T. R. Sullivan (@Sullivan_Ranger) and Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) of MLB.com talk about Prince Fielder’s big game for the Rangers as Texas moves within a half game of the Astros…
Prince Fielder hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning, giving the Rangers a 5-3 victory over the Astros in the opener of their four-game series on Monday night. The victory moved the Rangers to within a half-game of the Astros in the American League West, and the two teams are tied in the loss column.
“That was a big win,” Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland said. “The team in front of us, first game of a series, to get the momentum going in our favor, that was a good first one.”
George A. King III (@GeorgeAKingIII) of the New York Post writes that the Angels are eyeing Yankees VP and assistant GM Billy Eppler as a replacement for Jerry DiPoto…
Angels owner Arte Moreno and club president John Carpino were scheduled to meet with Yankees VP and assistant GM Billy Eppler Monday night in New York.
The Angels are looking for Jerry DiPoto’s replacement and Eppler interviewed with them when the job went to DiPoto.
Eppler, a San Diego native, is also on the Mariners’ list to be interviewed for the vacancy created when Jack Zduriencik was fired.
Alex Speier (@alexspeier) of the Boston Globe talks about the speed of Red Sox phenom Yoan Moncada…
Whenever Yoan Moncada reached base, everyone on the field understood that he would be running at the earliest possible opportunity. Still, he couldn’t be stopped.
When the curtain lifted on the second half of the South Atlantic League season, the numbers piled up: two steals in the first game out of the All-Star break; two games later, another pair of bags, and then another the next day.
Second base? Third base? Didn’t matter. He would run.
Gordon Edes (@GordonEdes) of ESPN on the Orioles watching prized prospect Eduardo Rodriguez grow in Boston…
“Sure, we’d love to have Eduardo,’’ Stockstill said, “but Andrew put us in a position to go all the way. That trade gave us the potential ability to win the World Series.’’
It didn’t work out that way, of course. The Orioles were shocked by the Kansas City Royals in the playoffs, and Miller moved on in free agency to the Yankees.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, has David Dombrowski, the team’s new president of baseball operations, saying he has the potential to be a No. 1 starter. Maduro doesn’t disagree.
Zach Helfand (@zhelfand) of the LA Times discusses the Cy Young race that features two Dodger aces…
Among the Dodgers, the question elicits more waffling than a presidential debate.
Kershaw or Greinke?
The latest chapter in a Cy Young race neither Zack Greinke nor Clayton Kershaw seems to care about ended ambiguously, again. A day after eight shutout innings by Greinke, Kershaw gave up one run in seven innings Monday in a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) of MLB.com talks about the issues with Greg Holland’s velocity and what it means for the Royals…
We know that high spin for a fastball correlates with swinging strikes, so that spin rate decline is just as alarming as the velo drop. As you’d expect, the decline we’re seeing has led to fewer missed bats. Through Aug. 14, which is the last peak on those graphs, Holland’s strikeout percentage was 27.3. Since then, it’s down to 20.0 percent.
What makes this more worrisome is that after pitching on back-to-back days on Aug. 27 and 28, Holland received a full 10 days off to rest what manager Ned Yost referred to as a “cranky arm,” hoping the time off would help resolve the problem. Not only did his velocity not return, it continued to decrease.
Bill Brink (@BrinkPG) of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that the players union is skeptical of using a pitch clock in the majors despite decreasing game time…
Pitchers have 20 seconds after receiving the ball from the catcher to begin their delivery or at least come to a set position. If they don’t, the batter is awarded a ball. Batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher with at least five seconds remaining or they receive an automatic strike.
The minor league seasons are either done or in the postseason at this point, and the effect of the timers is apparent. Through mid-August, according to the New York Times, nine-inning game times decreased by 15 minutes in the International League (2:56 to 2:41) and Pacific Coast League games took 13 fewer minutes on average.