white baseball ball on brown leather baseball mitt

MLB-Best/Worst for Monday, September 21, 2020

Best-Alejandro Kirk C Toronto Blue Jays-4-4 3R 1RBI 1HR

Alexander Kirk became the first catcher under the age of 21 to have at least four hits in one game. As a bonus, the Blue Jays took down the red hot Yankees thanks to the bats of Kirk and Vladimer Guerrero Jr (3-3 3RBI). The Blue Jays will be an exciting team once the playoffs begin. They lack big starting pitching but will have one of the deepest and youngest lineups. Kirk is the latest to get called up for this team. In a three-game series, this team could take a high-speed team like the Tampa Bay Rays off guard and pull a huge upset. 

Other Notables: Jon Lester SP Cubs-6IP 4H 0ER 1BB 1K 1W; Mike Moustakas 2B Reds-2-3 1R 3RBI 1HR; Jacob DeGrom SP Mets-7IP 4H 2ER 2BB 14K; Vladimir Guerrero Jr.-3-3 3RBI; Marco Gonzales SP Mariners-8IP 7H 0ER 1BB 6K 1W.

Worst-Bryce Harper OF Philadelphia Phillies-0-4 3K

Harper had an up and down year for the Phillies last season after he signed a monster contract. It looked like this season would be different as he started off hotter than any other hitter, but now with a playoff spot looming, he has had back to back 0-4 days. Having the Phillies lose both games has now put the Phillies record at 27-27 in danger of not making the postseason. 

The Phillies need Bryce Harper to be the $330 million man they paid for and come up with the big hits, but he couldn’t come up with a big hit in either of the last two games. These two losses have put the Phillies .5 a game behind the Reds for the last and final playoff spot. This would be the second year  Harper had an underwhelming season and another year of missed playoffs. 

Extra Trash: Kyle Gibson SP Rangers-4IP 5H 7ER 4BB 4K 1L; Avisail Garcia OF Brewers-0-4 3K; Drew Rasmussen RP Brewers-.2IP 3H 4ER 1BB 2K; Darin Ruf DH Giants-0-5 1K; Johnny Cueto SP Giants-4.1IP 8H 7ER 3BB 4K 1L.