MLB Bullets is having a final tune-up

I’ll have more on the “Save America’s Pastime Act” a few hours from now. I ask that you save your reactions on that until then. And maybe even longer than that.

• SB Nation has released their 2018 Baseball Preview. You might recognize some of the stuff about the Cubs.
• Jake Arrieta made his Phillies debut, allowing one home run to Miguel Cabrera and two runs total over two innings. But he was touching 95 mph on the radar gun, which we haven’t seen out of Jake in a while. I wish Jake all the luck in the world whenever he’s not pitching against the Cubs.
• Later in that game, four Phillies and one Tiger were ejected by home plate umpire Tom Hallion.
• I’ll go with the butcher’s bill early today. Giants starter Jeff Samardzija had an MRI on his ailing shoulder. No diagnosis has been announced, but Henry Schulman talks about the Giants options should Samardzija end up on the DL.
• Mets reliever Rafael Montero will have Tommy John surgery.
• Also, Mariners reliever David Phelps will undergo the TJ procedure. Both pitchers are out for the season, of course.
• Jeff Sullivan analyzes free agent starter Alex Cobb’s deal with the Orioles and where he fits in with the Baltimore team. Yes, I know anyone with a working arm would be an improvement on what the Orioles previously had in their rotation, but this is more Cobb-centric.
• With Cobb off the board, and getting more than we all thought he would (or what we thought he would at the start of the offseason), there remains one free agent who declined a qualifying offer who hasn’t signed. Jon Heyman wonders where reliever Greg Holland will sign and for how much?
• Former Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth is still looking for a team.
• Bill Baer believes that the way we talk about contracts influences the way we view both players and owners.
• And the Indians released Mike Napoli, who had signed a minor-league deal earlier in the offseason.
• Speaking of the Indians, the Hall of Fame announced that Jim Thome will enter Cooperstown with the “Block ‘C’” on his cap on his plaque and that no future plaque will ever portray Chief Wahoo. The plaque of Early Wynn, who is the only Hall of Famer to currently have the controversial mascot on his plaque, will remain unchanged.
• Zach Kram has a team of “Bartolo Colon All-Stars,” by which he means players who signed with a new team this winter who could have unexpectedly great seasons.
• New Nationals manager Dave Martinez wants his team to have fun this year, like Joe Maddon and Mike Scioscia before him. Thomas Boswell is on board, as long as it works.
• Martinez is also considering batting Bryce Harper leadoff. Harper said he wants to do it, at least in Spring Training.
• Ronald Blum talks to veteran managers about how much managing the game has changed over the past few years.
• Sam Miller and David Schoenfield have a discussion about just how great Angels outfielder Mike Trout is and how good can we expect him to be in 2018.
• The Royals are not going to send Alex Gordon to the minor leagues. Apparently that was a thing. Gordon has too much service time to be sent to the minors anyway.
• Despite his rough spring, Trout’s teammate Shohei Ohtani is not going to be sent to the minors as the Angels, and Trout, think he’s going to be terrific. (At least on the mound. There are doubts about the bat.) Trout said “He’s going to wow us.”
• But will either Trout or Ohtani be as good as Daniel Vogelbach? The Mariners first baseman has decided to change his approach at the plate this spring and its resulted in a huge increase in power so far. Maybe the Mariners can trade him for Trout now.
• So you can add Vogy to the “launch angle” revolution, at least for now. Tom Verducci explains how the new emphasis on “launch angle” and “exit velocity” has revolutionized the way the game is played.
• David Schoenfield writes that the Yankees are very good and are only going to get better.
• Anthony Castrovince lists the top ten bullpens for 2018.
• Tim Keown explains how Barry Bonds’ career was defined by his refusal to be anything other than the best, both for good and bad.
• Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera calls all his teammates “bro” because he doesn’t know any of their names. If you’re not going to bother to learn your teammates names, at least come up with something more clever than “bro.” Mickey Rivers used to call all of his teammates “gozzlehead” because he didn’t know their names. I don’t think Mick the Quick is using that anymore, Miggy, so you can use it.
• Bob Nightengale talks about the crucial role that Dodgers infielder Chase Utley plays on the team, both on- and off-the-field.
• If you plan on going to Dodger Stadium this summer, this article is critical. It’s an interactive guide to finding the most shade at Dodger Stadium. It’s also just kind of cool even if you aren’t planning on going to Chavez Ravine.
• People on this site got in trouble a few years ago for posting lots of semi-NSFW pictures of model Kate Upton. We put a stop to that, but the good news is here are some photos of Kate Upton that are allowed. They’re from her wedding to someone named Justin Verlander.
• James Wagner has a look at a Florida supermarket that serves authentic Dominican food and how several Mets players eat there every day during Spring Training. They also have specialties from Puerto Rico, Cuba and Venezuela.
• Then take this test and see if you can tell the real ballpark food from the fake stuff. I got 8 out of 10.
• And finally, this has to be seen to be believed. Indians infielder Rob Refsnyder hit a ball into the camera hole in the center field wall. He only got a ground-rule double for his efforts. But I want to know why we don’t have the camera angle of the ball coming at the camera?

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