He just achieved a new personal best.
Happy Monday, everyone! We’re getting awfully close to the All-Star break, which feels impossible to say, because surely the season just started a month ago, but that also means we’ve got all sorts of fun news and speculation.
For starters, bona fide double-threat Shohei Ohtani just outdid himself, setting a new personal best for pitching mere weeks after finally making his Dodgers pitching debut. We’ll get into the finer details of that below, along with a few more bits and bobs of baseball news.
We’ve learned Ron Washington won’t be returning to the Angels this year; an A’s star is complaining about playing in Sacramento; and another superstar slugger has signed up for the Home Run Derby.
All that and more in today’s news, so we’re going to jump right into it.
- Luis Severino has some strong opinions about playing in Sacramento for a guy who willingly signed a contract to play in Sacramento. Story by Brian Mcwilliam.
- Angels manager Ron Washington will be sidelined for the rest of the season due to medical issues. Story by Sam Blum. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Sarah Langs has compiled a fun list of players who have homered in parks they share a name with.
- Melissa Lockard reports that Cal Raleigh will be participating in the Home Run Derby this year. (The Athletic subscription required)
- Karl Rasmussen shares that the Angels really, really didn’t want to pitch to James Wood.
- Love this.
- Oh boy, the minor leagues are going animal crazy. A rabbit threw out the first pitch at a Reno Aces game (story by Allison Mast), and a cat threw out a first pitch for the Inland Empire 66ers (story by Jessica Keating). Love that baseball isn’t just for the dogs!
- Madison Williams reports that the Mets are more committed than ever to win, following a players-only meeting.
- Former Tampa Bay Rays standout, Wander Franco has been sentenced in his abuse trial. Story by Hogla Enecia Pérez. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Jay Jaffe looks at the new rise of position players pitching.
- Ken Rosenthal shares that Globe Life Park is becoming a hitter’s nightmare. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Jackson Stone shares that Shohei Ohtani has thrown the fastest pitch of his MLB career.
- Dave Parker has passed.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.