The Buzz — Friday, August 21

Jacob deGrom

The take deGrom hits 2,000th K as second-fastest ever

Only Randy Johnson got to 2,000 strikeouts in fewer starts, and only Chris Sale got there in fewer innings. That is the company deGrom joined Thursday night — he entered needing two, struck out Daylen Lile and Abimelec Ortiz on sliders to open the first, tipped his cap, and kept going: 10 strikeouts, six scoreless innings, one hit in a 2-0 Rangers win.

The milestone is the headline. What it cost to get here is the story. deGrom is 38, a two-time Cy Young winner whose 2021 through 2024 were gutted by injuries including elbow surgery. He reached 2,000 in his 272nd start and 1,660⅓ innings — second-fastest to the mark in both. The only thing between him and first is the time those injuries cost. He got here anyway.

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Zach Neto

The take Neto went off for five hits and seven RBIs

Neto's line in Thursday's 18-3 rout at Houston: 5-for-6, seven RBIs, his 21st homer of the year. The career night is real — RBI singles in the first and fourth, a three-run shot in the fifth, a two-run double in the seventh — but it arrived in a blowout, and the scoreboard stopped dictating at-bats long before he was done. Seven RBIs ties the Angels' single-game franchise record for a shortstop, matching Freddie Patek from 1980. A career night is a career night. It just lands softer when the other side has quit competing by the fourth.

Zach Neto cards on eBay →(paid link)

Chris Sale

The take Sale-Misiorowski NL Cy Young Friday duel

Sale at 37 is one of seven pitchers in the Live Ball Era to post a 2.20 ERA or better through his first 22 starts at 37 or older. That is not a hot streak. That is a sustained, historic level of pitching.

Friday in Milwaukee is being called a Cy Young showcase, and the math supports it — his 2.16 ERA ranks second in the majors, behind only the man he is facing. Over his last seven starts: 4-2, 2.31 ERA, 51 strikeouts in 39 innings, a 0.87 WHIP. His last time out, he threw 108 pitches at 37, struck out nine in six, hit a season-high 99.1 mph, and allowed one run. The Braves lost 2-0. The conversation is real. The question is whether 129 innings at this level hold through October.

Chris Sale cards on eBay →(paid link)

Paul Skenes

The take reigning Cy Young ace in real 2026 performance slump

The crowd is reading the ERA, and it is ugly. Skenes is 9-11 with a 3.95 ERA after back-to-back seasons at 1.96 and 1.97 that won a Cy Young. Over his last nine starts: 3-4, 5.79 ERA. Since mid-May, ten losses in thirteen decisions. Wednesday he walked four in 4.1 innings and the number settled at 3.95. The panic is not invented.

But the leak is not where the crowd is looking. His xERA is 3.17 — nearly a run lower than the actual ERA — and his strikeout rate is still 29.8 percent. Skenes said, 'I'm healthy. I'm feeling good,' and the Pirates pushed a start back three days for rest that Don Kelly said was not injury-related. What eroded is the margins: ground-ball rate down from 51.1 to 39.7, Stuff+ from 110 to 98, walk rate at a career-worst 6.3 percent.

The fastball ties it together — 98.8 as a rookie, 98.2 last year, 96.8 now. Two mph gone, one start at a career-low 95.7. Two mph is the distance between a whiff and a barrel, and thirteen home runs say so. The slump is real. The velocity, the ground-ball rate, the walk rate, the Stuff+ — all moved the wrong direction at once, and the result is a 3.95 ERA where 1.97 used to sit. Brandon Lowe said the sport got spoiled, and top-10 in strikeouts with a top-40 ERA is 'still pretty good.' He is right. It is just not what Skenes was.

Paul Skenes cards on eBay →(paid link)

Jacob Misiorowski

The take Young Brewers ace faces Sale in Cy Young duel

Misiorowski leads the majors in ERA (1.75), strikeouts (210), WHIP (0.75), and opponents' average (.151) — and he is 24. Friday's matchup with Sale is the league's best ERA against the second-best, same mound, same afternoon. His swing-and-miss rate jumped from 30 to 38 percent this year, and his last start was six innings of one-run ball in a 4-1 win over the Dodgers. The Cy Young case rests on 210 strikeouts and a 0.75 WHIP from an arm that has been getting sharper all year.

Jacob Misiorowski cards on eBay →(paid link)