1. Yordano Ventura has a short fuse. Well, we knew this. We’ve known this for years, especially after the start of last season, when Ventura was earning a rep for going after people at the plate, culminating in a big rumble against the White Sox. Tim Kurkjian has it right: You can’t really fault Manny Machado for going after the guy after getting hit with the hardest pitch that Ventura threw all night, a 99 mph pitch that will almost certainly draw a suspension.
What about the other guy? Well, not that Machado hasn’t had his own problems with anger management and maturity, but a pitch like that is the stuff broken careers are made of, conjuring up memories of Rocky Colavito or Dickie Thon for those of us who have them.
The weird thing is, as much as Ventura seems to be in this situation again and again, he’s tied for just 17th in the majors in hit batsmen from 2014 to 2016 with 17, including Tuesday’s pelting of Machado. He’s hitting 0.96 percent of all big league batters faced, and while that is more than the league average (just under nine-tenths of a percent), it’s also much less often than, say, Chris Sale (1.4 percent) or Alfredo Simon (1.5). The crew on Baseball Tonight noted that Johnny Cueto was supposed to have a calming influence on Ventura, but Cueto has hit guys at a 1.2 percent clip in that same stretch. This year, 40.6 percent of Ventura’s pitches have been on the inner half of the plate, against the MLB average of 40.5 percent.
So the problem isn’t about numbers. It isn’t about frequency, nor is it as situational as, say, the Pirates’ year-long, staff-wide use of the inside pitch. It’s about emotion and people. Ventura hit Machado in a game last September, threw inside on Machado earlier on Tuesday and apparently took umbrage to Machado’s barking at him to cut it out. Ventura doesn’t just cook with gas, he gets set off by circumstance.
As the saying goes, you can be young once but immature forever. He's only 25 years old, but it’s worth wondering if anything will get Ventura to focus on the greatness he can deliver when he’s aiming it at the catcher, instead of the latest target of his temper.
2. The Rangers’ owning the Astros is part of something bigger. Jean-Jacques Taylor got into the regional dynamic after the Rangers rallied to take down Dallas Keuchel to win a seventh straight game against the Astros. But that’s almost unsurprising after they swept the Mariners and won series against both the Indians and Pirates. If that was supposed to be a test for Texas against tough teams, there’s nothing like an 11-2 run to remind people they’re really only just getting going now that the rotation has Yu Darvish back.
3. Mat Latos didn’t deliver on the vote of confidence Robin Ventura gave him. Latos was picked to stay in the rotation after the White Sox traded for starter James Shields. Latos’ response was to throw his worst start of the season, giving up six runs while failing to escape the fifth inning. Sure, he was facing the Nationals, but it wasn’t what you want to see after getting an endorsement for your performance.
Since his season-opening stretch of four straight quality starts that inspired suspicion he might be pitching coach Don Cooper’s latest great retreading job, Latos has allowed 31 runs in his past 36 innings while giving up nine homers and posting a 19:18 ratio of strikeouts to walks. No middling contender can afford to carry that kind of performance, and you might expect Latos to get worse pitching in the Cell in the summer heat.
As long as Carlos Rodon is hurting and missing turns, there is not yet a decision to make. You can understand the Sox’s hopes here -- they spent $3 million to sign Latos in the offseason. They didn’t spend that money knowing that an entirely adequate guy like Miguel Gonzalez would fall into their laps as rosters got cut down. The money isn’t a big deal, but the performance is, and while Gonzalez isn’t a hugely better choice -- his 4.77 FIP over the last three seasons in the Orioles’ rotation speaks to the mediocrity of his stuff, as well as his performance -- the Sox won’t be able to afford much more faith in their investment in Latos while pursuing a pennant.
4. This year’s National League leaderboard for home runs is bizarre. Sure, nobody expected Rockies rookie Trevor Story to be in the mix, but he exploited his initial opportunity. And nothing good was expected for the Reds or the Brewers this season, so seeing both Adam Duvall and Chris Carter among the NL’s leaders for homers hit is more than a happy surprise -- and not just for those who nabbed either in their fantasy leagues. Carter’s two-blast night against the A’s -- one of his former teams -- gave the Brewers enough to win with, while Duvall bumped his total up to 17 homers. It’s easy to take Duvall’s performance down a peg by noting that half his homers are against the Brewers and Rockies, but credit the guy with the skill at bat to exploit the gap. And Carter has the benefit of Miller Park, mashing an MLB-leading 12 homers at home. Don’t begrudge journeymen sluggers their venues -- they still have to have the talent to deliver in those stadiums, and not everybody has or does.
5. Just remember to give Jerad Eickhoff his due. The Philadelphia Phillies starter beat the Cubs to elevate his record to 3-8, but more importantly it was also his eighth quality start in 12 turns this season. While the main story about the early season Phillies involves their unsustainable good luck, Eickhoff is essentially the opposite of all that, because the guy is tied for the MLB lead in tough losses (defined by Baseball-Reference.com as losses in quality starts) with four. So to watch him chew through the Cubs’ offensive juggernaut after getting beaten by them on May 28 was a study in adaptation, as the breadth of his mix of pitches allowed him to rely more heavily on his breaking stuff, getting seven of his eight whiffs on curves and sliders. Fun stuff from a fun pitcher to follow.
Christina Kahrl writes about MLB for ESPN. You can follow her on Twitter.