the pitch clock is counting down to the MLB 2023 REGULAR SEASON THREAD

it was a blast! i shamefully abandoned my scorecard after the second inning. i blame my kids and their instant pestering for things like WATER and FOOD smh

Scoreboard operator was as bad as they come tbf, don’t blame you for not wanting to keep up with the errors. Also that insanely bad initial out call we saw looked even worse on TV!

An actual MLB umpire called Morel out. Overturned but what the hell. pic.twitter.com/mubYLAWl70

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) June 25, 2023

Glad you all had a good time! There is nothing quite like watching a game live. My youngest and I went to the Twins-Braves last night, had a fantastic time notwithstanding the traffic clusterfuck getting in and out of the ballpark

I don't think you can count out the Phillies, Dodgers and Giants either

Based on the way they are playing now, I would not count the Braves out at all. They look like the strongest NL contender to win the pennant.

Both The Athletic and 538 have the Braves as the best team in baseball right now; Sports Illustrated has them #2.

mlb.com has them at #2 in their power rankings, just under the Rays. I expect Fox Sports will have them at #1 in their next rankings.

At the halfway mark and BOS (#5 in the AL East) has a marginally better record than CLE (#1 in the AL Central).

I listened to this story half awake on the podcast Baseball Isn’t Boring yesterday and it still seems really fucking wild to me:

Part of today's @BBisntBoring podcast was talking to Kenley Jansen about Rob Manfred's handling of the Astros' cheating scandal. Listen to Kenley's take ...
➡️https://t.co/LIvjwINgfe pic.twitter.com/mNpUY3TfGF

— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) June 28, 2023

“I feel like that was my best season that I ever had in my career,” Jansen said. “I dominated the whole year, I dominated the playoffs and the Houston Astros were the only ones who put the ball in play. And it’s over with, you know, you can’t change stuff, but what we can do is appreciate when someone steps up and comes forward and is accountable for what they did.”

According to WEEI, Cora did just that “the minute” Turner, Hernandez and Jansen arrived for spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. Cora told WEEI that Turner approached him afterward and said, “I’m glad you did this.”

“I think it meant a lot,” Turner told WEEI of the meeting. “It was good to hear and good to wipe our hands clean and move forward.”

astros @ rangers / marlins @ braves should be interesting series this wkend

I’ve only watched the Twins play about five times this season and every single time I was kind of shocked how bad Correa looked, but I had no idea he was having such a poor season:

.212/.287/.403, OPS of .690

aroldis to the rangers

Mookie 2hrs in 2abs. One more and he breaks the record for most 3hr games. Would not have guessed of all active players, he is the one currently tied for first for this milestone.

Insane this 5’9 man is 40~ hr’s off Bonds at the same point in his career, with Mookie being a season of AB’s behind due to 2020+ a later rookie call-up. Absolutely spoilt as a dodgers fan

*that 40~ number contingent on him making another 17 hr’s on top of his 22 already hit this year

I would have assumed Stanton was the active leader, maybe Cabrera after that.

Mike trout would have been my (boring) guess

Well it ain’t three hr’s, but he’s 3-3 with a walk in the 6th inning. Possibility of one more chance

Surprisingly, Stanton's never done it; Cabrera, a couple of times.

the dance at the end

THERE IS NO ONE ON EARTH HOTTER THAN CARLOS SANTANA RIGHT NOW pic.twitter.com/HDAmz34DPr

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 1, 2023

Based on the way they are playing now, I would not count the Braves out at all. They look like the strongest NL contender to win the pennant.

Sorry, I must've misunderstood your post, I was just talking about teams that should be in the hunt to make the postseason.

Happy Bobby Bonilla Day!

Braves are picking up where last night left off, have scored 6 so far in the first with one out.

Please lobby Congress for Chris Davis Day.

also manny ramirez day

braves are now 9-1 against the marlins and have outscored them 83-29

Acuna's MVP lock is almost as solid right now as Ohtani's.

xp watched this game today and it was incredible, a lot of sloppy fielding but who fucking cares when you can hit like that!

They're roughly on an '84 Tigers pace. So much fun to watch.

Loved Strider absolutely determined to get every out, I love him so much

Hi Chris

The Mets have acquired Chris Flexen and Trevor Gott from the Mariners for lefty Zach Muckenhirn, sources tell @TheAthletic.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 3, 2023

The Mets will designate newly acquired pitcher Chris Flexen for assignment, per source.

— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) July 3, 2023

Padres DFAed Nelson Cruz, RIP Nelly, I’ll always remember the time you hit a solo shot in game 5 2010 WS to rob Tim Lincecum of a scoreless outing.

In all seriousness, I’d like if the Mariners could pick him up, the DH situation has been bad and he would be an upgrade on at least two of the spots there.

nah he's cooked

Six walks against 46 K's, he's not catching up to anything, he's gotta be done.

That said, his career was 1000X better than I would have ever expected, late bloomer low-OBP sluggers with poor defense is not a recipe for aging well, but he kept improving and was a lot more productive in his 30's than in his 20's. He hit 464 HR's, had a reputation as a winner and a respected locker room leader, and was still mashing into his early 40's.

Fucking hell

Jimmy Cordero has been suspended for the rest of the season under the domestic violence policy.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 5, 2023

😐😐😐😐😐pic.twitter.com/zGsjlGgurC https://t.co/cxTvekEZ24

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) July 6, 2023

absolutely brutal

luis severino's game scores in his last two starts: 11, 12

I’m currently in Minnesota and got to see Pablo Lopez’s complete game shutout at Target Field. Time of game was 2:17. Stadium has a giant portrait of two twin brothers on each side of the Mississippi River shaking hands.

This doesn't look good.

Corbin Carroll leaves the game in visible pain after a swing. pic.twitter.com/UbraB4y5ua

— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) July 7, 2023

big ups for my man jameson taillon tonight

i mean he still has a 6.15 ERA and needs to 'miss more bats' but 'you gotta start somewhere'

We have a collection of new NL All-Stars who replace pitchers who will not pitch in the #AllStarGame:

- Kodai Senga will replace Marcus Stroman
- Alex Cobb will replace Bryce Elder
- Craig Kimbrel will replace Devin Williams
- Corbin Burnes will replace Spencer Strider pic.twitter.com/dnTdmYV4Of

— MLB (@MLB) July 8, 2023

some of these guys are definitely having good seasons but it's getting kinda silly isn't it? at the very least, if players are going to keep bowing out at the rate they are, there's no reason for each team to have 6 additional roster spots anymore.

josh donaldson hit his fourth single of the season today

Inside you there are two baseball players: pic.twitter.com/yHJmmHAwmB

— BobbyPOTUS (@BobbyPOTUS) July 10, 2023

Was literally just coming to post this:

Here's the video 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/NUU6JN0JSb

— MLB Life (@MLBLife) July 11, 2023

lol @ that look

If anybody still pays attention (I haven't for years):

https://open.substack.com/pub/joeposnanski/p/going-deep-on-the-home-run-derby?r=1jtu0&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

EFIL4LN

god bless the national league

Saw Nico Hoerner make a near-identical play to this in London, absolute thing of beauty to steal a hit.

Nothin' 2 it.@nico_hoerner pic.twitter.com/7GJ3YBUsLz

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 15, 2023

Only difference really was that Nico was playing 2B in London - he had to range the other way.

Yeah he did well there, Dansby is back on Sunday from the IL, but that drops for a hit otherwise