MLB Bullets is in Orbit

Good morning.

• The Cubs currently have the second-best record in all of baseball. The best record belongs to the Houston Astros, whom David Schoenfield thinks have a chance to have the best season team offense in history. Houston is slugging over .500 as a team, and no team in MLB history has ever done that. Schoenfield also notes that the Miami Marlins have a chance to have the worst team offense in history. The Marlins are “on-pace” to score 436 runs this year. No team in a full MLB season has scored fewer than 500 runs since the 1971 Padres.
• Schoenfield also believes that Astros outfielder George Springer, who currently is tied for the MLB lead with 16 home runs, is becoming the game’s newest superstar. (By the way, check out the 1st round of the 2011 draft, which is looking like a contender for one of the best ever. The Cubs took Javier Baez two picks before Springer. The Indians took Francisco Lindor with the pick before that. And so on and so on.)
• Springer got home run number 16 in dramatic fashion—an inside-the-park home run against the Tigers at Comerica Park. And afterwards, he was so exhausted that teammate Carlos Correa “had to perform CPR” on a Springer who had collapsed in the dugout. It was a joke CPR, but a team that’s winning like the Astros can afford to play around like that.
• In a distant second place in the American League West are the surprising Los Angeles Angels, whom Gabe Lacques terms as one of the weirdest and most interesting teams in MLB this year. Oh, and they have Mike Trout.
• And the Angels have got Shohei Ohtani back. At least as a hitter of home runs.
• The Braves are puzzling to Rian Watt. He thinks they need to fix their pitching staff to compete his year, but there’s not a lot of indication that they will do so.
• Zach Kram looks at the surprising Minnesota Twins and notes the team is probably playing a bit over their heads right now, they’re good enough that they can win the division if they add some talent down the stretch. Also, the Twins pitching staff has gotten off of the “strikeouts are fascist” kick that they’ve been on the past 20 seasons. Either that, or they decided to become fascists.
• Tom Verducci reports on how the Twins have changed their organizational philosophy to pitching with the help of analytics.
• Eno Sarris reports that MLB is in the process of changing their tracking system from radar Trackman system to the optical Hawk-Eye system, (The Athletic sub. req.) and that it should be ready for the 2020 season. Hawk-Eye is the system that tennis currently uses.
• Remember that terrible start to the season that the Red Sox and Chris Sale got off to? Last night, Chris Sale became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 17 batters in seven innings. Of course, the Red Sox still lost, but at least they are back above .500 now.
• Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit both his first and second major-league home runs at Oracle Park in San Francisco last night.
• Guerrero Jr. was not given the silent treatment after his first home run. Instead, he got showered with sunflower seeds in the dugout.
• Sam Miller was inspired by Guerrero and Tigers prospect Casey Mize to look at some of the most ridiculous minor league stat lines of all time. (ESPN+ sub. req.) People still talk about Gary Redus hitting .462 for Billings in 1978.
• One guy not putting up good statistics in Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper, who has been in a slump most of the year. Bill Baer examines whether or not the Phillies should be worried about their $330 million man. (Answer: probably not.)
• As Katherine Acquavella notes, Harper has been a streaky hitter his whole career. Although it would be nice if he wasn’t striking out so much in Philly.
• MLB has placed Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias on administrative leave after he was arrested in a possible domestic violence incident.
• The Yankees have traded for 1B/DH Kendrys Morales from the Athletics for cash considerations or a player to be named later. Just don’t name the player “Khaleesi.” A lot of parents are regretting that at the moment.
• This may be in reaction to the Yankees announcing that third baseman Miguel Andujar will decide today whether or not to have season-ending shoulder surgery.
• The Yankees also said that outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who has only played three games this year, has a shoulder injury. But other than that, the Yankees are being very vague and evasive when asked about Stanton’s health. However, Stanton is taking batting practice, so he can’t be hurt that badly.
• White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon will have Tommy John surgery. That stinks.
• Mets infielder Jed Lowrie suffered a hamstring strain while on a rehab assignment and will miss a few more weeks. Lowrie has yet to play for the Mets.
• Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez will miss four-to-six weeks with a strained right lat muscle.
• The “Super Two” deadline must have passed because several teams are calling up top prospects. The Brewers have promoted second baseman Keston Hiura.
• The Indians called up outfielder Oscar Mercado.
• The Royals promoted second baseman Nicky Lopez and announced that current second baseman Whit Merrifield will move to the outfield.
• Buster Olney has the top ten possible trade destinations for Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner. (ESPN+ sub. req.) I agree with Olney that the Padres, who aren’t on Mad Bum’s no-trade list, make the most sense. I know the Padres consider the Giants to be a major rival, but I’m not sure the feeling is mutual. The Giants likely won’t consider dealing Bumgarner to the Dodgers, notes Olney.
• Michael Baumann thinks that Padres rookie Chris Paddack will be the next great ace in the game. As long as he stays healthy, of course. He’s already had one Tommy John.
• Devan Fink breaks down the adjustments that Rangers outfielder Hunter Pence has made this season to resurrect his career.
• Ben Lindbergh notes that we’re in the golden age of stealing home runs.
• Astros pitcher Justin Verlander thinks the Tigers lost the two World Series that he played with them because they had too much time off between the Championship Series and the start of the World Series. Verlander also said that not winning a title in Detroit is the biggest regret of his career.
• As MLB considered expansion or franchise relocation, Frank Jackson makes the case for adding a second team to the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. Not a terrible idea, but adding a third team to NY/NJ or Los Angeles metro area makes even more sense. All three of those options have the same problem—the teams currently there will fight it with every resource at their disposal. They’d run it through the courts for decades if they had to.
• The Athletics have a new stadium! Ooops. Sorry. It’s actually the old stadium with a new name. The A’s now play in the Ring Central Coliseum.
• The A’s did actually take one more step towards an actual new stadium.
• One Dodgers fan on the “Ellen” show got the surprise of her life when Clayton Kershaw showed up to give her pitching tips.
• And finally, the Cubs’ high-A affiliate Myrtle Beach Pelicans got the first pick in the NBA Draft!

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