Chris Sale is pitching like a man possessed. Atlanta’s ace shut out the Dodgers last night with an 11-strikeout, five-hit masterpiece — completing a sweep of the NL West division leaders in the process. It’s the seventh consecutive quality start for Sale, who has only allowed more than three runs in an appearance once this season. That came way back on April 6, when the Angels pounced him for six runs in four innings. Since that time, Sale has pitched 128 innings of 1.83 ERA ball with a comical 161-to-23 K/BB ratio. There’s a decent gap between Sale’s 2.06 ERA and the NL-leading Jacob Misiorowski, and Sale is also 24 1/3 innings behind Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez for the NL innings lead (168 1/3 to 144). The 37-year-old Sale is still making the NL Cy Young chase a genuine three-horse race, however, and if he continues dominating like this while either the Miz or Sánchez falters, it’s not out of the question that he could win the second Cy Young Award of his Atlanta tenure.
We’ll be watching for that down the stretch, but here’s three things to look out for today:
1. Skubal back in Detroit
Tonight, two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal returns to the only home ballpark he’d known in the majors until his Aug. 1 trade to the Dodgers. Skubal and the Dodgers are set to kick off a three-game set in Detroit, and he’ll take the mound tonight opposite former teammate Drew Anderson. Skubal hasn’t quite been his Cy Young Award-caliber self in Los Angeles, though the 3.38 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate he’s notched through four starts are clearly excellent. He’s coming off an 11-strikeout showing against the Pirates. There will surely be plenty of emotions tonight — both for Skubal and the Tigers faithful.
“You never know how people are going to react,” former Tigers teammate Troy Melton tells Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “You know, some people are going to feel some type of way. It probably will be mixed. I think it’ll be more positive. In my opinion, I think it should be more positive than negative. … Skoob’s the man and he was great to this organization, so I think it’d be right if we didn’t do that [and boo]. But it’s their decision and it’s part of the game.”
Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts tells Jack Harris of the California Post that he expects “a lot of people cheering [Skubal] on” but that his new lefty will rise above any emotions and focus on the task at hand: “I think that whole ‘be where your feet are’ adage, I think that’s just who he is. Some people have a hard time letting go. But I think that Tarik is a guy that, wherever he’s at, he’s all-in.”
2. Rays stadium vote
Hillsborough County commissioner Ken Hagan last week called for a special meeting to take place this morning, wherein the county will vote on the Rays’ latest stadium proposal. As Nicolas Villamil of the Tampa Bay Times writes, the Tampa City Council voted to approve the plan just yesterday. Villamil’s piece contains various details on the 4-3 vote in favor from the city council yesterday, as well as some the hurdles the proposition may face in the county this morning. The vote is the latest in a seemingly interminable quest for the Rays to build a new stadium in the Tampa area — a notion that has been backed by new majority owner Patrick Zalupski and his crew since former owner Stu Sternberg sold the club last year.
3. Jenkins debuts for the Twins
The Twins are calling up top outfield prospect Walker Jenkins for his major league debut. The former No. 5 overall pick is a consensus top-10 prospect in the sport who has laid waste to Triple-A pitching this season. The 21-year-old is hitting .323/.417/.559 with 14 homers, 17 steals, a huge 13.3% walk rate and a tiny 15.4% strikeout rate this season. Jenkins has missed some time due to injury, but he’s the most touted Twins prospect in years and has the potential to cement himself as a fixture in the heart of Minnesota’s order for years to come. He joins another recent first-rounder, shortstop Kaelen Culpepper, in getting the call to Minnesota post-deadline. Culpepper has hit the ground running with a .333/.381/.526 line and three homers in his first 63 major league plate appearances. They’re the best pair of prospects the Twins have promoted in such proximity for quite some time, and that duo will give Twins fans a glimpse of what the future holds as Minnesota tries to stay alive in a mediocre AL Wild Card hunt.
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