Congratulations to White Sox starter Philip Humber, who threw MLB's 21st perfect game this afternoon against the Mariners in Seattle. Humber took the path less traveled to immortality, as MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets. … On with a few items of note out of MLB's Central divisions:
- The Indians will likely call up outfielder/DH Johnny Damon by May 1, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, as Damon's recently signed contract stipulates that he be brought up by then or released. Damon is currently getting at-bats in the minor leagues after signing with Cleveland earlier this week.
- The Cubs' decision to trade Marlon Byrd doesn't necessarily signal an organizational decision to immediately call up young players such as Brett Jackson and Anthony Rizzo, writes Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. Those players will be called up when the team thinks they're ready to play in the Majors — irrespective of service-time considerations — Levine adds.
- Cubs scout Kyle Phillips, formerly a catcher who had cups of coffee with the Blue Jays and Padres, would like to return to playing in 2013, tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com. Phillips, 28, entered Spring Training camp with Toronto this year, but his contract was voided due to an injury, at which point he was hired by Cubs GM Jed Hoyer as a scout.
Hoyer is shellshocked from what happened to Anthony Rizzo last year. Neither Rizzo nor Jackson have anything left to prove in the minors. Rizzo should be brought up when space is available and Jackson should be brought up as soon as his service clock allows.
I don’t believe in the conventional wisdom that whenever a prospect fails his first time at the ML level, he must have been “rushed”.
Rizzo didn’t hit in Petco. This is no surprise since there has only ever been one successful hitter at Petco.