If Your Birthday is May 30th

...you share it with one of baseball's elite pitchers, Zack  Wheeler.  An effective righthander with the Mets, he played second fiddle to Jacob deGrom before moving to the Phillies as a 2020 free agent.  Since moving down the Jersey Turnpike and crossing the Walt Whitman Bridge, he's upped to his game and now ranks among the very best.  Going 16-7 with a second in the NL 224 strikeouts, he was the runner up for 2024's Cy Young Award.  And leads all pitchers born May 30th in WAR.  
Another member of the Phillies organization joins Zack in today's birthday circle.  Christian Arroyo never lived up to expectations after being the Giants 1st round draft pick in 2013.  Bouncing from San Francisco to Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Boston, he never became more than a bench player.  He's spending this summer with the Phils' top farm club Lehigh Valley and hitting near .300.  While Philadelphia has a solid infield, a productive season could earn the Tampa native a ticket back to the majors.

(Below:)  Manny Ramirez is the most productive player born on this date.  Despite 11 consecutive All Star Game appearances, 555 homers and a big role in the Red Sox toppling the Yankees in 2004 and ending that 86 year championship drought, his pair of PED suspensions will likely keep him out of the Hall of Fame.




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