TuesdoLinks: Howzabout some offense, eh?

I’m going to call it right now. The way my weekend holidays have been going in 2018, I predict that my next one, set for June 29th, will also be cloudy, wet, cold and miserable.

I should have stayed home and done something more enjoyable, such as dig up my backyard. At least I got to miss out on the Friday and Saturday losses.

Yesterday was the last day off until June 7th. Tonight we get Garrett Richards against J.A. Happ in Toronto.

Catch me up with these Gettin’-Our-Act-Back-Together-On-The-Road-Links:

A Little Bit of Angels News

trout Porn: Mike has already cleared one standard of measure concerning Hall of Fame credentials............trout still has a chance to become MLB’s very first 50-30 guy..........

Ohtani Porn: It’s a major thing that we have on our hands in this Shohei Ohtani kid......Right now he sits at 0.8 fWAR as a batter and 0.9 fWAR as pitcher......Keep in mind that in neither case is Ohtani among the ‘qualified’ of his peerage. Tom Verducci is of a mind that he would like to fix that and see more of Shohei.....He is living up to all expectations as a pitcher......And as a hitter, he is counter-adjusting faster than MLB can adjust against him..........He is getting whispers for participation in The Home Run Derby this year. Mostly due to celebrity status I would wager but that is what happens when MLB and FOX Sports and the MSM try to drum up enough interest in the thing to sustain a broadcast (here is FOX). Ohtani is on my side, not thinking that he is quite there as a slugger. Besides, if Ohtani were to spend an evening trying to smack home runs for fun, wouldn’t that exclude him from being available to pitch an inning in the actual game should he be selected? (Probably getting way ahead of ourselves here anyway. If Ohtani sticks to Sunday starts he won’t be available for any Monday night Derby or Tuesday night pitching.).........But this Sunday? This Sunday Ohtani should be Prime Time...........The world needs to see the Yankee sluggers battling against the viscous Ohtani splitter...........

Something that should not be allowed to pass us by: the LAA starting rotation has been the 3rd strongest throughout all MLB this month............

On the topic of starters, Andrew Heaney just keeps on succeeding, and FanGraphs struggles to figure out why...........

Moving day. Rene Rivera goes off to the DL. Jose Briceno is ready for his closeup. And Matt Shoemaker is still on hold waiting for the world of medicine to figure out what is wrong with his arm..............When might we see David Fletcher?.............When might Jo Adell rise to MLB’s Top Prospect?..........

If the Angels offense had not crapped the bed over these past 10 games (3 wins and 7 losses, dropping into 3rd place in the AL West), Mike Scioscia would have already passed Tommy Lasorda in wins...........

Everywhere In Baseball

We bore witness to ‘bullpenning’ by the Rays over the weekend......Stat fans are excited......Zack Cozart wants his relievers to remain in the kitchen where they belong. But here is something new to think about: how flipping pitching duties might impact franchise payroll, potentially even causing a labor issue............

Oh crap. The Diamondbacks maneuvered themselves out of their shiny almost new stadium so that they can live in a shiner newer commercial megaplex with a ballpark tossed in. Now we find that nobody wants to pay for it?...........

The science behind Robinson Cano’s failed attempt to cheat the system............

I still don’t get this pitcher blister problem. I suppose I never shall. Rich Hill shall never figure it out, either, it appears...........

Thank you, Jerry Dipoto..........

Maybe all those who griped about so many MLB veteran Free Agents not being signed to Big Buck Contracts were...still wrong? The Jose Bautista Experiment in Atlanta is over. Long live The Jose Bautista Experiment in New York?.........

The Duffle Bag

Kendrys Morales did better on the mound than some of our paid bullpen specialists...........Howie Kendrick is getting old, and getting old hurts............Buster Posey refuses to get old...........The 6th Amendment of The Bill Of Rights promises a speedy trial for the criminally accused. That has nothing to do with the rights of an employee. Robert Osuna might be somewhere down the MLB priority list below finding a new stadium for the Oakland A’s..........Now THIS is how you make a debut...........Ball fetcher good at ball fetching..........