Yiyun Li and Jarren Duran, the NBA play-in tournament, equanimity and baseball teams, the concept of mound presence, Trevor Story's odd stats

Thursday 4/16/26

The Clippers are done and the Warriors play on--for now. The Clippers had that big turnaround and then it all just comes to an end in two-and-a-half hours! The play-in "round"--are we counting this as a round?--makes for some good sports theater. I suppose I was rooting for the Warriors because of Curry and Kerr--I like to watch the former and I think it's good for the game and the country for the latter to have a platform--but I still feel like the Clippers could have done more potential damage going forward, although probably not much.

The Celtics will square off with the 76ers. They aren't a bad team at all. 45 wins, which is around where I thought the Celtics would have been this year. This could be a hard fought, competitive series.

The Red Sox won yesterday but even when they win they just don't look right to me. You don't think of them as...dependable. They're shaky. You know how some people have a calming way about them? An equanimity? Okay, maybe next to one is strong and smart enough to be that way anymore, but you know what I mean. You want a baseball team to be like this. And to be that way for themselves with themselves. These Red Sox strike me as crumbly and fidgety.

Jarren Duran flipped off another fan the other day, claiming that he told him to kill himself in reference to Duran's account of his failed suicide attempt in which the gun didn't fire when he pulled the trigger.

I don't believe that story about the gun. Duran isn't a good guy. There are quite a few things I don't put past him. That's just me. What I think from watching him on and off the field over the years.

I also think it's very easy to rattle Duran and it doesn't take someone saying something heinous to do so. He has shown himself incapable of blocking out the noise, as when he was heckled at Fenway a couple years ago by a fan saying he wouldn't be able to make contact with a tennis racket (which is true often enough with Duran, but leaving that aside...), prompting Duran to halt his at-bat and scream at the guy that was a "faggot."

That's Jarren Duran the person in my view. That guy in that moment. Which is why, as I said, I don't put much past him. And I think he knows what to say--or thinks he does--to bring things around to a way that he wants them to be seen, and that protects him, too. In publishing, Yiyun Li uses a similar technique.

Connolly Early got the win for the Red Sox. I don't know what he'll end up being, but I like how he goes about his business on the mound. He has what used to be called "mound presence," a very useful term. He looks more composed than Sonny Gray who has been around for years and who doesn't have good mound presence. You shouldn't be able to look at a pitcher and see how bothered he is. Or how "down." He should look like that's his spot. That's where he belongs. He's doing what he should be doing in the place where he does it.

Trevor Story has odd stats. If I was to say to you that he averages 5.2 WAR per 162 games, wouldn't you be hugely surprised? That's a big WAR number. Story has only had two seasons where he's had over 5 WAR (he's in his eleventh season right now). He's had two other seasons over 4 WAR.

This year, his WAR is at -.3 so far. He's hitting .208 with an OBP of .222. He stole 30 bases last year; he's stolen 1 this season. He has 2 homers. He's struck out 24 times this season with only 2 walks. He's only scored 5 runs. He's slugging .338. He was never very good defensively despite what just about everyone else would have told you, and now he's bad. He's kind of a dismal ballplayer.

And yet, with his 17 RBI, he's tied for second in the AL, trailing the leader by only 1. People will also tell you that RBI don't matter, much like wins for pitchers, but of course they matter and Trevor Story has nearly averaged an RBI a game. Even if he has mostly been poor. As I said, he has odd stats.