As everyone digests last night’s likely relocation news regarding the A’s, here are three other things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Tatis Returns
Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. is expected to return to the major league club today after serving an 80-game suspension for PED usage. Tatis, who is slated to be the club’s everyday right fielder following the signing of Xander Bogaerts to man shortstop this past offseason, missed the entire 2022 season between the aforementioned suspension and a trio of surgeries: two to repair a fracture in his left wrist and one on his left shoulder after it sent him to the injured list twice during the 2021 campaign.
Despite his injury and suspension-related woes since the end of the 2021 season, Tatis figures to be an impact player for a scuffling Padres team. San Diego is currently in third in the NL West with a 9-11 record and will surely appreciate a jolt from Tatis, particularly given the struggles of fellow phenom Juan Soto in left field.
2. What’s next for Scherzer?
Mets ace Max Scherzer was ejected from his start yesterday after three innings of work thanks to a failed foreign substance check. That ejection comes with a mandatory 10-game suspension during which the club is not allowed to replace Scherzer on the roster, though MLB has not announced any discipline to this point. Scherzer intends to appeal the suspension if and when it is levied and insists the substance on his hand was a legal combination of rosin and sweat.
Scherzer, a slam-dunk future hall of famer with three Cy Young awards, 3210 strikeouts and a 3.12 ERA (135 ERA+) under his belt for his career, has scuffled a bit in the early going this season, posting a 3.72 ERA and 5.65 FIP far below his usual standards. Should he miss time due to a suspension, right-hander Kodai Senga will be the last member of the club’s projected 2023 starting rotation standing, with each of Jose Quintana, Justin Verlander, and Carlos Carrasco currently on the injured list. Jose Butto, Joey Lucchesi, and Denyi Reyes are among the potential options to take Scherzer’s turn in the rotation should he be suspended.
3. Donaldson Undergoes MRI
Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson underwent an MRI on his right hamstring yesterday after a setback in his rehab process. Donaldson, 37, appeared to be on the verge of returning to the big league club prior to his setback, but now will be shutdown for an indeterminate amount of time. More info on the severity of Donaldson’s setback and his new timetable for return could become available ahead of the club’s game this afternoon.
Donaldson struggled in five games this season, recording just two hits and a walk while striking out six times in 17 plate appearances prior to his current IL stint. While that’s a minuscule sample size, Donaldson’s offensive struggles date back to last season, when he hit .222/.308/.374 and posted a 97 wRC+ that marked the first below-average full season of his career with the bat. The Yankees still have a plethora of infield options at their disposal, with DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa all capable of mixing and matching in the infield alongside Anthony Volpe at shortstop and Anthony Rizzo at first base.
Hope that ringworm has cleared up
Is that the best you got? That’s about as original as drake song.
The Yankees have 2 infields:
1B: Rizzo
2B: Gleyber
SS: Volpe
3B: Donaldson
1B: LeMahieu
2B: Cabrera
SS: Peraza
3B: IKF
The best infield would be Rizzo 1B, Peraza SS, Volpe 2B, DJ 3B.
IKF Traded
Gleybar Traded
Donaldson 60 Day IL, then DFA
No need for the 60day, just cut him and hope someone gives him the LM sooner rather than waiting 60 days
What’s the point of putting someone on the 60-day then DFA’ing him? He could stay on the 60-day the rest of the season and get paid but not take a roster spot on the 40-man. I doubt the Yankees are desperate for the minimum salary offset.
Not sure, but I don’t think the union allows a team to cut an injured player.
They can cut them just not without paying them.
The point is Donaldson needs to be off of the team, and IKF and Hicks with him!
Are you watching today’s gaim? The Angels easily would be ahead if not for Kañe Kañe Falefa…he’s not hitting but at least he helps with the leather and legs.
IKF is a Loser, and there’s no defending him.
Here’s my quick take on this (thanks for asking): First, how do we know Tatis will be impactful? For all we know, he’s been cheating his whole career. As for Max, of course he cheated. Even if it was just rosin (doubtful), the rule has something in it about using that too much. He is one of those intense competitors who would do most anything to gain an advantage, so cheating would not surprise me in the least.
Have you seen what Tatis was doing in the minors? The talent is definitely still there.
No one ever questioned his talent. That’s the least of his worries.
The post was literally doing just that.
Have you seen who he’s facing? It’d be like if Joey Chestnut entered an elementary school pie eating contest.
Sure, he hit against AAA pitchers, but the point is he launched 450ft bombs like a video game, which suggests his power is intact (if not enhanced) after the surgeries.
I’m normally skeptical of players post PEDs. With Tatis tho he is clearly much more talented than just power, so those other tools are all still there. And his recent minor league stint was more than any Padres fan could have wished for.
Tatis never tested positive for anything prior to this and he was tested, so WE DO KNOW, he hasn’t been cheating his whole career..
There are ways to cheat those tests.
@jimthegoat, then you’re saying every player in MLB might be cheating, Ohtani, Trout, etc…. Ok
Well… yes. Every player in MLB might in fact be cheating. There’s no way to know for sure. But since Tatis has tested positive more times than Mike Trout has, Tatis is statistically more likely to have been cheating.
@reflect. I sort of agree with that. My point though is that there is a testing protocol in place (it’s how he got caught) and while some players might be very skilled at avoiding detection (clearly Tatis is not one of them), it’s all we have moving forward. If Tatis (or any player) tests clean over the next 15 years, at some point we have to grant him the benefit of doubt and not fall back on the “everyone can cheat and get away with it” notion.
@Brew88 Wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
I thought Tatis tested positive for ringworm only?
Normally, I’d say the Scherzer thing is nothing. Just rosin, etc. But with the Mets being such Beeyatches with the Musgrove thing, this is just karma.
There is no way to know if any player will be impactful before they start playing. His attitude and the fun he has playing is infectious for fans so I would guess it would be for other players too. He hit over .500 in AAA with 7 HR in his last 3 games in his rehab stint and he was an impactful player in 2021. We need exciting players like him in MLB, so let’s hope he is.
Like every other player, Tatis was tested his entire career. He wasn’t using Clostebol while testing was happening. It stays in your system too long.
All players were locked out by the owners and there was no testing for 4 months. I am surprised that no other players tested positive when testing resumed. For multiple reasons. Some that were on the bubble would think they could get an edge with no testing happening. Others because they couldn’t contact the teams or team doctors about medical conditions and treatments.
Tatis’ father was a major league player. Whether he did it to return from his injury faster or to get an edge or it was a mistake because someone told him to use medication without checking with MLB doctors first, he should have known better. Testing positive is 100% on him.
About Max, he had two chances to get it off his hands. They booted him the third time. You are allowed to put rosin on your hands from the bag on the mound, not in the dugout. He came out of the dugout after supposedly washing his hands and they were still covered in heavy rosin. That means he applied it in the dugout or clubhouse which is against the rules. To me it seems like he added something to the rosin if it was more sticky than other pitchers. He should be suspended 10 days.
Boras went over the top. Does he want umpires to take scrapings off of pitcher’s hands so they can test it? Cut us some slack on the hyperbole. Although 10 days off will cost Max $2.6 million so I would hope my agent would raise a stink for me even if it won’t help.
10 game suspension is big money for a guy like Scherzer, and to have it handed to him should result in a lawsuit. If you’ve washed your hands, how can a unqualified person like an umpire then dispute that ? Better start finding a chemical test, or something that is definitive for a foreign substance. Messing with Max might be a good thing for the players, because he’s going to fight this travesty.
Baseball ain’t like it was when I was a kid now they have legalized gambling. Some goofball umpire can effect games, by removing the starting pitcher, or other pitcher’s ? Although this time it did not have a adverse event for the Mets, still the Mets older pitchers may be being impacted by this stop clock. Why not have unlimited throws to first ? Or perhaps a max of 5 times so someone can shake off a few hits by getting a breather ?
These rules are getting to be a horses waste. Three people to pitch to, 2 throws to first, no time without adding to the pitch count, an now the coup de grass, some goof ball umpire throwing out the pitcher on his whim. No tests no knowledge, and they ignore the washing of the hands. Hey, I’m sick of hearing Brian Kenny cooing over how short the games are, put his mug on a bud light can. Enough, I hope Max takes it to baseball over this nonsense. That game where Cole”s pants turned black should be obvious there are no standards for substances on the hand.
Baseball has been in desperate need for a pitch clock for years. The old rulebook clearly said “pitchers have 12 seconds to pitch the ball” which was measured at the *release* of the ball. The pitch clock gives them 15 seconds to “start their windup”, which means they effectively added 5 seconds to the old rule. They had just totally, inexplicably, and foolishly, stopped enforcing the old rule. Baseball is now back to what it was when it was good.
But you’re right about the umpire. The ump in question is Phil Cuzzi, who is about 70 and always finds himself in the middle of controversy (See:2009 playoffs)
Sticky stuff suspensions are with pay
The persons who are most qualified are the umpires. They are trained to detect its usage and they touch hundreds of player hands and gloves per season. Neither Cuzzi nor the crew chief are new, inexperienced umpires. They know what rosin looks and feels like.
Do you really want umpires stopping games to get out a chemistry kit multiple times per game or taking skin scrapings to test a foreign substance? As much as you despise umpires, they are the trained experts.
Max came out of the dugout after supposedly washing his hands and they were still sticky. Its on him. Enjoy your ten days off. We’ll just keep that $2.6 million in pay while you are v suspended. See you soon.
As Jim just pointed out, sticky stuff suspensions are with pay. The Mets will keep nothing.
Rule 6.02 states that they are suspended without pay.
No it doesn’t lmfao
mlb.com/news/faq-sticky-stuff-and-new-rule-enforce…
I knew it!
OFFICIAL BASEBALL RULES img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/mlb/hhvr…
Read 602.
I did and it doesn’t say anything about foreign substance suspensions being paid or unpaid. My link does and is also from the official MLB site. So are you saying the official MLB site lies?
Not to take anything away from Scherzer but the “slam dunk future hall of Famer” comment irritates me when Curt Schilling still isn’t in the Hall. Schilling has a better career ERA, higher WAR, better post season dominance, three rings and a World Series MVP.
@Drasco, Schilling pitched 4 more years than Scherzer has so far and has less than 4 higher career WAR. Scherzer has lower WHIP more Ks, will likely surpass Schilling easily as he only needs 13 wins. And much of Scherzer’s higher ERA comes from early in his career. A few more seasons like his last 10-12 and he ll surpass him in ERA as well. This is in no way a knock against Schilling and I believe he belongs in the HOF. But peak Scherzer has been more dominant than peak Schilling and he’s easily getting in first ballot.
And the first four years of Schillings career he was a reliever but you’re not hearing me talk about how many more “saves” he had than Scherzer.
I’m not saying Schilling is a better pitcher (but I’d take Schilling in the post over Scherzer any day of the week) but you’re also really splitting hairs on “more years” “more strike outs” and “lower whip”. It’s all true but we are taking 3100 k’s to 3200, a 0.06 difference in whip and four years when Schilling was a reliever. Then also ignoring Schilling played against guys juiced out their minds.
Both are/were great pitchers, both belong in the hall of fame. It’s complete bs nonsense Schilling isn’t.
Schilling 79.5 career WAR | 48.6 7yr-peak WAR
Scherzer 72.1 career WAR | 47.5 7yr-peak WAR
Average HOF P (out of 66):
73.0 career WAR | 49.9 7yr-peak WAR
Schilling essentially just did something to upset the wrong people. Getting into the hall of fame is basically a popularity contest as much as it is about having the numbers. Having the numbers gets you into the conversation, but when all the people voting dislike you seemingly for one thing or another, one by one they’re going to drop their vote for you. Schilling is a fierce competitor, but sometimes you still just don’t get in.
I mean, personally I think it’s shocking it took Fred mcgriff so long to get in. You look at his numbers, and compare them to Ryne Sandberg, who was a first ballot, and yet McGriff had to be voted in by veterans committee.
Schilling will likely get in. At some point. But unless Scherzer has done something terrible I don’t know about, he’s likely a future hall of famer.
Fred McGriff and Ryne Sandberg played two different positions so comparing numbers is moot. Sandberg was also one of the premier defensive second basemen (cubs fan but didn’t like Ryno at all).
I agree the Hall is a ridiculous popularity contest and the voters should all lose their votes because of it.
There is no validation as to why Schilling isn’t in the Hall of Fame aside from voters didn’t like him. There isn’t a cheating scandal, he has the career numbers, he has the fame (bloody sock), he even has the needle movers (playoff success and World Series rings).
Yeah. Saying the guys that are voting for your inclusion in the HOF should be hung and then telling them to take him off the ballot probably didn’t bode well for them voting for him.
Was surprised that so few players on the Veterans Committee or whatever is called now voted for him. Guess he is not well liked by players either.
Schilling does not have more strike outs and has a higher career ERA. He also pitched at a time where pitchers were allowed to go longer into games. Still, he is quite close enough that your point isn’t lost or blunted by those points.
Nobody said he had more strike outs or a lower era but you’re implying going deeper into games, pitching when you’re tired against juiced up players somehow gave Schilling an advantage?
I’m looking forward to the Jomboy breakdown on the Scherzer incident!
I like Max but, (and these are never definites, I’m just sayin’) in just the three and a half sentences of quotes they had from him in the original article, he had 3 common statements of deception. Never can take it as 100%, but…
The while incident is on film, Scherzer was not using any substance on the ball. Whatever the ump was unhappy with as far as his glove and glove hand is irrelevant to his pitching performance. At no point on the mound did he take his glove off where he could get anything from inside of glove or glove hand to his pitching hand or the ball.
The stickiness of his hands and gloves should be a non-issue. What should be the main factor is spin rate. The meter showed his spin rate was consistent for those three innings and in range with his usual spin rate. The rules on foreign substances are subjective. Spin rate is not.
@phenom
So since the spin rate was consistent, you’re implying he’s been cheating all along?
Exactly the opposite, especially since his spin rates has not been flagged as being outside the norm. Then again, to follow your logic, maybe every pitcher is cheating and every pitcher should be suspended ten games.
He had rosin on before even getting to the mound, implying he used it in the bullpen/dugout/clubhouse. What he did on the mound isn’t the issue. Either way, I personally think the whole thing is silly.
If it was applied in any manner other than the rosin bag on the mound, it’s against the rules.
Scherzer is on film. He never went to the rosin bag on the mound. Applying it any other way is against the rules. They made him replace his glove because the inside of the pocket was covered in rosin. That too is on film and is against the rules. You can’t dust your glove with the rosin bag, let alone do it in the dugout. Your homey broke the rules.
I don’ t know how you suspend Scherzer for 10 games, after letting German keep pitching just a few days earlier.
The MLBUA will never back down from that suspension. Its troubling how inconsistent this was always going to be.
German was told to wash his hands. And then the sticky issue didn’t come up again. Scherzer was told to wash his hands and change his glove. He did so and then was still deemed sticky. So essentially German was caught, given a warning and cleaned up. Scherzer was caught, given a warning, cleaned up and caught again. I use the term caught loosely as MLB’s rules are ridiculous. But there’s a clear difference between German and Scherzer.
That’s easy! German is a Yankee. Scherzer is not.
Why does Tatis get better treatment than the real PED era guys?
how is he getting better treatment?
The rules on sticky stuff are so confusing. Scherzer seems to be applying his own rosin in the dugout as well as the mound. Technically not illegal. Mixing with extra sunscreen and sweat, while morally dubious, also isn’t illegal. Max has been accused before, but MLB rules don’t have him doing anything illegal. He’s pushing the rules to the limit, but rosin is rosin. TL;DR I think this is MLB rule problem as opposed to a cheating issue.
@Von From another article I read on the matter
“The rule on sticky substances states that ‘player use of rosin always must be consistent with the requirements and expectations of the Official Baseball Rules. When used excessively or otherwise misapplied (i.e., to gloves or other parts of the uniform), rosin may be determined by the umpires to be a prohibited foreign substance, the use of which may subject a player to ejection and discipline. … Moreover, players may not intentionally combine rosin with other substances (e.g., sunscreen) to create additional tackiness.’”
If that’s truly part of the rule, then his case, however silly, will be hard to argue. But my guess is that he didn’t wash his hands well enough after using rubbing alcohol or whatever it is he said he scrubbed his hands with, to get the rosin off, and the combination made his hands even stickier.
Thank you blue for making it plain and obvious that rosin used in this manner is cheating as per the rulebook
Thanks! I was reading through some of the rules and this was the closest I could find to some violation.
Completely illegal. The rules say you can only apply it to your hands from the rosin bag on the mound.
He probably was using rosin. Just much more than you can get from the rosin bag and applied illegally in the dugout or clubhouse. And then comes the issue of it possibly being mixed differently than MLB approved rosin that is in the bag on the mound.
The umpires are the ones that are trained to make that call.
He cheated and got caught.
This is the intended consequence of performing an act, that is deemed, a violation.
We all learn right from wrong as children. (Speaking of which, swearing on a child’s life, is both cringy and a direct deflection)
Now, if this “forces” Max to sue and maybe win and force MLB to improve their standards and practices, that is good for baseball.
It still doesn’t mean he didn’t cheat.
I’m not saying Max cheated, but one of the problems in baseball is the individual punishment. If a pitcher throws 7 shutout innings, gets caught cheating, gets thrown out, and his team goes on to win 4-0, then why not continue to cheat? This isn’t what happened in the Scherzer situation, this is more of a general statement. Tatis cheated and the Padres go on to the NLCS. Individual punishments are no a good preventative measure. You want to stop cheating? Punish the team. Again, not really talking about the Scherzer issue here. Just a general statement.
You mean like they punished the Astros when they were allowed to keep their ill gotten World Series?
If you were being sarcastic, this isn’t a great example…they actually did punish the Astros, just not as much as people wanted them to.
Yes. They were punished, but not in the most meaningful way, which would have to strip them of the championship that they didn’t earn/deserve.
Yeah they should have vacated the championship and ordered everyone who got a ring to return it and then smelted all the rings down.
and at Mount Doom, in Mordor
Sure, why not?
There are rules in baseball that are routinely ignored. The first batter in the box erases all the lines that are supposed to contain the batter. You can have sticky stuff on your hands, but not too sticky and not the wrong sticky stuff???
Why would a team be penalized for what a player did while locked out by MLB and for a player that never played in that season. That makes no sense at all.
The player should be penalized for breaking the rules. Tatis was. Scherzer should be.
I’m not speaking of Tatis or Scherzer specifically. When an individual player cheats, teams benefit. I think adding team consequences will be more a preventative measure, but it’s a pipe dreams, as the players’ union is so strong.
In the Padres case, they didn’t benefit because he never played in 2022.
In the case of sticky stuff suspensions, the team did benefit. Maybe you are into something there. Just not sure how they structure that or if owners would even agree to penalties against the team for something an individual did.
MLBPA would not be the one protesting against penalties for teams. That would be the owners.
“MLBPA would not be the one protesting against penalties for teams. That would be the owners.”
True, but I think the players would also protest this, as it’d likely lead to more drug tests…etc. Honestly, I think it’d really clean up the game, because teams would implement processes to prevent cheating, but again, I don’t see it ever happening.
I guess the teams are being penalized because they cannot replace the player on the 26 man roster. That is a huge penalty. Not only are the Mets missing one of their best pitchers, that cannot even call up another pitcher to fill his slot in the rotation.
Wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out Max was intentionally stretching the rules just as far as he thought he could go. Mixing his own concoction using his interpretation of whatever substances he thinks the rules allow. Will probably turn into a cat-and-mouse with MLB tweaking its rules and established players like Scherzer bending the rules and finding new loopholes.
I’m glad Tatis is back. I think he surrounded himself with people that did not have his best interests at heart. Yes he got on the bikes/mopeds whatever and crashed multiple time causing a bad injury to his wrist. When he was supposed to be back in June/July it was August and he was trying to get back. People are telling him he needs to be on the team so he uses a banned cream to try to hurry back from this careless injury only to make things worse.
During the off-season Preller made him spend a lot of time in San Diego away from people that may influence him to do stupid things. That seems to have worked. He absolutely got the correct punishment with the 80 games.
People will booo him at games and I’m sure he is ready for that. I only boo Marcel Ozuna who I booed on Monday and Tuesday.
Hopefully you’re right. He’s definitely a fun player to watch, it’d be nice if he could stay on the field…even if I’m not really a fan of the Padres.
He tested positive on the first day of spring trading. Spring training that was late because the owners locked the players out during CBA negotiations.
August is long after spring training.
They ANNOUNCED the suspension at the beginning of August. The testing was done in March. He tested positive. It was appealed and the appeal was upheld. When he was scheduled to come off the IL, the suspension was anounced.
The prodigal son returns. Should be a huge boost to a Padres team that has scuffled a bit out of the gate. Not sure where he will hit in the lineup but they need to do something to get Soto going (fixing his swing would be a start since you cannot generate power by collapsing on your back leg)
Though he did hit a 437 ft HR yesterday, without swinging too hard, and he’s on pace to hit 33 HRs, not bad for a guy slumping so badly
After listening to the MLBTR podcast yesterday where they talked about him, I looked up Soto’s stats. He had a .186 BAbip before yesterday’s game and he had been hitting the ball as hard as ever. He has just been hitting it at people. Bad luck mostly. Luck has a way of evening out.
Tatis will bat leadoff more often than not.
Isn’t that where he batted most of 2021?
He bounced around 1-4 slots. Med team/management curtailed his baserunning during the shoulder subluxation issues (now resolved). He’s now free to fly. Soto and his high OBP is likely batting 2nd. Manny/Bogaerts 3rd/4th.
In addition to the 30-40 HRs they’ll likely get from Tati, the Pads could use a guy who’ll give them 30-40 SBs, they presently have no real baserunning threat at all.
If Max was attempting to cheat then he is lousy at cheating as his spin rate wasn’t abnormal. The allegation should be “attempted cheating” like “attempted robbery”……..
I stand corrected.
My post wasn’t properly labeled.
The 1st part was concerning Tatis Jr.
The part from using a child’s name downwards, was for Max.
You are correct in regards towards Max. It is he allegedly had far too much “sticky stuff” and Max is the type of person, to push the envelope, good for him, and MLB needs to be proactive, in their science.
Good catch wampum
It was not just too much rosin. He didn’t use the rosin bag on the mound and that is the only legal method of applying it to a pitcher’s hands. It was also applied to the glove they asked him to change. That is also illegal. Rosin becomes an illegal foreign substance when applied with any other method than the rosin bag that is on the mound or when applied to gloves or clothing. Just like Tatis, Scherzer was responsible for knowing the rules. He cheated and got caught.
His spin rate was actually higher than his last few starts, but he was also coming off more rest. So take that as you will.
Donaldson should just ride this year out on IL. NY isn’t for everybody.
At least then he won’t have to play and focus on what he does best: celebrate home runs, walk-offs, and the achievements of his teammates with reckless abandon.