Dynasty
Nastiest GIFs
The List
Dynasty
Nastiest GIFs
The List
+

MLB News & Moments You Should Know – May 19

Counting, mostly up.

Asher Dratel
MLB Morning News 5/20/2022

Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.

 

Today’s Headlines

 

CCCora

Alex Cora only started his managerial career in 2018, and he missed the 2020 season entirely (we won’t go into why right now) so it seems pretty dang impressive that he’s already hit the 300 win mark.

Tonight was a real rollercoaster of a game for Boston and Seattle but in the end, Cora’s guys came out on top, and he gets to pass a nice round number milestone. I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Tell Me A Story

And speaking of that rollercoaster game, it was mostly a lift hill for Trevor Story. Well, for his stats at least.

Story’s been off to a very slow start this season, but if the man is gonna play anywhere outside of Coors, Fenway is probably the best place for his style, and boy did he show it last night. To put it into perspective, have some more numbers:

Right now there are a bunch of fantasy players over the moon, and a bunch (including my brother) absolutely tearing their hair out. But much like Cora’s managerial wins, I doubt this is the last time we’ll see something like this from Story.

X For EE

Meanwhile, on the subject of milestones and dumb Roman numeral wordplay in the subheaders, a hearty congratulations to Eduardo Escobar, who reached 10 years of MLB service time on Thursday.

A decade of service time is an incredibly impressive feat all on its own terms, baseball is incredibly hard! To do it at the highest level for a full 10 years is amazing! To quote from the following linked article:

[As of 2018] the average career lasts about 3¾ seasons, and 60% of the players never reach salary arbitration, which in most cases takes three full years.

In addition to the customized champagne, a decade of play comes with some nice perks and the respect of your peers. Maybe most importantly, you get a very cool metal card that guarantees you free admission to MLB games for life.

The Callup Connection

And now, on the opposite end of the spectrum, a pair of dudes who are just getting the MLB service time started.

That’s the Cardinals announcing the callups of two of their Top 5 prospects for the weekend, specifically their #2 and 3 according to MLB Pipeline. Nolan Gorman was the 19th overall pick in the 2018 draft taken by St. Louis, and Matthew Liberatore was the 16th overall pick in the same draft…taken by Tampa Bay. Liberatore made his way to the Cardinals as part of the Randy Arozarena trade, and now they’re both getting the callup together. But the story doesn’t start there.

The duo made Arizona sports history in the draft, but the odds of two childhood friends getting drafted 3 spots apart seem so wildly slim. The odds of them being drafted by two different teams in different divisions, in different leagues, and then ending up together on the same team and getting called up together must be…astronomical. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

Hats Off To Harper

An unexpected bonus of the universal DH is that we are getting to still see Bryce Harper play on a daily basis. He has a partial UCL tear and has doctor’s orders to refrain from throwing for 6-8 weeks while it heals, which is hard for a starting outfielder to do. But it’s wildly easy for a starting DH to do. And hence, we get to watch Bryce do Bryce things. Like makin’ hat trades.

Man, that throwback Phillies hat design sure is handsome. I might be talking myself into ordering once. So, thanks for that Bryce.

 

Dating Yourself

It’s been a whirlwind season debut for Julio Rodríguez, who started the year getting punched out on seemingly any pitch throw his way no matter where it actually crossed the plate. But now he’s getting a good and proper zone, and the performance has followed. A good calendar though? Apparently, that’s still on the way.

I think we can probably all forgive Julio for the excitement getting the better of him. Plus, he got the year right, and honestly I have to stop and think about that part of every date I am writing down somewhere.

 

Pete’s On Fire!

I know that technically you’re only on fire after your shirt swish (so maybe Story was on fire last night?) but I figure a walk-off dinger has to count at least as much, right? Regardless, Pete Alonso sure seems to.

I am fully in favor of more and more ever-increasingly elaborate walk-off home run celebrations at the plate. I want costumes, staging, lighting! Give them mics! FULL ON PRO WRESTLING STUFF LET’S GO.

 

Doogie Howser Makes House Calls?

They call Alex Verdugo “Doogie,” right? I didn’t just make that up, did I? Well, either way, he made a house call to the Green Monster camera pit last night:

Listen, if the pitcher is allowed to have a mound visit, why shouldn’t the outfielders get to have a…porthole visit? Hole talk? No, definitely not that last one. A cutout convo! Yes, that’s the one!

This is also a nice reminder of how truly insane the Green Monster is. Just all that…stuff happening at person-level in play. Weird old ballpark stuff rules, I want more of it.

 

Injuries

 

 

 

Articles You Should Read

 

Jalen Beeks and the Case of the Fun Fact – Ben Clemens, FanGraphs

We’re Talking About Seam-Shifted Wake Wrong – Michael Ajeto, Baseball Prospectus (Sub req’d)

 

Fantasy Baseball Coverage

 

Starting Pitcher Roundup

Hitter Performances

Reliever Ranks (Closers) (Holds)

Starting Pitcher Streamers

 

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)

Asher Dratel

Asher hails from Brooklyn, wears a 2008 Joba Chamberlain jersey to every Yankees game he attends, and pronounces BABIP funny. Appreciator of Beefy Lad dingers and beers. @asherd.bsky.social on Bluesky.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Account / Login