No More Protests, Yelich’s Rough Stretch, Another Reliever Injury, and Other Cubs Bullets

I remain so enthralled by ‘Andor.’ I’m just so impressed by the quality of the show. It’s like HBO-quality story/character/dialogue/atmosphere execution, and it’s a demonstration of how good things can be in the ‘Star Wars’ universe if you just let talented people (Tony Gilroy, in this case) do THEIR kind of show against a Star Wars backdrop. I don’t even think you would have to enjoy Star Wars to like this show.

  • Are you a big fan of MLB teams “protesting” a game? That thing where a team could, after a brutal mistake by an umpire, send in an official protest to the league and then have … nothing at all happen? Well, guess what: it’s gone now. As noted by J.J. Cooper in a review of the latest rules, protests are now prohibited by MLB. Can’t happen. The new rule is extremely thorough: “Protesting a game shall never be permitted, regardless of whether such complaint is based on judgment decisions by the umpire or an allegation that an umpire misapplied these rules or otherwise rendered a decision in violation of these rules.”
  • In other words, an umpire could straight up call strike three on the first pitch of an at bat to end a game, and that’s that. Game is over. No protest. Umpire might be disciplined – a one-day, paid suspension, and an order to wear uncomfortable socks for 48 hours – but the game final stays final.
  • How often does this actually come up, though? The last time I can even remember a game where I felt like the Cubs even COULD have solid grounds for a protest was that time Jason Heyward was ruled to have run inside the baseline and caused interference. It was a terrible, terrible, incorrectly-applied call, but even that one, the Cubs still won the game! So no protest anyway! And that was the only one I could think of that was THAT blatantly wrong. That was five years ago. (OK, but I did just make myself angry again reading about that one. The Cubs really did get screwed on that call.)
  • Oh, we know you’ve been there, buddy:
  • OK, so I’m just poking fun at Christian Yelich, and that’s unkind since he was the one who was already being thoughtful and self-deprecating. That said, since we’re on the subject of Yelich, I think it’s fair to note his 2022 season and the broader context. Yelich, who’ll play next year at 31, hit .252/.355/.383/111 wRC+, which is not bad, but obviously is not close to what he was at his peak. A peak that got him a $215 million contract that runs through 2028.
  • Since signing that deal, Yelich has hit just .243/.358/.388/108 wRC+. Before his explosion in 2018, his first year in Milwaukee, it’s notable that Yelich hit .290/.369/.432/122 wRC+ – better than the last three years, but a somewhat similar profile, at least compared to 2018 and 2019 when the guy posted a freaking .304(!) ISO. I know it became a half-joke of a conspiracy theory, but when a guy’s production changes THAT dramatically for two years, built almost entirely on an enormous increase in home runs at a new home ballpark, it’s going to look suspicious – especially when that home run binge ends IMMEDIATELY as soon as the league implements protocols to further curb allegations of sign stealing around the league.
  • Anyway, the Brewers better hope Yelich bounces back in a big and surprising way into his 30s, because otherwise they’re stuck with a slap-hitting left fielder who plays terrible defense and is paid like a star for the next six years. He was barely more than a 2-WAR player this year. Might wanna get those lights fixed at AmFam Field …
  • Yet another key reliever turned up with an injury just before the start of the LDS, and it’s Tyler Matzek getting Tommy John:
  • That’s pretty funny:
  • https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1580416991810048001

  • A lot of people learned yesterday that, in his retirement from baseball, Randy Johnson has become a photographer. That revelation happening on the same day as The Goose at Dodgers-Padres led to this hilarious visual (if you get it, you get it):
  • The puck for the Blackhawks dropped last night, and as far as I’m aware, they did exactly what they were supposed to do: they lost to a good team despite showing quality effort.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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