Chris Sale keeps looking less like a veteran arm and more like a force of nature. Atlanta’s left-hander carved up the Dodgers last night with 11 strikeouts over five hits, blanking the NL West leaders as the Braves completed the sweep.
It was his seventh straight quality start, and it also extended a stretch that has been almost absurd: Sale has allowed more than three runs only once all season, and that came on April 6, when the Angels tagged him for six runs in four innings. Since then, he’s thrown 128 innings with a 1.83 ERA and a 161-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
That kind of run has kept the NL Cy Young race alive as a real three-man fight. Sale’s 2.06 ERA trails Jacob Misiorowski’s league-leading mark, and he’s also 24 1/3 innings behind Cristopher Sánchez in the innings race, 168 1/3 to 144. Even with that gap, the 37-year-old is still right in the middle of the conversation, and if the others slip while he keeps dealing, a second Cy Young in his Atlanta stint is very much on the table.
Elsewhere on today’s board, Tarik Skubal is heading back to Detroit.
The two-time American League Cy Young winner makes his return to the ballpark he called home until his Aug. 1 trade to the Dodgers, and he’ll do it tonight in a three-game series opener against his former club. Skubal takes the mound opposite former teammate Drew Anderson after four starts in Los Angeles that have still been strong, even if they haven’t quite matched his peak form: a 3.38 ERA, a 30.3% strikeout rate and a 7.1% walk rate. He’s coming off an 11-strikeout outing against the Pirates, so the stuff is clearly still there.
The mood around his return figures to be complicated, and former Tigers teammate Troy Melton told Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press that the reaction could go either way: “You never know how people are going to react,” former Tigers teammate Troy Melton tells Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “You know, some people are going to feel some type of way.
It probably will be mixed. I think it’ll be more positive.
In my opinion, I think it should be more positive than negative. … Skoob’s the man and he was great to this organization, so I think it’d be right if we didn’t do that [and boo].
But it’s their decision and it’s part of the game.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts offered a similar read to Jack Harris of the California Post, saying he expects “a lot of people cheering [Skubal] on” and adding that his pitcher will stay locked in on the game: “I think that whole ‘be where your feet are’ adage, I think that’s just who he is. Some people have a hard time letting go. But I think that Tarik is a guy that, wherever he’s at, he’s all-in.”
In Tampa Bay, the Rays’ stadium push is heading toward another key checkpoint. Hillsborough County commissioner Ken Hagan called for a special meeting this morning, when the county is set to vote on the club’s latest proposal. The Tampa City Council already signed off on the plan yesterday in a 4-3 vote, with $80 million in city funding attached.
The county’s piece is much larger. It would need to contribute nearly $800 million, while the Rays are pledging about $1.4 billion in private financing along with any overruns.
Nicolas Villamil of the Tampa Bay Times laid out the details of yesterday’s city council vote and the hurdles that still sit in front of the deal this morning. It’s the latest step in the Rays’ long-running effort to build a new stadium in the Tampa area, a plan now backed by new majority owner Patrick Zalupski and his group after Stu Sternberg sold the team last year.
And in Minnesota, Walker Jenkins is on his way to the majors.
The Twins are calling up their top outfield prospect for his big league debut, giving the former No. 5 overall pick a shot after he tore through Triple-A pitching this season. Jenkins, 21, has put together a .323/.417/.559 line with 14 homers and 17 steals, plus a 13.3% walk rate and just a 15.4% strikeout rate. He has missed time because of injury, but he’s long been regarded as one of the sport’s top prospects, and he now gets a chance to show why.
Jenkins joins shortstop Kaelen Culpepper, another recent first-round pick who was promoted after the deadline. Culpepper has handled the jump well, hitting .333/.381/.526 with three homers in his first 63 major league plate appearances. For Minnesota, the two call-ups offer a real look at the next wave while the club keeps hanging around in a crowded, mediocre AL Wild Card race.
In Other News...
Twins Just Gave Up On A Once-Intriguing Arm For Walker Jenkins
Walker Jenkins is headed back onto the Twins active roster after Minnesota selected the outfielders contract and sent Alan Roden to Triple-A St. Paul to make room. It is another sign of how aggressively the club is trying to manage its young talent, especially with Jenkins drawing enough attention to earn a major league look again.
The move also cost Woo-Suk Go his spot on the 40-man roster after the right-hander was designated for assignment following control issues in St. Paul. Go had already made his big league debut with Minnesota after arriving from the Tigers, and now his future hinges on waivers, with a possible free-agent decision waiting if he gets through. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays May Be About To Lose A Former Top Prospect
A roster move out of Toronto has put a familiar name in limbo, and it may not stay a Blue Jays issue for long. The club recalled right-hander CJ Van Eyk and designated Simeon Woods Richardson for assignment, a sign of how quickly the pitching picture can change when a former top prospect is running out of runway. Woods Richardson has struggled lately, and the move clears a spot while also forcing the organization to confront a tough decision on a pitcher once viewed as part of the future.
Because Woods Richardson is out of minor league options, the next step is more complicated than a routine shuffle. He will have to pass through waivers, and any team that claims him would need to keep him on a major league roster, which is why a number of clubs with pitching needs will at least have to take a look. If he goes unclaimed, free agency becomes the fallback, leaving Toronto with another reminder of how thin the margin can be for young arms still trying to establish themselves. [Read more 🡒]
Former Twins Starter Is Back In Roster Limbo Again
Simeon Woods Richardson is back in an all-too-familiar spot after the Blue Jays designated the former Twins starter for assignment, a move that once again leaves his immediate big-league future unsettled. The right-hander had worked out of Torontos bullpen this season, making eight relief appearances and logging a 3.93 ERA over 18.1 innings, a brief stretch that kept him on the roster but never fully settled his role.
For Minnesota fans, it is another reminder of a pitcher whose career has already taken plenty of turns since he was originally drafted by the Mets and later spent time with the Twins before heading back to Toronto. Now the question is whether another team sees enough in his arm to claim him, or whether he is headed into another round of roster limbo while the Blue Jays sort out their next move. [Read more 🡒]