I hope everyone had a good weekend and a Happy Father’s Day for all those who are either a father or have a father.
The Rockies and Padres scored eight more runs as you slept last night. They did this despite there not even being a game, which makes it more impressive.
- The Padres and Rockies made history by scoring a combined 92 runs in a four-game series, which is a Major League record dating back to at least 1900. There were so many runs scored that even the US Women’s National Team said “Gee, maybe tune it down a bit guys.”
- AJ Cassavell has nine facts on that ridiculous series.
- Some more tidbits about that runs fest in Denver.
- The Twins are hammering the ball all the way to the top of the AL Central and Eric Stephen looks at the four offseason additions that have made the difference in their attack.
- Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich hit the ball so hard that it actually went through the fence at Oracle Park.
- Adding to the weird offense, Indians utilityman Jake Bauers hit for the cycle, the second cycle we’ve had in a week.
- The Yankees added to their offense by acquiring Edwin Encarnacion from the Mariners for a minor league pitcher and cash considerations.
- Adding to that, the Yankees are expected to activate outfielder Giancarlo Stanton from the injured list on Tuesday.
- Coley Harvey writes that the Yankees offense is finally all healthy and playing and that the rest of the American League needs to watch out.
- Jon Tayler looks at where Encarnacion fits in the Yankees lineup and the impact that he’ll have on the AL East race.
- Someone on the Yankees had to make room for Encarnacion and it was Clint Frazier who got sent down to the minors, despite hitting .283 with 11 home runs this year. Frazier said he was surprised to get demoted.
- The Mariners promoted catcher Austin Nola (brother of Aaron Nola) after eight years in the minors. He’s taking Encarnacion’s spot.
- Frazier will be a hot name in the trade talks this summer. Bradford Doolittle examines every American League wild card contender and decides who they should be trading for or away this summer. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
- Ken Rosenthal writes on what it would take for the Nationals to deal pitcher Max Scherzer this summer. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- The Angels designated reliever Cody Allen for assignment. Allen started the year as the Angels closer.
- The surgeons in the Dominican Republic who saved the life of Red Sox great David Ortiz talk about what they did to keep Big Papi alive. If you don’t want to read all the gory details of Ortiz’s condition, then I can tell you the biggest problem was the loss of blood. Luckily, Ortiz is a big man and a professional athlete, so his body continued to function despite losing quite a bit of blood. That gave the surgeons the time to fix all the holes in his body. The other good news is that his doctors, both in Boston and in the Dominican Republic, believe that Ortiz will make a full recovery.
- Braves pitcher Sean Newcombe was hit in the back of the head by a line drive on Saturday night. However, he’s shown no concussion symptoms and will likely avoid an IL stint.
- The Mets put pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the IL with a strained hamstring.
- Michael Baumann notes that while it may have taken a bit longer than we expected, White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito has finally become the ace we all thought he would become.
- Bob Nightengale profiles the best closer in baseball this season, the Padres’ Kirby Yates.
- Stephanie Apstein writes about Dodgers pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu, who has the most unusual training regimen of any MLB pitcher. Basically, he doesn’t really work out at all but he sits in extreme hot and cold temperatures all day.
- Will Leitch picks one player from each MLB team most deserving to make the All-Star Game.
- Ben Clemens explains why Rays pitcher Yonny Chirinos is the most predictable man in the game.
- George Castle writes about Brewers third base coach Ed Sedar, who is a Waukegan West grad and therefore takes a lot of gruff from family and friends for working for the Brewers.
- Barry Rozner has a story about old ballplayers who don’t get a pension because they finished their career before 1980.
- I don’t normally carry stories about 20th-round draft picks by the Rockies, but you should really read this one about new Rockies minor league outfielder Yorvis Torrealba. If you remember, Yorvis, the son of former Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba, was kidnapped in Venezuela when he was only 11 years old (The Athletic sub. req.) by criminals looking to get a ransom from his father. Since being rescued, Yorvis moved to Florida permanently (he graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Anthony Rizzo’s school) and led the University of Tampa to an NCAA Division II title.
- Now with some Father’s Day tributes. Some dads of some famous MLB ballplayers talk about when they knew their sons would be major leaguers. Mike Bryant is one of the dads interviewed.
- And several star major leaguers talk about what their dads meant to them.
- And finally, Royals catcher Martin Maldonado probably wins the Father’s Day Award for 2019 as he wore a blue Father’s Day tie on the field over his chest protector on Sunday. Pirates catcher Edwin Diaz also wore one, but he wasn’t playing on Sunday.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.