Mariners Moose Tracks, 8/18/21: Ty France, Chris Bassitt, and George Springer

The Ty France hype train keeps on chuggin’.

Good morning everybody! Let’s get to the latest from around baseball on this Wednesday.

In Mariners news…

• It’s hard not to love this swing.

• Corey Brock at The Athletic spoke to Jarred Kelenic about the changes in his mentality since he debuted for the club this spring. ($)
• I know the advanced fielding metrics like Ty France at first base, but apparently the traditional ones do too.

• Ryan Divish at The Seattle Times tackles the question of whether or not Jerry Dipoto and Scott Servais will have their contracts renewed, spilling some new details that we didn’t previously know about the situation.
• Don’t sleep on those tiny baby M’s.

Around the league…

• The ESPN staff came up with eight changes they’d make to the league if they were in charge.
• Top Diamondbacks prospect Kristian Robinson was sentenced to 18 months probation after assaulting a police officer during a mental breakdown in 2020. His legal team is concerned that since he is not an American citizen, it will be impossible for him to complete his probation and thus allow him to renew his visa. The confluence of those circumstances may tragically end his baseball career.
• A horrifying incident took place in Chicago last night when Chris Bassitt was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Brian Goodwin and had to be taken to the hospital. The A’s reported that Bassitt was “conscious and aware” as he was being transported, which is great news. Hopefully we get more good news today.
• Shakeia Taylor at FiveThirtyEight did a scientific study on which durag Marcus Stroman pitches better in.
• I bet this doesn’t happen very often!

• Felipe Vázquez was sentenced to 2-4 years (after already having served two years) for sexual conduct with a minor.
• George Springer cannot catch a break as the outfielder lands on the IL for the third time this season, this time with a sprained knee that he sustained during the series in Seattle.

Anders’ picks…

• Man, this looks freaking awesome.