As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. Series Preview: Padres @ Royals
An interleague set between a pair of playoff contenders is set to take place this weekend, as the Padres head to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City to take on the Royals. San Diego has enjoyed an 8-5 record the past two weeks as they’ve climbed into a tie with the Giants for the second of three NL Wild Card spots with a 30-29 record. Meanwhile, the Royals are coming off a tough series loss against the division-rival Twins but enjoyed an eight-game winning streak not long before that, placing them in the second AL Wild Card spot and just three games back of the Guardians for the AL Central lead with a 35-23 record.
The series kicks off at 7:10pm local time this evening with Padres ace Dylan Cease (3.29 ERA) facing off against Royals veteran (and former Padre) Michael Wacha (4.31 ERA). Saturday will see veteran righty Joe Musgrove (5.66 ERA) take on Royals youngster Alec Marsh (3.24 ERA). Notably, if Musgrove can pick up seven punchouts, he’ll reach 1000 strikeouts from his career — making him the 554th pitcher in MLB history to hit that milestone. The Royals have not yet announced who will take the ball opposite Michael King (4.09 ERA) on Sunday, though lefty Cole Ragans (3.49 ERA) appears to be the next in line barring a shakeup of the club’s rotation.
2. Yelich approaching milestone:
Christian Yelich’s home run on Wednesday was the 199th of his career, leaving him one round-tripper shy of becoming the 373rd player in MLB history to club 200 homers. Yelich’s next big fly will tie him with another former MVP, Josh Hamilton, and 11-time All-Star Bill Freehan on the all-time list.
The 32-year-old Yelich looked to be on the decline in 2021-22 before a rebound campaign in 2023, and the 2024 season has seen him bounce all the way back to MVP-caliber form — at least through a sample of 128 plate appearances. (Yelich missed a bit more than three weeks with a back strain.) In 30 games this year, Yelich is hitting .297/.386/.532 (160 wRC+) with six home runs, four doubles, a pair of triples and seven steals (in eight tries). He’ll take aim at joining the 200 club this weekend when the White Sox visit Milwaukee and send Erick Fedde, Garrett Crochet and rookie Nick Nastrini to the mound.
3. Reetz to exit DFA limbo:
When the Giants signed lefty Drew Pomeranz to a big league deal last week, the club needed to clear space on its 40-man roster to accommodate the newly-signed veteran. They did so by designating catcher Jakson Reetz for assignment, opening up a one-week window for the club to either execute a trade of Reetz or attempt to pass him through waivers. That window expires today, meaning that an announcement regarding Reetz’s future should be expected at some point today. Reetz made it into five games for the Giants in his first big league action since 2021, going 1-for-12 at the plate with a home run and four strikeouts.
The 28-year-old has bounced around multiple organizations as upper-level catching depth in recent years, and belting 29 homers and 36 doubles in exactly 600 career Triple-A plate appearances (with an overall .236/.334/.483 batting line). A team willing to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to him could continue to use him in that role, as Reetz has multiple options remaining. Of course, for a player that has regularly been available on a minor league deal in recent years, it’s perhaps more likely that he will simply clear waivers and be outrighted to the minor leagues by the Giants. Reetz has been outrighted previously in his career and would be able to reject such an assignment in favor of free agency.
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