2013 MLB Regular Season running thread

That two-homer blown save for Aroldis Chapman against Philadelphia on Sunday? Phillies' Spanish-language radio announcer says Chapman ate 18 Cuban pastries that morning.

"Now, if you eat more than two of these you're clogging up your arteries -- you're a stroke waiting to happen," he joked in the interview, saying the pastries are the "equivalent of the Krispy Kreme donuts when they come right out of the oven, it's that kind of a thing."

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9298109/aroldis-chapman-cincinnati-reds-sunk-sweets-sunday-rickie-ricardo

 

There's an off-day Thursday, so they don't have to worry about the fifth spot in the rotation until next week. Giants have a 3-week stretch starting Memorial Day with only four home dates (OK, two of the road dates are at Oakland, but still ...). RHP Santiago Castilla and UTL Brett Pill called up from Fresno.

 

Their hot start aside, it seems like the Rangers' pitching -- beyond Darvish, Joe Nathan and few bullpen guys -- is a question mark. What's the long-term prognosis of their injured pitchers? How about the expectations of the starters in their place, beyond Darvish?

I see that Matt Harrison is out for the forseeable future, Ogando just went on the DL, Colby Lewis is still hurt, and Derek "Dirt-stache and the Dominoes" Holland is no ace.

 

Sunday's amazing comeback only masks the truth: that the Phillies need to be blown up like Veterans Stadium.

 

So they don't have an ace besides their ace?

 

Very important question here:

I'm running a story on a local baseball kid at Vandy. He's a freshman. He was drafted last year and he decided to go to school instead. Is he eligible to have his name called in the MLB Draft this year? I can't find a definitive answer.

 

NM, found the answer after a little more digging.

 

And Nick Tepesch has been scratched from tomorrow's start because of a blister. They're down to seeds and stems in the rotation -- they're calling up Ross Wolf to start tomorrow (if tonight is rained out, Darvish will start).

Their pen's been taxed the last couple of nights, too. They need Darvish to go eight again tonight. And Holland needs to be better than he was Sunday.

 

To add to the above, help is on the way soon. Martin Perez will be activated in a week or two, and Lewis should be back sometime in June once he gets over his tendinitis. Neftali Feliz should complete his Tommy John rehab and be back in the bullpen by August. The Ogando injury isn't serious and he'll be back once his 15 days are up.

If the Rangers can just get through the rest of this month, I think they'll be fine.

 

Again I wish the MLB Network would stop with the in-game updates from other games. It's very annoying to keep cutting away, and the breathless screeching is even worse.

 

Yanks are 19-0 this season when they score the first run, a record. They scored the first run tonight.

 

We call that a Girardi.