So, what's up in the MLB in 2023? I mean dreads-wise, of course. Well, if you've been paying attention, surely you already know that things are a far cry now from where they were when I started this blog nearly 15 years ago. Long gone are the days when you only needed the fingers on your hands to count the number of players with dreads on MLB rosters. Long gone is the time where the only dreads worth seeing were wherever the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing - until Andrew McCutchen cut his dreads off, that is - or on the one day out of every five that Johnny Cueto was pitching for the Cincinnati Reds. Today, on every given night, in more games than not, you'll be able to see at least one player with dreads in action. No, there hasn't been (and won't likely ever be) an explosion in the number of baseball players with dreads like there has been in football; but there are enough that I here now (finally) can introduce a full, 26-man team consisting entirely of players with dreads.
Although there currently are not dreads on all 30 teams, every team has now at some point, present or past, had at least one player with dreads in their uniform. And that includes the no long hair/face hair-allowed New York Yankees. Technically, it was none other than McCutchen who became the first Yankee with dreads when he had baby dreads growing during his brief time with the team in the closing weeks of the 2018 season. Hardly anybody noticed because you couldn't see them whenever he had his hat on. Another team that has frowned on having dreads on their team over the years is the St. Louis Cardinals; but - and you probably don't remember (I didn't until I checked it) - they actually were one of the first teams with a player with dreads way back in 2008 when Brian Barton played his only MLB season for them. But as far as I can tell, the Cardinals have had nobody with dreads ever since.
The 2023 all-dreads MLB team isn't just a team with a bunch of pretty dreads. No, these guys can play too. Really good. I mean several of them are All-Star caliber players; and a few have had - or will have - careers worthy of inclusion in the Hall of Fame. Put these 26 on the same team and watch the scoreboard light up. And, uh, watch the scoreboard light up for the other team too, maybe. Scoring runs doesn't figure to be a problem. But preventing runs? Problem. The depth of the starting pitching is questionable, to put it kindly. But even with that issue, I think the bullpen would be able to clean up enough messes to make this team a pennant contender.
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Starting in left field we Have Ronald Acuna of the Atlanta Braves, who just happens to be one of the best and most exciting players in baseball. Yes, I know he has played exclusively in right field so far in 2023; but he has played in left (and center too) in previous seasons. The freeform dreads that Ronald has now are the 3rd edition of his dreads. The first wasn't long and it didn't last for long. He cut those off shortly after first being called up to the Braves for his rookie season in 2018. The second, of course, were those glorious long extensions he had during the COVID short season in 2020, which made for a lot of great photos. But unfortunately those were gone after that one season, and he started over again. Who knows how long he's going to keep his dreads this time, but at least for now I can include him on the team.
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The final OF spot goes to Esteury Ruiz of the Oakland Athletics, having a breakout season this year in his rookie season. Currently leading MLB in stolen bases with 39 (as of June 25), Ruiz is on pace to finish with the most SB in a season by anyone in MLB since the great Rickey Henderson stole 93 in a A's uniform in 1988. Not that it much matters - because this year's edition of the A's might finish with the worst record in MLB history. Esteury got his dreads started near the end of last season, and as you can see - skull cap or not - they're already long enough that he's having trouble keeping his helmet on.
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Of course, we won't be needing Segura to play SS, because we already have a glut of shortstops with dreads in MLB. Even after switching Tatis from SS to the outfield, dreads are still plentiful at the position.
If you've got a few minutes to spare, click on the two links below. The first is to a Cincinnati Enquirer article describing De La Cruz's quick rise from a nobody to a superstar in the making. And below that is a 5-minute video of his debut on June 6.
No doubt Elly has already set the bar high for himself. And to say the least he brings the excitement. It's going to be fun watching his pursuit of greatness in the years ahead.
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************ SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST ************
Even had Maldonado not debuted his dreads this season, we still would have had a catcher on the team. After appearing briefly the last 3 seasons, 24-year old Luis Campusano made the Padres' opening day roster for the first time this year. But just when it looked like he was becoming their starting catcher in mid-April, Campusano suffered a thumb injury and hasn't played since. He should be back in action very soon. Unlike most of the Dominicans on the team Luis is Dominican and American, having been born in Augusta, Georgia. His father played 5 pro seasons - all in the minors - and the best of the 5 was with Augusta in 1991.
The first 2 spots in the starting rotation are very strong, leading off with the previously mentioned Framber Valdez of the Astros. I didn't even know he had started growing baby dreads last season until suddenly, in his last start before the All-Star break on July 14, he showed up on the mound with dreads nearly a foot long. And I was like "Whoa, where did that come from?!" Well, even if it's not all his own hair, we're certainly glad to have him. After a rough rookie season in 2019, he moved into the Astros' starting rotation in 2020 and has done nothing but get better and better ever since. Going 17-6 with a 2.82 ERA last year, Framber finished 5th in the AL Cy Young Award voting and helped lead the Astros to the championship.
Like Valdez, Luis Castillo of the Mariners pitched in last year's All-Star Game. It was the 2nd ASG appearance for Castillo, who is now 30 years old. A rookie in 2017, Castillo got his dreads started the next year and was mostly solid and unnoticed during his first 5 MLB seasons with the Reds. But after getting traded to the Mariners at the end of July 2022 and immediately making two strong starts against the Yankees, everyone knows about him now. Castillo finished with a career best 2.99 ERA last season and showed out in his two playoff starts. So far this year Luis is pitching even better than last year; but thanks to his team's crummy offense he was the winning pitcher in only 4 of his first 15 starts.
There's a big drop in the rotation from the top 2 to Luis Ortiz of the Pirates at #3. That's Luis L. Ortiz - not to be confused with the Luis F. Ortiz who pitches for the Phillies and does not have dreads. When he becomes successful and famous, I'm sure we'll all be calling him LL Ortiz. The 240-pound righthander has shown promise during his rookie season but has a long way to go to reach successful and famous. His lack of control - i.e. he walks too many - is something he'll have to get under control as his career moves along. But, like him or not, he the 3rd best starting pitcher with dreads.
I was going to have Johnny Cueto be the #4 starter, but it just wasn't meant to be. Cueto's 16th MLB season was supposed to feature the triumphant return of his magnificent dreads, after he had kept them reduced for every single game he pitched last season. But instead I feel like I'm writing a eulogy. Cueto, of course, over the years had come to be known just as much for his long dreads as for his excellent pitching. No doubt he inspired many pitchers in the DR, who wanted to emulate him - and his hair. We appreciate Johnny for the career he has had, for showing everyone that you can still be an outstanding player even with long dreads.
That means that another Pirates rookie, will have to take the #4 spot in the rotation. After spending the first 2 months of this season in the minors, Osvaldo Bido made his MLB debut at age 27 on June 14 and at the same time became the 4th player with dreads to pitch for the Pirates in 2023. He also got off on the wrong foot as far as I'm concerned by having his long dreads reduced. I'm thinking of how great they would look if he would turn them loose, but who knows if we'll ever see it. Bido has looked good so far for the Pirates, but it's early. Surely there's a reason he has been in the minor leagues for so long.
We're going to have to call on someone not currently in the majors to be the #5 starter, although he was at the beginning of this season. A longtime favorite of ours, none other than Jose Urena. 6 years before Urena debuted with the Marlins in 2015, the Marlins famously let it be known they weren't going to let anyone with dreads wear their uniform, making one Hanley Ramirez a very unhappy camper. So when Jose started growing his dreads midway through his rookie season I was more than a bit surprised. Apparently there was a (welcome) change in team policy.
As mentioned earlier only one of the pitchers on the team is from an island not named the Dominican Republic. Way far south of the DR just north of Venezuela and representing the baseball hotbed of Curacao we having Kenley Jansen, who at 265 pounds weighs in as the biggest guy on the team. With 7 seasons in which he has recorded at least 30 saves, Jansen - now 35 years old - is possibly headed for the Hall of Fame. But this version of Kenley's dreads sure ain't going into the dreads hall of fame.
Sharing the closing duties with Jansen is Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians. After back-to-back tremendous seasons in 2021-22, Clase has been a little less dominant this year; but he's still really good and still among the leaders in saves. After taking the freeform route, Clase's dreads are much easier to identify as dreads now than when they first started last year. And he has changed colors, with the blue/green tips replacing the brown tips he had last year.
An All-Star closer with the Detroit Tigers the last two seasons, Gregory Soto has mostly been pitching 7th and 8th innings in his first seasons with the Phillies. He can fill that role too on the all-dreads team. A handful of really bad outings that have made a wreck of his stats obscures how well Soto has pitched this year. He has been almost unhittable against lefthanded batters this season and (as of June 25) has allowed only 2 of 17 inherited runners to score. I'll take that. But I got to complain about his dreads a little, which are shorter than they were last year.
Miguel Castro has been a bit of a revelation in his first season with the Diamondbacks. After 8 seasons of mediocrity (or worse), the 6-foot-7, 200-pounder is having the best season of his career so far in the first 3 months of the 2023 season, pitching important innings on a good team and - for the most part - getting the job done. His 7 saves this year have equaled the entire career total he had prior to this year. And his 4 wins are just 1 shy of the career high 5 he had with the Yankees last year. Speaking of which, Miguel was literally unrecognizable last year after being traded to the Yankees and forced to shave off his beards and his dreads (photo on left). But freed from those restrictions after signing as a free agent with Arizona, he grew his beard back and put the dreads back on.
After going without dreads during his first 4 MLB seasons with the Mets and then missing 2018 due to injury, Rafael Montero showed up with dreads when he joined the Texas Rangers midway through the 2019 season, and they have continued to get longer and longer. Now in his 2nd season with the Astros Rafael was a huge contributor - having the best year of his career - to their championship last season. But other than last season he has been no better than mediocre. And this year, sadly, has been an absolute nightmare. He was doing fine the first month, but ever since the calendar turned to May it has been a disaster, with at least one run allowed in half of his appearances (10 of 20) and 2 or more allowed in 7 of those 10. But I'll still take him on the team and hope he gets better.
Holding down the final spot in the bullpen, here is rookie lefthander Jose Hernandez, a player the Pirates took in the Rule 5 draft last December after the Los Angeles Dodgers did not include him on their 40-man roster. By rule the Pirates have to keep him on their team all season. But if they want to send him down to the minors, they would have to offer him back to the Dodgers first. But by his performance so far Hernandez is showing there's no need to send him down. Despite having never played above the Class AA level prior to 2023, Jose is doing just fine for the Pirates - although mostly in games that aren't close.
..... let's turn over the keys to Tommy Watkins, the 3rd base coach for the Twins. He can manage right from his familiar spot in the 3rd base coaching box and celebrate with the guys hitting all the home runs - like he did after Nick Gordon hit a grand slam (right photo above) on August 30 last year. Watkins, a cousin of NFL receiver Sammy Watkins, managed for one season in the minors 5 years ago before he joined the Twins' staff the next year, so he's no stranger to the job. Upon his arrival in Minneapolis he began growing his dreads - at age 41, no less.
Another shortstop (and he can play at 3B and 2B too) not on the team, Adalberto Mondesi is pictured here from April 9 of last year - getting and celebrating his 10th inning RBI single that gave the Royals a 1-0 win over the Guardians. After growing his hair out during the 2018 season, Mondesi debuted his dreads in 2019. After playing 7 seasons in Kansas City, Adalberto signed with the Red Sox but has yet to make his debut in a Red Sox uniform as he continues to (slowly) recover from the ACL knee injury he suffered in late April of last year.
Ready if needed in the bullpen are .... who else? Four more Dominicans. Luis Frias of the Diamondbacks (upper right photo), Angel Perdomo of the Pirates (lower left), rookie Jose Soriano of the Angels (upper left), and rookie George Soriano of the Marlins (lower right) - not related to Jose that I know of - all have spent more time in the minors than the majors so far this season. Perdomo measures in at a monstrous 6-foot-8 and 265 pounds.
...... Ditto for Rays OF Randy Arozarena. Back in 2019 it looked like he was starting to grow his hair out when he first came to the majors with the Cardinals. But that was a false alarm; and since being traded to the Rays following that year, he kept his hair short and uneventful the next 3 years. Then this season came, and look at him now, with hair longer than ever before. And is this the beginning of freeform dreads that I see? We'll see.
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Even had Maldonado not debuted his dreads this season, we still would have had a catcher on the team. After appearing briefly the last 3 seasons, 24-year old Luis Campusano made the Padres' opening day roster for the first time this year. But just when it looked like he was becoming their starting catcher in mid-April, Campusano suffered a thumb injury and hasn't played since. He should be back in action very soon. Unlike most of the Dominicans on the team Luis is Dominican and American, having been born in Augusta, Georgia. His father played 5 pro seasons - all in the minors - and the best of the 5 was with Augusta in 1991.
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As for the pitching staff .......
The starting rotation might have been OK if not for the unfortunate change of mind by Marcus Stroman of the Chicago Cubs. After he debuted his dreads at the start of the season, I was hoping to have him on the team. But knowing his propensity to keep changing his hair, I was reluctant to welcome him to the house. And sure enough, after making his first 10 starts of the season with dreads, he untwisted them and went back to normal hair as of May 24. And that's too bad because he's really having a good season. The absence of Stroman leaves us with an all-Caribbean - and nearly all-Dominican staff.
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*********** SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST *********
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Cueto's 2023 season never got off the launch pad. After appearing for the DR in the World Baseball Classic in March, he made his debut in a Marlins uniform on April 2 (photo above). After allowing 4 runs in the 2nd inning, he left due to injury and has been trying to get fully healthy ever since. And that's not even the worst of it. Even when he does return, I wouldn't be able to give him a spot on the team - because the unthinkable has happened, and as of June 2, 2023 (a date that will live in horror) Johnny is on the ex-dread list and no longer eligible for inclusion in the house of dread. WTF.
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We give the ball to Osvaldo and hope for the best because there isn't anybody else to turn to. Literally. Unless I'm missing/forgetting somebody there are currently only 4 starting pitchers with dreads in the big leagues. So .......
You're supposed to get better as you go along; and while Jose's dreads certainly did, his pitching most definitely has not. After very respectable seasons in 2017-18, Urena has pretty much been awful ever since. This year he was so awful that the pitching-needy Colorado Rockies had to let him go after his first 5 starts of the season. Now pitching for the Nationals' Class AAA team in Rochester, NY (right photo above) - and with his dreads noticeably shorter than they were earlier this season - Jose, now 31 years old, is trying to regain the form that will allow him to return to - and stay on - a MLB team. Hopefully he'll be able to get his act together and join the Nats later in the season. But the all-dreads team needs him is the rotation now.
I suppose it might not be the greatest of ideas to tell Urena and Ronald Acuna they have to be teammates - considering their history - but I'm sorry, they'll just have to deal with it.
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There is no such dearth of relief pitchers with dreads, and that's a good thing. Because with these starters there's going to be no shortage of innings needed to be pitched by the relievers. The 7 relievers I picked for the team all have had their share of success during their careers, so maybe the call to the bullpen won't be a source of panic for our fan base.
The first edition of his dreads got to be more than a foot long and were looking great before they disappeared following the 2019 season. And after starting again and cutting them off again after the 2021 season, he's now on his third edition this year in his 1st season with the Red Sox.
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We'll let Jansen, Clase, Castro, and Soto handle the high-stress bullpen duty; and for some of the less-important innings here are the other two guys I'm picking to round out the staff .....
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Now that we've seen who is going to play for the 2023 all-dreads team it's time to find out the man who will manage it. Well, it wouldn't be right if we had someone without dreads running the show, so .....
I don't know how Watkins would do it, but here's my suggestion. Pretending that everyone was healthy, this would be my batting order for the all-dreads team. (btw the player stats are not pretend; they're the real thing, but they're not current, reflecting games only through June 26. Since this date is close to the halfway point of the season, you can double the totals to get an idea of how they might finish the season.)
STARTING BATTING ORDER
1. LF Ronald Acuna (age 25) 78 games, .328 BA, .403 OBP, 68 R, 17 HR, 49 RBI, 35 SB
2. CF Cedric Mullins (28) 56 G, .263 BA, .356 OBP, 27 R, 8 HR, 40 RBI, 13 SB
3. 3B Jose Ramirez (30), 73 G, .293 BA, .358 OBP, 46 R, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 6 SB
4. 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (24) 76 G, .284 BA, .354 OBP, 35 R, 11 HR, 49 RBI, 3 SB
5. RF Fernando Tatis Jr. (24) 58 G, .286 BA, .354 OBP, 42 R, 15 HR, 36 RBI, 14 SB
6. SS Elly De La Cruz (21) 18 G, .315 BA, .375 OBP, 19 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 8 SB
7. DH Oneil Cruz (24) 9 G, .250 BA, .375 OBP, 7 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 SB
8. 2B Ketel Marte (29) 73 G, .294 BA, .373 OBP, 58 R, 14 HR, 42 RBI, 6 SB
9. C Martin Maldonado (36) 57 G, .178 BA, .267 OBP, 13 R, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 0 SB
RESERVES
OF Raimel Tapia (29) 47 G, .226 BA, .291 OBP, 15 R, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 6 SB
OF Esteury Ruiz (24) 77 G, .259 BA, .315 OBP, 31 R, 1 HR, 31 RBI, 39 SB
3B Jean Segura (33) 60 G, .190 BA, .259 OBP, 16 R, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 5 SB
2B Nick Gordon (27) 34 G, .176 BA, .185 OBP, 13 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 0 SB
1B Josh Bell (30) 69 G, .230 BA, .325 OBP, 15 R, 7 HR, 32 RBI, 0 SB
C Luis Campusano (24) 7 G, .238 BA, .227 OBP, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB
STARTING PITCHERS
Framber Valdez (29) 15 G, 7-5 (W-L), 2.27 ERA, 99 IP, 78 H, 30 R, 21 BB, 104 SO, .217 opp. BA
Luis Castillo (30) 16 G, 5-6, 2.86 ERA, 94 IP, 72 H, 35 R, 28 BB, 108 SO, .207 opp. BA
Luis Ortiz (24) 9 G, 2-3, 3.74 ERA, 45 IP, 52 H, 23 R, 22 BB, 31 SO, .289 opp. BA
Osvaldo Bido (27) 3 G, 0-1, 3.45 ERA, 15 IP, 18 H, 6 R, 5 BB, 18 SO, .277 opp. BA
Osvaldo Bido (27) 3 G, 0-1, 3.45 ERA, 15 IP, 18 H, 6 R, 5 BB, 18 SO, .277 opp. BA
Jose Urena (31) 5 G, 0-4, 9.82 ERA, 18 IP, 27 H, 22 R, 14 BB, 9 SO, .346 opp. BA
RELIEF PITCHERS
Kenley Jansen (35) 28 G, 2-4, 16 SV, 3.08 ERA, 26 IP, 23 H, 10 R, 12 BB, 31 SO, .225 opp. BA
Emmanuel Clase (25) 38 G, 1-4, 23 SV, 2.41 ERA, 37 IP, 31 H, 15 R, 10 BB, 35 SO, .221 opp. BA
Gregory Soto (28) 34 G, 2-4, 1 SV, 4.55 ERA, 29 IP, 20 H, 17 R, 14 BB, 33 SO, .187 opp. BA
Miguel Castro (28) 34 G, 4-2, 7 SV, 3.56 ERA, 30 IP, 23 H, 12 R, 12 BB, 25 SO, .205 opp. BA
Rafael Montero (32) 33 G, 1-3, 1 SV, 7.76 ERA, 31 IP, 44 H, 28 R, 13 BB, 36 SO, .336 opp. BA
Jose Hernandez (25) 26 G, 0-1, 0 SV, 2.63 ERA, 27 IP, 22 H, 9 R, 6 BB, 28 SO, .220 opp. BA
After Elly De La Cruz arrived in Cincinnati, I had to move J.P. Crawford and CJ Abrams down a notch on the depth chart and all the way off the team. And I hated to do it because both are solid major league players - not to mention Crawford's dreads are longer than just about anyone's. But you don't need 4 shortstops on the team. J.P. (short for John Paul) was a 1st round draft pick of the Phillies (16th overall) in 2013 and played 2 seasons for them before being traded to the Mariners in 2019, which is when he began growing his dreads.
Abrams also is a former 1st round pick no longer playing for the team that drafted him. Picked by the Padres 6th overall in 2019, CJ (short for Christopher, his middle name, Jr.) made it to the majors at 21 years old last season. But when the Padres had a chance to get star OF Juan Soto, they traded Abrams to the Washington Nationals last August midway through his rookie season. Being a Nats fan, I've been an interested observer since then; and despite his low batting average, I love that he's a lefthanded hitter unafraid to hit lefthanded pitching nor is he afraid to get clutch hits late in games. Hopefully he'll be in the Nationals' lineup for many years to come.
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Although he has never been much of a threat with a bat in his hands, OF Billy Hamilton, now 32 years old, remains a big threat running the bases thanks to his elite speed. And with baseball's new rules in effect this season making it more difficult to prevent stolen bases, Hamilton can be a valuable to a team. Ever so briefly this season that team was the White Sox; but after missing more than a month with a hamstring injury, he's now with their Class AAA team in Charlotte. The freeform dreads he first started in 2018 are very long now. But unfortunately after keeping them flowing at full blast during spring training (left photo) he had them massively reduced into a bun (photo on right) during his appearances in May before he got injured.
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NEXT MEN UP
Of course, during the course of a 6-month season not everyone is going to be healthy all the time. You always need depth. And we have some pretty decent options as replacements .....
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As mentioned earlier there aren't enough starting pitchers with dreads. But if there was an emergency and we needed someone to start I suppose we would call on Elvin Rodriguez (left photo, pitching in the Rays' spring training game on Mar. 5). Rodriguez went 0-4 with a 10.62 ERA in 7 games for the Tigers last year but is doing much better in 2023 for the Rays' Class AAA team in Durham. If we decided to go to a 7-man bullpen instead of 6, Huascar Brazoban of the Marlins would be the choice. After beginning his career in 2012, Brazoban didn't make it to the majors until last season - when he was 32 years old. Considering that the recent upswing in his career has coincided with the birth of his dreads, you wonder what took him so long to start growing them.
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COMING ATTRACTIONS?
What do you know, Jazz Chisholm finally started growing dreads. Or did he? In these shots from the first month of the season it sure looks like it. But I'm pumping the brakes before welcoming the Marlins' speedy, flashy outfielder from the Bahamas to the house. And not only because in photos from the next two months of the season it looks like he has his hair in braids instead of dreads. Even had he stayed with dreads all year I would be reluctant to welcome him. If you've followed Chisholm at all during his first 3 MLB seasons, you know that his hair changes often. So he's going to have to do much better than this to convince me to let him in .....
The following players are not on the team this year. But who knows? Maybe sometime in the not too distant future they will be.
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Late to the party - but in this case late is better than never - here's Arozarena's teammate with Tampa Bay, outfielder Jose Siri. You never would have expected it after having seen him since he debuted in MLB in September 2021, but a couple of weeks ago (June 26 to be exactly) Siri suddenly looked like this - skipping the years-long journey of patiently allowing your dreads to grow long and going straight to the finished product. Obviously Siri likes the look and wants it for himself. But let's just wait a few minutes before welcoming him to the house. People have been known to change their mind, and in a couple of weeks these dreads might be gone. Let's wait and see.
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With now mature dreads that he started and grew with his own hair, 23-year old OF Lawrence Butler (in both shots above from spring training games in early March) is advancing through the Athletics' minor league system. This season he's playing at the Class AA level for the first time - at Midland, TX - and is excelling. Hopefully by next season - or maybe even this one - we'll see his dreads in a major league ball park near you.
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They're not ready for the majors yet, but Prelander Berroa and Roddery Munoz - both 23 years old - got a brief taste of the majors during spring training (both photos from late February). The Mariners and Braves respectively have high enough hopes for Berroa and Munoz that they were included on their teams' 40-man rosters this past offseason, preventing any other teams from stealing them. Their 2023 numbers in the minors haven't been anything to write home about. They both remain works in progress, but my money's on them to both pitch in the majors at some point in the future.
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That's all, folks, for part 1. In part 2 we'll have a large dread gallery featuring MLB '23.
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UPDATE ON 7/24/2023
I wanted to publish parts 1 and 2 at the same time ..... at the expense of Part 1 possibly becoming antiquated before it even got published. No doubt a lot of things have changed in the last month since I finished writing part 1. But instead of re-doing the whole thing, I'll just do a couple of items here to update things:
- The most important and most disappointing item is that Martin Maldonado no longer has dreads. And it's hardly surprising. He's a guy who's kept his hair very short his entire career. For him to suddenly decide to have dreads when he's 36 years old didn't make sense. Anyway, and I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but after he went 0-for-13 in the last 4 games of a 10-game road trip that ended on July 3, the dreads were gone by the next game he played on July 6 .....
- I guess that means Luis Campusano will have to catch every game. And I'm happy to report that he is now able to catch every day. He was activated from the injured list a week ago (July 18).
- Luis Ortiz is no longer with the Pirates as of July 5. Things were looking up when he pitched 8 innings and allowed 1 run vs. the Marlins on June 23. But after his next 2 starts were disastrous, the Pirates sent him to the minors. I guess that means we'll have 2 minor league starting pitchers on the team, because I can't take him off it.
- Esteury Ruiz is no longer on pace to steal 80 bases this season. He's been out with a shoulder injury since July 7 but should be back soon.
- Off and on the for last couple of months Andrew McCutchen has had his hair twisted into baby dreads. But he's not welcome back in the house until he proves he is serious about starting up his dreads again.
- CJ Abrams no longer has a low batting average. A red hot month of July has raised it from .230 to its current .256. Keep it going, CJ.
- And Prelander Berroa, ahead of schedule, has been called up to the majors. He made his debut for the Mariners last Friday: mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2023/2023-07/21/2f02ee41-eb8e5066-c9b24032-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_16000K.mp4
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