The Weekly Windup: MLB Week in Review - June 15th - June 22nd
Recapping the week in baseball, updating rankings, and discussing some notable stats
Each week—published on Sunday evenings—I write a short recap of the past week in baseball, provide updated Elo ratings, team rankings, and pitcher power ratings. I also highlight one or two interesting stats that caught my eye over the course of the week.
Shortly after last week’s “Weekly Windup” was published, the baseball world was shaken by the news that Rafael Devers was being traded from the Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants. While the trade itself wasn’t a major shock to anyone who followed Devers' saga in Boston, the timing of it was somewhat surprising. The Red Sox dealt the centerpiece of their organization halfway through the season, at a time when they were a game over .500 and less than a game out of the Wild Card, following a sweep of their archrivals, the Yankees. Boston fans weren’t particularly wowed by the return from the Giants either—fringe MLB-level pitcher Kyle Harrison (who was immediately sent to AAA Worcester), Jordan Hicks (who’s sporting a hefty 6.55 ERA this year), and low-level minor league pitchers Jose Bello and James Tibbs III. While the Red Sox were able to offload the majority of Devers’ 10-year, $313.5 million contract signed last season, it took on the image of a team selling for a rebuild as opposed to a current contender.
Needless to say, Yankee fans, who had long been tortured by Devers and the 31 homers in 119 games he’s hit against their team, were quite alright with the deal. However, there was little else to cheer about in the Bronx last week, as the Yankees lost 5 of 7 and star Aaron Judge went cold, hitting just .200 with one home run and a wRC+ 17% below league average. Across town, things weren’t much better. The Mets endured a 7-game losing streak before finally breaking it in a win over the Phillies Saturday, and lost their lead in the NL East to those same same Phillies. The Mets aim to get fully back on track tonight in Philadelphia in a major Sunday Night Baseball rivalry showdown. The Mets had the second-biggest drop in Elo this past week, behind only the Yankees. Tough week in the Big Apple
On the pitching side, Tarik Skubal continues to stand tall amongst the rest, although Garret Crochet is quietly lurking. The pitching rankings are largely dominated by the NL after those aforementioned aces, with seven of the next eight pitchers on the list coming from the National League.
Stat of the Week
5%: In the Cubs’ game against the Brewers on Tuesday night, Pete Crow-Armstrong once again stole the spotlight, laying out for an incredible diving catch in center field that had just a 5% catch probability, according to Statcast. PCA has been a vacuum in the outfield this year. He’s tied for the league lead in Statcast outs above average with 10 and blows away all other outfielders with 7 outs coming from balls with a catch probability of 25% or less. To put it into perspective, second on the list is Harrison Bader, with just 3. Pete Crow-Armstrong currently leads NL outfielders in All Star votes, and rightly so.
Team of the Week
Tampa Bay Rays: Exactly one month ago, on May 22nd, the Rays had a record of 23-26, fourth-worst in the AL, and were seven games back of the Yankees in the East. Oh how the tables have turned! Prior to Sunday’s games, the Rays sit at 43-34, nine games above .500, and just a game-and-a-half behind the Yanks. Just this past week, the Rays have increased their FanGraphs playoff odds 10.7% (up to 67.1%), and now have nearly a 15% chance to take the AL East. The red-hot Rays hit for an eye-popping .328 average over their last seven games with an wRC+ 66% better than league average. The squad is 7-2 since Friday the 13th and is aiming to complete a sweep of the mighty Detroit Tigers, who currently own the best record in Baseball.
Player of the Week
Eugenio Suarez: The Diamondbacks are hanging in the race for the NL West, and much of that is due to stellar production from third baseman Eugenio Suarez. His 25 homers and 67 RBI lead all of baseball, and he has been virtually unstoppable in the past week. In his past six games, Suarez is hitting .458 with a 1.611 OPS and league-leading 326 wRC+ to go along with 5 homers and 12 RBI. Suarez has been key to keeping the D-backs afloat in likely the toughest division in baseball, finding themselves just 2.5 games out of a playoff spot despite losing their ace Corbin Burnes.