Keri the 10: Get Thames to WWE, Dodgers hotter than the sun and more MLB notes
Plus Jonah's current Hall of Famers, Travis Shaw's a bad man and more observations from around MLB

Welcome to this week's edition of Keri The 10! As always, we'll go around the majors with 10 stories that caught our eye from the past seven days. There will be numbers, and occasionally, memes. As always, we will have fun.
1. Orlando Arcia likes ice cream
During Saturday's game, the Brewers shortstop tracked a foul ball toward the stands, only to watch the ball sail out of reach. He then spotted a gentleman enjoying some delicious ice cream. After that ... what choice did he really have?
This fan’s ice cream had Orlando Arcia’s name written all over it. pic.twitter.com/aR8rcu8pDV
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 1, 2017
Perhaps slightly more important for the first-place Brewers, Arcia has been molten lava lately. One of the slickest-fielding shortstops in the league, Arcia has always been the type of player whose offensive contributions would be considered a surprise bonus. Over the past seven weeks, he hasn't merely contributed with the bat ... he has been unstoppable. Arcia is batting a huge .359/.388/.500 since May 18, establishing himself as one of the National League's brightest young stars.
Arcia's emergence offers yet another reminder that Milwaukee grabbing first place in the NL Central isn't a fluke. This is a young, talented and dangerous team, one that has a legitimate chance to go from fourth-place afterthought to division champs in a span of one year.
2. Just put Eric Thames in the WWE already
Another great surprise for the Brewers, Thames has had a bit of a rollercoaster season: .345/.466/.810 with 11 home runs in April, a far more modest .199/.332/.453 with 12 homers since. Still, Thames remains the most potent power source on a Milwaukee team that leads the National League in long balls.
He's also the best candidate to succeed The Rock and John Cena as the face of the WWE. Jacked to the point of absurdity, with the most expressive celebration face in baseball, Thames just needs a clever wrestler name and he'll have a second career waiting for him the second he stops smashing baseballs into oblivion. Suggestions welcome!
This is how you celebrate a homer pic.twitter.com/vyv2YsPbG8
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) July 4, 2017
3. Travis Shaw is a bad man
The Brewers third baseman ranks among the league leaders in home runs, runs batted in and slugging average, offering a massive upgrade for a group of Milwaukee hot corner patrollers who collectively hit just .252/.327/.386 last season. The cost of acquiring a now-27-year-old third baseman making the league minimum who's on pace to launch 35 homers? Reliever Tyler Thornburg (who hasn't thrown a pitch in the majors all year) and a fringe prospect who's a long shot to ever make the majors?
If only the Red Sox could have acquired this guy to address their yawning chasm at third base.
.And for anybody still requiring further proof that the Brewers are for real, know that they plan to be buyers at the deadline and are pursuing a top starting pitcher, according to MLB Network insider Jon Morosi:
Sources: #Brewers are prepared to buy at Trade Deadline and have begun background work on Jose Quintana, Sonny Gray and other starters. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 7, 2017
4. But at least they still have Pedroia!
How is this even possible?
Seriously, nobody has any business making the play that Dustin Pedroia made. pic.twitter.com/sTsBqB3Kyq
— Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) July 4, 2017
5. Zooming Zimmer
The Indians have leaned on multiple contributors in their climb back to first place in the AL Central. At first glance, Bradley Zimmer might not seem like a major influence on that front, given his decent but unspectacular .270/.331/.416 batting line.
But the rookie center fielder has found other ways to stamp his imprint on Cleveland victories throughout the season, and especially during the Indians' current 14-8 run. On the basepaths, Zimmer has been a terror, swiping nine bases while getting caught just once, and ranking third in the majors in MLB's new Sprint Speed metric. He has also excelled defensively, making several highlight-reel catches.
Sunday in Detroit, Zimmer made not one â¦
... but two spectacular diving catches, both against the Tigers' Mikie Mahtook.
Have a day, rook.
6. Melky Cabrera, elite troll job
The White Sox outfielder made an excellent catch of his own recently against Yankees super-slugger Aaron Judge. The catch wasn't nearly as good as the chicanery Cabrera pulled immediately afterward, though. The former Yankee initially pretended he hadn't caught the ball, fooling the Yankees broadcasters as well as some of the fans in attendance. Beautiful.
7. Rodon, dirty
After sitting out nearly three months to start the season with a biceps injury, White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon is back in the rotation and making waves. After a weird season debut June 28 in which he allowed just two hits and no earned runs but also walked six batters, Rodon turned on the jets in his second start. Facing the A's in Oakland on Monday, he fired 6 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs on four hits while striking out 10. Over 101 pitches, Rodon induced an eye-popping 25 swings-and-misses.
If Rodon can replicate that kind of performance going forward and steer clear of the control and injury problems that have plagued the start of his major-league career, the White Sox could have a building block-caliber pitcher on their hands.
8. Is there a level of heat that's hotter than the surface of the sun?
Because this seems ... not even possible.
Today is July 6. Since June 6, the #Dodgers have lost 1 game to a National League team: the tanking Padres.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) July 7, 2017
9. The Circle of Death
Chris Devenski might be my favorite player in baseball right now. The Astros right-hander throws an absolutely unhittable circle changeup. He has tossed four or more innings in one relief outing on multiple occasions this season. And he has been so dominant, Astros fans have started wearing Devo hats to honor his lights-out results.
To tell us how Devenski has carved up the league this year, let's turn to our pal Nick Pollack, the sharp pitching mind behind the excellent website PitcherList.com.
Chris Devenski has been absolutely dominant in 2017 to the tune of a 2.09 ERA while allowing runners to score in just eight of his 34 appearances. His strikeout rate has ballooned in the process to an elite 36.8 percent mark and he has avoided free passes with a superb 6.3 percent walk rate. Devenski was turning heads in 2016 -- 2.15 ERA, 25.5 percent K rate -- but this year he has been on another level. How did we get here?
On a shallow level, Devenski has added a tick of velocity, averaging nearly 94 mph with his four-seamer after sitting at 93.1 mph in 2016, with the same improvements showing in his slider. It's not a significant boost like we've seen with Alex Wood, but every improved element helps.
More important, Devenski's pitch mix has been drastically revamped this season. His curveball has been removed altogether -- a pitch formerly thrown over 10 percent of the time -- and he has cut back on his fastball from a 45.7 percent usage rate down to just 39.3 percent. The benefactors have been his changeup and slider, combining for more than 60 percent of his pitches.
The question becomes, why is Devenski better when throwing fewer fastballs? Well ⦠have you seen his changeup?
Here's a supercut of Chris Devenski's six whiffs from his "Circle of Death" Changeup against the Yankees. Daaaang. pic.twitter.com/pT4xdzOX7T
— Pitcher List (@ThePitcherList) July 3, 2017
That's a supercut of six Devenski changeups from last weekend's matchup against the Yankees. Considering how poorly the Bronx Bombers swung at these pitches, its massive 40 percent usage rate this season shouldn't be a surprise.
This is just a small sample size though, and let's dive into the numbers to see how good the so-called "circle of death" has been in 2017. Across 300 changeups thrown as of July 4, Devenski holds a 25.3 percent whiff rate on the pitch, with batters chasing it out of the zone more than 45 percent of the time. Batters make contact with the pitch just 51 percent of the time and hold a paltry .126 batting average against it, simply phenomenal considering how often Devenski features his slowball.
Let's not forget the other half of the equation, as Devenski has increased the usage of his slider in 2017 as well. With a reduction in fastballs and his changeup being a fantastic pitch for batters to chase off the plate, Devenski needed a pitch to throw strikes earlier in the count and when batters were ready to lay off the slowball. In 2016, his slider was an excellent pitch for missing bats -- 23.1 percent whiff rate and 40 percent chase rate -- but with his changeup showing incredible dominance this year, he tweaked his approach with the breaking ball, turning it from a pitch he threw inside the zone just 31.3 percent of the time to a whopping 45.8 percent rate this season. Now Devenski has a pair of pitches to throw for strikes in his four-seamer and slider, setting up humiliation with his befuddling changeup.
Chris Devenski, Circle of Death, grip/release/spin (uno mas). pic.twitter.com/QWFCGYqQTv
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 3, 2017
10. Burning Question of the Week
If baseball ended right now, what active players should end up in the Hall of Fame? #KeriThe10
— Samuel Wade (@SmellyRebel) July 6, 2017
Here's my list, with an emphasis on the word "should," which I simply took to mean, most likely to get in. Fight me if you disagree.
Chase Utley would deserve that honor if his career ended today too, but I wonder if voters might leave him a bit short.