Blashwatch 2016, Episode 1: Jabari and the infinite OBP

One of my personal mottos that I try to live by is one I picked up from the classic Bouncing Souls song Old School: "Find what's good and make it last". Sometimes it's harder than other times to find those good things, like, say, oh, I don't know, when your favorite baseball team suffers the worst Opening Day shutout in major league history. A couple bright spots were there to be found with enough sifting, however, and one of them was the much-awaited debut of rookie slugger Jabari Blash.

It's almost obligatory to use the phrase "three true outcomes" when talking about Jabari Blash, and he produced one of them in his lone opportunity last night. Since the Padres got shut out, it obviously wasn't a home run, and since I spent that opening paragraph building the premise that this post is about looking for small victories, you know it wasn't a strikeout. That leaves just one result. Math!

Blash entered the game in the top of the eighth inning as part of a double switch, replacing Matt Kemp in right field and taking over the pitcher's spot in the batting order. He got his first chance at the plate in the bottom of the inning. Facing Dodgers reliever Louis Coleman with two outs and Yangervis Solarte on third base, Blash worked the count full before taking his base on balls, putting runners on the corners for Jon Jay to strand.

A walk might not be much to get excited about, but I take what I can get.