Framber Valdez, White Sox were both so close to history. Plus: Is switch-hitting going away?

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Neither Framber Valdez nor the White Sox made history last night, MLB is going full NASCAR and Zack Meisel is the latest to join us for a beat writer Q&A! I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!

So Close: Valdez’s ill-fated no-hit bid

It was less than 24 hours after Chandler Rome wrote a scathing overview of Houston’s “August swoon” after a walk-off loss to Texas. Framber Valdez was doing his best to make it a cold take. Through his first five innings against Texas, he was perfect.

Even after Rangers catcher Jonah Heim reached on an error, the no-hitter remained intact through the sixth, seventh and eighth. After a walk and a double play in the ninth, Valdez was one out away from his second career no-no — one year and a day after his first (Aug. 1 last year against the Guardians).

After a walk, only Corey Seager stood between Valdez and history. Nope. No no-no.

The Astros still won 4-2, but the fact that it was Seager who broke up the no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth inning reminded me: he’s done this before. It was 2016 with the Dodgers, and Matt Moore (then with the Giants) had just Seager left to retire before locking down his first career no-hitter. He didn’t get his either. When the two were teammates in 2022, it did not come up.

More Astros: Houston has called up 24-year-old infielder Zach Dezenzo, the system’s No. 3 prospect, per Keith Law. He went 0-for-4 in his big-league debut last night, but the Astros are hoping his athleticism and bat can give the team a spark.

Beat Writer Q&A: The Guardians’ keys to success

Zack Meisel covers the Guardians, and has been on the beat since 2011. He was named the 2021 Ohio Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association, winning first place for best sports coverage from the Society of Professional Journalists. He joins us for three questions …

What is your favorite piece you wrote in the first half (and why)

Zack: Oh, let’s cheat a little and travel back to the start of spring training for a feature I crafted on new Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. I didn’t know much about him, only the hits — the Chris Farley impersonation, the Oakland cult hero persona — so I trekked to his home in Olympia, Wash., to change that. His story is fascinating, and it explains how he has made such a seamless transition to the manager’s chair, especially while replacing a future Hall of Famer in Terry Francona. Of course, I didn’t know he’d guide the Guardians to the top of the American League when I wrote this six months ago. It makes sense now, though. He prepared for this role from the time he was a backup catcher in A-ball.

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

For about a decade, Cleveland has boasted a starting pitching pipeline. So, that’s how they’ve amassed this record, right? Right? Hardly. Shane Bieber/Triston McKenzie/Tanner Bibee/Gavin Williams/Logan Allen has become a revolving door of desperation that now looks like Ben Lively/Gavin Williams/Carlos Carrasco and, uh, well, eventually Bibee and Alex Cobb and Matthew Boyd. It’s … a mess. It’s been a mess. If the 67-45 Guardians can get to the postseason, they’re actually built well for a short series, thanks to a stout bullpen. But to survive the next two months, they need more from a rotation that does not resemble the group that, five months ago, seemed poised to be one of the league’s best. They’re banking pretty heavily on Cobb and Boyd, who have yet to pitch this season.

It’s not a surprise the Guardians are good, but I don’t think very many people prognosticated them to be the best team in the AL this year. What aspects of this team’s success have been the most (and least) surprising to you?

Bullpens are volatile, year to year. So for the Guardians to employ the league’s top group isn’t shocking. It’s the who that makes it so surprising. Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin, three rookies who weren’t projected to make the Opening Day roster until a virus (and the injury bug) spread through the clubhouse in spring training, have combined for a 1.84 ERA. Closer Emmanuel Clase has allowed four earned runs all season.

Less surprising: Steven Kwan is one of the better hitters in baseball. Elite contact ability and swing decisions can take you a long way. He spent the winter studying how to convert those skills into more production. It’s not easy to live and die by the bloop single. He developed a more aggressive approach, has taken more chances on pitches he knows he can damage, and the result is as many home runs as he had in his first two years combined, plus a battle with Bobby Witt Jr. for the AL batting crown.

Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

MLB’s next frontier: Tennessee?

Earlier this year, MLB pulled off the latest in what has been a wildly successful series of experiments. After playing games in Dyersville, Iowa, (Field of Dreams), Williamsport, Pa. (Little League Classic), and Birmingham, Ala. (Rickwood Field), the league is once again taking the show on the road.

Like, almost literally a road.

As reported by Jordan Bianchi and Evan Drellich, the league plans to announce on Friday that the Braves and Reds will play a game at Bristol Motor Speedway, one of NASCAR’s most well-known and revered tracks.

If your first thought is: “Will a baseball field fit in there?”, please forgive my extremely graphic-design-is-my-passion answer:

I am a baseball writer, not a map overlay expert, but yes. It will fit.

It won’t be the first time the track — just 10 miles south of the Tennessee/Virginia border — has been converted for other purposes. In 2016, a football field was temporarily built on the infield for a college game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech. The attendance that day? 156,990.

We don’t yet know exactly how many seats will be available once the baseball field is constructed, but I can make an educated prediction that the game will set a new regular-season record for highest attendance at an MLB game.

The current record? Well, it’s complicated, actually. It might be 80,227 (the Rockies’ first game at Mile High Stadium). Or it might be 86,563 if you count doubleheaders (which I don’t, but apparently the Hall of Fame does).

Investigations: Is switch-hitting going away?

When I was a freshman in high school, I showed up to my first day of practice prepared to take batting practice the way I had since I was 9 years old: half from the right side, half from the left.

“Nope,” my coach said. “We don’t do that here. Right or left; pick one.”

I’ve spent a lot of years annoyed by that. Why wouldn’t a high school coach want a player with a more diverse skill set? Turns out, Coach Lierman was — for better or worse — ahead of the curve. Jason Lloyd has a story today on how switch-hitting is becoming more and more rare in the big leagues: “Of the roughly 550 batters to log a plate appearance through the end of June, only 58 were switch hitters, according to Stathead.”

Lloyd spoke to a number of switch hitters (and coaches) about the practice, how the players got started with it, and the potential benefits and difficulties. It’s niche, sure, but it’s interesting stuff.

As to why it’s going away, Mariners manager Scott Servais puts it best in Lloyd’s story, speaking about youth baseball (where most switch-hitters pick up the practice:

“Mom and Dad are paying a lot of money to put you in front of all of the top coaches. Why would we ever put you in a situation where you might fail? And you’re going to fail. Switch hitting is really hard. It’s really hard when you’re young. And they’re afraid of failure.”

It’s a thought-provoking article that I’m not sure I have a strong opinion on, beyond: C’mon Coach. Switch-hitting is cool.

White Sox Losing Streak Tracker 📈

Zero! The White Sox beat the A’s 5-1 last night, snapping the losing streak at 21 games, tied with the 1988 Orioles for the AL record. White Sox OF/1B Gavin Sheets’ dad Larry was a member of that 1988 Orioles team. Sam Blum spoke to father and son about their shared history.

Handshakes and High Fives

Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today

Billy Bean, the former MLB player who had been serving as MLB’s senior VP for diversity, equity and inclusion, passed away at 60 years old from acute myeloid leukemia. Bean was instrumental in reshaping MLB’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. Steve Buckley pays tribute to the “big-league outfielder whose greatest contributions to the game took place after his playing career ended.”

When Mookie Betts returns next week, he will continue to play shortstop, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed.

When the Bleacher Creatures in The Bronx go through their roll call, Aaron Judge has adopted a new way to acknowledge them, when playing CF. Actually, it’s an old one: former teammate Brett Gardner’s kneel-and-flex.

In light of Wilyer Abreu and Freddie Freeman’s recent off-field difficult life moments, Steve Buckley writes that sometimes, playing is how athletes deal with heartache.

The Twins continue to play it cautious with Carlos Correa’s plantar fasciitis.

Most-clicked in yesterday’s newsletter: Our MLB staff’s latest power rankings.

Most-read MLB story on the website yesterday: Fabian Ardaya’s newser on Freeman returning to the Dodgers after his 3-year-old son’s “miraculous recovery” from a severe illness.

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(Photo: Kevin Jairaj / USA Today)