Japan won the World Baseball Classic. Ohtani struck out Trout to end the game. The first woman in a Division 1 baseball game. A former first-round pick retires, and we can learn a lot from him. I made the worst prediction so far, and I am ashamed.
Quote of the Week
This is what Shohei Ohtani told his teammates before they played the USA in the Gold Medal Game of the World Baseball Classic (no wonder they won)
“Let's stop admiring them... If you admire them, you can't surpass them. We came here to surpass them, to reach the top. For one day, let's throw away our admiration for them and just think about winning,”
Resource: Something You Should Know
Let’s hit the highlights of the WBC so far
In case you live under a rock: Treat Turner became Captain America
In case you live under a cave: Edwin Diaz is out for the season after celebrating a Puerto Rico win
In case you live in Sub-Saharan Africa: The two best players in the game of baseball faced off to decide the World Baseball Classic and it was the best at-bat of 2023 (so far).
Things You Should Know: College Baseball
I started writing about the big moves in the Top 25 but that doesn’t seem relevant when the game took huge steps this week.
Olivia Pichardo, who went viral earlier this year for making the Brown team, finally got her first at-bat of the season last weekend. The outcome of the at-bat does not matter. What matters is she became the first female in history to appear in a Divison 1 game.
I started the first newsletter talking about women in the game of baseball and it fires me up that I can do it again here.
Girls rule.

Did Nick Have Fun Watching Baseball Last Weekend?
Current Record: 3-1 (If the team I pick wins the series, I will consider that a win)
Notre Dame at #4 Wake Forest: G1: 4-1 (WF), G2: 12-3 (WF), G3: 1-3 (ND) Prediction: Wake sweeps and it isn’t pretty for the Irish
Reality: Somewhere Rudy is smiling knowing that the Irish played a near-perfect game Sunday to avoid the sweep. Wake showed that their offense can be tamed as it was in Games 1 and 3 of the weekend.
#3 Ole Miss at #6 Vanderbilt: G1: 12-2 (Vandy), G2: 8-0 (Vandy), G3: 7-2 (Vandy)
Prediction: Ole Miss takes 2 of 3 and Vanderbilt struggles to score, again
Reality: I feel very fortunate that only 100 people read this newsletter a week because if it were more, I would be getting dragged around the internet from my awful take. Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss in a way that was frankly disrespectful. I hope the Ole Miss players use their NIL money to reimburse their parents for their travel costs in Nashville.
#1 LSU at #15 Texas A&M: G1: 9-0 (LSU), G2: 12-7 (LSU), G3: 6-8 (TAM)
Prediction: LSU Sweeps and starts a tough stretch for the Aggies
Reality: Heck of a Sunday performance for the Aggies to avoid the sweep. LSU is going to be unbeaten when Paul Skenes takes the mound. He dismantled that lineup on Friday night and at no point was LSU not in cruise control. On Saturday, the offenses showed up for both sides, but LSU’s is just better.
Winthrop at #19 Campbell: G1: 12-2 (CU), G2: 12-3 (CU), G3: 9-1 (CU)
Prediction: Campbell sweeps and cracks the top 15 of the rankings come Monday.
Reality: Campbell did their thing BUT beating Winthrop does not bring the ranking movement that we had hoped. If it weren’t for Boston College, Miami, and South Carolina dominating in Power-5 weekend series - our prediction would have been spot on. Next week, next week.
Division 1 College Baseball Games to Watch This Weekend
#17 Miami at #2 Wake Forest: Wake has not been its usual offense the last two weeks and Miami NEEDS a big road series win. Prediction: Wake Forest sweeps, scores 10 runs a game, and Brock Wilken has the weekend of a lifetime
#5 Arkansas at #1 LSU: I would HATE going to Baton Rouge this year. 11,000 fans come to every game, knowing their team is unstoppable. You can’t buy that type of love and fandom. Arkansas is good, but this may set the tone for the rest of the SEC to avoid Baton Rouge like the plague. Prediction: LSU Sweep
Rutgers at UCONN: If you ever find yourself on a Friday night with nothing to do, watch Rutgers ace Drew Conover throw. Most unique arm slot of any starter in the country. UCONN is always a power and the Big East is theirs to lose. Prediction: Rutgers takes the series and gets back on track on the mound.
#22 Missouri at #11 South Carolina: Who saw Missouri coming? A historically “ok” baseball program hosted #2 Tennessee last weekend and sent them home 0-3 in conference play. Let’s see if they’re for real. Going to South Carolina is no joke. The Gamecocks hit home runs by the dozen and that is fun. Home runs are fun. Prediction: South Carolina takes two out of three in the series. Missouri gets a road win against a top-15 team to help their resume.
Things You Should Know: Major League Baseball
Why Did the US lose the World Baseball Classic? Aren’t we the best?
Let’s talk this through because I have explained this a dozen times in the last 48 hours.
Offense - USA: Minus Aaron Judge, this is the best lineup that we can put out as a nation. A lineup that starts with Betts, Trout, Goldschmidt, and Arenado and ends with Realmuto and Turner is ELITE. A combination of power, speed, experience, and athleticism showed itself throughout the tournament.
Offense- Japan: In past years, Japan has relied on impeccable execution and very little power throughout its lineup. This has always worked because of their elite pitching and defense, they could win low-scoring games with ease.
This year’s team - was much different. There was ELITE athleticism throughout the lineup and youth that hasn’t always been there for Japan. I am a sucker for Munetaka Murakami. I want/need him on the Yankees. That being said, Yoshida looks like an offensive weapon, and the Red Sox may have spent some good money.
Pitching - USA: This pitching staff was sad. I’m not in the mainstream media so I can say: This is an embarrassing list of pitchers given what we have as a nation. Adam Wainwright is a first-ballot Hall of Famer but why on Earth is he throwing 86mph in the Semifinals of the WBC?
In the Gold Medal Game, you should want any of the following and it would make sense: Scherzer, Verlander, Cole, Rodon, Burnes, Nola, Strider, McClanahan, Woodruff, Beiber, Wheeler, Cease, Gausman, Fried, Gallen, Ray. Not one of these guys was on the US team.
Instead: we got Merrill Kelly. $5 bucks to anyone who texts me and tells me what team Merrill Kelly plays for by 12pm EST. Merrill freaking Kelly
Pitching - Japan: The Japan pitching staff will likely finish their careers with combined career earnings of $2 billion. The US pitching staff will all finish their careers with combined career earnings of $400 million.
We are spoiled in the US with Ohtani and Darvish. Seeing 21-year-old Roki Sasaki in the US for the first time was such a tease. Roki Sasaki's stuff is as amazing as we thought
Sasaki was the third-best pitcher on the Japanese team and during the Semi-finals, he threw 29 fastballs in total. Twenty-six of them were 100 mph or faster.
Just ... look at his list of velocity readings: 100.8 mph, 100.5 mph, 101.8 mph, 100.5 mph, 101.7 mph, 100.7 mph, 97.4 mph, 100.6 mph, 100.4 mph, 100.3 mph, 100.1 mph, 100.9 mph, 100.7 mph, 100.2 mph, 100.9 mph, 100.5 mph, 100.2 mph, 100.5 mph, 100.5 mph, 100.8 mph, 100.6 mph, 101.6 mph, 100.7 mph, 99.7 mph, 101.9 mph, 100.2 mph, 100.8 mph, 99.4 mph, 100.7 mph
In Summary: We lost because we were not the best team. Japan was. We should be okay with that. See you in 2026
Things You Should Know: Minor League Baseball
Phillies Release Former Number One Draft Pick
I usually cringe when I see someone on Twitter post a 5 to 50 tweet “thread” because oftentimes it’s a rant about cryptocurrency and not to brag, I have a guy for my crypto news and insights (Hey George).
Mark Appel, former #1 pick, has let the public see deep into his soul over the last few years. From quitting in 2017 to finally getting called up in 2022, he’s let us into all (most) of it.
This thread was real and you have to appreciate it from someone that doesn’t owe us anything. If you want to read the whole thing, click on the first tweet. I’m going to post some of my favorites below:

Hitting for the (News) Cycle
WBC's Cuba vs. USA semifinal in Miami is fraught with tension (USA Today)
Why Mets will be reimbursed for Edwin Díaz’s salary after freak WBC injury (The Athletic $)
3 Breakout Shortstops for 2023 (Fangraphs)
Joyce, 104 mph heat leaving a mark (MLB)
Which SS will be behind Cole on OD? Ace weighs in (MLB)
Profar agrees to 1-year deal with Rockies (MLB)
Jose Altuve (fractured thumb) to have surgery, 'no timeline' yet (MLB)
MLB rule changes Q&A: Stark on the pitch clock, umpire discretion, replay and wild what-ifs (The Athletic $)
Which MLB players will bounce back after a subpar 2022? One pick for each team (The Athletic $)
Nico Hoerner Talks Hitting (Fangraphs)
2023 Positional Power Rankings: Second Base (Fangraphs)
Weekend Reading
Podcast
Jomboy, Jake, and Trevor Plouffe do a great job talking about Japan winning the World Baseball Classic.
Social Media: Who You Should Know
A lot of threads today but bear with me. This one is a feel-good story for all ages.
While I encourage you to read this thread but I’ll try and summarize quickly.
Randy Arozarena illegally fled by boat from Cuba to Mexico several years ago. After two years in the Mexican Profession League, he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals. In February 2021, Arozarena begged the Mexican President to grant him citizenship so he could play for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic and thank Mexico for allowing him to find his way to the Major Leagues.

