Cubs' Hendricks steady as they go; Sox's Mercedes hits rough patch
The Cubs' patchwork, four-pitcher, eight-walk no-hitter on Thursday against the Los Angeles Dodgers brings to mind my no-no prognostication of a month ago.
At that time, with six no-hitters already in the books, I gave it a 50% chance that there were would be two more for the season; at most, I thought 10, or four more, would occur. I remain comfortable with those forecasts. The Cubs' collaborative effort in Los Angeles, a record-tying seventh across the majors, was the first no-hitter in five weeks.
In other Go Figure quick pitches:
Hendricks on a decisive roll
Almost as remarkable as his career-best eight consecutive victories is that Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks has gotten decisions in all but one start this season. Entering 2021, he had 117 decisions in 174 starts, or two-thirds of the time. This year, he is 10-4 through 15 starts.
Of the 69 other MLB pitchers with at least 14 starts (through Thursday), only three others have a similar distinction: the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw (8-7 in 16 starts), Frankie Montas of the Oakland A's (7-7 in 15 starts), and the Cubs' Jake Arrieta (5-8 in 14 starts).
With pitchers departing earlier in games, the likelihood of a starter getting a decision has dropped as teams trade leads in latter innings.
Long ball emphasis creates vanishing breed: Big RBI guy
Between 1930 and 1950, according to StatMuse.com, 18 MLB batters drove in 100 or more runs in a season a cumulative 23 times without getting as many as 10 homers.
The last 70 years, only the Cards' Tom Herr (8 homers, 110 RBI in 1985) and the Twins' Paul Molitor (9 homers, 113 RBI in 1996) have accomplished this anomaly.
The common ground for Herr and Molitor - both were incredibly clutch in those seasons: Herr batting .356 with men on base, .333 with runners in scoring position, but a mediocre .249 when the bases were empty. Molitor, meanwhile, was consistently great, slashing .344/.335/.338 in those situations. Amazingly, the eventual Hall of Famer turned 40 that season.
As of Friday, 39 players had racked up at least 42 RBIs across the big leagues. The number from this group who were shy of 10 homers: Zero.
Hit 'em where they ain't, Yermin-ator!
Over the last four weeks, White Sox rookie designated hitter Yermin Mercedes' 7-for-68 skid has sent his average nose-diving from .340 to .270. But a closer inspection reveals he's fallen upon hard luck more than hard times.
Though he's struck out more often (every four at bats the past month versus every five or six at bats previously), a look at his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is instructive.
During Mercedes' recent slump, his BABP has been .137 (7-for-51), less than half the league average of .288. If those struck baseballs found holes anywhere close to the norm, Mercedes' average would still be above .300.
The upshot: The 28-year-old is neither the budding batting champion that he appeared to resemble at season's start (recall his 8-for-8 start) nor is he the sub-Mendoza Line scuffler that recent box scores would suggest.
Jacob deGrom or Jacob deGone?
New York Mets ace pitcher Jacob deGrom's 0.50 earned run average through 12 starts is historic - so much so that wagering outfits list him as the front-runner for the National League MVP award.
My take: At best, he will be the Cy Young Award winner (for the third time). It's no shoo-in, given his aches and pains. In fact, it's a coin-toss proposition whether he will even qualify for the ERA title (162 innings is the minimum, or one inning per game).
• Matt Baron supplements his baseball brainpower with Retrosheet.org for research.