MLB manager knows he’s done if team misses playoffs | Nightengale’s Notebook

MLB manager knows he's done if team misses playoffs Nightengale's Notebook.

Key points

• This person they had drafted 13 months earlier, on July 30, 2021, to the Chicago Cubs for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams.
• Since the All-Star break, Tatis is hitting.300 with an.983 OPS with 18 homers, 44 RBI, and 47 runs scored.
• Former All-Stars Matt Williams and Eric Young led their teams, San Francisco and Los Angeles, to the championship round of the inaugural Professional Women's Baseball League.
• Remember when Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis concluded April with a.177 batting average and.564 OPS, failing to hit a home run until May 30?
• It's the lowest second half OPS by a Phillies player since Steve Jeltz (.368) in 1988, according to The Athletic.

MLB manager knows he's done if team misses playoffs Nightengale's Notebook. Bob Nightengale USA TODAY. Could Shohei Ohtani's health jeopardize Dodgers' playoff run?

Bob Nightengale examines reservations surrounding Shohei Ohtani's health and what they could mean for the Dodgers as they prepare for another playoff run.

Major League Baseball notes it has no aims to remove Mark Walter as Los Angeles Dodgers owner after being under federal fraud investigation by the SEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office, and is now subjected to a class-action lawsuit alleging multiple insurance firms that he owns hid an ongoing federal investigation from customers.

Walter additionally is telling friends and business associates that he has no interest in selling the Dodgers after already selling the Lakers and shares of Chelsea, the English soccer club he purchased in 2022.

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo has publicly acknowledged that the club will probable fire him if they miss the postseason for the eighth time in the last nine years on the job. Technically, it would be a simple mutual parting since Lovullo is on the final year of his contract.

"I understand it, it's the realities of this game, " Lovullo remarked, "and you secured to win. That's what it comes down to. I think we won a lot here. Have we won enough."

Asking a number of Hall of Fame players concerning what has impressed them the most this season, and the overwhelming answer is Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart, who's hitting.272 with 32 homers and 110 RBIs.

"What he's doing for a rookie is incredible, " one Hall of Fame slugger remarked. "I can't believe when I hear individuals talking concerning other guys for the Rookie of the Year award. He should be unanimous. To drive in that plenty of runs as a rookie is so damn impressive."

Notably, the San Diego Padres were on the outside looking in on Sept. 3, sitting one-half game behind the Diamondbacks, 5 ½ games behind the Cubs and six games behind the Phillies.

They entered Saturday in a three-way tie with the Cubs and Phillies, going 12-2 while the three teams they were chasing have gone a combined 18-22.

Notably, the Padres believe their best chance of surviving the first round is by gaining home-field advantage at Petco Park where they have won 22 of their past 27 games, and are 47-29 this season.

For context, the Padres' 35-16 record since July 24 is the best in MLB.

Freddy Peralta is building his free-agent value back up since joining the Rays. He is 4-0 with a 0.78 ERA in his last four starts after going 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts with the Mets.

"I never give up, " Peralta remarked to journalists. "Sometimes it's hard when you are going through tough times. This moment right now that I'm living, the last three or four games, is been what I was waiting for. I just want to continue like that until we create it to the World Series."

It's pretty wild considering that the National League's MVP and the top two AL MVP candidates were all traded early in their minor league careers.

For context, the Dodgers traded 19-year-old outfielder Yordan Alvarez to the Houston Astros on Aug. 1, 2016 for reliever Josh Fields.

Meanwhile, the Mets traded Pete Crow-Armstrong. This person they had drafted 13 months earlier, on July 30, 2021, to the Chicago Cubs for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams.

For context, the Cleveland Guardians traded 18-year-old third baseman Junior Caminero to the Tampa Bay Rays on Nov. 19, 2021, for minor-league pitcher Tobias Myers. Oops, oops and oops.

Miami Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks notes he will be sidelined until mid-summer after he undergoes thoracic outlet surgery that derailed his season, yielding a 6.31 ERA with 19 saves.

Angels owner Arte Moreno is telling friends that he simply wanted to spend more time with his family, and the $4 billion offer from Stan Kroenke was simply too good to pass up.

Diamondbacks veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado has been everything they could have imagined and more since they acquired him from the Cardinals in the offseason.

Arenado, who not only became the fifth third baseman since 1969 to produce nine seasons of at least 25 homers and 75 RBIs – joining Mike Schmidt, Adrian Beltre, Aramis Ramirez and Manny Machado – but has been a role model in the clubhouse with his work ethic. The Diamondbacks wanted to place Arenado on the IL a few weeks ago with a left intercostal injury and an inflamed thumb, but he refused, insisting he could still play through the injuries in the pennant race.

Notably, the Chicago White Sox say there is no urgency in signing Munetaka Murakami to a contract extension considering his recent struggles. He's hitting just.107 with 54 strikeouts in 103 at-bats in his last 29 games.

MLB must consider re-seeding or eliminate the possibility of division teams playing one another in the first round of the postseason.

While one team from the brutally mediocre AL West (Houston or Texas) or AL Central (Chicago White Sox or Cleveland) will advance to the ALCS, it's ludicrous that the Yankees and Red Sox will play one another in the wild-card round, and then face the Tampa Bay Rays in the next round, knocking off two of the three AL East powers.

There were only four players in baseball history who hit 40 homers and stole 40 bases in a season before 2023: Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano.

Since MLB implemented rules limiting pickoffs with bigger bases, it may happen for the third time in four seasons if Pete Crow-Armstrong steals three bases the final week, joining Ronald Acuña Jr, now. (2023) and Shohei Ohtani (2024).

While Mike Elias' job is safe as the Orioles president of baseball operations, there continues to be a shuffling of the front office desk.

While Matt Blood, vice president of player and staff development, was let go earlier in the month, now longtime assistant GM Sig Mejdal. This person was with Elias in Houston, was demoted and no longer is in charge of the team's analytics department.

That was the Chicago Cubs who were wildly celebrating along the railing at Churchill Downs this week when Act of Parliament, '' a horse owned by Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman and his family, won the $20, 000 maiden claiming race.

Notably, the Cubs spent their off day Thursday in Louisville before their weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds.

No one has had a worse second half than Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh.

He was voted to start the All-Star team in July, but ever since he's been one of the worst hitters in the sport, producing a.490 OPS since July 1, the lowest among all 155 qualified hitters. He has just one home run since July 21, one extra-base hit in the last 29 days, and has produced just 50 total bases since July 1.

It's the lowest second half OPS by a Phillies player since Steve Jeltz (.368) in 1988, according to The Athletic. Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts is putting on another finishing kick.

For context, a year ago, Betts hit.317 with an.892 OPS over his final 47 games.

After batting.223 with a.682 OPS in early August, he huit.325 with a 1.007 OPS, including five home runs and 20 RBIs from Aug, this year. 19-Sept. 14.

Well, in that span, only Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has a higher WAR than Tatis' 4.3.

In short, MLB manager knows hes done if team misses playoffs is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.