Diamond Digest || This Week's Essential 5 || 5/4/25
Edition #241
Welcome to this week’s Diamond Digest. This is going to be my weekly series that highlights things that happened this week in baseball. Every week, we’ll be looking at key player performances, emerging storylines, trending stats/records, upcoming must-watches, and we’ll end it with a question, something we’ll review each week. I’ll also be sharing one fantasy baseball tip each week.
This column is for people who’ve watched every game this week, have only seen the highlights, or for people have not followed any of the games this week. It’s a very short and concise article which gives you all the baseball info you need!
I accidentally scheduled this piece to be released Sunday, May 4th, instead of Friday, May 2nd, like usual. I went through and updated everything I could, before publishing it.
ALL STATS ARE AS OF MAY 3RD 7:00 AM EST
Key Player Performances:
Currently, Cal Raleigh is the leading MLB home run hitter with 12. Aaron Judge is right behind him with 2. He’s also tied with Teoscar Hernandez for the most RBIs. They both have 32.
The current hit leader is Aaron Judge, with 52. Alex Bregman is 8 behind him, but is also the current doubles leader, with 13.
Marcell Ozuna stays the walk leader, with 28, and Ryan McMahon and Michael Toglia are the official strikeout leaders (from the same team!). Meanwhile, the current stolen base king is Oneil Cruz, with 14, but the current caught stealing king goes to Maikel Garcia and Luis Robert. Aaron Judge now has the best average in the majors, with an average of .430, and behind him is Paul Goldschmidt. Yes, Aaron Judge has an average of .430 with 121 at-bats.
Aaron Judge leads the OBP category with a percentage of .521. He is also the leader in slugging percentage and OPS. Pete Alonso is behind him and takes 2nd place in all of those categories.
This week, Aaron Judge emerged as the leader in OPS and slugging. Euginio Suarez had his awesome 4 home run game, which only 19 players have done ever. Dylan Crews has 13 strikeouts this week. Brandon Nimmo his in 11, and Shohei Ohtani contributed to 9 runs. Luis Robert had the most stolen bases this week.
Emerging Storylines:
Nick Kurtz is now officially in the MLB (as of a while back, but never got to cover it). This guy is an exciting one to watch, and while he hasn’t performed the best so far, he already has 4 RBIs and 8 hits.
A man was critically hurt after a fall from the bleachers in the middle of the Pirates vs Cubs game in beautiful PNC Park. A GoFundMe set up for this man continues to rake in donations, collecting about 25,000.
In 2015, Braves season-ticket holder Gregory K. Murrey fell over a guardrail from the upper deck at Turner Field. Four years earlier, firefighter Shannon Stone fell about 20 feet while trying to catch a foul ball at a Texas Rangers game with his 6-year-old son.
These accidents raised concerns about guardrail height at stadiums. The Rangers made their rails higher, and the Braves settled a lawsuit with Murrey’s family.
Mike Trout is officially heading to the IL. Again. He’s on the 10-day list, and everyone hopes his stay is minimal. Ron Washington is now asking players to step up for the series against the Tigers.
Riley Greene is now the first player ever to homer twice in the 9th inning. Tristan Casas has a ruptured patellar tendon. It is a season ending injury.
Trending Stats/Record/Streaks:
Series to Watch (May 5th-9th):
Padres vs Yankees
Giants vs Cubs
Mets vs Diamondbacks
Rangers vs Red Sox
Dodgers vs Diamondbacks
Poll:
Pro Fantasy Tip:
DO utilize middle relievers if you have innings or GS limits. Look for guys like Betances, Miller, McGee, and Machi (low FIP and high K/9).
And that’s it for me. As always, please be sure to leave a like on the article, comment your thoughts, and subscribe if you haven’t already! This kind of stuff always makes my day! I do take article suggestions. Email me at sportssquareauthor@gmail.com if you have any!