MLB Bullets is getting ready for a clearance sale

I used to be much more interesting, but now I just go right into MLB Bullets every morning.

• The Orioles are 6-19 to start the season and are already 13½ games behind the Red Sox in the AL East. Eddie Matz writes that the Orioles need to accept that their mini-renaissance in recent years is over and that a sell-off needs to begin.
• Craig Edwards writes that the Orioles trading shortstop Manny Machado before the trade deadline is now inevitable.
• Another reason for an Orioles sell-off: third baseman Tim Beckham will miss six or seven weeks after core muscle surgery.
• Dayn Perry writes that Machado, not Harper, may be the most-valuable free agent on the market this winter.
• But the best player in baseball is still Angels outfielder Mike Trout, and Ben Lindbergh tells us how Trout has gotten even better this year.
• Too many of us take Trout’s greatness for granted and he doesn’t even get as much attention as his freakishly-talented teammate Shohei Ohtani. Michael Baumann writes about the mystery that is Shohei Ohtani and how he managed to be both a great hitter and a great pitcher at the same time. Baumann also goes into a few other mysteries surrounding Ohtani (like his back story). but he never answers why Ohtani’s catcher, Martin Maldonado, calls him “Jorge.” Seems to be a rookie hazing thing.
• Meanwhile, the Angels became the first team to use up all six of their mound visits. They did not try to go out for a seventh, so we still have no idea what happens when someone does. Personally, I hope the umpire opens up a trap door underneath the catcher and they land in a bounce pit on their way to the mound.
• The Pirates got a boost as suspended infielder Jung-Ho Kang was granted a visa to enter the country and he will report to Extended Spring Training immediately.
• Jerry Crasnick talks about the leadership role Jake Arrieta has taken with the Phillies and how the team has turned their slow start around quickly. Suddenly, no one is calling for manager Gabe Kapler to be fired anymore.
• Richard Justice has six reasons why you should believe the Braves will be contenders all season long. Yeah, if you squint, you can see a lot of the 2015 Cubs in the 2018 Braves, but I don’t think their pitching staff is quite up to snuff.
• Tim Brown notes that while the Marlins may be terrible, at least they are playing hard and that maybe one day that effort will pay off.
• Bruce Schoenfeld has a profile of Mets manager Mickey Callaway and notes that in an era when everyone has access to advanced data, it’s the ability to communicate with the players that’s important. Callaway believes in advanced stats, as do pretty much every manager today. But he also has a way of getting the players on board with what the data says, writes Schoenfeld.
• Jerry Crasnick has a profile of outspoken Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer and praises Bauer for speaking his mind.
• Tom Ley responds to that article and isn’t very impressed with Bauer’s mind.
• Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman hardly played in Spring Training, even though everyone said he wasn’t injured. Now we know why: He thinks Spring Training is a waste of time and leaves him tired (or injured) late in the season. Who knows if he’s right, but I give the Nats some credit for letting Zimmerman do Spring Training his way.
• Joe Posnanski lists the worst no-hitters of all time.
• Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi still doesn’t think he should have been called out for leaving the basepath in the Sean Manaea no-hitter.
• No, Didi Gregorius is not the next Babe Ruth, contrary to what Bob Nightengale wrote. But Gregorius is having a pretty incredible start to the season.
• The feel-good story of the week belongs to Rays reliever Jonny Venters. After missing five seasons and having either three or four Tommy John surgeries (he’s lost count, apparently), Venters is back in the majors for the first time since 2012.
• Brewers first baseman Eric Thames will miss “significant” time with a torn thumb ligament.
• The City of Boston has changed the name of Yawkey Way outside of Fenway back to Jersey Street.
• Commissioner Rob Manfred said that Rogers Centre in Toronto is in need of an update. After which, the Blue Jays will shut it down, count to thirty and then restart it.
• A proposed aerial tram would take fans from Union Station near downtown Los Angeles to Dodger Stadium. That’s a great idea for the locals, but tourists are still going to want to get that “stuck in traffic for 2 ¹⁄₂ hours before the game” Dodger Stadium experience.
• The Dodgers traded reliever Wilmer Font to the Athletics.
• An ESPN.com roundtable on what we’ve learned so far in April in MLB.
• David Schoenfield looks back at the “wild” 1998 season and compares it to 2018 so far.
• Now it’s that part of the program where we discuss other sports, and I don’t even have any soccer news. Chris Landers writes about Hayden Hurst, who went from washing out of the Pirates minor league system to being a first-round pick in the NFL draft last night.
• Eric Longenhagen looks at the choice facing Oklahoma center fielder/quarterback Kyler Murray between baseball and football. Murray is expected to be the Sooners starting quarterback this fall, unless he quits football for baseball. If he indicates that he is willing to do that, he’s likely to go late in the first round of the MLB draft this summer.
• To the NBA. Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr remembers the time he pitched at Dodger Stadium against Bret Saberhagen. It was the L.A. high school city championship. Kerr hadn’t allowed a run through 4⅔ innings when an error opened the gates to 8 unearned runs in the fifth inning, including a double by Saberhagen. Saberhagen also threw a no-hitter against Kerr’s team.
• If this is a new tradition, consider me on board. An eight-year-old Phillies fan in the left field bleachers helped warm up Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl before the game. His dad wasn’t paying attention until someone told him “Your son is playing catch with Chad Kuhl.”
• A fan caught a foul ball in a glove full of popcorn.
• And finally, see how many of these “out-of-context” baseball quotes you can properly attribute. I got 7 out of 9, but they’re not easy.

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