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The Red Sox rarely travel to San Diego, but due to current circumstances, their three-game series with the Padres is going to be a special one for one of the boys from Boston. Well, if you can call a 40-year-old a boy, that is.
The Padres, following suite with essentially the entire league, are planning to honor David Ortiz when the Padres play the Sox in San Diego next week. Ortiz has had a dream season in 2016, but he's confirmed that it is, in fact, his final season.
Ortiz has garnered a pretty impressive list of retirement gifts from various MLB teams--how will San Diego stack up?
Here's what else is happening around the National League West:
It was an interesting birthday for Colorado's Stephen Cardullo, to say the least. The 29-year-old rookie hit his first big-league homer in the first game of a doubleheader against the Dodgers, but didn't stop there. In the second game, Cardullo went deep again, but this time it was a grand slam. Have a day, rook!
The Diamondbacks have a hard question to answer as the offseason approaches: Do they continue to absorb Zack Greinke's huge contract, or let him free? Greinke hasn't been his best this season, putting up rather pedestrian statistics for Arizona--much like the rest of the D-Backs pitching staff. When 2016 is in the books, it might be time for Arizona to wipe the slate clean.
Some might call it a byproduct of endless injuries; for others, a kid that has overachieved in the minors that's finally getting his chance at the big league level. Any way you slice it, Jose De Leon has been called up to Los Angeles. De Leon gets the start Sunday, which will make him the 15th starting pitcher L.A. has used this season.
Matt Cain struggled in an ugly rehab stint at Fresno last Saturday night, giving up six runs and ten hits over five innings of work. Cain had a hard time with pitch location at times, and his fastball lost speed quickly over the course of his outing (only topping out around 90-92). With Cain's contract set to expire at the end of the 2017 season (barring an option pickup for '18), you have to wonder how much of an asset Cain is in San Francisco.