April 29, 2021
1. We’ve just seen the worst umpire call of the season
Nothing will top this. It’s the magnum opus. Not the Michael Conforto “hit-by-pitch”, not Angel Hernandez and his comical strike zones.
This is it — this is the one:
Full explanation from the umpire here, none of which passes any smell test anyone’s ever heard of — Brewers coaches included:
2. Bryce Harper got hit in the face by a fastball
Warning, slightly hard to watch if these things bother you:
3. A minute later, Joe Girardi “ejects” the umpire, and gets ejected himself
Cardinals reliever Génesis Cabrera came in and, on his first two pitches, hit Harper in the face, and Didi Gregorius in the ribs.
Out came Girardi, rightfully irate:
John Kruk: “This is the big leagues. If you’re command’s that dang bad, get out.” Here’s the full sequence:
4. Anthony Rizzo struck out Freddie Freeman
The Cubs are in last place, they’re down 10–0, their season is falling apart — so why not? Rizzo’s final stat-line: 0.2 IP, no hits, no runs, and this glorious strikeout, of the 2020 NL MVP:
5. Francisco Lindor is getting booed at Citi Field
He came to New York for $341 million in the offseason, he’s a four-time All Star — and in 2021, his numbers are looking like this:
.203 AVG, .578 OPS, 1 HR
Lindor: “It’s funny, and… it sucks.”
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7. Tyler Glasnow got called out by his mom for “cussing on TV”
Seven shut-out innings, his ERA drops to 1.67 on the season, completely dominant yet again. And after the game, his mom called him out — after Kevin Kiermaier made a great catch in center field, lip-reading included:
Glasnow: “My mom texted me — You’ve gotta stop cussing on TV…”
8. Corey Kluber has an alarmingly blank, borderline unsettling face
Yes his nickname is “Klubot”, but still — what’s going on here?
“T-1000. Advanced prototype. A mimetic polyalloy”:
But remember, he has smiled — once:
9. Base-running blunders of the night: Alex Wood & Clint Frazier
Alex Wood. Pitcher. Wearing a pitcher’s jacket. Attempting to steal third. Didn’t go so well:
And then Clint Frazier, who bumped up his batting average from .132 to .158 last night — and got just a bit carried away in the excitement:
10. DeGrom pitched yet another gem and lost, yet again
Jacob deGrom day. The Mets losing 1–0. Name a more reliable combination?
11. Kyle Hendricks got rocked by the Braves again
Marcell Ozuna taking “selfies” on his way to first. Huascar Ynoa, Braves starter, hitting his first-career HR. And the Cubs, in last place, looking like they’ll stay there all year.
On ESPN Sunday Night a few weeks back, Hendricks gave up four home runs in the first inning, the ninth pitcher in MLB history to do so. And now, last night, down in Atlanta — it happened again:
12. Josh Rojas robbed Fernando Tatis Jr. at the wall
It would’ve put Tatis in a tie for the league lead in home runs, eight after the first month:
13. Brewers catcher Omar Narvaez goofed on Jesus Aguilar
Give it a watch, hilarious:
14. The Dodgers and Yankees both get back on track
Kershaw was dominant, and they won 8–0 to end their first three-game losing streak since the 2019 season:
And then Yankees, inching back up to .500, won 7–0 in Baltimore. Starting to look normal again, if they can keep it up:
15. Manny Machado hits a bases-clearing triple
The Padres have been scuffling a bit, despite the hype, despite the great series at Dodger Stadium. Might this game be the thing that kicks off a surge?
16. Awful swing of the night: Nolan Arenado
But, he made up for it with a brilliant play at third earlier in the game:
17. Lastly — after his 3 HRs two nights ago, now Vladdy does the splits
If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, send me a DM on Twitter! I’ll be doing them all year, to package the best highlights and stories from around the league — and to make baseball easier and quicker to follow.
Twitter: @bbletter
