Stock Up, Stock Down: Brewers, Cardinals, Shohei Ohtani and more

Another week down in the 2023 MLB season and it was another week with more injuries.

This time the Houston Astros lost Yordan Alvarez for at least four weeks with a strained oblique, while pitcher Lance McCullers, who has not pitched in a game this season after aggravating a tendon in a bullpen session in February, underwent surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon. Alvarez is the bigger loss and Houston will have to find a way to stay within striking distance of the Texas Rangers.

Aside from that, it was business as usual on the field. It’s now time to fire up the latest Stock Up, Stock Down for the last seven days.

Stock Up: Oakland Athletics

Don’t look now, but the hottest team right now in the majors is the Oakland Athletics. Yes, those A’s are on pace for the most MLB losses in a season. They swept a three-game weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers, then returned home to take the first two games of a four-game series with MLB-best Tampa Bay Rays and earning a split.

Over the last week, they have 10 different players drive in runs, led by JJ Bleday’s four. During this stretch, they have won games in different fashions, 2-1 pitching duels, rallying from behind late in games, and outslugging teams.

Luis Medina, JP Sears, and James Kaprielian have had good starts during this stretch, but one thing that has come out of it is that the Kansas City Royals, thanks to a nine-game losing streak, now own the worst record in baseball. Earlier this season, it would have been hard to imagine Oakland passing anyone in the standings, but they have. Good for them and their fans.

Stock Up: Shohei Ohtani

Is there anything Shohei Ohtani can’t do? The Los Angeles Angels are slowly climbing their way back up the American League West standings, thanks in large part to Ohtani.

In the last 10 days, he went 23-for-54 with seven home runs and 15 RBI. Ohtani slashed .426/.515/.944, which included an impressive opposite-field home run Wednesday night against the AL West-leading Texas Rangers that went 453 feet. He wasn’t done.

One night later, he showed why he’s the leading candidate for the American League MVP.  He homered again, this time a 443-foot left-center blast into the second deck for his fourth home run of the series in a 5-3 victory. Ohtani went six innings, giving up two runs and striking out three. He improved to 6-2 with a 3.29 ERA and outdueling Rangers’ ace Nathan Eovaldi.

June is a big month for many reasons for the Angels with the season closing in on the midway point and the trade deadline over a month away. So far so good this month as it hits the halfway point taking three out of four over the division-leading Rangers.

Stock Down: Milwaukee Brewers

It was a forgettable week for the Milwaukee Brewers and manager Craig Counsell. First, they were swept at home by Oakland, then went to Minnesota and lost two to the Twins. Over the last week, then went from first place in the National League Central to second behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Offensively, the Brewers were 26th in batting the last seven days, while their pitching has not been much better. The biggest implosion happened Tuesday night in a 7-5 loss to the Twins. Leading 5-3 entering the bottom of the ninth, Carlos Correa capped the ninth-inning rally with a walk-off two-run home run.

In their loss on Wednesday, Milwaukee grabbed an early 2-0 lead on home runs from Brian Anderson and Luis Urias, but like the night before, it was a one-inning undoing. Colin Rea allowed a two-run triple to Correa, a Trevor Larnach RBI double, and a Joey Gallo RBI single.

Despite the struggles last week, the Brewers are just a game behind the Pirates entering a weekend series at home. A 162-game season makes for a long season, but regardless of when the schedule lightens up, teams like Milwaukee need to take advantage of it, something they didn’t do being swept at home by the Athletics. They can put that weekend behind them with a good series against Pittsburgh.