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Over at FanGraphs, Jeff Sullivan dives deep into Joey Votto's no-pop-ups history. What began as a rather innocuous assertion many moons ago (that Joey Votto simply does not pop up!) has become so Bunyan-esque that, yes, these types of articles have become more and more prevalent. Whether or not you find this to be interesting isn't really the point that Jeff is emphasizing, either, and he notes at the end, "I can assure you the overwhelming majority of people don’t give a crap whether or not Joey Votto has hit an infield fly. But I can assure you that Joey Votto most certainly does. You don’t get to be that good by not being a perfectionist." Right on, Jeff.
The Reds signed their 2013 1st round draft pick yesterday. Phillip Ervin became the highest pick of the 2013 MLB Draft to sign when he inked for the suggested slot money of $1,812,500, and in doing so is now one of the 3 best hitting prospects in the Reds minor league system. There's been no confirmation yet as to where he'll be sent to begin his professional career, but I'd be somewhat surprised to see a 20 year college player spend the majority of his season in Billings in Rookie Ball. My guess? He may get a two week stint there, but he'll likely get the bulk of his 2013 PAs in Dayton.
I submit that this, right here, may well be the most Cubs story that has ever Cub'd. Did you ever play Sim City 2000 when you were younger? Remember all the bogus news headlines that would show up in your paper? That's where this one belongs. Hee-larious. Theo or no Theo, I'm never disappointed that the Reds have the Cubs in their division.
Also from the Tribune is this gallery of fog-filled Wrigley Field from last night. I know conditions like that have happened before, but I've never witnessed anything like it. Truly weird.
It's officially official: Tony Cingrani has been called up to the big leagues again, and he'll get the start tonight. Despite what this article says, however, he won't be replacing Johnny Cueto, since Cueto was DL'd days ago. He'll likely be replacing Henry Rodriguez, although no official move has been announced, officially.