MLB Stock Up, Stock Down: Blue Jays, Rangers, Mets, Diamondbacks

Stock Up: Nathan Eovaldi

A Boston Red Sox loss is turning into a Texas Rangers’ gain.

Boston let right-hander Nathan Eovaldi hit free agency following the 2022 season and the Rangers swooped in and signed him over the winter and so far, the returns have been good. The best of Eovaldi showed in a 6-1 Texas win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

Eovaldi gave up one run on six hits, striking out five and walking one on just 104 pitches. What was even more impressive than his line was it was done on a complete-game effort, something that’s rarely done anymore in the majors with analytics taking over the game and managers wanting to match up late in games. A five-run lead gives a manager a little more room for error in terms of pulling a pitcher and Eovaldi took full advantage of the run support he got from his teammates.

In beating former Red Sox teammate Rich Hill, Eovaldi improved to 6-2 with a 2.60 ERA and 66 strikeouts in just under 70 innings pitched. Texas owns the third-best record in the American League this season, and is two games up on the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West, all while Jacob deGrom, a former Mets ace, is injured. It’s time people started paying attention to the Rangers in 2023.

Stock Down: John Schneider

They were here last week, however, it was a rough week for the Blue Jays, mainly manager John Schneider. After losing three out of four at home against the New York Yankees, they hosted the Baltimore Orioles for three games over the weekend. It’s safe to say that Toronto and Schneider have seen better days.

They lost the first game last Friday 6-2, but things really fell apart on Saturday and Sunday. In the top of the sixth in a 2-2 game, Alek Manoah struck out Adam Frazier with runners on base. The two exchanged words with Manoah telling Frazier to go back to the dugout, but little did Toronto’s right-hander know that he was too, but he was forced there by a major mistake by Schneider.

Two batters after pitching coach Pete Walker made the first trip to the mound in the inning, Schneider went out there to calm down and talk strategy with his pitcher and infielders. After a short discussion, Schneider turned to go back to the Blue Jays bench when home plate umpire Dan Iassogna stopped him and told him that Manoah needed to come out of the game as it was Toronto’s second trip to the mound from the dugout of the inning. How it was possible that Schneider didn’t realize it was the second trip is stunning, actually.

To add insult to injury, Baltimore rallied with three runs in the eighth inning and one in the 10th for a 6-5 win. Sunday, the Orioles completed the sweep with an 8-3 victory. After a 4-6 homestand, the Blue Jays traveled south to Tampa Bay for a four-game set with the first-place Rays.

After splitting the first two games, they dropped the final two games of the series to fall 10.5 games back in the AL East. Hopes were high going into the season in Toronto, but they are starting to bury themselves in the standings.

Stock Up: Arizona Diamondbacks

One of the more surprising teams through the first two months continues to be the Arizona Diamondbacks. In their six-game trip through the state of Pennsylvania, they continued their winning ways.

After dropping the first game of their series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, they won the final two games, before winning the first two games against the Philadelphia Phillies, before dropping the series finale Wednesday, 6-5, in 10 innings after blowing a 5-0 lead. Still, Torey Lovullo will take four out of six against the two Pennsylvania teams.

Don’t look now, but the Diamondbacks have the third-best record in the National League at 29-21, they have won seven of their last 10 games and they are winning games with their pitching and hitting. Blowing five-run leads is bound to happen in baseball over the course of a 162-game season, but it’s how a team reacts to it that determines how good of a team you are.

Following the loss in Philadelphia Wednesday, Arizona returns home for a three-game series against the slumping Boston Red Sox, who have lost four in a row and were just swept by the Los Angeles Angels. The Diamondbacks have a perfect opportunity to continue to keep pressure on the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Like the Rangers, it’s time to start paying attention to Arizona.