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.
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Andrew McCutchen has had some weak Aprils, but only relatively so: hundreds of MLB players would love to struggle the way he has in the past. The start of 2015 has been different, though, with the Pirates’ star looking like anything but, batting .188/.279/.292 after a two-year stretch where he won an MVP and then led the NL in OPS. Some of it could be bad luck -- his batting average on balls in play is hovering around the .200 mark, and he isn’t striking out anymore than usual -- but you do have to wonder how much of it is on Cutch himself.
Line drives are how players get many of their hits. You shouldn’t trust line drive data implicitly -- human eyeballs are charting this data, you know -- but the gap between where Cutch is usually for liners (around 20 percent) and where he is in 2015 (10 percent) is so large that it’s hard to ignore. He’s also seen a rise in contact labeled “soft” and a drop in “hard” contact, which makes sense given the dip in liners. Is McCutchen just swinging at the wrong pitches, ones he can’t drive with the authority we’ve all seen he’s capable of? That’s the most likely cause at this time, but if it keeps up for too long, maybe there is something more worrisome going on.
It’s either that, or it’s because Cutch cut his glorious long hair and Sampsoned himself right in the middle of his peak. Do you have a better explanation for an MVP candidate just completely losing it for the first 26 games of the season?
- The AL West was supposed to be a dominant division with a semi-interesting Houston Astros team. The Astros are in first and the rest of it looks mangled, so let’s figure out who is actually good and who might be bad.
- The doorknob fell off the door to the home radio booth at Wednesday’s Brewers’ game, so Bob Uecker was trapped inside.
- Cubs’ shortstop Starlin Castro imitated third baseman Kris Bryant while he made a throw. We don’t know why, either, but we’re still enjoying it.
- The Brewers might want to go big with their rebuild, but don’t assume that’ll fix all of their current problems.
- Justin Masterson’s velocity is gone and might never come back, and his control vanishes for innings at a time. It might be time to give up on the idea of him as a successful starter.
- The Giants need a third baseman. The Phillies should probably find someone to trade Cody Asche, too. Hey, wait a second ...
- Mets’ fans will get a look at top prospect Noah Syndergaard soon, as he’s next in-line to make a spot start for New York.
- Alex Guerrero is drawing trade interest, and the Dodgers could be interested in dealing him given their logjam at third base. Also, questions about Guerrero make manager Don Mattingly cranky, and they wouldn’t want that.
- The Martinezes -- J.D. and Victor -- are struggling for the Tigers. How long can Detroit put up with this problem from their two supposed sluggers?
- Kyle Kendrick is not very good at pitching. Kyle Kendrick has to pitch for the Colorado Rockies in the most hitter-friendly park in the majors. Why would you do this to Kyle Kendrick, Rockies?
- Let’s talk about concussions in baseball (again).
- Wil Myers is healthy. Wil Myers is hitting baseballs. There is probably some correlation here.
- Bryce Harper hit three homers on Wednesday. Miss it? You can just watch all three again and again if you want.
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