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The Houston Astros are once again alive and well in the AL West the,houston,astros,are,once,again,alive,and,well,in,the,al,west,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb

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It wasn’t all that long ago when I was using this space to talk about how the Houston Astros had yet to really lift off this season and were spinning their wheels in the mud. With most of their rotation dropping left-and-right and their hitters underperforming while combined with the strong start from the Seattle Mariners, it was getting to the point where there were already rumors that the Astros could be considering selling once they got to the trade deadline. It was that rough.

Well, here we are a month later and all of a sudden the questions have changed. Instead of wondering whether or not the Astros are going to fall off and start selling, the question now is whether or not the Mariners can hang on to what was once the largest divisional lead in the AL West. Houston has gone 20-10 over their last 30 games and are now three games over .500 and right in the thick of things in the playoff race while Seattle has gone 16-14 in their last 30 and 3-7 in their last 10 to be specific.

As a result of this sudden change in fortune, the Astros are now only two games behind the Mariners in the AL West and FanGraphs’ Playoff Odds reflect this as well — Houston now has a 60 percent chance of making the Postseason with a 45 percent shot at winning the division again. This is after the Astros finished June 5 with a 40 percent chance of returning to the playoffs with only a 24 percent shot at winning the division. The Astros are even being given more of a shot to end up with a first-round bye (10 percent) than the Mariners currently are (8.3 percent). The boogeyman of this division is well and truly alive once again, to the point where the word “destiny” is being bandied about around here.

So what’s behind this sudden shift in form for both teams? Part of this can be attributed to the natural ebb-and-flow of the long marathon that is baseball’s regular season but at the same time, for things to change this quickly for both teams is still a bit whiplash-inducing. Usually it takes a while to see a shift like this and maybe it would warrant more attention had this shift happened in say, September instead of in June and July. With that being said, it’s still very fascinating to see just how quickly the Astros managed to turn things around and conversely it’s a bit concerning to see this getting away from the Mariners like it appears to be.

The fuel that’s been propelling the Astros back towards the top of the AL West has been the fact that their offense has stepped up their game. I mentioned that the offense wasn’t the reason why they were struggling last month but there was still room for improvement for Houston when it came to hitting the ball. Unsurprisingly, Houston’s lineup did eventually revitalize itself and has been hitting .274/.329/.445 as a collective since June 1. Additionally, they’ve put together a .335 wOBA and a team wRC+ of 119 since the start of June, which is tied for the seventh-best number in all of baseball during that period.

The main man pushing Houston’s revitalization has been Yordan Álvarez, who has absolutely unleashed fury upon opposing pitchers since the start of last month. For the season, Yordan has 2.8 fWAR — however, he’s produced 2.0 of that fWAR since June 1 alone. Álvarez has been hitting .366/.466/.796 since that aforementioned date with a wOBA of .513, 10 home runs over 118 plate appearances and a wRC+ of 240. Folks, that’s Gunnar Henderson territory. Shoot, that’s Aaron Judge territory. It also helps that the usual suspects like José Altuve (152 wRC+ since June 1) and Alex Bregman (128 wRC+ in that same span) have stepped up and are hitting like most baseball observers would expect them to do so. The Astros are a tough team to deal with at the plate but that’s always been the case since their rebuild from the mid-2010s started to pay off.

What makes this return to form for Houston’s offense so impressive is that it’s happening without Kyle Tucker. Tucker went on the IL with a shin contusion back in early June and to let you know just how rough things were going for the rest of the Astros, he’s missed every game since June 3 and he’s still Houston’s leader in On-Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, wOBA, xwOBA and wRC+ and he’s also still the joint leader in home runs and joint-second place in stolen bases.

Tucker has been the best player in the lineup for the Astros this season and losing him could’ve been a death knell for Houston’s lineup if the rest of the Astros continued to limp along at the plate. Instead, players have been stepping their game up left-and-right in Tucker’s absence and now Astros fans are surely dreaming of what this lineup will look like once Tucker returns and gets this offense working at full strength again.

Houston’s pitching during this span has been intriguing to say the least. This should definitely be the position that is weighing down the Astros since they’ve lost two of their starters for the season and have another one who is currently on the shelf and could potentially lose out on their vesting option in 2025. Instead, the Astros have kind of just kept it pushing in that regard and Hunter Brown’s performances since June 1 has somewhat reflected what the Astros have done on the mound during that span.

As a staff since the start of June, the Astros have an incredible ERA- of 85 — tied for the third-best in all of baseball! Weirdly enough, Houston’s FIP- during that same span has been 104, which is clearly middle-of-the-road. Then you look at what Hunter Brown has been doing during that time and suddenly his ERA- of 25 and a FIP- of 73 since June 1 suddenly makes a little more sense. Combine his performance with Framber Valdez and Ronel Blanco doing their best to keep the rotation afloat and Houston’s rotation is definitely coming together to produce something that’s greater than the sum of their parts at the moment. They’re making it happen and their return to the good side of .500 has made that clear.

While it’s not exactly time to say that the Astros are “back,” they’re absolutely alive and definitely kicking again. General Manager Dana Brown’s faith in his squad is being repaid and suddenly his confidence that Houston would be buying at the deadline is looking clairvoyant instead of simply being the right thing to say in GM-speak. While it’s never really wise to call time on any team’s season during the first half, this is also a bit of a reminder that when it comes to teams like the Astros, the time to count them out doesn’t come until they’ve actually been mathematically eliminated.

Speaking of GM’s, the onus is now on Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto to help revive the Mariners. While their pitching staff is doing just fine, it is plainly obvious that Seattle needs hitting. With guys like Julio Rodriguez, Jorge Polanco, J.P. Crawford, Mitch Haniger and even the “Big Dumper” himself Cal Raleigh all currently doing some serious underperforming at the plate, their lineup needs multiple sparks and they need it in the worst way. Seattle’s pitching should still be good enough to help keep them in the playoff conversation but if they keep struggling at the plate like they have, it won’t be long before the boogeyman from Space City catches them for good.

Elly De La Cruz and Oneil Cruz are must-see TV elly,de,la,cruz,and,oneil,cruz,are,must,see,tv,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb,dot-com-grid-coverage

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If you’re surveying the baseball landscape for games to watch, I have a pretty good idea of how the process should go for tonight. If your favorite team is playing well, you’re probably going to watch them first. Other than that, if you’re going to pay attention to any baseball game that doesn’t involve your favorite team for the next couple of days then your eyes should be locked in for what’s going on in Cincinnati this week.

At first glance, a matchup between two 37-41 teams in what is collectively the most mediocre division in baseball doesn’t seem like much to write home about. It’s especially the case when you consider that the Cincinnati Reds have only been to the Postseason four times since 2010 and won a grand total of two games in those appearances while the Pittsburgh Pirates only made it three years in a row from 2013 through 2015 and also won a grand total of two playoff games during that span. There hasn’t been much of a reason to pay attention to these two clubs and they haven’t really given anybody a real reason to pay attention to them outside of the occasional insane-looking brawl.

That changes this week, as we’ve now got two very good reasons to tune in to this series: Elly De La Cruz and Oneil Cruz. One of my favorite things about baseball is that despite the everyday nature of the sport, there’s always a chance that if you tune in or go to the ballpark then you’re going to see something that you’ve never seen before. It’s true for any game, it’s especially true when any one of De La Cruz or Cruz is playing in the game and it only doubles when both of them are going to be sharing the same field for at least two-and-a-half hours for the next couple of nights.

While Elly’s exploits on the diamond have been widely documented right here on SB Nation, it’s somewhat understandable that Oneil Cruz’s action has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle when it comes to the Pirates. After all, Bryan Reynolds is still the face of the franchise over there, Andrew McCutchen has returned to wear the only uniform that he’s looked completely right in (outside of maybe these throwback Phillies uniforms) and Paul Skenes has exploded onto the MLB scene and has quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with on the mound. While this hasn’t translated to the Pirates winning ballgames on a regular basis, it’s not completely boring to keep up with the Pirates nowadays.

However, Oneil Cruz is absolutely worth paying attention to because his highlight reel consists of stuff that is scarcely believable at times. This is the guy who currently holds the record for the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast Era of MLB at 122.4 mph and used to hold the record for the hardest throw from an infielder during the Statcast Era with a 97.8 mph laser that he uncorked as a rookie back in 2022. His arm strength is in the 99th percentile. His bat speed is in the 100th percentile, which naturally means that his Average Exit Velocity is also comically high, his Barrel percentage is just as lofty and his Hard-Hit percentage is in the same neighborhood. While he’s not up there with the real burners in terms of foot speed, his 87th-percentile Sprint Speed seems to indicate that he still blaze across the basepaths if needed.

Cruz is still in the process of putting all of these facets together in order to become a truly great baseball player but his potential is right there for everybody to see. It’s very difficult to figure out who has a higher ceiling than than Cruz and it’s one of many reasons why he doesn’t just have Pirates fans excited about any progress that he can make. If Oneil Cruz can realize his full potential at some point, it’ll be essentially as if a fully maxed-out create-a-player from the video games has come to life.

Millions of baseball fans have always dreamed of somehow becoming a physical force of nature who could run like the wind, throw harder than some pitchers and hit dingers nearly 500 feet while basically leaving a mark on everything else he hits. The difference between aspirational video gamers and Oneil Cruz is that he has the real and tangible chance to actually become what was always figured to be a digital wild dream for most fans.

Speaking of players who have ceilings that are higher than the Empire State Building, that’s where Elly De La Cruz came in. While there’s debate as to whether or not Oneil Cruz is the top star for the Pittsburgh Pirates, there’s no debate when it comes to the situation in Cincinnati. Elly De La Cruz is the man around there — whether we’re talking name recognition, highlights or production, Elly has got it all in spades.

As I alluded to in the aforementioned links to other articles about Elly De La Cruz, the guy just appears to be a sentient highlight reel. You want tape-measure home runs? He’s got em. You want Web Gems that would’ve made him a staple on Baseball Tonight? He’s got those, too. You want to see him tear up the basepaths? He’s got you on that as well. You want to see him do it all in the process of terrorizing the Dodgers? It’s funny you should ask because there’s video evidence of that as well.

What makes it so gratifying to watch Elly De La Cruz do the things that he does on a nightly basis is that it was plainly obvious from the moment that he showed up in Major League Baseball that he was capable of becoming this type of player. However, just like Oneil Cruz right now, it was also evident that he still needed to put it all together. After all, you can do plenty of amazing things on the field but it won’t particularly matter all that much if you’re hitting .235/.300/.410 with a .305 wOBA and only 89 wRC+, which is what he finished with in 2023 after playing 98 games. Heading into action on June 25, De La Cruz is now hitting .249/.342/.464 with a .352 wOBA and a wRC+ of 123. It’s clicking for him even when he’s not doing anything spectacular and his team leading fWAR of 3.3 is also proof that he hasn’t sacrificed any other portion of his game in order to improve in another facet.

He’s still stealing bases at an absurd clip — he’s already surpassed his stolen base total of 35 last season, he’s currently sitting on 37 stolen bags and the sky is the limit when it comes to how high that number can get. His defense has also improved as he’s no longer simply leaning on his prodigious arm strength. He’s currently in 95th percentile of fielders with an OAA of 6. He’s steadily turning into a complete baseball player, which should be exciting for both Reds fans when it comes to potentially turning the ship around in Cincinnati and it’s also exciting for us neutral fans since that just means he’s capable of doing something truly absurd no matter if he’s hitting, fielding or running the bases. Stuff that was figured to be impossible in the past is just part of another day at the ballpark for Elly De La Cruz.

Elly De La Cruz and Oneil Cruz may not be miracle workers who can drag their respective teams to the promised land but they’re both doing more than their fair share of the work in making their respective teams fun to watch. While Oneil Cruz is still in the process of showing quick glimpses of his potential, we’re starting to see Elly De La Cruz fully blossom into a real-deal superstar in baseball. Both of them will be on the same field this week when the Pirates and Reds face off with each other in Cincinnati. While these two teams may not command your attention, these two players certainly should.

The ‘Gay Grimace’ Mets are the hottest team in baseball the,gay,grimace,mets,are,the,hottest,team,in,baseball,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb

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On June 12, the New York Mets’ entire season took a shift.

Entering the day eight games under .500 despite having the payroll of a world superpower, the Mets were struggling and on the brink of digging themselves into a hole that they couldn’t get themselves out of.

Then a hero came along. A purple blob of a hero.

After Grimace threw out the first pitch, the Mets have simply been one of the best teams in baseball. New York has been on a seven game win streak, including a come-from-behind victory over the defending champion Texas Rangers. Baseball players can be superstitious sometimes, but the Grimace-led vibes are something even Mets players can get behind.

This also comes in conjunction with the Mets celebrating Pride Month, and since posting the Pride flag and hosting Grimace, the Mets have been the hottest team in baseball.

It’s gotten to the point now where even McDonalds is in on the Grimace Mets.

Mets fans are loving it:

The Mets need to keep Grimace around for them to keep winning. If New York makes the playoffs, Grimace has to throw out the first pitch.

Baltimore Ravens’ new alternate helmets are awesome baltimore,ravens,new,alternate,helmets,are,awesome,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

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The teams wearing purple have been cooking this offseason when it comes to new colorways and helmets. First the Minnesota Vikings revealed their icy white jerseys, now the Baltimore Ravens unveiled a new alternate helmet they’ll wear with their purple jerseys, and they look AWESOME.

These helmets are super cool. I think the logo is actually pretty fun despite the ClipArt-ish look to it, but the true star of the show is the gold on the helmet mixed with the purple. Like, that’s unbelievably cool and it works so well together. The gold stripes going down the helmet help to highlight the gold face mask is super dope, and it ties in the gold on the numbers as well.

The Ravens haven’t unveiled when these helmets will be worn, but best believe that when they do wear them for the first time I’ll be there no matter what.

Derrick Henry and Ravens are match made in smash-mouth football heaven derrick,henry,and,ravens,are,match,made,in,smash,mouth,football,heaven,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

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When running back Derrick Henry signed with the Baltimore Ravens, it was immediately lauded as an extremely good choice. The powerful back is moving on from a storied career in Tennessee in hopes of finally winning a title with a Ravens team that is consistently on the brink of a breakthrough.

It’s fairly simple on the surface why this signing will work out for Baltimore: QB Lamar Jackson plus Henry in the run game equals instant success, right? However, there’s even more to it that I think makes this signing have the potential to elevate the Ravens’ offense to a new level.

***

In the offseason, the Ravens lost RB Gus Edwards to free agency. Edwards was the hammer of the Raven’s run game, taking most of the carries between the tackles with Jackson and Keaton Mitchell (pre-injury) provided the lightning and explosion in the offense. According to Sports Information Solutions, Edwards led all ballcarriers on runs in between the tackles, and was second on the team in Positive Play Rate. Edwards ability to simply always fall forward kept the offense humming and allowed the Ravens to singles and doubles, as well as home runs.

Now that Edwards is on the Chargers, the Ravens needed someone who could keep the run game on track while keeping hits off of Jackson. Enter Henry, one of the better between the tackles runners in the entire NFL. Henry’s ability to get downhill and make life difficult for second level defenders is going to play perfectly with Jackson and Mitchell’s big play ability in the backfield.

Although when Henry takes snaps in the backfield for Baltimore, they’ll probably see even more loaded boxes than they did in the previous season. Last year, Baltimore finished second in the NFL in rushing attempts into a box with seven or more defenders and finished fifth in Positive Play Rate. Gus Edwards took most of those carries with him to Los Angeles, but in 2023 Henry had the most carries in the league into loaded boxes behind a Tennessee offensive line that was poor for most of the season, but behind a much better line in Baltimore, he should be able to be more effective than he was in 2023.

Where the rubber really hits the road for the Ravens and Henry is with their use of the pistol offense in 2023. With more offenses wanting to run traditional under center run game stuff like duo and counter, but still wanting to have RPOs built into the offense with a mobile QB like Jackson. I believe NFL offenses are going to start leaning more into the pistol offense in 2024, and that’s going to really benefit the Ravens and Henry. Henry led the NFL in under center rushing attempts, and while that’s something the Ravens don’t exactly major in (28th in the NFL in total under center rushing attempts), Henry and Edwards both were near the top of the NFL in snaps from the pistol, which is a great blend of both their skills.

The Ravens ran a lot of power and counter out of the pistol, a great way to get backs downhill in a hurry without sacrificing the RPO or shotgun diet of most offenses today. Edwards was really good at getting downhill out of pistol, not wasting any time and getting right into the gaps to keep the offense humming.

While both the Titans and the Ravens ran a lot of the pistol offense on the ground, what they ran out of this formation was a bit different. The Titans were big on running duo out of pistol, a staple of that part of their offense. It really worked with Henry because when you give Henry a runway, he can build up that speed and power and become more of a force. Tennessee did run counter out of pistol as a changeup, though, and you can see where Henry fits within the meshing of this part of the Raven’s offensive game.

What Henry brings to this offense is essentially a super version of what Gus Edwards brought to Baltimore: tough inside running and the ability to win in the red zone. Among all players with 20 or more carries in the red area, Henry was ninth in the NFL in Positive Play Rate. Combining his physicality with Jackson’s ability as a runner will make the Ravens more dangerous there, a scary thought for opposing defenses.

What Baltimore will have to do is continue to monitor Henry’s carries to keep him fresh for those early down and red zone opportunities. This is where Justice Hill and hopefully a healthy Keaton Mitchell comes into play. While Henry isn’t a guy who will carry a team to victory anymore, where Baltimore can really use him as the thunder to everyone else’s lightning.

And that’s some thunder I wouldn’t want to get in front of.

The Carolina Panthers are hurtling towards threats of relocation the,carolina,panthers,are,hurtling,towards,threats,of,relocation,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

The Carolina Panthers are hurtling towards threats of relocation thecarolinapanthersarehurtlingtowardsthreatsofrelocationsbnationcomfront pagenfldraftkings
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All is not well with the Carolina Panthers, and it has nothing to do with recent years of putrid performance. Charlotte City Council will hear statements from the public on Monday about whether or not taxpayers believe $650M in revenue should be given to Tepper Sport Entertainment (TSE) to renovate Bank of America Stadium as part of a $1.3B proposal to upgrade the home of the Panthers.

Over 60 percent of residents polled disagree with the proposal, which would exchange the $650M for a 20-year guarantee that the team would not relocate from Charlotte. This “guarantee” gives TSE a 15-year out to leave in 2039 and pay “any outstanding debt” in exchange for the move.

It’s the latest in a back-and-forth between North Carolina residents and David Tepper, who has seemingly done everything in his power to become the most-disliked man in professional sports since purchasing the Panthers in 2018. While there’s little doubt some good has come from Tepper’s time, like the establishment of Charlotte FC in MLS and turning the stadium into a large-scale concert venue, he’s also alienated the public time and time again by making seemingly unnecessary changes that forsake tradition in name of the bottom line.

These changes include:

  • Moving training camp from Spartanburg, South Carolina — which allowed lower-income fans to see the team in person, to the center of Charlotte on Panthers property to transform camp into more of a money-making venue, alienating fans.
  • Removing natural grass from Bank of America Stadium and replacing it with field turf, much to the chagrin of players and fans.
  • A plan to move Panthers headquarters to Rock Hill, South Carolina — which was seen as a positive move, only to have Tepper back out mid-construction and become embroiled in a legal battle with the county.
  • Rumors of exploratory conversations with neighboring Kannapolis to build the stadium, if Charlotte didn’t play ball.

In short: There’s been myriad examples of why people should be wary of any deal involving Tepper that promises it will be better for them — because ultimately everything that has transpired since 2018 has only been better for David Tepper.

Where the current proposal falls short

There has been a lot of mistrust around Bank of America Stadium itself. Completed in 1996, the stadium is not yet 30 years old — but there has been a back-and-forth on whether what level of renovation the stadium actually needs.

Fans anticipated that any redesign for the stadium would include either a full or partial dome, which would allow for the city to host a Super Bowl, as well as other clear-cut amenities for fans. Instead the first stage of the revamp (and the only guaranteed changes) are largely superfluous, outside of restrooms.

There are legitimate questions why this first stage is set to cost over $650M, without really offering much to fans. It’s the Panthers’ argument that funds they’re looking for are already earmarked for tourism and development anyway, but new bathrooms and a video board doesn’t make the team more of a destination.

Essentially we’re seeing some basic infrastructure being pitched as a tourism improvement, with the veiled threat being that if these aren’t delivered then there’s no guarantee the Panthers will stay in Charlotte.

The majority of the changes people actually want come in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 development plans, both of which are at the whim of Tepper and the Panthers. There’s a very real possibility none of the most exciting elements of the redesign are realized — with taxpayers being on the hook for upfits they don’t really want.

Meanwhile, the $677M of public funds could be spent on a variety of tourism-centric public works that drastically improve the city, such as museums, public transportation, and a long-proposed rain line from Charlotte Douglas Airport — all of which would likely garner much more tourism than these changes for the Panthers.

Could the team really move over this?

Yes, absolutely. However, as we’ve seen in more recent NFL arguments over public funding it’s less about mammoth moves to different regions — and more about threats to move from outside city limits and into neighboring suburbs.

Ultimately it’s simple about finding a sucker to fit the bill, and there’s been no shortage of suckers in local government (especially outside of major cities) willing to fund pet projects for billionaires at taxpayer expense. In the case of the Panthers it would likely mean a move to wealthy neighboring areas in either North or South Carolina, both of which are part of the Charlotte suburban area.

In the grand scheme of things this would mean little to the NFL as a whole, but have a mammoth impact on the perception of the Panthers locally, who have called Uptown Charlotte home since the team’s inception.

Relocation for the Panthers has always been a risk. Tepper is the wealthiest individual owner in the NFL with a net worth of $20.6B. It would be peanuts for him to pay a relocation fee and exit the entire region if that’s what he wants, and there would be no shortage of other states willing to become the suckers to gain an NFL team.

The first salvo will be fired on Monday as the public voices their concerns. Ultimately this will help shape whether Charlotte City Council agrees to give the Panthers money, or rejects their overtures. If this funding falls through then the escalation will continue, and there’s no doubt talks of moving will be on the cards.