Marty’s musings: deGrom’s greatness, spin-rates, injuries, and matchups to watch

Welcome to ‘Marty’s Musings’, my weekly column of numbers summarizing the happenings in the baseball world. I am your guide for taking an analytic look at the news and notes throughout the game, and highlighting key pitching matchups.

Real results since MLB’s announcement of a pitcher substance crackdown, Vlad Guerrero leads MLB in dingers, and the Giants have the best record in the National League.

News & Notes

2/3 - Of all pitchers have reduced their spin rate since June 3rd, when MLB announced it would be policing the use of foreign substances on the ball. Travis Sawchik of The Score dove into the numbers a few days ago, and it’s remarkable.

15 - Jacob deGrom’s current ERA-. His 0.56 through 2 ½ months is the lowest through ten starts since anyone tracked the earned run average statistic. He has the lowest WHIP through ten starts of any pitcher since 1901 (0.53) and has reached 100 Ks quicker than pitcher since the mound was moved in the 1890s.

9 - Offensive categories that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is currently leading (there’s assuredly more, but this is just the Baseball Reference player page). Take a look at all this black ink: Guerrero leads the league in home runs, all thee slashing categories, OPS, OPS+, and total bases.

4 - Teams / division leaders have 40 or more wins going into the week. The Rays, White Sox, and Athletics lead their respective divisions in the AL, and the only team with 40 wins in the National League are the Giants. San Francisco continues to surprise MLB’s most competitive division.

Injury Report

Jacob deGrom left one of his most impressive starts with flexor tendonitis. He’s been suffering from some minor injuries, and does not expect to miss his next start.

Max Scherzer left his game after throwing just 12 pitches. His status is TBD.

Yankees starter Luis Severino left his rehab start with a groin injury last week. He looked sharp in the outing but there’s no timetable for him to return to the Yankees active roster.

Pitching Matchups to Watch

Monday, June 14th

Tyler Glasnow (TB) v. Lance Lynn (CHW), 8:10 ET

The first of a three-game set that pits two division-leading AL teams against each other. The White Sox have a comfortable 5 ½ game lead over the Indians and the Rays have a three game lead over Boston.

Wednesday, June 16th

Gerrit Cole (NYY) v. Ross Stripling (TOR), 7:07 ET

Watching Cole’s meandering and inarticulate response to cheating allegations last week sure was interesting. It’s just one more story in the Bronx for a team that cannot seemingly get more than a couple games over .500.

TBD (CHC) v. Jacob deGrom (NYM), 7:10 ET

deGrom left his last start with an injury, but should be ready to go against the Cubs. The Mets lead the East and the Cubs lead the Central, with the same record as the Brewers.

Thursday, June 17th

José Ureña (DET) v. Shohei Ohtani (LAA), 9:38 ET

The Tigers are very bad and Ohtani is very good. This could be a fun one.

Saturday, June 19th

Aaron Nola (PHI) v. Alex Wood (SF), 4:05 ET

The Phillies finally got above .500 with a decent week last week that included three consecutive walk-offs (two against Atlanta and one against the Yankees). They take on the Giants who have the best record in the NL.