Outside The Confines: Draft on tap

If Commissioner Manfred were smart, he would have had beloved former Mariner Raúl Ibañez announce all the picks. Or at least had Ibañez on the stage with him at all times. It might have cut down the booing.

Clearly there’s a lot of draft news today.

• Right-hander Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews of LSU became the first teammates to go 1-2 in the MLB Draft yesterday. Jonathan Mayo has a list of all teammates taken in the same first round.
• Anthony Castrovince has the top seven storylines from Day 1 of the draft.
• We won’t know how the draft turns out for at least five years. So let’s let R.J. Anderson hand out grades for each first-round pick.
• ESPN hands out winners and losers from the first round.
• Zach Crizer explains why the Pirates, picking first, passed on a once-in-a-generation talent in Crews. I rather reject Crizer’s premise. Crews may be a once-in-a-generation talent, but so is Paul Skenes. But you can read it and make up your own mind.
• Hannah Keyser writes that tanking—intentionally losing to gain better draft picks—is over and not because of the draft lottery. Her point is that teams lose these days because they’ve just given up, not to get better later.
• Keith Law writes about his impressions of players at the Futures Game. (The Athletic sub. req.) He also told MLB to STOP BURYING THE GAME AT A BAD TIME AND ON AN OBSCURE STREAMING SERVICE and STOP MAKING THE GAME 7-INNINGS TO ACCOMMODATE THE CELEBRITY SOFTBALL GAME! OK, the all-caps stuff is mine. But he’s 100 percent right.
• Baseball was still being played over the weekend. Four Tigers pitchers (including former Cubs’ first-round pick Alex Lange) combined to throw a no-hitter on Saturday.
• Here are all the combined no-hitters in baseball history.
• Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz stole second, third and home in the same inning. Heck, in the same at-bat. While the Marlin’s Jon Berti was the last player to do that in 2020, the last Red to do that was Hall of Famer Greasy Neale in 1919. OK, Neale is actually enshrined in Canton, not Cooperstown.
• Emma Baccellieri writes that the Reds have turned their season around by letting the kids play. Who knew the secret to winning baseball would be found in The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training.
• Kyle Kishimoto looks at just how fast is Diamondbacks rookie Corbin Carroll. Kishimoto makes the case that Carroll could be the best base runner ever.
• The Yankees have fired hitting coach Dillon Lawson. It’s the first time the Yankees have fired a coach during the season since 1995.
• Brian Paget writes that the Pirates are telling themselves they need to remain calm and build consistency to arrest their team slide.
• Twins executive Joe Pohlad says he and the team need a sense of urgency.
• Bob Nightengale writes about the disappointing seasons of the Mets and Padres. He quotes Max Scherzer as saying “You need more than just talent. Much more,” to win.
• Jorge Castillo notes that the Dodgers have twice tried to sign Shohei Ohtani. Once out of high school in Japan and once when he came to MLB. Will the third time be the charm?
• Jack Harris looks at the Dodgers options at second base.
• Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland dislocated his shoulder on Sunday in a game against the Giants.
• Chris Gilligan profiles Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello.
• Brittany Ghiroli and Eno Sarris have some suggestions to liven up the All-Star Game. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• We’ll finish up with a few more draft stories. Nine-year-old Mariners fan Tiago Viernes got to announce the Mariners pick after overcoming life-threatening Stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer when he was two.
• The Blue Jays took Florida high school shortstop Arjun Nimmala, the first ever Indian-American taken in the first round. Sweeny Murti writes that Nimmala’s journey is an inspiration for Indian-Americans like him. And that Nimmala’s dream was his dream once.
• And finally, Anthony Castrovince has the story of a nonverbal autistic seven-year-old girl whose first words were “Dylan Crews!” upon seeing the outfielder on TV who yesterday became the second pick in the draft. Crews has since built a bond with the girl and other special needs kids in the Baton Rouge area.

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