Happy Sunday. Yesterday, I realized I was just two weeks away from my MS Ride and hadn’t been on the bike enough. But, I’m in as good of shape as I get at this age, and I’m sure I can ride 200 K over a weekend. There are going to be some rides this week.
Over at Sportsnet, Shi Davidi writes about new batting coach David Popkins:
“When you look at their lineup and you see a lot of guys who are overperforming, you probably didn’t expect them to perform that well, I’m like, well, he has something to do with that, for sure, working on their weaknesses and then try to have less holes at the plate,” said Correa. “That makes a tough out when you reduce those holes at the plate and you focus on your approach and every single guy in the lineup invests in committing to that approach.”
“The biggest thing that we’ve seen is a very, very intentional message of don’t be afraid to take chances,” said Schneider. “You can see it. There aren’t many hitting coaches that I’ve been around where a guy swings and misses at a ball that may be a little bit marginal and Pop is excited. That just rubs off on everyone. Everyone does it a little bit differently. Really good hitting coaches recognize what people are good at. They don’t cookie-cut people and it’s been very evident from the time when he signed him that was going to be his message.”
It’s easy to overstate what a hitting coach does when a team is hitting. Let’s see how the season goes.
Rafael Sánchez threw a seven-inning no-hitter yesterday for the Fisher-Cats. He had two walks, two strikeouts and a hit batter.
The moment.
Rafael Sánchez solos the fourth no-hitter in franchise history!#BeyondBaseballNH #DestinstionCats pic.twitter.com/tDDrH0EwDn
— New Hampshire Fisher Cats (@FisherCats) June 8, 2025
Jose Bautista gave a surprisingly emotional Canadian Hall of Fame speech yesterday. He, Erik Bedard, Greg Hamilton, Amanda Asay, Arleene Noga, and Gerry Snyder were inducted into the Hall.
Wow, Alan Roden is in the lineup. I hope he has a good game. I’d like to see him start again. No Gimenez, which is interesting to me. I understand him sitting when a lefty starts against them.