Detroit Tigers starter Tarik Skubal is well on his way to winning the American League Cy Young and Kansas City Royals catcher Sal Pérez got an up close look at why it feels like a foregone conclusion.
As the two American League Central rivals faced off Friday in Detroit, Skubal had Pérez down 1-2 in the count to start the sixth inning when he fired an 88 mile-per-hour changeup that trailed away from the plate.
The pitch completely fooled Pérez, who whiffed through the middle of the zone and instantly came up laughing as he walked back to the dugout. Even better, Pérez was mic’d up, giving us the audio of the lighthearted moment:
“Good pitch,” Perez chuckled. “You strike me out a lot.”
The catcher and his Royals teammates had the last laugh, however, winning 9-2 and handing Skubal just his fourth loss on the season. Pérez even took Skubal deep in the second inning for good measure, but it sure seems like there’s more of a friendship brewing here than a rivalry.
“He’s a really good hitter, one of the best catchers to ever do it,” Skubal told reporters after the game. “And my interactions that I had with him over the All-Star break were pretty cool. To have that moment with him, I don’t know if he thinks it’s special because obviously he struck out, but I think he had a good day off me overall. It was pretty cool, though.”
Salvador Perez’s incredible chase of the single-season home run record for a catcher has essentially been the lone reason to watch the Kansas City Royals this year. The Royals are out of playoff contention and well into a long rebuild. So, you’d think that Perez’s pursuit of the record would dominate every Royals broadcast.
Think again.
Perez went into Monday’s doubleheader tied with Johnny Bench with 45 home runs, and that historic moment would finally come in the fifth inning when the All-Star catcher launched a two-run home run to left field off Cleveland’s Triston McKenzie.
It was the kind of moment that every broadcaster looks forward to being a part of, which made it especially strange to hear Royals announcers Rex Hudler and Ryan Lefebvre completely ignore the historic nature of that home run.
A friendly bet between former Royals teammates had Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady trading jabs on Twitter.
A friendly bet between former Kansas City Royals teammates has Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady exchanging jabs on social media.
Former Royals outfielder Brett Phillips was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2020 MLB season. A native of Seminole, Florida, Phillips grew up a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So when the Kansas City Chiefs faced his team in Super Bowl LV, Phillips made a friendly bet over the outcome with his former teammate, Royals catcher Salvador Perez.
Salvy paid off that bet ahead of the Royals’ first game against the Rays on Monday, wearing a Buccaneers Tom Brady jersey during batting practice.
“Patrick Mahomes is the best,” Perez said with a finger wag.
Tom Brady, being the social media guru that he is, had to fire back on the Royals’ tweet. He decided to hold the Super Bowl win over Mahomes’ head with his response.
Highlighting potential fantasy baseball busts you’ll need to avoid in your drafts for the 2020 MLB season.
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The 2020 fantasy baseball season will be one like never before and will require owners to have near-perfect drafts. Below, we call attention to the players most likely to be a bust in 2020 and who you should be avoiding in your fantasy baseball drafts.
There’ll be no time to wait on slow-starters and early-season slumps in the 60-game MLB season. This means it’ll be incredibly important to avoid a draft bust, particularly in the early rounds.
Mar 5, 2020; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Cleveland Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez. (Photo Credit: Matt Kartozian – USA TODAY Sports)
Jose Ramirez, 3B, Cleveland Indians
Here is where the term “bust” comes under scrutiny every year. By all means, draft Ramirez. He’s a fantastic player, but he won’t be worth a mid-second-round pick in 2020.
He has slashed .272/.347/.469 in the first half of the season for his career, compared to a .288/.356/.504 line in the second half – that split was even worse in 2019. Part of the problem is likely due to the cold March and April weather in Cleveland, but it’s also a sign he usually starts the year behind pitchers. There’s no time for that in a 60-game season.
Mitch Garver, C, Minnesota Twins
Garver crushed 31 home runs in just 93 games and 359 plate appearances for the Twins last year. He did it with a .357 ISO and 29.0% home run to fly ball ratio compared to his .146 and 8.0% marks across 103 games in 2018.
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Salvador Perez, C, Kansas City Royals
Perez’s start to the season is already in jeopardy after testing positive for COVID-19. Though he’s asymptomatic, he’s also recovering from a season lost to an elbow injury. Expect a serious power decline from his 27-home run seasons of 2017 and 2018.
Mallex Smith, OF, Seattle Mariners
Smith offers little fantasy value outside of his great contributions in the stolen bases category. He’s also another poor starter with a career .629 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) in March and April.
Jon Berti, IF/OF, Miami Marlins
Berti is viewed by some as a sleeper this season after stealing 17 bases in 73 games last season. He struck out in 25.4% of his plate appearances, walked in just 8.4% and can’t get on base consistently enough to contribute at the same pace in the shortened campaign. He had a .273 batting average in 2019, but it was mainly the result of an inflated .360 BABIP (batting average on balls in play).
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Josh Hader, RP, Milwaukee Brewers
Hader is one example of the high-priced closers to fade this season, along with the saves category. There’ll be fewer opportunities in the unpredictable season as teams use less-defined pitcher roles. The mid-round pick isn’t worth leaving better and more predictable hitters on the board.
German Marquez, SP, Colorado Rockies
Two factors work against Marquez. He’ll play 30 of his 60 games in the hitter-friendly Coors Field, where he has a career 5.01 ERA compared to a 3.72 mark on the road, and he has also performed best in the second half of the season. Owners won’t be able to sit through those rough starts this season.
Zac Gallen, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Gallen was viewed as a favorite sleeper target by many back in March. He pitched to a stellar 2.81 ERA, but 4.15 xFIP across 15 starts and 80 innings in 2019. He won’t have the necessary time to develop in his shortened sophomore season and can’t be expected to pick up right where he left off.
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