MLB Bullets counts all the stitches

I’m still beat from the MLB Draft. How about we skip next year’s?

• I think this is easily the most important story of the day. Dr. Meredith Wills took apart some baseballs from 2014 and some from now and found that there was a change in the thickness of the laces. ($) Unfortunately, the story is behind a paywall in the Athletic, but you can read a quick summary of it here if you’re not a subscriber. Anyway, Dr. Wills argues that the change in the laces could explain why balls are carrying farther (and even MLB’s official group agreed the balls are carrying farther) but also why there are more blisters on pitching hands.
• If that is indeed the problem (and everyone agrees that Dr. Wills’ findings aren’t yet definitive but do require more research) Major League Baseball should be able to do something about because MLB is buying the Rawlings Sporting Goods company.
• Also, as Jeff Sullivan notes, the increase in home runs has stopped this season, at least temporarily.
• Cardinals Hall-of-Famer Red Schoendienst died at age 95. In many ways, Schoendienst was the Cardinals Ron Santo. He was a long-time manager and coach instead of a broadcaster after his playing career, but both players came to embody the spirit of their respective fanbases. In my opinion, at least. (Also, Schoendienst was also a member of the 1957 World Series champion Milwaukee Braves and when I was a kid, my mother gave me a bunch of her old memorabilia from that team. So Schoendienst’s picture and name, at least, meant a lot to me.)
• More bad news of a different sort for the Cards is that pitcher Alex Reyes is out for the year after lat surgery.
• Joe Posnanski has an interesting piece about how for a few weeks in 1969, Babe Ruth had hit 715 home runs. Honestly, I’m not sure of the right call here. I do know the indignant sportswriters who screamed about it were all idiots and guy from the commissioner’s office that got in changed back was a crook who stole baseball memorabilia loaned from the Hall of Fame and sold it. So my sympathies lie with those who argue that Ruth hit 715 home runs, even if I may not think it’s the right call.
• Giants ace Madison Bumgarner has returned from injury. David Schoenfield asks whether that makes the Giants contenders in the (so-far) mediocre NL West.
• Jay Jaffe also examines whether or not the (pretty average) Giants are playoff contenders. As Jaffe notes, it is an even year.
• Orioles closer Zach Britton, who has been waiting in the Rogers Centre bullpen since 2016 for manager Buck Showalter to call him, is nearing a return to the team. Seriously, Britton has been injured all season and is nearing his season debut.
• If Britton pitches well, he’s going to immediately be in demand on the trade market. Jon Heyman notes that the O’s asking price of Britton’s teammate Manny Machado just keeps going up.
• There was one trade as the Royals dealt former Cubs outfielder Jon Jay to the Diamondbacks. Craig Edwards breaks down the deal.
• Edwards also notes that for as much success as the Yankees are having this year, they’re going to have to make a deal for a starting pitcher if they want to be serious World Series contenders.
• Coley Harvey agrees that the Yankees need to make a deal and lists several starting pitchers who would interest them, including a pair of Mets. Seriously, there is no way that the Mets trade Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom to the Yankees. But there are some more realistic possibilities in that piece.
• Rob Schaefer takes a more measured approach to whom the Yankees might target in the starting pitching trade market.
• Bradford Doolittle classifies every team as buyers, sellers or holders heading into trade season.
• Michael Beller breaks down the swing of Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi.
• David Schoenfield looks at ten hyped young players who are running out of time to establish themselves as stars. There’s one Cubs player on his list.
• Buster Olney proposes a new rule that would limit a team to four pitchers over a nine-inning game.
• Jeff Passan takes apart all the baseball-related excuses that the Blue Jays are using to keep Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the minor leagues.
• Well, except one that happened after Passan published that story. Vlad Jr. went on the disabled list with a knee injury.
• Jeff Sullivan notes that the most-patient first-pitch hitter in MLB this season has been Pablo Sandoval. Wait, What? Are there two Pablo Sandovals?
• Rangers pitcher Bartolo Colon tied Juan Marichal’s record for the most wins by a Dominican pitcher.
• Aaron Laffey, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2015, retired immediately after giving up 14 runs in a Triple-A start. Yeah, that might be a clue that it’s time to hang it up.
• I’m trying to keep the draft stories to a minimum, but the Athletics have reportedly come to an agreement with first-round pick Kyler Murray. Murray gets $5 million and gets to play football for the Oklahoma Sooners his (redshirt) junior year. After this season, however, Murray’s football career is over, per the deal, and he’ll forego his senior season.
• Some other college football players aren’t happy that Murray can accept $5 million from the Athletics and they get suspended for earning far smaller amounts.
• Neil Paine breaks down the economic decision facing Murray of baseball or football. (It’s not really close.)
• The Mets drafted the son of Biff Tannen from the Back to the Future movies. OK, it’s the son of the actor from that series, but it’s more fun to think of it the first way.
• Pitcher PJ Conlon is one of those players stuck in waiver wire limbo, going back and forth because he’s good enough that teams want him but not good enough that they want to clear a spot of the 40-man roster for him. He summed up his fate in one hilariously-edited Tweet.
• Apparently when it comes to baseball, actress Jennifer Lopez is the baseball brains in the J-Lo/A-Rod relationship.
• The Rockies and Reds had a play with a series of fielding and running mishaps that is just dying for a Yakety-Sax soundtrack. Someone please add one.
• And finally, someone in the graphics department at ESPN screwed up and listed Giants pitcher Derek Holland as “Derek Lastname.” Now Holland feels so bad for the guy that he wants to cover up the mistake by wearing “Lastname” on the back of his jersey for Players’ Weekend. Or more likely, Holland just thinks it’s funny and wants to keep up the joke.

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