Happy, happy Friday! Thursday brought us yet another day of great baseball, as it always does! Any day with real baseball is a great day unless your favorite team loses. Hey, it could always be worse. We could have no baseball at all!
Scoop and No Score
The Dodgers recently played against the San Diego Padres and got to witness the greatness that is Manny Machado’s defense. Apparently, Chris Taylor saw something he liked in Machado’s techniques and tried to get himself featured on ESPN’s Web Gems:
— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) June 25, 2021
Or, maybe, Taylor saw himself some of Fernando Tatís Jr.’s defense and tried to attempt some really cool stuff that had close to zero chance of working out. Taylor gets some points for effort, I guess.
Whenever Fernando does unnecessary and silly shit on defense that leads to errors my policy as a not-actually-a-Padres fan is:
“Damn, that woulda been cool”
Instead of
“This guy needs to chill”
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) June 24, 2021
Sounds about right.
TOOTBLAN!
For the uninitiated, TOOTBLAN stands for “Thrown Out on the Bases Like a Nincompoop.” Now you know for next time you watch stuff like this unfold:
Add this to the worst baserunning blunders of the year file pic.twitter.com/m36qpRGSzz
— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) June 25, 2021
I believe this is what you would call a “strike ’em out, throw ’em out.” The defensive wizardry of Andrelton Simmons knows no bounds!
You Got Any More of That Sticky Stuff?
Regardless of how you feel about sticky substances, sticky substance checks, and the enforcement of MLB’s new rules, one of my very favorite things now is umpires checking pitchers for sticky stuff right after a disastrous inning. These situations always elicit a couple of pity laughs.
For example, here’s David Hale getting checked by umpires after allowing 6 runs in a single inning on Sunday:
Imagine thinking you had to check David Hale for sticky stuff after giving up 6 runs in an inning pic.twitter.com/enPAhVkoLb
— The Wooderboys (@wooderboys) June 23, 2021
I’m sorry, David Hale, I can’t help but laugh.
However, yesterday took us to a new level of pity laughing. The Detroit Tigers were getting their butts kicked by the Houston Astros, so we already had the treat of watching position player Harold Castro take his turn on the pitching rubber. But, the umpires really just wanted to be sure that Castro wasn’t using any of those sketchy foreign substances:
https://twitter.com/StickyCheck/status/1408261982495641606
The blue was just doing his due diligence, I guess, but it seems a little unnecessary for this poor guy.
Foul Play!
ATTN: Tampa Bay Batboy Crew
I don’t think you’re allowed to do this…
https://twitter.com/bbletter/status/1408242779713683461
But Christian Vazquez said “screw it” and made a heck of a play anyways!
? No-Hitter Alert ?
I am contractually obligated, as a member of PitcherList, to alert readers every time there’s a no-hitter thrown in Major League Baseball. Seriously, ask Nick Pollack. I’ve been called upon several times this year already, thanks to our friends in Arlington, Seattle, and Cleveland.
Yesterday, we had the fortune of adding the only team in Los Angeles to that list. Yes, the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers (the ones batting Albert Pujols in the 5-hole for 4 ABs) were stifled by a combination of Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin, and the ageless Craig Kimbrel.
The final out for the @Cubs combined no-hitter 🙌
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/bUiLTnIfHa
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 25, 2021
For the stats nerds:
The Cubs have thrown their first combined no-hitter in franchise history.
It's the 7th no-no this year, tied for the most in the modern era (since 1900).
The next no-hitter will tie the all-time single-season record of 8 no-hitters, set in 1884. pic.twitter.com/qzoFuUvY7X
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 25, 2021
How many no-hitters are we going to see this year? How many lineups will suffer under the cruel iron fist of elite pitching?
We were on no-hitter watch in the Rays/Red Sox tilt earlier in the day, as Nick Pivetta and Josh Taylor kept the Rays hitless through 7 IP before they broke through.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy your weekend! Catch some baseball if you can!
Photo by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)