Art: Efrain Ruiz Pantin
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Each week on LasMayores.com, Taste in Numbers will focus on facts, statistics and trivia about what the contingent of Latin American players have done in the Major Leagues over the last seven days.
VENEZUELA
Ronald siendo Ronald
After returning from the serious knee injury he suffered last year, Ronald Acuña is making it clear that he is still the same old superstar. The Saturday against the Pirates, the Braves’ Venezuelan outfielder hit his 25th career home run leading off a game, second-most among active players behind only George Springer. The Blue Jays veteran, who turns 33 in September, has 27. Acuña is still a long way from the record for most home runs leading off a game — home runs leading off the lineup in the top or bottom of the first inning — which belongs to Rickey Henderson, 81. Now, consider that Acuña is only 24 years old and last week he reached 425 games in the Major Leagues. Do you know how many game-leading homers the great Rickey had hit by the time he played his 425th MLB game? Seven!
One more via Statcast: With his two home runs last Tuesday against the A’s, Acuña is now the fourth player this season to hit multiple homers of 430 feet or more in the same game. One of those hits was a 464-foot shot, the longest by a Braves player in 2022.
The tug of La Pica
Eduardo Escobar became last week the fifth Venezuelan to complete the ladder, or cycle, and the first Mets player since 2012 to do so. But that’s not what we want to talk about. That day, Escobar also drove in six runs against the Padres. It was his FIFTH career game with six RBIs or more. Yes, it seems to you that there are many encounters of this type… well, they are. Among the active players, only the Dominican Nelson Cruz (9) and the Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera (6) have more. As a point of reference, consider that Mike Trout has three games of six or more RBIs, Albert Pujols four and Aaron Judge one. Reggie Jackson, Willie Mays and Frank Thomas dropped out with three each. For life, Escobar is tied for ninth with 40 other players – including his compatriot Andrés Galarraga – in a list dominated by Alex Rodríguez with 14 games of half a dozen or more RBIs. And among Venezuelans? Only two names surpass that of “La Pica”: Carlos González (7) and Cabrera.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
At the gates of the record
Dominican rookie Christopher Morel saw his string of 22 games on base end on Saturday to start his Major League career, the longest in history for a Cubs player beginning his time in the Major Leagues. Morel’s is remarkable whichever way you look. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Morel’s is the longest chain on base among any active player, surpassing Bo Bichette’s 17. Morel is also the first player with such a long streak since Rocco Baldelli, the Twins’ current manager, reached base at least once in his first 24 games in 2003. Morel fell far short of the all-time record (47 by Alvin Davis of the Mariners in 1984), but very close to the mark for a player born in Latin America: That honor continues to belong to Puerto Rican Luis Alicea, the 13-year Major League veteran who began his career with 23 consecutive games reaching by least one point guard for the Cardinals in 1988.
Cy Young in the crosshairs
by allowing a pair of earned runs in 7 2/3 innings Monday against the Phillies, the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara saw his streak of six straight starts allowing one or fewer runs end, the longest such string in the major leagues since 2015, when Clayton Kershaw had two separate scoring streaks. those characteristics and Jake Arrieta, who won the Cy Young that year with the Cubs, had one. In total so far this year, Alcantara has five starts of at least 8 innings and one or fewer deserved runs during the Marlins’ first 60 games. In the so-called Wild Card Era (since 1995), only two pitchers pitched more games of those characteristics (8 or more IP, 1 or less CL) within the first 60 games of their team that season: left-hander Randy Johnson with 6 for the D-backs in 2000 — the year of his third Cy Young Award — and fellow lefty Chuck Finley for the Angels in 1998. The last right-hander with more than Sandy’s five was … Greg Maddux (7) in 1994, the campaign in which he took the Cy Young for the third time.
One more via Statcast: Remember when throwing a fastball at 90 miles per hour was considered impressive? Well, Alcantara’s gear change in 2022 is averaging… 91.8 mph. Only one pitcher who has thrown at least 100 changeups this season has a higher average than that, fellow Dominican and Alcantara’s teammate on the Marlins, Edward Cabrera, who is throwing it at…93.4 mph!! !
CUBA
The best hitter in MLB?
Between May 29 and June 13, Yordan Álvarez hit a .500 batting average (27-for-54) and posted a .548 OBP, with three doubles, a triple, five home runs and 17 RBIs in a period of 14 games. Among those born in Cuba, Álvarez is the fifth batter who has achieved an AVG of .500 or better and an OBP of .500 or more in a stretch of 14 games and at least 60 trips to the plate. The others are Rafael Palmeiro (1991, 1993 and 1999), Atanasio “Tany” Pérez (1970), Andrés Antonio “Tony” González (1962 and 1967) and Tony Oliva (1964). Without making too much noise, Álvarez has not stopped hitting since he arrived in the Major Leagues, only stopped at the time due to his knee problems. The deployment is such that there are already those who wonder if we are not in the presence of the new best baseball hitter.
One more via Statcast: With the home run he hit on June 5 against the Royals, is 114.3 mph missileAlvarez now boasts the 10 most hard-hit home runs among Astros hitters over the past two seasons. They’ve all come off their bat at 110 mph or faster, starting with eThis 116.4 mph rocket that spliced last year.
PUERTO RICO
Sugar K
Puerto Rican Edwin Diaz threw fire on Sunday during the five-out save against the Angels, four of them by way of punch, including one off Jared Walsh with a four-seam fastball at 101.6 mph. The Mets closer has so far struck out 48 of the 100 batters he has faced, 48% of his opponents. Going into Tuesday’s session, Diaz led all MLB relievers with those 48 Ks and his 17.05 K/9 IP ratio is also the best in the Major Leagues this year. There is still a lot of baseball left to play, but it is worth having the following information noted there: In the history of the Major Leagues, only two pitchers (minimum of 50 innings worked) have guillotined more than half of the sluggers they have seen in a campaign. One is Cuban Aroldis Chapman in 2014 for the Reds (106 of 202 sluggers, 52.4%); the other is Craig Kimbrel for the Braves in 2012 (116 of 231, 50.1%)
full dominance
The Orioles’ Jorge Lopez got his ninth save of the season Tuesday against the Blue Jays, the continuation of what has been a true breakout campaign for the 29-year-old veteran, who entered 2022 with a 6.04 career ERA in 350 innings. Going into this week, Lopez hadn’t allowed an earned run in eight straight games since May 22 and had a 0.93 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP through 25 games (29 innings). Plus, he still hasn’t been hit with a home run in 2022. Lopez is just the fifth relief pitcher born in Latin America with an ERA and WHIP below 1.00, zero home runs and at least 25 innings pitched through his first 25 games in a campaign. The others are the Dominican Fernando Rodney (2016), the Venezuelan Jean Machí (2014), Chapman (2012) and the Puerto Rican JC Romero (2002).
One more via Statcast: If you want to find a reason to explain López’s success this year, the increase in the speed of his fastball has been key. On the other hand, look at how few “hard” lines and fly balls (hits at 95 mph or more) he has allowed, just 9.5% (7 “hard” lines or fly balls out of a total of 74 balls that have put him in play). It’s the third-best mark for a pitcher this year (minimum 50 hits allowed).
MEXICO
There is always a first time
The Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk hit .412 last week (7-for-17) and is batting .414 last week with five doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs in his last 16 games. The right-handed slugger from Tijuana began Tuesday with a .315 batting average, the best this season among all major league catchers who have made at least 100 plate appearances. It’s a long road, but Kirk could accomplish something no Mexican-born catcher has been able to do in a major league season: hit .300. The best average for a Mexican mask in a season (minimum 100 legal appearances) is the .290 left by the remembered Alex Treviño for the Astros in 1989.
One more via Statcast: Kirk strikes out very rarely — just 19 times in 52 games — and when he decides to shoot the ball, he usually has a pretty good idea of what he’s doing. So far, Kirk has had hits with 16.3% of the swings he has made in 2022. This is the fifth best percentage among all hitters who have made at least 250 swings, a category that is led by the Venezuelan Luis Arráez with 18.3%. .
