MLB Bullets stole Jobu’s rum

I want to start a campaign to have Ichiro Suzuki wear “The Hit King” on his jersey during Players’ Weekend.

I just hope baseball can bring people together.

• Ben Lindbergh writes that there is finally evidence that the ball is “livelier” since mid-season in 2015. There’s a lot of physics in this article, but it seems like the ball does indeed travel farther over the past two calendar years.
• There has been a lot of talk about a resurgence of “two-way” players who both pitch and hit on a regular basis, but Sam Miller explains why the risks are not worth the rewards.
• Who on the Mets stole Jobu’s rum? The team announced that pitcher Matt Harvey and second baseman Neil Walker will both be out for “several weeks” with injuries.
• Jay Jaffe looks at the dire situation in Queens.
• Before the injury, Christopher Crawford asked a scout if they’d rather have Harvey or Braves pitcher Julio Teheran.
• Noah Syndergaard talks about his strategy to strike batters out.
• Eno Sarris speaks with Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray about his strategies and finds out that Gray doesn’t really have one. Or more specifically, he has a different one every day and with every batter.
• The Red Sox traded for reliever Tyler Thornburg over the offseason, but he has yet to throw a pitch for them. It’s going to be a lot longer before he does because Thornburg is now out for the season.
• Yankees starter CC Sabathia went on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.
• Orioles first baseman Chris Davis went on the disabled list with a strained oblique.
• The Orioles say the problems with their starting pitching are fixable, but Bradford Doolittle notes that their time to fix it is running out.
• Everyone keeps writing articles about the new “face of baseball.” Well, Tim Keown tells us that Manny Machado is what baseball looks like today.
• Dodgers minor leaguer Jair Jurrjens was suspended 80 games for testing positive for a PED.
• The Hall of Fame affirmed that they’re not letting Pete Rose in.
• Since we just finished the draft, Jerry Crasnick talks to Phillies pitcher Mark Appel and reminds us that being the first pick in the draft comes with no guarantees.
• Jack Dickey remembers Ryan Jaroncyk, the 1995 first-round pick who just quit.
• Here are some players with fun names who just got drafted, along with some relatives of players you might know.
• If you were confused at draft time, Joe Lemire has a glossary of baseball terms that scouts use. For example “Chick-fil-A” is scout-speak for “lunch.”
• After the draft, next up on the baseball calendar is the trade deadline. (Actually, next up is the All-Star Game, but since it doesn’t “count” anymore I don’t think anyone cares anymore.) Ken Rosenthal notes that the trade market is murky at the moment.
• Anthony Castrovince looks at ten contenders and their biggest needs on the trade market.
• Jon Heyman gives a rundown of the teams expected to be “buyers” at the trade deadline.
• Heyman also reports that a third “mystery group” has entered the bidding for the Marlins. Heyman doesn’t identify who is in the “mystery group,” but I can tell you that their plan for making money while owning the Marlins involves paying the players in something called “Scooby Snacks.”
• Heyman also notes that the Marlins won’t deal Giancarlo Stanton until the team is sold and that it will be the new owner’s call on whether to make such a deal. Heyman’s been busy.
• Will Leitch retraces the long career of Edwin Jackson and his 13 major league teams. Jackson may have stunk for the Cubs, but he always seemed like a stand-up person. I wish him the best.
• There’s no doubt about one thing: Ichiro Suzuki is now the all-time interleague Hit King. Ichiro now has 365 more interleague hits than Pete Rose, and one more than Derek Jeter.
• Will Leitch has a list of the best players in baseball who have never been to an All-Star Game.
• Jeremy Dorn imagines a Dodgers lineup with Bryce Harper in it.
• Jorge L. Ortiz notes that the Dodgers are running out of patience with Yasiel Puig.
• I’ve never made any secret that Andrelton Simmons is one of my favorite non-Cubs ballplayers. Jeff Sullivan argues that now that Simmons is hitting again, we need to start including him in the lists of great young shortstops again. Sure, Simmons isn’t a great hitter, but he just needs to be a decent one with his glove, and that’s what he is this year.
• Most people predicted doom for the Angels when Mike Trout got injured. That hasn’t happened because somehow Eric Young Jr. has managed to be “a poor man’s Trout,” writes Mark Simon. And a “poor man’s Trout” is probably an All-Star-caliber player.
• Dave Cameron writes that it’s time for the Red Sox to release Pablo Sandoval.
• David Laurila speaks with Phillies hitting coach Matt Stairs about his approach to teaching hitting.
• The Athletics fired longtime pitching coach Curt Young.
• Mike Oz continues his series by opening 25-year-old baseball cards with Athletics manager Bob Melvin.
• Neil Paine asks who was better? The 2017 Golden State Warriors or the 1939 New York Yankees?
• Adam Wainwright gets his Cardinals teammates to do a little carpool karaoke.
• And finally, the Giants already have a “Shark” in Jeff Samardzija. But they got another shark in McCovey Cove on Tuesday. I guess they don’t hang around San Jose anymore now that hockey season is over.

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