MLB Bullets has had enough of you punks

Really, nothing we do here is worth resorting to a vulgar insult behind an anonymous mask. If you’re doing that, you have a problem and please seek help.

This is Cubs news that happened fairly late last night and I suppose someone will write a full story on it later, but for now . . .

Congratulations to Emily and Anthony!

• This season has gotten so weird that the number one story that everyone is talking about is Mr. Met giving the Bronx salute in Queens. The video is in there if you want to see it. Can things get worse for the Mets this year?
• Some are claiming that it may have been triggered because someone insulted Mr. Met’s mom. What? Did they say she was a beach ball?
• The man wearing the costume was not fired, although he’s been “reassigned” and will not wear the Mr. Met costume again.
• Mr. Met returned to Citi Field for last night’s game and the fans seemed to forgive him. (Yes, it was a different person wearing the costume.) The general consensus is that “it was a New York thing.” (Actual quote.)
• AJ Mass used to be Mr. Met in the 1990s and he explains it’s a difficult job and even though you want to, you can never act out.
• As many have pointed out in Mr. Met’s defense, how can he give you the middle finger when he only has four fingers?
• James Dator explains that all the warning signs were there that Mr. Met was about to snap, but we ignored them.
• Yes, things could get worse for the Mets! Here Wilmer Flores couldn’t catch a foul pop because a bat boy couldn’t get out of the way in time.
• I do have a solution for the Mr. Met problem. This new mascot from NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines is a fish and doesn’t have any hands or fingers to show the fans. Also, it’s pretty horrifying. It’s one of those Japanese things that scare the bejeezus out of everyone else.
• Something else that horrifies pretty much everyone in this country is White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson. But not for much longer as Harrelson announced that 2018 will be his final season behind the mic. You can put it on the board . . .YES!
• Will Leitch looks at whether you should buy, sell or hold each major league team’s playoff chances after a third of the season.
• Jeff Sullivan notes that famous Sports Illustrated article might just have been right as the Astros look unstoppable at the moment.
• David Schoenfield looks at one thing that each team currently in first place should be worried about.
• One of those concerns is Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. Andrew Marchand reports that the Yankees simply don’t know why he’s so terrible at the moment.
• Cliff Corcoran lists the biggest needs of six surprise MLB contenders this year.
• Neil Paine looks at the Diamondbacks and concludes that the Snakes quick start to the season was not an illusion, although he notes it is less clear that the team has staying power.
• Will Leitch wants to know what is wrong with the NL Central? Me too.
• Jay Jaffe has ten teams that need to make up their mind quickly if they are buyers or sellers.
• Ken Rosenthal notes that we shouldn’t be so quick to judge trades, as several deals that the Reds have made in recent years that were initially panned have turned out pretty well for Cincinnati. But then what would we write about at deadline, Ken?
• Jon Heyman has 14 managers who are on “the warm seat.” He states no one is on the “hot seat” at the moment.
• Stephania Bell has a nice explanation of the surgery that Mike Trout underwent for his torn thumb ligament and what his rehab process will look like. She’s optimistic that Trout will be back in the low end of the 6-to-8 weeks diagnosis. He might even be back in slightly less than six weeks.
• But with Trout out, Jerry Crasnick makes the case that Charlie Blackmon is currently the best center fielder in baseball.
• Ben Lindbergh looks at the amazing feat that Blackmon is currently leading the National League in RBI despite batting leadoff for the Rockies.
• Eno Sarris talks to Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon about the adjustments he’s made at the plate that have paid off this season.
• Bob Nightengale explains how Athletics first baseman Yonder Alonso had to get over his stubbornness to make the changes to his swing that he needed to become a star slugger.
• Michael Baumann examines the different routes that Orioles Manny Machado and Dylan Bundy took to becoming MLB stars.
• Mark Simon and Scott Randall note that Indians starter Corey Kluber may be experiencing the after-effects of a heavy postseason workload, and he wouldn’t be the first.
• Sam Dyson was the Rangers Opening Day closer. The Rangers intend to designate him for assignment today.
• Kate Morrison thinks that Rangers third baseman Joey Gallo will be a productive major leaguer, but that we need to lower the sky-high expectations we had for him when he was in the minors.
• The Phillies have not scored first in a game since May 20.
• Maikel Franco and Odubel Herrera are struggling for the Phightin’ Phils, but GM Matt Klentak says he has no plans to send them to the minor leagues.
• Scott Lauber notes that even though the Red Sox are struggling to find a third baseman, they aren’t prepared to let Pablo Sandoval play there on a regular basis.
• Sam Gardner has 15 things that have never happened at a major league ballgame.
• Here is some terrific news from Tim Brown: Hall-of-Famer Rod Carew is doing very well with his new heart.
• The Twins turned a 5-4-3 triple play last night. Or should I say, the Triplets turned a triple play? Third baseman Miguel Sano even predicted it.
• Eli-Ben Porat tried to figure out what kind of a baseball player LeBron James would have been had he dedicated himself to baseball instead of basketball.
• This sounds like something great for our European readers. MLB will hold a home run derby with retired sluggers at Hyde Park in London on July 4. It sounds like they’re going to get some soccer and cricket players to compete too. They will also have an event on June 30 and July 1 in London that sounds a lot like the ones they have at the All-Star game for fans. Except free. Obviously this is to promote the sport in Britain ahead of some regular season games to be played there sometime in the future.
• It’s always worth a laugh when the sprinklers go off in the middle of a game and that’s what happened in Cleveland yesterday.
• It’s been a rough season for the Braves and they had a rough inning against the Angels on Tuesday night. But everything seems like more fun when they load up all those low-lights on a video with “Yakety Sax” playing over it. Matt Adams is the new Benny Hill.
• And finally, since I always work a soccer story in if I can, the Phillie Phanatic helped Philadelphia Union midfielder Fafa Picault get ready for their match with NYCFC.

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