Our first look at new looks. Plus: Have you heard about the Lombard brothers?
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It was baseball’s annual fashion show: New players in new uniforms. And that was just the beginning of the post-deadline shuffle around the league.
Plus: The Lombard brothers debuted in lock step, and we check in on this week’s Power Rankings. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!
New Debuts: Skubal’s stout showing ends in loss
These days, if I wanted to, I could put Babe Ruth in a Savannah Bananas uniform with just a few keystrokes — I don’t want to, and please don’t ask me to. But in the old days, before AI, Photoshop and Instagram, the week after the trade deadline was fans’ first chance to see traded players in their new uniforms.
That magic is kinda gone, but we still got a few team debuts last night, including the biggest name of this year’s deadline. Let’s check in on a few key performances:
Tarik Skubal, Dodgers: 6 innings, 4 hits, 2 ER, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
That’s a perfectly acceptable line against the Cubs, a top-three offense, even if it did include a Dansby Swanson home run. But Javier Assad and Chicago’s bullpen — including new reliever Ryan Zeferjahn, who threw a 1-2-3 eighth inning — were even better, and the Cubs won 5-1. The Dodgers (69-45) have now lost five straight. It’s not very “ruining baseball” of them, if you ask me.
Freddy Peralta, Rays: 3 2/3 innings, 9 hits, 7 ER, walk, 3 strikeouts
Well, coming from the Mets, Peralta hasn’t been fixed by the Rays yet.
Liam Hicks, Rays: 2-for-5, HR, double, walk, run, 4 RBIs
Maybe the 27-year-old catcher isn’t the third-biggest name on this list, but Hicks — acquired from the Marlins — had the best debut with his new team. Hicks hit a grand slam in the third inning. The Rays needed all of it; after Peralta’s third-inning implosion, it took the Rays two runs in the 11th inning to pick up a 9-7 win over the Rockies.
Luis Arraez, Phillies: 2-for-4, double, 2 RBIs
Arraez hit cleanup — aka, fourth — in his Phillies debut, something he did just 38 times in his 891 career starts. It paid off, though, and he made an immediate impact in Philly. In a bizarre bit of deja vú, Arraez’s first two at-bats both came after Trea Turner singles followed by Bryce Harper walks. Arraez singled in the first inning and doubled in the third; the Phillies rode it to a 5-0 win over the Nats. New reliever Caleb Kilian followed eight shutout innings by Jesús Luzardo and allowed one hit, striking out two in a scoreless ninth.
Jo Adell, Guardians: 2-for-4, double, walk, run
Adell, acquired from the Angels and one of three new arrivals in Cleveland, also singled and doubled in his first two at-bats with his new team, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Mets, who beat the Guardians 6-2. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Lowe entered the game as a pinch-hitter and went 0-for-2. Foster Griffin didn’t start yesterday, but he — along with Adell and Lowe — spoke to Zack Meisel upon arrival.
Heliot Ramos, Yankees: 0-for-4
Ramos’ Yankees debut wasn’t nearly as fun as Luis Garcia Jr.’s — García’s first hit as a Yankee was a home run on Monday night — but the Yankees still beat the Cardinals 2-0 yesterday. (There was another Yankees debut of a different sort in this one, but we’ll get into that in a minute.) New Cardinals reliever Caleb Ferguson pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in the loss, giving up one hit and striking out one.
Middle Relief: Post-deadline Power Rankings
Houston made the biggest jump in this week’s post-deadline Power Rankings, but that was more about the 12-2 run that has vaulted them into the AL West division lead. Here’s an excerpt featuring our Nos. 16 and 17 teams, the Astros and Twins, respectively.
Houston Astros
Record: 59-56
Last Power Ranking: 22
The Astros entered Tuesday in first place in a division that no club seems willing to capture. They made only one major addition at the deadline. Daulton Varsho should improve the team’s outfield defense. But general manager Dana Brown could find no help for the starting rotation. Their best hope for reaching the postseason relies upon the continued bumbling of the Mariners and the Rangers. — Andy McCullough
Minnesota Twins
Record: 56-58
Last Power Ranking: 20
A year after a fire sale of epic proportions, the Twins found themselves buying at the deadline, adding leverage relievers to improve a bullpen that ranked among the league’s worst in multiple categories. At the same time, the Twins wouldn’t be dealing from their prospect pool for relievers if they kept the players they dealt last year. Is a collection of A.J. Minter, Jeff Hoffman and Tommy Nance better than Griffin Jax, Jhoan Duran and Louis Varland? Sure, it’s a Twins team with Taj Bradley and Kendry Rojas, but it’s also a Twins team that dealt their fifth-best prospect, as ranked by The Athletic’s Keith Law, for the enigma that is Hoffman. — Johnny Flores, Jr.
For the rest of the Power Rankings, click here.
Lombard Brothers: Familial coincidence or sibling sorcery?
Not long after the deadline passed, we learned the Yankees were sending Anthony Volpe to Triple A and calling up 21-year-old top infield prospect George Lombard Jr. to make his big-league debut last night.
At his first at-bat, batting eighth, he grounded out to third base. But in the fifth inning, George got his second chance and hit a solo home run to drive in the second run of a 2-0 win over the Cardinals. He also made a couple of nice defensive plays.
But do you want to hear something cool? Of course you do.
The Marlins selected George’s 18-year-old younger brother, Jacob, with the No. 14 pick of this year’s MLB Draft. Last night, Jacob made his professional debut for the Low-A Jupiter Hammerheads. The brothers’ parents initially planned to travel to Florida for that game, but (with Jacob’s blessing, per the Yankees broadcast) pivoted once George’s big-league call-up was announced.
However, that’s nowhere near the biggest coincidence.
Jacob also homered in his second at-bat. And, according to MLB.com, the similarities didn’t stop there:
- Both homers were pulled to left field off breaking balls.
- Both had launch angles of 33 degrees.
- George’s exit velocity was 100.2 mph, while Jacob’s exit velocity was 99.9 mph.
If that happened in a movie, I would turn it off for being too unbelievable. But here we are, in the era of the Lombards. I hope they always only hit home runs on the same day.
More Yankees: For New York’s newcomers, the Bronx might be fantasyland, says Tyler Kepner.
More N.Y. debuts: Newest Mets reliever Nate Lavender retired all four Guardians hitters he faced, picking up a hold in his big-league debut. Meanwhile, it looks like Guardians prospect Angel Genao will be next up.
Course Correct: Post-deadline shuffles
Lombard’s call-up was one of many post-deadline moves. Around the league, teams reckoned with the results of their deadline successes or failures.
- Left fielder Mickey Moniak was a trade candidate in Colorado, but after the deadline passed and he remained with the Rockies, the two sides decided to make it a more long-term situation. The former No. 1 draft pick signed an extension that will pay him $16.25 million through the 2028 season.
- Meanwhile, when the Angels couldn’t trade 34-year-old Jorge Soler, they designated him for assignment. Same for Matt Strahm in Kansas City and Craig Kimbrel in Tampa.
- It was a similar fate for Rob Refsnyder and Mitch Garver in Seattle. They were released, making room for Brendan Donovan off the IL and the newly acquired Taylor Ward. Stuart Fairchild was also designated for assignment.
- Others weren’t let go, simply demoted: Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan and Guardians outfielder Kyle Manzardo were among the more recognizable names headed for Triple A.
- Not a roster move yet, but rehabbing Padres starters Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta piggybacked in Low-A Lake Elsinore. Musgrove’s day went well, but Pivetta gave everyone a scare by walking off the field after 14 pitches with “elbow tightness.” Fortunately, it appears he’ll be OK: The arm later loosened up, and he threw 20 more pitches in the bullpen.
More:
Handshakes and High Fives
Never before had a player been traded while leading the league in batting average, or in slugging percentage. Both happened this year. If you guessed this was a lead-in to a Jayson Stark trade-deadline analysis, congrats: You are correct.
Jim Bowden has his grades for all 30 teams after the deadline, as well as his deadline superlatives.
Once anointed the future of the Angels franchise, Logan O’Hoppe embarks on a journey with the Rangers. He spoke to Sam Blum about it.
Last year’s AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz hit the IL after reaggravating his thumb injury.
Rustin Dodd and Jayson Jenks tell us how Raul Ibañez helped the 2014 Royals win the World Series … without appearing in a single postseason game.
Have you heard about the 41-year-old English cricket player who made his professional baseball debut? I really enjoyed this one by Sukhman Singh.
Most-clicked in our last Windup: Johnny Flores, Jr. ranking the deadline deals.
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