Mostly MLB Notes: Talking Zack Greinke and a look around the league

I mostly stayed away from Zack Greinke in my drafts before the season, worried about him having to receive a “lubricating injection” in his elbow in February. But that’s clearly been to my detriment, as his consecutive scoreless innings streak is now up to 27.2, a span in which he’s posted a 0.65 WHIP. He’s also allowed one run or fewer in 10 of his last 12 starts, yielding more than three in just one of 17 outings this season. Greinke’s LOB% (88.9) is the highest in MLB, so he’s clearly been lucky with runners on base, but no pitcher with a 1.58 ERA won’t have some statistical category that isn’t fortunate compared to league average. And while that will regress, Greinke has otherwise been unlucky with a modest seven wins while pitching so well for a Dodgers team with a 114 wRC+ that ranks second in all of baseball. He sports an 11.0 SwStr% and has been the No. 11 fantasy player over the past two weeks. Greinke has been one of the biggest fantasy steals so far this season.

This disc golf shot was no joke.

This kid’s magic skills are ridiculous.

This attempt to cut a watermelon didn’t go exactly as planned.

Here’s an emotional reunion by former middle school classmates between a judge and defendant.

Here are some crazy pool trick shots by a kid.

Quick Hits: Mitch Moreland finished June with a .323-16-9-25 line in 25 games, when he was a top-15 fantasy player. He owns a .954 OPS against right handers this season and is on pace to smash all of his previous career highs across the board…Angel Pagan’s last homer came May 2, 2014. Over his past 687 at bats, he has three home runs…Alex Wood won a game for the first time at home this year Saturday, as he’s posted a 5.18 ERA and 1.70 WHIP in Atlanta…Marlon Byrd ranks top-20 in MLB with 12 homers since May began despite missing 17 days with a broken wrist. He’s currently owned in fewer than 40% of Yahoo leagues…This slide by Anthony Rizzo was legit…The Dodgers hadn’t stolen a base since June 7 (23 games) before Howie Kendrick swiped one Friday, ending a franchise worse streak dating back to 1900. Through 80 games last season, LAD had an MLB-high 81 steals, but they had an MLB-low 15 this year over that same span. The Dodgers’ team SB percentage (43.24) is not only last but way below the next lowest (54.35). Then again, they are the only team in MLB not to lose four straight games this season…Meanwhile, Billy Hamilton has more stolen bases (41) than 15 MLB teams, which is half the league by the way…Saturday’s start marked just the second time in Matt Harvey’s career in which he walked more batters than he struck out…Kris Bryant didn’t hit a home run in the first 20 games of his major league career and just ended another nine-game homerless drought Saturday, but if you prorated his numbers over 600 at bats, you’d get .279-101-28-112-18. He’ll be a top-15 fantasy pick in 2016.

Headlines of the Week: Woman Gives Birth, Fights Off Bees, Starts Wildfire In Northern California…Is This The World’s Fanciest McDonald’s?…Man Finds $70K Worth Of Uncashed City Of Phoenix Checks In Dumpster…Study Estimates Sugary Drinks More Deadly Than Violent Crime In Mexico…Hank Baskett Says Weed Deal Gone Wrong Turned Into Orgy With Transgender Women…Robot Kills Worker At Volkswagen Plant In Germany…Man Forgets Glasses, Mistakenly Buys Winning Lottery Ticket…Man Mocks Alligators, Jumps In Water And Is Killed In Texas…Optical Illusion Makes Beautiful Brunette Magically Appear On A Blank Screen…‘Cute Black Puppies’ Raised By Villager For Two Years Turn Out Endangered Black Bears.

Quick Hits Part Deux: Taijuan Walker has a 1.68 ERA and 0.79 WHIP with a 51:3 K:BB ratio over his last seven starts. He has a 10.1 SwStr% on the year and should be treated as a top-25 fantasy starter moving forward…Justin Bour recently homered in four straight games and has gone deep 10 times over just 132 at bats against righties this season…Over the last month, J.D. Martinez is batting .351 with 14 homers, 18 runs scored and 34 RBI, when he’s been the No. 1 overall fantasy player. His 43.4 Hard% ranks top-three among all hitters this season…Here’s Trevor Bauer imitating three teammates’ batting stances during what turns out to be a pretty impressive at bat…Here’s Josh Phegley saving a wild, wild pitch…Dee Gordon uses his speed and hits the ball on the ground to get on base, but it’s pretty crazy he owns a .342 batting average with the fifth-lowest Hard% (18.1) in MLB…The Angels have three straight games with 15+ hits…Marcell Ozuna joined elite company when he hit 23 homers as a 23-year-old last season, so it’s crazy to see him get sent to the minors, especially on a team not contending. Even with all his struggles he’s hit .317/.373/.467 against LHP this season…Speaking of disappointments, I wouldn’t let Jorge Soler be a free agent in any league in which he’s currently available, given his return from the DL. There’s still a lot of upside there…Moreover, Soler’s teammate Jason Motte is owned in only 15% of Yahoo leagues, and he very well might be the Cubs’ closer. Go add him.

Police Blotter: Squabbling, Hesitation And Luck Had Roles In Manhunt For New York Prison Escapees…Woman, 88, Charged With Assault On Officer…A Woman Calls The Police After She Was Unhappy With Her New Haircut…Man In Wheelchair Allegedly Robs Bank…Man Who Took 300-Mile Cab Ride To Surprise Fiancée Jailed For Not Paying $749 Fare…Woman Charged With Leaving Son, 4, Tied To A Bush…TV News Crews Robbed In S.F.; Cameraman Pistol-Whipped.

Longread of the Week: The Most Exclusive U.S. College You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Quick Hits Part Tres: Brian Dozier leads MLB by a wide margin when it comes to Pull% (63.6, with the next closest being Mark Teixeira at 56.3), which is helpful considering it’s tougher to shift against a right-handed batter compared to lefties. Teixeira, by the way, is on pace to finish with 117 RBI…Meanwhile, no player has pulled the ball less than DJ LeMahieu (21.7%), which is interesting considering his 27.5 LD% ranks top-seven…Clay Buchholz’s K-BB% (17.9) is somehow higher than Felix Hernandez (17.0), Greinke (17.7), Cole Hamels (17.7) and Sonny Gray (16.8)…Here’s Avisail Garcia robbing Chris Davis of a game-tying homer in the ninth inning…Stephen Strasburg to the DL again? It’s almost as if I shouldn’t have taken him in the second round in the majority of my leagues…I must admit, I didn’t expect the Astros to have nine more wins than the Red Sox at this point of the season…Since leaving the friendly confines of Chase Field, Mark Trumbo is batting .146/.176/.195 after joining Seattle. It’s a small sample, but he’s droppable…Matt Moore didn’t have a good first start back returning from TJ surgery, but he’s only owned in 31% of Yahoo leagues, which seems low given his potential, although to be fair his velocity is a concern…It’s even crazier Miguel Sano is owned in just 40% of leagues…Cesar Hernandez has eight steals over the last nine games, and while he’s obviously playing over his head, he’s been the No. 1 fantasy player over the past two weeks and is owned in fewer than 40% of leagues. There’s hardly any guarantee Chase Utley retakes this job. Those in need of steals should grab Hernandez.