One of the unfortunate side effects that we experience in this current era of prestige TV is that it’s all too easy to forget about a great show after it ends. I’m not talking about the Mad Men and Sopranos types of prestige TV shows, the ones that stick around long enough that they firmly embed themselves in the zeitgeist. I’m talking about the smaller, auteur driven shows that flash across our TV screens for just a short season or two before burning out in a way that would make Neil Young proud. I’m talking about shows like Fleabag, I May Destroy You, and Station Eleven. For a few months they dominate the culture, laping everything else with their originality and voice. We talk about them at bars and in Slack channels, we read recaps and listen to podcasts with their creators. And then they go away. And a few years later we struggle to remember them at all.
Donald Glover’s Atlanta was one of those shows. I adored it, and I will probably rewatch it someday. But despite how wonderful I found it as it aired, it’s not something I think about with any regularity. I can now barely remember certain plot points or even the names of prominent characters. But, for some reason, one particular and not very eventful scene has stuck in my head. It comes at the end of an early season two episode, when Donald Glover’s Earn has planned a night out at the club only for everything to go wrong. He hasn’t had any fun, he’s barely had anything to drink, and he’s failed to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend as he hoped. And then, just as the night is coming to an end, the universe gives him a chance at redemption: Michal Vick is racing any and all challengers in the parking lot.
… and then the chance at redemption passes him by. Of course it does. It’s Michael Vick.
Tarik Skubal against the 2026 Red Sox is the MLB equivalent of Michael Vick racing drunk strangers in a parking lot. You think you have some momentum coming off a walk-off win? You think putting Andruw Monasterio in the two-hole will shake things up? You think Brayan Bello can put up some zeros a few days after his best start of the year to give the lineup a chance to win the game?
It’s Tarik Skubal.
There are some big league lineups that will give Skubal trouble this year. But the lineup of the 2026 Red Sox — with its glaring dearth of power, balance, and veteran nous — is not one of them. The Sox lost this game as soon as the Tigers’ bus pulled onto Jersey Street. It’s Tarik Skubal.
One Lonely Stud
Jovani Moran: 3 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 H, 3 K
I was going to go with the bullpen as a collective for this. But that would’ve been unfair to Moran, who single-handedly kept his team in the game. Moran hasn’t impressed much in his career so far, but that career has also been marked by injury and bad luck. He could turn himself into an unheralded weapon at the back of the Sox’ roster this year.
Three Duds
Trevor Story: 0-4, 3 K
I’m tempted to warn people that this could be the year that Trevir Story falls of a cliff. But let’s face it: Story’s relationship to cliffs has been Homer Simpson-esque ever since he showed up in Boston.
Brayan Bello: 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
Bello wasn’t terrible today. But he also wasn’t good. And he’s going to need to figure out how to be good soon, because right now he’s the weak link in the Sox’ rotation and Payton Tolle is punching the route from Worcester to Boston into Google Maps.
Barometric pressure or cold fronts or whatever
I’m tired of watching cold, raw baseball games and I’m calling on OTM weather guru Matt Gross to fix this.
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