MLB Bullets goes deep again and again and again

I’m still buzzing from last night’s walk-off win by South Bend in the Midwest League Playoffs.

• Orioles infielder Jonathan Villar homered on Wednesday night and MLB set a new record for home runs in a season with 6,106. And counting. Sarah Langs has some other home run records set this season in that link.
• Dan Mullens has some facts and reactions to the record.
• Joe Posnanski doesn’t know if it’s a record, but ten different players hit two home runs on Tuesday. (The Athletic sub. req.) It is a record for the most two-home run games in a season.
• The Mets hit a combined 11 home runs between Wednesday and Thursday’s games. It was so many home runs that the home run apple at Citi Field broke.
• I absolutely loved this piece by Jayson Stark, where he announces a LOOGY Hall of Fame. (The Athletic sub. req.) That’s left-handed one-out guy, for those not into acronyms. Stark is writing about this now because with the new rules on relievers having to face three batters, the LOOGY is an endangered species.
• Gabe Lacques writes that the rest of MLB are all trying to keep up with the Dodgers and Astros. Hey, the Athletics just took three of four from Houston.
• Bob Nightengale writes that Astros pitchers Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole are the best pitching duo in the game and should finish 1-2 in American League Cy Young voting.
• So you’d think the Astros have the best pitching staff in the AL? Think again, As Mike Petriello writes, the Rays have the best pitching staff in the league.
• Joe Trezza looks back at preseason predictions about the AL East and looks at what they got wrong.
• Will Leitch takes the occasion of the firing of Red Sox team president Dave Dombrowski to write an essay that argues that baseball has become more about who can be the most financially-efficient organization rather than the team that just wins the most games.
• Ben Clemens admires the way that the Diamondbacks were able to completely remake their team and stay competitive at the same time.
• Craig Edwards has one key thing for each Wild Card contender down the stretch. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Ben Lindbergh looks at the impact that the season-ending injury to Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich will have on their Wild Card chances.
• Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is scheduled to make his season debut on Tuesday, giving the Yankees pitching staff a late-season boost.
• With Severino’s return, Yankees pitcher Domingo German may be bumped out of the rotation and that could give the Yankees bullpen another weapon in the playoffs, writes Marly Rivera.
• Angels DH Shohei Ohtani will undergo season-ending knee surgery. When he returns, Ohtani will be a pitcher again. At least that’s the plan.
• Alden Gonzalez writes that in addition to pitching and hitting, Ohtani is a terrific comedian in the Angels clubhouse. Even though he only speaks a little English. Actually, especially because he only speaks a little English. Ohtani is showing a lot more emotion on the field in MLB than he ever did in NPB.
• Reds outfielder Nick Senzel is out for the year with a labrum tear.
• Three Braves players are leading the league in games played. No team has had the top three players in games played since 1999.
• The Mariners, on the other hand, have set a record for most players used in one season with 65.
• Earlier this season we were all following the futility streak of Orioles first baseman Chris Davis, who went a record 62 plate appearances without a hit. White Sox outfielder Daniel Palka made a run at that record with 41 straight plate appearances without a hit before doubling on Wednesday.
• Tony Wolfe writes about the declining results of Nationals closer Sean Doolittle.
• Gerard Gilberto looks at top catching prospects in the minors and thinks we may be looking at one of the best crops of young major league catchers ever in the next few years.
• Dan Szymborski thinks there were some good things that happened to the Marlins this season, but he’s skeptical that this organization can build on these small gains in 2020 and beyond.
• Mets first baseman Pete Alonso had special 9/11-themed shoes for everyone on the team to wear on the anniversary of the attacks.
• Alonso did this without the permission of MLB and that’s against the rules. But MLB will not fine Alonso for this infraction. It will, however, go on his permanent record that will follow him throughout his years in MLB. (That’s a joke. I have to say that.)
• Kevin Kaduk has the story of how MLB arranged to play a regular season game at the Field of Dreams in Iowa in 2020.
• Stephanie Apstein reveals the secret donut-eating habits of MLB players. And yes, she gets Adam Jones to admit to downing a dozen donuts in one sitting early in his career.
• And finally, Joe Posnanski just wants the answer to one question: Is the silhouette of a baseball hitter in the StatCast graphics left-handed or right-handed? (The Athletic sub. req.)