MLB Bullets Looks At Both Sides Now

Good morning.

• A woman in Boston is in the hospital in serious condition after a part of Brett Lawrie's broken bat struck her in the head. The injuries were described as "life-threatening" but she is now expected to survive.
• The Boston Globe has more on the story, with comments from the woman's family and fans who saw the incident.
• Bob Nightengale calls for the netting behind home plate to be extended to prevent such incidents.
• Jeff Passan talks to a woman who was seriously injured by a foul ball in 2008. Passan also calls for extending the netting.
• Rob Neyer isn't against extending the netting per se, although he admits he's personally not fond of it, but he does say these decisions should be made on the basis of the data and not by a knee-jerk reaction to one incident.
• Ken Rosenthal reports that the MLBPA twice has asked the owners to extend the netting in collective bargaining talks. Both times, MLB rejected those proposals.
• Speaking of changing ballparks, Grant Brisbee thinks Tal's Hill in Minute Maid Park was awful and that he's going to miss it.
• The Astros are calling up top prospect Carlos Correa. At least I got to see him once.
• In a story published just hours before Correa got the call, Gabrielle Paese gives some background on this very special Puerto Rican.
• Vince Lara-Cinisomo explains what to expect from Correa.
• The Athletics called up switch-pitcher Pat Venditte and he threw two scoreless innings against the Red Sox. At least I got to see him in the same game I saw Correa.
• Bill Baer explains "The Venditte Rule." The guy has played one game in the majors and he already has a rule named after him.
• Tim Healy looks back at Venditte's long trip to the majors.
• David Brown thinks Venditte looks just like Lionel Messi. At this point, Venditte is probably thinking "Jeez, if people have to think I look like one of the two greatest soccer players in the world, why couldn't it be Cristiano Ronaldo?"
• The MLB Draft starts tonight. (That reminds me. I'd better get to work on that.) Christina Kahrl lists the best player from each of the first 49 drafts. What surprises me is that there are actually two Cubs picks on the list.
• The Yankees are picking higher than they have in 22 years. Also, they're still disappointed the Angels drafted Mike Trout.
• The pros and cons of including Puerto Ricans in the draft.
• The Astros have reportedly decided on who they will select with the first pick in the draft. They also called up five kids and told them that it might be them. What's the point of that? To jerk over four guys who will sign with other teams?
• Morgan Ensberg said he'd quit his job as a coach for the Astros if they traded certain prospects for Cole Hamels.
• Nationals GM Mike Rizzo threatened to quit when Nats ownership originally blocked his trade with the Tigers to acquire Doug Fister.
• This will not make you happy that the Cubs traded Chris Archer. Just close your eyes and think of Justin Grimm, Neil Ramirez and Carl Edwards Jr.
• Are the Angels keeping poorer fans away from Angels Stadium in order to better cater to the wealthy?
• Craig Edwards examines the situation and says not really (there are plenty of cheap tickets for sale in Anaheim), but the Angels are fools for giving everyone that impression.
• Buck Showalter thinks Matt Wieters is the best catcher in baseball for hanging on to foul tips. And the sabermetricians just saw the next frontier in their research.
• The Padres let pitcher Tyson Ross fly to DC to watch the major league debut of his brother Joe on Saturday. That's a nice move. Ross wasn't going to pitch on Saturday anyway as he'd started on Friday night.
• If Johnny Carson were alive today, he'd stroll out on stage and say "Bryce Harper is so hot . . " How hot is he? Bryce Harper is so hot that Ben Lindberg will explain to you just how hot Bryce Harper is. Actually, I think Carson would probably come up with a better punchline than that.
• Bartolo Colon has a three-game hit streak going. Just 53 more to catch DiMaggio, Bart!
• Jeff Sullivan looks at the current standings, compares them to the pre-season predictions and comes to the conclusion that the American League has gone insane. Personally, I blame Starlin Castro for that.
• Tyler Kepner examines how Paul Molitor has turned the Twins around in his first season as manager.
• The Blue Jays have outscored their opponents this year by a pretty healthy margin. They also have a losing record. Christina Kahrl explains why it's not enough for the Blue Jays to think their "luck" will even out and they'll start winning.
• Noted Pirates fan Michael Keaton confronted a Braves fan in Atlanta heckling Andrew McCutchen.
• Alex Rodriguez is a monster.
• Josh Rosengren profiles a fan who has seen every 3000th hit in the major leagues in person since 1970. He's getting ready to see ARod's.
• And finally, the Cardinals dugout in Los Angeles was invaded by skunks. Later, these black, furry animals with white stripes that smell bad showed up. Thank you and good night. I'll be here all week. Be sure to tip your waitstaff.

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