MLB Bullets comes with some controversy

It’s a good thing the Cubs have an off-day today since they are no doubt tired after having to play a whopping four days in a row.

• Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea threw the first no-hitter of 2018 and it was against the Red Sox, no less, who have scored one billion runs (approximately) in their first 18 games of the season. The no-hitter did not come without controversy, however, as one play that could have been ruled a hit was called an error and Andrew Benintendi was called out on replay review for leaving the basepaths.
• Here is more information/trivia about Manaea’s no-hitter.
• Manaea thought he was working on a one-hitter until the eighth inning, thinking that the error had been ruled a hit until then.
• Bradford Doolittle examines that replay call and thinks that Benintendi was correctly ruled out, but that Manaea’s feat on Saturday stands on its own.
• Matt Snyder points out that Manaea was having a breakout season even before the no-hitter.
• The Red Sox lost their last two games thanks to Manaea and the Athletics, but they did start the season 17-2. Dayn Perry looks at what happened to previous teams that started out that well. The 1984 Tigers are on that list, but it does look like the Red Sox are now going to have some difficulties matching that team’s 35-5 start, which is still pretty unbelievable to me even 34 years later.
• Padres pitcher Tyson Ross almost had the first no-hitter on the season on Friday night, coming within four outs before allowing a hit.
• White Sox reliever Danny Farquhar had a brain aneurysm while in the dugout during Friday night’s game. He’s had emergency surgery and is in the Intensive Care Unit at University Medical Center in Chicago. He is in critical but stable condition. Bob Nightengale writes about the situation and spoke to many of Farquhar’s friends in the game about the situation. At this point, no one really cares if he ever pitches again, they’re just hoping he recovers and has a normal, productive life.
• Angels pitcher Jaime Barria and Giants first baseman Brandon Belt combined to set a record with a 21-pitch at bat. At least as long as we’ve been keeping track of such things. Belt lined out to right field. Eventually.
• If you’re thinking that the number of rainouts we’ve had this season is also a record, you’d be right as the Braves/Mets rainout yesterday set an MLB record for most weather-related postponements in April with 26 and it’s still just April 23. (It should be noted that they’ve only kept track of such things since 1986.) I had originally written “rainouts” but then I remember that some of those were “snowouts” and “coldouts.”
• Commissioner Rob Manfred has responded to Anthony Rizzo’s statement that MLB plays too many games by saying that Rizzo is right that any reduction in the number of games played would require a reduction in salary for players.
• Coming up on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO on Tuesday is an interview with Marlins president Derek Jeter that did not go very well. Jeter called Gumbel “mentally weak” and said that if it is delusional to think that the 2018 Marlins can contend, then you should call him delusional. You’re delusional, Derek.
• Here’s a preview of that interview:

• I know that some of you are tired of me beating this drum, but tough. Write your own piece about how you think more money should go to billionaires rather than kids from the Dominican Republic who grew up drinking out of rain puddles. Michael Baumann calls the compensation system for minor league ballplayers to be a “disgrace” and notes that the only reason MLB doesn’t pay minor leaguers a living wage is that they don’t have to and they don’t want to. Baumann compares the salaries of minor league baseball players to those in minor league hockey and basketball and notes that those sports are able to pay their players a reasonable salary.
• Buster Olney writes that more and more pitchers seem to be using pine tar and MLB continues to look the other way.
• Dave Sheinin notes that home runs are down this April and that MLB had better hope that it’s just an aberration because walks and strikeouts are not down.
• Ben Lindbergh writes that pitchers are throwing fewer and fewer strikes and few pitchers are truly challenging hitters these days.
• David Schoenfield grades each member of the Mets starting rotation.
• Except Matt Harvey isn’t in the starting rotation anymore because he’s been moved to the bullpen after a poor start to the season. Joseph Nocco writes that Harvey’s stubbornness and inability to adapt is damaging his career.
• On the other side, Michael Beller writes that Noah Syndergaard has made a few changes that has transformed him from a pretty good pitcher to one of the best in the game.
• Dayn Perry thinks the Atlanta Braves can be a playoff contender in 2018. Are we talking about the same Atlanta Braves? (Just kidding. The Braves aren’t that bad and if they get lucky, then sure, which is Perry’s point.)
• Josh Norris looks at how Yankees general manager Brian Cashman rebuilt the Yankees without tearing down the team first. Cashman was, in fact, forbidden by ownership to engage in a traditional teardown and rebuild.
• The Cubs helped in that department, and infielder Gleyber Torres made his major-league debut yesterday, going 0 for 4. Despite that, Dan Martin writes that Torres is the talk of the town. Or at least the talk of the part of the Bronx that Yankee Stadium is in.
• Mike Lupica tells Yankees fans not to worry about outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and his poor start to the season.
• The Orioles are off to a poor start to the season and Dayn Perry thinks that can only mean one thing: shortstop Manny Machado will be traded before the deadline.
• Jerry Crasnick writes about the Indians poor offense so far this season but that the team is not worried yet.
• Things might go better for the Indians offense if the only pitcher they faced is former Indians reliever and current Rockies pitcher Bryan Shaw. So Matt Schlichting simulated an entire season where the only pitcher the Indians faced was Shaw. Actually, just half a season until Shaw blew his elbow out.
• Jay Jaffe writes that things have gotten so bad in Cincinnati that even Joey Votto is slumping and he tries to figure out what’s going wrong with Votto.
• Grant Brisbee thinks we don’t appreciate Twins reliever Fernando Rodney enough.
• Fellow Twin Brian Dozier has a 23-game hitting streak.
• On Friday, I reported about a kidnapping involving the nephew of Alex Rodriguez, but A-Rod’s people say the victim is not directly related to Rodriguez. He apparently is Alex’s brother’s stepson. So “step-nephew”?
• Is this heaven? Heck no, it’s Iowa. Tommy Birch writes about how the four minor league baseball teams in Iowa teamed up to help repair the “Field of Dreams” that was recently damaged by vandals.
• Rays outfielder Carlos Gomez was so upset after striking out on Sunday that he broke a bat over his knee, but he came back to hit a walkoff home run.
• Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper did both, hitting a home run while breaking his bat on the swing. David Kagan breaks down the play and explains the physics behind how Harper can hit a home run on a broken bat.
• And finally, it was the MLB FoodFest over the weekend and here are some of the ballpark treats that stood out. Grasshoppers!

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