Hogs in the Bigs, Week 5 Review

If you’ve never had a favorite major league team to root for, Miami is making a play for your heart. With the Marlins picking up Brett Eibner’s contract, they now have four former Razorbacks on the squad. With an expanded playoff situation, they’ll find themselves in an exciting race the rest of the way.

Brian Anderson (Miami Marlins) – .219 BA, 4 HR, 9 R, 15 RBI

Anderson’s bat has slowed dramatically, going 4-for-31 in his last ten games and seeing his batting average drop precipitously. He’ll need to figure it out as the Fish make their run down the stretch.

Previous Week: Brian was cooking earlier in the week, hitting home runs on back-to-back days. Anderson has gone off since the Marlins’ return to baseball. He’s been a big part of the reason Miami is tied for first in the National League East. If you don’t have a dog in the fight as far as favorite teams, you could do worse than rooting for Miami and its three Hogs. He can show out on defense, too!

Jalen Beeks (Tampa Bay Rays) – 1-1, 3.50 ERA, 25 K, 1 Save

Beeks had an excellent week on the mound. In three games, he gave up nothing but a walk, while striking out four. He also picked up his second career save. His Rays now lead the American League East, and Jalen has certainly been a big part of this run.

Previous Week: Jalen picked up his first win of the season on Thursday, pitching two scoreless innings in relief against the Boston Red Sox. His 21 strikeouts in 15 innings is standing out, making him a valuable cog for the Rays. Here’s an article about how Beeks is getting so many batters to whiff.

Andrew Benintendi (Boston Red Sox) – .103 BA, 4 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Benny’s still on the IL, and the Red Sox’ manager, Ron Roenicke, says he’s still “a ways away” from being ready. He may find himself on the trading block over the next week, and maybe that’ll provide him with a fresh start.

Previous Week: Benintendi had finally (finally) gotten his first multi-hit game of the season when he took a fall Tuesday, straining his right ribcage. He’s been put on the Injury List, and his manager said he’ll need more than the ten-day IL time to recover. I’m not gonna jinx it by asking how the season could get worse for Benny, but jeez. Get better and come back swinging, bud.

Brett Eibner (Miami Marlins) – 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 K

Welcome back, Brett Eibner! Hogs fans were used to seeing him play center field and pitcher in his time in Fayetteville, but until last week, Eibner had only ever seen time in the MLB as a position player. His transition to pitcher was slowed by a Tommy John surgery in 2018, but he’s fought his way back. In one inning, Eibner got into trouble with the bases loaded but managed to hold on.

Logan Forsythe (Miami Marlins) – .125 BA, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI; 0-0, 9.00 ERA

Offensively, Logan had a slight improvement over last week, striking out only once (as opposed to six times last week) and getting a hit and an RBI (as opposed to nothing and nada last week). He still provides some much-needed depth (offense, defense, and now pitching) for a Miami team looking to make a run to the postseason.

Previous Week: Forsythe struuuuuuggled at the plate in his three games this week, going 0/11 with 6 Ks to his name. As the enormous number of Marlins on the IL return to action, Logan may find himself on the outside looking in.

Dallas Keuchel (Chicago White Sox) – 4-2, 2.65 ERA, 19 K

Dallas Keuchel absolutely ruined the crosstown rival Cubs on Friday night, allowing a run only in his eighth and final inning, and long after it would do any good. His strikeout numbers aren’t impressive, but he’s good at that “cagey lefty” thing.

Previous Week: After getting almost no help offensively in his start last Monday, Keuchel had some words to say about the effort his teammates were giving him. They responded by winning their next two games, and he responded on Sunday with a good effort, making easy work of the Cardinals through the first five innings.

James McCann (Chicago White Sox) – .340 BA, 3 HR, 7 R, 6 RBI

It’s almost a cliché at this point, but McCann is producing in limited opportunities, getting at least a hit in each of the three games he started this week, scoring twice more and knocking in another run. Stating the obvious, he’s the best back-up catcher in the entirety of baseball.

Previous Week: McCann had a pretty productive week in limited opportunities (boy, that’s just gonna be his season, I guess). The highlight of the week was a 2-for-3 day with two walks against the Tigers on Wednesday.

Drew Smyly (San Francisco Giants) – 0-0, 3.24 ERA, 11 K

Smyly is hoping to start throwing off a mound this week, in his long road back to being game ready. He’s still a couple weeks away.

Previous Week: Smiles hasn’t pitched in a game since the first day of August. A report from Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News states he is throwing off flat ground and was to be re-evaluated over the weekend. Here’s hoping some good news will follow.

Ryne Stanek (Miami Marlins) – 0-0, 27.00 ERA, 1 K

This Week: Ryne’s been on the IL since August 4th for an undisclosed reason. No news has been reported since. So...idk?

Previous Week: Ryne’s been on the IL since August 4th for an undisclosed reason. No news has been reported since. So...idk?

From Beeks and Keuchel dominating to Forsythe being forced on to the mound, which probably gave the Marlins enough fear to go out and sign Eibner, this was some week for former Hogs pitching. You can’t say you weren’t entertained.

Thanks for reading. Go ahead and follow @ArkansasFight on Twitter. For Hog reactions and puns from the guy who wanted to call this feature “Pigs in the Bigs”, follow @lukecdavis.