Good
Oakland A’s fans almost got treated to a no-hitter on Friday, as
Sean Manaea carried one into the 8th inning against the Tampa Bay Rays. Unfortunately it was broken up by
Mike Brosseau, Manaea’s former high school teammate.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the majors that same night, another lefty starter was making a similar bid and managed to finish it off.
Wade Miley threw a no-hitter for the Cincinnati Reds, in a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Miley issued just one walk, and in the same inning a batter reached on an error, but both runners were stranded. Every other frame was perfect, with eight strikeouts overall. He needed 114 pitches to complete the gem. Click here for the box score.
Closer and bullpen concerns? Maybe not as bad as last season, but certainly not great.
Not everything with this team was going to get patched together in the uncertain winter where financial resources were uncertain and questions over the length of a season along with playoff structure were certainly not close to set.
That doesn’t mean, however, that waiting to the trade deadline should be the modus operandi for this Phillies team. While not every hole can be filled at this moment, Dombrowski and Fuld have to start by throwing some spackle and paint on the most glaring ones.
When everyone evaluated the National League East as some sort of behemoth in the offseason filled with five teams that had playoff aspirations, they seemed to discount one important factor. All five of those teams had remarkable flaws – all of which have appeared to pop up early in the season.
Take a look around and wallow in the mediocrity.
• The Braves starting rotation is a mess with Mike Fried and Drew Smyly on the injured list and Mike Soroka’s situation not looking promising. Atlanta entered play on Friday with a 4.93 ERA among its starting pitchers – 24th in the Majors. The lineup also suffered a blow this week with Ronald Acuna Jr. going down with an abdominal strain. Acuna wasn’t put on the IL, but those things can linger with a player all season. Acuna was so blistering when he was sidelined on Sunday night that any amount of inaction hurts Atlanta.
March 31, 2021, 5:31 PM·22 min read
Among the many and perhaps least important “unprecedenteds” that can be deployed in a facile attempt to explain the previous 12 months is an unprecedented lack of access at sporting events. I like to think we’re getting by fans and reporters, both through a healthy dose of innovation, perspective, and an unhealthy dose of time spent staring at various screens.
But for an in-depth look at each team ahead of the 2021 season, I wanted to talk to someone who’s allowed within six feet of the field. So for each team, division by division, you’ll hear from a top executive about expectations and evaluations. Are they biased? Absolutely, but you’re smart enough to see through that when it applies. And besides, we tried to provide an appropriate counterbalance.
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