The Buzz — Tuesday, July 28

Francisco Lindor

The take Lindor multi-homer multi-RBI night sparks praise

The crowd saw an explosion and they are right that it was one — 3-for-5, two home runs, a triple, six RBI, and he accounted for nearly half of the Mets' 14 runs against the first-place Braves. It was his 23rd career multi-homer game and his first with two homers and a triple in the same game.

The number that tempers the celebration is .233. That is his season average, with eight home runs and 23 RBI. A switch-hitter with this kind of ceiling going off in a blowout is a reminder of what he can be, not a signal that he has been it. The night was real. The season was not erased by it.

Francisco Lindor cards on eBay →(paid link)

CJ Abrams

The take hottest hitter alive on absurd post-break tear

The tear is not a vibe — it is 17-for-30 with seven home runs in seven games, and the season underneath it says this was coming. Abrams is batting .297 with 27 home runs and 82 RBI, the latter leading all of baseball, and he just broke Ian Desmond's Nationals single-season shortstop record of 25 from 2012. A .567 week with that kind of power does not happen to a player who got lucky. It happens to one who leveled up. The crowd is not exaggerating. They are late.

CJ Abrams cards on eBay →(paid link)

Cody Bellinger

The take Bellinger hamstring IL hurts Yankees deadline plans

The MRI settled the argument: Grade 2, four to six weeks, and the Yankees' deadline just changed. Bellinger felt the hamstring grab running out a double Saturday, and by Monday the diagnosis was a partial tear — not a tweak, not day-to-day, not something that resolves before Aug. 3. He is gone through the deadline and likely deep into August.

The offense is part of the loss — .259 with 11 homers and 53 RBI, and no home runs since June 17. But the number that makes this hurt is 19. That is his defensive runs saved, the most by any left fielder in baseball, and it is the part of his game that does not slump. You cannot replace that with a rental.

The Yankees were already shopping for catching and bullpen help with a contender's list. Now that list has a hole in left field where their best defender used to be, and the Aug. 3 deadline is days away. The injury is the cost. The deadline is the test.

Cody Bellinger cards on eBay →(paid link)

Max Scherzer

The take Scherzer IL return ovation vs former Nats team

The ovation was earned — 30 seconds on the mound at Nationals Park, another on the way off, a wave near the dugout after his 100th career start in that building. He helped win a World Series here, and on his 42nd birthday the fans said so.

What the start said is harder to hear. Scherzer threw 75 pitches and lasted 2 2/3 innings with four hits and three walks against a team that scored twice all day. His ERA is 9.49. The manager pointed to one hard-hit ball and the jams he escaped, which is what a club says when the line does not say it for them. The ovation was the past. The 9.49 is the present.

Max Scherzer cards on eBay →(paid link)

Chris Sale

The take Elite ERA rank plus Mets start buzz

Sale is 11-6 with a 192 ERA+ and a 2.19 ERA, third in the majors — 134 strikeouts in 111 innings, a 1.05 WHIP over 19 starts. That is the line to hold before his scheduled start Tuesday against the Mets at Citi Field. The crowd is right to circle the matchup. They should have circled it months ago.

Chris Sale cards on eBay →(paid link)