MLB Bullets is tired of all this

This is an argument against the DH. Pitchers are throwing at hitters, knowing that they’ll never be thrown at in retaliation. Of course, this wouldn’t be a problem if the commissioner’s office would suspend pitchers like Brad Keller for a month and not five days, where all that happens is that they get one extra day of rest before their next start.

• White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson hit a home run and flipped his bat. For that crime, this horrible miscreant was hit with a hard object coming in at over 90 mph by Royals pitcher Brad Keller, who was upholding all that is good and holy in America. This led to a benches-clearing brawl in which Keller was ejected for throwing the object and Anderson was ejected for the crime of being hit with it.
• This, of course, led to another debate about the “unwritten rules” of the game amongst the players.
• Bradford Doolittle says that MLB can’t promote fun and celebration and then demand that players follow the “unwritten rules.”
• Matt Snyder notes that MLB keeps talking about “let the kids play” but then turns a blind eye to stuff like this. He also notes that a lot of players think that the “kids” on their team can flip their bats but not on other teams.
• Reds pitcher Amir Garrett notes that most MLB players couldn’t survive a playing in a different sport if they take offense to Anderson’s bat flip.
• Mark Townsend notes that the players and coaches are getting more outspoken about their problems with umpires. And this isn’t even about Joe West throwing out Anderson for being a target.
• JJ Cooper has a message for the fans: embrace change. He’s talking about the written rules and not the unwritten ones.
• Ben Lindbergh looks at the early statistical returns from the young season and notes that home runs, walks and strikeouts are extremely high so far.
• A few weeks ago I noted that Triple-A baseball was switching to the major league ball this year instead of the minor league ball that they had been using. Guess what? Offense and home runs are way up in Triple-A this season.
• The Athletics have joined the extension trend and have signed slugger Khris Davis to a two-year, $33.5 million extension that will keep him in green through 2021 (in more ways than one).
• The Red Sox are now 6-13 and Neil Paine says that the defending World Series champs may be in real jeopardy of missing the playoffs this year.
• David Schoenfield examines the phenomenon of a “World Series hangover.”
• David Price says the Red Sox may be sellers at the trade deadline if things don’t turn around quickly.
• Price has also complained to the commissioner’s office that many teams did not play on Jackie Robinson Day. He argues that if baseball is going to celebrate April 15, then every team should be in action.
• The Yankees have stopped playing Kate Smith’s version of “God Bless America” because it has been pointed out that Smith had some really racist hit singles in the 1930s. Good first step, but they should stop playing the song altogether. I read somewhere that God Bless America at the ballparks is like the Politburo clapping for Stalin—no one wants to be the first to stop because they’ll get killed if they do.
• Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino had season-ending shoulder surgery.
• Chris Cwik argues that the Braves need to sign Craig Kimbrel, now more than ever.
• Tigers pitcher Matt Moore underwent knee surgery and he’ll now be out for the year. He was only expected to miss four-to-six weeks, but the damage was much more extensive than originally thought.
• The Reds aren’t doing well this season because their bats aren’t hitting. But R.J. Anderson notes that some of their young pitchers are doing very well so far this year.
• Angels DH Shohei Ohtani will start taking batting practice before games starting today as he returns from Tommy John surgery.
• Yankees rookie Mike Ford is finally getting a shot in the majors after seven seasons in the minors. Hannah Keyser talks with Ford about his journey from Princeton to undrafted free agent to major leaguer.
• David Schoenfield looks ahead to the biggest free agents of the next three winters.
• The Phillies attendance is up 12,000 fans a game over last year, thanks to their offseason spending spree.
• Josh Tolentino looks at where Blake Snell’s bathroom stand accident ranks in the world of weird baseball injuries. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• For the first time in his career, after 6,827 trips to the plate, Reds first baseman Joey Votto finally popped out to the first baseman.
• David Laurila speaks with Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde about what his day is like.
• Eddie Matz had a really interesting idea for an article. He asked major league ballplayers what they tell people who ask them what they do for a living when they don’t want to talk baseball with someone. Kevin Gausman tells people he’s a “blimp folder.”
• And Levi Weaver asked players and writers “What does it mean to ‘strike out the side?’” (The Athletic sub. req.) Do you have to strike out three batters and face only three, or can you give up three or four hits and strike out the side as long as you still record all three outs by a strikeout? This is the new “batting around” argument.
• Rachel McDaniel has a fascinating Cold War tale about Manuel Enrique Hernandez Gazmuri, the first Cuban baseball player to defect from Castro’s Cuba.
• And finally, a young girl sends Mike Trout a letter with a picture she drew. Mike Trout shares the cute letter with the world.

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