# 39 Our bullpen game

pitchers who overcame trauma, having a twin whose better at baseball, and a name that's almost *too* good

We’re playing a bullpen game today. Hey, it’s Hannah and that’s what we’re calling the ol’ bits and bobs issues now. A couple reasons for going without a traditional starter today: First, you (almost) all apparently like these quick hits issues. It was the most definitive result of our reader poll last week.

Also, my son has been home sick from daycare the past two days and stringing more than a paragraph’s worth of sentences together is not happening!

Enjoy the bits, enjoy the bobs, enjoy the baseball:

Here he is a few weeks ago, not sick, on the field at Yankee Stadium

⚾ I happened to have MLB Network on Tuesday midday (see: aforementioned sick kid at home) and caught a very interesting story: Patrick Copen is a pitcher in the Dodgers system, who went from a seventh-round draft pick in 2023 to now a top 30 prospect in the org pitching in Double A. In between, he was hit in the face by a comebacker while on the mound last season and permanently lost vision in his right eye. In an interview with MLB Central, Copen talked about the Dodgers’ assuring him right away that he would continue to pitch for the organization, which allowed him to use his recovery time to dive into the analytics and hone his mechanics. Now he’s got a 99 mph fastball and 2.66 ERA. This is cool shit! Learn his story now and be ready to charm your less Online baseball friends. –HK

⚾ After talking to MLB Central, Copen went out and pitched — six, one-run innings — against a pitcher with a face and name that might be familiar to Braves fans. Ben Anderson is the twin brother of Ian Anderson (which means, with a different haircut, he could probably be a pretty convincing doppelganger for Charlie Culberson and Dansby Swanson as well.) While Ian was taken in the first round, third overall, in 2016, Ben had to wait till the 13th round of the 2019 draft. Ben used to be a catcher, who presumably caught his prospect-y brother back in the day, and has recently transitioned to pitching. So I’m choosing to interpret their relative statuses within the sport as a function of Ben’s selflessness — all those years crouched behind the plate to help Ian out when his true calling was also on the mound. –HK

⚾ Good Bit Alert: Jose Trevino spent three seasons on the Yankees. This week, he’s playing against New York as a member of the Cincinnati Reds and he’s been lightly trolling his ex-teammates by co-opting their music. First, it was Aaron Judge. And then Carlos Rodon. Although, come to think of it, is it a troll if you’re just validating their taste in music? –HK

⚾️ Those Reds summoned top pitching prospect Chase Burns for his major league debut Tuesday night and whew, the 2024 No. 2 overall pick looks like A Dude.

He struck out seven of the first 10 Yankees he faced with a sizzling fastball-slider combo and an expressive leg kick. Aesthetically, A+. He wound up allowing some hard contact the second time through the order, but I trust Baseball Prospectus’s assessment that Burns “could be a top-of-the-rotation starter more or less from day one.” –ZC

⚾️ Also, in fairness, I forgot to mention Brewers call-up Jacob Misiorowski in Monday’s newsletter. Which was a mistake. Because he throws 102 mph, has allowed one hit in his 11 big-league innings so far …

… and did that. He starts today against Paul Skenes if you want to see a double barrel no-hitter take shape for at least a little while. –ZC

⚾ This story on women of the “Phillies’ Hot Pants Patrol” — a group of, ahem, photogenic usherettes from the 1970s — is so much more thorough than it needed to be. I especially enjoyed the anecdote about how one woman navigated her pregnancy while ushering, although I cannot imagine spending my third trimester in a mascot costume. –HK

⚾ Whit Merrifield announced his retirement with a reference to each of the teams he played for — Kansas City, which became his “second home;” Toronto, where he got to represent an entire country; Atlanta, where he ended his career on the team he grew up rooting for; and Philadelphia, where he “stunk.” “I liked you way more than you liked me,” he said about Philly, which has, predictably and delightfully, retroactively endeared him to the fans.

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I found Merrifield’s explanation for calling it now to be really compelling. He references that he and his wife had a baby last year, which naturally shifts your priorities. But specifically Merrifield says he was “never talented enough to just show up and play.” Competing in the majors required more behind-the-scenes work than he has time for as a father. One of the things I’m really interested in is what it takes to be a professional athlete other than the obvious elite talent. What sort of personality traits and personal circumstances are necessary for this strange career. Fans don’t always want to hear it presented as a justification for sympathy, but the reality is there’s a lot of sacrifice involved. Merrifield isn’t asking for sympathy, he’s simply announcing that he won’t be making that sacrifice anymore. I respect it. –HK

⚾ If someone heckle a player about their parent — their dead parent — to the point of tears, getting kicked out of the game isn’t punishment enough. Then it’s just as if the whole thing never happened. Player gets to punch them in the face is a good start, but I also need there to be some public accountability so their friends and associates know what a loser they are. –HK

⚾ For the most part, you probably don’t want to know your favorite baseball player’s political leanings. But I’ll just say that I was delighted to see Francisco Lindor’s wife, Katia, posting on her Instagram stories about Zohran Mamdani winning the New York City mayoral primary election. —HK

And, finally, this isn’t about baseball at all, but if you want to read something I wrote about parenthood amid an onslaught of endless global suffering, you can do that here.