Baseball Connection

The Cubs swept the Padres as they picked up their 9th win in 10 games. Before the season started, we figured the Cubs would be rather mediocre. Where did this strong play come from?  Sean Manaea pitched a complete game shutout and a Bichette/Panik combo led to a Blue Jays walk-off victory in Buffalo.

MLB will be celebrating the first annual Lou Gehrig's Day. Gehrig will be honored across the league in memory of his brilliant career and brave battle with ALS. Fernando Tatis Jr and Marcus Semien took home Player of the Month honors for May. The Cardinals will be without Jack Flaherty for some time and the Vlad/Acuna HR chase continues. All this (and more) on today's episode.

The Mets had an eventful win in the desert. deGrom showed his typical dominance and Kevin Pillar returned to the lineup two weeks after suffering a gruesome facial injury. The Astros are getting healthy and the early returns are good. The home run leaderboard is getting crowded. Chris Taylor's bases-clearing double punctuated an epic 14-pitch at-bat. All this (and more) on today's episode.

The Yankees probably expected to rack up a few wins over the weekend in Detroit but the Tigers had other ideas. The Tigers swept the Yankees in Detroit for the first time in two decades. The Giants are for real - they took 3 out of 4 in LA. Nobody is hotter than the Rays though, Brett Phillips' birthday blast paved the way for their 15th win in 16 games.

The shortened season in 2020 made us take many results with a grain of salt. With such a small sample size, it was hard to tell if some breakout players were for real or not. We look at the breakout players who have continued their strong play and proven to be legit in 2021.

Robbie Grossman delivered a walk-off home run as the Tigers defeated the Yankees in the series-opening game. Gerrit Cole was great, but Casey Mize was strong as well. The Giants won a thriller in LA. Mike Tauchman forced extra innings by robbing what would've been an Albert Pujols walk-off HR. The Devers cousins faced off for the first time at the MLB level. All this (and more) on today's episode.

They don't call him El Mago for nothing. Javier Baez pulled off perhaps the most magical baserunning feat we've ever seen. Alek Manoah looked sharp in his MLB debut - the Blue Jays expect him to be a future ace. We discuss the results of a few doubleheaders around the league. All this (and more) on today's episode.

Yasmani Grandal has put together a perplexing stat-line so far this season. Coming into today with a .136 batting average, an untrained eye would believe he's struggling. Looking closer, Grandal is providing well-above-average offensive value. We discuss how to understand the metrics behind this bizarre situation.

Noah Syndergaard exited his rehab start after just one inning because of elbow discomfort. His velocity plummeted, so this is certainly a concern for the Mets, who had hoped to have him back next month. Rich Hill racked up 13 strikeouts against the Royals, but he was outdueled by Brad Keller as the Royals snapped Tampa Bay's win streak.

The Rays notched their 11th straight win, thanks to a massive rally in extra innings against the Blue Jays. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. blasted two home runs and now finds himself atop the MLB leaderboard. Is the AL East the strongest division in baseball? All this (and more) on today's episode.