The Marlins had Sandy Alcantara in 2019, Trevor Rogers in 2021 and now Pablo López in 2022. The Venezuelan right-hander is poised to become the third Miami pitcher in as many full-length seasons to be selected as a first-time MLB All-Star. Barely one month into the regular season, it’s not premature to have this conversation: he’s been that special.
López enters Saturday with a 1.05 earned run average, which is the best mark among all qualified major league starters. For as much as baseball analysis has evolved in recent years to give us new and better ways to analyze the action on the field, ERA remains the main determinant of which arms go to the Midsummer Classic. Fans, media members and MLB players themselves grasp and respect it.
With the assistance of Stathead, I looked back at the last 10 full-length seasons (2011-2019 and 2021) to find pitchers whose hot starts matched the following criteria:
Made season debut in March/April
Started first seven games without interruptions due to injury or minor league demotion
Allowed a total of seven or fewer earned runs during those games
Arbitrary thresholds but unequivocally excellent, right?
Pablo López is in the company of Johnny Cueto (2012), Matt Harvey (2013), Jake Arrieta (2016), José Quintana (2016), Jason Vargas (2017), Carlos Martinez (2018), Justin Verlander (2018), Luis Castillo (2019), Zach Davies (2019), Tyler Glasnow (2019), Chris Paddack (2019), Mike Soroka (2019), Jacob deGrom (2021), John Gant (2021), Lance Lynn (2021), John Means (2021) and Carlos Rodón (2021). Of those 17 similar players, 11 of them rode their dominant stretches to All-Star selections later that season.
Martinez, Glasnow and Means were derailed by injuries. As Marlins fans are well aware, López previously hurt his throwing shoulder in 2018, 2019 and 2021. It would be naive to rule out the possibility of it happening again.
With Cueto, Davies and Gant, their run prevention belied their true ability. Each had multi-run discrepancies between their ERA and fielder independent pitching (FIP). Through seven outings, Cueto had a 1.12 ERA/3.16 FIP, Davies had a 1.56 ERA/4.01 FIP and Gant had a 1.83 ERA/4.39 FIP. It was unsurprising to see them regress in May and June. That isn’t applicable to López—his 2.16 FIP is third-best among qualified starters.
López is not the only 2022 pitcher in the 7 GS/7 ER club. He’s joined by Miles Mikolas of the Cardinals and Madison Bumgarner of the Diamondbacks. However, they have pitched fewer innings to legitimize their current numbers (in MadBum’s case, 12 2⁄3 fewer innings).
I cannot imagine a scenario in which López maintains his 1.05 ERA throughout the first half. Heading into the break with it in the low-2s would be the ideal realistic outcome for somebody who still needs considerable help from his defense and typically goes only as far as his changeup will take him. Point is, he’s given himself a tremendous head start on his National League competition and shown more than enough underlying skill to make an All-Star nod seem inevitable (health permitting).
You would have to go back to 2017—the end of the Jeffrey Loria era and the year that Marlins Park hosted the All-Star festivities—to find the last time the Marlins had multiple representatives. Between López, the steady workhorse Sandy Alcantara and the mesmerizing play of Jazz Chisholm Jr., they could be sending a large delegation to Los Angeles in 2022.
NBA veteran and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley has made his name known over the past few days with his NBA takes while joining ESPN’s popular sports debate show, “First Take”.
After the Suns were eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals in Game 7, there were a lot of takes going around about the former defending Western Conference champions. Beverley said that Paul can’t defend Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic and that Phoenix should have benched him rather than DeAndre Ayton.
It was a pretty wild take and it sent shockwaves throughout the league. Former NBA champion Matt Barnes came after Beverley for his take and now, Sixers guard Danny Green had something to say to Beverley:
People target you to too, Pat Bev. You ain’t playing no (expletive) defense out there. You ain’t stopping Luka. It’s time and time again I’ve seen Luka call your ass little. He’s too (expletive) small and right at you every chance he got. When you play Luka, you’re a cone too. How would you like that?
Please be advised that the clip below contains language that some might consider offensive.
Green is right. There is no reason for Beverley to go at Paul the way he did and at that point, he should give respect where it’s due.
Brady Hawk @BradyHawk305 Three point shooting in the playoffs: Steph Curry– 35.9% Luka Doncic- 34.7% Jimmy Butler- 34.8% Volumes are clearly different, but still hilarious lol – 1:29 PM
Tommy Beer @TommyBeer Most 40-point playoff games over the past three years: 1 .Giannis Antetokounmpo: 7 2. Luka Doncic: 6 3. Jimmy Butler: 5 – 9:22 AM
Donatas Urbonas @Urbodo Pablo Laso on Luka Doncic: “Probably the best thing that he has as a person and as a player is that he’s able to adjust to any situation. That’s something you have as a person. And Luka has it.” – 8:30 AM
Ryan McDonough @McDNBA Giannis, Luka and Tatum have been terrific in the 2022 Playoffs But no one has played better than Jimmy Butler – 11:23 PM
Micah Adams @MicahAdams13 Celtics in 6. Mavs in 7. I don’t think Miami has enough firepower and I’m firmly in the ‘this is a Luka moment’ camp. But… Both Heat and Warriors win Game 1. I think Celtics-Bucks was the NBA Finals. – 7:36 PM
Brad Townsend @townbrad Doncic was so relaxed today. Almost chatty with reporters. His comfort level on the big stage certainly is evident on the court. Today it was evident off the court. – 6:56 PM
Callie Caplan @CallieCaplan “We weren’t fat shaming because when he was at his best, which we have seen in these playoffs, no one can touch him.” TNT’s Reggie Miller says Jason Kidd thanked him for calling out Luka Doncic’s weight dallasnews.com/sports/maveric… – 6:51 PM
Tim MacMahon @espn_macmahon Luka Doncic: “Obviously, Klay and Steph are incredible offensive guys, but I think the key to the Warriors’ team is Draymond. He’s just unbelievable. I really respect him and everything he does.” That includes trash talk. “That’s the fun of the game. I love that part.” – 5:51 PM
Ryan McDonald @ryanwmcdonald Utah basketball officially announces the signing of Luka Tarlac. A thing that may be out there but I missed when he committed: His dad Dragan was drafted by the Bulls with the 31st pick in 1995. He finally joined them in 2000 and played in 43 games as they went a spicy 15-67 – 5:45 PM
Marc J. Spears @MarcJSpears “Playing your hardest and trusting your teammates,” Warriors forward Klay Thompson said on what is the keys to guarding Luke Doncic. – 4:33 PM
Callie Caplan @CallieCaplan Warriors’ Kevon Looney on Luka Doncic-James Harden comparisons after guarding Harden in past series: “Luka’s able to post up pretty much anybody when he gets his shoulder on you. … The biggest difference is the size. Luka’s really strong. That kind of surprised me this year.” – 4:21 PM
NBA Math @NBA_Math Top 25 NBA Player Power Rankings updated heading into the conference finals: 10. Al Horford 9. Jordan Poole 8. Klay Thompson 7. Bam Adebayo 6. Jalen Brunson 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Full top 25 from @fromal09 on @Sportscasting19: https://t.co/mgWpa49wAdpic.twitter.com/eMAk3DwFZM – 10:51 AM
Mark Haynes @markhaynesnba Steve Kerr on Game 6 Klay Thompson: “I couldn’t help but feel overjoyed for Klay, given everything he’s been through, to see him knock down that final three and hold up six fingers and embrace the crowd, and vice versa. It just brought chills to me.” – 2:57 PM
In a corresponding move, the Sox optioned Davis Martin to Triple-A Charlotte. Martin made his MLB debut on Tuesday, and did an admirable job limiting the Royals to one run in five innings, while striking out seven batters, and only walking one. However, the White Sox weren’t able to muster much run support for Davis, and the team lost 2-1.
Finally, the White Sox moved Lance Lynn to the 60-Day IL. Lynn has yet to make his 2022 debut since he tore a tendon in his right knee in Spring Training. Lynn is eligible to be reinstated to the active roster on June 6.