What’s on Tap: Previewing tonight’s action

A full slate of games tonight, as it’s Tuesday and that’s what happens on Tuesday.

The biggest one is out in Los Angeles where Madison Bumgarner and the Giants start a big series against the Dodgers. San Francisco is game back in the standings but they have their ace going for them, which is nice. He can hit a little bit too.

The Mets are running Jonathon Niese out against the Cardinals, which is interesting given that they had a day off yesterday and could’ve skipped Niese, but hey, they ain’t my team.

Prospect Jake Thompson of the Phillies, making his fourth career start, goes against the relatively grizzled veteran Carlos Rodon, who is making his 44th. Rodon is just over a year older than Thompson. Practically ancient.

The matchups:

Houston Astros (Joe Musgrove) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (Ivan Nova), 7:05 PM EDT , PNC Park

Washington Nationals (Reynaldo Lopez) @ Baltimore Orioles (Kevin Gausman), 7:05 PM EDT, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Los Angeles Angels (Tyler Skaggs) @ Toronto Blue Jays (R.A. Dickey), 7:07 PM EDT, Rogers Centre

Boston Red Sox (Clay Buchholz) @ Tampa Bay Rays (Chris Archer), 7:10 PM EDT, Tropicana Field

Kansas City Royals (Yordano Ventura) @ Miami Marlins (Andrew Cashner), 7:10 PM EDT, Marlins Park

Texas Rangers (Derek Holland) @ Cincinnati Reds (Dan Straily), 7:10 PM EDT, Great American Ball Park

Colorado Rockies (Jon Gray) @ Milwaukee Brewers (Chase Anderson), 8:10 PM EDT, Miller Park

Detroit Tigers (Anibal Sanchez) @ Minnesota Twins (Kyle Gibson), 8:10 PM EDT, Target Field

Philadelphia Phillies (Jake Thompson) @ Chicago White Sox (Carlos Rodon), 8:10 PM EDT, U.S. Cellular Field

New York Mets (Jonathon Niese) @ St. Louis Cardinals (Jaime Garcia), 8:15 PM EDT, Busch Stadium

Atlanta Braves (Rob Whalen) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (Archie Bradley), 9:40 PM EDT , Chase Field

Cleveland Indians (Danny Salazar) @ Oakland Athletics (Sean Manaea), 10:05 PM EDT, Oakland Coliseum

Chicago Cubs (Jake Arrieta) @ San Diego Padres (Christian Frederich), 10:10 PM EDT, Petco Park

New York Yankees (CC Sabathia) @ Seattle Mariners (Tiajuan Walker), 10:10 PM EDT, Safeco Field

San Francisco Giants (Madison Bumgarnder) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Kenta Maeda), 10:10 PM EDT, Dodger Stadium

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Major League Baseball announced today that Mike Trout and Christian Yelich have been selected as the American League and National League winners of the 2019 Hank Aaron Awards. The Hank Aaron Award, which was established in 1999, recognizes “the most outstanding offensive performers in each league.” A fan vote is part of it. A special panel of Hall of Fame players led by Hank Aaron weighs in as well.

Yellich, who is a back-to-back winner of the Award in the NL, led the Majors with a .671 slugging percentage and a 1.100 OPS, while leading the National League in batting average (.329), WAR (7.3) and OBP (.429). It was his third straight year with at least 100 runs scored and he set career-highs with 44 home runs and 30 stolen bases. He was the NL Player of the Week twice and stands a good chance of winning the NL MVP Award, though a late season injury will make it a pretty close vote.

Trout, who previously won the award in 2014, led the Majors with a .483 on-base percentage while leading the American League with a .645 slugging percentage and a 1.083 OPS. He was second in the AL with a career-best 45 home runs, was second i WAR (8.3) and, like Yelich, was a two-time Player of the Week winner. He too stands a good chance of wining the MVP though, he too, had a late season injury which could knock him down to second place.

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