Cup of Coffee: August 18, 2020

Good morning!

As noted yesterday, today is the last free daily post of this newsletter. Starting tomorrow And That Happened and The Daily Briefing are for subscribers only. There will still be free content — something on the order of once a week or so, likely including longer opinion pieces and Q&A/mailbag posts — but if you’ve been enjoying the recaps and briefing so far I’d ask that you consider taking the plunge.

It’s only $6 a month. I post every weekday, so it’s around 22-23 newsletters a month. That’s like 27 cents a day. Less if you spring for a $65 annual subscription (and yes, there will be daily content all offseason as well).

Do you think this is worth 27 cents a day? I’m biased, but I think so. All I’d ask is that you give it one last free look and decide for yourself. If you agree, hey, mash this button:

If you don’t agree? Hey, that’s OK. Like I said, I’ll still be putting out that weekly free stuff, so simply signing up will get you something. If you or people you know aren’t likely to pay for what I write, at least spread the word!

And now on with the show.

And That Happened

Padres 14, Rangers 4: This one is going to be the talk of the day.

Fernando Tatís Jr. hit two homers to take the MLB lead away from Mike Trout. He now has 11. The first one was a three-run shot in the seventh which turned a 7-3 Padres lead into a 10-3 lead. The second was a grand slam in the eighth, turning 10-3 to 14-3. The slam came on a 3-0 pitch when, according to his manager Jayce Tingler, Tatís had the “take” sign. Tatís saw a 92 m.p.h. fastball a tad outside of the pipe, however, knew he could crush it, took it the other way with an easy swing and launched it over the fence:

Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward was wearing a mask, but you could still tell he was pissed off that Tatís swung away like that with a big lead. If you couldn’t tell by his demeanor, you could tell by virtue of the fact that the very next pitch in the game went behind Manny Machado. If that was too subtle, after the game he said this:

He then added something about how the game is changing — “norms are being challenged” — but given that he ordered his pitcher to immediately throw a purpose pitch to Machado, you know that he’s a proponent of those unwritten rules he mentioned and is not a fan of the challenging of norms.

If you think Tatís’ manager, Tingler, would have his player’s back, welp, you’re wrong:

Tingler, you’ll recall, was with the Rangers for several years before being hired by San Diego last winter, so it’s probably not unreasonable to read this as him thinking that Tatís embarrassed him in front of his old friends.

All of which is total garbage.

These are major leaguers, not 12 year-olds. If you don’t want a major league hitter smacking a homer, throw better pitches. If you don’t want the other team scoring runs when they have a big lead, make an official announcement that you too are going to cease trying to score runs. Don’t have your pitcher throw at guys and then whine to the press about the “unwritten rules.”

As for Tingler: maybe have your player’s back? Especially when your player is a young star currently going supernova and threatening to turn your historically irrelevant franchise into something truly special for the next decade and a half. Fernando Tatís Jr. is something for which San Diego baseball fans have been hungry forever and you’re going to make uncomfortable noises about how he needs to learn his lesson and not hit cool dingers when all the fans are quarantined and miserable in the middle of the worst year in their lifetimes? Get ALL THE WAY the hell out of here with that.

Major League Baseball has struggled to market its young superstars for a long time. A big reason for that is that the young superstars are brought up in a culture which counsels against excitement, showmanship, displays of athletic dominance and the like. Now it has one in Tatís who, unlike so many who came before him, seems eager to enjoy the spotlight and seems poised to both compete and entertain at a high level and you’ve got two bald, 40-something white guy managers trying to throw cold water on it? Again: Get ALL THE WAY the hell out of here with that.

If I’m Rob Manfred I fine either Woodward or the pitcher for throwing at Machado and I offer an official statement. It’d read like this:

Cardinals 3, Cubs 1; Cubs 5, Cardinals 4: I’ve long talked about how split doubleheaders present existential questions with respect to meaning and purpose given that they are a function of a very long day’s work that, in the end, puts one right back where one was when the day began. It’s the sort of thing that forces a person to confront the meaningless of the very struggle of life. About how, so often, we run so hard yet stand so still. Now that doubleheaders are 14 innings instead of 18 innings maybe such existential question are not quite as stark? I dunno.

Anyway, Cards third baseman Brad Miller hit a tie-breaking two-run double in the seventh of the first game to give St. Louis the win and David Bote hit a three-run homer in Chicago's four-run sixth inning in the second game to hand the contest to the Cubbies.

And if all of the participants in this contest were hit by busses before the games, forcing their cancellation and a period of deep and profound mourning, the two teams would still have ended Monday in the exact same position relative to one another in the standings as they did after playing. Makes you think.

Blue Jays 7, Orioles 2: Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched six innings of four-hit, one-run ball, Randal Grichuk homered and drove in four, and Cavan Biggio homered and drove in three. Birds beat birds.

Yankees 6, Red Sox 3: That’s ten straight Yankees wins over the Red Sox. It’s the most consecutive wins they’ve had over Boston since 1953. In 1953 the Yankees were on their way toward winning their fifth straight World Series and the Red Sox’ best player was flying combat missions in Korea. So, yeah, it’s not exactly a great time in the rivalry. Luke Voit homered twice. The Red Sox’ season is a nightmare.

Braves 7, Nationals 6: Washington took a 2-0 lead early and extended it to 3-0. The Braves pulled closer and then, with a Juan Soto homer, got it back to 6-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Daniel Hudson came on for the save but imploded, hitting Nick Markakis to lead off the inning, giving up a two-run homer to Adam Duvall, giving up a single, and then surrendering a walkoff two-run blast to Dansby Swanson. Just a crushing loss for the defending champs and a big win for the Bravos.

Of note: the Nats’ Luis García hit a homer too. In so doing he became the first player born in the 2000s to homer in the big leagues. His date of birth: May 16, 2000. I am fairly certain I have t-shirts that are still in my rotation from concerts and ballgames I went to that year.

Mets 11, Marlins 4: Three straight losses for the Marlins, who are now coming back to Earth following their fun little post-COVID outbreak surge. Robinson Canó and Pete Alonso both homered twice for the Mets who totaled 14 hits, nine of which went for extra bases.

White Sox 7, Tigers 2: Four Chicago hitters went deep with Tim Anderson doing it twice as the Chisox romped. Anderson’s first led off the game against Tigers starter Matt Boyd and Yoan Moncada hit one in the game’s second at bat. Just five days earlier Anderson and Eloy Jiménez led off the game against Boyd with back-to-back homers too. Glitch in the Matrix. Time is a flat circle, etc.

Twins 4, Royals 1: Six Twins pitchers combined to scatter seven hits and allow only one run. Nelson Cruz went deep twice. The Twins took three of four from the Royals in the wraparound series.

Astros 2, Rockies 1: A two-run first inning double from Carlos Correa held up thanks to six strong innings from Astros starter Brandon Bielak and three shutout innings from Houston’s pen.

Diamondbacks 4, Athletics 3: David Peralta hit a bases-loaded single through the right side of the infield with one out in the ninth inning to help the Diamondbacks break the Oakland Athletics’ four-game winning streak. After the game he said of the single, “sometimes you don't have to hit the ball that hard to do some damage.” Earlier Peralta homered, however, so we’ll take his advice with a grain of salt.

Angels 7, Giants 6: Tommy La Stella hit a walkoff two-run homer to give what had been a see-saw game to the Halos. That snapped a four-game losing streak. The Giants lost their fifth straight game and blew a ninth-inning lead for the third time in their last four games. If it weren’t for a pandemic that has killed 170,000 Americans — and the arc of dark history and bad actors tearing the very fabric of our country to shreds right now — the Giants and the Red Sox would be the most depressing things going.

Dodgers 11, Mariners 9: A homer-happy game — including dingers from brothers Kyle and Corey Seager — was decided when the Dodgers rallied in the seventh inning. That frame Justin Turner scored on a bases-loaded walk to Max Muncy to tie it followed by a go-ahead double play off the bat of Joc Pederson and a Kiké Hernandez two-run homer to make it 11-8 L.A. The Seager brothers’ homers were the first longballs from opposing siblings in a big league game since the Crespos — Felipe and César — did it in 2001. Luis García was a year-old at the time.

The Daily Briefing

Clubhouse Drama in Cleveland

Jeff Passan of ESPN dropped a bombshell story yesterday morning, reporting that the Cleveland Indians had a contentious team meeting on Friday in which the players castigated pitcher Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac. Those two, you may recall, were banished from the team for several days after they were discovered to have broken protocol and left the team hotel to go out carousing during the recent road trip to Chicago. Pleasac was caught and forced to drive home. Clevinger kept mum, flew home with the team and then was discovered to have gone out too. This despite both of them offering recent quotes to the press about the importance of adhering to anti-COVID protocols.

From the article:

The player who said he’d opt-out if the two returned: reliever Óliver Pérez. Whose annoyance at his irresponsible teammates is pretty relatable, frankly.

Clevinger and Plesac are two of the best pitchers around and have been important parts of the Indians fantastic rotation in the early going. It’s hard to imagine the team will not let talent win out over brains and invite them back into the fold once their mandatory quarantines are up. Though, as Passan notes, if Clevinger is kept off the roster for 20 days, he’ll not get a full year of service time this year and will have his free agency delayed. If Plesac is down for 18 days, he’ll lose out on Super 2 arbitration eligibility. It’s possible that the Indians don’t care about that aspect of it. It’s also possible that, like most front offices, they are keenly aware of whatever transpires that might give them some power over their employees’ earnings.

Either way, interesting situation to watch.

Motor City Kitties

The Tigers have been rebuilding for a while. Now we’re going to get a chance to see some of the superstructure rise from the foundation, as Tigers GM Al Avila announced that he’s calling up top prospects Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Isaac Paredes to make their major league debuts against the White Sox this week. Skubal will pitch tonight. Mize will go on Wednesday.

Mize was the first overall pick in the 2018 draft. He’s considered to be one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. He has posted a 2.71 ERA and a 120/26 K/BB ratio over 123 minor league innings. Skubal was a ninth round pick in that same draft. Skubal, a lefty, had a 2.42 ERA and 179/37 K/BB ratio over 122.2 innings between High-A and Double-A last year and is considered a top-50 prospect himself. Paredes is an infielder the Tigers got when Avila’s son Alex was traded to the Cubs three years ago. He has some good on-base skills.

With more than half the league qualifying for the postseason this year, who’s to say even the lowly Tigers can’t make a run for October baseball? In light of that, why not call up some exciting kids?

Pandemic Stuff

Yesterday I hit MLB over its plan, reported by Jon Heyman, to allow players who test positive to apply to return to play in 10 days even if they continue to test positive on the theory that contagiousness dissipates over time. I and a lot of other people were skeptical of that because it scanned as though MLB is looking for ways to get players back into action more quickly and to avoid future Marlins/Cardinals-level embarrassments.

The skepticism is, apparently, unwarranted:

If Binney — who is an epidemiologist who has been super critical of many of MLB’s and the other sports leagues’ COVID-19 protocols — thinks it’s OK, that says something. As does this bit of info, brought to my attention by subscriber bolweevils2, from the Harvard medical school.

I guess I’ll just say that rather than leaking new, course-altering plans to Jon Heyman, I wish that Major League Baseball — the institution engaging in the most high-profile experiment in the return to public existence in the country — would consider communicating its plans and approaches to the public better than it has done, especially if they learn new things that could be useful to the public’s understanding of the pandemic. God knows we’re not getting guidance from anyone else in any position of authority.

MLB Ratings are up

I missed this over the weekend but the Los Angeles Times reported that MLB’s TV ratings are up pretty dramatically this year. “There have been 39 million unique viewers of 59 telecasts” over the first three weekends of the 2020 MLB season, the Times reports. That’s a big jump from the 26 million viewers through the third weekend of the 2019 MLB season, with the same number of broadcasts. The Times also noted that national broadcasts on ESPN have averaged 1.2 million viewers, an increase of 29 percent from last year.

I don’t think it takes a genius to guess that this is largely because everyone’s at home and there’s nothing else to watch. If past form holds, however, Rob Manfred will presume that it’s because the public has long craved seven-inning games and starting the runner on second base in extra innings and will redouble his efforts to add gimmickry in 2021.

The San Diego Padres M*A*S*H unit

The San Diego Padres have two key injuries. Outfielder Tommy Pham has a broken hamate bone in his hand and could miss the rest of the regular season given the recovery timeline of 4-6 weeks. Pham was a big pickup for the Padres this past offseason, though he had struggled to so far in 2020.

Also, last year’s all-world reliever Kirby Yates, who has been out with bone chips in his elbow, is going to undergo season-ending elbow surgery.

For Jayce Tingler’s sake, I hope both Pham and Yates carry themselves the right way while having surgery and don’t try to show up the doctors.

Other Stuff

• I was this week's guest on The Keith Law Show. Yesterday Keith and I talked about Cleveland's clubhouse drama, the Tigers letting the kids play, what to think about a guy who hits .400 in 2020, and more. You can listen via Apple or via Spotify.

• For the past couple of months some very smart people have allowed me to join them in a continuing Zoom conversation about the state of baseball in the pandemic, how the ascendant Black Lives Matter movement impacts baseball, and generally what it means to be a baseball fan in 2020. The conversation — which we’re starting to call “Fire Rob Manfred” — is sponsored by Baseball Prospectus. We’re doing one again on August 27th at 7PM EDT. We have an audience for these talks and it’s free of charge to attend, but we ask that you RSVP. Here’s all the info.

• Finally, as you may remember, Founding Subscribers of the newsletter can be personally insulted -- or have someone else insulted -- by my daughter Anna. The first Founding Subscriber has taken advantage of that. It was a birthday gift insult of his good friend. He said I could share the roasting, so here you go: Pretty soon I’m going to go through the subscriber list, grab the names of all of the Founding Subscribers, and send a message to y’all both thanking you and letting you know how the insults, should you want them, will work. I don’t think any of you are in a big rush to have a 16-year-old kid tell you that you suck, so I appreciate your patience.