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Wednesday Morning Links: Puig, Shortening Games, Darvish, Contracts, and More

By Andrew Bryzgornia
Denis Poroy

I was at the home opener on Monday, and although the Twins lost, it was nice to see baseball back at Target Field. If you had told me that it would only be in the mid-50s to low-60s during the second week of April, I would have been pretty disappointed, but the weather at the game was actually quite nice. While in the sun it was almost too hot, and yet when we were in the shade it was too cold. Oh well, can't always get what you want.

  • Yasiel Puig has been unfairly judged since coming over from Cuba, and Dan LeBatard of the Miami Herald points out that we just don't understand the type of adjustment Hispanic players have to endure when they come to America.
  • It's an ESPN Insider article, but apparently an anonymous baseball executive thinks that baseball should shorten its games to 7 innings to reduce pitcher injuries, hold attention spans, and shorten games. Look, I have a tough time paying attention to an entire baseball game myself, but that just means I find something else to do while the game is on. Baseball is not the soundtrack to our summers, it's the background music.
  • Yu Darvish became the fastest pitcher to reach 500 strikeouts in a career, doing it in 401 2/3 innings, besting Kerry Wood's 404 2/3 innings. Great, as if my Kerry Wood bobblehead needed another reason to decrease in value.
  • Upset about baseball salaries, especially after the Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout extensions? Dayn Perry of CBS Sports says you shouldn't be mad.
What tweets, GIFs, videos, and other things do we have available for this week's Lightning Round?

  1. Tuesday night's Mets/Braves game featured Count Chocula versus Grimace on the mound.
  2. I don't think this is what's meant when we say a low-velocity pitcher is a "junkballer."
  3. Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray executed an unusual 1-unassisted putout when he fielded a line drive that ricocheted off the 1st base bag, then ran to the base for the out.
  4. I could watch this play all week. Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado digs a pitch out of the dirt and in one motion throws from his knees to throw out Jonathan Herrera attempting to steal second base.

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