MLB Bullets is getting better

Good morning.

• We have more information on the David Ortiz shooting, including two arrests made in the case.
• Ortiz was flown by the Red Sox to Boston where he underwent a second surgery. Although he is in intensive care, Ortiz is in stable condition and he “flashed that smile.”
• Ortiz’s teammate Pedro Martinez broke down crying on the air when talking about what Big Papi means to baseball and to him.
• Yankees great Mariano Rivera was always a rival of Ortiz, but he also considered him a friend and said it was hard to see Ortiz like that.
• Gabe Lacques writes about what David Ortiz means to his native Dominican Republic.
• The Red Sox played the Rangers last night and both managers and Andrew Benintendi were ejected.
• The Rangers won that game, highlighted by this inside-the-park by Rangers outfielder Hunter Pence that just sat on the warning track as he rounded the bases.
• Craig Edwards examines how the Rangers have been so good this year and whether or not they can be a playoff contender.
• David Schoenfield looks at what’s going wrong with the Red Sox and examines whether the Rangers are really the better team this season.
• Jeff Passan has the story behind the next great prospect in baseball, Rays infielder Wander Franco.
• Levi Weaver tells the story behind Rangers rookie Phillips Valdez making his first major league appearance and the family tragedy he dealt with this spring. (The Athletic sub. req.) Also, Weaver’s house had no power, so he wrote it out on notebook paper and then photographed it.
• Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez is having a breakout season at the plate, but Zach Kram notes that he gives back most of that value when he’s behind the plate.
• Mark Simon ranks the top ten defensive infields in baseball. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Ben Clemens examines the secret to Braves pitcher Mike Soroka’s success.
• Ken Rosenthal says that MLB needs to address the issue of the lack of competitive balance and how up to seven teams could lose 100 games this season. (The Athletic sub. req.) As Rosenthal notes, there needs to be more incentive to win games.
• Alex Rubenstein looks at how the Orioles pitching staff is making history with the number of home runs they’re allowing.
• The Diamondbacks and Phillies set a new MLB record by hitting a combined 13 home runs in Monday’s game.
• Lindsay Berra looks at how MLB is embracing legalized gambling as a way to increase the popularity of the sport. She also addresses the issues surrounding gambling and the possible downsides.
• Mike Oz looks back at the controversy of the confrontation between Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner and comes to an interesting conclusion. He thinks that if there’s nothing wrong with bat flips (and he doesn’t think there is), then we should also embrace pitchers getting angry and yelling at the batters as they round the bases. Oz does draw the line at starting physical fights or intentionally throwing at batters, but Bumgarner did neither.
• Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson was suspended one game for his role in a bench-clearing incident.
• MLB announced some changes to the All-Star Weekend Futures Game. The format will return to American League versus the National League, instead of US versus the World. The game will also move the game to Sunday evening, so fans can watch it without missing watching their favorite team. The game is also shortened to seven innings.
• Matt Snyder has a shopping list of available players this trade season.
• The Phillies are moving Jerad Eickhoff to the bullpen.
• Orioles pitcher Alex Cobb will have season-ending hip surgery.
• Dayn Perry has the 20 best names from the recent MLB Draft.
• Matt Martell previews the College World Series.
• Tim Brown has a profile of Angels team vice-president Tim Mead, who is leaving the Angels after 40 years to become the new president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. As Brown writes, most of the people he talked to about Mead said some variation of “I can’t imagine the Angels without Tim Mead.”
• Wes Jenkins looks at the baseball artwork of English illustrator Tim Godden.
• The White Sox dressed up their statues of former greats in the uniforms of the US Women’s National Team. 13-0, ladies and gentlemen. 13-0.
• And finally, here’s a great leaping barehanded defensive play made . . .by a guy in the stands.

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