Mack – FWIW – Coronavirus Edition - Daily Thoughts 4-1

Please. No coronavirus April Fool jokes.

I’m having a hard time this morning,

I’m locked in my house on a good day. The virus ensures that I am devoid of humanity.

My wife has gone to the supermarket to replenish the shelves. The problem I have is she too is challenged by age and cancer treatment and our store is filled with dumb Yankee seniors that pack in next to each other on the checkout line. No masks, no gloves, no brains.

I also just read a story online about a young female country singer, around the age of my oldest granddaughter, who just came down with this crap. Seems the only time she left her secluded home was to… yeah, you guessed it… shop for groceries.

As the old movie once said: I picked a hell of a day to stop sniffing glue.

One more thing before I move on to baseball...

I watched the President's coronavirus update yesterday and I found even The President and CNN's Jim Acosta were trying to have a serious conversation about this. I know a lot of people hate the President, and some network people have called for these press conferences to be removed from their network, but it is the only window we have into what is being done by our government at this critical time in our history.

Yes, I wish the President would let others take questions from the reporters, but, if you can fight through the fog, you have to stay engaged everyday here.

Joel Sherman  @Joelsherman1

Minor leaguers will be paid $400 a week by MLB clubs thru 5/31 plus medical benefits, source confirms

There will be no pay for minor league umpires. They have been told to seek unemployment.

David Lennon - @DPLennon

Japan’s baseball league (NPB) played exhibitions in empty stadiums and pushed back opener to April 24. Now reports say the league is splintering on that date after three Hanshin Tigers tested positive at the end of last week.

John Sickels - @MinorLeagueBall

Doctor report:  He says I likely have pneumonia, so he has prescribed an inhaler and an anti-biotic to clear up any opportunistic bacterial infections. If the inhaler does not help my breathing, or if the breathing gets worse than the current level, or if I start running a fever, then i should go to ER.He will also contact the hospital and try to expedite the covid test result. This all seems reasonable.He seemed to think this was probably bacterial and I should feel better in a couple of days. If not, I am to call back even if the symptoms do not worsen.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies - @RumblePoniesBB

Franklyn Kilome pitched 7 innings, allowing 1 Run on 4 hits while Quinn Brodey provided the offense with a 2B, HR, and 2 RBI for the Ponies sending them to a 6-4 victory.

MiLB-com broke out their starting 20 year old team -

Designated hitter -- Brett Baty, Mets: A thumper with some questions about his future defensive home? Sounds like a good fit for the DH. Baty knows a little about that life already, despite being drafted 12th overall last June. The Texas native was especially old for his class and turned 20 in November. It's possible if he was a little younger, he could have cracked the top 10. The left-handed slugger has already shown off a solid approach and good power with a .368 OBP, .452 slugging percentage and 25 extra-base hits in 51 games across three levels, the top being Class A Short Season Brooklyn. Strikeouts could be an issue, but the power alone has the chance to make up for it. Given his size at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, it's a question of whether he'll move over to first someday soon like Casas did, but we don't have to worry about that here. Put Baty in the Age-20 Home Run Derby next to Casas, Gorman and Kelenic, and you'll get a show.