MLB Bullets Says "Play Ball, Mate."

I've decided that I can enjoy watching basketball a lot more if I don't worry about some stupid "bracket." Of course, it's still not baseball.

The major league season starts tonight! Or tomorrow morning, if you want to be technical.

• As you no doubt have heard by now, Wednesday night's game between the Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals was cancelled after Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman was hit in the face with a line drive off the bat of Salvador Perez.
• It was a horrifying sight, as anyone who has watched the video can attest. (There's no way I'm linking to it, although I did watch it. I wouldn't have if it wasn't my job.) The good news is that it looked worse than it was, although it was pretty bad. Chapman has a fracture about the left eye and a mild concussion. He's expected to be able to start throwing again in four to six weeks, which would put him on track for a return to the majors around June 1.
• Salvador Perez is pretty shook up about the whole incident. He did visit Chapman in the hospital and that helped a bit.
• Jon Paul Morosi notes how many of these incidents we've had in recent years and says Major League Baseball needs to do something, although he doesn't have an answer.
• Craig Calcaterra is also worried about these incidents, but in responding to Morosi, he asks "What, exactly, are we supposed to do?" He notes that if there was an easy solution, it would have been done a long time ago.
• One of the solutions is not one of those new padded caps that MLB approved for in-game use this past winter. Since Chapman was hit in the face, the new caps would not have covered it. David Brown points out that nothing short of a motorcycle helmet with a full visor would have kept Chapman from being injured.
• As far as the protective caps go, whether or not the pitchers are willing to wear them, Alex Cobb says they aren't even available to try. Cobb, who was hit with a line drive last season, isn't saying he'd wear the hat, but he has said that he'd like to try them out. However, they simply are not available at this time. Reports are that the actual caps are being re-designed.
• Billy Wagner recalls when he was struck by a line drive and says once you're hit, you're always thinking about it after you return to the mound.
• Gabe Kapler says that it takes a lot of mental toughness to get back on the field after something like that.
• Colin McGowan says that incidents like this one shatter the illusion that make sports a pleasant break from our real lives.
• The Reds aren't ready to move on from the incident and manager Bryan Price says he's not ready to consider who the replacement Reds closer is going to be.
• Turning to more traditional pitcher injuries, it's official. Brandon Beachy will need to have Tommy John surgery. It's the second time he's had the surgery.
• It's the second time that Kris Medlen and Jarrod Parker are having the surgery as well. Cliff Corcoran looks at starting pitchers who have had Tommy John surgery twice and notes that the record of their performance after the second surgery is not good. It is a pretty small sample size though.
• There's been some sniping between the Mets and Matt Harvey as he recovers from his Tommy John surgery. Andrew Marchand wonders if these disagreements foreshadow further problems between the team and their franchise pitcher. He likens the relationship to that of a father and son although in this case, the son (Harvey) gets the final call about his own rehabilitation.
• The Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias is expected to miss four to six months.
• Dana Wakiji looks at what the Tigers internal options to replace Iglesias is if they decide not to sign or trade for a different shortstop.
• Marc Normandin thinks that Scott Boras is now intentionally waiting for the season to start before finding a team for Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales. If the players wait until after opening day to sign, they will be ineligible for a qualifying offer next off season.
• Ken Rosenthal says the Mariners are considering adding another hitter and examines the pros and cons of bringing back Kendrys Morales.
• Corey Hart is sad that his former Brewer teammates didn't call him more over the off-season. Maybe they did and he just couldn't find your phone because he was wearing your sunglasses at night.
• Even though he's willing to give the Indians a discount, it now looks like Justin Masterson will be a free agent at the end of this year.
• When asked about the reports that the Phillies would like to trade him, Jimmy Rollins said "Because I can't be traded, it doesn't matter."
• Jack Moore says that Rollins has earned the right to decline a trade and that while Rollins sounds harsh, the Phillies sound foolish.
• Patrick Dubuque uses the example of Franklin Gutierrez to examine the importance of scapegoats to sports and sports fans.
• Alex Rodriguez is fighting with his lawyers about how much he owes them. Jon Heyman uses this as an excuse to launch another anti-ARod diatribe. Heyman may be right about Rodriguez, but in this article and elsewhere, he seems to take Rodriguez's behavior personally.
• Grant Brisbee looks at player who were great at a young age to shed some light on the chances that Mike Trout could get even better.
• Jose Abreu says the major leagues aren't as tough as he thought they would be. Slow down there, pardner. You're still in spring training. If you can still say that in June, congratulations.
• Apparently getting injured is the new PED. I'm pretty sure that isn't what Huey Lewis meant.
• Ken Rosenthal is upset that MLB rules are keeping top prospects in the minors longer than they need to be.
• Josh Donaldson says the ability to watch video of himself hitting once he made the majors allowed him to make the adjustments he needed to make to become a star. You don't have to be a star, to be in Billy Beane's show.
• See? Paul Goldschmidt is a star on and off the field. Everybody's a star.
• Major League Baseball is teaming up with Match.com for a way for baseball fans to date each other. Or you could just find a partner and teach them what a wonderful game it is like I did.
• Dick Allen's son is trying to get him into Cooperstown. But the big take away from this article is that Allen is working public relations for the Phillies. I don't know if that says something about Dick Allen or something about the Phillies, however.
• What a boy learned from his Heinie Manush-model baseball mitt. And yes, I'm including this link only so I could name-drop "Heinie Manush."
• The game tonight is at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Here's a time-lapse video of the transformation from a cricket ground to a baseball field.
• Pete Williams looks at the recent history of baseball in Australia and explains why MLB thinks Australia is the next frontier for baseball.
• Ryan P. Morrison looks at the current state of baseball down under and says the game is there to stay.
• Some Australians do have some weird ideas about what baseball players are like. One writer says minor leaguers live a life of "drugs, booze and cheap hotels." The cheap hotels part is right at least. And yes, some do drink or take drugs, but so do some journalists, last I checked. And they stay in cheap hotels too! I think I'm on to something.
• The Dodgers and Diamondbacks say all that all the bad blood between the two teams is behind them. Why can't we be friends?
• Finally, for those who think Australians don't care about baseball, here's a video of a boy who really wants a foul ball. Next time, just hand him a vegemite sandwich.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.