:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/53546827/GettyImages-1392793.0.jpg)
I'm gonna forgive those two losses out of three over the weekend and blame the interruption to our roster development that is the World Baseball Classic. I'm not going to blame the silly defense, or the crappy pitching at the back-end of the bullpen, or Tyler Skaggs' faceplant on Saturday, or even Garrett Richards using Sunday as a warm-up. Nope. Not me. Not gonna worry about such things. Not yet.
The 2017 WBC opens today, with a pair of games in Pool A, over in Seoul. The first game, Israel versus Korea, is already over. It should end about 30 minutes after this Links post gets published at 4AM PDT. The second game, Israel versus Taipei, is tonight at 7PM. The full schedule is here. Some historical perspective on why it is what it remains is here.............
Have some Global Balls of Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Huston de Cul-De-Sac has hit another dead end. He has a strained triceps and will probably not be around for Opening Day. Street lasted all of 2 batters and 11 pitches. Maybe next time we can try and not use him in the 3rd inning. He keeps telling us such things............
Tyler Skaggs might be a concern, also. Not just that he didn't make it out of one full inning, giving up 4 walks and 3 runs on 0 hits. but that his velocity dropped so fast in the short outing that he had. Hmmm. I am ondering wether I need to start wondering about this whole Tyler Skaggs story?..........
When a baseball writer finds that he has run out of ideas and needs to put something onto his keyboard, it comes in handy to forget that baseball, unlike tennis, is a team sport. So it doesn't matter if a Mike Trout or a Joey Votto are glorious ballplayers, they cannot get an entire team into the playoffs all by themselves. And discovering that to be the case shouldn't be a surprise. It certainly isn't new or unique............
Did Billy Eppler even answer his phone when the Nationals called to offer up a Derek Norris in a trade? Why would the Nats even call Anaheim? Like, do we really look like a franchise with surplus farm talent, a shortage of catchers, and a need to add a guy who hit .186 last year?............
Quick, what is the thing we should get most excited about? Jefry Marte hitting a home run this year before Mike Trout does? Mike Trout being an On Base machine this spring and already stealing bases? Or our new every day lock-down second baseman Danny Espinosa committing two errors in 6 innings?...........
LAA hitting coach Dave Hansen is A-Ok with the offense he has seen so far............
Victor Rojas with another essay for all of us...........And, just to spoil his fun, I am going to pick up one of those many trophies I find at thrift stores, relabel it, and send it to the Front Office of whatever team achieves the best record in the Cactus League............
______________________________
Everywhere In Baseball
Commissioner Manfred is listening. In a ballsy move, he has admitted that shortening overall game times might need to include shortening commercial breaks between team turns at bats. Like, duh. At a minimum, there are 16 such breaks per game. Just cutting a single commercial from each of those would give us back 16 minutes per game, which is a shit-ton more potential than anything we can hope for with the new IBB pass.............
For your consideration. Bringing the DH to the National League is a chance for the Players Union to win some concessions out of the owners. Maybe they should have taken it?............
MLB is going to come out with their own version of WAR. It will be brought to us via BAM, as a StatCast-driven interactive info service. Having a third WAR might arm the ignorant, unless it aligns with one of the two existing math systems. But having a simple way to clicking through to see how the WAR total is fueled might actually start to inform more of those who have resisted their own curiosity so far............
Something we need more of, a look back and tracking on last year's Free Agent signings and how things are working out for all that money. Oddly, Daniel Murphy, a guy who came cheap and scored high, has been ommitted............
Stephen Strasburg is going to simplify his delivery, ditch the windup, stick to the stretch full-time, and save his arm............
David Wright was on a trajectory for the HoF. Then he started getting injured, and all he has is the millions of dollars............
Better than Garrett Richards Therapy? An arm that just heals itself? Uh, yeah. I'll wait on that one before I believe it...........
Tim Tebow wants to be a dad: "You know what I think would be awesome? If I could adopt a kid from every continent. I think that would be a pretty cool goal," he says. "I want to sit around the dinner table ever night and see kids from Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, right here in the States. How cool would that be? It’s one of my favorite things to dream about." Allow me to assist Mr. Tebow a bit. There are 7 continents, not 5. He also needs to reach out to the orphans of Australia and Antarctica. That last one is going to be the challenge...........By the way, with so many MLB guys committed to the WBC, Tebow might see ST action in real games...............
______________________________
The Duffle Bag
Attending baseball games can be a serious experience. One can get hurt even without the distraction of cellphones.............Victor Rojas did NOT order the Winkler!............Writers. You just can't please the guys who do little more than race over to the free buffet. They bitch when you DON'T hustle, and they bitch when you DO hustle............Noah Syndergaard & Game of Thrones? Makes perfect sense if you ask me............I'm not sure who these people are whom Bryce Harper thinks forget that Montreal once had some had good baseball..............UniWatchis not a fan of Cameron Maybin's super-high pant cuffs............
______________________________
Halo-Oppo-ly
Week 5 of our Chance/Community Chest cards!
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8096289/21-CHANCE-ADVANCE-2.0.png)
______________________________