By MIKAEL DeSANTO
Moving on up
Ichiro Suzuki may be one of the best hitters in baseball history, I suppose it depends on who you ask. But what cannot be denied is that he has a membership in an exclusive club, those with 3,000 career hits in the MLB. Shortly after getting his 3,000th hit, he got his 3,001st hit to pass Roberto Clemente. He has since passed the likes of Al Kaline, currently holding 3,008 hits (as of August 22). This puts Suzuki in a position to pass the next player on the list, Wade Boggs (3,010, this week and possibly even Rafael Palmeiro (3,020) and Lou Brock (3,023) if he is able to put together multiple hits in each game. As he continues to rise in the ranks throughout the rest of the year he will continue to grow his legend and establish himself as possibly the most consistent hitter baseball has seen, and the best transitional (Japan to MLB) player in history. He’s a no-doubt Hall of Famer, and everyone should tune in to see him play.
Battle out West
Any fan looking for good games to watch this week should pay attention to the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers series from August 23-25. The Giants currently trail the Dodgers in the NL West by a half a game, and so taking the series would give them the division lead. The pitching matchups will also be an interesting piece of this series. Game 1 will see Madison Bumgarner of the Giants face off against the Dodgers’ Kenta Maeda, the Giants big free-agent signing from this past off-season, Johnny Cueto, will pitch game 2 against Rich Hill, who the Dodgers acquired at this years trade deadline. Brett Anderson will return to the mound in Game 3 attempting to put a tough start to the season behind him, while the Giants plan to counter with their trade deadline acquisition Matt Moore. The NL West has been a fight all season, and most likely will continue to be, but as we head towards the final month of the regular season, this series could be a major turning point.
A Royal Resurgence
At one point, the reigning World Series champions seemed out of it and headed for a down year. But not anymore. They currently sit eight games back of the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians, but are only three-and-a-half games back of a Wild Card spot following eight straight wins going into the latter part of August. They head on the road this week, first to Miami for three games and then to Boston for another three, so it will be interesting to see how the win streak holds up against two teams that are fighting to hold on to their position themselves. The trouble could lie with their starting pitching, as Danny Duffy (11-1) is the only starting pitcher that currently has a winning record. But they have the offense and bullpen to make up for any lackluster performances, so while I do think they won’t sweep either team, it is possible given their momentum.
Improved Grade
Right now, I’d give the Oakland A’s an F for their season. They sit at 53-71, good for second-to-last in their division at 19.5 games back. This is a far cry from the A’s of 1999-2006 and 2012-2014, in which they did not win less than 87 games. But it has only gotten worse, as now apparently Billy Butler and Danny Valencia had an unspecified dispute on August 19, and Butler has not played since. Butler is hitting .286 with four home runs and 30 runs batted in this season, while Valencia leads the team with a .302 batting average with 15 home runs and 44 RBI. The struggles are trickling off the field now, and have impacted two of their best hitters. The A’s will play the Indians, one of the best teams in baseball right now, to start the week, before going on the road to St. Louis. The question is: can they get past all their issues to salvage 2016 and make it a semi-decent season, or will it all keeping going downhill?
We are Familia
An interesting potential milestone is possible this week, mostly for Mets fans but possibly for big baseball fans, as New York Mets closer Jeurys Familia could break the team’s single-season saves record this week. The record stands at 43, held by Armando Benitez and Familia, who tied it last season. But right now he has 41 saves, which is already tied for second most in team history, so it is a foregone conclusion that he will break the record. But there is a strong possibility that he does it this week, depending on how the Mets do in their games. Their schedule this week has them facing the Cardinals in St. Louis for three games and then heading home to face the Phillies. Fans should stay tuned to each game if they want to catch a piece of Mets history.
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