Quite a night for Aaron Judge 2 HRs, a double, BB, and just now a leaping catch well above the RF wall that took a HR away from Teoscar Hernandez. Not sure anyone else could have got that one.

And to correct #598, it was left fielder Kelenic who banged his head against the wall on Judge’s 2nd HR, although he was able to stay in the game.

Double post

All star ballot


The all star ballot is out, who will you be voting for

Silly observation: the Orioles seem to be really enjoying themselves, day in and day out. A lot of random smiling and grinning on the field. It's fun to see.

Admittedly I'd be the same and you've have to drag my rotting corpse off the diamond if I were a MLB player, but I find it sad that Miggy's slash line is .169 .253 .455. The old school career BA is still safely above .300 at .307 as he'd need to go like 0 fer 250 to drop that below .300.

For all the, hey they really overpaid hand-wringing, Semien and Seager are really raking at the top of that Rangers order. Maybe they both needed a year to settle into the BDC dome?

Every team in the AL East has a positive pythag, that seems unique with over a 1/3 of the season completed?

The only teams in the NL central with a positive run differential are sitting in 4th and last.

Red Sox starter Bello up to 97 pitches after 4. Thrown 61 strikes but only 4K's along with 5H, 1ER and 2BB, a real battle over the 4 innings. Sox down 1-0 after loading the bases in the first with 1 out and couldn't get even 1 run across.

The Cardinals are finishing up 18 games in 18 days and look like it. They have stopped hitting, just as the pitching stopped taking on water. But they look lethargic and old.

O'Neill's ego (on it's his back officially ) is hurt and can't seem to get better
Nootbar just hurt his back running into a wall
Carlson is hurt

So their best three Defensive OFs are hurt now. Edman made his career debut in CF tonight

Something is wrong with Goldschmidt who has been playing DH/sitting more

Both STL and KC have two days in a row off. Apparently they both had Monday off and lobbied the league to let them play on Memorial Day so they consequently get two days off on a row.

Both STL and KC have two days in a row off. Apparently they both had Monday off and lobbied the league to let them play on Memorial Day so they consequently get two days off on a row.

They(the Cardinals) also have two days off in a row June 22/23, a Thursday and Friday.

Brennan having an awful night in right for Cleveland. He's misplayed two balls in the corner, and a catchable fly just went over his head. But the Guardians are in the game, down 8-5 going into the top of the 9th.

Orioles were up 7-0 after two.

Mikolas demise was declared a little too soon, 8 ip, 3 hits, 10 strikeouts today, and in his previous 6 starts he's pitched 36 1/3 inning with an era of 1.98.

Aroldis Chapman just allowed a run to the Cardinals, he had 31 consecutive appearances against the Cardinals without allowing a run.

Mikolas for the month of May 6 starts, 38ip, 8 runs allowed, 1.89 era, if we hold and get him the win, he would go 3-0 for the month. Including today's game, in his last 9 starts 55 1/3 innings, 13 er(14 runs) 2.11 era, but of course only 3-0 or 4-0 record as the pen and offense doesn't always do the job. (team result is 6-2 not counting today)

Kinda wish Oli had let Mikolas go for the CG SHO---he was at 102 pitches and had the Royals' hitters eating out of his hand.

And on cue, KC leadoff hitter doubles off Gallegos to start the 9th with the Cardinals up 2-0.

Jesus, a single by Perez, two on, nobody out. The Royals have one fewer hit off Gallegos than they got in 8 innings off Mikolas.

A smash groundout by Witt brings in a run, that's three batters and three hard-hit balls off Gallegos.

Unfortunately that 455 for Miggy is his OPS. He has just 3 doubles and no HRs. It's either time for Miggy Appreciateion Day or time to Pujols him. And yeah, it's sad.

Semien and Seager are really raking at the top of that Rangers order. Maybe they both needed a year to settle into the BDC dome?

They weren't actually bad last year, they just had bad slumps at some point. Seager's career OPS+ is 129 adn last year it was 118 and it was his most PA since age 22 so maybe he was a bit tired. :-) Certainly not his best rate of production but thanks to the extra PAs, still his best WAR and 2nd-best WAA since age 23. Semien has always bounced between extremes but it's worked out to a career 110 OPS+ and last year was 107. Semien is also a much better defender (by DRS) and baserunner than I realized so last year he still had nearly 6 WAR. But yeah, both tearing it up so far this year and those two questionable deals are starting to look pretty good.

Every team in the AL East has a positive pythag, that seems unique with over a 1/3 of the season completed?

I assume it's rare too but some of this is the ultra-balanced schedule. In the past, one division might have been a lot better but with half of their games in the division, the weakest one or two would get sufficiently pummeled within the division that their overall numbers didn't stand out. To this point in the season, the random team has played only about 20 of 55 games in the division. Time to update I suppose, the ALE vs others:

ALC 43-16 (this is insane)
ALW 29-21 (this has tightened up a lot)
NL 44-27 (thanks to Bos at 9-11 or this would be a lot worse)

Coming into today, the AL as a whole is just 121-113 vs the NL with a +74 run differential.

And yes, as it stands at ESPN as I type, the Twins would be 6th in the ALE (and they are currently losing) and currently tied for 4th in the ALW. Unless one of the ALC starts beating up on all the other ALC teams, there is a very real chance of a sub-500 team ... and dare I say it, maybe even the Tigers ... being in the playoffs.

Cardinals just can't make the game easy. 2-1 victory, Mikolas with the win, Gallegos getting a couple of days off that he'll need.

KC-Stl nail-biter ends with a Gallegos whiff of Michael Massey with the tying run at second.

Much-needed win over a terrible team as Cardinals had lost 4 of last 5.

Graphic from Cubs game:

Top 4 payrolls (about $1.1 B total): 109-107
#27-29 payrlls (I didn't notice, <$300): 99-64 (Pitt, Balt, Rays)

Now the astute will notice ... why #27-29? Add the A's and it's 110-109 for the bottom 4 payrolls. That's still impressive but everybody is doing their best to pretend the A's don't exist (incl obviously the A's). The A's are so bad, they turn 99-64 into 110-109.

It's like somebody fed an AI all of baseball's financial data and every baseball movie ever, set it to work, and it decided that Major League actually is the most rational way to run a team.

Cardinals go to 6-11 in one run games, those have been a big reason for their downfall this season. (same with the Cubs who are 3-10 in one run games this season--big reason Marlins are doing so well this season is their 15-4 record in one run games)

Cubs looking for some big insurance runs, up 2-1 on the Rays in the 8th. Bases loaded, nobody out. And Mancini with the 6-2-3 DP.

Red Sox get 5 in the 9th...and still lose 9-8 to the Reds. After seemingly playing good teams with winning records all the time, the Sox finally get a chance to be at home against a less competitive team...and they lose.

This is what .500 teams do. They get your hopes up, then lose to teams they really should be beating. The road to mediocrity is littered with bumps and pot holes.

If Pittsburgh loses tonight they likely fall below .500 for good. Milwaukee loses again and is in danger of hitting .500 within a week or two. The Cardinals are struggling to beat KC so they aren't likely to make a run until they get healthy. First one to 81 wins gets a home playoff series ! Everyone else goes home

Cincinnati has been playing good ball for a week. Red Sox ran into a hot team

Looks like maybe only one home run for Aaron Judge tonight, and just a solo shot to left-center (390 feet) at that, #18 in the 7th to make it 8-2 Yankees over Mariners. Judge now at .303/.410/.691.

"I understand that playing baseball is a privilege, and not a right. My convictions in Jesus Christ will always come first. Since I have been with the Dodger’s [sic] they have been at the forefront of supporting a wide variety of groups.. However, inviting the Sister’s [sic] of Perpetual indulgence to perform disenfranchises a large community and promotes hate of Christians and people of faith. This single event alienates the fans and supporters of the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and professional sports. People like baseball for its entertainment value and competition. The fans do not want propaganda or politics forced on them. The debacle with Bud Light and Target should be a warning to companies and professional sports to stay true to their brand and leave the propaganda and politics off the field…I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I believe the word of God is true, and in Galatians 6:7 it says, ‘Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked; a man reaps what he sows.’ This group openly mocks Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of my faith, and I want to make it clear that I do not agree with nor support the decision of the Dodgers’ to ‘honor’ the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.”

“This group openly mocks Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of my faith, and I want to make it clear that I do not agree with nor support the decision of the Dodgers’ to ‘honor’ the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.”

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15,” Treinen concluded



Treinen joins Kershaw in protest. Who couldn't see this coming? The dodgers PR Sept apparently.

I was surprised when the NHL had to start cancelling Pride events that MLB didn't take caution in how they did this. This topic is engulfing corporate America now. I personally don't think the teams will do anything. Their bread is buttered by corporate boxes and tv deals. There's no way a protest like this can hurt their attendance enough to make them change course.

It's safe to assume that Blake Treinen is on the wrong side of any particular issue.

Lance Lynn just had a first inning against the Angels in which he allowed 4 baserunners and two runs, yet somehow still only threw 19 pitches.

Usually when he has one of these innings he's up around 35 pitches, and I feel like a couple years ago he had a 45-pitch inning.

478-foot homer for Shohei Ohtani. Lance Lynn just teed that one up, and Ohtani wrecked it. Just wrecked it.

The Yankees have placed Harrison Bader on the IL with a strained hamstring, and recalled Franchy Cordero to take his place on the roster. Franchy had some useful moments in his earlier roster stints, but it didn’t last. Still, he’s hitting .348/.451/.565 at AAA, so he’s probably the best option at this point. Bader will be missed.

Bader has NEVER been healthy all year for the Cards. It's always something with him

Tough one today for the Cubs - less because of the two blown leads and leaving the bases loaded in the ninth (they still took the series from the Rays, which was more than expected), and more because Steele left after 3 with an apparent forearm issue.

The cards get two days off and then three weeks from now get two days off (London trip ) and have a few other off days. This is a huge advantage for managing the bullpen

"The Padres, and any other team that ceases to be paid TV rights money, are set to receive at least 80 percent of their owed money from the league. Rob Manfred in court today"

So that means that some teams had a 20% above market deal on average

What is the reason that fans don't get to elect pitchers to the ASG?

Likely because most of them don't want to go and screw up their routine so they allow the managers to figure it out amongst themselves

Likely because most of them don't want to go and screw up their routine so they allow the managers to figure it out amongst themselves

That's silly. Pitchers definitely want to be named to the game; they can still not go.

So Paxton makes it through 5, allowing only 1 ER on 4 H and 1 BB, 8K's, so nice outing, but seemed to struggle in that 5th as he approached 100 pitches. The stuff seems to be there, fitness looks like it could use a bit more time.
Sox up 2-1 and really need a win to try to leap back into 4th in the East. Mid pack in the East would be an achievement for Boston this year, but I'm not sure if 84-85 wins still won't keep them out of the cellar.

What is the reason that fans don't get to elect pitchers to the ASG?

Precedent is probably the reason. I can't say for sure as I'm not a sabr historian, but I think they left the choice of pitchers up to the managers so that they had a say, and as it has evolved, they just kept it, and ultimately with the way it's been going lately, and about 1/3rd of the named starting pitchers backing out because of rotation concerns, they have probably decided to keep it, so that nobody can make the argument "the fans want you there, you should pitch."

That is my guess.

Scoreless after 9 for NYY @ Seattle.

What is the reason that fans don't get to elect pitchers to the ASG?

It helps meet the every team has to be represented requirement, as well as avoiding too many pitchers who are unavailable because they pitched too much on the the Sunday before the All-Star Game, especially for otherwise marginal selections.

I flipped over to watch Yanks game, heard about a fan running around on the field and then it was over 6 pitches later. I hate the ghost runner rule in the 10th

This just sucks, two days without a game (not counting the all star break) is just ####### bullshit.

I flipped over to watch Yanks game, heard about a fan running around on the field and then it was over 6 pitches later. I hate the ghost runner rule in the 10th

agree, I think there should be at least 2 innings of non-ghost runners.

62 extra-inning games (i.e. 124 team-games), 143.1 extra innings pitched, 162 RS, 109 UER with just 4 RoE. Walk rates also very high but that's the 47 IBB; otherwise the slash line is pretty similar to the 9th inning. Anyway, give or take, 105 of 143 ghost runners have scored.

What I'd like to know is what %age of games are won because only one team scored their ghostie. Games that end in an inning where both score are ones where, in theory, the game would have ended then anyway. (Or arguably, the "right" team won or the outcome was "fair.") About the best I can say for it is that success has shifted from "hitters coming through" to "pitchers coming through" by getting out of the -2-, no outs situation.

Padres leading 7-1(make that 10-1) in the top of the sixth, with a good pitching outing from Musgrove.

I don't know if he had the best pitching month in the NL for May, but I do know that Mikolas had a better month than Mitch Keller who Will Leitch picked as the NL pitcher of the month, mind you, I think he made that list on the 30th of May before Miles had his great game and Keller had less than great game, but even before that, Mikolas had a better month up to that point.

What I'd like to know is what %age of games are won because only one team scored their ghostie.

The ones that bother me are the games won by what wouldn’t normally score a run, or even produce a base runner, absent the Manfred Man - a couple of ground balls or outfield flies.

The ones that bother me are the games won by what wouldn’t normally score a run, or even produce a base runner, absent the Manfred Man - a couple of ground balls or outfield flies.

Let's really #### up the game, how about we put a man on second, but also start the inning with one out? (And I'm only half kidding here)

June OMNICHATTER has been activated.