Congrats to Justin Verlander. The Tigers' ace threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays this afternoon, the second of his career. He's now one of only 28 men to throw multiple no-hitters in the big leagues. Here are Saturday's links…
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein was personally scouting UConn RHP Matt Barnes tonight, reports Dom Amore of The Hartford Courant (on Twitter). Barnes is expected to go in the first round this year, in which the Red Sox have two picks.
- Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers called up Craig Gentry to replace Nelson Cruz, who was placed on the disabled list (Twitter links). He notes that one possible reason why they didn't call up Endy Chavez is because they'd have to place him on waivers once Cruz was healthy.
- In a guest post for Through The Fence Baseball, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith took stock of the winter's biggest offseason deals.
- Bill Madden of The New York Daily News wrote about the numerous big-money players that are struggling this year, including Derek Jeter and Hanley Ramirez.
- Stan Kasten confirmed to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post that he sold his ownership stake in the Nationals this March. Kasten stepped down as team president late last year, but it's unclear what he'll do next. He was mentioned as possibly trustee when MLB took over the Dodgers' financial operations.
- Alfredo Simon was in the Orioles' clubhouse today, and will continue working his way back with a minor league appearance next week according to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. Connolly says the team will have to recall, waive, or release Simon by "roughy May 22" after he spent two months in a Dominican Republic prison and being placed on the restricted list.
- Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch spoke to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak about the resurgent Lance Berkman. "We did a lot of due diligence," said the GM. "We truly believed he could have a bounce-back year. When we looked at it, we knew he was working extremely hard on his conditioning, was getting the knee healthy, was getting himself in tremendous shape, and that he'd be a lot stronger. That was a big thing. We knew that he still had an eye for hitting, and he would work the count and take walks. The question was, how would he be physically. And once we knew how much he was putting into his training, it gave us confidence."
Oriole’s fans better hope Simon didn’t drop the soap.
I wonder if Kasten is setting himself to make a bid on the Braves if Liberty Media puts them on the block as expected.
Berkman would have an amazing year for the Cardinals. *le sigh*
That no-hitter was particularly notable because he only struck out 4 and he is a guy who usually strikes out 10 per 9
Thought the same thing…
He threw a no-no having an off day when his curve just wasn’t working. It was a great game to watch.
I was shaking non-stop from the sixth inning on. I wasn’t sure what would happen first; having myself go into cardiac arrest or JV throwing a no-no.
It’s also noteworthy that the Jays had 75% of a AAA lineup, but I still must give full respect to Verlander for no-hitting the team I cheer for.
Just because it was mostly bench players does not make it any easier. In my opinion, a no hitter against the Royals is just as impressive as one against the Yankees. They are all MLB hitters and all have just as much of a chance to ruining it.
My intentions weren’t made to take anything away from Verlander. But comparing the Royals of (2009?) to the Yankees is just.. blah.
A no-hitter is still rare and Tigers fans should enjoy it.
“Just because it was mostly bench players does not make it any easier. In
my opinion, a no hitter against the Royals is just as impressive as one
against the Yankees. They are all MLB hitters and all have just as much
of a chance to ruining it.”
there is no way you actually believe this. your boy miggy and doug mientkiewicz are equally likely to get a hit in a given game? c’maaan
awesome accomplishment for verlander. let’s not distract from it with this crazy talk
Congrats to Justin Verlander. Doesn’t matter who it was against it is a great accomplishment and something that he and all tigers fan should be proud of.
Are you really trying to start an argument over this?
it’s not possible to argue over this. the claim “all hitters have an equal chance of getting a hit” is not something that can be argued for. it’s prima facie absurd
You know what I meant. Each MLB team has just as good of a chance to get a hit as all the other ones.
About the end of the seventh I knew he was on point. Plus some fine defense just made the air feel right and i was pretty jacked.
Felt as good as his first!
I wonder if Berkman would have been an upgrade at first base for the Dodgers. Sigh…
Yes. You somehow have observed something during your time surfing the Internet and sitting on the couch that all the Cardinals’ scouts did not identify during their time observing Berkman’s off-season training.
If only the Cardinals could have consulted with you to obtain your wisdom!