Outside The Confines: Almost perfect

It was a busy week in baseball, and obviously, the biggest story for the fifteenth is one we’ll likely spotlight on Monday, which is Jackie Robinson Day, which takes place on April 15th. The only reason we’re not spotlighting it today is that most publications wait until the 15th to post their themed content, making it trickier for us to collect the links for the day-of.

Instead, we’ll focus for the time being on what might have been the biggest story of the week (if you don’t count the Reds’ owner basically saying fans have no choice but to come to games so why should he bother fielding a winning team... basically.) That would be the decision of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to pull Clayton Kershaw seven innings into a perfect game.

Much like Kevin Cash pulling Blake Snell early in the 2020 World Series, it’s a move that many have defended, while others believed was astonishingly poor management. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, there has been plenty to say about the move.

Here are a few pieces discussing the Kershaw game.

• Jay Jaffe writes about the decision for FanGraphs.
• Zach Crizer argues Kershaw and his overall value to the team is more important than any single game.
• Matt Snyder has eight solid reasons why pulling Kershaw was such a complicated move.
• Scott Pianoski looks at a more positive aspect of all this: Kershaw is back!
• No, Dave Roberts doesn’t regret his decision. (AP)
• Andy McCullough looks at why this is such a great (and likely final) season for Kershaw. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Emma Baccellieri laments that just because it was the logical move doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

Now on to the rest of the links!

• Ben Clemens assesses how good Jesus Luzardo has been so far this year.
• The MLB dot com staff look at which prospects could make the biggest impact if called up.
• Alden Gonzalez brings us news of three different lawsuits alleging excessive violence towards fans by Dodger Stadium security.
• Jim Bowden gives us 15 rookies to keep an eye on this year. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Add one more place you’ll need to go to watch games this year.

• Jay Jaffe looks at the rough Phillies defense.
• Rhett Bollinger brings us an absolutely dazzling Mike Trout home run.
• Ken Rosenthal (rightly) thinks it’s time for baseball’s unwritten rules to bite the dust. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• In a surprise to no one, Trevor Bauer’s leave has been extended another week, and will likely continue to be extended until the season is over and the Dodgers can drop him. Report by Madeline Coleman.
• Baseball never ceased to amaze me.

• Justin Choi wonders why exactly the Rockies aren’t just using four outfielders.
• Will Leitch breaks down first impressions of all 30 teams in their first week.
• ESPN likewise looks at who is doing the best since Opening Day.
• There were some big moments in a Tuesday game between the Giants and Padres. The positive: Alyssa Nakken made history as the frist woman coaching on field during a MLB game. Unfortunately, the reason she took the field was because of Antoan Richardson’s ejection, which he says came when he responded to “words [that] were disproportionately unwarranted and reeked undertones of racism” from Padres coach Mike Shildt. Story above by Andrew Baggarly. The Athletic subscription required, but if you don’t want to go paid, ESPN also has a version of the story available here.
• Average MLB salaries are up almost 6 percent this year. (AP)
• Jelani Scott gives us an update on Jacob deGrom and it seems like positive news for the injured Mets ace.
• Oh my goodness.

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