Say hey, baseball: Nelson Cruz just keeps hitting home runs

Listen, we know it's tough to catch up on everything happening in the baseball world each morning. There are all kinds of stories, rumors, game coverage, and Vines of dudes getting hit in the beans every day. Trying to find all of it while on your way to work or sitting at your desk just isn't easy. It's okay, though, we're going to do the heavy lifting for you each morning, and find the things you need to see from within the SB Nation baseball network as well as from elsewhere. Please hold your applause until the end, or at least until after you subscribe to the newsletter.

★★★

If you’re anything like me, you’ve missed the majestic long balls that came with early-to-mid-2000s baseball. Sure, the steroid controversy cast a dark cloud over the era, and there’s plenty of fun to be had with pitchers duels, but monster home run totals are something special. Lucky for us, Nelson Cruz is bringing that back. The Seattle slugger hit two homers last night in Houston to bring his season total to 13 just 24 games into the year.

Cruz’s move to Safeco was supposed to suppress his power, but those predictions apparently forgot about the 81 games he plays on the road. He’s been making the most of that little loophole so far with 10 of his first 13 dingers coming away from home. With that being said, he crushes the ball with a regularity that will allow him to hit homers at Safeco as well.

Cruz has been battling with Hanley Ramirez atop the home run leaderboard in the early part of the season and he took a three homer lead with his big Saturday night. Only time will tell if this battle will be able to stand the test of a long season, but it’s refreshing to see this kind of race in baseball again. There have been so many great things about this new pitching-dominated era, but praise be to Nelson Cruz for bringing back the power stroke.

• Alex Rodriguez tied the great Willie Mays on the all-time home run list on Friday night. Despite the all-time great sending out his congratulations to Rodriguez, the Yankees continue to insist they will not pay him for the milestone.


• The Brewers are already telling other teams they’re willing to trade some major-league pieces in a possible fire sale. Not even Carlos Gomez getting ready to rejoin the club appears to be enough to right that ship.


• It’s not yet 2017, but the Astros are taking the league by storm. Part of their surge has been thanks to Jake Marisnick, but the signs point towards some regression for the outfielder.


• Cleveland was supposed to be the league’s darling this season, but instead they just capped off one of the worst Aprils in the franchise’s history.


• This past offseason saw the Blue Jays build one of the most frightening offenses in the game. Although some of the big bats have struggled, other players have stepped up and the group as a whole has performed as expected.


• One of the most bizarre rules in MLB is the inability for teams to trade players for a year after they’ve been drafted, a rule that came into focus with Trea Turner this offseason. Now, the league is finally addressing this issue.


• After losing Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals could be forced to look to the trade market earlier than usual.


• The Phillies are a laughing stock around the league this season, but it wasn’t too long ago that Chase Utley and Ryan Howard made them one of the most feared teams in baseball. Now, the two players could be nearing the end of their respective careers.


• For some odd reason, there are still people who refuse to acknowledge that Bryce Harper is, in fact, good at baseball. He’s adding a new element to his game that may finally make him the star everyone expected him to be.