Major League Baseball announced today that Roberto Osuna’s administrative leave has been extended for another week as the Commissioner’s Office continues its ongoing investigation into the domestic abuse allegations that were recently brought forth against the Blue Jays’ closer. (FanRag’s Jon Heyman first tweeted the news.) It’s the second time in as many weeks that MLB has extended Osuna’s leave as Rob Manfred and his staff gather information in advance of a potential suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy. Osuna is currently being paid while on leave and is not occupying a spot on the team’s roster. He would not be paid or accrue Major League service time, however, in the event of a suspension.
More from the AL East…
- Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic spoke to Rays general manager Erik Neander about the team’s weekend usage of Sergio Romo as a “starter,” though that role was in name only (subscription link). Tampa Bay has regularly used bullpen days in lieu of a conventional fifth starter this season, but Romo’s role was different — particularly on Saturday. With several righties stacked atop the Angels’ lineup (most notably, of course, Mike Trout and Justin Upton), the Rays gave Romo the start before turning the ball over to lefty Ryan Yarbrough for 6 1/3 innings of “relief.” Romo has been notoriously difficult on righties throughout his career, so the decision amounted to simply playing matchups early in the game rather than late in the game, before then turning the ball over to Yarbrough to work a starter’s workload (with one fewer matchup against Trout and Upton). Neander speaks about the importance of first ensuring that a veteran such as Romo — or any pitcher who is used unconventionally — “buys in” to the organization’s plan and is on board with a new role before embarking on such a change. “There is a certain level of humility that we need to have as we go through this,” said Neander. “…We’re not exactly sure where this is going to take us. We’re just trying to be responsive as we get into it in practice and learn more.”
- Despite a pair of rocky starts to begin his MLB career, David Hess should remain in the Orioles’ rotation for the time being, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com opines. Hess finished the 2017 well in Double-A and has solid numbers in Triple-A thus far, but he’s served up four homers and allowed eight runs in 10 2/3 MLB innings thus far. However, Melewski notes that his MLB debut came on three days’ rest while his second start came on seven days’ rest at Fenway Park against one of the toughest lineups in baseball. Hess has earned a lengthier look on regular rest with the chance to settle into his routine, Melewski contends, and the current last-place standing of the Orioles should only further encourage them to earnestly evaluate a potential long-term rotation piece. The 24-year-old Hess notched a 3.85 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 in 154 1/3 Double-A innings last year and has a 2.12 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 29 2/3 Triple-A frames in 2018.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the rotation when Tillman returns from his “injury”.
Not to worry. Tillman’s injury will take him all season to recover from. He is well liked in the organization, but the chances he will throw a pitch in an Orioles uniform again are less than 1% IMHO.
Calling Hess’ first start rocky is kind of a stretch. He gave up a 3 run shot in the first and then fired 5 scoreless innings after. The 2nd one was rough.
Criticising a team for trying something new, as the Rays are doing, seems a bit silly. Doing the same things again and again, but expecting different results seems much crazier.
I think they’d be better off relocating to Montreal or somewhere though.
“Doing the same things again and again, but expecting different results seems much crazier” relocating any team to Montreal is right along that line.
As long as Loria isn’t with the team again, I think it’ll work out
The problem before in Montreal was the stadium, right? It was falling apart. A nice stadium in a better location should make baseball viable,
Citizens of Montreal do not care for baseball. There are better markets in the US that deserve a baseball franchise.
Agreed. And Raleigh and New Orleans could be those places. Maybe even a better stadium on the Gulf Coast of Florida would do the trick.
Yes, it’s called Insanity!
“ . . . usage of Sergio Romo as a “starter,” though that role was in name only . . .”
Isn’t the “starter” role itself only a name placed on um, pitchers who regularly start games? Are there any other requirements for a starter that I’ve missed?
As tgcf noted above, the Rays are trying something new. Either it’ll work or it won’t. Perhaps the Rays (and mlb at large) will learn something about pitcher usage and perhaps they won’t. But I wouldn’t ridicule the attempt, even if borne from necessity.
“With several righties stacked atop the Angels’ lineup (most notably, of course, Mike Trout and Justin Upton), the Rays gave Romo the start before turning the ball over to . . . “
This doesn’t strike me as a stupid plan. While it’s more common to use platoon matchups late in ballgames one can argue that doing so early, when the game is guaranteed to be close, provides better leverage. Dunno what, if anything, we will learn from this experiment but I am curious to see if it has any impact.
My intent wasn’t to ridicule the plan at all. I love the idea, in fact, especially against a lineup as dependent on right-handed bats as the Angels.
I don’t think saying he was only a nominal “starter” in any way ridicules the plan. It’s more just a commentary on the fact that conventional baseball wisdom, even in today’s game, suggests that a starting pitcher will go at least twice through the batting order. That was obviously never the intent with Romo.
Frankly, everything the Rays are going this year is interesting to me. I roll my eyes when I see more closed-minded baseball figures from past generations (e.g. Tim Flannery, in this instance) mocking a team for trying something new. Every strategy in baseball would’ve been viewed as “radical” at one point in the game’s past.
Fun fact of the day: Teams regularly used modern day shifting against Eddie Mathews back in the day
“I love the idea . . .”
Glad you cleared that up. This does appear to be a low-risk opportunity to maybe learn a few things about pitcher usage that we didn’t know before. Or not. Either way this experiment won’t be the reason the Rays avoid the postseason again this year.
“That was obviously never the intent with Romo.”
Right. The question, at least in the abstract, is: are three outs in the first inning worth more, as much or less than three outs later in the game? Curious to see how it works.
“Every strategy in baseball would’ve been viewed as “radical” at one point in time.”
Exactly. Considering the number of pitchers on the DL it seems reasonable to ask whether there are better ways of using them. Better meaning both more effective and less likely to cause physical harm. What if a team went through a game using platoon matchups vs. the opponent’s stars each time but less reliable pitcher vs. the rest of the team’s lineup. I dunno where all this is going but, like you, find the whole approach very interesting. Maybe post something on this if/when there’s a decent sample size to look at?
Problem is that while the team successfully got through the inning, they also burned a useful reliever. This is the beginning of something different. Time will tell how often it will be used. Could become a new norm for a team that doesn’t have starting firepower but I don’t see many others doing this.
if you’re the opposing manager this is an easy plan to foil. this is also one of those stupid things that makes fans not want to go see games. oh who is starting tonight Sergio Romo a thirty-year-old middle reliever lets get inthe car and go right now. also I can’t see the average starter being too happy about this. just one more reason the introduction of saber has ruined baseball. they’re not to be happy till every picture has a no-hitter everyday
It’s only “easy to foil” if the opposing manager concedes to dropping someone like Mike Trout or Justin Upton in the order in favor of a lesser left-handed hitter.
The Rays would probably happily take that trade-off if it meant one fewer plate appearance against Mike Trout on a given night.
How do you foil the plan? Rearrange your lineup to foil a pitcher that will be in there for an inning? If you do that, I’d say the team who used this “starting pitcher” tactic won…
Move the right handed hitters all the way down in the line-up!
Then you reduce the chance of them getting an extra at bat later on. So really, the plan still isn’t foiled is it?
The article states that the players need to buy into it, so they obviously did. And why would Yarbrough be mad? He still pitched 6.1 innings. Had he pitched to the toughest part of the lineup, he might not have lasted that long and his numbers could’ve been a lot worse.
I think the problem is that you’re being too close minded
Have to wonder if they would liked to have had Romo in the 7th when it was 3-1 and Trout, Upton, Simmons, Cozart tacked on another run.
In the end, it retys on the ability of the “opener”….let’s see how Romo does against Betts/Benetendi/Martinez this week…..hint: probably not as well……..they usually light him up…….outside of that, it’s a bit of a nothing burger……
The entire romo as a starter thing seems like something buck showalter would do. I remember thinking that he would go with relievers all game for the 2016 wild card game.
So with this administrative leave of Osuna, if he is eventually suspended by the league, do these games he’s missed count towards that suspension?
No because a suspension is discipline and “The Commissioner’s placement of a
Player on Administrative Leave shall not be considered disciplinary
under this Policy.” Attachment 52 – II Investigation of Incidents – B Administrative Leave page 309 mlbplayers.com/pdf9/5450407.pdf
The problem with bullpen day was the starter could never get the win. With someone taking the first inning, everyone else has a shot at the W, official scorer makes the call, and if it sets up a competition within the bullpen it could be brilliant.
What if every game was treated like the All Star game, mixing 5-6 pitchers every game, and different styles. No hitter sees same pitcher twice, and each could use all his pitches. No need to save.
Thankfully, the game is moving further and further away from pitcher wins meaning anything of substance.