MLB Daily: Carlos Perez Hits Walk-Off in Debut; Zack Greinke's Bat Flip; Many Stars Off to Slow Starts
By Mike Cardillo
Welcome to a Wednesday edition of MLB Daily. Enjoy as always …
Dream Debut: The list of players who’ve hit a home run in their first Major League at-bat is relatively long, ranging from the likes of Gene Lamont to Bill White to Carlos Lee to Tim Wallach to Elijah Dukes to Mike Napoli to Jason Heyward to Jorge Soler last year. However players who’ve hit walk-off homers in their first game is short: Bill Parker, Josh Bard and Miguel Cabrera. Add Angels catcher Carlos Perez to the list after his homer off Dominic Leone lifted Anaheim to a 5-4 win over Seattle.
Slumping stars: Going into play Wednesday night the Bottom 40 players in OPS included many prominent players. The MLB average is .704.
A sampling of some of the names that stand out include: Chase Utley (.389), Jayson Werth (.450); Adam Eaton (.497); Josh Harrison (.533); Michael Morse (.537); Mike Napoli (.546); Victor Martinez (.556); Yadier Molina (.573); Carlos Beltran (.576); Shin-Soo Choo (.580); Carlos Gonzalez (.587); Elvis Andrus (.589); Billy Hamilton (.593); Andrew McCutchen (.598) and Adrian Beltre (.605).
Some of this is arbritrary. If you have a bad month at the start of the season it sticks out more than if it happens in July as in the case of someone like McCutchen or Beltre. Older players on the list such as Utley, who was given a “mental break” on Tuesday or Beltran are nearing the end of their careers, leaving the most concern for Choo, Andrus and others locked into long-term deals. Victor Martinez, coming off knee surgery, only has one extra base hit for the Tigers — another red flag for an aging guy under contract three more seasons.
Flip: Zack Greinke crushed a ball over Carlos Gomez’ head in center field at Miller Park and flipped his bat in the process. Greinke formerly played for the Brewers, so maybe that was in the back of his mind. We need to track down Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine for comment.
FYI: Bartolo Colon is 5-1 with 2.90 ERA after going 7+ vs. the Orioles last night. The veteran righty scattered six hits, including a Manny Machado homer. He hasn’t walked a batter since Opening Day.
Another great grab: George Springer made the highlight reels again, this time robbing Adrian Beltre of extra bases. The catch came with a cost. Springer didn’t speak with reporters after the Astros loss and will undergo concussion tests.
Highlight or lowlight? Alex Avila homered in the Tigers 5-2 loss to the White Sox last night. The ball went off Melky Cabrera’s glove and over the fence.
This & That: This piece from the Wall Street Journal about teams pulling operations out of Venezuela (for a myriad of reasons, including safety) is worth checking out. … The Cardinals beat the Cubs again, their eighth straight win. St. Louis is 20-6 and opened up a 6.5 game lead on Chicago. …. Rick Porcello gave the Red Sox seven scoreless innings in a win over the Rays. … Shelby Miller shut out the Phillies on a 99-pitch three-hitter. … San Francisco is over .500 following its fifth straight win, a 6-0 decision vs. San Diego.
[Heart Full of Soul Work]