July baseball has come and gone, but not before giving us plenty of things to look at. There were debuts, a highly anticipated series, and plenty of sweeps. So without further ado, let’s check out everything the division had to offer us from Monday, July 25, to Sunday, July 31. 

Welcome to the Show 

The Miami Marlins had a pair of players make their debut in their weekend series against the New York Mets, calling up infielder Charles Leblanc and reliever Jake Fishman.

Leblanc played third and hit ninth in the Marlins’ loss to the Mets on Saturday. While the Marlins’ bats were quiet, Leblanc managed to make the most of his debut, going 1-3 with a double at the dish and making a nice defensive play on top of it. 

Fishman made his debut for “the Fish” on Sunday, coming in during the third inning to relieve the struggling Pablo López. After López allowed six runs to the Mets in just 2.2 innings pitched, Fishman calmed the storm for Miami, as he allowed one run on four hits in 3.1 innings pitched. 

Taking the Subway 

For the first time since 2015, the Mets and Yankees squared off for the classic “Subway Series” and although it was only a two-game series, it was an instant classic. 

In game one, the New York Yankees got to Taijuan Walker early in the first game, scoring two in the first inning. But the Mets responded in a big way as they put up a four spot of their own. Walker would go on to settle down and give the Mets a quality start, going six innings and allowing three runs, and thanks to big days at the plate from Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, and Pete Alonso, the Mets took the first game of this heated cross-town rivalry 6-3. 

The second and final game of the series was filled with drama, as the Mets grabbed an early 2-0 lead thanks to Alonso’s solo home run and Francisco Lindor’s RBI single. With the way Max Scherzer was pitching, you would have thought the game was over, but alas, it was not.

Scherzer got pulled and the Yankees immediately scored, as Gleyber Torres hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to tie the game at two. Things would remain tied until the bottom of the ninth when Marte hit a walk-off RBI single to give the Mets the win and send the Queens into a frenzy. 

Bring out the Brooms 

Sundays are for the sweeps as the division saw three of the five teams complete a series sweep on Sunday. 

The Atlanta Braves swept the Arizona Diamondbacks in their three-game weekend set due largely to their starting pitching performances. Kyle Wright, Ian Anderson, and Max Fried allowed two earned runs in 19.2 combined innings and Austin Riley put the icing on the cake with a walk-off RBI double in the series finale to secure the sweep. 

The Mets went down to Miami for the weekend as the winners of three in a row and now head to D.C. with a six-game winning streak. The Mets bats came up big this series, hitting around the Marlins’ best starters, López and Sandy Alcántara, to average over six runs a game in the series. The series finale was an offensive explosion for New York, as everyone in the starting lineup recorded a knock in their 9-3 win. 

Fresh off a series win against the Braves, the Philadelphia Phillies were hoping to carry that momentum to the other side of Pennsylvania while facing the Pittsburgh Pirates, and boy did they. From nearly blowing an 8-2 lead in the ninth, to win in extras, this series had all sorts of craziness and chaos. As a result of all of this, the Phillies this weekend did something that they hadn’t done since 1968, which was sweeping the Pirates in a four-game series in Pittsburgh. 

Injury Update

On Wednesday, Mets reliever Drew Smith underwent an MRI that showed a right lat strain. As a result, the Mets placed Smith on the 15-day injured list although they don’t expect him to be ready when eligible to come off.

On Thursday, the Marlins announced that reliever Jordan Holloway was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 26, with a right elbow impingement. Miami also lost Thursday’s starter Daniel Castano after he left the game in the first inning after being hit by a comebacker in the head. 

On Friday, the Marlins announced that they placed starter Trevor Rogers on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 26, with lower back spasms. 

As we enter August, let’s look at some guys who finished July on a hot note, some who struggled, and the standings entering August! 

Who’s Hot

Austin Riley (Atlanta Braves 3B) – .435 AVG, .913 SLG, 1.371 OPS, 8 2B, 8.3 K%

Francisco Lindor (New York Mets SS) – .556 AVG, .636 OBP, .889 SLG, 4 XBH, 4 RBI

Alec Bohm (Philadelphia Phillies 3B) – .484 AVG, .677 SLG, 1.161 OPS, 4 XBH, 4 RBI

JT Realmuto (Philadelphia Phillies C) – .409 AVG, .500 OBP, .727 SLG, 3 XBH, 7 RBI, SB

Jordan Weems (Washington Nationals RP) – 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 K, 0.53 WHIP 

Who’s Not

Ronald Acuna Jr (Atlanta Braves RF) – .190 AVG, .418 OPS, 0 RBI, 0 XBH, 1 CS

Didi Gregorius (Philadelphia Phillies SS) – .105 AVG, .205 OPS, 0 BB, 0 XBH, 13 LOB

JJ Bleday (Miami Marlins CF) – .143 AVG, .172 OBP, .494 OPS, 37.9 K%, 14 LOB

Maikel Franco (Washington Nationals 3B) – .083 AVG, .167 OPS, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 R

Patrick Corbin (Washington Nationals SP) – 1 GS, 0.2 IP, 6 ER, 0 K, 12.00 WHIP 

Standings (As of August 1, 2022)

1. New York Mets 64-37 

2. Atlanta Braves 62-41 (3.0 GB) 

3. Philadelphia Phillies 55-47 (9.5 GB) 

4. Miami Marlins 47-55 (17.5 GB)

5. Washington Nationals 35-68 (30.0 GB)

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