Mariners Moose Tracks, 9/13/19: Gary Sánchez, Kyle Lewis, and Ancient Greece

Welcome to day four of the Kyle Lewis era, we are all witnesses, apparently.

In Mariners news...

• Dee Gordon was selected as the Mariners representative for the Roberto Clemente Award, recognizing “sportsmanship, community involvement, and individual contribution to the team”.
• You think Kyle Lewis is happy to be out of Dickey-Stephens Park?

• Per Corey Brock of The Athletic, Kyle Lewis is the second player in MLB history to homer in their first three games, joining Trevor Story from 2016, who did it in four straight.
• Logan Gilbert was highlighted as one of 15 pitchers who significantly boosted their stock this year by MLB Pipeline.
• Last night didn’t go well for Justin Dunn, but here’s a neat look at the movement on his pitches.

• Rob Arthur of Baseball Prospectus looked at the delightful batch of “firsts” this week, including Kyle Lewis and Danny Hultzen. ($)
• ICYMI In case you’ve missed them thus far, we’ve been recapping the season for each level of the minor leagues: yesterday we hit Modesto!

Around the league...

• More bad news from the Angels training staff: after Justin Upton headed in for an MRI on his shoulder, a surprise announcement of knee surgery for Shohei Ohtani:

• Those injury uncertainties extend to Anaheim’s star shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who has been hampered by multiple ankle injuries and is having his worst offensive season since 2014, throwing a potential extension discussion in doubt.
• The Yankees continue to limp towards the playoffs, with both Gary Sánchez (groin) and Edwin Encarnacíon (oblique) suffering strains. JA Happ is also headed to get his biceps tendonitis checked out.
• More details have emerged on the Pirates’ clubhouse fight between Felipe Vazquez and Kyle Crick that ended Crick’s season and led to fines for both players.
• Reds young talent Nick Senzel has a torn labrum in his right shoulder and will unfortunately miss the rest of the season.
• David Laurila of FanGraphs spoke with the manager of the Lake County Captains in the Cleveland system about their organizational structure and philosophy, including what he views as “The Cleveland Way”.
• Nationals 1B Matt Adams may miss some time with a triceps injury.
• When Juan Lagares does this, it’s hard to blame them.

• Speaking of the Mets, their renewed hunt for a playoff spot has their fans invested in other teams’ races. Some, like the Marlins, could do without it.

• It’s hard to remember the good times for many of us, Preston!

• The Diamondbacks released Marc Rzepczynski, among a number of other minor league moves.
• Justin Turner has a mild left ankle sprain, though the Dodgers should be able to give him plenty of rest having already clinched their division.
• Pete Alonso was having some trouble mid-game, so he shaved his mustache between plate appearances.
• The full list of Roberto Clemente Award nominees:

• Bob Nightengale commends the Astros for being a bastion of... old-school thinking?
• Day games can be tough for baseball players. Per Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated, the solution is often... donuts?
• The record for home runs in a season was broken this week... and it looks pretty cool, and maybe a bit like a penguin?

John’s Pick:

• One of my favorite research projects in college was on the potential impact of augmented reality and virtual reality to bring more kinetic/experiential learning experiences to educational environments. As both a history/mythology nerd and someone who adores the oftentimes wildly exasperating Assassin’s Creed video game series, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey hit every note for me as a game, and their new free update to the game made me extremely curious. The “Discovery Tour” allows you to tour through ancient Greece at the grand and granular level, receiving tours from in-game “experts” that showcase real historical lessons. Does this type of thing excite y’all like it does me?