STOP THE NONSENSE

 MLB is trying to right the sinking ship of offense by experimenting with more rule changes.  We know Big Data is causing hitters to become free swingers and not contact hitters. But constant rule changes to try to increase scoring is bad for baseball.

Major League Baseball announced that it will experiment with a pair of new rules during the 2021 Atlantic League season: a “double-hook” implementation of the designated hitter and moving the pitching rubber back one foot. MLB and the Atlantic League began a partnership back in 2019 wherein the latter would serve as a testing ground for rule changes and pace-of-play alterations.

The “double-hook” designated hitter rule will be in place for the entirety of the 2021 Atlantic League season. Under the new rule, a team will lose its designated hitter once the starting pitcher is pulled from the game. From that point forth, the team will need to either deploy a pinch-hitter or allow a relief pitcher to bat in what was the designated hitter’s place.

The goal of the rule, per the league, is to “incentivize teams to leave their starting pitchers in longer, increase the value of starters who can work deeper into games and increase the strategic element in the late innings of a game.”

Turning to the pitching rubber experiment, that change will only be implemented in the second half of the Atlantic League season. (The first-half data will then be compared to second-half data as a direct point of comparison.) MLB’s release notes that the average fastball velocity has risen from 91.6 mph in 2010 to 93.3 mph in 2021. The league posits that a hitter’s reaction time on a 93.3 mph pitch thrown from 61 feet, six inches is approximately the same as the reaction time on a 91.6 mph pitch thrown from 60 feet, six inches.

Trying to use statistics to prove your case will not work here. These rule changes will only HURT pitchers. Pitchers moving back a foot will throw off all the mechanics and location control they have learned their entire careers. Moving back the rubber will mean some pitchers will throw harder in order to keep their velocity level at the plate. That will lead to more arm and shoulder injuries. 

The double-hook DH rule is worse than the regular DH rule. You penalize the team for taking out a starting pitcher, but you are really penalizing a pitcher by keeping him on the mound longer than he can physically go. Again, if a pitcher is struggling and needs to be pulled but you lose a valuable bat in the process, what is a manager to do? Keep a pitcher out their to hurt themselves mentally or physically? Besides, the whole DH rule was to stop pitchers getting hurt at the plate (HBP) or running the bases. Now, you want to have those issues thrown at relief pitchers? And where is a manager to get all those pinch hitters when rosters are so tight?

And these rule changes do nothing to improve the game. Like the runner on second in extra innings, it is more a distraction than valid solution. If you want offense, team should look at the Dodgers who are tearing up the league. If you want offense, teach your hitters how to hit instead of swinging at the fences in a "home run or bust" mentality. Tell your players that a strike out is a bad thing that can get you benched instead of being "just another out." 

 

BAD RULE CHANGES

Despite the increasing bad blood between the players union and owners in regard to the stagnant free agent market, MLB is pushing forward with some terrible rule changes.

CHANGES EFFECTIVE IN 2019
 
Inning breaks: Subject to discussions with broadcast partners, inning breaks will be reduced from 2:05 to 2:00 in local games and from 2:25 to 2:00 in national games. The Commissioner’s Office retains the right to further reduce the breaks to 1:55 in local and national games for the start of the 2020 season.


REACTION: Hold my beer!!!!! That is a whopping 6 minutes of alleged time saved during a game.

Trade Deadline: The waiver trade period will be eliminated. The July 31 Trade Deadline will be the only deadline. Players may still be placed and claimed on outright waivers after July 31, but trades will no longer be permitted after that date.


REACTION: A hard deadline affects all teams the same. The change in the waiver rule only helps bad teams who can make a claim of a good player trying to be sent down (when another player is activated from the DL).

All Star Game: As far as the game itself is concerned, the 10th inning -- and all subsequent innings -- of All-Star Games that go into extra innings will begin with a runner on second base.



REACTION: A horrid rule!  It FUNDAMENTALLY alters the foundation of the game: earning your way on base by a hit, a walk, a dropped third strike or catcher interference. But to put a runner in scoring position with no outs is a face slap to the origins of the game AND the poor pitcher who starts the inning in an artificial hole. This does not speed up the game because the pitcher now has to slow down and concentrate more, since the runner on second is trying to steal the signs.

Home Run Derby: Total player prize money for the Home Run Derby will be increased to $2.5 million. The winner receives $1 million.



REACTION: Who cares? It is an exhibition game.

Mound visits: The maximum number of mound visits per team will be reduced from six to five per game. MLB had instituted an initial mound-visit limitation prior to the 2018 season.


REACTION: Woo-hoo Johnny, that change saves a whopping 4 minutes in game time (2 minutes each for each team.)

CHANGES IN 2020 SEASON:
 
Active roster provisions: The roster size from Opening Day through Aug. 31 will increase from 25 to 26 (with the minimum number of active players rising from 24 to 25, and roster sizes for doubleheaders rising from 26 to 27).


REACTION: Adding another player but limiting the number of pitchers on the roster to 13 in regular season (and 14 in September) does nothing to help the players union beef on service time. Contending teams used to call up a half dozen players to help them win games down the stretch; including more relievers and specialty players like pinch runners or defensive specialists who could not make the regular season roster. Also, it is not like the 26th man is going to be a big money veteran player. More likely it will be the team's best AAAA earning the minimum salary.

The 40-man active roster for September will be eliminated. From Sept. 1 through the end of the regular season, all clubs will carry 28 players.


REACTION: Again, adding just two players does not help if a team is struggling with a tired arm pitching staff (especially with new restrictions on batters relievers must face and the inability to use position players as mop up guys). In the past, a team could bring up 15 players or their entire 40 man roster up in September. No one did, but they could. If a team does not want to pay for extra players, why penalize a team that wants or needs to do so?

Furthermore, the number of pitchers a club can carry on the active roster will be capped at a certain number, to be decided by a joint committee. (But MLB is suggesting 13 in regular season; 14 in September). To adhere to that rule, clubs will have to designate each of their players as either a pitcher or a position player prior to each player’s first day on the active roster for a given season. That designation cannot change for the remainder of the season.

Position players will not be allowed to pitch except in the following scenarios:

They are designated as a “Two-Way Player.” A player can only qualify for this designation if he accrues at least 20 Major League innings pitched and at least 20 Major League games started as a position player or designated hitter (with at least three plate appearances in each of those games) in either the current or the prior season.

Extra innings.
In any game in which his team is losing or winning by more than six runs when he enters as a pitcher.


REACTION: I guess this is the Otani Rule, where clubs will have to scout Japan to find the next SP-OF star. This anal retentive rule about telling the world if you are a position player or pitcher is stupid. They are all BASEBALL PLAYERS. As kids, we played all the positions depending on the circumstances. I can see dumb unintended consequences such as a manager pulling his pitcher and place him in the outfield for a reliever (which is still fine), then have the reliever get an out then switch with the original pitcher (because who says a reliever has to pitch 3 "consecutive" batters, see below). Let the managers manage for gosh sakes.

Three-batter minimum for pitchers: Rule 5.10(g) will be amended to require that starting pitchers and relief pitchers must pitch to either a minimum of three batters or to the end of a half-inning, with exceptions for incapacitating injury or illness. This will effectively end the so-called “LOOGY” (left-handed one-out guy) and other specialist roles in which pitchers are brought in for one very specific matchup.

REACTION: Another terrible rule because it destroys in-game strategy. The rule is another feeble attempt to speed up play, but it will not do it because the new rule forces a manager to leave a starter in longer. A struggling starter takes more time between pitches. A reliever is on a shorter pitch count than a starter, so instead of throwing a dozen pitches in consecutive days, a reliever can be used up after one appearance. That creates more wear and tear on pitchers . . . equates to more injuries and expensive DL time.

Injured list: The minimum time a player spends on the injured list will be increased back to 15 days from 10, and the minimum assignment period of pitchers who are optionally assigned to the minors will increase from 10 days to 15. MLB had reduced the minimum injured list period to 10 days prior to the 2017 season to reduce the incentive for teams to play shorthanded or for players having to play at less than full strength. However, teams manipulated the rule change to rotate relievers on and off their active rosters, thereby maintaining a full stash of rested arms, which resulted in more pitching changes.


REACTION: Teams were trying to PUT THE BEST PRODUCT on the field. Now, they are penalized for using their full 40 man roster? If MLB wants more action by having tired, injured and bad players on the field, then let the batters hit off tees and run around the bases like little kids.

None of these rule changes help the game. It is trying to hack a quality video game. 

If you really want to speed up play of the game, do not allow batters to leave the batter's box after the first pitch (except if they are knocked down or a foreign object gets into their eyes). A batter takes 10 seconds between pitches to re-set his gloves and armor. In a 300 pitch game, that is 50 minutes of dead air. Once a batter is in the box, the ball remains live. If he steps out, the pitcher can throw home for a ball or strike. Remember, current rules allow the umpire not the player to call time out. Umpires can speed up the game by not giving batters unlimited time outs to step out of the box. In fact, quick pitchers like Mark Buerhle got the game into a fast rhythm that home plate umpires liked (and subliminally helped him with calls).

A STUMBLING START

To be objective, the Cubs stumbled into spring training.  The off-season story lines were less baseball and more "sand in the ice cream" moments for fans.

After months of educated speculation, Tom Ricketts finally admitted that the Cubs had no money to spend this off-season. As some critics retorted, he really meant to say he had the money but would not spend it. His answer lacked credibility. Ownership set a hard line payroll and operations budget. Theo Epstein could not knock down that wall. From one calculation, Epstein has booked $376 million in unproductive contracts. That was the knock that got him booted in Boston, bad dead money deals (Crawford, Gonzalez, etc.) The one thing die hard fans, who know the championship window is short, is that your team cannot spend any money to fix last season's problems.

Another family stumble and subsequent bumble was Daddy Ricketts racist emails. A baseball business that prides itself on being inclusive (because everybody's money is green) was extremely slow to address the Joe Ricketts story. And when Tom Ricketts addressed the media, he came off defending his father's tactless posts than appeasing the public's negative reaction to the story.

Piling on to the narrative was the fact that the Cubs have partnered with the most right wing extremist media company, Sinclair, to launch the new Cubs network. There is a partial "guilt by association" splatter when the new cable channel was announced by the business operations folks like Crane Kenney. But Kenney came off clueless with the changing dynamics of cable and entertainment distribution. He is still following the failed Dodger model. Yes, the team got its money but the cable partner got burned at the stake. Other cable operators in LA refused to pay the carriage fees for a Dodgers only channel. So, less than half of the coverage area can see Dodger games. And that number is shrinking because people are revolting from high cable bills (mostly unwanted sports add-ons) by cord cutting.

Besides the political incorrectness with Sinclair, the "sales pitch" of the new regional sports channel was a thud. An introductory rate of "only" $6 per month per subscriber was received as a greedy slap in the face. Lost on the Cubs is that their former home, Comcast, is the largest cable provider in the metro area. Comcast could probably say it will not carry the new Cubs network because it has its own sports channel (featuring White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks). Comcast is not going to push away its current subscribers to a $100/month cable bill just for the Cubs sake.

It is possible that the revenue projections and "investment" outside the baseball team have come to haunt the Ricketts. They bought the team with the largest debt in baseball history. That has to be coming due. They over built around Wrigley Field. They are pushing premium prices for everything around and inside the ball park. It is pushing our the casual fan and families. If the new network was going to be the revenue savior, that will not be the case. The Cubs will have build their own broadcast studios, invest in new programs to cover the 24 hours of time to fill, and to find advertisers who have bolted from TV and cable for internet platforms (Google and Facebook).

Then finally, the Addison Russell long over due press conference came off as an over-coached, lawyered-up, one memorized answer fail. Veteran beat reporters came away scratching their heads. Russell did not appear contrite. He did not sound sincere. His delivery was robotic and terrible. And he refused to admit even the basic allegations. Those who were critical of his behavior believed they had confirmed the worst. Many blame the Cubs for giving Russell a second chance when you are selling the Cubs as "family friendly" entertainment. But Russell is one of "Theo's guys," so management is going out of its way to protect their player, even though Russell has been trending down in production the past two years.

As spring training opened, there was little baseball buzz in Cubs camp as the non-baseball issues dominate the media and sports radio. And the Cubs PR machine broke down and did not handle any of them well.

FIVE REASONS

There are good reasons for the Cubs to repeat their championship in 2017. There are also bad reasons why the team will not defend its crown.

FIVE REASONS CUBS CAN REPEAT

1. Kyle Schwarber.

Having Schwarber for a full season is a significant upgrade to the offense. His serious knee injury downgrades the offensive depth at the catching position, and adds to left field negative defensive stats, but Schwarber is the inspirational contact hitter the Cubs lineup really needs to help settle it into a consistent machine.

2. Experience.

The experience factor is huge. The current Cubs now know how to win. They know how to pace themselves through a season. Pitchers are now more savvy on conserving their energy for a long season. Position players know how Maddon likes to move them around on the field and in the line up.

3.  Wade Davis.

Davis is no Chapman, but he is a quality closer. Last season, Davis went 2-1, 1.87 ERA, 27 saves and 1.131 WHIP for a 1.8 WAR.  He will add the stabilizer to another bullpen in the midst of a retooling. If Davis cannot go, the Cubs have some insurance with Rondon, Strop and Uehara who have closed games in the past.

4. Less Pressure.

The Cubs enter this season with less expectations. Fans are still drifting on Cloud Nine with their first multi-generational championship season. They are not clamoring for a repeat with the drumbeat of a spoiled brat. The players themselves have less pressure on to win a championship. They can continue to relax and play the game instead of grinding out wins. This Cubs team is best when it takes a carefree approach.

5. Javy Baez.

Baez was the most electric player in the World Baseball Championship (WBC) series. He now rates as an international superstar player. He has the skills and the flash to become a national baseball icon. The Cubs will have to get him more playing time because his talent demands it. And the fans want to see him play.

FIVE REASONS CUBS CANNOT REPEAT

1. Injuries.

Some core aspects of the team are young. But the starting pitching staff (Lester, Arrieta and Lackey) have experience but there is always the nagging thought of reliability. The Cubs went through 2016 without a significant long term injury to key players. The odds are against them this year. When Rizzo had back tightness early in spring training, it was dismissed quickly. But if you look at the roster, there are positions like first base and starting rotation that is devoid of quality depth.

2. Rotation.

Maddon has set his rotation: Lester, Arrieta, Lackey, Anderson and Hendricks.  Lester deserves the status of being the ace of the staff. Arrieta has been unreal at times. Lackey being the 3rd starter shows the level of concern. He is at the end of the line as a 5th starter. Brian Anderson is the new guy having a terrible spring. But Mike Montgomery has not blown him away to earn the starting spot. In fact, Maddon likes Montgomery as swing man in the bullpen. Hendricks being the 5th starter may be the best one in the National League, but it is a protection move from the career workload of innings pitched last season. This season's rotation does not seem as strong as last year's.

3. Log jams.

The players get along. The clubhouse seems to be a happy place. But this year there will be some tension over the amount of playing time for position players. There will be public debates on how much playing time Baez gets as compared to Zobrist, Schwarber or even a LaStella. Even though Maddon can move players to multiple positions, he will not be able to appease each of them because they believe they have earned a full time starting position. Depth is a great asset but it can be a liability of dissent. If the Cubs have significant injuries, one or more of their young players could be pressured to be traded to shore up the roster. That can create tension between the manager and the front office.

4. Malaise.

The Ricketts family's 2017 focus is not on the Cubs but all its real estate projects around Wrigley Field. The Chicago real estate market is not in rebound mode. For the second consecutive year, Cook County and Chicago led the nation in population flight. The large corporate base that used to spend millions on sky boxes and luxury tickets has been tempered in the metro area. The Cubs raised ticket prices an average of 31 percent in order to capture more revenue from the Cubs while the slow construction of new revenue sources goes on. Epstein has acknowledged that the Cubs did not do much this off-season because he is under a strict budget cap. Ricketts does not want to spend any money on baseball luxury taxes as he had to do last season. As such, Epstein is again cornered with having to find a creative solution to a money squeeze. The last thing he wants to do is to trade away young, cheap and talented players to shore up his pitching staff. But he might have to do it since the organization has no minor league pitching depth.

5. Maddon.

Maddon kept his team loose and on the same page since his tenure as the Cubs skipper. His magic act has led to a championship. He deserves some credit for the team's success. But his juggling act, tee shirt slogans and funny bits can prove to be tiresome to some veteran players who may want more professionalism on the team than a fraternity carnival. If there was a tipping point against Maddon, it was in the Series where many of his moves got immediately questioned by both players and fans. One can pinpoint the players only rain delay meeting that could be the first rail split between manager and his players when they decided to win the series in spite of their manager's moves. Maddon still needs to both motivate and develop his players through another season. He now has to balance bigger egos and real competition for positions. It will be a new minefield to navigate especially when the local press is ready, willing and able to criticize his every move.

A BREACH OF TRUST

A good general manager is a man of his word. Very few succeed by trying to rip off another club in a trade. Trades are supposed to be made for the mutual benefit of both sides.

So when MLB suspended the Padres GM for serious breach of protocol, it was a surprise.

San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller was suspended Thursday for 30 games without pay by Major League Baseball, hours after news hit that the Padres allegedly withheld player health information in hopes of getting the upper hand in trade discussions.

ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote that the Padres allegedly built a special database to document player health details while skirting MLB’s rules about injury information. In essence, the Padres kept two sets of records: One that was incomplete and shared with other teams and another that was complete and kept in-house.

The Padres were called into question because of their July trades with the Boston Red Sox and Miami Marlins, which according to Olney, left teams thinking the Padres were using “strategic deception.”
In its announcement of Preller’s punishment, MLB didn’t comment on the specifics of its probe, saying only:

Major League Baseball has completed an investigation into the July 14th transaction in which pitcher Drew Pomeranz was traded from the San Diego Padres to the Boston Red Sox. MLB’s Department of Investigations conducted the thorough review, which included interviews with relevant individuals from both Clubs. The findings were submitted to Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr.

As a result of this matter, Major League Baseball announced today that A.J. Preller, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Padres, has received a 30-day suspension without pay.

MLB considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.

Olney said at least three teams complained about the Padres to MLB.

Major League Baseball has a central database for player health information, where teams are supposed to keep their notes on injuries. In the event of a trade, doctors for each team trade codes and look at player notes. According to Olney, the Padres started keeping all the important notes in their separate database this year.

At the trade deadline, the Padres traded Drew Pomeranz the Red Sox and Andrew Cashner and Colin Read to the Marlins. Rea was hurt in his first start with the Marlins and in a highly unusual move, he was returned to the Padres The Red Sox were angered when they learned about preventative treatment Pomeranz was going through that wasn’t in his Padres notes.

In decades past, trades between teams were always "buyer beware." Each team had the responsibility to conduct a medical evaluation on a player before agreeing with a deal. MLB has streamlined the medical records process to help trade and free agent market evaluations.

The Padres intentionally deceived the other clubs by not putting in medical treatment into the central data base. It calls into question the trustworthiness of the San Diego organization in future team transactions. 

WOOD HE PLEASE STOP?

Will Maddon please stop with the manta of playing players out of position?

There was absolutely no reason to play Travis Wood in LF during yesterday's Rockies blowout of the Cubs. None.

The bullpen has been hit with a surge of injuries and tired arms. You do not need one of your healthy lefties to go out and try to cover the vast space of left field, in thin air, just to save Jason Heyward who had not played in three consecutive games.

Calling it a Maddon "fun" interjection in a bad game is no excuse. Yes, Wood got a single in his only at-bat while the rest of the team mustered three. But what if he got hurt playing left in a meaningless game?

The more times Maddon does this stunt, the odds increase that someone will get hurt.

The Cubs cannot believe they are coasting to the playoffs.  The bullpen continues to be a concern, and the starting rotation needs skip-start rest. With Montgomery and Cahill being the spot-start tandem, that thins out the regular bullpen availability of relievers like Wood.

In September, the Cubs will bring up additional outfielders and infielders and as many live arms that they can find. But until then, Maddon needs to just play players in their natural positions.

RECORD BAD LUCK

Oh, the White Sox.

On paper, the last two years were supposed to be good.

In reality, not so much.

The team has probably set a unique and bitter record this season.

Charlie Tilson was helped off the field by manager Robin Ventura and trainer Herm Schneider after Tilson, making his debut after a trade with the Cardinals, injured his hamstring and knee on an outfield play.

Tilson was the fourth Sox player injured in the White Sox debut game. Catcher Kevan Smith had to be scratched before a game in Toronto in April when he got hurt warming up.  Left fielder Jason Coats cut his lip and was dazed colliding with center fielder J.B. Shuck on June 4 in Detroit.  Matt Davidson fractured his right foot running the bases against the Twins June 30 at U.S. Cellular Field.

Four players hurt in their first games.

Not a great beginning.

During every season, a team needs some luck in order to win. Some teams seem to have a dark cloud over them or bad luck chases them down.

The White Sox have had a strange year. First, the spring training blow up of LaRoche's son being the team mascot. Second, Chris Sale butchering throw back uniforms in a tantrum. Now, four young players going on the DL during their debuts.

The White Sox need to get younger in the field. The free agent veterans acquired in the past three seasons have not panned out this year. Adding speedy Tilson in center field for the injured Austin Jackson was supposed to be the final spark to right the season. Instead, it flamed out.

Tilson was the only trade deadline move the team made. There were inquiries about Sale and Jose Quintana, but the Sox wanted a ransom for either starting pitcher. Besides, what good players do the White Sox have to build a competitive team around besides Sale and Quintana?

HALF WAY HOME

The Cubs are in a bad 4-10 streak after being swept by the Mets in a four game series. Ironically, before the series, NY media called the Mets "done" because of their struggles and potential bone spur issues with two of their young pitchers.

The Cubs have been dragging themselves through a long road trip. The starting pitching, the key to the brilliant start, has faltered to a level of real concern. Jake Arrieta cannot get through 6 innings. Jon Lester just had the worst start of his entire career. Jason Hammel is turning into his own personal second half Frankenstein of bad.

The week started with the Las Vegas bookies not taking any more bets that the Cubs would win the NL Central. They called it a foregone conclusion. The Cubs were 11 games up on the Cardinals at the time. But now, that deficit is down to 8.

The Cubs have had injuries. But all clubs have injuries. Anthony Rizzo slumped in May, but was on a tear in June. Hitters have ups and downs. The Cubs are playing a lot of prospects the last few weeks due to nagging injuries to starters. For the most part, Willson Contreras and Albert Almora have played well. Joe Maddon needed hitting and the youngsters were giving him contact so the manager rode the hot lumber.

But the bullpen was in a slumber which may have put more pressure on the starters. But in reality, the league has caught up with the Cubs pitching philosophy. More teams are taking pitches and working a count against the starters. By increasing the pitch counts, the Cubs starters have no easy innings. It exposes the weakness of the bullpen earlier in games. By teams taking more pitches and not swinging at sliders diving away or fastballs high in the zone, starters have to work harder to paint the corners. With the umpire strike zone all over the map this year, a starter will get frustrated when he is not getting border line calls. Steve Stone calls these long  "stress" innings (with men on base, hitters driving in runs) more damaging than just an increased pitch count.

The rest of the league is using the Cubs offensive blueprint. Cubs hitters have worked counts and will except walks to keep the hitting line moving down the order. This lead to a lot of big innings and the high run differential the Cubs had on their peers.

But there is a silver lining in the current tails spin: the Cubs are still 51-30. An observer can tell that the Cubs are still on pace to win 102 games. If the Cubs just play .500 ball for the rest of the season, they would win 92 games (which in most minds would be a disappointment after winning 97 last season.)

ESPN has reminded us that the current season has ghostly flashback to 1977.

The Cubs current record of 51-30 is its best mark at the season’s midway point since the 1977 team.

But the 1977 Cubs are not a pleasant memory. They started 47-22 and led the NL East by as much as 8½ games. These are the Cubs of Bill Buckner, 20-game winner Rick Reuschel and future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter. But the team cratered in the second half of the year, going 34-59 in the last 93 games to finish 81-81, good for fourth place.

Despite the current woes, the Cubs have to be proud of their first half accomplishment. Now, the hard part: to build upon their success and break the Cubs longest losing streak of the season.

FLYERS

The Cubs continue to take flyers on injured pitchers.

First, Joe Nathan was signed to a contract even though he was not close from returning from TJ surgery. He is not even close to starting rehab assignment.

Second, the Cubs traded for Aaron Brooks who was on the DL at the time. Brooks now makes his way to Iowa after spending the first half of the season on the disabled list. Brooks played for Nashville, Oakland, Omaha and Kansas City last season after a mid-season trade. He went 3-4 with a 6.67 ERA in 13 big league games and was 7-5 with a 3.72 ERA in 20 Triple-A appearances.

Now, the Cubs claimed A. J. Alvarez off waivers from Oakland. Alvarez is coming off March elbow surgery. Prior to that, he had a 9.00 ERA. He was activated by the Iowa Cubs to work in the bullpen.

The Iowa Cubs already had seven pitchers on the DL/restricted list. In addition, the Cubs have Zac Rosscup and Dallas Beeler on the 40 man 60-day DL.

Epstein-Hoyer have a habit of signing injured players in hope that they can fight lightning in a bottle, gold at the end of the rainbow, or high reward from a low risk move. But it does show how week the organization's pitching is throughout the minors. Five out the first six draft choices this year were right handed college pitchers - - - presumably more ready to contribute in the high minors or major leagues.

The Cubs bullpen, especially Richard and Grimm, is the weakest link on the roster. Rumors continue to spread that the Cubs have talked to the Yankees about one of their three power bullpen arms. We shall see.

In addition, the Cubs used 71 percent of their  2016 draft choices (27/38) on pitchers.  Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago reports that the Cubs used 80 draft picks on pitchers between 2012 and 2015 and not one has thrown a single pitch for the major-league club yet.

The league average is about 50 percent of draft choices are pitchers. In the Epstein era to date, the Cubs have selected 53.5 percent pitchers in the draft.

The Cubs selected  Oklahoma State University right-hander Thomas Hatch with their first pick in the Third Round. Hatch missed the entire 2015 season with an elbow injury, but he’s come back from that sprained ulnar collateral ligament to perform as a redshirt sophomore (7-2 with a 2.16 ERA and 102 strikeouts against 28 walks through 112-plus innings). He’s listed at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds for a Cowboys team trying to advance to the College World Series this weekend.  

“It’s something that certainly we have to be aware of,” said senior vice president Jason McLeod, who oversees the scouting and player development departments. “We know that it’s in his past, but we’re confident in making the selection that he’s going to be healthy going forward.

“We always know when you draft a player who’s had a medical occurrence in his past it’s always a risk. But (it’s) weighing all the factors, getting to know the player himself, the competitor that he is.
“I just saw him a couple weeks ago at the Big 12 tournament. The stuff coming out of his hand, how he’s commanding everything, and more so just how this guy competed every week and how he performed every week, we felt very good to get him there.”

The Cubs also went with right-handed college pitchers in rounds four through six: California Baptist’s Tyson Miller; Duke’s Bailey Clark; and Cal State Fullerton’s Chad Hockin (a grandson of Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew). As well as rounds eight through 10: Haverford’s Stephen Ridings; Dartmouth’s Duncan Robinson; and Michigan State’s Dakota Mekkes.

A CHANCE REHAB

If the Cubs are looking for affordable starting pitching. the Marlins may have given them a chance.

Just one year after making the All-Star team and finishing 12th in NL Cy Young voting, starter Henderson Alvarez has been cut loose by the Miami Marlins, Yahoo Sports reports.

Miami non-tendered Alvarez on Wednesday night to release him into free agency. Alvarez can now sign with any team.

Alvarez is a five-year pro who had his worst season in 2015. He went 0-4 with a 6.45 ERA before having season-ending shoulder surgery in June.

Alvarez made the All-Star team in 2014 and finished 12-7 with a 2.65 ERA in 30 starts. He has a 3.80 ERA in 92 career games.

The shoulder issue could be a big problem for Alvarez, as it's not often teams give up on players this early. Alvarez is only 25 and was one of the NL's best pitchers just a year ago. But some team will take a chance on the right-hander, who will look to revive a once-promising career.

The Cubs have not been afraid to sign injured pitchers with the hope of rehabbing them. However, shoulder injuries are more problematic for pitchers because the shoulder is the weakest body part in the mechanics of throwing.

For example, Labral tears is an injury to the labrum of the shoulder in a thrower is not something is significant. . Labral tears are just part of the territory for a major league pitcher; it's just a question of degree and disability. In other words, if you were to look through a surgical scope at the inside of a thrower's shoulder, including those that had no reported symptoms, you would find damage to the labrum more often than not. Some pitchers manage to throw and throw well despite the presence of significant tissue damage. Other pitchers have relatively minor injuries, but are completely incapacitated. The reason for this is unclear. It is not necessarily a question of pain tolerance; rather it appears to be a much more complicated mechanical picture.

The labrum is a ring of cartilage that surrounds the glenoid or the "socket" portion of the shoulder joint and actually serves to enhance shoulder joint stability. When torn, the labrum can catch, causing the shoulder to be painful and potentially feel unstable. The biceps tendon has an attachment to the labrum, so if the biceps is involved, it can lead to problems at the labrum. The labrum undergoes great strain where it attaches to the biceps at the extremes of motion, when the shoulder is at its fully cocked position before ball delivery, and at the end of ball release (during follow through). Since a pitcher repeats that motion time and again -- not only during a game but also during warm-ups, bullpen sessions and any other episode of throwing -- the labrum is constantly subject to stress. 

Surgical repair may be the eventual treatment in a thrower who does not respond to a period of rest and conservative rehabilitation, and the recovery is lengthy. Pitchers do return from labral repair, but their timetable to return and their effectiveness when they do come back is variable. A pitcher coming off of labral surgery in the offseason should recognize that there is a bit of a risk involved until the athlete shows that he has indeed fully regained his form.

The Miami Herald reports that according to projections provided by mlbtraderumors.com, Alvarez is positioned to receive about $4 million through arbitration. Alvarez is coming off shoulder surgery and -- assuming there are no setbacks along the way -- likely wouldn't be ready to pitch again until a month or two into the season.

Even if the Marlins felt convinced that Alvarez will make it back and give them 20 or so starts, there's no guarantee he'll be the same pitcher he was before. On the other hand, $4 million isn't a lot to pay for a No. 2 or No. 3 starter. Now the Cubs have to determine whether the Marlins were correct in passing on an injured former All Star pitcher.

TRADE ODDITY

CBSSports reports that the Diamondbacks dealt right-handed starter Bronson Arroyo and Touki Toussaint   (their No. 5 prospect) to the Braves in a three-player deal on Saturday. In exchange, the Braves will be sending infielder Phil Gosselin to the Diamondbacks.

The oddity of this transaction is that the core players in the deal are on the disabled list with serious injuries.
 
Arroyo made 14 starts for Arizona in 2014 before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He has yet to pitch this year, and is not expected back until at least August. Arroyo's contract is for  $9.5 million for this year, and a $4.5 million buyout on a $13 million option for 2016, per FoxSports.com.

Meanwhile, Gosselin underwent surgery to repair a fractured thumb in May. He is currently on the disabled list and holds a .325 batting average in 40 at-bats this year.

Toussaint was a first-round draft pick (16th overall) by the Diamondbacks in 2014. The right-hander has been pitching with Class A Kane County this year, posting a 3.69 ERA through seven starts.

The Diamondbacks like their current pitching depth to trade Toussaint in the deal.

"We are getting some good pitching from our young rotation and that's the direction we are going to go," D-Backs general manager Dave Stewart said.

GETTING HURT

Nationals megadeal starter Max Scherzer got hurt batting in his last game.

According to the Sporting News, the right-hander said he was unable to throw Sunday morning because of the jammed thumb, which he suffered while batting in last Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Cardinals. 

“I’m not ready to rule it out completely, but I also have to be honest with myself,” Scherzer said. “Anytime you deal with an injury to your pitching hand, you literally have to be 100 percent to go back out there.”

Scherzer described the injury as a sprained ligament and said his thumb is still sore. The 30-year-old pitcher says he wants to play it safe.

“It’s my pitching hand,” Scherzer said. “Any type of discomfort’s going to alter the way I throw the ball. If I alter the way I throw the ball, I can really run the risk of major injury to my arm. So I really respect that. I really respect that I have to be at 100 percent. That’ll be my test: If I can throw all my pitches on flat ground at 100 percent.”

Scherzer said he dealt with a similar nagging injury while at the University of Missouri, returned too soon and almost suffered a major injury as a result.

“I’ve dealt with an injury before in college where I had a cut on my middle finger, and I went back out there and pitched in pain,” he said. “And two weeks later, I had biceps tendinitis and really almost kind of messed up my shoulder. I really respect the fact that you really have to be 100 percent to go back out there. And in this case, that’s how I’m going to treat it.”

This comes on the heels (pun unintended) that Adam Wainwright pooped his Achilles running out a pop fly ball. He is probably lost for the season.

Now, there have been cries that the National League immediately adopt the Designated Hitter rule to save multi-million dollar pitcher investments from getting hurt at the plate. But no where in the story says Scherzer advocated a change to the AL system. Probably a majority of starters in the NL enjoy picking up the lumber during their games.  A good hitting pitcher, like Travis Wood, is a real asset on a team with a short bench.

The DH does take out many strategy options that have been with the game since its inception. The DH rule does propagate the Earl Weaver idea of 3-run HRs is the way to win ball games instead of manufacturing runs with walks, steals, and hit-and-run plays.

Throughout the season, pitchers will get hurt. On and off the field of play. 

RANGER DANGER

The Texas Rangers season fell off the planet. Dead last with a load of bullets.  The manager fled in disgrace and the team has suffered in the bottom of the well for months.

How did it happen? The Rangers were cursed like no other club.

The Rangers have 12 guys on the 60-day DL.

12!

That is almost half the roster.

None of those guys currently count against the 40-man roster, but all of them must be re-added to the 40-man roster after the season. In addition to those moves,  minor leaguers such as top pitching prospect Luke Jackson, must be added to the roster to be protected from the Rule 5 draft.

It begs the question:  How do you fit more than  50 players onto a 40-man roster?

“We’ve got some tough calls coming up,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said last Friday.
“The injuries complicate things because we need to carry some guys over the winter that won’t be ready to help us right away.  The system is maturing to where we need to protect some of our better young talent,” Daniels added. “And we’ve got some interesting guys who have shown very well recently.”

THE FACE OF THE FRANCHISE

Giancarlo Stanton is the face of the Marlins franchise. He is the team's best player by a wide margin.

Stanton, 24, was leading the league in home runs (37), RBI (105), slugging percentage (.555) and OPS (.950). In 2014, he had a 5.8 WAR. In his five years in the majors, his career WAR is 18.4.

He is always a trade rumor candidate. He has shown consistent power over the past five seasons. In any trade, Miami would get a blockbuster package in return.

But the Marlins have done fire sales in the past. And the fan base stays away in droves. Any team needs at least one player who performs well, stays out of trouble, and is fan friendly. Stanton is the face of the Marlins; an All-Star player with Hall of Fame potential.

Thursday night, Stanton was hit in the face with a fastball. Stanton took an 88-mph fast in the mouth off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Mike Friers in the 5th inning. Stanton was taken off the field in an ambulance and is reported to have suffered multiple facial fractures, lacerations, and dental damage. He is likely out for the remainder of the season.

This is a player's worst nightmare, getting hit in the head. Cubs fans will remember that rookie prospect Adam Greenberg's first major league at-bat ended with him being hit by a pitch. That one pitch ended Greenberg's baseball career.

No matter what happens next, this injury will affect Stanton. One's body will program itself to defend against danger. His basic survival instinct may kick in for a split second to protect himself from inside pitches. Batting and contact with a baseball itself is a matter of split second coordination.  In addition, there may be lingering effects from the facial fractures or possible eyesight issues to concussion concerns.

For baseball superstars, the high return in compensation is also tempered by high risk. One play can end a career. One injury can end a career.

BAD HABITS

The big takeaway from Labor Day baseball is that the Cubs will labor at the plate.

Everyone, including veterans like Wellington Castillo, are now in games  free swinging their bats to jack homers in batting practice. These overswings are going to take a toll on player bodies.

Anthony Rizzo has been out seven straight games with a bad back. Backs don't heal like other body parts. As anyone who has had a back issue, they never really go away. A person needs to be preventative.

Javy Baez followed rookie Starlin Castro's free wheeling approach to the plate. Both started off strong with hitting balls out of the zone and out of the part. When Jorge Soler arrived, he has the same overcut that creates massive power and majestic home runs. But the torque created in the back is a contorted sight.

The home run power may dazzle the fans but may cause more problems in the future. The Cubs may hit more home runs, but actually score less because they don't get on base. It's feast or famine: homer or strikeout. This is not a consistent approach to winning.

But the Cubs are not at the point of winning, yet. They just want to revive interest in the team with their home run happy rookies. Winning will come later.

But bad plate discipline is a bad habit to break, especially in younger players. The league will quickly catch up with rookie hitters, and it is the adjustments that need to be taken will either make or break a young career.

HUSTLE

When Bryce Harper got benched for not running out a tapped grounder back to the mound (which I disagreed with the manager's decision), the two schools of thought are a) always hustle and b) don't hurt yourself.

Harper's bench play - - - he got out of the box when the pitcher already had the ball and was throwing to first. There is no reason for Harper, on that play, to sprint down first and risk a hammy injury. But the Nationals manager wanted to set an example, so he pulled Harper from the game. (A columnist later said that move probably cost the team the game as Harper's batting slot came up in a critical time in the 8th and the utility player could not get a hit.)

Fans like players who hustle. It is the physical means of showing that you are giving effort. It is the performance that fans want to see. I get that; but baseball is a long season. You have to play smart, not reckless.

And a few weeks later, Harper is hustling around second to steam into third base. He slides head first and jams his thumb. He is gone to the disabled list for at least two weeks. Now, no one criticized Harper for legging it into third or his slide. But it was his slide that was the problem.

Teams allegedly go to spring training to work on the fundamentals of the game. It is apparent that base running and especially sliding is not taught at the major league level. There really is no reason to slide head first into any base. A runners momentum engine is his legs not his upper body. It actually slows down a player when he dives toward a bag instead of running and sliding with his legs.

Why coaches don't realize this or drill in the base running fundamentals is baffling since offense stats are down, and teams need to manufacture more runs in order to stay competitive.

The golden era of base running had to do with the stealers, like Maury Wills and Ricky Henderson, who can steal 100 bases a year. A single or a walk to an accomplished base runner was like hitting a lead off double every game. But ever since the Steroid Era, the game has shifted to individual stats like HR, RBI, Slugging Percentage - -  - the numbers that generate the big money contracts. The wily base stealer is no longer a priority for most major league clubs.

A player who wants to go out and perform at 100% is fine if he has the fundamentals to keep himself from getting hurt. It is like giving your 11 year old the keys to your sports car so he can go a few laps around the block. He may get around the first corner fine, but once he accelerates the odds are he will crash and burn on the next corner.

Some managers and player agents treat their star players like thoroughbred horses. They are pampered until race day when they are whipped into a frenzy. But baseball players should be seen more like work horses who are built not for a mile and half race but a four hour work day.

FIRE SALE

Observers have said it was only a matter of time. The unorthodox throwing motion was going to get him.  Scouts have long been considered him an injury risk, with some mechanics experts pointing to the “inverted-W” formed by his elbows in the middle of his delivery as an additional red flag.

But it may not have been the motion, but the number of pitches that did Chris Sale in.

The White Sox placed their ace on the disabled list on Monday with a flexor muscle strain in his left elbow. It is the first time in the 25-year-old’s career that he has hit the DL and the first time he has had any issues with his elbow. However, early in his career he was shortly demoted to the bullpen due to arm concerns by management. Sale was upset with the move, and later regained his starting position.

A flexor mass strain is not a major injury. Sale will miss at least two starts. The season is still early but there fast start has had warning signs.  The White Sox boast the major league’s hottest offense in the early going, leading the majors with 5.45 runs scored per game, but Sale had, unsurprisingly, been by far their best pitcher, going 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA and his usual strong peripherals through his first four starts. But the bullpen has been a mess, and season ending dive for a fly ball has cost right fielder Avisail Garcia his season.


It was because the bullpen had been so bad recently (Robin Ventura used four pitchers to get out of one inning), Sale took it upon himself to duel with Boston's Jon Lester. Sale threw a career high 127 pitches in the loss. It was after that outing that he had more soreness than normal. An MRI revealed no ligament damage, but the team shut him down anyway.

The White Sox are in need of another starting pitcher before the Sale injury. Felipe Paulino has been horrible. But the White Sox, who have depth in middle infield spots, will not trade away valuable position players this early in the season. The front office is hoping that pitching guru Don Cooper will get some quality magic out of Charlie Leesman and any other AAA call-up during Sale's injury time.

A SET BACK

If having a bullpen in flux was bad enough, the White Sox got hit hard with the season ending injury to the team's young right fielder.

Avisal Garcia injured his shoulder trying to make a diving catch. As a result,  he will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn left shoulder labrum. He was the White Sox acquisition in the three team Jake Peavey trade from last season.

In 341 big league plate appearances in his still-young career, Garcia has a .287/.323/.411 triple-slash. He was rated the game's 74th-best prospect before last season by Baseball America. The biggest loss for Chicago, of course, may simply be the playing time and development that the club hoped for from Garcia over 2014.

Jordan Danks was recalled from AAA Charlotte to take Garcia's place. Most likely, Danks will platoon in RF with Dayan Vicideo. This also means Alejandro De Aza will play the bulk of time in left field.

Most major league executives agree that the White Sox had a terrific off-season by rebuilding their roster with young talent. A few publications called the White Sox the 2014 "surprise" team. But losing a starting power bat is a set back for the season.

INTERVENTION NEEDED

The Cubs continue to sign injured pitchers hoping that they turn it around and find their past skills several years removed from major league action. James McDonald was placed on the 60 day DL at the end of camp. He was another injured pitcher the Cubs signed to find some past glory. Now, the Cubs continue to fill their M*A*S*H unit of rehabbing starters. After the Scott Baker situation last season, you would think the front office would have more caution in this area.

But no. MLBTR reports the the Cubs have agreed to terms with right-hander Joel Piniero on a minor league contract. Pineiro will spend 10 days in extended Spring Training before reporting to Triple-A Iowa

Pineiro, 35, hasn't appeared in the Major Leagues since 2011 or the minor leagues since 2012. He inked a minor league deal with the Orioles last off-season after shoulder surgery cut his 2012 campaign short. Pineiro spent some time rehabbing with the club, but he was released midway through the season without getting into a game.

Pineiro joins A. Vizcaino as the long term rehab candidates. Vizcaino, who is now more than two years removed from TJ surgery, was sent to Daytona to continue his rehab, mostly because the club did not want him exposed to cold weather pitching. How brittle is Vizcaino?  Very. Pineiro has not pitched in the majors since 2011, and his age, what is the realistic chance he will ever recover? Almost nil.

 So why do the Cubs continue on this gambler's path of trying to roll hard eights at the crap table? Is there a continuing desperation that the vaulted minor league system is weak on pitching? That would be one explanation why the team continues to take these risky shots in the dark with injured veterans.

But for a team that is guarding its resources like a small market club, you would think that it would be better served by stopping the injury merri-go-round and try to develop their own pitching staff.

BAD BREAKS

There has been a rash of Tommy John injuries to starting pitchers. The Braves have two of their starters go down with season ending injuries. Tigers SS Jose Ingelias fractured bones in both his legs (which seems unbelievable), so he is out for the entire season as well.

Those bad breaks are opportunities for other players and other teams.

The Braves had to pop for free agent Ervin Santana because the team believes it can still win the NL East.  The Tigers losing their starting shortstop is a major set back for the defending AL Central champions.

You don't have to wait to the July deadline to trade players.

The Cubs could sell "high" right now to teams that are reeling from injuries.

Even though their starting pitchers have been poor in the spring, the Cubs have several trade candidates: Samardzija, Hammel, E. Jackson, and even major league ready guys like Rusin, Grimm or Hendricks.

If the Tigers need a shortstop, Barney could be a caretaker. That would open up second for Bonifacio, the club's true lead off hitter until Baez is ready to be promoted next season. Or, in even a bolder move, Castro could be shopped for pitching prospects, clearing a path for Baez at his natural position.

This trade window will close sooner than you think. General managers are honing their rosters right now, seeing if they have minor league assets that can tide them over until the other teams make their final cuts.