MLB Bullets has a lot of questions

Just so you know, a large number of the links here are from The Athletic.

The Athletic, in my view, is worth it, even in these difficult times. You can find deals that make the cost around $5 a month, and in fact, right now they have a 90-day free trial (after the 90 days, you get billed $60 for a year). The writing is great and the payment means you don’t have any ads. None.

Seriously, do it. It’s a way to read great writing while baseball (and the world, really) is on hiatus.

And they paid me nothing to say all this. I really do like what they do.

First, let’s talk about a major baseball injury.

• I had always thought that Chris Sale, with his funky pitching motion, was an injury waiting to happen. Now, he’s going to have Tommy John surgery. Ian Browne has details of the surgery that likely has Sale out until mid-2021.
• Buster Olney says it makes perfect sense for Sale to have his surgery now, no matter what happens to the 2020 season.
• And another pitcher is having TJS — Tyler Beede of the Giants, who was expected to be a mainstay of their rotation. Whenever the season begins. He, too, will have to wait for 2021.
• Eno Sarris looks at what pitchers are going to have to do to avoid a spate of injuries once the season does get ramped up again. (The Athletic subscription required)

Coronavirus notes:

• An Arizona-based employee of the Reds tested positive for COVID-19.
• C. Trent Rosecrans has the story of how American players are coping with the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea and Japan. Former Cub Dan Straily is one of them. (The Athletic subscription required)
• One of the baseball things most likely to suffer from the outbreak is independent league ball. Bill Shea describes how thin the operating margins are in indy ball.

Other baseball news:

• Have you wondered how the Astros’ “Codebreaker” algorithm worked? C. Trent Rosecrans (busy guy!), Eno Sarris (busy guy!) and Ken Rosenthal provide you with a homemade version you can try yourself. (The Athletic subscription required)
• Dodgers minor leaguer Connor Joe has undergone surgery for testicular cancer. Chris Cwik has the story. All best wishes to Joe for a complete recovery.

Some thoughts on how the 2020 schedule might look...

• From Jeff Passan at ESPN
• From Ken Rosenthal (busy guy!) (The Athletic subscription required)
• From MLB Trade Rumors

I’ll likely have some thoughts on this myself here next week.

Miscellany:

• Joe Posnanski is one of my favorite baseball writers, and he takes a deep dive into “favorite players,” starting with a star of the 1960s who he thinks would have been his dad’s favorite, Tony Oliva. (The Athletic subscription required)
• Looking for baseball-related things to do right now? Manzanares De La Rosa notes five great and/or lesser-known baseball books you should check out.
• Bad look, MLB (check out the replies, too):

Lastly, we don’t hear much these days from our friend @CubsNoHitStreak, especially now, but this is a fun exercise:

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