Jack Flaherty is crossing multiple things off the bucket list in Game 1.
Tuesday, Dave Roberts announced Flaherty would start Game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees. Flaherty, an L.A. native, is stoked.
“There’s no bigger stage than this,” Flaherty told MLB.com Wednesday. “It’s what we all wanted as kids, the position we want to be in. I have no words for it.”
The nod is something redeeming for Flaherty, as he’s seen the highs and lows of his career come in the past two seasons.
Jack Flaherty’s Journey
Starting with the Cardinals in 2023, Flaherty boasted a 4.20 ERA until being traded to the Orioles, where his numbers fell to a 6.75 ERA — Prompting him to move on in free agency and sign with the Tigers, where he regained his dominating stuff.
In 18 starts, Flaherty outplayed his contract and was subsequently traded to the Dodgers in July. Now that he’s back at home, he’s kept up with his numbers and went 6-2 in the regular season.
Flaherty is 1-2 in the postseason, but Roberts said Flaherty’s got to start.
“We don’t have a different alternative,” Roberts said at World Series Media day. “That’s how we set up the rotation, that’s what it’s going to be.”
Big Game 1
Los Angeles still has Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler, but it seems Roberts wants to keep everything uniform.
The competition isn’t getting easier for Flaherty either. The star-studded Yankees are going to be swinging the bat. Giancarlo Stanton has already cranked out five home runs in the postseason, while Aaron Judge led the team in regular season home runs at 58 and Juan Soto followed with 41.
Flaherty said he must focus on each individual pitch to have success.
“You got to go out there and execute your pitches,” Flaherty said.
Family Friendly
Flaherty will not only be able to get the job done against a home crowd, but family, too. Flaherty isn’t sure if there will be tickets to give out, though.
“Everybody knows not to ask me for tickets,” Flaherty joked.
He continued by adding he will take care of family. Though not blood, someone Flaherty may consider family is Braves World Series Champion pitcher Max Fried. Flaherty’s unsure if Fried will attend the game, but said he received a good luck text.
Flaherty watched Fried pitch on the big stage, but now it’s his turn.
There’s so many accomplishments Flaherty can point to come Friday. He’s a local starting in the World Series, he had to resurge in 2024 and’s starting in the World Series and finally: He’s a Black pitcher starting in the World Series.
It’s only happened once, but could it happen again?
Last Thursday, two-way great Shohei Ohtani made history when he acquired 50 home runs and 50 home runs. While the mark is still incredibly hard for any normal hitter to get to, it’s not as impossible as it was before with bigger bases.
Which MLBbro Can Hit 50 Homers and Steal 50 Bases?
Still, it requires one of baseball’s greatest players, with 50 home runs only being accomplished seven times in the last decade.
Aaron Judge
If it were to happen, it’d likely be Aaron Judge. The issue that arises is Judge’s career-high in stolen bases was at 16. He’s also over 280 pounds. Another candidate exists right on Judge’s team, though.
Jazz Chisholm
Bro-star Jazz Chisholm Jr. is up to a career-highs of 38 stolen bases and 23 home runs with his new team. Chisholm was traded from the Marlins and has gotten better in New York. Chisholm sits at just 26 years old and is improving, creating excitement for a potential big year in the future.
James Wood
If one goes looking for the youngest pool of talent, one player has the prototype to get it done if he develops as expected — Nationals rookie James Wood.
Wood stands at 6-foot-7, 234 pounds, but he’s been putting the wood to the ball since his call up, batting .266 as well as stealing 14 bases in 74 games.
His bag-swiping ability was apparent from day one, even though he missed the bag on his first attempt. Wood is just 22 and could easily be in the 97th percentile of either category eventually.
Wood’s teammate, C.J. Abrams has shown the ability to fill up the stat sheets, but has struggled lately, and after being discovered at the casino at 8am on a game day, he was even sent down to the minors by a very unhappy GM, Mike Rizzo. Still, he’s one of the better young players in the league and took 47 bags in 2023.
If he’s able to get some pop in the bat, he could see a monumental season, but it’s unlikely.
It’s worth remembering that Ohtani will go down as one of the greatest players to ever exist and the mark isn’t easy to catch. But it isn’t unrealistic because once a standard is set, others will try to eclipse it. Why not a Bro?
Throughout the season, the Baltimore centerfielder had yet to cross the .300 batting average for any month. Furthermore, he’s surpassed 10 RBI in a month just once since April.
On Tuesday, Mullins powered the Orioles over the Red Sox with a two-home run, three-RBI showing, bringing him up to four homers in the month. We’re in the home stretch of the regular season, and Mullins is showing up big.
Earlier in the season, Mullins told MLBbro that he’s “looking forward” to a strong second half.
For the most part, that didn’t come to fruition. While in July, he had a batting average of .262 and his OPS was .800.
The next month, in one less at-bat, Mullins squeaked out a .200 batting average and his OPS dropped by 26 percent. Clearly, he made a change. This month, he’s already tied his August hit total with 12.
What Changes Did Cedric Mullins Make To Improve Performance
“The biggest part for me was to stop chasing that season,” Mullins told Jake Rill of MLB.com. “I think the reason I’m putting up numbers that are similar to it is because I’m no longer chasing that guy.”
The guy in reference is 2021 Mullins. In 2021, Mullins reached the All-Star game with a .291 batting average, along with 30 home runs and stolen bases. Since, Mullins’ ability as a baserunner has been consistent. He was just missing the hitting aspect. He conquered that and earned the nickname “CM Storm.”
Baltimore Orioles Fighting With Yankees For A East Crown
With his resurgence, Mullins has to chance for his hot streak to continue to the playoffs as his squad is battling the Yankees for the AL East division title.
The Orioles have won five of their last ten, but two of those came in three-RBI performances from Mullins. Though it’s been having a good year without Mullins at his best, his impact could turn good to great when he’s hot.
As it sits, Baltimore is in a wild card spot — a .5 game back from New York in the division.
A series with the Yankees is coming up on Sept. 24, that may be Mullins’ time to shine. He’s back, and it’s time for the nation to now.
Most fans might ignore the Oakland A’s, but don’t ignore outfielder Lawrence Butler.
Since debuting in Aug. 2023, Butler has put his power on display with 20 career homers in 429 at-bats. Furthermore, “the Butler” has served up a hot one lately, homering on Wednesday and Tuesday over the Reds — his third bro bomb in the last seven days.
He’s one of the rising MLBbros who are taking over the league.
Adding seven RBIs to the mix, Butler stands out as a potential power-hitting star in the future. Playing in Oakland and being young, Butler might be an underdog, but it’s nothing he isn’t used to. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of high school, the odds were stacked against Butler. That didn’t stop Butler from filling up the stat sheet with 24 hits and 15 RBIs in 46 games.
The very next year: Things didn’t look so great.
In 2019, Butler stuck out 90 times and saw his batting average dip from a .226 average to .177. That was a chance for him to go to work not just in the batting cage but on the basepath, as he came back with a .273 batting average in single-A ball accompanied by 29 stolen bases.
Even in 2024, he spent 27 games in the minors, despite making the Opening Day roster, but it’s all seeming to come together as the season reaches its tail-end.
“You know, it’s kind of crazy seeing myself progress from my first big league game to (almost) a full year in the big leagues,” Butler previously told NBC Sports.
Last month was his best month yet, as Butler knocked 10 balls over the wall and batted .363 — including a three-homer game against the Phillies. This month his average has dipped to .235, but he is on a seven-game hitting streak and looks to continue to drive the average up.
If not for anyone, baseball fans might start turning on A’s games to see the Burlington, New Jersey, kid go to work.
Even outside of his power, he’s 6-foot-3, can get out and run with 12 stolen bases, and is an above average fielder as he’s notched a .984 fielding percentage this season. What more do you want — turn on the Butler show.
BALTIMORE — Sitting just outside of the visitor’s locker room, Nationals rising rookie James Wood carved up some crabs for his Tuesday dinner — the completion of a two-course meal that started with the Baltimore Orioles.
Wood wasn’t the only bro bomber that sliced and diced the orange birds on Tuesday. All-Star shortstop C.J. Abrams and Wood combined for 7-for-8 from the plate in a 9-3 rout over the Orioles.
Although they went a combined 0-for-7 in a 4-1 loss to Baltimore on Wednesday, both Bros put the league on notice with their performance this season against one of the best teams in baseball.
The performance of the duo was the second time a Nationals MLBbro got the best of Baltimore in 2024, as on May 7, third baseman Trey Lipscomb sent Corbin Burnes to the showers with an RBI-single in a 3-0 win over the squad.
In the aforementioned May contest, Abrams struck out three times and Wood was still in the minor leagues, but that didn’t stop either from showing out at Camden Yards.
Tuesday’s Bro Show started out with a double from Abrams. While a big play, Wood seemed to one-up his teammate almost immediately as he brought in Abrams and advanced Juan Yepez on an RBI single.
“We always talk about how smart he is,” Washington manager Davey Martinez said when asked about Wood, “Tonight’s an implication of what he really can be.”
The game continued what has been a tear for Wood, who in the 15 games prior, batted .358 with 12 RBIs and four stolen bases.
Abrams’s fortune hasn’t been the same, as in the month before the contest he had a .169 batting average and struck out 17 times. But, Abrams said he’s tried to be “more relaxed” at the plate and it worked out.
“It’s always good to get three hits, take it into the next game.” Abrams said. “Keep it positive.”
Get Used To Seeing CJ Abrama and James Wood Do Damage
Throughout the game, Wood and Abrams traded hits, while Wood crossed home plate three times and Abrams scored just one less time. As Abrams typically found himself on base when Wood came knocking, Abrams said he was trying to “get out” on the basepath for Wood, and it worked out more times than not.
“He’s doing his thing,” Abrams said. “We knew he’d be pretty good.”
With four hits, Wood became the seventh Nationals rookie to record multiple four-hit performances, and the Maryland native did it in the ballpark he grew up attending.
With the Nationals sitting at fourth in the NL East, these games might not mean much for the standings, but it was Washington’s second win over the 71-50 Orioles, granting it a respectable 2-2 split in the Beltway Battle.
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