⚾️ MLB 7/18: SM Weekend Primer 🏟️

A preview of the biggest series this weekend + players to watch

Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed the last two baseball-free days until October. I certainly didn’t and I feel like a kid on Christmas morning seeing games today. I don’t know how we get through the whole winter break. Shudder. No need to think about those dark times, we have baseball to discuss!

Before we get into it, the NL All-Stars defeated their AL counterparts in the All-Star game on Tuesday night, but not the way you expected. The game ended in a tie and we saw the first ever “swing-off” to determine the winner. Kyle Schwarber hit three home runs with his only three swings to secure the game’s MVP award and the win. As exciting as this was, I really hope we don’t see this replace extra-innings baseball! I was skeptical about the ghost runner on second, but I think this has been a nice addition to the game.

Let’s not waste anymore time and get to the preview!

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Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago Cubs

• Last Time Out:

  • The Red Sox have won ten games in a row and may be the hottest team in the AL. The Cubs have been up-and-down as of late but, won their series against the Yankees before the break. These two historic clubs meet in Boston last season for three games with the Red Sox taking the decider.

• Key Storylines:

  • As we touched on, the Red Sox have been soaring up the standings and it was no coincidence that it happened right after they moved Rafael Devers. They have the best team OPS in the league over the last 15 games (.883) and now sit a game up in the Wild Card. They also have a 1.90 team ERA over the same span. Chicago, meanwhile, has seen their lead in the NL Central shrink to one game over the Milwaukee Brewers.

• Players to Watch:

  • Boston have three of the top 10 pitchers ranked in ERA for the AL going this weekend (Giolito, Bello, and Crochet). Ceddanne Rafaela has eight home runs and an OPS of 1.152 in his last 22 games. Trevor Story and rookie Roman Anthony are both hitting over .300 in their last 30 games. Michael Busch is slugging .701 with eight home runs in his last 22 games. Seiya Suzuki is tied 2nd in the NL in RBIs this season (77).

• Series Prediction:

  • Boston stays red-hot and wins the series in Chicago.

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San Francisco Giants vs. Toronto Blue Jays

• Last Time Out:

  • Toronto lost its final series before the break to the Athletic’s in Sacramento. San Francisco went 3-3 on their homestead before the break vs. the Phillies and Dodgers. These two teams meet in the Bay Area last season and the Blue Jays took two out of three games.

• Key Storylines:

  • The Toronto Blue Jays are in first place in the AL East and I am not sure if anyone expected that. They have won the 2nd-most games at home and are 32-16 at the Rogers Centre where they play this weekend. The Giants are below .500 on the road this season and are just 11-14 since the addition of Rafael Devers. These will be a crucial couple of weeks for Buster Posey and the front office to decide what to do at the trade deadline.

• Players to Watch:

  • Willy Adames is showing some signs of life at the plate with a .976 OPS over his last 15 games. Toronto’s Bo Bichette and Nathan Lukes are hitting over .300 with OPS north of 1.000 in their last two weeks. Giants’ pitcher Landon Roupp has an ERA of 1.37 in his last five starts with 26 SO in 26.1 IP.

• Series Prediction:

  • No sweat for Toronto as they win another series north of the border.

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