MLB Bullets And The Home Of The Braves

Good morning Monday. I’m still disturbed over last night’s Twin Peaks revival.

• With MLB at the quarter-mark, Jay Jaffe takes stock of the season so far and how the Cubs are struggling more than a defending champion should.
• Will Leitch lists the three most disappointing teams so far this year, and the Cubs didn’t even make the list.
• The Mets are one of the teams that did make that list, but Paul Lebowitz doesn’t see the point in firing manager Terry Collins. Collins is now the longest-tenured manager in Mets history, by the way.
• Mets third baseman David Wright has had a setback in his recovery efforts. I don’t even have to cut and past that one anymore. I’ve got it on a macro. I know this isn’t saying much, but Wright has got to be my all-time favorite Met, so I’m not celebrating this at all.
• Grant Brisbee has the “5 stages of a surprise contender” with a pattern that teams like the Rockies are likely to fall into.
• Nick Stephens looks at how Charlie Blackmon has contributed the the Rockies success this season.
• Mike Piellucci notes that the Cardinals are having yet another “overachieving” season and that they’re likely going to be obnoxious about it.
• Cliff Corcoran has eight top minor league prospects who could be major leaguers any day now.
• Adam Jones is one of my absolute favorite non-Cubs ballplayers. Here Jones takes to the Players’ Tribune to talk about the incident at Fenway Park and how he is going to have to explain this to his children one day. He also has an invitation for those people (cough Curt Schilling cough) who think he made the whole thing up. Pass the ketchup.
• MLB vice-president Billy Bean thinks that Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar can use the unfortunate incident of him using a homophobic slur to better himself and become a role model.
• Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon, who recently underwent surgery for testicular cancer, said he was overwhelmed by the giant “Get Well Soon” card sent to him by Pirates fans.
• Hall-of-Fame manager Tommy Lasorda is in the hospital. The Dodgers are not releasing any more information than that.
• The Braves made a move to fill in the gap left by the injury to first baseman Freddie Freeman by acquiring Matt Adams from the Cardinals for minor league infielder Juan Yepez. I’m guessing this means no more fun watching Adams try to play left field.
• The White Sox have reportedly signed Cuban free agent Luis Robert. I guess if you’re Cuban, you want to be a teammate of Jose Abreu. Plus, the White Sox probably offered the most money.
• The Red Sox are reportedly scouting White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier in preparation for a possible trade offer.
• Craig Edwards looks at which contending teams might need Yu Darvish the most this summer. (Insider Only) Yes, the Cubs are on the list. So are the Rangers, actually.
• Buster Olney looks at how Darvish has changed his pitch mix to regain peak form so far this year.
• David Schoenfield wonders if Rangers third baseman Joey Gallo can keep up this “three-true-outcomes” pace he’s on this year.
• David Schoenfield also examines some trade possibilities for the Nationals to bolster their bullpen.
• Yankees manager Joe Girardi got tossed from a game and then did the old “cover the plate with dirt” trick.
• The Marlins and Dodgers got in a bench-clearing “brawl” on Saturday night. I’m old enough to remember when baseball fights actually involved throwing punches and not just looking at each other angrily. It is progress, but it does seem silly to still call them “brawls.”
• Buster Olney adds his voice to those who say the practice of intentionally throwing at other players has to end.
• Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is frustrated with all the losing the Marlins do.
• The best player on the Giants, Buster Posey, had a loud argument with their second-best position player, Brandon Belt. Neither one is talking about it, however. That’s kind of a Giants tradition, isn’t it? Although back 15 years ago, it was their second-best player yelling at their best player instead of the other way around.
• Tracy Ringolsby talks to Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow about his broadcasting career and the illness that has caused him to cut back his schedule. I know Krukow misses coming to Chicago and we miss having him back in town.
• Zach Kram knows that Padres pitcher Jered Weaver is having a bad season (and maybe a bad end to his career) and just wants us all to step back and remember what a terrific career Weaver has had. One-hundred and fifty career wins.
• Former Cardinals player Rick Ankiel remembers the five wild pitches that pretty much ended his career as a pitcher.
• Travis Sawchik looks at Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy as an evangelist for swinging for fly balls.
• Meghan Montermurro profiles Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph and his army nurse wife.
• David Ortiz believes that someone connected to the Yankees leaked the 2003 drug tests that named him and Manny Ramirez (among others) as having failed the test.
• Pirates third base coach Joey Cora keeps forgetting to wear his batting helmet out on the field so some of the Pirates players taped it on his head.
• And finally, Cleveland’s Yan Gomes hit one so high at Minute Maid Park that everyone lost track of the ball. It actually hit off the roof and landed in fair territory. Gomes had to settle for a single.

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