‘It could happen with one swing’: Nolan Arenado tinkered, toiled … and arrived | The Athletic ($)
Of the several home runs that were hit Monday night in the Rockies 7-6 win against the Giants, the most important one goes to Nolan Arenado. The Athletic’s Nick Groke walks us through how Arenado broke out of his 33 homer-less at-bat streak to hit his first bomb of the season in last night’s game.
With that home run, Arenado broke a tie with Carlos González and is now fourth on the Rockies’ all-time homers list with 228.
Arenado admits he usually has a slow start to the season:
“I just don’t start off well for some reason. It’s frustrating,” he said. “It takes me some time to get the real good feel. I wish it wasn’t like that, but it is for some reason. I just need to get in a groove. It’s only 60 games. That’s a problem because every game counts more than it does with 162. I have to grind it out. I have to find a way.”
Nolan's first homer of 2020 couldn't have come at a better time. pic.twitter.com/VOQWNWnecb
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) August 4, 2020
Rockies beat Giants 7-6, match best start in team history | ESPN
With Monday night’s win against the Giants, the Rockies matched their best season start franchise history. The Associated Press breaks down how the club is off to one of its strongest starts.
The Rockies are currently 7-2 for the fifth team in franchise history, and leading the NL West. The team has also had this record in 1995, ‘97, 2011 and ‘15.
Jumping back to Arenado, the Rockies have performed this well without their best hitter, who is also making his way out of a slump with his first home run (see above).
Depleted by coronavirus, Marlins prepare to return as emblems of a fragile season | Yahoo! Sports
Over a week after the Miami Marlins had the first coronavirus outbreak in MLB, Yahoo! Sports MLB columnist Tim Brown explains how the outbreak happened and how the club is working to get back to play.
Marlins CEO Derek Jeter explained that the club had players leaving the hotel to get coffee, to get dinner with teammates, and to buy clothes, but there were no guys leaving to go to club or bars.
Jeter added:
“What it boiled down to on this particular trip, guys were around each other, they got relaxed and they let their guard down. They were getting together in groups. They weren’t wearing masks as much as they should have. They weren’t social distancing.”
The Marlins have turned over 20 players due to the team’s outbreak. In less than a week, team manager Michael Hill has made three waiver claims, traded for two players, signed a free agent, reinstated two players, recalled three players and selected four others. They also played their first game since the outbreak last night, beating the Baltimore Orioles 4-0.
The Marlins are a prime example of a league attempting to play without the bubble approach. Other teams have had to call off series for positive tests, but have done so before the positive test number reached what the Marlins had. Time will tell if not using the bubble approach will allow MLB to continue its season into the playoffs.
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