NEWSLETTER
The Twins-Angels series has been shut down for the weekend due to COVID issues on the Twins, with multiple players and a staff member testing positive, and ongoing contact tracing efforts/additional testing. Right now, I think it would be unfair to give too much grief to a player/team/staff when this happens – the dang virus is so transmissible and still circulating widely. But once teams have all had plenty of time to get vaccinated and have immunity kick in? It’s going to be very embarrassing and frustrating and inexcusable if teams get shut down in May or June or July for an outbreak.
• Look at this rainbow chart from Statcast on Trevor Williams from yesterday – think maybe he was putting his pitches pretty much where he wanted? Just perfect stripes of color:
• I’m hoping that Williams can hold it together a little more in that third time through the order – for his career, he does not have huge third-time-through-the-order splits like most pitchers, which is probably a credit to his pitch diversity – because he has run out of steam now a couple times when otherwise looking great through five-ish innings. You’ll gladly take it, don’t get me wrong. But if yesterday had been a tighter game, then loading the bases with nobody out in the 6th inning before being pulled would be a really scary situation.
• Shelby Miller recorded outs this time around, so his appearance yesterday was a big improvement over his debut in that regard. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot more positive to take away from the appearance, which was once again wild. Maybe not QUITE as wild as the first time out – at least one of Miller’s walks this time was actually a competitive walk – and he did record a strikeout. And I guess you could point out that he didn’t get smoked (the leadoff triple was a nothing groundball, for example). The only hard-hit ball he gave up was a rocket single to Ronald Acuña Jr., which, hey, who among us. I’m not trying to talk that into being a good appearance, by the way. It wasn’t. It was just unacceptably wild again. I’m just saying, it probably wasn’t three-runs “bad.”
• In any case, if Miller gets another appearance, it’s gonna have to be near flawless for him to hold onto his roster spot much longer. As much as I might have hoped the Cubs could unlock something in him as a bounce-back, and as good as he looked in Spring Training, this is going to be a very crowded group of relief options for the Cubs in the weeks and months ahead. And since Miller cannot be optioned, he would have to be DFA’d to be sent back to the alt site, and that’s only if he clears waivers and if he doesn’t want a minor league deal with some other club. I really don’t know how that would play out right now given the scary performances relative to the hoped-on upside. But I do know that the Cubs probably won’t wait too much longer to “risk” losing him. I tend to hope he gets one more appearance.
• Anthony Rizzo had three hits yesterday, including a BLAZING SPEED triple. He was thinking three right out of the box:
Speed kills. pic.twitter.com/uRoDMnEIlx
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 18, 2021
• Rizzo’s big day brought up his slash line on the year to .229/.333/.375, good for a 96 wRC+. Before the game it was a 71.
• Two other huge leaps yesterday, though these guys were already doing well:
The Cubs now have two of the top-25 hitters in MLB (lol).
Willson Contreras: 187 wRC+ (15th)
Kris Bryant: 172 wRC+ (23rd)— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) April 17, 2021
• Hey, the alt site Cubs won yesterday, too:
QUICK CUTS: The #Cubs get revenge in another 7-inning exhibition game against their rival #WhiteSox with a 3-2 victory at @FourWindsField. #CubsWin #FlyTheW
Check out the highlights ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eeotzGjgfQ— South Bend Cubs (@SBCubs) April 17, 2021
• Books, book lights, clothes, weather stations(!), and more are your Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad
• Even without Cody Bellinger, the Dodgers are off to another absurd start. They won again last night over the Padres, lifting their record to 13-2. My word. And these games against the Padres have been incredibly thrilling for regular season games in April, man. This play in the 9th by Mookie Betts last night to save the game is just so awesome, including the energy:
MOOKIE MAGIC.#MakeItMajor pic.twitter.com/S7mpdnppRY
— MLB (@MLB) April 18, 2021
• Meanwhile, the last five years has seen such a monumental shift in the game. I love exciting, big moment strikeouts. But generally speaking, baseball is NOT more entertaining like this:
#MLB Hits – strikeouts, 1901-2021. Strikeouts have gone from relative rarity to outnumbering hits. pic.twitter.com/Cs3NubzFMa
— Scott Lindholm 📊 (@ScottLindholm) April 17, 2021
• That last red bar is 2021. You know, the season that isn’t even three weeks old. It is going to be an absolutely obscenely large bar. It’s scary how rapidly this has evolved.
• Oh, and if you’re wondering, yes, that big dip in the late 1960? That’s just before MLB lowered the mound and added the DH in the American League. Don’t tell me the sport cannot change in response to obvious needs. To that end:
I dig when players engage in these discussions, so this isn't a shot at May – but I hate this framing of what is a much more complex issue re increasing action on the field. Lots of tweaks are necessary to respond to an evolving game & world. That's life over a long horizon. https://t.co/weF4asHQIB
— Bleacher Nation Cubs (@BleacherNation) April 18, 2021
• If the entirety of the conversation were about getting more young people to watch on TV, then MLB would make second base randomly explode throughout the game, and invite TikTok stars to tag in for a few innings in center field. If you are opposed to long-term changes that improve the state of baseball, then I just can’t get on board with you. I’m not sure what else you need to see to know that the state of the game is off. (Oh, and also? If we’re gonna be that narrow in the discussion? Yes, moving the mound back could make the game more entertaining for additional viewers. Just sayin’.)
