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Today’s Headlines
Hard Pfaadt And Stone Cold
Rookie Pitching Debut SZN continues apace, as we finally got to see top prospects Brandon Pfaadt and Gavin Stone take the bump for the Diamondbacks and Dodgers, respectively. They weren’t facing each other, so we didn’t get to see an even bigger follow-up to the Miller2 showdown in Oakland, and unlike that game, both Pfaadt and Stone had a rough go of it.
Pfaadt’s final line was 4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 K against the Texas Rangers, who had the roof open in Arlington and the ball jumping, with Pfaadt giving up four HRs while his counterpart Andrew Heaney gave up three of his own. Of course, you know that if you want that deep analysis, Ben Palmer has you covered with a GIF breakdown of the appearance.
Stone went 4.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 1 K as he took on the Phillies, while Bryce Harper went 3/3 with a double and two walks. That’s a tough first assignment. Look for the breakdown on Stone a bit later this morning, it’ll be available on this very website at 11 AM Eastern.
But all’s well that ends well for our intrepid rookie duo, as their teams did both manage to walk away with the dub after some late-inning heroics (a bit more about LA’s below.)
The Return Of Hendriks
Roughly two weeks ago, Liam Hendriks put out the news that he is officially cancer free, as his Non-Hodgkin lymphoma was in remission. On Wednesday, he had a press conference in Chicago to discuss things and also show off a great new shirt.
The t-shirt says it all. 💚 pic.twitter.com/9rqBQLJYck
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 3, 2023
The biggest takeaway from yesterday was that he’ll only need “4 or 5” rehab appearances before he’s ready to get back with the big-league club, according to manager Pedro Grifol. And that’s news that everybody (except the batters who’ll be facing him) can cheer about.
5h00hei Ohtani
Is this anything? No, don’t answer that, it’s not anything and I’m fine with that. But anyway, more Shohei Ohtani milestones!
Shohei Ohtani is the 5th player in the Modern Era (since 1900) with 500 hits as a batter and 500 Ks as a pitcher, joining Smoky Joe Wood, Red Ruffing, Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth.
Ohtani's 13th K of the game tonight was the 500th of his career.
The Angels are losing 4-3. pic.twitter.com/anUDUuhLbl
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 4, 2023
Casual 5 IP, (4 ER,) 13 K appearance. You know how it is.
To be clear, this is MLB career strikeout #500, since he had 624 of them while he was playing in Japan. It took him slightly under 500 IP to get to 500 Ks in Japan, and it took him less than 390 IP to get to his 500th MLB strikeout. There are no more superlatives you haven’t heard. What do you even say about that?
But also the Angels ended up losing the game 4-3 as the vengeful laughter of Tungsten Arm O’Doyle could be heard echoing through the hallways of Busch Stadium. Plus, The Angels went on to stage a come-from-behind victory and win the game 6-4. Take that, O’Doyle!
Team Dinner Reservation?
A weird thing happened on the way to the Royals’ 6-0 win over the O’s:
Kyle Gibson and Keegan Akin combined to throw 100 pitches even, giving up nary a walk nor earning a single strikeout between them. Nick’s toast will be bone-dry. Vinnie Pasquantino’s solo HR in the 4th inning is the only thing that stopped it from being a TTO-less affair entirely.
You would think this would be an extremely rare occurrence in modern baseball, but as it turns out you don’t even have to go back a decade to find the last time:
The Royals are the first team to play an entire game without walking or striking out since the A's on 7/1/2014.
They are the first team to *win* a game in which they neither walked nor struck out since the Mets beat the Phillies, 10-9, on 9/12/2009.
— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) May 4, 2023
Best Moments From Yesterday
TMI, Dude
Joc Pederson said that the travel to Mexico City for the Giants series against the Padres was very physically demanding, but I think Logan Webb really just cut right to the chase about just where it was really hitting the team:
Logan Webb: "Hopefully the sh*ts go away" 😂pic.twitter.com/P2vN8my4sf
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 3, 2023
Not since Chan Ho Park (h/t Marc Carig for the reminder) has a pitcher been so forthright about his GI discomfort.
To Be Franco
In what is 100000% the riskiest piece of hotdogging I have ever seen, we have Wander Franco with a mid-play ball flip:
Wander flips the ball to himself and still has time to make the play 🤯
(via @BallySportsFL)pic.twitter.com/nAjRuWALcU
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 4, 2023
He followed that play up with a dinger in his next at-bat because of course he did.
Disappearing Ball Trick
Max Muncy pranks himself on a ground ball yesterday afternoon, as it just zooped right out of his mitt and over his head.
I mean, yeah dude, we’ve all been there…
…but he also hit the walk-off grand slam so I’m sure he feels fine, on balance.
GRAND SLAM. WALK-OFF. MAX MUNCY. pic.twitter.com/50ekZiteYI
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 3, 2023
Façon Watch 2023
I’ve been remiss in my facial hair and general ballplayer l?ks tracking, and for that, I apologize and hope you’ll accept this twofer in the spirit of making amends.
First up we have Detroit closer Alex Lange in what is sure to be the hottest look this spring: a turtleneck dickie.
I am choosing to believe he cut this down himself, and it’s just totally ragged and also cropped under his jersey. The chain, too? Just a complete look, Met Gala Shmet Shmala.
And in facial hair news, this isn’t a deep cut or a new discovery, but I want to shout out Trent Grisham for just looking absolutely incredible as the Padres took down the Reds:
He’s had an 80-grade stache for a while now, but combining it with those shades? chef’s kiss
Injuries
Kyle Wright left the game last night with right shoulder soreness, he’s going on the IL.
Michael Harris II was removed as a precaution after jamming his right knee. But that sounds an awful lot like “DTD with a jammed right knee” to this non-medical professional.
Pete Fairbanks is going on the IL with right forearm inflammation.
Yan Gomes has been placed on the 7-day concussion IL retroactive to 5/2.
Jake Burger left last night’s game with left side discomfort, he’s DTD as of the publishing of this article.
Robbie Ray was already out for the remainder of 2023, but he apparently needed TJS in addition to the flexor tendon repair.
Articles You Should Read
Why One Athletics Fan Is Urging People To Pack The Ballpark Amid Reports Of The Team Leaving For Las Vegas – Chris Cwik, Yahoo! Sports
Bryce Harper Is Back, Impossibly Soon – Ben Clemens, FanGraphs
The Outrageous Star Power Of El Duque – Jack Curry, New York Times
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
Reliever Ranks (Closers) (Holds)
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)