Baseball Chatter 05/16

Jonny Venters earned his first win yesterday in 2096 days. Love it.

RT MLB “RT MLBStatoftheDay: Returning from TJ surgery #3, Jonny Venters went 2,096 days between wins.

1,059 different pitchers got wins in that span. Via: TBTimes_Rays. pic.twitter.com/46qSke6BeM“baseball

— A.G. (@Mr_Jumpman023) May 16, 2018

By now you have heard about the Supreme Court decision to allow states to decide their own laws regarding sports betting, specifically New Jersey, which has been fighting hard to save Atlantic City for years. I hope they do because it is an excellent piece of history.

There were other states ready to act at the time of the judgement and another 13 states with proposals ready to submit

Player News

Blake Swihart was a first round pick in 2011, and his agent believes he could be an offensive asset but the Red Sox do not give him regular at-bats so his agent put in a request for him to be traded.

Russell Martin played shortstop for the first time in his 13 year MLB career. He has played 1B, 2B, 3B, OF and now SS on top of his main position as catcher.

Now making his first career appearance at shortstop? Russell Martin.

Yes, you read that correctly.

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 16, 2018

Injury Inferno

• Miguel Cabrera says he is not appreciated when he plays hurt so he isn’t going to do it anymore.

• Anyone who has ever owned A.J. Pollock will not be surprised to hear he will miss some time due to injury. This time is an avulsion fracture in his thumb and it will be at least four weeks. Jarrod Dyson and Chris Owings will share time in centerfield
• Nelson Cruz exited the game in the fourth inning yesterday after a pitch hit him in the foot. He will miss at least the next couple days. This helps disappointed Fantasy owners none.
• Adam Wainwright was activated from the disabled list for about six full hours before he re aggravated his elbow during warmups and pitched anyway. He allowed two runs on three hits, walked six and struck out three through 2 ⅓ innings and 15 batters. Stay tuned but don’t own him.
• Keynan Middleton left after he retired two batters in the eighth inning Sunday. It was due to elbow discomfort. Jimmie Johnson is really a race-car driver

• Carlos Gomez hits the disabled list with a groin injury and Christian Arroyo was recalled from Triple-A. Arroyo is not in the lineup today, which says a bunch about how often he will play. He was not hitting well in the minors so don’t be expecting a whole lot of Fantasy Baseball help right away. Daniel Robertson seems to be the first in line for increased at-bats, for now.
• Jason Castro will miss the remainder of the season as he had to have extensive knee surgery. Mitch Garver will see most of the time behind the dish, with Bobby Wilson filling in. Garver hits fifth in the order most days.
• Yoenis Cespedes was sent to the disabled list with a hip flexor strain. He was dealing with this specific injury for at least ten days before the Mets finally decided to act. The whole right side of his body seems to be an issue. It was backdated so he will be eligible to return May 24. Phillip Evans will get the start in left-field today and bat in the middle of the lineup. He mashes lefties.
• Lucas Duda has been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. Hunter Dozier was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to take Duda’s place on the roster.
• D.J. LeMahieu was sent to the disabled list with a left thumb sprain and no return date has been given. May 25th is the earliest. Daniel Castro should get the majority of games at second base. Castro hit his first major league homer since 2015 yesterday. He is now batting .148 with one run and four RBI through 27 at-bats on the season.
• Nelson Cruz will not be available for tonight’s game but hasn’t been sent to the DL just yet. He is suffering from a deep bone bruise in his foot and is expected to miss the next several days. Might want to pick up Ryon Healy.
• Joey Votto is dealing with a back injury but his status for tonight is unclear.
• Madison Bumgarner is expected to pitch to hitters during batting practice on May 24, then make his first rehab start May 26. Manager Bruce Bochy says he will need as many as three Minor League injury rehabilitation starts before he’s ready to return to the Majors.

Team Stuff

The Yankees had four hitters with 10 home runs by the 40th game for the first time ever.

The Indians lead the league with 63 home runs on the season and they are hitting like crazy so far in May too.

In May the Indians rank among MLB:

• 1st in Runs (99)
• 1st in HR (27)
• 1st in RBI (96)
• 1st in SLG (.526)
• 1st in wOBA (.376)
• 1st in WAR (4.8)
• 1st in RC+ (135)
• 1st in Hits (148)

Too bad they can’t seem to win. The Indians are 3-7 over the last ten, and 5-9 in May.

Canada will not let Bruce Maxwell (C-OAK) into the country so he will be sent to Triple-A before the A’s head to Toronto Thursday. He pled guilty to disorderly conduct after he was indicted by a grand jury on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct for pointing a gun at a food delivery worker outside of his home last year.

He will be sentenced to probation and community service on June 5. So, where is MLB in all this? No administrative leave, no suspension, no punishment. Way to go MLB, you can punish without any conviction but apparently you don’t have to punish players actually convicted of crimes.

After reaching a plea agreement last month, Maxwell said, “It’s something, obviously, a misinterpretation. Accidents happen. So it’s always in the back of my mind every single day I come to the field. It’s something that I can put behind me, progress as a person with my judgmental calls and focus on this team.”

GM David Forst commented “I am pleased Bruce has taken responsibility for his actions, We expect our players to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the standards of the Oakland Athletics.”

I don’t think he took responsibility at all. There isn’t much to misinterpret when some dude opens the door with his gun pointed at you.