San Francisco right-hander Yusmeiro Petit has been fantastic against the Los Angeles Nationals this afternoon, having recorded an 8:0 strikeout-to-walk ratio and single-game 1.17 xFIP through five innings (box). Nor is anyone more impressed by Petit’s performance thus far than San Francisco right-hander Yusmeiro Petit, seen here enthusiastically applauding Yusmeiro Petit after the latter’s most recent strikeout.
Carlos “Go-Go” Gomez is easily startled.
All it takes is a sneaky umpire, sidling up to the bag Go-Go’s on, and he’s like an elephant that sees a mouse (or a squirrel, or some other kind of smallish rodent).
Fortunately for Go-Go, all it takes to calm down after such a rise in blood pressure is a little coddling and chest scratching from third base coach Ed Sedar.
Maybe the next time you are feeling anxious or agitated, Ed Sedar can come to your home, workplace, or wherever else you might be feeling these uncomfortable feelings, maybe he can come there and just scratch your chest a little. Wouldn’t that be nice? Ed Sedar. In your home, workplace, or general personal space. Just scratching your chest a little.
In a sequence of events designed to illustrate that life isn’t entirely a festival of awfulest sorrows, left-handed Texas prospect Alexander Claudio, celebrated in electronic print earlier today by the present author, made his major-league debut minutes ago — during the course of which he threw the above pitch, his signature and very slow changeup, captured here in even slower motion.
All, or nearly all, of the big philosophers you’ll hear about take pains to note that the correlation between one’s own actions and the events (good or bad) which befall that same one — that the correlation between the two is weak.
Indeed, Pirates right-hander and also contemporary philosopher Edinson Volquez took pains to illustrate that same thing tonight in the first inning against Detroit. With runners on first and third, and a run already in, Volquez conceded a ground ball up the middle that likely would have scored a second run while producing zero outs. What actually happened, though, was Volquez flailed wildly his right arm and somehow fielded the ball, eventually catching Ian Kinsler between third base and home. Out: recorded. The reality that our mistakes are sometimes rewarded, and vice versa: confirmed.
Where should I put this booger I have picked.
Shall I put it on my shirt?
Shall I put it on the seat in front of me?
Shall I contemplate it for a while?
Shall I eat it?
Shall I let it drop?
Where should I put this booger I have picked.
Over 6.1 innings tonight, Corey Kluber conceded zero baserunners — a notable feat, that, insofar as, were he to have recorded eight more outs, the reaction of the public would have been considerable. As the above footage reveals, however, Omar Infante rendered all notions of perfection moot in the seventh inning, lining a single to center field off the aforementioned Cleveland right-hander.
What Infante’s single represents, of course, isn’t the end of Kluber’s bid for a perfect game, but rather an entirely necessary reminder — such as one that appears with the Discourses of Epictetus or Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius — that perfection doesn’t exist. Nor is this absence of perfection something over which one ought to grieve. Rather, it’s a fact. Like the capital of Ohio is a fact. Or that Ohio exists at all.
Last month, NotGraphs lost a piece of magic as Billy McCool, left-handed pitcher and actual person, passed away. Let us take a moment to adore the man, the lefty, the only fella who could make your grandfather’s socks as cool as cubed cumbers — Billy McCool.
Thanks to Paul Agnello for consummating Fate, for bringing the world’s inevitable route to NotGraphs’ front door, for telling us about Billy McCool.
Here’s an animated GIF of Texas prospect Joey Gallo’s home run from the sixth inning of the Futures Game on Sunday:
This comes courtesy of a comment from a previous Mike-Trout related post:
As I’m never one to ignore the filthy masses/turn down an idea for a post, I present Mike Trout Robbing Mike Trout of a Home Run.
Behold:
Though I’m not quite sure what type of something this is, it is indeed something.
