MLB Bullets still hasn’t lost

Happy Friday morning. The last time the Indians lost, I was younger.

• In case you were already asleep, the Indians came within an out of losing, but they rallied for their 22nd-straight win.
• Although some have claimed that it’s the longest winning streak in baseball history, Jorge L. Ortiz checks with the Elias Sports Bureau and they explain that the Giants 26-game streak (with one tie) is the actual record.
• Grant Brisbee looks at that “tie game” and explains that why it’s more accurately considered “no game” and why the record books lists it as a tie.
• However, Brisbee doesn’t care that the Indians 22-straight is not an MLB record. He still thinks the streak is wonderful.
• Jeff Passan has 21 facts about the Indians winning streak.
• Anthony Castrovince looks at the greatest streaks in baseball history.
• Bradford Doolittle warns that the 22-game win streak means nothing if the Indians don’t win the World Series.
• About that. Matt Snyder points out that no team that has ever won 20 games or more in a row has ever won the World Series.
• Jonah Keri says that the winning streak of the Indians (and the Dodgers’ losing streak) mean exactly nothing once the playoffs start.
• Andrew Marchand believes that the Yankees have what it takes to beat the Indians in October.
• But the good news for the Indians is that despite winning 22-straight games, Neil Paine writes that the Indians are actually underperforming at the moment. They’re that good.
• And Zach Kram thinks that while we’ve all seen teams winning the World Series before, we’ve never seen a team exhibit the kind of dominance that the Indians have.
• One thing the Indians have had to deal with is that they haven’t been selling out Progressive Field during the streak. Gabe Lacques explains why the Indians haven’t been selling out and that people should stop “shaming” Indians fans.
• On the flip side though, Michael Baumann believes that the Dodgers recent losing streak is something more than just random bad luck. He credits divine intervention.
• Zach Kram also looks at Shohei Otani, and calls him a combination of Noah Syndergaard and Paul Goldschmidt. (Personally, I don’t think Otani will hit much in MLB. The Syndergaard comp as a pitcher likely won’t be far off though.)
• Jon Heyman says that if Otani comes over, some team is going to get a real bargain.
• Commissioner Rob Manfred thinks that Otani should wait until he can be a true free agent before coming to MLB. There are also reports that the posting system is being renegotiated.
• Jon Paul Morosi predicts the five most likely landing spots for Otani.
• Cliff Corcoran looks at the best seasons by two-way players in major league history. All but one came before World War II. The other one was in 1964.
• One of the great under-the-radar stories so far in the second half has been the incredible performance of Phillies rookie outfielder Rhys Hoskins. Meghan Montemurro compares Hoskins to Jason Giambi and Joey Votto.
• Marc Normandin doesn’t want to write about Hoskins because he’s afraid he’ll jinx him.
• Hoskins is so great even his teammates are asking for his autograph.
• A Phillies phan said he’d buy chicken nuggets for everyone if Hoskins hit another home run. Oops.
• Major League Baseball honored Hispanic Heritage Month by sending out a Tweet that said “There no right or wrong way to play.” Bill Baer thinks MLB is more talk than action.
• For example, Astros pitcher Mike Fiers felt “disrespected” by a Luis Valbuena bat flip. So he hit him with a pitch. Remember, they were teammates in Houston for two seasons.
• Fiers was suspended for five games.
• The Indians broadcasters insinuated that Tigers pitcher Buck Farmer hit umpire Quinn Wolcott on purpose. The Tigers strongly denied the charge. It seems like a normal cross-up to me.
• Rob Arthur writes that despite missing six weeks to injury, Mike Trout is still having an MVP-worthy season. That’s how good Trout is. He’s that much better than the best.
• Scott Lauber writes that the Red Sox plan on using David Price as a multi-inning reliever like Andrew Miller.
• Tom Verducci explains why young Red Sox stars Rafael Devers and Andrew Benintendi emphasize making contact at the plate and how they benefit from that.
• Jeff Passan reveals how the Twins turned Byron Buxton’s career around.
• Dave Cameron wonders if the Cardinals have discovered another terrific hitter in Jose Martinez.
• Jon Heyman reports that the Braves are still undecided about the fate of manager Brian Snitker.
• Heyman also picks destinations for the top 25 free agents this winter.
• Mike Axisa looks at the case for and against the Giants tearing down and doing a complete rebuild.
• Jerry Crasnick looks at what different teams do in September after they’ve already clinched a playoff spot.
• Tyler Kepner looks at a “school” where they teach young pitchers velocity in the ever-increasing arms race.
• And finally, former Star Trek: Deep Space Nine showrunner Ira Steven Behr discusses the baseball-themed episode “Take Me Out To The Holosuite.” “Death to the opposition!”

And tomorrow will be better than today, Buster.