Blake Snell went from trade candidate to no-hitter. Plus, contextualizing the White Sox’s futility

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Blake Snell threw a no-hitter, the White Sox are working on a no-winner and something has to give in Los Angeles this week. Ken’s off this week, so Tim Britton joins us for a beat writer Q&A! I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!

Leave Him Alone: Snell throws first no-hitter

Baseball has a secret compartment of weird-but-true stats that seem impossible: Bob Gibson had more career grand slams (2) than Derek Jeter (1). Rich Aurilia had more 200-hit seasons (1) than Ted Williams and Barry Bonds combined (0). Ken Griffey Jr. is the second-best left-handed hitter born on Nov. 21 in Donora, Pa. (No, really!)

Until recently, this was among them: Blake Snell had more Cy Young awards (2) than starts in which he’d finished the eighth inning (0).

Well, we can scratch that one off the list. Friday night, Snell started (and finished) the ninth inning for the first time in his career, and did so without allowing a single hit to the Reds.

His quotes in the gamer (from Andrew Baggarly and C. Trent Rosecrans) were perfect:

“They can’t say it anymore,” Snell said afterward. “Complete game. Shutout. No-hitter. Leave me alone.”

As Grant Brisbee writes, the timing of the no-hitter was immaculate. After all the trade-deadline reports that the Giants were listening to offers for Snell, his next start was not only his best ever, but a boost to a Giants team that is still lingering on the fringes of the NL wild card (they’re currently 4 1/2 games back, with four teams to leapfrog).

That’s a steep mountain to climb, but for now, one peak has been crested: Snell has finished an eighth inning. And a ninth. And he has a no-hitter to show for it.

Beat Writer Q&A: An all-time Mets moment

With Ken on vacation this week, we’re taking an opportunity to ask a few of our beat writers a question or two. Today, we have Tim Britton, who covers the Mets.

What was your favorite story you wrote in the first half (and why)?

Tim: My favorite story, overall, was one I wrote in spring training examining a plausible route to the postseason for each major-league team. I always think it’s important to remind ourselves on the doorstep of the season that, for as much as we think we know about the sport, something unfathomable is about to happen. (And lo, here we are, with the Kansas City Royals in playoff position.)

My favorite story on the Mets beat was this spring training feature on manager Carlos Mendoza. Unlike his predecessor, Mendoza was neither a name hire nor a known quantity. So understanding his backstory, flush with failures and frustrations, and how it made him into a major-league manager was compelling to me. Plus, I don’t get to flex the feature-writing muscles a whole lot once the regular season starts, so I was happy to come up with a motif in this piece.

What is the Mets’ top storyline in the second half?

Tim: While it feels like it should be as basic as “Will they make the postseason?” I think the interesting longer-term storyline is still Pete Alonso. His platform season hasn’t gone according to plan, and there’s a big difference between the 29-year-old reaching free agency after 45 homers and after the 33 homers he’s on pace for. Both the Mets and Alonso have been consistent since last offseason: What’s best for both of them is Alonso having a great season and helping the team to the playoffs. That’s truer of these last two months than at any other time.

I always marvel at how, uh, un-boring the Mets are, for better or worse. Is there any moment you look back on, and it still feels surreal?

Tim: Oh yeah, this can spark some spirited debate among reporters who have covered the Mets. I’m too young to have been there for Mike Piazza’s “I’m not gay” news conference or Willie Randolph’s 2 a.m. firing. I was there more recently for Brodie Van Wagenen’s hot-mic criticism of Rob Manfred and when the team issued a press release saying it didn’t know where Yoenis Cespedes was.

But I have to go back to my first year covering Major League Baseball, when I was an associate reporter (read: intern) for MLB’s site in 2009. That ’09 Mets season was memorably off the rails, but nothing felt then or felt now as surreal as general manager Omar Minaya accusing beat reporter Adam Rubin of lobbying the team for a job while Minaya was explaining the firing of a front-office executive. This is my 16th year covering the majors, and I haven’t been part of a scrum surrounding a fellow beat reporter since.

More Tim Britton: This Week in Mets: Resetting the National League wild-card race

Bruce Kluckhohn / USA Today

History: White Sox losing streak reaches 20 games

The futility has begun to reach historic proportions. The Chicago White Sox have now lost 20 games in a row. It’s the sort of losing streak that compels baseball writers to start digging through the annals for anything resembling context.

Here’s one from Johnny Flores on Saturday, where he points out that just six other teams in the modern era (1901-present) have reached 20 losses in a row, the last being the 1988 Orioles. The wildest stat: The White Sox have more blown saves this year (28) than wins (27).

Jon Greenberg has the local angle, and points out — among other things — that Yoán Moncada has played only 11 games and is in the team’s top 10 for bWAR.

And of course, any time we start approaching history, the Jayson Stark flare lights up the night sky. He delivered again with this one, giving us a whole dossier of context, including this: If Chicago plays .500 ball for the rest of the season, they will still finish with 111 losses. The worst modern-era team — the 1962 Mets (40-120-1) — might be within reach.

As for the streak: The 1961 Phillies have the longest losing streak in the modern era — 23 games. In Stark’s story, he has a quote from 1988 from Johnny Callison, who played on that team. Asked if he felt the ‘88 Orioles’ pain, Callison had this to say:

“No,” Callison said. “I’m happy as hell about it. I’ve been hoping they lose 30 (in a row). Get me out of there. That team should be forgotten. It was terrible.”

Callison passed away in 2006. Rest in peace, Johnny Callison. He would have loved this year’s White Sox team.

Intriguing Matchups: Dodgers-Phillies series has levels

It does not feel strange to say that the upcoming series between the Phillies and the Dodgers feels like a something-has-to-give moment. But a month ago, I would have expected it to be a clash of the titans — two teams vying for the league’s best record, going mano-a-mano to establish dominance before an inevitable October matchup.

And here’s the thing: That might still be sorta true. The Phillies (66-45) and Dodgers (65-47) still have the best records in the National League. But since the first of July, the Phillies are 11-16. That .407 winning percentage is worst in the NL in that timeframe. (Meanwhile, the Braves are creeping.) The Dodgers aren’t faring much better; their 13-14 record is 10th-best in the NL over that time.

The Dodgers also won yesterday, beating the A’s 3-2. So both teams are coming in with a winning streak on the line. Just … not quite how we expected.

Handshakes and High Fives

Remember 2022, when Aaron Judge hit 62 home runs and won AL MVP? Chris Kirschner dug into the numbers and says Judge is actually having an even better season this year.

A few debuts for new teams: Yusei Kikuchi with the Astros, Erick Fedde with the Cardinals, Paul Blackburn with the Mets,

Pete Crow-Armstrong appears to be figuring things out with the Cubs.

The Kansas man who destroyed a Jackie Robinson statue has been sentenced to 15 years in prison (though most of the sentence stemmed from a case of aggravated burglary that happened a week after).

Is Hunter Greene an NL Cy Young candidate in Cincinnati?

Kaitlyn McGrath checks in on the prospects the Blue Jays acquired at the deadline. Early returns look pretty encouraging.

Most-clicked in Friday’s newsletter: Jayson Stark’s look at what we learned from the MLB trade deadline and the execs who drove the market.

Most-read MLB story on the website yesterday: Chris Kirschner’s dispatch on Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres getting benched for not hustling.