Yankees right-hander Domingo German is the talk of baseball after throwing just the 24th perfect game in Major League history last night. The right-hander set down all 27 Athletics hitters in a row, punching out nine along the way and finishing out the evening with a tidy 99 pitches. As fans buzz about that history-making performance, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye out for today…
1. Wainwright milestones approaching:
Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright will take the ball tonight and make the 400th start of his illustrious career. He’ll become just the 140th pitcher to ever make as many starts in his career, and a victory over the Astros would push him to 199 total victories in his career. The final season of Wainwright’s career hasn’t gone as he hoped either from a team or personal level. The Cardinals currently sit 13 games under .500 and nine games back in the NL Central, while Wainwright has struggled to a 6.56 ERA with a career-low 10.9% strikeout rate through his first nine starts and 46 innings on the season.
2. Sale headed for MRI:
Red Sox lefty Chris Sale, already on the 60-day injured list due to a stress reaction in his shoulder blade, is headed for an MRI to provide further clarity on his potential timetable to return, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. A specific return date for Sale hasn’t been clear to this point, though his placement on the injured list occurred on June 2, meaning he’ll be out until at least early August. The oft-injured Sale, 34, had a dismal start to the season but looked like the Sale of old in six starts prior to landing on the injured list, pitching to a 2.25 ERA with a 29.5% strikeout rate against just a 3.6% walk rate in 36 innings. With Sale, Corey Kluber and Tanner Houck all on the IL, the Red Sox have deployed James Paxton, Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock and Kutter Crawford in the rotation recently.
3. MLBTR Free Agent Power Rankings this afternoon:
It’s been a couple months since the last edition of MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings was published. We’ll have an updated version of our forward-looking rundown of the top end of this year’s free agent market published later on this afternoon. It’s a pitching-heavy group, headlined of course by two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. But, with some key free agents struggling and others thriving well beyond expectation, there are also some changes in the rankings further down the list. The Aug. 1 trade deadline is the clear focus for most baseball fans right now, but if you’re looking to peak ahead to the upcoming winter, check back this afternoon for a glimpse at what the market will have to bear.
If there were ever asked me to guess a team this season that’d have a perfect game thrown against them this season, my first guess would be the athletics.
As a A’s fan i am glad the Yanks did it to the A’s and hoping to do it again today. Baseball fans need to see what MLB and Fisher did to the A’s organization by having a team full of bad players to save money. Manfred is the worse commish ever and refuses to call out the A’s owner for putting the worse team ever on the field.
If it was just fielding an extremely cheap and all-time terrible team, it would be excusable if it was being done as a means to restock the farm until they can build around young, controllable talent and then spend on the missing pieces. But the real problem is that Fisher is blantantly doing it just to save money and has no plans to be competitive in the future even after they move to Las Vegas.
watching most of the former players do very well while the A’s did not get 1 top prospects from any of those trades but AAA players is very sad. Its one thing oif they were rebuilding for the future getting top prospects but they received AAA quality players in return.
I wonder if the umps looked more closely at his glove, hat, hands, etc as the game progressed.
has no plans to be competitive in the future even after they move to Las Vegas.
============================
Since taking control, Fisher has the As in the playoffs 7x from 2006 onwards.
That’s as many or more than LAA, SFG, SDP, HOU, TEX, NYMs Cubs, Philly, etc. It would be quicker to research how many teams have been in the playoffs more times.
Perhaps you have a different definition of “competitive”, but given the horrible fan support he gets in Oakland, Fished has been one of the most competitive owners in baseball.
When he wanted the city of Oakland to build him a park. He also had Billy Beane who kept them competitive. He striped the team of all major league players and now its a AA team out there. If you blame the fans you are very ignorant to what is happening in Oakland.
last long tern contract signed was before Fisher took over. last big name free agent signed was before Fisher took over. Never had a payroll over $100 million. Now explain why Fisher said he was moving to HT stadium in Oakland then all of a sudden SILENT. 6 months later the deal in Vegas went through. raised ticket prices after having lowest payroll in baseball.
Dewey, MLB is don’t ask don’t tell when it comes to the yankees. Until the goop is so bloody obvious the fans watching in Iraq on a fuzzy television can tell he’s cheating, then they’ll tell him to wash his hands and the opposing manager will get tossed. It’s great.
The largest contract in Oakland history wouldn’t get Ohtani for a year next year. It wouldn’t sign most top line starters for 2 years.
That was all in the past. His payroll this year is tiny even compared to those teams. He has no plans to be competitive going forward, as he’s moving to a smaller market where the attendance will be capped at 30,000 per game. No GM can forge a winning team from the shoestring budgets he’s provided this year and will provide in the near future.
@old York
Bring back Billy Martin!
As you complain about attendance being capped around 30,000 fans, you DO realize that’s not much less than the red sox are capped at by fenway Park, right?
The listed capacity is just over 37,000 fans, but, that assumes sellouts of standing room only, and, the relatively few occasions they remove the tarped/blocked sections in CF making up the batters eye.
Reality is, they hover in the 32-34k mark most of the time, and, Boston isn’t short on ticket sales despite fielding a progressively worse team themselves ever since bloom took over that many longtime fans are furious over
This is nothing new in baseball, and even in A’s history. Connie Mack stripped down two championship teams during his long tenure. And Charlie Finley tore down the 3-time World Series champs of the 1970’s. By 1979 they were often drawing crowds of less than 1,000 fans and won only 54 games on the year. Sounds a lot like this current team. People acting like this is something new don’t know the history of the game. Manfred isn’t the only commissioner who’s had this happen while in power.
GASox – In all fairness to Oakland fans, nobody there buys tickets because they love the ballpark. Fenway is still a draw for those who haven’t been able to afford tickets until now, and they can easily buy tickets at $15 face value or even less depending on the opponent/day/weather.
Fact is, this year’s average Fenway attendance is the lowest since 1999. And when the team is officially out of the postseason race, just watch how empty Fenway will be in August and September.
30,000 is perfect. Baseball is fighting a battle to lot loose it’s audience. The days of 45-50k seat stadiums are over. Teams can only fill them on special occasions. But good teams can constantly bring in good crowds keeping demand high and supply low, meaning inflated ticket prices. Especially in Vegas where it will as much a tourist event as a fan. Clubs want full seats on their broadcasts too. I’ve been to several games where the ushers have asked me to move down sections so the lower bowls looked filled.then a smalls stadium means smaller footprint, less construction costs and less real estate taxes.
True fever, BUT, if Oakland gave a damn about its stadium, they COULD capitalize on things a bit.
It was an Olympic stadium for crying out loud. Fix it up. Put in a bunch of LA Olympics memorabilia in it. Put up historical plaques. Do displays.
There IS history there, and with Mt Davis gone the classical profile can be returned to the site which was somewhat eye-pleasing. They just didn’t take care of it.
Drop a $150m renovation on it and you could have an awesome venue.
GASox – I agree on the history.
Maybe they should take a cue from the Red Sox, and put an all-red seat in the last row of the last section in the left field upper deck ;o)
Fenway may be kind of small, but 7,000 extra seats available per game is A LOT!
You also don’t understand how averages work. While they only averaged 32K+ attendance last year, that was only possible due to all the games they packed in well over 35K to make up for the games that were less in demand. Also, they averaged over 36K in attendance in 2019 before the pandemic, and they should gradually get back closer to that mark.
In comparison, a capacity of 30,000 (plus standing room) is simply unacceptable!
You’re absolutely right. If manfred ever did his job instead of f***ing around with the rules, he would call Fisher out. If someone buys a team with no intention of even trying to have a competitive team, of trading away good players like Murphy who could have been a player to build around, the commissioner should tell Fisher to either get serious about his team or force him to sell it. manfred said he would’ve stepped in and voided Judge’s deal with the LAD because it had too many years, but this, he’s as interested in it as Fisher. It’s the national past time, not a toy for a billionaire.
Well I guess German was lucky that Tyler wade was not in the game last night…lol..
Great game nevertheless kid…
Was it two seasons ago that the Indians were no-hit 3 times? And all three times Plesac was the SP.
Lol
Chris Sale just needs to retire because every year this frail guy gets hurt just leaving the dugout.
Who the heck are the 6 people who liked this comment????
Injuries happen. He earned that contract by pitching like a stud and being underpaid early in his career. He doesn’t owe anyone anything except giving his best and I believe he has.
Nobody wants to get hurt.
> Who the heck are the 6 people
> who liked this comment????
Marky, Ricky, Danny, Terry, Mikey, Davey, Timmy, Tommy, Joey, Robby, Johnny, and Brian.
Sounds like the viewers on Romper Room, lol
I think the problem with Sale is that he’s too thin. He might also want to increase his intake of calcium. Buehler is also quite thin. He. said he eats a lot but can’t gain weight. But he doesn’t seem as frail as Sale. It’s a shame too. His stats in the Sox straight starts he had before his latest injury are phenomenal.
Say it again
Surprised the A’s haven’t had more of those games, given the AA-team they field everyday.
1. Those days of Cy Young and Maddux starting many games are gone. Guys are getting more money for less workload. I miss the days of pitchers throwing 8+ innings.
2. Pay the guy out and dump him. He’s washed up.
3. Ohtani’s playing like he’s ready to leave the Angels.
I don’t think the main reason that starters go fewer innings is because they cannot do it. I think the main reason is that since there are so many pitchers on the roster, managers have to get them in the game in order to justify their being on the roster. It used to be there were only 3-4 guys in the bullpen and they usually pitched only in extra inning games or blowout losses. If you want to blame anything, blame the expanded rosters.
It’s not the rosters, mostly. It’s mainly the advance in medical information that shows that it’s best for their health to not have them pitch significantly more than 100 pitches on a regular basis.
Still, some of the fault lies with the managers for taking guys out after 85-90 pitches when they’re still pitching pretty well or being too strict with the 100 pitch marker when the guy is cruising. They don’t even have the excuse anymore of needing to take the guy out a little early for a pinch-hitter when they have an offensive rally going!
@Lanidrac
Is there an actual study that shows 100 pitches or less is beneficial? Seems kind of ridiculous to pay extra for Pitchers like Verlander and Scherzer because of their durability, and then limiting their pitch count, so you can’t get what you paid for.
There must be something out there to have caused all 30 MLB teams to have adopted the pitch count practice.
The durability you pax extra for is how often they stay healthy and how many innings they can throw in a season within the pitch count limits. Some pitchers are still relatively more durable than others.
I still haven’t seen the study which said that 100 pitches is the optimal time to pull a pitcher.
Nolan Ryan threw a 13-inning complete game in 1975, and I am sure he was aa close to being his best as he was at the 200 pitch mark as he was at the 100 pitch mark.
Fact baseball has valued the 95+ mph fastball as anything else, and now there are more Tommy John Surgeries than ever before.
Pitchers are so muscle-stressed up to throw that hard that they cannot stay healthy.
Someone should do a study on what gets hitters to chase, and figure out how to teach pitchers to pitch instead of telling them to blow everyone away.
The reason managers take out starters in the fifth is because they’re afraid of letting a pitcher face a lineup for the third time. These guys are major leaguers. If their pitch count isn’t too high, the manager should leave the pitcher in. It does seem to be changing, however. Giolito pitched into the seventh inning yesterday. Good to see.
Forgot to mention that Ryan’s 13-inning complete game he threw 247 pitches.
Preach it,brother! 185 IP these days is considered to be a “workhorse” of a starting pitcher. I’ve thought for years that GMs are out of their minds for giving starting pitchers long term deals at mega $$$.
Guys are also throwing harder than they did before. That causes more stress on the arm, which without load management, leads to injuries.
Yes there are freaks like Nolan Ryan, but they are freaks because they are ABnormal.
And steroids. Ryan gets a pass for some reason, but look at the evolution of his body, and sustained power into his mid-40s. Steroids.
It’s possible he used them. If he did and got away with it, more power to him.
Once again, I have to go back to Tom Seaver. He used his legs to generate power, not just his arm. And as far as I can remember he never had a serious arm injury.
Seaver and Ryan both had powerful legs but used a different approach. Seaver pushed forward at a very low position while Ryan used a tall and fall method. Either way, leg power played a big part in their longevity.
IMHO, the crazy uptick in modern era pitchers needing TJ surgery is due to the fact pitchers are taught to pitch from the stretch and use the arm only. The school of pitchers using their legs to generate power is long gone.
Ryan said once in an interview(while he was a riding a recumbent bike after a start),”If you have leg problems, you have arm problems “.
How is Ohtani playing like he’s ready to leave the Angels? Do you think games like he had Tuesday when he hit two HR’s and struck out ten is his way of getting attention from prospective suitors? Anyone who thinks that hasn’t been paying attention.
Ironic you used the phrase punching out nine batters for domestic abuser German.
12,479 attendance to see a perfecto, yikes
And although the fans are protesting the product on the field, all they REALLY are doing is ensuring Oakland goes to the back of the line for any future relocation or expansion team.
There’s a narrative out there that the city doesn’t want to provide a qualify facility, and the fans arent interested enough to support a team. This season kindandrives the point home for anyone who gives it a future look.
Hey Tim, who did the Angels send down and DFA or place on the 60 day IL to reactivate Escobar from the restricted list yesterday.
I believe it was Jo Adell, who was quietly brought for 2 days.
It will take 10 runs for the Cardinals to win tonight.
I’m shocked Marmol is still around.
I’m shocked Mozeliak is still around.
Mozeliak isn’t going to be fired, because he’s still an excellent executive. He and Girsch just had a mediocre offseason compounded with bad luck with how so many of the pitchers are performing below expectations and how their big free agent signing isn’t hitting as expected.
Well, trying to move Contreras to DH (back when he was hitting pretty well) was an embarassing move, but at least they reversed that decision quickly.
He has never been an excellent executive. He has always done just enough to keep fans filling the seats year after year. The organization has been in a gradual decline for the last decade.
He took over after 2007. In the 15 since then, the Cards have been in the playoffs 10x, finished 1st 6x, been to the WS 2x, and won the WS once, and has averaged about 90 wins.
Overall, pretty close to as good as it gets.
I heard Marmol made some major screw-up in yesterday’s game, but I’m not sure what it was.
He didn’t actually take over the team until after TLR left the team after 2011. The he benefited the TLR roster holder mover until they cycled out. After that he’s out the organization in an obvious decline if you’ve been paying attention and looking at the club future state rather then just the current league year. It’s been going on for a good five years and isn’t getting better for a few years. He only wants yes men as managers so he can call the shot. 3 going on 4 managers in 12 years is not stability. His coached have realized the current state and all fled as soon as they could. He hasn’t been able to sign too trier free agents nor get player to waive their no trade clause to come here. Again he does just the minimum to keep the Saint Louis locals interested so they keep rotating the turnstiles. Which has become even easier because Cardinal tickets have become the new go to for school/church/team fundraisers so even if you don’t want to go your force to by tickets to several games a year to support your relationships team/school/org
Tony La Russa never had that much power, and the last four years before this one have been excellent with the Cardinals making the playoffs every single year thanks to Mo and Girsch. They’ve just gotten a little unlucky in recent playoff series.
They do sign decent free agents when they can afford to do so (Contreras was quite the splash despite being disappointing so far), and they’ve made brilliant trades for Goldschmidt, Arenado, O’Neill, Gallegos, Quintana, etc. alongside the ones that worked for both sides (such as Bader for Montgomery) and the rare few that they’ve lost.
Marmol is still around because he’s Mo’s guy. To fire him would admit Marmol was a bad hire (which he was). Ownership has to replace Mozeliak with someone who will fire Marmol, and despite the fact the team remains in a flat spin (mostly due to pitching) I’m not sure ownership has the intestinal fortitude to make that change in season. Let’s go with this messaging for the time being: “Why is the team having an off year? Someone in the fan base isn’t praying hard enough.”
They also need to hire an executive who won’t put an analytics guy with zero coaching experience as the pitching coach.
Maybe, but Mike Maddux was an excellent pitching coach who they wanted to keep, but he gave some BS excuse about semi-retirement and then jumped to the Rangers instead.
I’ve been asking myself why so many coaches bolted this year. That was my first clue that something is wrong in the management staff all the way to the top. The chaos and clown show that followed confirmed it.
Sticky stuff perfect game?
Well the Yankee offense wasn’t using garbage can cues to hit……nor was Stanton wearing a wire……..but sure the umpires checked German thoroughly given his past transgressions……
Domingo was never really dominant, the A’s were just that bad. The whole lineup can’t hit a curveball. But maybe he did who knows
We are forgetting Armando Galaragga here. He should always be mentioned, along with Jim Joyce, everytime we mention perfect games. Umpires ruin the sport.
His subdued reaction to the safe-call at first …that smile.
May have been a grimmace
Jim Joyce was so righteous in his call and adamant in his facial expressions that he was correct. That moment exemplifies the smugness of these individuals. It was a disgusting moment.
All true, but let’s also remember that Joyce did something no other umpire ever does – admit fault and show genuine remorse.
I don’t know about that, but he was very humble in his statement in admitting that he missed the call and cost Galaragga a Perfect Game.
That’s why we have instant replay now.
If only they could retroactively modify that game using instant replay and honor him with an unofficial perfect game… It’s not going to impact any team’s season now. Besides, it wouldn’t really set precedent since we have instant replay now. It has a 0 percent chance of happening, but that would really rile up the umpire union.
Umpiring this season is the worst and most inconsistent that I’ve ever seen. And I’ve been watching since 1967. It’s like they’re taunting us — “Go ahead and try to replace us with bots and AI. We f-ing dare you!”
They have been out to get Texas. Those guys are crazy. They have to favor big city teams to please Manfred. It’s complete BS. Look at how NY blew that Jonah call. Mets fans are still not over deGrom, so they have the umps do their dirty work. It’s time to bring out the 99.9% accurate robots. They even use height for strike zone. If only they could use that for actual calls.
Retroactively using instant replay would indeed set a precedent for other games before instant replay, though. Do we then go back and make sure all 73 of Bonds’ home runs in 2001 were legitimate (aside from the steroid issue)? And so on…
There’s no logic based argument against using the available technology to call balls and strikes. Any of the pro-human arguments are based on emotion and nostalgia.
Sure there is: The technology simply isn’t accurate enough yet.
99.9% isn’t accurate enough? Then, what is?
It’s plenty accurate. You choosing to believe an uninformed talking point about robots ruining the game doesn’t make the technology less accurate.
Waino has got to go-go. Loyalty gets in your way at times. He needs to just be some kind of player coach for the rest of the year (a mop-up man). They aren’t gonna release the guy but he’s awful and at 41 having a 1.80 whip means you’re done. They imply they still believe they can compete. They need to make steps to make that happen. Have to send the message that performance is essential. Surely someone else deserves a chance. Send him to AAA for awhile at least.
I’m good with sentiment, but the Cards have fallen into a “sentimental” trap, where the last few years have been all about the great careers of Waino, Yadi & Puhjols and not about winning or developing the next core of pitching that they will need going forward. And then they fire the guy who won 17 gms in a row, to bring in Marmol?
They won the division last year.
Casual fans don’t remember that far back.
The game is about the stars, for the most part. The Cards were right to let Pujols finish his career in St Louis. He got his 700th HR in a Cardinals uniform and will of course have on a Cardinals cap on his plague when he gets into the HOF four years from now. They let Molina decide when he was going to retire. He deserved that kind of respect. So does Wainwright. I have no problem with loyalty especially when those players showed such loyalty to the team.
The organization has been left behind by changes to the game. They’re set in their ways and are seeing the aftermath.
I’m down with that just to put Marmol in a position to where he has to try and convince Wainwright going to AAA in his last season at age 41 is the right thing to do. That meeting would get better ratings than any game so far this year.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to tell him he’s being paid to perform and if he wants to keep pitching he can try to figure it out at AAA or go to the pen.
The really sad thing is that the Cardinals have no better options than Waino at this point. He’s in the rotation unless they find a way to land a starter before the deadline. I doubt they will. They are more likely to trade Montgomery and Flaherty leaving an even less acceptable starting rotation.
I’ve changed my mind. It’s time to give Waino’s rotation spot to McGreevy. He’s the best we have in Memphis.
Yup. If he can throw a fast ball in the mid 90’s consistently, he needs to be in the rotation. Him or Graceffo.
Maybe under different circumstances, but who would you replace him with? Woodford and Matz aren’t any better, and Liberatore is already a rotation replacement who isn’t exactly lighting it up. Hudson and Thompson are pitching badly in AAA right now, and Grafecco isn’t ready for the Majors yet. Pallante was a decent rotation fill-in last year, but he’s struggling somewhat with an ERA over 4.00 in the bullpen yet is still one of their better relievers, and he would need to be built up to a starter’s workload anyway.
At this point, they might as well continue with sentimentality for Wainwright for at least a while longer.
Also, you can’t just send a veteran like Wainwright down to AAA. It’s either play him or designate him for assignment.
Isn’t ready? If he’s the best option then bring him up. Some people didn’t think Bobby Miller was ready, some didn’t think Eury Perez was either while others did, despite stats in the minors. Guy is 23 and practiced his craft all year long. Baseball is a younger game now, players who are are going to be regular contributors are making debuts by 23 at the latest. Those who aren’t should mint be talked about as top prospects.
Grafecco is NOT the best option BECAUSE he isn’t ready yet. He’s only pitched 27 innings in AAA to a 4.67 ERA. You don’t ruin a young pitcher’s development just to try and turn around what is probably already a lost season. He probably wouldn’t perform any better than Wainwright against Major League hitters at this point, anyway.
He could be ready, we don’t know. The cardinals ruin every young pitchers development. If his current ceiling is Wainwright right now, then he should be up here getting top level exposure. Minor stats for pitchers can be deceiving because they could be working and experimenting with different things in real game situations. It doesn’t matter how much development you think he needs in the minors, it never translates to the big league for the cardinals anyway. He could be best suited to just bring him up and let him do his thing. If he is good and was on any other team that despo needed pitching, he’d be up right now, but instead the Cardinals need to try and change him into fitting their out dates pitching philosophy and ruin him. BtW emphasized WORD usage IS FOR drAma QUeeNS
The perfect game would have greater meaning if it was against a major league team.
He was the first German…I mean Dominican player to throw a Perfecto.
Rishi- True, but not the first Dominican to throw 9 perfect innings in a ML game.
Pedro should have sued his teammates for lack of support.
The Swingin’ High A’s were getting their knees buckled all night from German’s hook just like his girlfriend.
Thank Manfred who allows Fisher to push out the worse team in 100 years onto the field and doesn’t tell him to sell the team. Its a disgrace what MLB has done to Oakland and the fans by letting a guy pretend to want to win.
FWIW, they are two games behind KC, with a decent chance of catching them.
KC still has better players than the A’s.
@JB At least KC did something for their fans by spending to bring back Greinke.
Greinke is 1-8. Does that somehow make them a better organization?
IMO, A’s fans are incredibly shortsighted. The A’s have been astronomically better than the Royals over almost any time period since 1985. To compare them is laughable.
In fact, you can say that about most teams. Oakland has been much better run than SD or the LAA, and better run than several large market teams. It’s almost like they refuse to look at the records.
Ray – Okay now THAT truly made me LOL!
A German embarrassed the Americans.
The A’s are on pace right now to go 42-120 which would tie the ’62 Mets for the worst record in modern Baseball. At least that team had the excuse of being and expansion team when expansion teams were generally awful for their first few years. What Fisher has done is an insult to the fans and a disgrace to the game
What Fisher has done is an insult to the fans and a disgrace to the game
=====================================
Small market teams have to get used to rebuilds. 6 playoff appearances in 11 years.
Can anyone besides the Yankees, Cards & Dodgers top that? A’s fans hate Fisher because he got tired of an empty stadium. They pay no attention to the records. Or maybe they simply don’t know the records.
There are rebuilds and then there is what Fisher has done. I’m sure there are many of us here that remember the Padres fire-sale after the ’92/during the ’93 season or the Marlins literal dismantling of a championship team after the ’97 World Series and even those teams were not this bad after the guttings. Market size has nothing to do with it as it has been stated repeatedly that Oakland is not a small market and MLB has already taken the A’s revenue sharing dollars away from them once because of that. Moving to Vegas guarantees the A’s can sing the small market blues for the duration of time they are there
He created the empty stadiums by not spending any money the last few years and traded away the best players for guys that get paid nothing. i dare you to name the last big name free agent the A’s signed in the last 20 years. Go now.
Fischer has never signed a big name free agent. It was Lew Wolfe that spent when the team bought the likes of Frank Thomas, Mike Piazza, Nomar Garciaparra, Bartolo Colon and Yoenis Cespedes
Earth to Rsox: the 1962 Mets went 40-120. You can look it up on Retrosheet or the Baseball Reference.
Congrats to Domingo German!
And despite being 13 games below .500 and having a .418 winning percentage, the cardinals are second in average attendance in all of baseball. Why would the front office care to upgrade when they know their fan base will show up no matter what garbage they put on the field?
When starting a sentence with the word “but,” there should be no comma after it.
“But, with some key free agents struggling and others thriving well beyond expectation, there are also some changes in the rankings further down the list.”
Is wrong.
“But with some key free agents struggling and others thriving well beyond expectation, there are also some changes in the rankings further down the list.”
Is right.