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Juan Soto hit three big round numbers at once last night. Also: Ken on the Tigers’ rise, José Altuve showed an umpire his entire bare foot and the Brewers are close to October. I am Levi Weberhere with Ken Rosenthal — Welcome to The Windup!
Milestones: Soto reaches No. 200
It’s always nice when baseball becomes poetic.
Before last night, Juan Soto had hit a home run in 29 of the 30 MLB stadiums. The only one without a check mark: T-Mobile Park in Seattle, which is not exactly known as a hitter’s paradise.
He also had 199 home runs in his career, including 39 that season. ✔️✔️and ✔️.
The 200/40/30 hit came in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 11-2 win in, yes, Seattle. Here are a few interesting facts about it:
- At 25 years and 328 days, Soto became the seventh-youngest player in MLB history to hit 200 home runs (the youngest: Mel Ott, 25 years and 144 days).
- Soto and Aaron Judge (53 home runs) were only the third Yankees duo to hit more than 40 home runs in a season. The last to do so were Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961. Before that? Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, who did it in 1927, 1930 and 1931.
- Soto is the third active player to hit a home run in all 30 parks. The other two? Manny Machado and his Yankees teammate Giancarlo Stanton.
- Of the other eight players to hit their 200th home run at age 25 or younger, seven – Ott, Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Eddie Mathews, Frank Robinson, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout – did so with their first team. Only Alex Rodriguez (who signed with Texas after hitting 189 home runs with Seattle) did so with a second team. Soto (Nationals, Padres, Yankees) is on his third.
Ken’s notebook: The Tigers’ next step is the difficult part
Out of my latest column:
This is the moment that management should find invigorating, but too often dreads. The worst of the defeats are over. The team is on the rise. But now things are getting tougher. Expectations are rising. Scrutiny is getting more intense. Salaries are rising – or at least they should be – which increases the possibility of costly mistakes.
The Detroit Tigers are approaching that turning point, battling for a wild card with a stunning second-half resurgence that surprised nearly the entire industry. The team has an intriguing young core, with salary commitments for 2025 coming in at a relatively paltry $38.8 million. This offseason, the addition of a top starter, corner infield support, and more strikeout ability in the bullpen could move the team closer to the next great era of Tigers baseball.
That’s not to say the Tigers should do anything foolish; the last thing they need is another Javy Báez. They’re recovering largely because President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris has remained disciplined in his decisions. Harris, entering his second full season, doesn’t have to be as desperate as the Kansas City Royals, who had to wait for a turnaround after losing 106 games last year. And he won’t want to become one of the Cincinnati Reds, who spent more than $100 million on free agents last offseason to add to their young, talented roster – and who appear to be headed for a sub-.500 finish.
Adding proven veterans to “take the next step” is often difficult, simply because so much can go wrong. The risk was much lower for the Tigers last offseason. The players Harris signed — pitchers Jack Flaherty, Kenta Maeda, Shelby Miller and Andrew Chafin, outfielder Mark Canha and third baseman Gio Urshela — were meant to help rebuild, buy time for young players, increase trade value or both. Flaherty was the only clear gain. Maeda joined Báez as a sunk cost; the two make up the bulk of the team’s 2025 salary commitments.
The mindset has to be different this winter. The Tigers’ free agent selection should help the team compete for the AL Central title. Christian Walker could be at first base. Alex Bregman could be at third base. Nathan Eovaldi could be for the rotation, Tanner Scott for the bullpen. Harris can think of the names later. But with Tarik Skubal, the favorite for the AL Cy Young Award, under the club’s control for just two more seasons, it’s time to get going.
More Here.
Sole search: Shoeless Jo(s)e
I have seen many baseball games in my life, but I have never seen this:
Jose Altuve took off his sock and shoe to show the referee that he had fouled the ball with his foot…
He was thrown out immediately 🤯😅
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) 18 September 2024
It’s amazing when you take it out of context, but no less amazing with Context, so let’s get into it.
The Astros were already excited because, after scoring a run on a wild pitch in the eighth inning to take a 3-2 lead over San Diego, they brought in former Padre Josh Hader for a rare save after four outs.
Hader immediately caused a long delay by coming off the mound, which home plate umpire Brennan Miller missed, prompting him to call a pitch clock violation. They finally got it under control, and then Hader promptly threw a run-scoring wild pitch of his own to make it 3-3.
In the ninth inning, with two outs and a runner on second base, Altuve hit a bouncer to third base but never left the box, insisting he fouled the ball off his foot. The replay showed nothing conclusive enough to overturn the decision, so the decision stood: inning over.
Then Altuve did something unprecedented. The man who famously didn’t let his teammates take off his jersey, voluntarily and of his own accord took off his sock and shoe and showed the referee his entire bare foot.
HE. THIS GUY. HE HAD ROAST BEEF. THIS IS THE GUY WHO HAD ROAST BEEF.
THAT OTHER GUY? HE DIDN’T HAVE ONE. HE DIDN’T HAVE ANY. https://t.co/1d6JkQmGU8
— Grant Brisbee (@GrantBrisbee) 18 September 2024
Miller took one look and decided almost immediately, “Nope.” I can’t stop laughing about it. Note: You may Show the referee some shoe polish. You can’t take it off.
The Astros won 4-3, however. Ironically, the game ended when Grae Kessinger (who replaced Altuve and later scored the game-winning run) made a brilliant play on a Manny Machado bouncer with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Table overview: The Brewers could win tonight (or today!)
The Brewers had a chance to become the first team to win a division title last night. All they had to do was beat the Phillies and the A’s beat the Cubs and it would be a done deal.
They managed the latter – Oakland won 4-3 – but they could not quite defeat Zack Wheeler (seven innings, one run) and lost 5-1 to Philadelphia.
They still have a chance tonight, but they may have clinched the division by then. The A’s and Cubs are playing an afternoon game in Chicago that should be decided before first pitch in Milwaukee. If the Cubs lose, the Brewers will enter as NL Central champions.
If it happens – today, tonight or in the coming days – it will put the finishing touches on one of the most remarkable upsets of the season. Here are a few predictions from opening week (I apologize to the authors for these comments):
Even Las Vegas underestimated them, setting the over/under odds for wins at 78.5 (though the module in this story was updated to 88.5 in late July). Now Milwaukee is on the verge of becoming the first team to win a division title.
Shohei Ohtani 50-50 Tracker 👀
Ohtani hit his 48th home run of the season last night.
- Home runs: 48
- Stolen bases: 48
Tyler Kepner has a great story to tell today. He talks to former major league players who either hit 50 home runs in a season or stole 50 bases in a season. They all agree: This is superhuman stuff.
Handshakes and high fives
Dennis Lin solves a mystery! Who is that on the front of the Jackson Merrill baseball card? It’s not Merrill.
In a Dodgers rotation with so many injury concerns, Bobby Miller is probably healthy. He also has the worst ERA in baseball (minimum 50 innings).
Last night may have been Lance Lynn’s last home start for the Cardinals. He did well.
Jim Bowden has identified an indispensable but under-the-radar player for every contending team.
On the podcast: Guest star Whit Merrifield talked about penalties for pitchers who hit batters in the head. He calls for immediate ejections, fines and increased penalties.
AL Wildcard Check-in: The Tigers beat the No. 2 wild-card Royals (again) 3-1, but the Twins remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the third and final wild-card spot after a 4-1 win over the Guardians. The Orioles (first wild-card team) continued their recent losing streak, losing 10-0 to the Giants.
NL Wildcard Check-in: The Mets keep winning, beating the Nats 10-1. The Braves lost 6-5 to the Reds, putting New York two games ahead of the last wild card spot. The Padres (first) and Diamondbacks (second) lost.
Most clicked in yesterday’s newsletter: This week’s Power Rankings, which include each team’s top individual award candidates.
Correction: We mistakenly identified the Tigers co-commentator in yesterday’s windup – it was Andy Dirks.
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(Top photo: Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images)
