TBNL: ABL changes, Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Molinas

On Sunday, the Melbourne Aces announced that they were withdrawing from the Australian Baseball League (ABL), citing “unresolved concerns” with league officials (likely something financially motivated). The team will shift focus to “explore fresh opportunities on the international stage,” though it’s unclear what specifically that means.

The Aces (like most ABL teams) have a strong relationship with the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and there is a belief that they could focus their efforts on participating in the KBO winter league (though it remains to be seen how those logistics would work as Melbourne-to-Korea is an 11-12 hour flight).

One of the ABL’s original founding members and the leader in attendance figures each of the last two seasons, the Aces’ departure leaves the league with just five teams.

Miranda takes on the Molinas?

Award-winning actor and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda has evidently been working on a new project — a baseball movie based on the Molina brothers — according to Playbill.com’s Margaret Hall:

Known for their defensive prowess, the Molina brothers (José, Bengie, and Yadier) are the only trio of brothers to each win World Series rings. Bengie and José were both on the 2002 Angels, while José also won a ring with the 2009 Yankees. Yadier won rings with the 2006 and 2011 Cardinals.

No details on the project are known at this time (including whether there’s a script or if the project has even been brought to production companies yet), but the idea is certainly intriguing.

Sugano’s strikeouts will come

Before signing with the Orioles this past offseason, Tomoyuki Sugano had a storied career in Japan’s NPB. The three-time Central League MVP and two-time Eiji Sawamura Award winner (essentially the NPB’s answer to the Cy Young — though it’s determined far differently and is not guaranteed to be awarded every year) was among the sport’s best pitchers.

While Sugano dominated the Japanese opposition at times, he never relied heavily on the strikeout to get himself out of jams. Sugano struck out 1,596 batters over his 12 years in the NPB, averaging 133 a year or 7.7 K/9.

Sugano has had a somewhat uneven start to his MLB career. His first five starts for the Orioles: 28.0 IP, 2-1, 3.54 ERA (104 ERA+), 5 BB, 9 SO, 6 HRA. The lack of strikeouts is what’s gotten people’s attention around the sport.

Monday against the Yankees, Sugano threw five scoreless innings with a career-high 8 strikeouts, picking up his third win and lowering his ERA to an even 3.00.

It’s still early in the season, but Sugano should be fine. More importantly, he looks like the only pitching addition the Orioles made this winter that’s actually working out. Charlie Morton has been hit hard early on, going 0-6 with a 10.36 ERA (35 ERA+) through his first six starts.

Elsewhere, around the sport …

• The White Sox unveiled their new City Connect uniforms on Monday, which are “inspired by” (read: a direct copy of) the Chicago Bulls uniforms (also owned by Jerry Reinsdorf). These are a big swing and a miss for me.

• Cleveland lost by 10 runs in back-to-back home games against two different opponents (Boston won 13-3 on Sunday, Minnesota won 11-1 on Monday), a feat which has only happened once in MLB history (1966, Boston lost consecutive games at Fenway to the Yankees and Senators).

• Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez collected his 1,000th career strikeout last week, making him the first player in Colorado franchise history to reach the mark (the last organization to have a pitcher do so).