Bryce has hilarious MLB The Show tip for Rhys
Day 2 of Players League packed with walk-offs, banter
After a successful Day 1 on Friday, the MLB The Show Players League continued Saturday with six new participants and a ton of competitive and fun games.
Ty Buttrey (Angels), Jon Duplantier (D-backs), Carl Edwards Jr. (Mariners), Niko Goodrum (Tigers), Rhys Hoskins (Phillies) and Jesús Luzardo (A's) were the six players participating on the day. Of the group, Goodrum and Duplantier both went 3-1, with Edwards Jr. and Hoskins going 2-2. Luzardo and Buttrey went 1-3 and have some work to do over the next 25 games to get into the playoffs.
The day featured multiple extra-inning games, a couple of walk-offs and some great banter between contestants. Edwards also provided a lot of entertainment as he was getting upset with some of his miscues. He went .500 on the day, but his Twitch stream was undefeated with hilarious moments.
“I’m so mad right now,” Edwards said, as he committed a baserunning mistake to end the game against Luzardo. “I put my stick down and see my dude just running. Crazy, dawg.”
The pressure was on, as real-life teammates tuned in and were quick to chime in when they saw their avatars failing to deliver. After making an error with Bryce Harper in center field, Hoskins received a text message from Harper, who was watching the stream.
“Take me out of the game,” Harper wrote in the text. “Horrible route.”
Let’s take a look how it all went down on the second night of games.
Now walk it out
Goodrum was the surprise of the night, going 3-1 with the Tigers, beating Edwards, Buttrey and Duplantier. His best moment of the night came against Duplantier, erasing a 4-1 deficit in the bottom of the final inning.
The Tigers infielder capped his comeback with a three-run walk-off homer by Jordy Mercer -- a homer that sent Duplantier straight to his knees.
“My heart is broken right now,” Duplantier said.
And it actually hurt to watch a little bit. Unless you’re a Tigers fan, of course.
I’m sorry, what just happened?
If you tuned into Edwards' stream, you were bound to find some hilarious content. In the bottom of the third inning against Buttrey’s Angels, Edwards hit a liner deep to right field with Daniel Vogelbach. For a second, it looked like it was going to be a walk-off home run, but the end result was even better.
The ball actually hit the right fielder in the back of the head, allowing Vogelbach to lead off the inning with a triple. The best part is that the play benefited Edwards, but the built-up anger that he had with the game didn’t even let him enjoy the moment. We feel you, Carl.
Stop the fight
Luzardo is one of the best young pitchers in the Majors, and he will likely have a great career, but he’s going to have to get back in the video game lab after a 1-3 night, which included allowing back-to-back-to-back homers to Hoskins to open the game.
Sunday’s games to watch
Sunday will be the first day of action for Lucas Giolito (White Sox), Jeff McNeil (Mets), Luke Jackson (Braves), Bo Bichette (Blue Jays), Ryne Stanek (Marlins) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres).
Through two nights, pitchers have a combined record of 15-17 while position players are 9-3.
Where to watch
Over the next few weeks, the league will be livestreamed on MLB social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch), MLB Network's Twitch site, "MLB The Show" social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch), the clubs’ social media accounts and MLB.com. Each player will also stream it from their individual Twitch or YouTube accounts.
Aside from those streams, in order to provide a full gameday experience, MLB Network will provide a livestream in which it will select the best one-on-one matchups and look into other game results and friendly banter.