The Cycle, Issue 41: Proper Bunting Technique
Things get interesting in the NL West & East, Sho-time fo' sho', a viewer's guide to the weekend, injury updates, another podcast appearance, and much more . . .
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In this issue of The Cycle . . .
Quick, name the first-place team in the National League West! You sure about that? As the calendar turns to May, things are getting interesting out there.
Table of Contents:
Series 8: The NL West and East get interesting
Did You See That?: Sho-time, Kiermaier’s ego, the risks of the three-batter rule, and the Mariners salvage one in Houston
On Deck: Two NL West series headline this weekend’s action
Injured List: Corbin Burnes, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ryu, Yastrzemski, Wainwright, and, unfortunately, more
Transaction Reactions: The Mariners get a new catcher
Shameless Self-promotion: The Infinite Inning, Episode 184
Feedback
Closing Credits
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Series 8
There are some interesting things happening in the National League West and East right now. In the West, the Dodgers are in a full-blown slump, having lost eight of their last 11 games. Per my Explanatory Wins, five of those losses have been due to a lack of runs. Over their last 12 games, the Dodgers have averaged just 3 1/3 runs per game, and just when the offense was starting to look like it was waking up, the Dodgers lost 2–1 to the Brewers Thursday night in the opener of their four-game weekend set in Milwaukee. The Dodgers, who didn’t lose a single series all of last year, have now lost three straight series (to the Mariners, Padres, and Reds) and are already one more loss away from being able to salvage no more than a split in Milwaukee.
As a result of Thursday night’s loss, the Dodgers slipped into second place behind the Giants. The Giants have had a relatively soft schedule thus far and took two of three from the Rockies this week. San Francisco now boasts the second-best record in baseball behind the (check’s notes) Royals?! The Giants also have the third-best run differential after the Dodgers and White Sox and are tied with the Astros (that’s more like it). The Giants’ rotation has been overperforming in the early going and is due for a crash at some point, and they have their work cut out for them this weekend in San Diego.
With the Diamondbacks also ascendant, having won eight of their last 10 thanks to both their lineup and rotation, the NL West is surprisingly flat right now, with just three games separating the first-place Giants and the fourth-place Diamondbacks, all of which just makes this weekend’s Giants/Padres series more compelling.
Meanwhile, in the East, the Braves have gone 8–5 over their last 13 games, that’s a .615 winning percentage in what is one game more than half of their season. That run includes their having just taken three of four from the Cubs. Part of what is driving that performance is their offense waking up and scoring five runs per game over those last 13 (that despite their being shutout over 14 innings in Sunday’s double-header against the Diamondbacks). Thanks to that surge, the Braves are now tied with the Phillies for first place.
The catch is that both teams are just 12–13. That’s right, every team in the NL East has a losing record. Meanwhile, the only NL East team with a positive run differential is the Marlins at +12 (the Braves are second at -2), and the last-place Nationals are just one game out of first place. Would someone please tell the NL East that the season has started? Heck, it will be a month old tomorrow!
Did You See That?
Monday, April 26
This is Joe Maddon’s second year as the manager of the Angels, and the first in which he has had a fully healthy Shohei Ohtani available as a two-way player. Last year, Ohtani made just two mound starts for Maddon, and he was clearly not right, totaling just 1 2/3 innings. This year, the Angels gave Ohtani two weeks off between his first and second starts to allow a blister on his pitching hand to abate, but Maddon clearly feels more comfortable experimenting with Ohtani. Already this season we have seen Ohtani do two things he had never done before since coming to the United States.
On Saturday, with the Angels trailing Houston 13–2, Ohtani volunteered to play left field when Maddon decided to have Anthony Bemboom, who was in the game as the left fielder, pitch the bottom of the eighth. Ohtani spent just the one inning in the field and his only contact with the ball came on retrieving a Miles Straw double, but it was Ohtani’s first appearance in the field at a position other than pitcher since 2014, when he played eight games in the outfield corners for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
More compellingly, in two of Ohtani’s three starts on the mound this season, Maddon has forgone the designated hitter to allow Ohtani to remain in his customary spot in the batting order. The first time Ohtani did this as a major-league pitcher was in the first Sunday Night game of the year, against the White Sox. That was the game in which Ohtani famously threw a 101-mile-per-hour pitch and hit a 115 mph home run, both in the first inning of that game.
Maddon let Ohtani focus on his pitching in his first start back from his blister-related time out last week, but on Monday, against the Rangers in Arlington, Ohtani was back pulling double duty. In that game, Ohtani staked himself to a 1–0 lead, drawing a one-out walk and scoring on singles by Mike Trout and Jared Walsh in the top of the first. Ohtani had a rough bottom of the first, giving up a three-run homer to Nate Lowe and helping to plate a subsequent walk via a hit batter and a wild pitch, but he settled down from there. From the second through fifth innings, Ohtani allowed just one baserunner (on a single) and struck out eight of the 13 batters he faced. He also went 2-for-3 with a two-RBI double and scored two more runs himself. So, while Ohtani allowed four runs on the mound, he was involved in the scoring of five runs on the other side of the ball and was a net positive in terms of win probability added.
As for the penalty of losing Ohtani’s bat when he comes out of the game. Ohtani didn’t pitch past the fifth inning in either of the games in which Maddon let him hit, but is spot in the order only came up two more times against the White Sox and once more against the Rangers, and the Angels’ pinch-hitters (Albert Pujols, Dexter Fowler, and Scott Schebler) combined to go 1-for-3 with a run scored in those three plate appearances. Meanwhile, Ohtani is now 3-for-6 with a double, a home run, a walk, three RBI, and four runs scored when allowed to pitch and hit in the same game, and the Angels are 2–0 in those games. Here’s hoping this becomes a regular thing for the Angels.
Tuesday, April 27
Tuesday was probably the most entertaining night of the week. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit three home runs and drove in seven against the Nationals (he’s the third player to go deep three times this year, joining J.D. Martinez and Ryan McMahon). Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a 481-foot moonshot that almost left Truist Park. Nolan Arenado ran 91 feet out of the shift to make and over-the-shoulder catch in foul territory on a Bryce Harper flare. (Harper had a himself a week. On Monday, a ball he hit in batting practice collided with a ball thrown by a teammate in mid-air, on Tuesday Arenado effectively stole an at-bat from him with this play, and on Wednesday he was hit in the left cheek by a 97-mile-per-hour Génesis Cabrera fastball, but avoided serious injury.) At Dodger Stadium, a Chris Taylor double down the left-field line scattered two members of the team’s on-field security in a very entertaining way. Also, prior to a dominating the Mariners in a 2–0 Astros win, Cristian Javier spilled coffee all over his white home uniform.
The thing that most interested me on Tuesday night, however, was an unusual play by Rays centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier in Tampa Bay’s 4–3 win over Oakland and Kiermaier’s subsequent explanation of the play to the press after the game. The play in question isn’t on YouTube, so I can’t embed it, but you can watch it here. With the game still tied 1–1 in the top of the sixth, the A’s had one out and Matt Olson on third. Mitch Moreland lifted a lazy fly ball to left field, an apparent sacrifice fly to break the tie. Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena set up under the ball to make the catch, but Kiermaier cam streaking over from center, calling Arozarena off, leapt in front of him to make the catch and fired a throw home to try to catch Olson.
Here’s how Kiermaier explained the play after the game:
I’m in a unique position with what my defensive skill set is, and I’ll never shy away from that. I believe I’m the best defensive outfielder in the game. I put my talents up with anyone. . . . I always tell my outfielders, especially when there’s a sac fly situation, I tell them, “Hey, if I can get to this area, I’m throwing.” . . . I’ve done it before, and it’s worked in my favor, back in the minor leagues, and I did it one time back in St. Louis with Corey Dickerson there in left, and it was a very close play. But, when it comes to that . . . 1–1 game, team hasn’t been playing very good. I’m doing everything in my power to preserve the tie, and I have one of the best arms in the big leagues, and I’ve had that since the day I’ve came here.
I got over there, and I know I could have got behind it, and I know I surprised Randy. He was camped, there’s no doubt about that whatsoever, but in that moment, if we’re up 3–1, 4–1, and if we’re playing a little bit better as of late, I don’t even think about it, but in that moment right there, pre-pitch, I’m saying, if I can get to any ball, I’m going, and I’m going to try to make the play.
Obviously, once again, I think I caught Randy off guard. He kind of stood his ground, and that hindered my ability to get behind the ball little bit more than what I wanted. Rightfully so by Randy, he did nothing wrong in that play whatsoever, and I tried making a play of it, because I want to throw it right there. I trust my arm and my ability to get the runner right there. Obviously, it didn’t work out for us. It probably looked a certain way from everyone’s view, but, at the same time, once again, I’m a playmaker out there, and I’m very confident in my abilities. I know I could have done it if circumstances were a little bit different, but, once again, if anyone’s at fault, it’s me for doing that. I trust Randy in his ability, but in that moment right there, I was trying to get to a certain spot and make a throw. It didn’t work out, and I’m upset over it with myself, but, at the same time, I just listen to my instincts out there, and I’m doing everything I can to try to win games.
For their part, both Arozarena and manager Kevin Cash seemed to understand Kiermaier’s motivations and had no issue with the play. “KK and I are great together,” Arozarena told the Tampa Bay Times through an interpreter after the game. “There’s no problem between us.”
“It’s something that I’m sure they’ll talk through,” added Cash, “but, no, I don’t see any concern whatsoever.”
Kiermaier isn’t wrong about his abilities in the field or the strength of his arm. I don’t know if he’s the best defensive outfielder in the majors, but he’s close, and might have a statistical argument for the title if he could stay healthy enough to play a full season. If he has an understanding with his corner outfielders that allows him to make plays like that without hard feelings, I don’t begrudge him the effort. That said, he’s 0-for-2 on those plays in the majors thus far. I found the play in St. Louis Kiermaier was referring to. It was on Players’ Weekend in 2017. Dickerson yielded in plenty of time on that one, but the run scored without a tag. You can watch it here.
More than anything else, I found this interesting because of Kiermaier’s honesty and detail in explaining his thinking after the game.
Wednesday, April 28
Speaking of the best defensive outfielder in baseball, Byron Buxton went 5-for-5 with a home run (his eighth, tying him for the major-league lead), a double, and a stolen base in a 10–2 win over Cleveland, showing off his elite speed by legging out both the double and an infield single for the fourth of those five hits. He joins Yermín Mercedes, Cedric Mullins, and David Peralta on the list of hitters with five-hit games thus far this year.
In another blow out, in Atlanta, Anthony Rizzo took the mound and struck out his buddy Freddie Freeman on a 61-mile-per-hour curveball. Freeman was 4-for-4 with a home run and a double against the Cubs’ actual pitchers in that game:
Perhaps the most significant thing that happened on Wednesday, however, was when Cardinals reliever Génesis Cabrera came into a tie game against the Phillies and his first two pitches hit Bryce Harper in the face and Didi Gregorius in the ribs. Thankfully, both players seem to have escaped significant injury. Gregorius didn’t even come out of the game. However, Phillies manager Joe Girardi exploded at the umpiring crew after they reacted to the second hit batter by warning both benches. After the game, Girardi, who was ejected for his tirade, explained that his argument wasn’t so much with the warnings but with the fact that Cabrera clearly had a dangerous lack of control and should not have been allowed to remain in the game.
This is where this becomes significant: the only way Cabrera could have left the game at that point was via ejection. The three-batter minimum required Cardinals manager Mike Shildt to allow Cabrera to face one more hitter. The umpires didn’t eject Cabrera because it was clear to everyone on the field that he didn’t hit either batter intentionally. Beyond Cabrera’s obvious body language, he wasn’t trying to put the tie-breaking run on base or into scoring position with no one out in the sixth inning. Still, it seems fair to say that everyone on that field and in both dugouts, including Cabrera, would have preferred he left the game at that point.
Instead, the three-batter minimum required Shildt to leave in a pitcher who had become a danger to the batters at the plate and who clearly was not going to help the Cardinals win this game. Indeed, the third batter Cabrera faced, Andrew McCutchen, delivered an RBI single to plate Matt Joyce (who had pinch-run for Harper), the mid-inning pitching change the rule is supposedly designed to prevent happened immediately after that, and the Phillies went on to win 5–3. So, who does the three-batter minimum benefit in a situation like that? Ostensibly the opposing team, but Girardi wasn’t happy about it. I doubt Shidlt was happy about it, and it only made the game longer. My point is, it’s a stupid rule and, after this season, the three-batter minimum, automatic runner in extras, and seven-inning double headers need to be taken out behind the barn and put out of their (or rather, our) misery.
Thursday, April 29
The Astros slipped ahead of the Mariners in the AL West standings by winning the first three games of their head-to-head series in Houston this week, but Thursday’s Mariners starter, lefty Yusei Kikuchi, and rookie centerfielder Taylor Trammell weren’t having any of that.
In the finale on Thursday afternoon, Kikuchi took a no-hitter in the seventh inning. Carlos Correa broke it up with a one-out double, but Kikuchi responded by making a brilliant sliding play on the next hitter for the second out, then stranding Correa by getting Aledmys Díaz to hit a more conventional groundout. Here’s the sliding play:
Trammell, meanwhile, staked Kikuchi to a 1–0 lead with a solo homer off Luis Garcia in the top of the third that appeared to glance off the tip of the glove of leaping right fielder Chas McCormick. Anthony Misiewicz worked a 1-2-3 eighth in relief of Kikuchi. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, with Kendall Graveman on the mound to close, Alex Bregman singled with one out to give the Astros a ray of hope only for Trammell to end the game with an improbable sliding catch on Carlos Correa’s flare to shallow center, putting the Mariners back in front of the Astros, at least for one more day. Here are Trammell’s highlights:
On Deck
For the first time this season, we have a weekend with a full-slate of scheduled games every day. There are, at long last, no idle teams this weekend.
Series to Watch:
Giants @ Padres: The Padres trail the now-first-place Giants by three games in the loss column heading into this three-game set, their lineup is finally whole with the return of catcher Aaron Nola from the injured list, they have the top of their rotation lined up to start the series, with Yu Darvish and Blake Snell going on Friday and Saturday, and they might get Dinelson Lamet back to face off against Kevin Gausman in Sunday’s game. Given the quality of play in the last two weekends’ Padres/Dodgers series, this is a must-see series.
Dodgers @ Brewers (started Thurs): As mentioned above, this series kicked off Thursday night with the first-place Brewers winning a tight 2–1 game to knock the Dodgers out of first place. Outside of Saturday’s game, the pitching matchups aren’t what you would have liked. Corbin Burnes has been sidelined due to COVID protocols (see Injured List below) vacating Sunday’s start, and the Dodgers are going with a bullpen game on Friday night. Still, if Thursday night’s game was any indication, this will be a series well worth your time.
Mets @ Phillies: Four of the five teams in the bizarre NL East are playing intradivision games this weekend (also Marlins @ Nationals). This is the more compelling of those two series, both because of the more natural regional rivalry and because these are supposed to be the two best of those four teams. Saturday’s Taijuan Walker vs. Zack Wheeler matchup is the game to catch if you can only catch one.
Astros @ Rays: This is a rematch of last year’s American League Championship Series, and it finds the Astros ascendant, having won six of their last eight and bosting the second-best run differential in the AL.
Angels @ Mariners: The third- and second-place teams in the AL West play their first head-to-head games of the season.
Cardinals @ Pirates: Since opening the season 1–6, the Pirates have gone 11–6 and haven’t lost consecutive games since that early six-game losing streak. This could be their high-water mark, but they’re tied in the loss column with the second-place Cardinals and have their best starter in the early going, 27-year-old JT Brubaker, going in Friday’s opener.
Friday, April 30
National Broadcasts: There’s just one national game on Friday. At 7:05 pm ET, you can watch Mets @ Phillies on the MLB Network, unless you live in the New York or Philadelphia areas, in which case you’ll get Cubs @ Reds at 7:10.
Pitching Matchup of the Day:
Shane Bieber vs. Dallas Keuchel, Cleveland @ White Sox, 8:10 pm ET
An intradivision matchup of former AL Cy Young award winners. Keuchel has a 3.43 ERA over his last four starts and is coming off his best outing of the year (six scoreless frames against the Rangers). Bieber is 5-for-5 in quality starts thus far and has struck out at least nine in all five starts.
Game of the Day:
Giants @ Padres, Logan Webb vs. Yu Darvish, 10:10 pm ET
I’m too excited about this series not to jump in with both feet with this game, particularly with Darvish going for the Padres. As for Webb, he’s coming off his best start of the young season, seven scoreless frames against the Marlins with eight strikeouts.
Saturday, May 1
National Broadcasts: The FS1 Game of the Week is Cleveland @ White Sox at 4:05 pm ET. The MLB Network has Marlins @ Nationals or Tigers @ Yankees at 1:05 pm ET, and Red Sox @ Rangers or Dodgers @ Brewers in the 7pm ET hour.
Pitching Matchup and Game of the Day:
Dustin May vs. Brandon Woodruff, Dodgers @ Brewers, 7:10 pm ET
This is by far the best pitching matchup of this series. Woodruff is off to a great start. In his last four turns, all of them quality starts, he has allowed just two runs on seven hits in 25 innings (0.72 ERA) with 29 strikeouts, and he hasn’t allowed a home run all season in 29 frames. As for May, we know about his stuff, and he rose to the occasion against the Padres last weekend, allowing just one run on a solo home run plus just two other baserunners (a single and a walk) in six innings while striking out 10.
Sunday, May 2
National Broadcasts: ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball has Mets @ Phillies at 7:08. The MLB Network has Tigers @ Yankees or Braves @ Blue Jays at 1:05 pm ET.
Pitching Matchup of the Day:
Trevor Rogers vs. Max Scherzer, Marlins @ Nationals, 1:05 pm ET
Rogers’s last start came against Corbin Burnes, and Rogers came out on top. The 6-foot-5 lefty has a 1.29 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 28 innings through five starts and has allowed just one home run. Three times in his last four starts he has turned in a scoreless outing of at least six innings. Scherzer got lit up by the Braves on Opening Day and by Vlad Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays his last time out, but in the three starts in between he allowed just one run in 19 innings while striking out 24.
Game of the Day:
Giants @ Padres, Kevin Gausman vs. TBD, 4:10 pm ET
In truth, this could depend on the results from Friday and Saturday, but I’ll default to the above and cross my fingers that Lamet is indeed healthy enough to make the start for San Diego.
Injured List
Activated:
Blue Jays CF George Springer
White Sox CF Luis Robert
Cardinals CF Harrison Bader
Twins OFs Max Kepler and Kyle Garlick and IF JT Riddle
Riddle was designated for assignment as Andrelton Simmons preceded him off the IL.
Padres C Austin Nola
Angels C Max Stassi
Diamondbacks RHP Chris Devenski
Devenski was on the restricted list for personal reasons. His return bumps righty Yoan López to the alternate training site.
Updates:
Nationals LHP Luis Avilán: Tommy John surgery
The veteran lefty reliever will be a free agent this winter and could struggle to find a contract this winter given the likelihood that he will miss most of next season. He’ll be 33 by the time he’s ready to pitch another full season in 2022.
Placed on IL:
Brewers RHP Corbin Burnes: undisclosed
Brewers RHP Zack Godley: right index finger contusion
These moves throw the Brewers’ rotation into a bit of upheaval. The Brewers were troublingly guarded about the reason for Burnes hitting the IL on Thursday. Brewers President of Baseball Operations David Stearns simply said that the team was following MLB’s health and safety protocols and said he would not speculate on a timetable for Burnes’ return. That sounds both COVID-related, and like something more than vaccine side-effects, so expect him to miss at least the full 10 days, which would include his scheduled start against the Dodgers this weekend (which is a huge bummer, though, obviously I worry about the man’s health before I worry about the lost matchup).
Godley was already a replacement starter, pitching in place of the injured Brett Anderson (hamstring) Wednesday night when he was hit on the finger while laying down a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the third inning. Godley returned to the mound in the top of the fourth, walked the first man he faced, hit the second, then came out due to the injury. Given that the finger isn’t broken, he should be able to return after the minimum ten days. Still, that leaves the Brewers with two holes in their rotation.
In conjunction with these two moves, and the demotion of Patrick Weigel to the alternate training site, on Thursday, they called up three pitchers with a history of starting: lefty Eric Lauer, who started Thursday night’s game against the Dodgers, righty Alec Bettinger, and former Nationals All-Star Jordan Zimmermann, who is now five years removed from his last good season. With Josh Lindblom also on the IL, the Brewers are also likely to draw their starter for Sunday’s game from that bunch.
Meanwhile, Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain could be ready to return to action next week. Given this rash of injuries to the rotation, they can’t return soon enough.
Incidentally, one of my pet peeves is players getting injured because they don’t know how to hold the bat on bunts. One prominent recent example was Trea Turner, who played the entire 2019 season with a fractured index finger on his right hand due to poor bunting form. The proper way to hold your forward hand on a bunt is in the curve between your thumb and your fist, with all of your fingers safely tucked away. Make a thumbs up, rest the bat on top of your curled up index finger, use your thumb to grab the bat. That’s the way to do it safely. If the ball hits your hand, it hits your closed fist, and you can’t get a finger trapped between the ball and the bat, which is how they get broken. It probably also helps to keep your eyes open.
Turner had all of his fingers extended. He didn’t wrap them around the bat the way some players do, but because he didn’t tuck them away, his index finger curled up a bit and got caught between the ball and the bat. Godley had better form than Turner, which probably saved him from a broken finger. Still, he only made a fist with his bottom three fingers. His index finger leaked and got hit. I realize that bunting has been marginalized in the modern game, but this is such a simple, common-sense fundamental, and getting it wrong has such a high cost, that I’m constantly flabbergasted that I almost never see it executed properly at the major-league level.
Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright: COVID protocols
Cardinals LHP Andrew Miller: right foot blister
A member of Wainwright’s family tested positive for COVID-19. I wish that individual a speedy recovery. Meanwhile, the Cardinals hope that Wainwright will be eligible to start on Monday, assuming he clears the protocols by then.
Miller has a blister on a toe on his right foot. I can’t remember a pitcher being shelved for a foot blister before. Kodi Whitley takes his bullpen spot. Harrison Bader’s return consumes Wainwright’s roster spot.
Marlins 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr: left hamstring strain
Chisholm, who was my NL All-Star second baseman for April, hurt himself running the bases in Tuesday’s game. He’ll likely miss at least a couple of weeks. Isan Díaz, whom Chisholm beat out for the second-base job in camp, has been called up to replace him.
Blue Jays LHP Hyun Jin Ryu: right glute strain
Ryu, who had been off to a typically strong start, left his start on Sunday in the fourth inning due to this injury. Sadly, the occasional IL stay is also typical of Ryu, even in his best seasons. Lefty Travis Bergen is replacing Ryu on the roster for now, but most likely either Anthony Kay or Tanner Roark will ultimately take his rotation spot, as Trent Thornton and Tommy Milone have already been deployed as replacements for Ross Stripling (right forearm strain) and T.J. Zeuch (right shoulder tendonitis). The Jays hope Ryu will be able to return when eligible.
Giants RF Mike Yastrzemski: left oblique strain
Yastrzemski came out of Sunday’s game with this injury, but the Giants were hoping he’d avoid the IL. Still, the Mike Tauchman trade appears to have come at exactly the right time. Yaz had been off to a bit of a slow start, hitting .215, albeit with a good amount of power and patience. In his Giants debut Wednesday night, Tauchman got the start in center and went 3-for-4.
Diamondbacks RF Kole Calhoun: left hamstring strain
Diamondbacks RHP Taylor Widener: right groin strain
The Diamondbacks have been on a nice run, winning eight of their last 10 to climb over .500, but their injuries are piling up. They’re now without Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Calhoun, three key bats in their lineup, speedster Tim Locastro, the two veteran righties they signed to beef up the bullpen, Tyler Clippard and Joakim Soria, and Widener, who had been off to a strong start in the rotation. Calhoun missed the first week of the season due to a torn meniscus, but had been productive since returning. Josh Rojas will take his place in right field, while Dalton Varsho has been recalled to take his place on the roster. Widener had a 2.82 ERA trough his first four starts of the season. Riley Smith was recalled to start in his place Thursday night, but allowed three runs in four innings without striking out a batter. The team could actually skip that spot in the rotation the next time through (it falls on Monday’s off-day), but Caleb Smith seems like the favorite to get the call when the team next decides to deploy a fifth starter.
Mariners LHP Marco Gonzales: left forearm strain
Gonzales was roughed up by the Giants and Twins in his first two starts this season, but had been much better in his last three against the Orioles, Dodgers, and Astros, posting a 2.50 ERA with just one home run allowed over 18 innings in those three starts. Unfortunately, he seems to have hurt himself in the last of those, even though he threw 95 pitches over six innings. Righty Domingo Tapia takes his place on the roster. As for the rotation, the Mariners had been using a six-man rotation. With James Paxton out for the year following Tommy John surgery and Nick Margevicius having preceded Gonzales to the IL with left shoulder inflammation, Seattle might opt to revert to a standard five-man group rather than turn to the ninth starter on their depth chart.
White Sox LHP Garrett Crochet: upper back strain
The 11th overall pick in last year’s draft, Crochet arrived in the majors last September with a fastball that averaged 100 miles per hour. This year, he has averaged just 96 mph, and has been throwing more sliders and changeups. His early results have been mostly good, though his walk rate has been high. This injury doesn’t appear related to any of that, and the Sox hope to have him back in action quickly.
Dodgers RHP Brusdar Graterol: right forearm tightness
Graterol missed most of camp and opened the year on the injured list due to what was described as a pandemic-related inability to keep up with his usual offseason throwing program. He made three abbreviated appearances after returning to action two weekends ago, facing a total of just nine batters, five of whom reached base and only one of whom struck out, despite Graterol’s still-elite velocity. Now he’s back on the IL which an injury that could be minor, but raises red flags for a young pitcher with supposed “easy” gas. Righty Edwin Uceta takes his place in the bullpen.
Rockies RHP Yency Almonte: right hand contusion
With one out and the bases loaded in the seventh inning Wednesday night in San Francisco, Almonte got Mike Tauchman to hit a chopper that might have been an inning-ending double-play ball. Except the ball came too close to Almonte, who tried to stab it with his bare hand but instead deflected it into an RBI single. He has now landed on the IL with the resulting contusion. Righty Justin Lawrence takes his spot in the Rockies’ bullpen.
Transaction Reactions
Mariners claim C Jacob Nottingham off waivers from the Brewers
The Brewers’ primary return for sending Khris Davis to the A’s before the 2016 season, Nottingham emerged as the Brewers’ primary catcher last September and into the postseason in the wake of a season-erasing injury to Manny Piña and a lousy season by Omar Narváez. He tore the radial collateral ligament in his left thumb in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, had offseason surgery, and missed all of spring training. The Brewers activated him last week and immediately designated him for assignment, likely hoping they could pass him through waivers. No such luck. The Mariners, whose catching combo of Luis Torrens and Tom Murphy has hit .140/.187/.256 thus far this season, claimed the 26-year-old righty and could well give him a major-league look if the 30-year-old Murphy, in particular, doesn’t shape up.
Mets claim C Deivy Grullón off waivers from Rays
This is Grullón’s fourth move via waivers since last September. A longtime Phillies farmhand, he went from the Phillies to the Red Sox on September 3, to the Reds on December 23, to the Rays on April 6, and now to the Mets. He’s a stocky, 25-year-old, right-hand-hitting catcher with power who hit .283/.354/.496 with 21 homers in 353 plate appearances in his first crack at Triple-A in 2019. In the majors, he’s likely to undermine that power with low batting averages and an aversion to walks. He’s headed to the Mets’ alternate training site.
Shameless Self-promotion
Less than an hour after recording my conversation with Matt Kory for his Sox Outsiders podcast (embedded in Wednesday’s issue), I hopped on with my good pal Steven Goldman for my latest appearance on The Infinite Inning. As a result, I go off on some similar topics here (strikeouts, the new ball). I also make a blunder early on in praising Gary Sánchez’s hot start (I was more than a week behind reality on that one, and it plays even worse now, another week later). Still, Steve always takes the conversation to interesting places, so despite some overlap, this is a wholly distinct conversation. Plus, Steve tells stories about Babe Ruth and the Dean brothers, including some audio of Dizzy as a capper on the latter. Give a listen!
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Closing Credits
Tomorrow is May 1, so what better song to play as we leave April 2021 behind forever than the Bee Gee’s nostalgic 1969 single, “First of May.”
Barry Gibb, who wrote the melody and lyric to his brother Maurice’s piano figure, supposedly chose the date because it was his dog Barnaby’s birthday (Barnaby is a great dog name). May 1 was actually my maternal grandfather’s birthday. He was born on May 1, 1907. In his seventies, he had a valve replaced in his heart. Visiting him in the hospital, my dad noticed a sequence of three numbers on his plastic hospital bracelet. Dad couldn’t figure out what the significance of the three numbers was until he realized 5-1-7 was Pop’s birthday.
My grandfather, who was 13 when Babe Ruth joined the Yankees and remained a Yankee fan his entire life, lived into this century. He was 95 when he passed, and, right up until the end, he seemed indestructible, not because he was big and strong (short and stubborn describes him better), but because, among other things, he outlived that heart valve and had to have another put in. We used to call him “Bionic Pop.” It’s startling to think that Saturday marks the 114th anniversary of his birth, that, even if he had lived longer, he never would have made it this far. Time, as I believe I have mentioned, is relentless.
“First of May,” is about the fact that time is relentless. It was the final vocal track on the Bee Gee’s 1969 double album Odessa. Every 1960s band with any kind of ambition had to overreach with a concept album of some kind. Odessa was the Bee Gees’. Like most concept albums, it lost the concept between conception and release, but it still contained 17 songs and, on its original release, came wrapped in red velvet with the title embossed in gold. I’ve never listed to the whole thing. In truth, “First of May,” the only single, is the only song I’ve heard off of it. Like the Bee Gees themselves, its reputation has improved in recent years, so I should probably remedy that.
The story goes that the choice of the Barry-sung “First of May” as the lead single over Robin’s vocal on “Lamplight,” which wound up on the B-side, contributed to Robin’s decision to quit the group in the wake of the record’s release. Robin’s decision, in turn, contributed to the fact that the label didn’t release any other singles from the album. That was all water under the bridge before long, as the brothers reunited a little more than a year after Robin’s departure. Still, that context, even if it came after the writing and recording of the song, deepens the ache in “First of May” in my mind.
As the final song on an ambitious quasi-concept double album, “First of May” strikes an appropriately nostalgic tone, though it’s surprisingly underwritten. It’s a very simple song, less than three minutes long. It has no bridge, and the third verse repeats the first, minus one line that is deleted. Barry sings the lovely melody over Maurice’s piano in the first verse. A cello joins in the first chorus, adding an acoustic guitar and harp. The second verse is fully orchestrated, as is the second chorus. Then, halfway through the third verse, the instruments all drop out entirely and Barry finishes the song a cappella, the final line fading into silence.
Whenever I think of the Gibbs these days, I can’t help but ruminate on the fact that they all got to reach such incredible heights together, and that Barry has since had to go on without them all, losing little brother Andy in 1988, Maurice in 2003, and Robin in 2012. At the end of the recent HBO documentary, subtitled How Can You Mend A Broken Heart after the brothers’ 1971 hit, Barry says that he’d give it all back to have his brothers still with him today. It’s a painful thing to hear, particularly when you consider that the loss would be inevitable, anyway. There’s clearly some survivor’s guilt there. Barry is the oldest, he was never meant to be the last remaining. Surely he never prepared for that reality.
Just to drive all of that home, someone synched this song up to home movies of Barry and Robin in their youth. In the footage, Robin is the young goofball, Barry the strapping teenager. The performance footage is, I believe, from This Is Tom Jones, a short-lived variety show staring the titular Welsh belter. That footage puts Barry in a tight spotlight and casts Robin in shadow.
Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by
Someone else moved in from far away
On that cheerful note, The Cycle will return on Monday with a recap of the weekend and a look ahead to next week’s action.
In the meantime: