Rays fans can allow themselves some tempered excitement after the latest check-up on Tyler Glasnow. The lanky flamethrower will be shut down for four weeks before beginning to throw again, but that said, they may have located another source of Glasnow’s discomfort, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The latest diagnosis theorizes that his elbow irritation could at least in part be the result of a bone issue, which Glasnow’s doctors will attempt to treat during this period of rest. Of course, much uncertainty remains for Glasnow, whose injury became a bit of a firestarter for the debate around the use of illegal substances. After his injury, Glasnow was vocal in opposition of MLB’s attempt to curtail the use of illegal substances on the mound by way of an in-season mandate.
Neither Glasnow’s injury nor the “sticky stuff” saga will be resolved in the immediate future, however, so let’s turn instead to the latest news on his Tampa teammate: reliever Chaz Roe has cut his rehab short for the time being. Roe has been out since April with a shoulder strain. The latest issue, however, is not with the shoulder, but rather a case of biceps tendinitis, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). It will be another 7-10 days until he’s able to resume throwing.
Elsewhere around the game…
- Tigers starter Matthew Boyd has been to see a “number of doctors” about the arm discomfort that landed him on the injured list on June 15th. He won’t pitch again before the All-Star break, but there is no structural damage in the arm, per the Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen (via Twitter). Detroit plans to be cautious with the 30-year-old southpaw, adds Evan Woodbery of the Mlive Media Group (via Twitter). In 13 starts this season, Boyd has a 3.44 ERA/3.75 FIP across 70 2/3 innings. In terms of the positive, his 6.4 percent walk rate is better than his career norm. On the other side, Boyd’s strikeouts are down (18.8 percent strikeout rate). If all goes well, the Tigers hope to have a healthy Boyd back in the rotation for the second half.
- The Mets and Nationals will play a doubleheader today. Both teams will add a 27th man to the roster for the day. In the Nationals’ case, right-hander Ryne Harper has stayed with the team after being optioned to Triple-A yesterday, per the team. He will be available out of the pen for manager Davey Martinez in both games. The Mets, meanwhile, recalled right-hander Yennsy Diaz to be their 27th man, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter). There was some indication that Albert Almora Jr. would be activated from the injured list, and that’s still a possibility for game two, Dicomo notes.
My sticky fingers are crossed for the guy.
How does that work if you already designated a player as the “27th player” for the day of a doubleheader then decide to activate a different player off the IL for the second game? I would think a different player would need to be optioned or DFA’d off the 40-man if you’re activating anyone off the IL. The 27th man should be active for both games regardless.
It’s a day/night doubleheader. Fans who want to see both games will have to pay twice to see two seven-inning games. Not the most fan-friendly setup. Would anyone want to pay full price to see one seven-inning game?
Re the 27th man: I guess they see it as two separate sessions since the stadium will be cleared out between games.
It’s uncommon but not unheard of for teams to make roster moves between games of a doubleheader, but you raise a great point about how that applies to the 27th man rule. I’d be curious to know if the Mets would need to make an additional move; it would seem to me that they should.
I remember once reading about two teams playing a doubleheader and making a trade with each other between games, so the players involved literally switched dugouts and played one game for each team. It was many, many years before I was born and I have no recollection of who or what teams.
Here are the details of the doubleheader trade, courtesy of a Bleacher Report story.
There is no other word that can be said about this trade than awesome. Way back in 1922, the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs were playing a doubleheader.
After the first game, Max Flack was traded to the Cardinals for Cliff Heathcote. Both teams were apparently fed up with their own outfielders (both were hitless in the first game) and they made the agreement to trade before the second game.
If you were wondering, Flack went 1-for-4 with his new team and Heathcote went 2-for-4 for the Cubs. See, a change of scenery can be a good thing.
Thanks Cey, that’s the one I now remember. Maybe the most shocking part is that the Cubs and Cardinals actually traded with each other. 😉
Not really shocking because each team thought they were stiffing the other.
I believe it was Jay Youngblood who was traded to the Reds between games of a Mets/Reds DH. Played for two different teams in one day, going from one dugout to the other.
Glasnow is an ignorant moron- if he got hurt by NOT cheating, then why isn’t every pitch in the league not getting hurt?! Makes no sense- but way to point the finger and play the victim role. Only delusional and uneducated fans will believe your nonsense. You’re a CHEATER & I hope you never have success in MLB again, since you can’t cheat anymore.
You’re gonna be a real sad boy when 70% of your team’s staff is complaining about the sticky.
I’ll take 100% of the position players ecstatic it is going away over the whining pitchers.
This shouldn’t be about my team versus your team. Cheating is cheating, Period. The pitchers on my favorite team, the Dodgers, might come off looking bad over this and I certainly won’t be apologizing for them. People need to stop doing that. If an elected official is caught in an uncompromising position in a motel room, it doesn’t matter which party he or she represents. Nor does it matter that someone from the other side did the same thing. Wrong is wrong.
Already we are seeing fans giving certain pitchers a pass, no matter how suspicious their gaudy statistics might look. In some cases, the numbers might indeed be too good to be achieved honestly. We are already seeing evidence of that. Spin rates dropping, strikeouts decreasing, with the hardest throwers being the ones most affected.
Is it really cheating if the MLB told teams they could do it?
Fact 1: not cheating off not against the rules. Fact 2: Steroids saved baseball, and Manfred will ruin baseball.
People have been predicting the death of baseball for 120 years for a variety of silly reasons, starting with claims that players were making too much money in the first decade of the 20th century. As for Manfred, he’s no worse than any other baseball commissioner. They’ve all been a step up from the first one, Kennesaw Mountain Landis.
Well said
Really.. it’s not supposed to be about who know the latest stuff and the secret of the tricks to do with it.
I feel sorry for all those guys who never cheated because they were outed by the in crowd or weren’t told what another guy was told……
The guys who are no longer in baseball.
Let’s not forget that players are people, too. Glasnow’s comments were very emotionally-charged as he’s the ace of a team in first place and now can’t play and possibly face TJS. He made some immature, unscientific comments compounded by his anti-sentiments towards MLB suddenly wanting sticky stuff to cease. You’re not wrong and he should’ve place more thoughts in his words.
Glasnow is not the only MLB player or coach to point out the problems w doing this in the middle of the season. Don’t understand yr hatred for him, but that is yr problem. And as another person posted here, you don’t think your team’s pitchers use something to get a better grip on the ball? If not, you are naive. I hope your day gets better.
If they told them to stop after the season they would have a while offseason to prepare. Right now the players have been using the substance all year and now are tokd not to. I think its similar to reworking a swing, most ppl would take a rehab assignment to do it in the minors
Yeah! Pitchers are cheaters! I agree with all you guys. Look at all of us agreeing about those cheaters. So… uh… are we guys cool again?
Bone Spurs take months or years to develop so that officially puts to rest the stupid scapegoating of the sticky substance crackdown.
These players think fans are idiots. And many fans are. Go to YouTube and check out the comments sections of Trevor Bauer’s and Trevor May’s explanations of this topic. Fans fawning over these guys for their “intelligent” analysis. The two Trevors must be laughing all the way to the bank.
You might be on to something with Trevor May, but I think you’re off with Bauer. The guys who have respect for the fans are the ones who either act like they’re 100% clean when they’re clearly not or try to make us think that their cheating doesn’t actually help them which is what Trevor May has been trying to do. Bauer has at least kept fans in the loop on the issue for years now.
Have you ever listened to Bauer talk? He’s an idiot, as well as being an admitted cheater. The fans who sing his praises do so because he drops down to their level. Years ago, a musician who hit paydirt when a less-than-stellar song of his became a hit told me this during an interview: “Never overestimate the intelligence of your audience.” Bauer follows that unwritten rule to a tee. He blames the commissioner’s office, the media, some fans, everyone but himself and other cheating pitchers for the current problem. And his groupies lap it up because he paints himself as an insider and pretends to care about them.
While the Dodgers knew what they were getting into, Mr. Integrity signed his current contract knowing his on-field performance resulted from cheating. The notion of him being the voice of reason on this matter is laughable. Yet, people buy into it because they don’t know any better. Again, listen to him talk. Closely.
Bauer’s cocky. he clearly thought he could basically admit to cheating and get away with it.
I don’t think you’re giving Bauer enough credit for being able to read the room and groom a cult following. Not sure if you follow pop music culture but Tekashi69 is a decent comparison. I don’t care for his music nor social media antics nor him actually. His talent as a music artist is limited imo. However, the kid is a master manipulator of his audience and also a very smart, calculated self-promoter and understands art well. That all takes intelligence.
I sincerely doubt a kid from Los Angeles who studied Engineering at one of the best universities on the west coast is an idiot, but I’m sure you, as a faceless nameless commenter, probably are.
His ego got the best of him. He figured out how to beat the system by cheating, then had to make sure everyone knew how smart he was. Love of the game? Nah. Bauer’s love is for the money and attention he receives for playing the game. Fans love the game, which is something Bauer and other players know full-well and take advantage of. These guys are already trying to sway public sentiment for the next contract negotiations.
I’m not saying that all players don’t care about the game, just that it is mainly a business to them. Early on, success on the field and traveling to different cities is a thrill. But after a while, that wears off and real-life sets in. It’s a grind and mainly about getting paid. The Rolling Stones checked out decades ago, but are still out there doing the job of getting paid, just like all those other oldies acts who hit the summer concert circuit. It’s like that with most people who’ve worked the same job for a number of years. The passion fades in the name of getting paid. You just do it because it’s what you do.
Your bias against Bauer makes you post really stupid comments. Bauer is the first (one of the first?) people that brought this issue up publicly and MLB chose to do nothing about it.
You shot yourself in the foot imo,.by saying,”it’s a business for them”, conceding they are indeed intelligent,adult men.
IMHO , intelligent, adult men and they are going too far with it, as it does apparently give them a clear cut edge over their competitors (batters and other pitchers).
They should check Glasnow for sticky help with every batter. He outed himself. Can’t pitch without it. Clearly not a MLB pitcher. Explains how TB has all these “miracle” players, though. Low player budget, high stickum budget.
Lol right. You have obviously never seen him pitch. You don’t throw 100 mph, or have a break like his, just bec of sticky stuff. That’s as logical as claiming the Astros *only* won bec of the trash cans. But hey, ignorance is in fashion these days, so go w yr bad self.
The harder you throw, the better the sticky stuff works. That’s why pitchers have spent off-seasons trying to gain or regain velocity. It enhances their performance which increases the size of their paycheck.
During a Mets telecast a few days ago, they ran a graphic showing how de Grom was getting something like 42% of his strikeouts via the slider, way up from previous years when it was in the low or mid-20s. His velocity has also increased over that time. During his first Cy Young year, his average velocity was 96 mph. Now it is more than 99 mph. When Barry Bonds turned into a home-run machine,. everyone raised an eyebrow. How is de Grom’s drastic improvement different? In the past, this simply didn’t happen. Why are pitchers all of a sudden gaining 3-5 mph in velocity? What is a reasonable explanation?
I saw Glasnow pitch plenty in Pittsburgh and he couldn’t find the strike zone until he got to Tampa and discovered the sticky stuff. Same goes for Charlie Morton and Garrett Cole. They all had electric stuff but couldn’t harness their control until they were taught to cheat by other organizations. Glasnow is a joke and to blame MLB is hilarious. You ignorance is telling
The umpires will have to check the balls, not the pitcher. The 1st baseman or catcher could easily provide the substance for the balls. See the video of the ball sticking to Molina’s chest protector.
Bring up Wander and Brujan already. Yes, Walls is fine, but he is no Wander, nor Brujan. His defense may be better, but these guys are being wasted at aaa, and the team needs a jump.
I’m no medical doctor, or science guy, but a bone issue causing the elbow issue seems different than how hard one has to grip the ball causing it.
Chas roe is the guy with the knock out slider no?
It still surprises me that a guy with that kind of movement hasn’t found extensive success yet. Like I know he’s got other problems with his game, but that slider is an absolute beauty.
I have to assume that his fastball or second offering is mediocre at best, or he’s become so predictable with his slider usage that he doesn’t get many bites on it since it drops so much.