:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49476647/usa-today-9247915.0.jpg)
The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we're running here at MLBDD and rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us at @mlbdailydish on Twitter.
Good morning baseball fans!
Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval will have surgery on his left shoulder, sidelining him for the remainder of the 2016 season.
Michael Conforto has been leading the way for the Mets.
As a team, the Mets position players have hit the ball hard more frequently than any other team in baseball (35.3 percent, 30.4 percent is MLB average). Last year saw the same story - the Mets hit the ball hard more often than any other team. Could something be going on here? Well, history tells us that 2015 was Kevin Long's first year as Mets hitting coach, and that correlates nicely with the offense's ascension to the top of the hard-hit leaderboard. Long's reputation was as a good hitting coach who could coax more power out of players.
But that doesn't quite check out. When Long was with the Yankees, the Bombers ranked 9th, 9th, 13th, 9th, 4th, 6th, 24th, and 24th in hard-hit rate. The results are largely good, but there's not a clear pattern of being consistently better. The quality of the players involved is likely more responsible for the variation than any of Long's tutelage. Long is a fine hitting coach, but Conforto and the Mets hitting the ball hard is just good hitting from good hitters.
Dodgers reliever Josh Ravin has been suspended 80 games for PED's, becoming the latest person to test positive.
J.J. Hardy is going to be on the shelf for a while, as he was placed on the disabled list with a hairline fracture in his left foot which should keep him out for the next 6-8 weeks.
During his first rehab start, Yu Darvish lit up the gun for 97 MPH.
Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs looked at the great start the Phillies have gotten off to.
Over the first month or so, the Phillies have won a surprising number of games. More importantly, it’s looking like Odubel Herrera is good. It’s looking like Vince Velasquez, Jerad Eickhoff, and Aaron Nola are good. There are other positive signs, too, and J.P. Crawford is on the way. The Phillies themselves aren’t yet good, but they’re so much closer than they were a season ago. More than a season’s worth closer, I’d say, if that makes sense. I can’t in good conscience buy the Phillies as a contender in 2016. That, I don’t see. But next season? It should be surprisingly achievable. Phillies fans can embrace this rebuild, because this rebuild is approaching completion.
Here is a roundup of news from the NL West.
Our first rankings of teams that are most likely to move talent at the trade deadline.
Important Links:
Subscribe to The Rosterbatorical on iTunes. While you are there, drop us a rating and a review!
Today in Baseball History:In 1992, Orioles pitcher Gregg Olson becomes the youngest pitcher to record 100 saves at age 25.