By Juan Páez
- Whether it’s Juan Soto, Luis Castillo or some other big-name piece, it appears the Dodgers are destined to give young wonder Miguel Antonio Vargas to another club. The Cuban is one of the best in the Los Angeles farm system and is the organization’s fifth-ranked prospect. This year, in 91 games in Triple-A, he is hitting .293/.384/.497, with 106 hits, 24 doubles, four triples, 14 home runs, 70 runs batted in, 79 runs scored, 10 stolen bases and 53 walks.
- TheFinalFour.com: Speaking of Juan Soto, a USA Today report mentioned the four most likely destinations for the Dominican if the Nationals finally trade him before the trade deadline: Padres, Mariners, Cardinals, Dodgers. In fact, many major league executives see San Diego as the heavy favorite. We’ll see, said a blind man.
- The White Sox don’t want to get rid of anyone important, and apparently this includes Yasmani Grandal and José Abreu. The reason is that they are excited about their 14-10 record in July and feel they can win the American League Central. The sun will rise and we shall see!
- Yordan Álvarez reached six straight games with a run scored and at least one walk. The curious streak is the best for any player this year in the Major Leagues, tied with the six also achieved by JD Martínez and Max Kepler, both in May. For a Cuban, the longest streak is seven games, held by Rafael Palmeiro (2002).
- On Thursday, Cionel Pérez earned his 15th hold of the season. If you are wondering what a hold is, let me explain quickly: simply put, it is preserving a lead as a reliever -yes, you can only score a hold if your team ends up taking the victory and, as a second point, it does not apply to closers (as there is a save game for them)-. Only four Cubans have recorded 15 holds in a Major League campaign so far: Pérez, Tony Fossas, Danys Báez and Yoán López, who holds the record (21, in 2019).
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Top performers, July 28, 2022:
- Yordan Álvarez vs Mariners: 1 for 3, 2B (14), R, BB, K
- Yulieski Gurriel vs Mariners: 1 for 3, R, SB (6), HBP
- Cionel Pérez vs Rays: 1.1 IP, H, 2 K
On this day:
Ocurrió un día como hoy:
1995: Osvaldo Fernández escapes the Cuban camp in Tennessee to pursue his dream of pitching in the Major Leagues. He came to the best baseball in the world in 1996 with the Giants and stayed until 2001, when he finished his career as a major leaguer with the Reds.
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Trivia:
There is only one player in Major League history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in the same game… Bill Mueller, who did it on this date, July 29, 2003. Mueller, who hit three home runs and drove in nine runs in that game, led the Red Sox to a 14×7 win over the Rangers.
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Quote of the day:
“Statistics are about as interesting as first base coaches.”
Jim Bouton
