Category: Baseball

Garret Anderson, the often misunderstood and always lethal Angels slugger who starred in the 2002 World Series, has died of a heart attack. He was 53.

Anderson's most memorable moment was belting a decisive three-run double in Game 7 of the only World Series ever played by the Angels. Yet consistency over 17 seasons — 15 with the Angels and one each with the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves — was the hallmark of the taciturn left fielder.

“The Angels Organization is mourning the loss of one of our franchise’s most beloved icons, Garret Anderson,” owner Arte Moreno said Friday in a statement. “Garret was a cornerstone of our organization throughout his 15 seasons and his stoic presence in the outfield and our clubhouse elevated the Angels into an era of continued success, highlighted by the 2002 World Series Championship.

"Garret will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Angels fans for his professionalism, class, and loyalty throughout his career and beyond. His admiration and respect for the game was immeasurable."

Nicknamed "G.A.," Anderson is the Angels leader in games (2,013), at-bats (7,989), hits (2,368), total bases (3,743), extra-base hits (796), doubles (489) and runs batted in (1,292). And he achieved it all without fanfare.

"Garret didn't seek the limelight," said Mike DiGiovanna, The Times' Angels beat writer throughout most of Anderson's career. "A classic lunch-pail guy. He was a superstar, he just didn't act like it."

Fans occasionally booed Anderson for a perceived lack of hustle. He didn't dive for fly balls and on rare occasions failed to run hard when he hit a ground ball.

Read more:Anderson's Even Keel Is Anchor for Angels

His teammates, however, backed him without hesitation, saying he was one of the smartest players in baseball and made the game look easy through hard work.

“He doesn’t dive for balls because he gets there quicker than most guys,” center fielder Darin Erstad said in 2003.

Fans cheered in shock when Anderson made a diving catch against the Minnesota Twins in 2002.

“But, see, that’s what I’m talking about,” he said. “I never should have had to dive for that ball. I got a bad jump. I study hitters. I have an idea of where the ball is going. I don’t dive because I don’t have to.”

Anderson's understated demeanor fit well in an Angels clubhouse stocked with young, rowdy personalities.

“We have so many emotional guys on this team, Garret is a calming force,” teammate Tim Salmon said in 2003. “He’s criticized for a lack of emotion, but I think it’s good.”

For his part, Anderson possessed a wry sense of humor and wasn't above poking fun at himself.

“Interesting,” he told The Times Bill Plaschke with a faint smile. “I used to be called lazy. Now that we win a World Series, I’m called graceful.”

Read more:Davey Lopes, part of Dodgers' historic infield and World Series winner, dies at age 80

After Anderson retired in 2010, he worked as a television analyst for the Angels.

Garret Joseph Anderson was born June 30, 1972, in Los Angeles. He attended Granada Hills Kennedy High, where he starred in baseball and basketball. He remained close to his baseball coach, Manny Alvarado.

“I’ve lost a handful, some of them at a young age, but this one we had a relationship for a long time," Alvarado said Friday. "I have a ton of memories, some of them from day one and some just recently. The one thing that comes to mind he was kind of an old soul. A lot of major leaguers have a lot to learn from him.

"He was very humble and always picked up the phone. He made it to a lot of alumni games, was very generous."

Anderson was drafted in 1990 by the Angels in the fourth round and made his major league debut July 27, 1994. vs. Oakland before going on to become one of the most productive players in franchise history.

Anderson had a stretch of eight consecutive seasons appearing in at least 150 games for the Angels and played in at least 140 games in 11 of his 17 Major League seasons. He was inducted into the Angels' Hall of Fame in 2016.

"Teammates and fans came to appreciate him for his consistency," DiGiovanna said. "He was like a metronome."

Read more:Shaikin: The Angels ran L.A. early this century. The Dodgers do now. Our all quarter-century teams!

In addition to his World Series Game 7 heroics, Anderson batted .300 with four doubles, two home runs and 13 RBIs during the 2002 postseason. He finished fourth in American League Most Valuable Player voting that year.

In 2003, he became the first player since Cal Ripken Jr. to become both the Home Run Derby champion and MVP of the All-Star Game. Anderson batted .293 with 287 home runs in his career.

His final season came with the Dodgers in 2010. At age 38 he batted only .181 but provided a settling influence on young Dodgers stars Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.

The Angels will honor Anderson by wearing a memorial patch on their jerseys the rest of the season. There will be a moment of silence and a tribute video before Friday's game.

Anderson is survived by his wife, Teresa, daughters Brianne and Bailey and son Garret "Trey" Anderson III.

Times staff writers Eric Sondheimer and Bill Shaikin contributed to this story.
 

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Royals have stumbled out to a 7-12 start and are winless on this road trip as they travel to the Bronx. The Yankees are always expected to be one of the top teams to contend for a title, although a championship has eluded them now for 16 seasons. They got off to a great start this year, but have dropped seven of their last nine, including getting swept by the Rays.

Kansas City Royals (7-12) vs. New York Yankees (10-9) at Yankee Stadium, New York, NY

Royals: 3.42 runs scored/game (26th in MLB), 4.16 runs allowed/game (12th)

Yankees: 4.53 runs scored/game (13th), 4.00 runs allowed/game (8th)

Only four teams have hit more home runs than the Yankees this year, and 15 of their 23 home runs have come at home. They also have the second-highest walk rate in baseball. Aaron Judge is tied for the most home runs in baseball with eight. He’s a .325/.416/.663 with 16 home runs in 43 career games against the Royals. He is hitting just 3-f0r-21 with 11 strikeouts against Michael Wacha though.

Trent Grisham hit just .182/.303/.348 against lefties last year. Austin Wells hit .208/.259/.403 in the second half last year. Shortstop Anthony Volpe is out with a shoulder injury, replaced by José Caballero, who stole 49 bases last year. Giancarlo Stanton is just 4-for-29 (.138) over his last nine games, although he homered yesterday against the Angels.

The Yankees are without Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, and Gerrit Cole due to injury, and the Royals will miss Max Fried this series. But Cam Schlittler leads all pitchers in fWAR so far this year, tossing 13.2 scoreless innings to start the season. He had made just 18 career MLB starts, but has a 2.85 ERA with 114 strikeouts in 94.2 innings. He throws a 97 mph four-seamer that opponents are hitting just .161 against this year.

Will Warren has only pitched into the fifth inning once in his first four starts. Lefties hit .266/.350/.436 against him last year. He relies a lot on a sinker and sweeper, generating a 56 groundball rate so far this year.

The Yankees acquired lefty Ryan Weathers from the Marlins for four minor leaguers last winter. He has pitched in parts of the last five seasons, but has never made more than 20 starts in a year. Injuries limited him to just eight starts last year, and he posted a 3.99 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. In his last start against the Angels, nine of the 10 balls in play against were flyballs sent at least 295 feet.

The Yankees’ bullpen has a 4.13 ERA and they have four blown saves already. David Bednar is tied for the AL lead with five saves, but he has given up a run in four of his last six outings. Fernando Cruz had a 36 percent strikeout rate last year, seventh-highest for a pitcher with at least 30 innings. Tim Hill had a 64.8 percent ground ball rate last year.

The Royals are coming off getting swept and are in bad need of some early wins. Yankee Stadium is a tough place for that, but the smaller dimensions of the ballpark may get the bats going. The Royals need to at least grab a win, and maybe two, or else they will return home Monday finding their season in a deep hole.

Almost two seasons ago, I was watching a Dodgers telecast where announcer Joe Davis and play-by-play analyst Orel Hershiser commented about one of the two main food promotions associated with the Dodgers: the “free” Jumbo Jack with the purchase of a large drink at participating Jack in the Box restaurants, the day after the Dodgers strike out at least seven batters.

The banter included a call to action for a reporter like Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times to investigate the matter, with the acknowledgment that most serious reporters would not touch this story. I accepted the challenge because doing my own thing is part of my brand here at True Blue LA.

Sometimes we get investigative pieces about the Dodgers Gondola Project, sometimes we get travelogues about Japan, and sometimes we get silly little essays about “free” hamburgers and modestly discounted sugar chicken.

Life is just funny, sometimes.

Speaking of sugar chicken, the other major fast-food promotion is offered when the Dodgers win at home. The following day, at participating Los Angeles-area restaurants, one can purchase a discounted two-entree plate from Panda Express for $7. The cost of this promotion has increased by a dollar each year over the last two years, making it less of a solid deal.

As a fun aside, Panda Express is an offshoot of the Panda Inn, which opened in Pasadena in 1973 and elsewhere in southern California, before eventually spawning the fast-casual chain we all know today. Would I ever want sugar chicken but fancy? Probably not, but to each their own.

This season, I have finally taken measures to keep track, mostly in real time, of the Dodgers’ progress in triggering these promotions. There was an AM/PM promotion for a free hot dog (after the Dodgers steal a base), and there is a McDonald’s promotion for a “free” six-piece chicken McNuggets (with a $2 purchase) after the Dodgers score six runs. But these promotions have largely failed to capture the imagination of the fanbase, mostly because they seemed ill-conceived.

The people are not clamoring for a free gas-station hot dog or a convoluted way to get one of the better things on the McDonald’s menu. (Author’s note: the best thing is the Egg McMuffin — period.)

If anything, these promotions used to work outside of the Los Angeles area, even as far away as Tulare County, three to four hours to the north. Not anymore. Am I to blame for that fact? God, I hope not.

The status of the big two promotions

As you can see, the Dodgers have been humming along, churning out victories, discounted Panda Plates, and “free” Jumbo Jacks with aplomb. Last year, the Dodgers triggered the Jumbo Jack promotion 131 times out of 162 regular season games, which is roughly a 80.9% clip. Last year, the Dodgers won 52 out of 81 home games to trigger the Panda Express promotion, which is about a 64.2% clip.

So far, the Dodgers are at a slightly slower pace with the Jumbo Jacks promotion and a slightly faster pace with the Panda Express promotion, but the season is still less than a full month old.

To refer to Joe Davis’ original request, no one should be eating fast food every single day. If one were forced to, there are ways to make the Panda Express plate tolerable to your health (double teriyaki chicken, no sauce, vegetables — you’re welcome).

With Jack in the Box, it’s much harder to be healthier. Admittedly, you’re at a burger joint; the window for good choices closed as even less bad menu choices are not covered by the promotion, which is the only reason apart from sheer hunger than patrons should go.

Unlike other seasons, I am keeping a daily track to prevent the slog of sifting through box scores for a single statistic, which is anathema to joy. Speaking of anathema, Jack in the Box has gone through tough times like another fast food operators in recent years.

The company has had a colorful history, accidentally serving Australian horse and kangaroo meat in the early 1980s to marketing that was poorly timed with the Oklahoma City bombing in 1994. Does this downturn mean the Jumbo Jack promotion may go the way of Rax and other fast food restaurants swept into the dustbin of history? Who can say.

Still, if one lives in the Los Angeles area and wanted to take “advantage” of these deals, sooner would be better than later. However, given recent history, the Dodgers will likely trigger either or both of these promotions on a regular basis during the rest of the 2026 campaign.

It’s been quite an eventful week for Martin Perez.

After allowing one run over five innings in the Braves’ 6-0 loss to Cleveland on Saturday, he was designated for assignment but elected free agency when he cleared waivers on Tuesday. However, he rejoined the Braves on a minor league contract Wednesday and was officially brought back to the Atlanta roster Friday morning.

That lands him right back where he was at this time last week, taking the mound the fifth spot in the Braves’ rotation as Atlanta kicks off a three-game road series against the Philadelphia Phillies Friday evening.

Perez, 35, was viewed as more of a depth piece when he signed a minor league contract with the Braves in late January. As the injuries stacked up, though, his case for a roster spot grew and eventually came to fruition.

Now in his 15th major league season, Perez has largely been what Atlanta needed from a fill-in starter. In three games (two starts), he’s allowed five runs over 14 1/3 innings for a 3.14 ERA. He’s never really been a strikeout pitcher and has just six this season, but has managed well with a 0.91 WHIP.

Per Baseball Savant, he’s in the ninth percentile in whiff percentage and third percentile in strikeout percentage. However, he’s in the 87th percentile in barrel percentage and 83rd percentile in hard-hit percentage.

Atlanta will be looking for Perez to set the tone against Philadelphia as it looks to move back atop the NL East this season after a two-year lull. After the Braves had won the regular-season series against the Phillies each of the last four years, Philadelphia claimed the season series for the first time since 2019 last year, winning eight of 13 games against Atlanta on the way to its second straight division title.

The Phillies, though, have not been at their best early this season. They enter this series with an 8-10 record having lost three straight series, most recently losing two of three to Arizona and the Chicago Cubs at home.

They are tied for 10th in the league in home runs (20), but 23rd in batting average (.229), 22nd in on-base percentage (.309) and 18th in slugging percentage (.381).

It hasn’t been much better on the mound for Philadelphia. Without Zach Wheeler early this season as he nears a return from thoracic outlet decompression surgery which included the removal of a rib which he kept, they’re 26th in the league in ERA (4.92) and dead last in opponent’s batting average (.276).

While Cristopher Sánchez has picked up right where he left off (the Braves will see him Saturday against Chris Sale in a battle of the aces), a number of other starters have struggled in the early going. That includes veteran RHP Taijuan Walker (1-2, 7.36 ERA), who the Braves will face in the series opener.

Walker was hit hard in his first two starts of the season, allowing a combined 17 hits and 10 earned runs over 9 2/3 innings in losses against the Nationals and Rockies. But he may have found something last time out against the Diamondbacks, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings with a season-high six strikeouts and two walks.

He did allow one more home run in that win, though, running his season total to four.

Friday’s game will be the only game of the weekend with the local broadcasting crew of Brandon Gaudin and C.J. Nitkowski. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on FOX, and Sunday’s will be back on NBC/Peacock for the second straight week.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, April 17, 6:40 p.m. EDT

Location: Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia, PA

TV: BravesVision, Gray TV

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

It’s been a tough week for the Mets. 

The club's offense has been stuck in a rut, as they’ve found themselves quickly falling to five games under the .500 mark in the midst of their eight-game losing streak. 

New York has been shut out three times, and they’ve scored just 12 runs over that span. 

“We haven’t played good baseball for the last week,” David Stearns said Friday in Chicago. “We’ve had a tough time scoring runs -- it’s a combination of we’re not hitting great and we also ran into some good pitching, and we need to play better.”

While the Mets have looked lifeless at times during this tough stretch, Stearns emphasized that urgency is not the problem. 

The inability to generate scoring chances has often led to them trying to do too much at the plate, which has led to them sitting among the league's worst in chase rate. 

“We’re trying to score runs,” Stearns said. “Sometimes you have to let the pitcher come to you, and that’s really easy for me to say and it’s really easy for me to watch a game and think that -- it’s a heck of a lot tougher when you’re in the box and want to make something happen.

“You guys have asked about urgency -- there’s plenty of urgency, there’s plenty of want -- sometimes that can lead to things like chase rate, unfortunately, but I think that ends with just one bases-clearing double. We’ve all seen that throughout our careers in baseball, and I think once we get that it’ll normalize.”

Even while they wait for that one big knock, Stearns feels good about the team he assembled.

“We believe in our players,” he said. “Fundamentally, we believe that we have good players who are preparing in the best way possible, who are working hard, and in my experience when you have players who care about the right things -- which our players do -- it leads to good results.

“Certainly over the seven-to-10 days we haven’t seen that, but we still have a long season to go and I’m confident that we will see it.”

Going on his third season as a Dodger in 2026, Tyler Glasnow still has a lot of firsts left to accomplish, and one of them will be done this weekend—would you believe that this will be the first time Glasnow starts a game in Coors Field in his career? Scheduling and injuries have prevented the tall right-hander from taking the mound in Colorado before—that’ll change as the Dodgers and Rockies meet for the first time in 2026, both already exactly where they’re expected to be at season’s end, on opposite ends of the NL West standings, Los Angeles in first and Colorado in last place, tied with the Giants.

Early results for Glasnow in 2026 are about as Glasnow-esque as it gets, with his ERA (4.00) not matching the level of dominance he has displayed on the mound, striking out 22 hitters in 18 frames with a sub-1.00 WHP—one couldn’t even tie a home run problem to his high ERA. A three-start sample is just that, but it’s also very like him to deliver these types of numbers.

In a timely fashion, the Dodgers starters kicked things up a notch in the last series against the Mets, which means the bullpen will come in fresh for this series against the Rockies. Relievers only had to cover 6.1 of the 27 innings against the Mets, with Blake Treinen as the only pitcher who appeared twice.

While we’re on the subject of good pitching, the veteran Tomoyuki Suagno, who’ll oppose Glasnow in this Friday’s matchup, is off to quite the start, including six innings of one-run ball against the Phillies in his last home outing. Sugano has had a home run problem, but all four homers he allowed were solo shots, maintaining a low ERA thanks to it. Generating traffic isn’t the biggest of challenges in Coors—if they do it, the home runs have been there against Sugano.

Friday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Rockies
• Ballpark: Coors Field, Denver
• Start time: 5:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA & Rockies TV
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

It would be a bit much to call Garret Anderson the last of his kind. That would draw too much attention to a guy who ducked the spotlight at every turn.

Anderson’s 17-year career is an almost perfect statement of both his greatness and his ability to deflect any attention toward his simple and highly trained focuses: His family, his commitment to play every single day, his ability to rake better than almost any other player in one of the game’s most potent offensive eras.

Looking for a guy who broke open Game 7 of the World Series with a bases-clearing double? That would be Anderson, whose rope into the right field corner off Livan Hernández launched the Anaheim Angels to their only World Series title in 2002, over Barry Bonds’ San Francisco Giants.

How about a player whose metronomic production churned out 1,146 hits between 1998 and 2003, trailing only Hall of Famers Derek Jeter and Todd Helton?

A Home Run Derby champion? An All-Star MVP? That was Anderson in 2003, where he outdueled Albert Pujols in the Derby finals.

Anderson, who died stunningly at 53, was a doubles hitter in an era defined by the long ball. He hit 261 of them in that glorious peak from 1998 to ’03, second in that span and again sandwiched by Hall of Famers in Helton and Jeff Kent.

Of course, all the while Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and eventually Bonds were re-defining the home run record books, shrinking ballparks and commanding attention in a manner that didn’t seem real. (It mostly was not).

Garret Anderson stats only tell part of the story

Which made it all the easier for Anderson to avoid the radar like he avoided the injured list for so long. He ranks 50^th all-time in two-baggers, accounting for 522 of his 2,529 hits – a highly impressive hit total yet also just shy of serious Hall of Fame consideration.

Kids, you want a modern comp? GA had some Freddie Freeman in him, albeit with a bit less power.

Yet getting past Anderson’s defenses was a challenge for news media. And if today's era is defined by drip checks and social media activations, Anderson might have been the king of anti-engagement back in the day.

Anderson was the son of a single mother who grew up in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, moving frequently yet excelling athletically all the while. Anderson might have loved hoops even more than baseball, yet it was clear once the Angels drafted him in the fourth round in 1990 which route he would go.

He got his feet on the big league ground in 1995, part of a machinelike Angels offense that blew a 13-game lead to Ken Griffey Jr.’s Seattle Mariners. Not until their World Series year would the Angels get that close again, and more dynamic figures emerged around him.

Mets lineup

1. Carson Benge – RF
2. Bo Bichette – 3B
3. Francisco Lindor – SS
4. Luis Robert – CF
5. Francisco Alvarez – C
6. MJ Melendez – DH
7. Marcus Semien – 2B
8. Brett Baty – 1B
9. Tyrone Taylor – LF

SP: Kodai Senga – RHP

Cubs lineup

1. Nico Hoerner – 2B
2. Michael Busch – 1B
3. Alex Bregman – 3B
4. Ian Happ – LF
5. Seiya Suzuki – RF
6. Moises Ballesteros – DH
7. Carson Kelly – C
8. Pete Crow-Armstrong – CF
9. Dansby Swanson – SS

SP: Edward Cabrera – RHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 2:20pm EDT
TV: PIX11
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza shared updates ahead of Friday's series-opener against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago...

Juan Soto getting closer

Soto, who hasn't played since injuring his calf on April 3 against the Giants, is continuing to make progress.

The outfielder has been rehabbing at Citi Field with the Mets on the road, and is set to take live at-bats on Friday for the second consecutive day.

Additionally, Soto will be doing "high running intensity," which will include outfield work.

Speaking after Mendoza, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said the expectation is that Soto will be activated from the IL during the nine-game homestand that starts this coming Tuesday against the Twins at Citi Field.

Reading between the lines, it does not seem like a rehab assignment is going to be necessary before Soto returns. 

Another malady for Jorge Polanco

Polanco, whose presence in the lineup has been sporadic lately because of an Achilles issue, is now dealing with right wrist soreness.

He went for an MRI on the wrist on Thursday, and the Mets are waiting on results.

As far as the Achilles, Mendoza said Polanco is "in a better place."

Depending on the results of the MRI and the situation with the Achilles, it's possible Polanco will ultimately be placed on the IL.

Polanco hasn't played since Tuesday, meaning the Mets can backdate a potential IL stint. 

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With Arizona Diamondbacks SP Mike Soroka on the mound, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. should be able to get the Toronto Blue Jays' offense rolling tonight. 

Read on to see why in my free Blue Jays vs. Diamondbacks predictions and MLB picks for Friday, April 17.

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks predictions

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks best bet: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases (+100)

Michael Soroka is off to a great start with Arizona Diamondbacks this season, going 3-0 with a 2.87 ERA.

However, Soroka’s 5.79 xERA would suggest he’s been getting a little lucky out on the diamond. He gives up a lot of contact too, allowing the highest barrel rate in the majors at 22.9%, while sitting in the 46th percentile in xBA against. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the Toronto Blue Jays in barrel rate, and is 3-for-7 against Soroka with an OPS of 1.000. 

Additionally, Vladdy handles the fastball well, batting .455 against the four-seamer, which is Soroka’s most utilized pitch this season.

COVERS INTEL: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has a 1.110 OPS against the entire Diamondbacks pitching staff.

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks same-game parlay (SGP)

Daulton Varsho is usually good for a hit. He’s recorded one or more hits in seven straight games and handles the four-seamer well. 

Lastly, I’ll take Andres Gimenez to record a hit as well. He’s 3-for-8 against Soroka in his career and has at least one hit in four straight games heading into today. 

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks SGP

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases
• Daulton Varsho Over 0.5 hits
• Andres Gimenez Over 0.5 hits

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks home run pick: Andres Gimenez (+730)

I’ll make this a half wager, because Soroka hasn’t allowed very many home runs this season. 

However, there is a good value wager in tonight’s home run market, and that’s Andres Gimenez, who is +750 to hit a home run tonight. 

Gimenez is 3-for-8 against Soroka, with two of those hits leaving the yard. 

The Jays’ shortstop has shown some sneaky power this season, especially against the four-seamer, where he owns a .727 SLG against, and it happens to be Soroka's most utilized pitch. 

He also has a .983 OPS against right-handed pitchers this season. 

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks odds

• Moneyline: Toronto +112 | Arizona -132
• Run line: Toronto +1.5 | Arizona -1.5
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks trend

The Blue Jays have hit the Over in 26 of their last 45 away games (+8.60 Units / 17% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Diamondbacks.

How to watch Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks and game info

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks latest injuries

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks weather

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How does a player go from being released by a last-place team to hitting .385 for the St. Louis Cardinals in the span of a single week? In this installment of Random Cardinal of the Week, Jim Plaza dives into the fascinating, “roller coaster” career of utility man Felipe Lopez.

A former top-10 pick and Silver Slugger winner, Lopez hit rock bottom in 2008 with a negative WAR and a mid-season release from the Nationals. But when he landed in the St. Louis clubhouse, something clicked. Under the mentorship of “The Secret Weapon” Jose Oquendo, Lopez didn’t just find his swing—he became a statistical anomaly. We look back at his legendary two-month sprint in 2008 where he played six different positions and posted a nearly 1.000 OPS, helping bridge the gap for a Cardinals franchise in the midst of a massive front-office transition.

In this episode, we discuss:

The Oquendo Effect: How Jose Oquendo rebuilt Lopez’s defense and mental approach to transform him from a “bust” back into a weapon.

The 2008 Hot Streak: A deep dive into the 43 games where Lopez hit an unbelievable .385 and became the ultimate La Russa-era Swiss Army Knife.

The 18th-Inning Hero: On the 16th anniversary of the feat (April 17, 2010), we recount the night Lopez stepped onto the mound against the Mets and threw a scoreless inning to save an exhausted bullpen.

The Transition Era: Where Lopez fit in the roster shuffle between the 2006 championship and the 2011 “10.5 games back” miracle.

Whether you remember him for his switch-hitting prowess or his lone career pitching appearance, Felipe Lopez’s story is a masterclass in resilience and the power of a second chance in The Lou. Listen now and subscribe to the Redbird Rundown for your weekly dose of Cardinals history!

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This weekend, the first place Atlanta Braves come to Citizens Bank Park to take on a struggling Phillies team that is falling short in virtually every phase of the game. It’s been a rough go for the Phils, losers of their last three home series, a shocking development given they only lost three home series all last season.

Still, the Braves often serve as an elixir of sorts when the come to Philly. Atlanta has struggled at Citizens Bank Park over the last few years, 5-9 in Philadelphia over the last two seasons. And while this weekend’s clash is viewed as a marquee match-up, with two nationally televised games Saturday night on Fox and Sunday night on Peacock, they don’t hold a candle to some of the most recent postseason series these two teams have played against one another.

Of course, nothing will ever top the 1993 National League Championship Series. Watching John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra and Curt Schilling somehow find a way to outlast a 100+ win Braves team to advance to the World Series will be almost impossible to top.

But most recently, the underdog Phillies dominated Atlanta in two straight NLDS series. Both mirrored each other so closely and were filled with some of the greatest moments in franchise playoff history.

As we get ready for what will hopefully be a get-right weekend against the Braves in Philly, let’s improve the vibes a bit by remembering two series against our division rivals in which the Phils stepped up their game and sent a “superior” team home early for the winter.

2022 NLDS

After a surprising two-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card round, the Phillies entered Atlanta with absolutely no expectations of winning the series. After all, the Phils had barely snuck into the tournament as the third wild card, clinching on the final weekend and only thanks to an implosion by Milwaukee in the season’s final week.

With just 87 wins, the underdog Phillies finished 14 games behind the 101-win Braves. Atlanta had a run differential of +180, the Phils’ was +62. The Phils began the series by playing their 13th and 14th straight games on the road (they finished the regular season with an 10-game, three city road trip with two straight wild card games in St. Louis). However, fueled by jet fumes, adrenaline and Nick Castellanos’ three-hit, three-RBI day, the Phillies survived a late Atlanta rally to win 7-6. Of course, Castellanos’ game-saving slide in the 9th is the lasting memory.

The Phils lost Game 2 then came home for Games 3 and 4, the first postseason games at Citizens Bank Park since 2011.

Of course, the lasting memory from that series occurred in the 3rd inning against Spencer Strider, one of the most electric moments in CBP history.

Bryce Harper followed with a solo homer he murdered to deep right field, the offense added on, Aaron Nola shoved, and the Phils took a 2-1 series lead with a dominant 9-1 victory.

And the finally, in Game 4, the Phillies took advantage of an early Brandon Marsh 3-run home run and the early injury exit of Charlie Morton to crush Atlanta once again, 8-3. Of course, J.T. Realmuto’s inside-the-park home run added another log to the legendary fire of this series.

It would be hard to top the excitement and pure elation of this series, but the Phils did a pretty good job of copying it the following season.

2023 NLDS

After sweeping the Miami Marlins in two wild card games at CBP, the Phils met the Braves once again in the NLDS. Atlanta, again, was the division winner while the Phillies were the top wild card team, but the distance between the two in the NL East standings was the same.

Powered by one of the most productive offenses in MLB history, Atlanta slugged their way to an MLB-best 104 wins, besting the 90-win Phillies by 14 games in the division once again. But clearly, the Phils were in their head.

In Game 1, Bryce Harper went yard and seven Phillies pitchers combined to give up five hits and eked out a 3-0 victory over Spencer Strider, the NL Cy Young Award winner that season, surprising everyone with a quick 1-0 series lead.

It looked like they would take both games in Atlanta after jumping out to a 4-0 lead, but the Braves scored five runs in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings, the final two coming on a crushing Austin Riley two-run homer off Jeff Hoffman in the bottom of the 8th. And then, the craziness of the 9th inning, when Harper was doubled off first to end the game.

It was a painful moment as it happened, but it only set the stage for one of the greatest individual, in-your-face performances in Harper’s career. After Orlando Arcia was overheard in the clubhouse ridiculing Harper for getting doubled off first, Bryce decided to make it personal in Game 3.

Orlando Arcia and the Braves were officially in hell now, and would only experience another, deeper level a few innings later.

The Phillies destroyed Bryce Elder, Castellanos hit two bombs, and Nola once again stifled the Braves’ potent bats in a 10-2 rout.

Game 4 was closer, with Strider at his peak and Ranger Suarez trying to match him pitch-for-pitch. Suarez held Atlanta to one run over five innings, while the Phillies pecked away at Strider thanks to a Trea Turner home run and another multi-homer game from Castellanos, who was in the midst of the high point of his Phils career.

But it got sticky in the 7th. Holding a slim 3-1 lead, human fire starter Craig Kimbrel entered an loaded the bases with two outs. NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. stepped to the plate, looking to atone for a very quiet NLDS. With the count 2-2, Kimbrel left one out of the plate that Acuna destroyed to center field.

That’s when Johan Rojas entered the chat.

The Phillies finished the job in the 8th and 9th and took another NLDS from the heavily-favored Atlanta Braves.

Unfortunately, neither series led to a championship. The Phils would reach the World Series in 2022, but fell to the Astros in six games, and then collapsed following Game 2 of the NLCS against the Diamondbacks in ‘23.

They’ve never been the same since. But we have the memories of these Atlanta beatdowns in October.

So, which one is your favorite?

Over the past couple of weeks, the Phillies have established a pattern: They’ll play well in one game of a three-game series and make a ton of mistakes in the others. They would do well to reverse that pattern – or even better, avoid the mistake-prone games altogether – because the first place Braves are coming to town this weekend.

Atlanta Braves

Record: 12-7, First place in National League East

The last time they met

The Braves visited Citizens Bank Park for a four-game set at the end of August 2025 and lost three of the four to put a serious dent in their playoff hopes. The opener was the Kyle Schwarber four home run game in which the Phillies squeaked out a 19-4 win.

What’s the deal with the Braves?

Their many injuries should have put a dent in the Braves’ chances this year, and ultimately, they might! But thus far, the Braves’ have been able to overcome their lengthy list of wounded players.

Their starting pitching has been excellent. All five of the pitchers currently in their rotation have ERAs under 4.00, led by Bryce Elder at 0.77 through four starts. Elder isn’t scheduled to start this series, but the guys who will go are Martin Perez, Chris Sale (he’ll face off against Cristopher Sanchez on Saturday), and Grant Holmes, and they’ve been strong too.

Offensively, the Braves are second in the NL in runs scored (behind the Nationals?). Catcher Drake Baldwin is building off last year’s Rookie of the Year campaign, and Matt Olson is hitting up to his usual standards. They’ve also gotten surprising offensive contributions from shortstop Mauricio Dubon. The two-time Gold Glover has been an adequate at best hitter through most of his career, but he’s batting .333 in the early going.

Featured Brave: Dominic Smith

As expected, the Braves’ best hitter in the early going has been designated hitter Dominic Smith. Wait, what?

Smith was once a top 100 prospect for the Mets, but aside from an oddly strong campaign in the shortened 2020 season (he finished 13th in MVP voting!) he never established himself as much more than a quad-A player. He’s spent the last few years bouncing around the league, and after an unimpressive season as a bench player with the Giants in 2025, he signed with the Braves as a free agent.

Serving as the team’s primary DH, he’s off to a hot start, batting .381 with three home runs. There’s a strong likelihood that this start is unsustainable (IYKYK) and in a few weeks, Smith’s numbers will be back into the ordinary realm. But who knows? Smith wouldn’t be the first player to experience an odd breakout campaign in his early 30’s.

What about the Phillies?

The offense has been inconsistent, the starting pitching has been disappointing, and the relief pitching has become leaky. But perhaps the most annoying thing about the Phillies’ recent play is the sloppiness. They’ve made a lot of poor plays in the field and baserunning mistakes. If they want to turn this around, that’s the first thing that they can clean up.

Non-Phillies thought

This should be quite the weekend for Philadelphia sports. Not only will the Braves come to town, but the Sixers and Flyers begin their playoff runs. Both the basketball team and hockey team are in a similar situation: They’re the underdogs in a series against a traditional rival who has largely gotten the best of them over the years. (This might be the best scenario for the fans. As I’ve learned, Philadelphia sports fans greatly prefer underdogs with lessened expectations.)

As a special cherry on top, this weekend is also Wrestlemania! Looks like I might need to set up multiple televisions, although the last time I did that was for game five of the NLDS and the Eagles on Thursday Night Football, and that night went very poorly.

Pennant year song battle

Everybody Wants You has been defeated! It’s a Mistake by Men at Work is our new title holder.

The next contender comes from 2008 and describes how the Phillies have too often looked this season: Clumsy by Fergie:

Vote now:

Closing thought

While I don’t think the Phillies are as bad as they’ve looked, nor are the Braves as good as they’ve played. And it’s still only mid-April, so things can – and probably will – change in a hurry. That said, it would be great if the Phillies could win this series and avoid digging themselves too deep of a hole early in the season.