A Sick-Day Checkup

Ugh. Yesterday, pretty much out of nowhere, I started feeling a bit sick. I mean not super-sick; just the usual cold and flu stuff—chills, headache, congestion, all that stuff. As such, I had to postpone my trip to Chicago, which breaks my heart. But, hey, I guess it was inevitable. I basically went all winter without getting sick. That’s gotta be a record of some kind for me. I am definitely planning on having at least one Chicago stop for WHY WE LOVE FOOTBALL in the fall, so we’ll get there soon enough.

I’m feeling a bit better this morning, so let try to put together a little baseball roundup!

Power Outage

On Tuesday, Max Fried threw the third Maddux of his career, when he pitched a three-hit, 92-pitch shutout against the Marlins. Fried is the only active pitcher with more than one Maddux.

He’s also the second pitcher to throw a Maddux already this year—Boston’s Tanner Houck threw one last week against Cleveland. It’s kind of crazy to have two Madduxes already—there were two all of last year and two all of 2021.

Add in that:

• Houston’s Ronel Blanco threw a 105-pitch no-hitter.

• There have already been 48 team shutouts.

• Home runs per game are way down.

• Doubles per game are way down.

• Batting average is also down.

…and we might start asking: What gives?