It’s already been quite the week for MLB umpires and it’s only Wednesday.
We’ve all been watching baseball long enough, right? I think, generally speaking, we all know where the strike zone is supposed to be.
Over the plate, above the knees and below the shoulders. Give or take a few inches here and there, that’s generally where you place it. Or, at least, that’s what I thought anyway.
After watching this wild seven-pitch at-bat from Juan Soto on Tuesday night, I’m not sure where the strike zone is anymore.
Soto was called out on strikes after seemingly not getting a pitch in the strike zone. It’s so confusing. You have to see it for yourself.
Juan Soto didn't see a strike during this seven pitch at-bat, and still struck out. pic.twitter.com/5EvnaWhZz4
Some of those pitches are close, sure. But most of them are just out of the box. And Soto isn’t even swinging. There’s just no way he should’ve been called out here.
Good morning, Winners! Happy Friday Jr. It’s almost the weekend, folks. Can’t you just feel it?
Let’s talk about the Yankees for a second. The blockbuster deal between New York and the San Diego Padres has all of the Lakers and Cowboys fans on my timeline ecstatic.
For those of you who may have been out of the loop, the Yankees sacrificed a bunch of pitching to land Juan Soto and Trent Grisham from the Padres. Our Charles Curtis has trade grades here. The Yankees’ grade was an A, of course, because how could it not be?
New York just landed a 25-year-old star heading into the prime of his career coming up on a contract year. We haven’t seen the best of Juan Soto yet but what we’ve already seen was good enough to lead the Nationals to the franchise’s first World Series back in 2019. That’s terrifying.
Trent Grisham is a fine piece in the outfield. Losing pitching always sucks. But, folks. It’s Juan Soto. I mean, have y’all seen the Yankees’ projected lineup? This thing is bananas.
Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Standon, Gleyber Tores and Juan Soto? Come on, man.
The Evil Empire vibes are so back, man. Can’t you just feel it? This lineup has the vibe of all the old George Steinbrenner teams. The ones that had irrationally large payrolls with gobs of talent — not the more analytical ones we’re used to these days.
The scary part is the Yankees don’t seem to be done. The Yankees are currently in the middle of a bidding war with the Mets for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. If they land him? Whew, boy. It’s going to be a rough year for the rest of the American League.
Let’s find the Pistons next win
(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Welp, folks. The Pistons losing streak continues. After a 116-102 loss to the Grizzlies with Desmond Bane dropping a career-high 49 points, it’s starting to look bleak. The Pistons have lost 18 straight and that felt like Detroit’s best chance to win for…a while.
The upcoming schedule is TOUGH. Let’s do a quick exercise. I’ll keep rattling off games until we get to one where it feels like there’s a solid chance for a win.
Let’s start:
— @ Orlando Magic on Dec. 8
— vs. Indiana Pacers on Dec. 11
— vs. Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 13
— @ Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 15
— @ Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 16
— @ Atlanta Hawks on Dec. 18
— vs. Utah Jazz on Dec. 21
THERE IT IS. The Utah Jazz on the 21st. If the Pistons haven’t caught someone slipping by then, that’ll be the game it happens. Detroit will get a win for Christmas.
Book it. Also, sorry, Jazz fans.
JJ Watt gets it
It’s nice to see someone come to the defense of Shohei Ohtani and his quiet free agency period so far.
“Just in the past 24 hours, we’ve seen Buster Olney, Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo criticize Ohtani on ESPN. The Athletic’s Braves beat writer David O’Brien also called Ohtani’s approach pretentious.
But as Watt pointed out, there isn’t really anything Ohtani could do here to keep reporters satisfied. If he let the entire free agency play out in the public eye, he’d get criticized in a similar way LeBron did when he signed with the Heat. It would be a circus, and sure, someone would probably scoop the decision. Yet, by taking this private approach, Ohtani gets to focus on the decision on his own terms and see which teams he can actually trust.”
Let Shohei Ohtani cook. Quietly.
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Fast-forward to December 6, 2023: The Yankees acquired star outfielder Juan Soto in a trade, giving their lineup a much-needed boost. And how did the Yankees’ X (formerly Twitter) account celebrate it? With a clear joke about “Jon Soto” appearing to be headed to the Yankees.
Full circle, hilarious and timely. Can’t ask for a better post than that:
Who won the Juan Soto blockbuster? Here’s your answer.
It’s the deal that’s been buzzed about for what feels like all of Wednesday at the 2023 MLB Winter Meetings: Juan Soto is on his way from the San Diego Padres — who JUST traded for the young slugger in 2022! — to the New York Yankees, where the outfielder will presumably hit so many home runs as a lefty in that ballpark.
It makes sense for both teams when you think about it. But if you’re here, you’re probably wondering: Who won this deal between the two teams with massive payrolls? We have answers. Here are the grades for both the Yankees and Padres:
Who should deal for Juan Soto? Let’s rank the suitors.
The hot stove cooled down, and now the temperature is about to get scalding.
The MLB winter meetings are on the horizon, and while all the buzz will be about a certain free agent pitcher/hitter by the name of Shohei Ohtani, there’s also a lot of chatter and rumors about the San Diego Padres unloading Juan Soto.
Weirdly, the Padres dealt for him just a year and a half ago. But it’s possible they may not want to pay him what he deserves in a huge new contract that’s looming, despite the fact that he had a great year last season.
Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, there are a few teams seriously in the running. Let’s rank them based on who should make the deal:
To be fair, Juan Soto isn’t the SLOWEST of runners. But in Monday’s 4-3 San Diego Padres loss to the Colorado Rockies, Williams — the Padres’ third base coach — waved Soto around in an attempt to grab the lead and watched it fail BADLY.
Soto was thrown out by a mile in the eighth inning, and what’s even funnier is that the Padres challenged the play, with the hopes that Elias Diaz would be called out for blocking Soto’s path to the plate.
Top 8th – Padres challenge call that there was no violation of the HP Collision Rule and the out call at home plate; call of no violation is confirmed, call of out is confirmed. Powered by @Zoom. pic.twitter.com/ZlmRZb3ZSR
The end of the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants’ battle on Tuesday was that of a weird instant classic — a walk-off walk win for the Giants.
But before the bases could even get loaded up for the Giants, every position player for the Padres had to be in place in the field. That includes, you know, Juan Soto, San Diego’s best player. For whatever reason, Soto took so long to return to the field between innings.
He was so late that he even drew the ire of the broadcasters, who pondered whether Soto was breaking some kind of rule:
I don’t know what Soto got up to during his break, but it had to be pretty unusual to stop the game, draw criticism from the broadcast, and even see Giants manager Gabe Kapler advocate for his team.
In a way, the Giants later winning on their walk-off walk was fitting, given how long everyone had to wait for Soto.
Juan Soto may have been tagged out on this play, but he definitely got his revenge on Ozzie Albies.
On Sunday, the San Diego Padres were visiting the Atlanta Braves for the last game of a four-game series. During the top of the first, the Padres were looking to draw first blood with Soto on base having won two games in the series already. Unfortunately, Nelson Cruz grounded into a fielder’s choice as Albies forced out Soto with a tag on second to end the inning.
After the force out, Soto grabbed Albies’ batting gloves out of his back pocket and tossed them on the ground in a cheeky bit of revenge.
Clearly, Soto was just messing around here to give Albies some more work to do before heading off for the inning, as no one on the Braves side took offense. No harm, no foul! But, at the very least, Soto got some sweet, sweet revenge.
With Soto now being the arguable face of the Padres, they decided to commemorate the occasion with a collectible for fans in a few weeks: an awesome bobblehead!
Before it’s handed out to folks later this month, San Diego filmed a video of Soto getting a preview look at his tiny recreation. His reaction to what seems to be a spot-on bobblehead was adorably sweet all around:
Duque Hebbert pitched just one inning, but he made quite an impression.
The World Baseball Classic is not just a celebration of the global love for the game. It can also be a pathway to achieving your wildest dreams.
That’s the reality for Duque Hebbert. The right-handed pitcher for Nicaragua came in for the ninth inning of a losing effort against the Dominican Republic, one of the favorites, and he wasted little time in an opportunity against a lineup filled with MLB stars.
He gave up one hit in the frame but issued three absolutely filthy strikeouts, which came against none other than a trio of 2022 all-stars in Juan Soto, Rafael Devers and Julio Rodriguez.
Oh, and did I mention the one hit was allowed to Manny Machado?
It appears at least one MLB club took notice of Hebbert’s impressive performance. He met with Detroit Tigers scout Luis Molina after the game who, after a brief conversation, offered him a minor league contract.
Nicaraguan pitcher Duque Hebbert struck out Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez and Rafael Devers in the 9th inning today.
A Tigers scout was there and now Hebbert is signed with the Tigers.
The announcement was later made on the bus in front of the entire Nicaraguan team, according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez.
It’s the kind of story that feels tailor-made for Hollywood, and Hebbert’s progress in the minors will be something to watch as the 5-foot-9 21-year-old hopes to complete one of the most unlikely paths to the majors imaginable.
