I am not going anywhere, despite reports from Ken Rosenthal that this is my last season doing MLB Bullets.
- The big story over the weekend is that Ken Rosenthal reported in The Athletic (meaning subscription req.) that Angels manager Mike Scioscia will step down at the end of this season. Scioscia has been the manager of the Angels since 2000 when he took over for interim manager (any guesses?) Joe Maddon.
- However, Scioscia immediately called the report “poppycock,” a word choice which should clinch his election to Cooperstown.
- Tim Brown thinks that Scioscia is going to leave Anaheim, but that he’ll insist on going out on his own terms, like he’s done with pretty much everything else in his 19-year tenure as Angels manager. Which probably means announce he’s leaving when he decides to announce it and not when Ken Rosenthal reports it.
- Giving credence to the Rosenthal report is that Angels bench coach Eric Chavez and Salt Lake Bees manager Keith Johnson switched jobs over the weekend. It’s rare for a minor league manager to be replaced mid-season. Chavez has been long-rumored as a potential successor to Scioscia, but the one hole in the former third baseman’s resumé is that he’s never managed at any level before. This move fills that hole.
- The Mets reportedly won’t be looking for a new manager this winter as first-year manager Mickey Callaway is expected to return to Queens in 2019.
- Things have been so bad at Citi Field this summer that a New York health care provider is offering a free therapy session to any suffering Mets fan who requests one. To be serious for a moment, this is actually a genius promotion to get people who might be afraid to ask for help under normal circumstances but might do it if they could play it off as a Mets joke. Men especially are reluctant to seek help and if this can put a foot in the door to getting people who could benefit from therapy to accept it, then it’s a great idea.
- The Astros activated suspended reliever Roberto Osuna and had him address his teammates in a closed-door meeting, following his arrest on domestic violence charges while he was still with the Blue Jays.
- Josh Peter writes that the Astros have forfeited all integrity by welcoming Osuna to the team.
- The Red Sox scored three in the bottom of the ninth last night and one in the tenth inning to finish off a four-game sweep of the Yankees. David Schoenfield thinks that the 2018 Red Sox might be the best team in franchise history and they will be whether or not they win the final game of the year.
- Craig Edwards notes that while the Yankees and their fans might not think it’s fair that the second-best (or at worst third-best) team in the majors will have to play in a one-game Wild Card match, the alternatives are a lot worse for baseball.
- Bradford Doolittle looks at the new overloaded Brewers infield and wonders whether traditional positional definitions are on the way out. As Doolittle writes, fielders may no longer play a position anymore, only a spray chart.
- Buster Olney believes that position players pitching has gotten out of hand and that MLB should add a 26th player to prevent that. Oh, that’s what we need in MLB. Every team having another reliever.
- What is the biggest mismatch in baseball? Mets hurler Jacob deGrom against any other pitcher. Opposing pitchers are 0-for-33 with 22 strikeouts against deGrom this year. They’ve managed one successful sacrifice bunt against deGrom this year. One other pitcher reached on an error.
- The Cardinals claimed Padres starter Tyson Ross off of waivers and the Padres said “He’s yours.”
- The same thing happened to Padres reliever Jordan Lyles, who was claimed by the Brewers.
- The Athletics acquired reliever Shawn Kelley from the Nationals. Kelley, if you remember, had been designated for assignment for throwing his glove.
- The fill that hole in their bullpen, the Nationals signed reliever Greg Holland. Holland, if you remember, had been designated for assignment for being godawful terrible.
- Newest Twins pitcher Oliver Drake became the first to play for five different major league teams in one season.
- Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler has a broken foot that does not require surgery. Fowler will miss most or all of the rest of the season.
- But the rotator cuff of Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb does require surgery, so he’s out for the rest of the season.
- Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval is out for the rest of the year with a torn hamstring and will undergo surgery.
- The comeback of Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang has ended for this year, at least, as Kang is out for the year after wrist surgery. Kang is still under contract for next season, but he hasn’t played in the majors since 2016.
- Reds top prospect Hunter Greene is out for the year with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament. Tommy John surgery is not recommended for now, at least.
- An update on the health of Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge: He’s still a ways away from returning from a chipped wrist.
- Mariners general manager Jerry DiPoto says he’s annoyed by all the Blue Jays fans that invade Safeco Field. Whitney McIntosh has that and 16 other things that bother DiPoto.
- Felix Hernandez is the greatest pitcher in Mariners history. (Yes, better than Randy Johnson over the course of their respective Seattle careers. Also better than Floyd Bannister.) But now with the M’s fighting for a playoff spot, Hernandez is fighting to stay in the Mariners rotation.
- Jayson Werth has admitted that he has spoken to his former teammate Bryce Harper about what it’s like to play in Philadelphia.
- A’s rookie Ramon Laureano had a first major-league game that he’ll never forget: Laureano’s first major-league hit was a walk-off RBI single in the 13th inning of a 1-0 win. (Like they ever forget their first MLB game, but you know what I mean.)
- Red Sox reliever Joe Kelly found Hall-of-Fame manager Tony LaRussa’s World Series ring inside his glove.
- Jay Jaffe looks at the Cooperstown case for catcher Thurman Munson.
- Orioles outfielder Adam Jones found out about an underprivileged and mostly-African American Little League team from Washington, DC that was struggling to pay the expenses to go to the regionals in Connecticut. So Jones made an $8,500 donation.
- It was dress-up day for a few teams traveling on Sunday. See what teams came up with other than “Dress like Pedro Strop” day. But also, see what everyone wore for “Dress like Pedro Strop” day.
- Steven Lee Myers has a look at what baseball is all about in Taiwan. The sport is having a renaissance there lately and, of course, their national team’s cheerleaders were one of the hits of the last World Baseball Classic.
- And finally, Mike Moustakas has only been a Brewer for a few days, but he’s already gotten a big hit for one fan. A girl in a local Target recognized him and asked him to sign her little brother’s Brewers shirt. Only problem? They didn’t have a pen. So Moustakas ripped open a Sharpie package and said “Don’t worry. I’ll pay for that.” He signed the both the boy’s cap and shirt.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.