According to ESPN on news that broke after our tweet, “The Washington Nationals demoted shortstop C.J. Abrams to the minor leagues because he stayed out all night at a Chicago casino before a day game against the Cubs, sources told @JesseRogersESPN. … He was informed of the demotion Friday night, sources said. He will be sent to West Palm Beach, Florida, home of the Nationals’ minor league complex.”
NatsTalk.com
Note that Abrams is a young player who has plenty of upside, having posted 3.4 rWARs in each of the last two seasons. (FanGraphs has him at 2.3 and 1.9 WAR, which seems more correct to me given his underwhelming slash lines.) It’s better to try to curb that behavior before his potential gets wasted by a poor lifestyle.
MLB and the Red Sox suspended Jarren Duran over his reaction to a heckling fan. He will sit two games without pay, which will be donated to charity. I for one am horrified, and it’s about time MLB and the Red Sox put more work into stopping this.
Boone was asked why he hadn’t benched other players who showed a lack of hustle, and I thought the answer was a good one:
“Everybody is going to make judgements on this guy, that guy. The reality is I have a ton of grace,” Boone said. “A lot of people don’t know the whole story on every situation and what guys are dealing with, and I think it’s one of the more overrated things – defining a player who plays hard or not.”
Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta received a five-game suspension for intentionally throwing at Siri during the top of the sixth inning of the Brewers’ 8-2 victory while reliever Abner Uribe received six games after he and Siri squared off against each other two innings later.
Siri received a three-game suspension — that was later reduced to two games — while Murphy will miss two games as a result of Peralta’s actions in addition to his inappropriate conduct toward umpires.
All four were also fined.
MSN.com
The Rays, for a while, seem to get involved in HBP controversy. Since 2007, the year the Rays got good, their batters have been hit 1111 times, fourth most in the majors. They have hit 874 batters, the lowest in the majors.
The Brewers won Wednesday’s game as Willy Adames homered twice,
Yohan Ramirez of the Mets gets ejected after throwing at the head of Rhys Hoskins. Hoskins ducked, and the pitch missed him, but the umpires caucused decided the pitch was intentional, so Ramirez is gone. He’ll likely be suspended as well. Hoskins was three for four in the game with a home run and four RBI, and walked after play resumed.
On Friday, Hoskins slid hard into Jeff McNeil of the Mets at second base, as there seemed to be bad blood there. Usually teams retaliate earlier for something like that, but maybe getting knocked around exacerbated the situation.
Ramirez did a poor job of hiding that he threw intentionally, also.
The Brewers lead the Mets 6-2 in the middle of the seventh inning.
It was determined that Eppler was involved with improper use of Injured List placements, including the deliberate fabrication of injuries; and the associated submission of documentation for the purposes of securing multiple improper Injured List placements during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
…
MLB said its investigation concluded that the pattern of conduct was at Mr. Eppler’s sole direction and without any involvement of Mets ownership or superiors.
NYPost.com
If one GM is doing it, I wonder if any others are under investigation. On the other hand, the Mets do a poor job of vetting their front office leaders:
Eppler’s two immediate predecessors, Jared Porter and Zack Scott, were both fired for off-the-field issues.
I wonder what we will find out about David Stearns? Of course, the law of averages says he’ll survive.
Update: It appears the arrest was for missing the first meeting, not for the inappropriate behavior.
Llaverías had originally requested Franco appear Dec. 28, two days after prosecutors and police visited two of Franco’s properties in Baní, the All-Star player’s hometown some 37 miles southwest of the capital of Santo Domingo, to request his appearance. They did not find the 22-year-old player there.
Franco’s arrest Monday was the result of not showing up for Thursday’s requested meeting, a source confirmed to ESPN. Franco must be brought before a judge within 48 hours, according to Dominican law. No criminal charges have been filed against Franco in relation to the allegations of inappropriate relationships with minors.
“All six of the Major League Umpires deemed Abreu’s pitch to have been intentional,” Major League Baseball said in a statement Saturday. “In assessing the matter, Major League Baseball took into account the dangerous nature of the pitch and its potential impact on player safety.”
Per the collective bargaining agreement, all hearings pertaining to a suspension in the playoffs must be heard within 48 hours of an appeal. Abreu could wait to appeal until Sunday, which could make him eligible to appear in Game 6 (and Game 7 if needed) but could make him ineligible for the start of the World Series if the Astros advance.
WashingtonPost.com
Dusty Baker was fined for not leaving the dugout after he was ejected. Garcia was fined for his actions that led to the fight.
Major League Baseball is investigating after Houston pitcher Hector Neris allegedly used a homophobic to taunt the Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez on Wednesday night, multiple MLB sources told The Seattle Times.
Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez, in the on-deck circle at T-Mobile Park when the incident occurred, told The Times he heard Neris use the slur during an unusual sequence. Neris struck out Rodriguez, then demonstrably walked toward Rodriguez near home plate and shouted at him in Spanish.
SeattleTimes.com
The interesting thing is that Rodriguez considers Neris a friend, and it’s not clear what agitated Neris. We’ll see if this has a effect on the Astros post-season roster. Previous incidents like this led to two or three game suspensions.
MLB placed Wander Franco of the Rays on Administrative Leave as the investigation continues into his relationships with young women:
The designation of administrative leave is a significant but expected step. Administrative leave removes a player from a team’s roster during an ongoing investigation into a potential violation of the sport’s domestic violence policy. While a player can challenge administrative leave, MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed to place Franco on it “until further notice,” a period expected to last beyond the standard initial seven-day placement.
Anderson will start serving the punishment Friday, when the White Sox open a three-game series at Colorado. Ramírez served two games after initially being suspended for three.
Anderson was given the harsher penalty for instigating the fight on Aug. 5, when he and Ramirez faced off in the middle of the infield like boxers. Anderson connected with a couple of punches before Ramirez dropped him with a blow to the face.
The Rays did not specify the nature of the social media content in their statement. However, on Sunday, online posts went viral that alleged Franco, 22, engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
TheAthletic.com
You can find posts about this on Twitter, but it appears that Franco did not make the trip to San Francisco.
Tampa Bay shortstop Wander Franco did not travel on the team plane to San Francisco, where the Rays will start a series with the Giants tomorrow, sources tell ESPN. The Rays earlier said MLB is doing “due diligence” concerning social media posts from earlier today about Franco.
A combined eight members of the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox have received discipline for their roles in the benches-clearing on-field incident that occurred in the bottom of the sixth inning of Saturday night’s game at Cleveland’s Progressive Field. Michael Hill, Major League Baseball’s senior vice president for on-field operations, made the announcement Monday:
• White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has received a six-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for fighting. • Guardians third baseman José Ramírez has received a three-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for fighting. • Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase has received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine. • White Sox manager Pedro Grifol and Guardians manager Terry Francona have each received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine. • Guardians third base coach Mike Sarbaugh has received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine. • In addition, White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech and Guardians outfielder Gabriel Arias have each received an undisclosed fine.
MLB.com
So MLB appears to have recognized Anderson as the instigator, and may have added games on for his pushing a runner off a base on Friday. Both combatants appealed their suspensions. The others will serve their one game penalties immediately (Sarbaugh on Tuesday, so the coaching staff is not depleted.)
Perdomo gave up a home run to the Padres’ Juan Soto in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s game at San Diego. One pitch later, Machado was hit in the back by a 98-mph fastball from Perdomo, who was ejected.
ESPN.com
I have maintained for a while that intentionally hitting a batter should bring about a much longer suspension, in my opinion one month. A pitched ball can kill and has killed a batter. Pitches get away from pitchers all the time resulting in accidental HBPs. If a pitcher aims for a batter and misses high, he could end a career or a life. The penalty for this needs to be harsh.
MLB suspended Yankees relief pitcher Jimmy Cordero for domestic violence. He will miss76 games. MLB did not release details of the investigation.
Cordero pitched decently for the Yankees this season, with better walk and strikeout numbers than his career averages. New York will need to make up about 30 of his innings in the second half.
BREAKING: #Rays Cash says Franco not in lineup tonight and at least Friday stemming from way he handles his frustrations and not being a better teammate. Cash also stressed Franco “is a good kid” and they will work with him to improve.
Cash told reporters that there have been “multiple times” this season where Franco has failed to act in a way conducive to team harmony.
SportingNews.com
I doubt that team harmony is necessarily a good thing. Great players want to win everything. That sometimes means blaming teammates when the player doesn’t win. Put enough of these people on one team, and you have the A’s of the early 1970s and the Yankees of the late 1970s. Lots of wins, and enough acrimony to make things interesting.
Thursday night, the manager was ejected for, among other things, appearing to spit on home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso, who told Boone after their nose-to-nose argument, “You spit in my face.”
SportingNews.com
Manager used to have more opportunities to use ejection arguments to motivate their players. With replay, all that’s left is arguing balls and strikes. Boone appears to be finding plenty of instances to take it to the umps.
German will not appeal and began serving the suspension Wednesday. He cannot be replaced on the roster and the Yankees will be forced to play with 25 men instead of 26.
ESPN.com
One wonders how teams ever played with a 25-man roster all those years! Luckily for the Yankees, Luis Severino is due back, so they’ll be short a reliever, not a starter.
Scherzer appealed the penalty imposed by Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations, and can continue to play until the appeal is decided. The appeal would be heard by MLB special adviser John McHale Jr.
He became the third pitcher suspended by MLB since the crackdown on sticky substances started in June 2021. Seattle’s Héctor Santiago was penalized that June 28 and Arizona’s Caleb Smith on Aug. 24, 2021, also 10-game penalties.
ESPN.com
Scherzer’s agent Scott Boras complained about the umpires not having an objective standard. I actually thought the umpires did the right thing. Whatever was on Scherzer’s hand was stickier than what is allowed, sticky enough to likely give Scherzer an unfair advantage. It may be an honest mistake, and if so the suspension might be reduced, but the umpires were more than justified in removing Scherzer from the game.
In a pool report after Wednesday’s game, Bellino said that the stickiness on Scherzer’s hand during the fourth-inning inspection was “much worse than it was even in the initial inspection.”
“As far as stickiness, this was the stickiest it had been since I’ve been inspecting hands, which goes back three seasons,” Bellino said. “Compared to the first inning, it was so sticky that when we touched his hand, our fingers were sticking to his hand. Whatever was on there remained on our fingers afterwards for a couple innings. It was far more than we’ve ever seen before on a pitcher during live action.”
ESPN.com
Scherzer could face a ten game suspension.
The Mets beat the Dodgers 5-3 after Scherzer had started with three scoreless innings.
Javier Baez of the Tigers got doubled off second base in the top of the second inning against the Blue Jays because thought there were two outs where there was one. When he came off the field, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch called him into the tunnel to the locker room. When they came out, Baez grabbed his things and disappeared back down the tunnel, as Hinch removed him from the game. We’ll see if there are more repercussions tonight.
The Tigers and Blue Jays are tied at one in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Manny Machado of the Padres received an ejection after arguing a third strike: on a pitch clock violation:
Machado was adjusting his batting gloves and appeared to be calling time as the clock wound down to 8 seconds, by which time a batter must be facing the pitcher under new rules adopted for this season to speed the pace of play. Kulpa didn’t grant time, apparently because the clock had already hit 8 seconds, and called him out. Machado stood at the plate arguing with Kulpa as manager Bob Melvin came out. Machado said something to Kulpa and was ejected.
Machado, who was the designated hitter, was eventually escorted toward the dugout by another umpire.
ESPN.com
I’m glad umpires are being strict so far. In the past, rules designed to speed up the game were eventually ignored.
This ejection also makes me thing that someone could make a lot of money inventing batting gloves that do not need adjustments.
The Diamondbacks took the game 8-6, coming back from four runs down. Arizona drew seven walks in the game.
Rendon, who was also fined an undisclosed amount, grabbed a fan by his shirt as he was making his way out of the third-base dugout and into the tunnel that leads to the visitors’ clubhouse at RingCentral Coliseum on Thursday night, in the aftermath of the Angels’ 2-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Opening Day. Rendon accused the fan of calling him a “b—-“, then took a swipe at his head before walking away.
MLB has dealt with a handful of fan-related incidents with its players over the last several years, including a couple last year, when Tim Anderson was given a one-game suspension for flipping off a fan in April and Amir Garrett was docked three games for throwing a drink at a fan in August.
The league informed players they will be subject to more invasive searches for substances that increase a pitcher’s ability to grip the ball:
“Umpires have been instructed to increase the frequency and scope of foreign substance checks this year, including randomized checks of fingers (including removal of rings worn on either hand of pitchers), hands, hats, gloves, belts/waistlines, and pants,” the memo states. “Pitchers may be subject to checks before or after innings in which they pitch, and managers may make inspection requests of a pitcher or position player either before or after an at-bat.”
According to the memo, umpires can focus on “suspicious behavior by players that suggests the potential use of foreign substances.”
“For example, if an umpire observes a pitcher attempting to wipe off his hands prior to an inspection the player may be subject to immediate ejection for violating the rules by attempting to conceal a foreign substance,” the memo states. “In addition, catchers will be subject to routine inspections, including checks on their equipment.”
ESPN.com
This is in reaction to higher spin rates in the second half of 2022. Discipline could be wide spread:
According to the memo, “Clubs will be held accountable for any foreign substances discovered in any Club area (e.g., clubhouse, tunnel, dugout, bullpen, etc.). … Clubs and Club personnel also may be subject to discipline by the Commissioner for failing to adequately educate and manage or police their staff and players to ensure compliance with the rules.”
ESPN.com
Since spin rates can be measured in real time, I wonder if higher spin rates in a game will be relayed to the umpires to cause them to check for substances.
The league also said in its statement that Clevinger voluntarily agreed to submit to evaluations by the joint treatment boards under the CBA and to comply with the boards recommendations.
A joint policy board, consisting of three experts in the field and two representatives each from the MLBPA and the Commissioner’s Office has been established. The board is responsible for developing a treatment plan.
Players may be required to submit to psychological evaluations, attend counseling sessions, comply with court orders (including child support orders), relocate from a home shared with his partner, limit his interactions with his partner, relinquish all weapons, and other reasonable directives designed to promote the safety of the player’s partner, children, or victims.
Players who fail to comply are subject to discipline from the Commissioner. All information is to be kept confidential.
MLB.com
So we won’t hear about what the board decides unless Clevinger talks about it. I suspect the White Sox front office is breathing a sigh of relief.
The Houston Chronicle interviews Evan Drellich about his new book on the Astros Cheating Scandal, “Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess”. At one point, Drellich criticizes MLB for helping to create the environment that led to the scandal (emphasis added):
The commissioner’s office made a lot of mistakes here—in the way they approached the institution of instant replay and the video rooms they gave to every single team, in their policing effort, in their lack of recognition of the problem as it was growing or that it would grow. There’s an irony that the commissioner was a point person for the league on PEDs and steroids, and seemingly forgot that players and teams have this great, competitive drive. If you give them new tools, they’re going to try to find a way to exploit those new tools.
Chron.com
One would hope that MLB, and other organizations as well, would game the rules and regulations they put in place. In a way they have started doing this by testing rule changes at the minor league level. One would hope that the commissioner’s office observed how minor league players might have tried to game the pitch clock, the shift rules, and the electronic umpire. The flaw here is that winning at the minor league level is less important than at the major league level, as the minors are more about developing talent than winning trophies.
