(with apologies to Ogden Nash)

Hi, everyone! And welcome to Write-Up For Yesterday, BttP’s guide to what the heck happened yesterday in baseball. We’re not gonna just hand you some scores here, because we trust you know how to type the letters E-S-P-N into your internet machine. Instead, we hope to give you a fuller and richer understanding of important goings on from yesterday in baseball. The big stories, and the noteworthy performances-good and bad.

STORY LINES AND NEWS CYCLE EPHEMERA

Ben, Sam and Ben Carsley debated whether Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts will be the better MLB player on Tuesday and Betts, objecting to the mere suggestion that it was a debate, scored all of Boston’s runs with two homers in Tuesday night’s win. The duo also turned a double play when Betts’ quick throw after a flyout caught out Evan Longoria before he could make it back to second base.

I apologise in advance for the string of injury-related updates to follow, but despite numerous public protests, baseball players continue to get injured. Perhaps most significant is the news that Rays starter Alex Cobb has a partially torn UCL. Cobb will first attempt to deal with the problem through rest and PRP injections, which means you will have to endure multiple variations of the unfortunate standard response of “why doesn’t he just have Tommy John?” for the next couple of weeks.

Stephen Strasburg lasted just three innings against the Marlins because of a “little issue” under his shoulder blade. The Washington Post pointed out that there is no such thing as a little issue when it comes to public assessment of Strasburg’s aches and pains. The right-hander told the Post that the feeling was similar to what one might have while “driving a car fast over speed bumps”, suggesting that neither Strasburg’s health nor his approach to speed bumps is quite what it should be.

George Springer did something ridiculous in right field again and he may have sustained a concussion as a result. The fact that he even managed to get up and run off the field after this is almost as miraculous as the catch itself. It’s also worth watching for Adrian Beltre’s sheer outrage that Springer had the audacity to catch the ball.

In some positive injury news, Chad Billingsley returned after over two years out following Tommy John surgery and resulting complications. He immediately gave up an absolute rocket of a home run to Freddie Freeman and allowed six runs total – five earned – over his five innings, a performance more than good enough to cement his role in a rotation that also regularly features such luminaries as Jerome Williams and David Buchanan.

Kyle Farnsworth leads his Florida Football Alliance team in sacks and tackles. I don’t really know what else to say about that.

TWEETS WE LIKED

.@susanslusser Hi Susan. I made this Vendittegram for you. pic.twitter.com/i8TqYTaUVI

— Ryan Thibs (@NotMrTibbs) May 6, 2015

The ULTIMATE #BatFlip: http://t.co/IObIzFu2gH pic.twitter.com/awwOzqzGWU — MLB (@MLB) May 6, 2015

.@Tsunamy27 explain pic.twitter.com/KRFFgthof5

— Daniel Doelling (@Daniel_Doelling) May 6, 2015

Cool offer @MLBTV pic.twitter.com/sBbKVnu1TT

— ALDLAND (@ALDLANDia) May 5, 2015

ARTICLES WE LIKED

The very handsome Carson Cistulli wondered what might become of Ron Roenicke and examined the fates of other fired managers to answer said question.

Jeff Sullivan noted that Steve Pearce appears to be playing second base – and what’s more, it actually might be a good idea.

At Beyond the Box Score, Kevin Ruprecht broke down the (often sizable) differences in batted ball classification between Fangraphs, Baseball-Reference and Baseball Savant.

THT’s Dan Meyer calculated the run value of throwing a strike.

TODAY’S BEST PITCHING MATCHUPS

(Deserved Run Average included in brackets)

Ubaldo Jimenez (BAL, 3.12) vs. Jacob DeGrom (NYM, 4.57) (7:00 ET)

You never really know what Jimenez will do, but there’s no denying the stuff and 2015 has started well for him, with a strikeout per inning, a surprisingly good (for Jimenez) 9.5% walk rate and the fourth-best DRA amongst qualified starters.

Carlos Carrasco (CLE, 4.34) vs. Danny Duffy (KCR, 4.62) (7:10 ET)

Alliteration is not the only similarity between these two, as both were top-100 prospects many years ago, have yet to put together a full season of strong major league performance, but had impressive 2014 breakouts that suggested they might finally achieve that potential over 180+ innings. The contrasting starts by their respective teams also make this an intriguing series as Cleveland, widely tipped to take the AL Central over the Tigers, have the worst record in the AL, while the Royals, expected to come back down to earth after their surprise World Series run, lead the division.

Jon Lester (CHC, 4.57) vs. Lance Lynn (STL, 4.07) (8:15 ET)

Going right back to the well with Cubs-Cards here as Lester and his Amazing Disappearing Pickoff Throw faces the quietly dependable Lynn. St. Louis won again last night to extend their winning streak to eight since the loss of Adam Wainwright and become the first team to 20 wins, just in case we weren’t sure that the rest of the team was pretty good too.