MLB Daily: Jeff Francoeur Pitches, Baseball is Awesome!

Welcome to MLB Daily on a Wednesday. Some music to get the mood going …

Fun times: For whatever the reason, I often find myself having to defend the very existence of baseball, because god forbid we collectively on the Internet don’t agree on each and every thing we use to entertain us in our leisure time. Allow me to let you in on a little “inside blogging” — this isn’t very enjoyable, so it makes my cold, dead heart swell up like the Grinch’s writing on days like today when baseball is fun … just plain ol’ quirky fun.

Internet baseball darling Jeff Francoeur throwing two innings in relief for the Phillies Tuesday night in Baltimore constitutes fun. That is, unless you’re Nolan Reimold, who struck out looking on one of Frenchy’s 48 (!!!) pitches at Camden.

Francoeur’s performance also takes Dustin McGowan off the hook, as he allowed five of the Orioles eight (!!!) homers last night in 3 1/3 innings of work taking over for starter Jerome William who lasted 2/3 of the first being being pulled. Baltimore won 19-3, with Manny Machado and Chris Parmalee each hitting a pair of homers.

It was that kind of night for the Phillies. The bullpen phone eventually rung off the hook — literally — so Francoeur stayed in the game. This is a thing that happened and is now on the Internet. These punchlines sometimes write themselves.

Allow Tuesday night in Camden to serve as the nadir — or bizarro highlight — of the Phillies’ 2015 season. If Philly’s marketing department wants to garner some goodwill, it would track down any fans who attended the game and offer them “I saw Jeff Francoeur pitch two innings and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” This would probably go over well with the Phillies fans and their collectively solid sense of humor.

Tuesday night also saw the Rays use a pair of position players to close out the final two innings of their 16-4 loss to the Nats in St. Pete. Jake Elmore and Nick Franklin don’t have the cachet of the free-swinging Francoeur, so jokes — or appreciation — on their end was muted.

Francouer’s final line: two innings, one hit (a Ryan Flaherty homer), two runs, three walks and one strikeout. For fun, Francouer has seven walks in 143 at bats this year — and 248 in 4,770 career at bats — so his pitching performance dispels the notion he doesn’t know anything about walks. Francouer might not have very much left in the tank, but perhaps he can hang around a few years as a super utility player who can pitch in a pinch. Stranger things have happened and as profiled by the NYT, Francouer did try to revive his career last season pitching in Triple A.

In the grand scheme of life, Francoeur throwing two innings of mop-up relief on a mid-June night in Baltimore isn’t going to change the world. The earth won’t spin off its axis. The sun went down and came up the next day. Life moves on. We wake up today arguing over the same inane shit as the day before on the Internet.

These quirky moments are part of what makes baseball appealing and fun, in my book. They don’t need greater context or significance. They’re simply moments that happen during the long, 162-game season. Either you like them or you don’t, and it’s totally your choice to decide. Years from now you might remember this game since it was so atypical to what usually happens.

Baseball, especially during the long, hot summer months, is a way to pass the time — no more, no less. Jeff Francoeur pitching two innings makes that time pass with a smile on your face and sometimes that’s all you can ask for.

Thrill of the Chase: Giancarlo Stanton (24) and Bryce Harper (22) each homered last night. Suggestion: MLB HQ should put as much effort as it is promoting the All-Star Game vote as it could for a potential home run chase between these two young stars. People love dingers — and the media loves screaming, binary debates — so it’s a total win-win for everybody!

Except, maybe, for Stanton who is behind Nori Aoki in the latest All-Star Game voting update.

More quirks!: Steve Brock Holt hit for the cycle in the Red Sox win over the Braves.

Again this isn’t going to alter the cosmos, but it’s a noteworthy enough to mention and video embed.

Oops: Prince Fielder is in the midst of a comeback season, posting great numbers across the board and helping Texas stay in contention. This moment, however, is one he probably wants back.

Texas starter Chi Chi Gonzalez took a shutout into the ninth in that game. The 23-year-old has given up three earned runs in 30 innings in 2015. Gonzalez started the year as a Top 100 prospect, so he’s got some potential, although his ERA (0.90) probably isn’t sustainable with 12 walks compared to only 10 strikeouts. Given how injury-plagued the Texas staff is, the Rangers will take whatever they can get from Gonzalez and the unheralded Nick Martinez.

This & That: The good Matt Harvey showed up and shut down the Jays for seven innings last night. … Same thing goes for Trevor Bauer, who held the Cubs scoreless over seven. … Nathan Eovaldi and David Phelps were traded for one another over the winter and started last night in the Yankees-Marlins game. Eovaldi didn’t get out of the first, allowing eight runs. … The Padres named Pat Murphy their interim manager for the rest of the season. San Diego lost 6-5 on a Eric Sogard walk-off hit. Ouch. …

[Don’t worry, be happy]