Outside The Confines: Revenge of the Fifth

Yesterday was May 4th, which has now been co-opted beyond just the nerd community into a widespread commercial phenomenon that is “Star Wars Day.” (If you don’t get why... “May the fourth be with you...” etc, etc.) The following day, better known to most as Cinco de Mayo, has also been humorously dubbed “Revenge of the Fifth” (an homage to Revenge of the Sith).

If you weren’t already overwhelmed by Star Wars content yesterday I thought I’d include a few fun MLB-themed tweets that captured the day.

Now onward to links!

• For Cinco de Mayo, Andrew Baggerly tests your trivia knowledge of Mexican-born MLB players. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• MiLB is back! Opening Day was yesterday, but Josh Jackson has a great guide of everything you need for Opening Day (and beyond!)
• On that note, Mark Zuckerman reminds us how call-ups and rehab assignments work this year.
• Let’s just keep it going with MiLB content, as Sam Dykstra brings us the most loaded minor league rosters.
• Jesse Rogers looks at all the crazy rule changes getting tested out in the minors.
• In somewhat related reporting, Kiley McDaniel assesses which two teams everyone is trying to copy when it comes to prospect evaluation.
• Luis Robert is out for 3-4 months for the White Sox and Dan Szymborski looks at just how impactful that loss will be for the team.
• Between NFTs and Dogecoin I’m starting to feel pretty darned old.

• Baseball Prospectus looks at the really rough start Francisco Lindor is having with the Mets.
• Speaking of the Mets, the first casualties of the 2021 season are hitting coaches Chili Davis and Tom Slater, shares Michael Shapiro.
• At least one person is enjoying Mets games this year, or more specifically Mets-Phillies games, and that person is RJ McDaniel.
• Jayson Stark breaks down April in baseball, where offense is down and yet somehow games are incredibly watchable. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Devan Fink dives into just how much runs were down last month.
• David Schoenfield has first month grades for all 30 teams, and I didn’t even need to look to know which team got an F, because I am a Detroit Tigers fan as well. Cubs didn’t fare much better, I’m afraid to say.
• In an update on the Roberto Alomar situation, he has now resigned from the Hall of Fame board.
• Are the Kansas City Royals actually really good? Emma Baccellieri implies they might just be making another World Series push.
• Please enjoy these incredible Tyler Glasnow gifs from his Monday start against the Angels.

First he tried to strut off the mound with only two strikes. And then, this....

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