MLB Rumors: Royals roll to seventh straight win, continue to shock baseball
Here's a list of every MLB team that has an active win streak over five games:
- Kansas City Royals (seven games)
End of list.
The hottest team in the MLB is the Kansas City Royals. The same club that finds themselves 40 games under .500 at this point in the season. It's also the same Royals team that has shipped away Scott Barlow, Aroldis Chapman and Nick Lopez, among others, over the last few weeks.
Yet, they swept the Twins and the Mets as part of a six-game homestand, before traveling to Philadelphia and taking game one from the Phillies. During this streak, Royals star infielder Bobby Witt has made history.
On Friday night in Philadelphia, Bobby Witt smashed his 20th home run of the 2023 season. That brings his stats up to 20 home runs and 32 steals on the year so far. He became the first player in history to hit 20 or more home runs and steal 30 or more bases in their first two seasons in the MLB.
Witt is still just 23 years old and has a ton more in the tank, in 2023 and beyond. In the Royals' march toward the future, Witt will likely remain the heartbeat of the team. He's truly a special talent.
MLB Rumors: Padres should have used the trade deadline to sell
When the trade deadline rolled around, the San Diego Padres were faced with a tough decision to make. They sat around .500 with a low chance to end up competing in the NL West. All signs were pointing to the Padres doing some selling, taking the 2023 season as a loss and looking forward to 2024 and beyond. Expiring contracts like Blake Snell and Josh Hader could be moved for some serious prospect capital, setting San Diego up well for 2024 and the years after.
Instead, San Diego opted to keep all their expiring contracts and even do a little buying on the market, ending up on the wrong side of a potential lopsided trade with the Pirates. This decision to buy now looks even worse with how the second half of the year has started for the Padres. Nothing seems to be going their way so far.
Starting pitcher Joe Musgrove was shut down for a minimum of three weeks with shoulder inflammation. Musgrove was having a really solid season with an ERA around 3 on the year. This creates another major hole on the roster, furthering the fact that San Diego would have been much better off selling at the deadline instead of acquiring aging talent.
MLB Rumors: Braves take a flier and resign Charlie Culberson…again
Before the trade deadline, the Atlanta Braves were tied to a bunch of different potential reunions. There were a ton of former Braves that could have been traded back to Atlanta to help push for the playoffs and eventually the World Series. Well, this week, Atlanta got their reunion, but it didn't come in the terms that many expected it would have.
Atlanta resigned Charlie Culberson, again. Culberson has been up and down from the MLB to the minor leagues all season, spending a decent amount of time on the Braves' active roster. Many may not have known that because the veteran has only made one MLB plate appearance, a single, all season long.
Culberson recently elected free agency over being assigned to the Braves Triple-A team, which gives him the chance to sign with any of the thirty teams in the league. This exact scenario happened in June, when the veteran ultimately ended up signing a minor league deal with Atlanta after weighing his options.
With defensive wizard Nicky Lopez now handling the infield depth role for the Braves, Culberson doesn't have much of a chance at making the active roster unless an injury occurs. Still, he may resign with the Braves on a minor league deal again after weighing his other options.
