldn’t have played anyway.
Martin is like most of the other Blue Jays. He’s had an inconsistent season, and he’s having a lousy final month (.172 batting average).
I’d take him. I’d take that lineup. I’d take a chance with that team, in a postseason series against anyone.
The Blue Jays won’t be anyone’s favorite when the playoffs begin. But games like Friday’s serve as a reminder they’re absolutely dangerous enough to win.
Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.
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