January 10, 2022

1. There’s a female pitcher in the Australian Baseball League

Last week, there was news of a signing, and then just days later she pitched in a game. Very cool stuff, and surprising to see a first-of-its-kind baseball feat come out of Australia.

And she’s just seventeen years old.

From the CBS Sports article:

2. And there’s now a female coach in the Yankees organization

Another first-of-its-kind story, this time with MLB affiliations:

3. Mookie Betts bowled a 300

This is unreal (and not the first time he’s done it, either).

Here he is back in 2017, bowling another 300.

4. Baseball fans, meet the “Kay-Rod” show

ESPN is reconfiguring their Sunday night broadcasts, with a much-improved lineup on the main telecast — Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez and David Cone — and announced there will be a secondary “Manningcast”-esque channel featuring Michael Kay, Alex Rodriguez, and weekly guests joining remotely.

And so, the era of Kay-Rod begins.

Here’s Michael Kay discussing the announcement, on his ESPN New York radio show:

5. The Mariners receive a put-down in the NYT crossword puzzle

Simply a factual statement in the clue, but did they need any reminder?

6. An update to the MLB lockout negotiations

Finally, some progress. Maybe. Fingers crossed.

From Yahoo Sports (link here):

7. Juan Soto’s younger brother is signing with the Nationals

Step one: Establish Soto family prospect pipeline

Step two: Win the World Series again

8. Former manager Brad Ausmus joins the A’s as bench coach

Always an awkward transition, stepping down into a lesser role in the baseball hierarchy, but that seems to just be how it goes.

9. The second-best baseball highlight of the weekend: A walk-off in the Dominican Republic

Falling short of the Genevieve Beacom clips, of course.

10. Koji Uehara thinks Seiya Suzuki will sign with the Red Sox

He’s the latest big-name MLB prospect from Japan, and one of the most talked-about names in the offseason, despite the lockout.

11. The Rays to Montreal idea becomes a little more tangible

Please, no.

12. The retired player tweet of the week: Rod Carew

Always a great follow on Twitter.

13. An NHL goalie wore Shohei Ohtani gear

To wear that properly, you should have to play two positions.

And then the Angels “rally monkey” dropped the puck to start the game:

14. And lastly, the wholesome baseball content of the weekend

Have to end a Monday on a nice note, don’t we?