Good
morning.
In case you didn’t know, ESPN no longer places any articles behind their ESPN+ paywall. So now the only paywalled articles I will normally be linking to will come from The Athletic.
- It’s being reported for the first time in four years, MLB will play a game at the Field of Dreams site in Dyersville, Iowa in 2026. The Twins and Phillies are rumored to be the teams that will take the field at a date as yet undetermined.
- The Brewers honored their late broadcaster Bob Uecker with a ceremony on Saturday.
- Andrew Baggarly has more on how the team remembered “Mr. Baseball” (The Athletic sub. req.) and their celebration of his life.
- Giants shortstop Willy Adames, who spent four seasons in Milwaukee and got very close to Uecker, wore special “Mr. Baseball” cleats in honor of Uecker.
- Speaking of “Bob,” Rays rookie Bob Seymour became the first major leaguer since Bob Scanlan in 2002 who goes by the name “Bob” last week. Obviously there have been players named Robert, Rob and even Bobby, but no Bobs in 23 years. Jeffrey Lutz looks at what other once common player names could come back from baseball extinction. I’ve got to say, if you’re waiting for Ed Howard to be the first Ed since 2015, you’re going to be waiting a while.
- The Orioles have signed rookie catcher Samuel Basallo to an eight-year, $67 million extension. Jeff Passan reports.
- Jake Mintz examines what Basallo’s extension means for the Orioles, their other young players and their other catcher, Adley Rutschman.
- Congratulations to Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) for winning the Little League World Series over Nevada. It was the 18th LLWS title for the island nation, but first since 1996.
- I guess it’s time for the butcher’s bill. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler is out for the season after surgery for venous thoracic outlet syndrome, which was discovered during a procedure to remove a blot clot. Recovery time is estimated at six-to-eight months, so the start of next season is in doubt as well.
- Matt Gelb has more on Wheeler’s condition. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- And Mets right-hander Frankie Montas is out for the season with a right elbow injury that could lead to Tommy John surgery. Obviously if Montas eventually has TJ surgery, he’s going to miss more than just the rest of the season.
- The Rangers are still on the fringes of playoff contention, but the news that second baseman Marcus Semien is out for the rest of the year with left foot fracture makes that playoff chances seem ever more remote. It’s only the second time in his 13-year career that Semien goes to the injured list.
- Orioles left-hander Cade Povich revealed that both he and his wife are getting death threats. Presumably from disgruntled gamblers, although we don’t know for sure at this time.
- Bob Nightengale writes that the Guardians have no choice but to “move on” after relievers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were suspended in gambling probes. The very existence of the two pitchers have been scrubbed from Progressive Field and anything else controlled by Cleveland, indicating that they don’t expect them to ever return.
- Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit his 48th and 49th home runs on Sunday, setting a new single-season home run record for catchers.
- Michael Baumann has an appreciation of Mariners right-handed starter Bryan Woo and his record-setting consistency.
- Tyler Kepner also profiles Woo. (The Athletic sub. req.) He also has a piece on major leaguer named “Ryne” in honor of Ryne Sandberg, and how Mets reliever Ryne Stanek was named “Ryne” after Sandberg by his Cardinals fan father. (He said his dad hates the Cubs but loved Sandberg. I can see it.)
- A round-table discussion on whether you’d rather build a team around the Mariners Julio Rodriguez or the Diamondbacks Corbin Carroll.
- Jorge Castillo examines how a small swing adjustment unlocked Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony’s bat.
- Alex Stumpf notes that Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes is off to one of the greatest starts to a pitcher’s career through 50 games in the live-ball era.
- On the other hand, Jay Jaffe notes that the Pirates lineup is close to setting an all-time mark for terribleness as no Bucs hitter is above league-average. And he doesn’t mean “among qualified batters.” He literally means everyone, although Tommy Pham had a good weekend and snuck above a 100 wRC+ since this article was published. Still, Pham could slide back under 100 tomorrow.
- We have no no-nos this year! Theo DeRosa examines how rare is it to get through a baseball season with no no-hitters. Baseball’s last no-hitter was the Cubs’ combined no-no last September.
- Jared Greenspan has some stat races that could go down to the final weekend of the year.
- David Schoenfield judges some common beliefs about the American League contenders.
- Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru has ten players exceeding expectations this year.
- Jen Pawol, baseball’s first woman umpire, was back in the majors working the Pirates/Rockies series this past weekend.
- Dan Szymborski thinks that Jacob deGrom’s Hall of Fame candidacy will be a real test for the voters.
- And finally, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) have created a new end-of-the-year award for the best reliever of the year.
- Jayson Stark explains why the new Relief Pitcher of the Year Award was necessary.
