Welcome back to Weekend Links. Since I last wrote this column the Angels followed a series loss against the A’s with a series win against the Twins. Ultimately it was a 3-3 home stand against teams of similar talent and trajectory.
Now comes a 4 game set with Seattle. By the time this posts in the morning the first game will be complete and the Mariners will either be tied with the idle Astros or 1 full game back. The Rangers are lurking just a bit below.
In looking ahead at the schedule, the Angels play the Astros the last weekend of the season. So 7 of the remaining 16 games are against the top dogs in the division. The Angels can seriously spoil one or both campaigns depending on how they play against them.
All three of these teams have a series remaining against each other but the Angels are done with the Rangers.
And the intrigue really just starts there. Take a look at the Mets upcoming schedule and this week will greatly impact 3 clubs playoff chances. First the NY squad plays the Rangers then the Padres.
The NL could get nutty if we get lucky.
The Giants are up against a tough schedule, playing the Dodgers 7 times down the stretch. All of this opens the door a bit for the Reds. They have a pretty soft schedule lined up and if they simply stack wins while the Mets and Padres play each other they can gain ground on both.
In short, it is September and some races are close. Thankfully there’s the MLB package and a good remote control at both my home and office.
September is also a good time to take a look on the farm and see who is playing their way closer to MLB. George Klassen took the hill for the 24th time this week and spun a gem. An old scout once said if a player does something once he always has the ability to do it again. Klassen has thrown many good games. He just needs to get more consistent.
Ideally Klassen will be joined by other home grown studs. Catcher Juan Flores is the Angels most intriguing invitee to the Arizona Fall League. I know Jessica and Rex have each caught AFL games. I might head out there one year, but this won’t be it.
Klassen’s Trash Panda teammate Mitch Farris has gotten off to a nice start to his MLB career.
And in the stuff that really matters, Zach Neto is a good dude off the field. Logan O’Hoppe is another guy who is great in the community. To me, these are things that really matter and define character.
And how about the old man this week? Kyle Hendricks put up a gem on Tuesday night.
As for our Highlight of the Week, let’s go with the Angels “Heart and Hustle” award winner Zach Neto’s 2 run shot on Wednesday that was key to winning the Twins series.
From around baseball:
The Mets are melting down (it is September) and running out of time. Nobody is happy. Actually, I am. My dad worked hard (like in fields and waking at dawn to drive or repair big rigs) so when a guy like Cohen gets rich committing fraud I tend not to like him much.
While I keep talking about kids, the Blue Jays are riding a bunch of old pitchers to the playoffs. Score 1 for the old guys…and get off our lawns!
There’s been talk about adding Cody Bellinger around here. FanGraphs did a great deep dive on him that is your longish form reading for the weekend.
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed. I’ll definitely watch Terence Crawford vs. Canelo tomorrow night. Crawford is my favorite fighter of this era and I’ve seen him live 3 times. So, friends and a fight party are on deck.
