The second week of the young 2018 MLB season was quite a crazy one. This week, there were fewer games than a typical week of baseball would have as the weather was bad in some places, which made the playing fields unplayable. There were also low numbers of people in the seats at some games and believe it or not, it can't be blamed on the weather. While there were lots of postponements, there were still many games played which saw some players put up good numbers. With the season going into week three, here are some things that happened in week two.
Brawls
A diehard baseball fan would probably have seeing a bench-clearing brawl on their bucket list of things they want to see at a baseball diamond. If any of those diehard fans were at the Padres vs. Rockies game or Yankees vs. Red Sox game on April 11, they can cross this off their bucket list.
In the Padres vs. Rockies game, Luis Perdomo threw behind Nolan Arenado which made him charge at the mound. Perdomo received a five game suspension which he has appealed since. Arenado has also been given a five game suspension but he started serving his suspension on Saturday which will allow him to be back in game action on Thursday. Rockies OF Gerardo Parra was given a four game suspension but he has appealed.
Padres RP Buddy Baumann has received a one game suspension but will serve it when he gets called up, as he was sent down to AAA. Rockies P German Marquez, Padres SS Freddy Galvis and C A.J. Ellis were given fines.
Just a few hours later in Boston, the Red Sox and Yankees cleared the benches twice. Yankees 1B Tyler Austin attempted to slide into Brock Holt which resulted in the benches clearing but no punches were thrown.
The second time, Joe Kelly threw at Austin which resulted in Austin charging the mound as Kelly initiated it. Kelly was suspended six games and Austin was suspended for five games. For the Red Sox, manager Alex Cora, 2B Dusitn Pedroia, SS Xander Bogaerts and Yankees SP C.C. Sabathia were fined. The reason why Pedroia, Bogaerts and Sabathia were fined was because they were on the DL which prohibits them from entering the field.
Games postponed
With baseball being a game played outdoors, there's obviously going to be games called due to rain. This week, there were many games that were called due to bad weather. It wasn't only rain, but also snow. This weekend saw a crazy amount of games being postponed as the double-header yesterday between the Yankees and Tigers saw both games get postponed. Other games that were postponed this weekend were Jays vs. Indians, Braves vs. Cubs and Twins vs. White Sox (twice). All games have been rescheduled for a later date.
This really a major league baseball game?
Two games this week saw low attendance numbers at games. In 2017, an average game saw 30,023 fans at a game. On Tuesday with the Rays visiting the White Sox, only 974 people showed up to watch the game which is way below the average attendance from 2017.
While barely anyone showed up, some blame could be put on the cold weather and also the fact that it was an afternoon game, as people had work and school.
What can't be blamed on the weather though is the attendance at the Marlins game. On Wednesday, the Marlins only saw 6,150 people at the game against the Mets while their AA affiliate the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp saw 6,960 fans at their game on Wednesday. When it comes to Miami, you can't blame the weather for low attendance.
Oh so close
This week, we saw multiple pitchers come so close to throwing no-hitters or perfect games. On Monday, Royals SP Jakob Junis carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning until Dan Vogelbach broke it with a single with one out in the seventh.
On Tuesday, Aaron Sanchez had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning until he gave up a hit to Tim Beckham. Wednesday saw Marlins P Jarlin Garcia fire six innings of no-hit baseball until he was pulled out of the game. Thursday saw 2016 AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello have a no-hitter going into the seventh until 2017 AL rookie of the year Aaron Judge hit a lead-off double. Yesterday, Bartolo Colon known as "Big Sexy" had a perfect game against the reigning world champs, the Houston Astros. He led off the eighth inning by walking Carlos Correa and then lost his bid at a no-hitter by giving up a double to Josh Reddick. If all these pitchers didn't give up a hit, we could have seen four no-hitters on four consecutive days and a perfect game if Colon didn't give up a hit or walk.
Stellar performances
With a two start week for reigning NL Cy Young winner Scherzer, he didn't disappoint, as this week, he went 2-0 while only giving up one run in both games combined. He also only walked one and got 21 batters to strike out. Scherzer also stole his first career base on Monday. On April 13, Gerrit Cole pitched against the Rangers and got 14 strikeouts while only giving up one walk and two runs. After starting off the season slow, Indians 3B Jose Ramirez batted .352 this week by going six for seventeen. Also getting a two start week was Astros ace Justin Verlander. He got 20 strikeouts while only walking two and giving up a run. This week, Betts batted .333 which included his phenomenal game on Tuesday which saw him go four for four with a single, two doubles, a HR and four RBIs.
He also walked and scored five runs.
Other things that happened this week
- Andrus out for six to eight weeks with a fractured elbow
- d'Arnaud and Lamet out for the season with Tommy John surgery
- Nationals sign Mark Reynolds
