MLB Bullets Flips For Baseball

You have the day off. I’m working. Somehow this doesn’t seem fair, but it’s for your benefit so take advantage.

• The Dodgers got the best news that they could have gotten over the weekend as it was announced that the best pitcher on the planet, Clayton Kershaw, will come off the disabled list and make his first start this Friday.
• Dave Cameron looks at the issues surrounding the NL Cy Young Award debate and Clayton Kershaw’s role in it.
• Despite Kershaw’s expected return, the Dodgers are still struggling to find five starting pitchers. Mike Axisa thinks that the rumored deal that would send Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke back to Los Angeles would have been smart for all parties involved.
• The Diamondbacks declined to trade Greinke, but Grant Brisbee looks at the pros and cons of for the Snakes to trade Greinke.
• Staying with the Dodgers, the final six games of the season, which are broadcaster Vin Scully’s final six games, will be broadcast over the air on KTLA. This is necessary because the impasse on carriage for SportsNet LA shows no signs of ending after three seasons.
• Two retiring broadcasting legends, Scully and Padres broadcaster Dick Enberg, had a chat on the Padres pre-game show on Saturday. They mostly talked about Scully’s memories of his 67-year career.
• Jonah Keri breaks down the American League MVP race, with five strong candidates.
• One of those candidates, Josh Donaldson, makes Elie Waitzer believe in “clutch,” even if the numbers don’t support the concept.
• Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez lost a no-hitter in the eighth inning on a play overturned by replay. Then the Red Sox lost the game. And first place.
• Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker has a fractured skull after being hit with a line drive in the second inning yesterday.
• Mike Trout talked about the car accident he was in this past week, which he termed “scary.”
• The Mets expect that Jacob deGrom will miss “multiple starts” will forearm soreness. That’s never good.
• The Yankees lost two pitchers this week to elbow injuries.
• It’s not as big a deal as Kershaw, but the Red Sox are getting Koji Uehara back this week as well.
• Mike Axisa looks at the most interesting September call-up for each team.
• Craig Calcaterra thinks everyone should stop getting worked up about the expanded September rosters.
• Mets outfielder Jay Bruce reportedly told the Reds to trade him “anywhere but New York.” That ought to make the Mets fans love him even more.
• Adam Rubin writes that the Mets now regret letting Daniel Murphy leave as a free agent, although it did make sense at the time.
• Murphy is having a pretty terrific season that no one predicted. Mike Axisa has the 20 most unbelievable statistics of 2016.
• Jean-Jacques Taylor says that a terrific rivalry is starting to develop between the Astros and the Rangers.
• Astros star and Puerto Rican Carlos Correa talks about what Roberto Clemente means to him.
• Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich is having a breakout season. He credits hitting coach Barry Bonds for turning him into a hitter similar to his manager, Don Mattingly.
• The Brewers are stealing bases this season like it was still 1987.
• Tigers closer Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 424th career save, tying him with John Franco for 4th on the all-time list.
• Mike Bauman explains why he thinks the Tigers are the favorite to win one of the AL Wild Card spots.
• The Braves are rumored to be considering offering Tim Tebow a contract. Cory McCartney explains why such a move might make sense for Atlanta.
• A Pirates fan got to see her first Pirates game ever—literally.
• The Women’s Baseball World Cup has started in Korea. When Pakistan recorded their first out ever in the tournament, their players celebrated like they’d just hit a walkoff home run. You gotta start somewhere, I guess.
• And finally, I’ve been very critical of this country in the way that we’ve fallen behind the Far East in first pitch techniques. Most of our first pitches seem to end up like this one from Miss Texas USA Daniella Rodriguez.
• But this nation owes a debt of gratitude to the young women that make up our Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Team. Not only did they bring home the gold from Rio, they have made a statement that America will no longer trail behind South Korea and Japan in first pitches. This one from Madison Kocian was pretty darn good. She also is such a Rangers fan, that she said that meeting Adrian Beltre was better than meeting Beyoncé.
• But for my money, the first pitch crown goes to Laurie Hernandez, who did this terrific first-pitch flip at Citi Field.

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