The 2020 MLB season is in full swing and Rice baseball alums are having great years. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls from this week.
Jon Duplantier is in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ player pool but is currently rehabbing. There hasn’t been a clear indication yet as to when he might rejoin the team. Here are updates on the three former Rice baseball alums currently active.
Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels
It took Rendon a while to get going, but once he was on, the balls went flying off his bat. From August 10 to August 16, a span of six games, Rendon launched five home runs and tallied seven RBI. His OPS during that stretch was an unbelievable 1.738. Somehow the Angels managed to go 2-4 during those games, but his work with the bat was not to blame.
Anthony Rendon homered against Clayton Kershaw. Sounds familiar. pic.twitter.com/tkt9yKYm0Z
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) August 15, 2020
Through August 20, Rendon is hitting .289 with 10 extra-base hits, 20 walks and 18 strikeouts. His OPS is 1.028.
Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins
It’s been a phenomenal start to the 2920 season for Tyler Duffey, and his rapid ascent has not gone unnoticed. National outlets are picking up his feel-good story, including The Athletic ($) who published an excellent feature on the former Rice baseball hurler’s journey up til now.
The story is worth reading, but this quote from manager Rocco Baldelli sums it up quite nicely:
“He went out there and made incredible adjustments … and turned himself into one of the best relievers in the game.”
This week, Duffey gave up his first run in his tenth inning of work.
Through August 20, Duffey has a 0.90 ERA with a .500 WHIP. He’s averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
Brock Holt – Milwaukee Brewers
Widely regarded as the kind of guy you want to have in your clubhouse, Holt seems to be making the best of a tough start at the plate. So far this season there have been snippets of him lifting up his teammates and having a good laugh in the midst of the challenging first few weeks.
For one, here’s his reaction after grounding into a double play this past week.
Brock Holt, martial arts champion (r @Adam_J_Tweets) pic.twitter.com/akj1oRZZXO
— Superdrunkmark69 (@cjzer0) August 14, 2020
Through August 20, Holt has three hits in 27 at bats. He has three walks and nine strikeouts.
