The Windup: First in the AL and the MLB Draft (2024)

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It’s a big July in Cleveland, Ken recognizes Jayson Stark for a major honor, Hunter Brown is baseball-resurrected and what the heck was that play in D.C.? I’mLevi Weaver, here withKen Rosenthal— welcome to The Windup!

Changing Fortunes: How big is this July for Cleveland?

Zack Meisel’s headline reads like hyperbole: “Welcome to July, the month that couldchange the Cleveland Guardians forever.”

OK, maybe it is, a little. Forever is a long time. Butthe Guardians currently boast the AL’sbest record, and in just under two weeks, they’ll have the first pick in the MLB Draft— for the first time in franchise history (!!!).

I’m not sure what’s stranger: that Cleveland — with 14 postseason teams since 1995 — hasn’t won a World Series since 1948 or that none of its 33 losing seasons (since the inception of the draft in 1965) have resulted in a first pick.

The latter streak was snapped thanks to the most recent CBA, which madechanges to the draft format to help discourage tanking. Cleveland won the lottery despite having the ninth-best odds, at just 2 percent.

As Zack points out, that stroke of good luck has more benefit than just access to the best player available. Knowing they have major talent coming inallows the Guardians to be a bit less stingy with their existing prospects as they approach the July 30 trade deadline.

A third strange thing about this July in Cleveland: After a decade of operating as a “pitching factory,” the Guardians are in desperate need of starting pitching. Shane Bieber is out for the year, Gavin Williams won’t make his first start until tomorrow and Triston McKenzie wasrecently demoted to Triple A.

But the offense has been brilliant, and they’re on pace for 104 wins.A push for at least one starting pitcher seems the only logical course for this month.

Will it change the Guardiansforever? Maybe not. But I can’t fully rule it out, either.

Read more:InKeith Law’s most recent mock draft, he had the Guardians drafting University of Georgia slugger Charlie Condon at No. 1.

Ken’s Notebook: What makes Jayson Stark one of one

I had the honor Monday night of introducingThe Athletic’s Jayson Stark as one of the newest members of the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame. Here is what I said at the association’s awards dinner in Greensboro, N.C.:

When you reada Jayson Stark story,you don’t need to check the byline to see who the writer is.You can tell very quickly, sometimes in a paragraph, sometimes even in a sentence. Jayson is a Hall of Famer for a lot of reasons. But mostly, because he is an absolute original, thoroughly unique.

What makes Jayson so good? For starters, just the way he puts words together. We are all told to write in a conversational style. Easier said than done. Jayson does it better than anyone, and he’s not just talking to his reader — he’s informing the reader. He’s laughing with the reader. He’s practically slapping the reader on the back, as if they are sharing some private joke. And often they are.

Jayson’sWeird and Wild columnis his franchise, practically his fourth child. The column is a weekly collection of wacky, eye-opening baseball information. Whenever something crazy occurs in the sport, which is pretty much every night, the bat signal for Jayson goes out — from fans, from fellow writers, from people in the sport.And if there’s a rabbit hole to crawl into, Jayson will dive in head first and keep burrowing until he finds what he is looking for or he reaches the earth’s core.Whichever comes first.

There are others in the business who are statistical whizzes, savvy researchers. But they don’t use numbers to tell a story the way Jayson does. They don’t provide the context Jayson does. They don’t see the game the way Jayson does. And that’s only part of what makes him great.

Jayson is a watchdog for our sport, constantly writing not only about where the game stands, but where it needs to go. He is the leading chronicler of jewel events, from the Home Run Derby to the All-Star Game to the postseason. He is a must-read on all things regarding the National Baseball Hall of Fame. And from time to time, he’ll toss in a brilliant feature or breaking news story … to paraphrase the man himself, because Jayson.

Jayson’s passion for baseball drives him, defines him, makes him who he is.I believe he is the oldest member of our baseball-writing staff atThe Athletic. And while I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus, he might be the most energetic. There is one number I wish he had kept track of — how many times he worked into the wee hours and was the last writer out of the press box after a postseason game.

One last thing: That guy who seems like your best friend in print, that person with a relentlessly sunny disposition? That’s Jayson in real life. He is a devoted husband to Lisa and father to Steven, Jessica and Hali. Like most of us, he has faced adversity in this business. But the way he handled that adversity, the dignity with which he carried himself after one particular moment that made many of us want to scream, it taught me a lot. It was nothing short of inspiring.

I’m proud to know Jayson, I’m proud to work with him and I’m damn sure proud to introduce him tonight. There is only one. There will never be another.

Staying Afloat: Unlikely heroes saving the Astros

We’ve talked all year about the Astros’ starting pitching crisis. Here, tell me which of these starting rotations you would choose:

• Astros injured list: Justin Verlander, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr., Luis García, José Urquidy, J.P. France, Jake Bloss
• Astros’ last turn through the rotation: Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, Spencer Arrighetti, [bullpen game]

And yet, the Astros went 17-8 in June, slowly emerging from a wretched start.They’re now 43-41, just three games behind the Mariners in the AL West.The two players most emblematic of the turnaround: Brown and Blanco.

As Chandler Romereports here, Brown’s low point came in Kansas City in early April, when he became the first MLB pitcher ever to allow 11 hits in less than an inning. But thanks in part to support from teammates Ryan Pressly and Alex Bregman (the latter of whom suggested that Brown employ a two-seam fastball), Brown just put together the lowest June ERA by an Astros starter (1.16) since Darryl Kile in 1993.

Blanco — well, he’s beengood all year.

Houston still needs pitching depth, and its first base situation is being worked out in real time. But the Astros aren’t dead yet, thanks largely to these two unlikely heroes in the rotation.

Instant Classic: Wood debuts, Nats fumble

With only three games on the docket yesterday (and Astros-Blue Jays having finishedearlier in the day),the whole sport was free to tune into Mets-Nationals to see top prospectJames Wood’s debutwith Washington.

It was great! The 21-year-old singled, walked and reached on an error. Kid’sgonna be good. But at the risk of missing the future forest for the present trees, I can’t stop thinking about one particular play.

With two outs in the eighth inning, the Nationals had just tied it up with a walk and a double. Did you catch that? Two outs. Tie game. Go-ahead run on second base. Mets pitcher Dedniel Nuñez had just allowed two consecutive Nats to reach base. Oh, and the Nationalsjust two games behind the Metsin the standings.

Here is a quick baseball quiz. You’re the next batter, Ildemaro Vargas: Do you …

• Take a pitch or two, until Nuñez proves he’s not rattled and throws a strike?
• Be ready to pounce if Nuñez misses in the middle of the plate?
• Bunt, then slide into first base (a debatable strategy)?

Conventional wisdom would be the first or second option. Vargas took the avant-garde route:

The game went to extra innings, and the Mets scored six runs in the top of the 10th.

The Nats did fight back, scoring four of their own in the bottom of the 10th (including a two-run double by Vargas) and bringing the potential winning run to the plate. But it was too late: 6-4 Mets.

Would Vargas have driven in the go-ahead run had he not bunted? The odds say probably not. But why take “probably not” when “ha ha, no” is available?

But ah, it is meant to be entertainment. For many reasons, it was that.

More Mets: Before the game, a bizarre story broke: Outfielder Brandon Nimmo was unavailable, havingfainted in the bathroom, falling and hitting his head in the wee hours* of Monday morning. He required a trip to the emergency room, but thankfully the injury seemed limited to a cut on his forehead.

*pun unintentional but noted

Handshakes and High Fives

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