I’m going to have to curtail the overall levity that I normally approach this piece with because. . .
- Red Sox great David Ortiz was shot in the back last night during an attempted burglary in the Dominican Republic. The good news is that his condition is reported to be stable. The bullet went all the way through his lower back and stomach and out the other end. We certainly wish him a speedy recovery and hope that there are no complications. A bullet through the torso is always extremely serious, but it clearly could have been a lot worse.
- I was planning on opening with the confrontation between Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Muncy destroyed a pitch by Bumgarner and deposited it into McCovey Cove with what turned out to be the only run of the Dodgers 1-0 win. Bumgarner took exception to Muncy’s violation of the “unwritten rules” by not running hard out of the box and told Muncy to run as he rounded the bases. Muncy’s response will go down in history in The Big Book of Famous Baseball Quotes: “If you don’t want me to watch the ball, you can go in the ocean and get it.” Honestly, Muncy didn’t really showboat this one much at all. He did admire it for a second or two, but he didn’t make a big production out of it. I suspect what Bumgarner was really upset about was that he gave up a home run.
- Bumgarner, for his part, said “I should just let the kids play, but I just can’t.” adding that he just has to be himself, which means yelling at batters who don’t run to his satisfaction. (It should be noted that Bumgarner is just one year older than Muncy.)
- Dan Szymborski looks at what the Braves can expect out of new free agent signing Dallas Keuchel.
- Michael Baumann offers his thoughts on Keuchel and the Braves.
- The Yankees missed out on Keuchel and are now interested in trading for Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman or Bumgarner.
- The Yankees need for a starter increased as Domingo German went on the injured list with a strained hip flexor.
- Richard Justice has seven top relievers who could be traded this summer.
- The Rangers retired the number 29 of Adrian Beltre over the weekend and that gave Elvis Andrus one last opportunity to touch Beltre’s head.
- Beltre spoke about his friendship with Andrus and his fond memories of his time in Texas.
- Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor pulled off a straight steal of home on Sunday.
- Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper also tried to pull off a straight steal of home but was thrown out. You’d think they’d do that on Jackie Robinson Day.
- The Nationals hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs (that’s 4 in a row) against Padres reliever Craig Stammen on Sunday, only the ninth time that has ever been accomplished in MLB history. The Nats also become the first franchise to ever accomplish the feat twice.
- Mariners first baseman Edwin Encarnacion hit two home runs yesterday against the Angels, making him the 56th player in MLB history to hit 400 career home runs.
- Astros prospect Yordan Alvarez was leading minor league baseball in home runs, so the team called him up to the majors. In his second major league at-bat, Alvarez hit his first major league home run.
- On Saturday, we (and the nation of Japan) got the long-awaited matchup between Shohei Ohtani and Yusei Kikuchi. and Adrian Garro said it didn’t disappoint. Ohtani singled and homered off Kikuchi.
- Dylan Hernandez writes about how Kikuchi and Ohtani went from scrubbing toilets in rural Japan to becoming two of the best players Japan has ever produced. Kikuchi and Ohtani went to the same high school (they missed each other by a year) and it’s a mystery to the Japanese as well as to why two players from the sticks in Northern Japan both became such great baseball players. It would be like some high school in Nebraska or Montana with no record of baseball accomplishments produced two all-stars in four seasons.
- Speaking of high school baseball in this country, Gabe Lacques has the story of two high schools in the Tampa area, Plant and Hillsborough. Both have produced a ton of baseball talent and Lacques writes what the shifting power relationship between the two says about the business of baseball and how major leaguer are made.
- Jonathan Mayo projects which recent draft picks will be the quickest to the majors.
- Craig Edwards looks at the unusual strategy of drafting college seniors that the Mets, Reds, Marlins and White Sox employed.
- David Roth looks at the tremendous number of college seniors drafted by the Mets and concludes that the Mets are either the most advanced team in baseball or they just made fools of themselves. You can take one guess which conclusion Roth thinks is more likely.
- The Orioles are talking about playing number-one pick Adley Rutschman at positions other than catcher. If they’re doing this to allow them to get his bat in the lineup when he needs a day off from catching, that’s smart. If they’re seriously thinking of moving him out from behind the plate permanently, that’s idiotic. I suspect the former, despite the tone of that piece and the comparisons to Bryce Harper.
- Vanderbilt freshman Kumar Rocker just won a “win-or-go-home” NCAA Super Regional game with a no-hitter with 19 strikeouts. Eric Stephen calls it the greatest pitching performance in college baseball history. Vanderbilt went on to win game three to win the best-of-three Super Regional over Duke and advance to the College World Series.
- Shawn Windsor is not enjoying watching the twilight of Miguel Cabrera’s career. He says Cabrera is a shadow of his former self at the moment.
- Jay Jaffe notes that Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager’s bat is starting to come alive, after missing almost all of last season with an injury. Because that’s all the Dodgers need, another all-star bat in the lineup.
- Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger went on the IL after he fouled a ball off . . . umm, his ball? That’s not an injury that anyone wants to hear about.
- Mets second baseman Robinson Cano went back on the IL with a quad strain.
- Rays top pitching prospect Brent Honeywell will miss the rest of the year after breaking a bone in his elbow. Honeywell missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery and he was working his way back when the break happened.
- Another Rays pitching prospect, Colin Poche, lost his MLB debut after he had to walk the final mile to Fenway Park when his ride got stuck in traffic.
- Jacob Feldman looks at the criticism of Fox Sports analyst John Smoltz and whether or not he’s out of touch with the modern game.
- There’s yet another documentary out about the mysterious life of catcher Moe Berg, who was a spy for the O.S.S. during World War II.
- Here’s a 471-foot home run from the White Sox’s Eloy Jimenez.
- And finally, here’s one of the dumbest way to injure yourself. Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner was upset that he made an out. So he threw his batting helmet against the dugout wall. The helmet rebounded and hit him in the lip, forcing Gardner to get six stitches.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Get well soon, Big Papi.