MLB Bullets and the Twins

Good morning.

• The team with the best record in baseball is the Minnesota Twins. Stephanie Apstein looks at how the Twins newfound power has been the key to their success.
• The Twins also found a pretty simple trick for getting more fans in the stands: $5 tickets.
• The Nationals are one of the worst teams in baseball and Chris Cwick explains what has gone wrong in DC. Cwik says there is a lot of blame to spread around, but he puts most of it on manager Dave Martinez.
• David Schoenfield looks back at Mike Fiers no-hitter.
• Tim Brown talks to the scout who believed in Fiers when no one else would.
• Stephanie Apstein also has a piece on scouts and what they do when they lose their job. Most baseball front offices are cutting back on traditional scouts in favor of more people in the analytics department.
• Athletics team president Billy Bean said he’d hire Jeopardy! champion James Holzhauer. Craig Calcaterra is wondering whether both Jeopardy! and MLB are being ruined by big data.
• Sad news as Phillies chairman David Montgomery has died at age 72 from cancer.
• Jayson Stark covered the Phillies for approximately 300 years and he pens a heartfelt tribute that explains what kind of guy Montgomery was. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Mike Stocker has a photo essay on the efforts of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and his wife Ellen to stamp out human trafficking in the Dominican Republic.
• Jayson Jenks has the inspiring story of Bert Shepard, who went from being a World War II POW who had his leg amputated to pitching for the Washington Senators. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Holly Wetzel explains what impact that Sinclair Broadcasting’s purchase of the former Fox regional sports networks will have on sports fans.
• For one, Sinclair wants to greatly expand the options for the fans at home to wager on the games.
• Angels first baseman Albert Pujols hit a home run for his 2000th career RBI. He’s either the third or the fifth player to reach that milestone, depending on whether or not you retroactively count RBI before 1920.
• Rangers slugger Joey Gallo became the first player in MLB history to hit 100 home runs before hitting 100 singles.
• Danny Heifetz looks at how Christian Yelich has joined the launch-angle revolution and is now one of the most feared home run hitters in the game.
• If you like seeing big bombs, watch this 472-foot blast into the Allegheny River by Pirates first baseman Josh Bell.
• The Reds are in last place despite having a positive run differential.
• Reds ace Luis Castillo was traded four times before reaching the majors and according to Bob Nightengale, Castillo is now having the last laugh.
• Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is off to a slow start to his career and Craig Edwards tells everyone to just relax.
• David Schoenfield writes about how the National League has become the better and more entertaining league over the past few seasons.
• Jeff Passan reports on MLB’s efforts to install a international draft and how MLB wants to put an end to 13 year-olds agreeing to sign with teams.
• And finally, Diamondbacks pitcher Archie Bradley is very excited about the name of the new royal baby. He also wants to be invited to his first birthday party, which will be hard to attend because he’ll be pitching for the Diamondbacks at the time. But I guess they could have the party in Phoenix.

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