baseball

Should MLB make teams forfeit games missed to poor decisions bringing coronavirus into league?

by

Less than two weeks into the 2020 MLB season, we’ve seen two coronavirus outbreaks with two different teams. The Miami Marlins had 20 positive tests, while the Cardinals are at 13.

The unfortunate thing is that both outbreaks could have been prevented. It’s believed that both outbreaks were the result of players leaving the team hotel and then catching the virus, exposing teammates and coaches.

“We did have a couple of individuals leave the hotel,” said Marlins owner Derek Jeter. “We had guys leave to get coffee, to get clothes. A guy left to have dinner at a teammate’s house. There were no other guests on site”.

However, with the Cardinals, it’s reported that some players went to a casino, possibly catching the virus and bringing it back to the team. Since the outbreaks, players and staff are prohibited from leaving the hotel, unless it’s to go to the ballpark.

So, with two MLB coronavirus outbreaks that could have been prevented, should the league punish teams for the decisions of players? Should the league force teams that make irresponsible decisions to forfeit games? There might not be time to make up all the games that the Marlins and Cardinals have missed, so in my opinion, those teams should have to forfeit games that can’t be rescheduled.

Doing that would show players that the MLB is serious about their coronavirus policies, and it will give players an incentive to comply. Are positive cases going to still happen? Yes. But teams should be punished if the cases or outbreaks could have been prevented.

If an outbreak starts because a player needs to get necessities, then that’s one thing. But teams shouldn’t get games rescheduled if an outbreak starts because someone goes to a casino or to a club. They should be automatic wins to the team that complied with the rules.

The Marlins are set to return on Tuesday, while the Cardinals won’t return any earlier than Friday.

 

 

 

 

New York Yankees: James Paxton roughed up for second time in as many starts

by
New York Yankees, James Paxton

On Sunday, James Paxton had the chance to wipe the memory of Yankee fans after his rough outing to open the season. Instead, he saw no improvement from his season debut and had another poor outing.

Paxton lasted just three innings, giving up seven hits and five runs to the Boston Red Sox. Three runs were earned, and he struck out four batters.

After retiring the first two batters of the game, Paxton allowed a double to J.D. Martinez and a home run to Xander Bogaerts. However, Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks seemed to lose the ball hit by Martinez, as the ball could have been caught and would have avoided the early mess.

After a scoreless second inning, the third inning got really messy. But, the defense was once again unable to help.

Hicks lost another ball in the sky, allowing Kevin Pillar to reach. Rafael Devers drove him in with a single, but then two more singles from the Red Sox and an error from Miguel Andujar allowed two more to score.

Even if the Yankees were playing good defense, it would have been just a matter of time until Paxton got rocked. His velocity was down again, even more so from his previous start.

His season opening loss against the Nationals saw him with an average fastball velocity of 92.4 mph, and his performance against the Red Sox on Sunday saw him with just a 91.5 mph average fastball.

Something is clearly wrong with Paxton, but skipper Aaron Boone believes it’s just mechanical. He said in an in-game interview that Paxton “feels good” and just needs to find his velocity.

Hopefully it’s something simple that can be worked out quickly. If it can’t be fixed soon, Paxton could get removed from the rotation and replaced with a young arm.

New York Yankees: James Paxton lacks velocity in disappointing season debut

by
New York Yankees, James Paxton

On Saturday, James Paxton made his first start of the season for the New York Yankees, and it was less than stellar. He was knocked out of the ballgame before he was able to record any outs in the second inning.

The second-year Yankee worked around a Starlin Castro triple in the first inning to keep the Nationals scoreless early, but imploded in the second inning. He allowed four straight hits and walk for two runs to score, and left the bases loaded for Michael King in relief.

Paxton only lasted 41 pitches, gave up three earned runs, five hits, one walk, and struck out just one.

What went wrong:

Paxton’s velocity was nowhere near where it should be Saturday night. He underwent offseason back surgery and has reportedly lacked velocity since then, but Saturday was really the first time we actually saw and noticed it.

His fastballs averaged a speed of 91.7 mph on Saturday, where his fastballs averaged 95.7 mph last season. Four mph might not seem like much, but it makes an enormous difference.

In addition to his velocity drop-off, his mechanics seemed a bit off. His arm angle and release point appeared to be different and his pitches seemed flatter.

I think that this is all a result of the surgery that he had. He missed most of the original spring training and may just be behind the other Yankee pitchers. But, this is a serious issue that needs to be resolved soon. The team can’t have Paxton out on the mound with known problems, or he will keep getting hit hard. It’s certainly early in the season, but the Yankees can’t afford to have him struggling.

MLB agrees to expand postseason

by

In a last second deal, the MLB and the MLBPA have agree to expand the 2020 postseason from 10 to 16 teams. This was something that was heavily discussed during original negotiations, but was later shelved. Now it’s in place and it all came about in the final 24 hours before the season began.

The expansion to 16 teams adds a NBA or NFL playoffs type feel to it. It will have the two leagues on separate sides of the bracket with the one seed playing the eight seed, the two seed playing the seven seed, and so on. But, the first round will be just a best-of-three series with all games being played at the site of the higher seed. From there, it will be the traditional five game division series, and seven game championship series and World Series.

The top two teams from each of the six divisions will qualify for the postseason. Two wild card spots will be available in each league for the top two teams that didn’t finish in the top two of their division.

The postseason expansion adds eight new series and generates a lot more revenue. ESPN will reportedly call seven of the eight new series on their networks, with TBS carrying the other. TBS and FOX will have their normal coverage in the following series.

For the circumstances of this season, I think that the postseason expansion is a great idea. But, once we are back to a normal season, I’m not sure that this is something that should be continued. More revenue is great, but it takes away a lot in the fact of having to have a great season to qualify for the postseason. The concept is too rewarding for mediocre teams, and therefore shouldn’t be continued in the future.

New York Yankees: DJ LeMahieu returns to the lineup for second scrimmage versus Mets

by
New York Yankees, DJ LeMahieu

After missing the first two weeks of “Summer Camp”, DJ LeMahieu is back in the lineup for the Yankees. He will leadoff and play second like usual for the second scrimmage against the Mets.

LeMahieu was unable to report to camp as planned due to the fact that he tested positive for coronavirus. He was asymptomatic and took “11 or 12” tests until he saw two consecutive negatives, clearing him to return. The second-year Yankee came back to train on Friday, and now cracks the lineup for the first time on Sunday.

Now, it’s certainly not impossible for LeMahieu to start on Opening Day either. If he looks good in these last two scrimmages and feels good, then he could play on Thursday against the Nationals. If he doesn’t play Thursday, he may be ready to go on Saturday as the teams have an off-day scheduled for the Friday after Opening Day. That day will be used if the scheduled Opening Day is a rainout.

Also playing on Sunday is Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Aaron Hicks, Luke Voit, and Brett Gardner. Those four didn’t travel with the team to Queens on Saturday and will get their first scrimmage action against other teams on Sunday.

The final scrimmage for the Yankees will take place on Monday in Philadelphia against the Phillies. From there, they open the season in Washington for a three game series against the defending champions before traveling back to Philadelphia for a two game set. Then, the Yankees will go home for their first series at Yankee Stadium, and that will be another two game set against the Phillies.

New York Yankees: Domingo German says that he is “not retiring”

by
New York Yankees, Domingo German

On Friday evening, New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German posted a surprising message on his Instagram account. He said “I’ve left baseball. Thanks everyone” (translated).

This lead many to think that German may be retiring from the game. He is ineligible to play in 2020 due to a domestic issue last year. However, he posted an update to his account to clarify and apologize.

“To my teammates, the Yankees organization, and our fans, I am very sorry for the unsettling post last night. This past year has been very tough for my family and myself, for which I take full responsibility. Not being with my teammates while they get ready for the season, knowing that I have let them down, has taken. toll on me and last night I let my emotions get the best of me. Baseball is my life and I promise I am not walking away. I am using this time to get stronger, become a better person and father, and I can only hope that I will get to join my teammates once again to make the proud. Thank you to everyone, especially the Yankees organization, for their support. Please forgive me for this mistake.”

After the confusion, it appears as of German won’t be retiring. His original statement was unclear to everyone, and nobody within the organization had any idea about the truth to the statement, including Aaron Boone.

The good news is that he isn’t going anywhere, even though he can’t play this year. Hopefully next year, he’ll be healthy and out of trouble so he can make a positive impact to the team.

New York Yankees: Gerrit Cole officially set to start on Opening Day

by
New York Yankees, Gerrit Cole

In what wasn’t much of a surprise, the New York Yankees have named Gerrit Cole their Opening Day starter. We all expected this from the instant that the team signed him, but it became official on Wednesday.

He’ll have the ball on Thursday, July 23rd when the Yankees face off against the Washington Nationals. Game time will be at 7pm from Washington D.C. with the game televised nationally on ESPN.

Cole is expected to go against Max Scherzer, the Nationals ace. Scherzer is arguably one of the best pitchers in all of baseball and has won three CY Young awards. He’s a sure Hall of Fame lock once eligible.

Friday will be the final tune-up for Cole before he takes the mound to open the shortened 2020 season. He will toss some innings in a intra-squad scrimmage before next Thursday’s start. Cole has looked good in scrimmages so far, and is looking to build off that on Friday. Pitching on Friday gives him an extra day of rest going into his first real start.

Although he won’t be pitching, the Yankees will be facing actual teams this weekend. They have scheduled scrimmages with the Mets on Saturday and Sunday, before visiting the Phillies on Monday en route to Washington, D.C. From there, the team will rest for a few days before opening the season.

The 2020 season will be like no other season before. Every game means so much, and you can’t afford to lose multiple games in a row. Hopefully, the team will remain healthy so they can make a push for their 28th World Series title.

New York Yankees 2020 TV Schedule

by

Newsday Sports has reported that the New York Yankees have made their 2020 TV schedule public. This season features 54 of 60 games on the YES Network, with the other six being exclusive to national television. No games are expected to be on PIX 11.

The six nationally televised games will be on ESPN and FOX, with three on each. Opening Day against the Nationals will be on ESPN on July 23rd, as well as Sunday Night Baseball games against the Red Sox on August 2nd and 16th.

The three games on FOX will be on the same weekends as the ESPN games. They will televise a game against the Nationals on July 25th, as well as games with the Red Sox on August 1st and 15th.

So, with this years TV format, fans will only be able to see six games with a basic cable package. Those six are the nationally televised games, bringing in the most revenue for less cost to the viewer. YES is not included with basic cable, meaning you have to pay extra to see those games. No games are on local television (PIX 11), and that likely has to do with making the network making the least amount of money.

The way the TV schedule is made is so that teams can make the most revenue possible. In negotiations about the season, owners were hesitant to have a season due to potential revenue losses. Formatting the TV schedule like this could help minimize their loss, even though it’s at the dispense of the fans.

And unfortunately due to blackout rules, local fans can’t watch games on MLB.com. They would either have to buy YES or a service such as HULU or Apple TV to see all games.

Breaking down the Yankees 2020 schedule

by
New York Yankees, Gerrit Cole

The MLB released the 60 game schedule for the 2020 season earlier this week. Today, we take a look at the New York Yankees abbreviated schedule.

The team will play 40 games against divisional rivals, and will play 20 games against NL East teams. So, the Yankees will play each AL East team 10 times and will have at least one series with each NL East team.

Of 10 games with the Red Sox, seven will be played at Yankee Stadium. 10 of their last 20 games will be played against a young and talented Blue Jays team, with seven of them being played in Canada. The team will also visit the Orioles six times and host them just four. They will see the Rays at home for six games, meaning just one trip to Tropicana Field in Tampa.

On the National League side of things, the Yankees see the Nationals just once for three games to open the season. Opening Day will feature the two playing on July 23rd at 7pm in a nationally televised game. Gerrit Cole is expected to face Max Scherzer in that one.

The only unfortunate news about games against NL teams is that the Yankees will see the Braves six times. Atlanta won their division in 2019 before falling in the NLDS. The Yankees first seven games will be against NL teams. Additionally, the team will have a series against the Mets in both the Bronx and Queens.

To finish the season, the Marlins will come to town for three games. That will be a great opportunity for the Yankees to get late wins, especially if their postseason hopes depend on it.

Overall, the Yankees seemed to luck out with their schedule and their regular season seems no more difficult than usual.

New York Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka diagnosed with a “mild concussion”

by
New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

Following Saturday’s scary accident, New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has been diagnosed with a mild concussion. He was hit by a come-backer off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton in a simulated game.

The line drive was estimated to be about 112mph off the bat, hitting the Japanese born pitcher square in the head. He went down on the ground for a few minutes, before being assisted off the mound. After, he was taken to the New York-Presbyterian Hospital for testing. His CT scan came clean and he was released a few hours later.

On Sunday, he was reportedly in the Yankee clubhouse and acting normal. He still had his personality and it didn’t seem like anything happened just 24 hours prior. He underwent concussion protocol was diagnosed with a mild concussion.

Tanaka dodged a major bullet. If he was hit in the right spot, he could have been seriously injured or his life could have even been threatened. It’s even more impressive too see that he was okay especially since it was off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton, one of the most powerful hitters in baseball history.

A serious injury to Tanaka would have been devastating. The team is already down two pitchers with Luis Severino and Domingo German, and a third pitcher down would mean the team would have to go searching again. They likely would have turned to Clarke Schmidt or Deivi Garcia.

But fortunately, they won’t need to do that. With the concussion being mild and time until Opening Day, it’s likely he won’t go on the IL, at least not right away. Hopefully his recovery will go fast and we will see him back on the mound soon.