27 Outs: Advanced analysis, DHing, and the Cubs' quest for dominance

27 Outs is a weekly look around the league at some of the statistics, storylines and anecdotes that caught our eye over the last seven days of baseball.

1. No team is riding the highs and lows of baseball more than the Cardinals. St. Louis finished the week with wins in nine of its last 11, five straight series victories, and a two-game lead in the NL Central. In the midst of their success, however, the Cardinals lost three of their best players to injuries: Yadier Molina, Jason Heyward and Adam Wainwright. The former two are not considered serious, but Wainwright's likely out for the year.

2. And it's apparently all because of pitchers batting. Wainwright's injury re-ignited the DH debate and the notion that making pitchers hit is harming the game. It's putting pitchers at unnessary risk, it's not helping depressed levels of offense, and Max Scherzer wonders if fans even enjoy watching it. Do you?

3. Scherzer says fans would rather watch David Ortiz bat than him, and he's probably right. But the other thing lost in the debate is it's robbing elite pitchers from throwing deeper into the game, because ... get this ... they're not good enough hitters to stay in the lineup ...

4. ... which would be a shame if you're trying to record a "Felix." That's ESPN David Schoenfield's term for a pitcher who tosses at least seven innings and allows two runs or fewer. The Mariners ace had a Super Felix last week, dominating the Twins with nine strikeouts, no walks, and five hits in a complete game shutout. King Felix is tied for the league lead in Felixes this year with three.

5. One of those came against Mike Trout's Angels, who were one-hit Thursday by the Athletics and currently sit third-to-last in OBP, OPS, and wOBA in the American League.

6. Speaking of wOBA, only two qualified players in baseball have a higher one than Blue Jays rookie second baseman Devon Travis.

7. Nothing this early, of course, should be taken too seriously. After all, the heavily favored Mariners, Nationals, and defending champ Giants are 22-34, while the Astros, Rays, and MLB-best Mets are already sitting a combined 16 games over .500.

8. Meanwhile, the Cubs continue to quietly plot world domination after promoting their second stud prospect in as many weeks. Addison Russell's first call up may not be permanent, but once it is, look out. The Cubs have the makings of baseball's next best lineup, which is remarkable given what it looked like just three seasons ago:

9. As long as we're making comparisons, how about the unbelievable similarities between this Hall of Famer and active player through their first 1,831 games. Can you guess who they are? (Answer 15 outs away.)

10. Pablo Sandoval hit his first homer Sunday since Sept. 5, 2014 after going 154 regular season and playoff plate appearances without going deep. Sandoval will make $50 million more than Jose Abreu over the next five seasons, which is astonishing given the fact ...

11. ... Abreu just became the fourth player in history to do this:

12. Neither Abreu nor Sandoval, however, will make more money than Josh Hamilton during the next three years. The Rangers, who are set to re-acquire him from the Angels, are reportedly on the hook for only $7 million of the $83 million left on his contract. That's a little over $2 million per season over the next three years for a player who hit 43 homers with a .930 OPS in 2012.

13. Another player offering (early) diminished returns on his contract is Victor Martinez, who signed a four-year, $68 million deal in the offseason and is currently experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired knee. Martinez slammed a career-high 32 homers last season but has just one extra-base hit (double) in 62 plate appearances thus far. 

14. Numbers, though, can be deceiving. V-Mart hammered a pair of would-be doubles Monday that were gobbled up by Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury with sensational catches. Those were the good ...

15. Travis Snider's wall-climbing attempt was the bad ...

16. And Jon Jay's not-even-close dive was most certainly the ugly.

17. We can't talk about diving without mentioning Kevin Pillar, who's been making unbelievable catches part of his daily routine. So it would only make sense that he entered Sunday with a negative defensive rating this season, according to FanGraphs.

18. Here's some defensive analysis you can get your head around: MLB Network's Billy Ripken on the Cubs' Russell making the transition from shortstop to second. Really good stuff here:

19. More quality analysis Sunday from ESPN's Curt Schilling, who notes Dellin Betances uncommonly throws breaking pitches with two fingers between the seams as opposed to getting at least one finger hooked on. The results are unfair:

20. Equally unfair is the mental component to Matt Harvey's elite makeup. Harvey's Players' Tribune article on his fastball is a must-read, particularly because of analysis like this:

It's all about closing down the batter's reaction time. As a pitcher you can release the ball from middle of your stride at 96 mph, or you can get better extension on your front leg and release it closer to the plate at that same 96 mph. In the eyes of the hitter, it's going to feel like a faster pitch when it arrives at the plate. This is where my height kicks in. If I’m staying tall and I'm fully extended, I can gain an "effective" 2-3 mph on my fastball without throwing it any harder. 

21. One pitcher who might benefit from Harvey's wisdom is Yordano Ventura. He's started four games and nearly three fights, leaving his first two outings early because of cramps (reportedly a symptom of poor nutrition) and the next two due to ejections. At least he didn't threaten to throw at someone's head like teammate Kelvin Herrera ...

22. ... who would be wise to never play beanball war with Jose Bautista, unless he wants the next pitch deposited over the fence. Bautista disciplined Jason Garcia for throwing behind him Tuesday, while Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos says he's sick of pitchers targeting his best player:

23. One thing everyone can agree on is that Kris Bryant is the real deal. The Cubs rookie is already recognizing opposing game plans and adjusting accordingly. Pitchers are throwing Bryant fastballs about 40 percent of the time - league average is around 54 percent - in an effort to get him chasing out of the zone. He's offering at pitches away at a 26.9 percent clip, which if qualified would rank seventh out of 23 MLB third basemen. He doesn't have a home run yet, but eight walks to nine strikeouts might be even more impressive.

24. Answer to out No. 9: Player A is Hank Aaron and Player B is Miguel Cabrera. 

25. One might have incorrectly guessed A-Rod and Willie Mays, who are now one home run away from sharing the No. 4 rank on the all-time leaderboard. A-Rod's 659th career homer Sunday came on the 10th anniversary of what Pinstripe Alley correctly asserted as one of the greatest games in the history of baseball. It marked just the sixth time a player has had at least four hits, three homers, three runs and 10 RBI in a game. 

A-Rod's fifth of the season was his first homer to right field this season and first offspeed blast since Aug. 27, 2013, according to MLB Gameday data. 

26. Gameday and everyone else but home plate umpire Sean Barber knew the count was only 1-1 when he rung up Aramis Ramirez in the ninth inning of Wednesday's game. As if Aroldis Chapman needs any more help striking hitters out ...

27. And finally, here's a f------ tweet to sum up another wild week in the majors:

Fantastic. What a fantastic tweet.

(Videos courtesy: MLB.com)

(Stats courtesy: Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs, Baseball Savant)