MLB Bullets now has a quarter

Good morning. I have it on good authority that Mike Trout ends up on the Iron Throne on Sunday. I should have seen that coming.

• We’re 25% of the way through the baseball season and Craig Calcaterra has a look at where things stand at the one-quarter mark.
• Quarter report cards are handed out for all 30 MLB teams.
• Matt Snyder explains why the Astros have the best offense in baseball, even without Jose Altuve.
• I’ve linked to a lot of stories like this already, but one more won’t hurt. Emma Baccellieri notes that the Marlins are heading for one of the worst seasons in MLB history. And since team president Derek Jeter insists the team is not rebuilding, this must be what Jeter and company were shooting for.
• Mike Petriello notes that since he snapped his record 62 plate appearances without a hit, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has been hitting like an All-Star. Petriello explains what Davis is doing differently and argues that Davis has a chance to represent the American League in Cleveland this July.
• Hannah Keyser has the fascinating story of how former MLB outfielder Frank Catalanotto and former ESPN reporter Adam Rubin turned around a sorry Division II college baseball program and made the NCAA tournament this year.
• Bob Nightengale talks with Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin on how he’s had to deal with tragedy and hardship in his life to not only reach the majors but to be the Phils’ best pitcher this season.
• Jayson Stark checks in on our future robot umpire overlords as they begin their conquest of the Atlantic League. (The Athletic sub. req.) Or, less dramatically, he reports on how MLB and the Atlantic League are beginning to test the automated balls and strikes system.
• Howard Bryant examines how Al Campanis’ famous 1987 Nightline interview changed baseball.
• The dispute between the Nationals and the Orioles over the MASN rights fees for Nats games with a new arbitration panel ruling that the Orioles-owned RSN owes the Nationals $59 million for the rights to televise Nationals games.
• Ken Rosenthal reports that while the Orioles have problems winning games, the franchise’s biggest issues are off-the-field at the moment. (The Athletic sub. req.) The MASN dispute is just one of many problems the O’s are having. You know things are bad in Baltimore when Rosenthal reports that the good news is “The Orioles are not likely to leave Baltimore.”
• Jeff Passan profiles Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo, the “king of the three-true outcomes.”
• Jay Jaffe looks at the adjustments that Angels infielder Tommy La Stella made this season to turn him into Mike Trout-lite.
• Chris Cwik notes that the Blue Jays have a future superstar in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and now they need to actually surround him with a good team.
• The Rockies have promoted shortstop Brendan Rodgers from the minors.
• With all this young talent getting called up to the majors this season, Jon Tayler looks at the current top prospects still in the minors who are expected to be stars in 2020 and beyond.
• Blue Jays pitcher Edwin Jackson set the record by pitching for his 15th major-league team. Rachel McDaniel looks back at Jackson’s odd career.
• The Padres have now played their 8,020th game in franchise history and have yet to record a no-hitter. That breaks the Mets’ record for most games to start a franchise before their first no-hitter. They’ve still got about six years before they approach the Phillies’ record no no-hitter streak from 1906 to 1964.
• Dan Szymborski notes that one year later, the Pirates’ trade with the Rays for Chris Archer is looking pretty bad for the Bucs.
• Mets outfielder Michael Conforto suffered a concussion after colliding with teammate Robinson Cano on a pop fly.
• The Dodgers will place pitcher Kenta Maeda on the disabled list today with . . .something? They haven’t said what is wrong with him.
• Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.
• The Rays picked up catcher Erik Kratz from the Giants for a player currently without a name. That saves money on the lettering for the jerseys, I guess.
• Blue Jays outfielder Billy McKinney fought the wall and the . . .wall lost? In any case, McKinney made the catch after colliding face first with the wall and doesn’t appear to be seriously hurt.
• In the bullpen at T-Mobile Park for the Minnesota Twins sits right-handed reliever Austin Adams. At the same time in the bullpen for the Seattle Mariners sits right-handed reliever Austin Adams. Either this is some weird quantum physics experiment about being in two places at one time or both teams have totally unrelated pitchers both named Austin Adams.
• How Indians infielder Jason Kipnis managed to get two RBI on a ground ball to second base.
• Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig says it helps to pretend that it’s ice cream while licking your bat. Of course, you could pretend it’s a bat and not lick it.
• Retired Braves star Chipper Jones remembers the moment he decided to take hitting advice from broadcaster Boog Sciambi. It’s worth it just for the dirty look that Jones gave Sciambi from the batter’s box.
• And finally, the Twins made one of the weirdest errors you’ll ever see when pitcher Jake Odorizzi fielded a grounder and threw to first baseman C.J. Cron, who wasn’t even looking at the play and the ball went right past him. As it turns out, it appears that Twins second baseman Jonathan Scoop faked out his own teammate Cron on the play.

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