Takeaways from MLB Week 19
The careers of two huge names in baseball, the Texas Rangers' Prince Fielder and New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, came to their respective conclusions this week.
Qualifying the careers of both will certainly be a popular topic in baseball circles over the coming weeks.
But with much still to be determined in the 2016 season, other storylines continued to percolate. What teams and players made headlines this week?
Prince Fielder, A-Rod Retire
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The Texas Rangers’ Prince Fielder and New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez have this much in common: Statistically, they will be regarded as two of the best sluggers of their respective eras.
But as the two announced their retirements this week, it was clear qualifying the careers of both players would take divergent paths.
The affable Fielder was forced to retire after his second spinal fusion surgery when doctors told him he could no longer play baseball. He finished his career with a slash line of .283/.382/.506 with 319 homers and 1,028 RBI over 12 MLB seasons. He was voted to six All-Star teams and won three Silver Slugger Awards. “What if” will largely qualify his career, as injuries robbed Fielder, 32, of his last few prime years.
In an emotional press conference Wednesday, Fielder reminded reporters that he had spent time around baseball clubhouses since he was a kid. His dad, Cecil Fielder, played 13 MLB seasons.
Rodriguez’s numbers are certainly worthy of first-ballot Hall of Fame induction: Over 22 MLB seasons he hit .295/.380/.550 with 696 homers and 2,086 RBI.
But he’ll likely be remembered more as one of the poster boys for the game’s steroid era. Rodriguez admitted to using steroids during his three-year stint with the Texas Rangers and was suspended for his alleged involvement in the Biogenesis scandal.
He has been a sideshow during the latter part of his career, even in its waning days. Leading up to Friday’s game, he complained to ESPN.com’s Andrew Marchand that Yankees manager Joe Girardi denied his request to play third base. Because why wouldn’t Girardi allow Rodriguez to play third? Friday is all about Rodriguez. It’s not as if the Yankees are trying to win (sarcasm).
Tim Tebow Announces His Intention to Pursue a Baseball Career
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The odyssey of Florida Gators football star and failed NFL quarterback Tim Tebow seems to continually garner headlines. Or, depending on how you look at his most recent proclamation, makes every attempt at grabbing them.
Tebow announced his intention to pursue a baseball career Tuesday, stating he would be holding a workout for all 30 MLB teams.
It’s fair to question whether MLB teams would consider Tebow if he were a no-name football player who just couldn’t cut it in the NFL.
But Tebow was an all-state baseball player at Allen D. Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, before electing to play college football, so it’s fair to say that he was on scouts' radars. Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller detailed earlier this week that there was interest in drafting Tebow at one point.
Given that Tebow has not played competitive baseball since his high school junior season in 2004, when he hit .494, the odds are not in his favor.
Tebow has been a broadcaster for ESPN’s college football coverage since his NFL career ended in 2012. It seems like every offseason since, though, there has been some rumor of his return to football.
Such news not only came as a surprise, but it might mark the end of Tebow’s football pursuits.
Cardinals' Matt Holliday Fractures His Thumb
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An already difficult season for St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday was made worse Thursday when he fractured his right thumb in an 11-inning loss to the Chicago Cubs.
As of this writing, it was unclear how long the Cardinals expected Holliday to be out.
The 2016 season has been a rough one for Holliday, who is only hitting .242/.318/.450, by far the worst numbers of his 13-year MLB career. From 2005-2010 Holliday had six straight seasons—parts of which were spent with the Colorado Rockies, Oakland A’s and Cardinals—in which he hit over .300.
Since then Holliday has had one season in which he has hit .300, but he remains a viable power threat in the St. Louis lineup—one that the team will miss as it chases down the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins for an NL Wild Card spot. The Cardinals hold second place in the NL Central but are 14 games back of the division-leading Cubs.
Holliday has 19 homers and 60 RBI while hitting third in the St. Louis lineup in 86 games this season.
The injury comes at a time when Holliday is playing his best baseball of the season. Through 10 games in August, he has hit .306/.405/.444.
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Marlins Elect to Skip Ace Jose Fernandez in the Rotation
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In a move that’s clearly aimed to preserve the promising future of the Miami Marlins organization, the team announced that it would skip ace Jose Fernandez’s turn in the rotation Sunday.
Fernandez has been among the NL’s best pitchers this season and owns one of the best young arms in the game. He ranks second in MLB with 198 strikeouts and is averaging 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings, baseball’s best mark. He also has a 2.81 ERA.
But Fernandez underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014, so the organization is being careful to limit the innings placed on the 24-year-old starter.
The Sun-Sentinel’s Craig Davis reported that Miami set an innings limit of 185 for Fernandez in spring training. He has pitched 137.2 innings so far in 2016.
Assuming that’s a hard cap, the team is wise to extend Fernandez’s season as much as possible. Sunday’s game comes against a beatable White Sox team with no chance of making the playoffs.
It’s more important to have Fernandez available for games later in the season against the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, two teams that are also vying for NL Wild Card spots.
The Marlins currently hold one of the NL’s two wild cards.
Cubs Riding an 11-Game Winning Streak
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There hasn’t been a single day this season in which the Chicago Cubs have not held at least a share of first place in the NL Central. And the team has laid claim to first place every day since April 11.
Currently riding a 11-game winning streak, it doesn’t appear that will change during the remaining two months of the regular season. By virtue of its win over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, Chicago lengthened its division lead to 14 games.
The team has only allowed six runs over its last four games. Cubs starters have earned the decision in eight of the 11 games. During the streak, the team has scored 59 runs.
Chicago has a chance to further extend its division league this weekend when the team plays the final two games of its four-game set with St. Louis.
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