MLBits: Home Run Races Update, Buxton Injured, Dodgers Re-Work Muncy’s Deal, Turner, Triple Play, More

The Minnesota Twins have done everything they can to cough up a weak AL Central this season, and the latest injury issue to Byron Buxton may signal the end of their contention this season. But first, let’s check in on the home run races!

Home Run Chases Update

Like his team, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has cooled off in recent weeks. Entering play on Monday, Judge had been homer-less since Friday, August 12, when he went yard in Boston. Judge ended that streak last night against the Mets.

Judge hit his 47th of the season off Mets starter Max Scherzer in the bottom of the third inning. The Yankees slugger’s nine-game homer-less streak was his longest of the season and the first time he has gone more than a week without a home run since a seven-game stretch from April 14 to April 22.

Judge is now two home runs behind Roger Maris’ 1961 pace when he set the Yankees franchise record with 61 home runs through 123 team games. Before the slump, Judge was flirting with Barry Bonds’ 2001 pace when Bonds hit 73 home runs. Judge is now seven home runs behind Bonds’ 2001 pace through 123 games.

Still, Aaron Judge’s pursuit of Maris is alive and well, and so is Albert Pujols’ pursuit of 700 home runs. Pujols entered play on Monday with 692 home runs and finished the night with 693 after taking Drew Smyly deep (Michael: Pssh…that homer would have left only one ballpark, it just happened to be the one he was in).

Pujols has been piping hot since the All-Star break and has more home runs (7) than the White Sox (6) and Red Sox (5) since August 10.

Home run chases are fun; we get a pair of them in the season’s final month. I’ve never had more fun as a baseball fan than I did in 1998, watching Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa duke it out all summer. This isn’t the same (Judge and Pujols are chasing two different milestones), but it’s going to be fun.

Byron Buxton Leaves With Hip Injury

Byron Buxton played in his 92nd game of the season on Monday night against the Rangers, marking the most games Buxton has played since he played 140 in 2017. This is the third time in his career that Buxton has played 92 or more games (2016, 2017). Still, in a scenario all-too-familiar for Twins fans, Buxton left last night’s contest with the Rangers in pain.

After fouling a pitch off in the fifth inning of the Twins’ loss to the Rangers, Buxton was in visible pain. While he stayed in the game at the time, Buxton was removed with what the twins are calling a hip injury. In his postgame presser, Rocco Baldelli said that Buxton has been dealing with this issue secretly for some time.

“I’m not sure exactly when he tweaked his hip, but he had a few things go on today where you could tell he was really feeling it,” Baldelli said. “We know over the last few days he’s been in a spot where he’s been on the verge of not being able to go out there, not being able to swing and run and do such things, but he’s continued to post up, and he’s continued to go out there and play. I don’t know what percentage he’s at, but it’s not a high percentage of what he can normally do physically.”

The Twins lost their third straight on Monday night and are two games behind the Cleveland Guardians as we sneak up on the season’s final month. Their chances to play in October this season may hinge on an MRI on Buxton’s latest ailment. Buxton has 28 home runs and 61 RBI this season and is sporting a 137 wRC+ and 4.0 fWAR for the Twins.

Rocco Baldelli complimented Buxton’s ability to play through pain last night this season, but that’s proof that even the Twins’ conservative approach with Buxton has failed. Buxton played in his 92nd game last night. The Twins have played 120 games, meaning that Buxton has played in just 76.6 percent of their games.

Entering play today, FanGraphs gives the Guardians a 47 percent chance of winning the AL Central. The Twins (26.7) and White Sox (25.6) split the remaining percentage, but the Twins might be at the end of the line if Buxton’s latest ailment is a long-term issue.

Odds and Ends

  • Jeff Passan lays out the top hitters (by OPS) since the All-Star break. Albert Pujols and Aaron Judge lead the pack, and rookies Vaughn Grissom and Adley Rutschman are in the mix as well.
  • The Los Angeles Dodgers converted Max Muncy’s $13 million club option for the 2023 season into a $13.5 million guarantee. As Alden González reported on Tuesday, the re-work adds a $10 million club option for the 2024 season.
  • Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols aren’t the only ones chasing home run milestones this season. Munetaka Murakami of the Yakut Swallows is chasing the NPB single-season home run record of 60 (set by Wladimir Balentien in 2013). Munetaka is sitting at 44 home runs with 34 games to play (putting him on pace for 58 home runs).
  • The Twins turned their second triple play of the season on Monday. Their first came against the White Sox earlier this season.
  • For the first time in history, MLB will have a major league team take on an actual Little League team in the Little League Classic!
  • Johnny Cueto was named the American League Player of the Week, while Paul Goldschmidt and Albert Pujols shared the honor in the National League.
  • I’ll wrap today’s installment up with a cool story by Jeff Passan on Trea Turner and the art of his signature sliding catch:
  • written by

    Patrick grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods before moving to the Western Suburbs of Chicago before eventually relocating to the Las Vegas area with his family in 2023. He started with Bleacher Nation in 2021 and has spent time as a Staff Writer and on the Chicago Blackhawks beat. He is currently a writer and editor at Bleacher Nation covering the Chicago Bears and the NFL at large and the author of the Bleacher Nation Newsletter. Patrick is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).

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