MLB Bullets is going to be alright

Good morning. Can we stop the talk about sending Shohei Ohtani down to the minor leagues now?

• Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani made his first MLB start and got his first MLB win, allowing three runs on three hits over six innings. Overall, it was an impressive debut.
• David Schoenfield writes that while Ohtani wasn’t perfect, he certainly lived up to the hype, at least on the mound.
• R.J. Anderson agrees: Although it was just one start, it was an impressive one.
• If you missed Ohtani’s start, here are some examples of his 99-mph fastball and wicked slider.
• The Phillies got off to a poor start to the season and new manager Gabe Kapler is taking much of the blame. On Saturday, Kapler called for a reliever to enter the game who hadn’t even warmed up. This caused a big commotion, an admonition from umpire Jerry Layne and Braves manager Brian Snitker tossed out when the reliever was allowed by the umpire to warm up. This is a big reason why I’m against these new hires of major league managers who have never managed before, even in the minors, although Kapler did manage one season in the minors. However, it was over a decade ago and was before he “un-retired” and started playing again.
• Craig Calcaterra notes that Kapler’s whole approach to bullpen management has been a “trainwreck.”
• Chris Thompson has more details on the “chaos” approach that Kapler seems to be taking with his pitching staff.
• Twins starter Kyle Gibson was pulled after six innings despite not allowing a hit on Saturday. Gibson had thrown 102 pitches, however, and the bullpen lost the no-no in the eighth inning.
• Later in that game, the Orioles Chance Sisco bunted for a base hit. The Twins said that they were upset that Sisco tried to break up a one-hitter with a bunt. Really? Did someone just rewrite the unwritten rules to say you’re not allowed to bunt to break up a one-hitter now?
• One day later Pirates manager Clint Hurdle pulled starter Trevor Williams after six no-hit innings and the bullpen blew the no-hitter in the seventh. Williams had only thrown 85 pitches, but he had walked five batters in those six innings, so it wasn’t like he had thrown six dominating innings.
• The other big news yesterday was that it was a Sunday, the season had already started and six teams had a scheduled off-day.
• The Dodgers had a dull off-season and Bradford Doolittle says that’s OK because they’re the Dodgers.
• Scott Lauber writes about the pressure that the Red Sox players deal with everyday playing for the Red Sox.
• On Friday I had the SI.com asking scouts for scouting reports on every American League team. Now here’s the same story with scouting reports on every National League team.
• Mike Axisa writes about how Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka has become the “anti-fastball pitcher.”
• Red Sox pitcher David Price had a miserable 2017 season that he hopes to never repeat. He blames much of his poor mood and behavior on his worrying over an injury he suffered in Spring Training.
• Rangers outfielder Delino DeShields will miss the next six weeks with a broken bone in his left hand.
• And Mariners DH Nelson Cruz sprained his ankle when he slipped on the dugout steps. He’s going for an MRI.
• The Diamondbacks have put outfielder Yasmany Tomas on outright waivers. He’s undoubtedly clear waivers and report to Triple-A, but he’s been a $68.5 million bust.
• The Royals signed Kyle Lohse to a minor-league deal. Lohse hasn’t pitched since 2016.
• The Cardinals traded reliever Josh Lucas to the Athletics for a minor league pitcher.
• Ichiro Suzuki may be 44-years-old, but he can still get up over the fence and steal a home run.
• Ichiro’s Mariners teammate Dee Gordon hit his first home run for the team and did a Ken Griffey Jr. tribute as he admired the blast.
• Joseph Nocco notes that the Mets supposed problem of having too many outfielders has turned into a strength of outfield depth.
• Jonah Keri, who is the unofficial scribe of all things Expos, has an appreciation of the late Rusty Staub, both on- and off-the-field.
• Buster Olney writes about what union chief Tony Clark needs to do to turn around the downward trend in salaries. Also, he has some observations about the schedule in 2018.
• Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre met Fort Worth Zoo giraffe “Adrian Beltre” for the first time.
• Ten years ago, then-Phillies second baseman Chase Utley met Devin Smeltzer, a nine-year old who loved baseball and was battling cancer. They met again this spring, but this time Utley was with the Dodgers and Smeltzer is a minor leaguer in the Dodgers system.
• A Reds fan decided to yell “overrated!” at Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper just before he hit a monster shot to center field for his second home run of the game. Maybe next time Thom Brennaman will keep his mouth shut. (That’s a joke, folks, before someone thinks the heckler really was Brennaman. But I guess it could have been.)
• And finally, Baseball-Reference announced that they were joining the trend and making a “pivot to video. In this example, you have all the stats you need about Mike Trout by watching this convenient four minute, twenty-second video. Thankfully, it was an April Fools joke.

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