Daily Clips

May 30, 2018

LOCALEsky's 1st walk-off jack lifts Royals in 14thBarlow earns first Major League win in relief against TwinsMay 30, 2018 By Jordan Wolf/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/alcides-escobars-homer-lifts-royals-in-14th/c-278857738

Keller ready for first MLB start against TwinsRoyals righty will throw 55-60 pitches as he shifts from bullpenMay 29, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/brad-keller-set-for-first-start-with-royals/c-278842388

Alcides Escobar's bat flip after home run was one of the best in Royals historyMay 30, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article212170589.html

Three years after wondering, 'Is this for me?' Hunter Dozier gains traction with RoyalsMay 30, 2018 By Vahe Gregorian/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/vahe-gregorian/article212162864.html

Alcides Escobar's homer in 14th gives Royals their first walk-off victory of seasonMay 30, 2018 By Blair Kerkhoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article212142344.html

Ned Yost would like to see defensive shifts outlawed in major leaguesMay 29, 2018 By Blair Kerkhoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article212142584.html

‘Game Over’: Inside Alcides Escobar’s perfect bat flip after a walk-off homer against the TwinsMay 30, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/373158/2018/05/30/alcides-escobar-walk-off-homer-royals-twins/

Here’s one concern surrounding Royals pitcher Brad Keller as he makes his first major-league startMay 30, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/372862/2018/05/30/royals-pitching-brad-keller-starting-rotation/

MINORSBats, Beer and Mr. Belding: Three days with the future of the Kansas City RoyalsMay 29, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/371995/2018/05/29/lexington-legends-kansas-city-royals-top-prospects/

NATIONALSyndergaard goes on DL with finger injuryAce sidelined by strained ligament in right index finger; Lugo to return to rotation in Thor's absenceMay 30, 2018 By Tori McElhaney/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/mets/news/noah-syndergaard-placed-on-disabled-list/c-278814136

MLB: Rizzo's slide should have been interferenceMay 29, 2018 By Carrie Muskat & Adam Berry/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/anthony-rizzo-slide-was-interference/c-278822572

In an exclusive Q&A, Commissioner Rob Manfred discusses pace of play, expansion, betting (sorry, Pete) and moreMay 30, 2018 By Ken Rosenthal/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/373342/2018/05/30/in-an-exclusive-qa-commissioner-rob-manfred-discusses-pace-of-play-expansion-betting-sorry-pete-and-more/

The risky (and challenging) business of identifying and developing pitchers in an era of changeMay 29, 2018 By Peter Gammons/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/371678/2018/05/29/gammons-the-risky-and-challenging-business-of-identifying-and-developing-pitchers-in-an-era-of-change/

MLB TRANSACTIONSMay 30, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

LOCALEsky's 1st walk-off jack lifts Royals in 14thBarlow earns first Major League win in relief against TwinsMay 30, 2018 By Jordan Wolf/MLB.com

https://www.mlb.com/royals/news/alcides-escobars-homer-lifts-royals-in-14th/c-278857738

Most wouldn't have expected Alcides Escobar to launch a walk-off homer, but when he barreled a Taylor Rogers fastball for a 2-1 win in 14 innings over the Twins on Tuesday night, he had no doubt it was heading for the Kauffman Stadium seats.

"I knew right away," Escobar said. "When I hit the ball, I said 'Game over.'"

Escobar's first career walk-off blast evened the series at one game apiece and ended a marathon marked by strong pitching from both teams.

Scott Barlow earned his first Major League win with four hitless innings in relief, stepping in as the game went to extras to keep the Twins at bay and keep the Royals' chances alive.

"Just trying to get the guys back in the dugout and keep hitting," Barlow said of his performance. "Luckily, Esky came up clutch."

Both starting pitchers were sharp, but Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson exited with a 1-0 lead after allowing just five hits across seven clean innings.

It wasn't until Gibson gave way to Addison Reed in the eighth that the Royals made any noise on offense. Reed quickly surrendered singles to Jon Jay and Mike Moustakas before hitting Salvador Perez with a pitch and walking Jorge Soler with the bases full to tie the game at 1.

Royals lefty Danny Duffy was consistently strong except for in the third inning, when Ehire Adrianza scored on Miguel Sano's bases-loaded single. Duffy finished with six innings of four-hit ball, his second straight solid outing after a sluggish start to the season.

Once Duffy was pulled, a five-man chain of relievers was summoned by Yost to finish the job. Together, they combined for eight shutout innings and allowed just three hits.

"Danny set the tone and all the relievers were great," manager Ned Yost said. "They gave us a chance to finally win that game."

MOMENT THAT MATTEREDAlex Gordon helped prevent what could've been a much more damaging rally in the third when he fired a strike to catcher Drew Butera to nail Brian Dozier at home following Sano's RBI single.

Statcast™ tracked Gordon's throw as traveling 219 feet at a blistering speed of 91.6 mph, the seventh-hardest throw of his career since Statcast™ was introduced in 2015. It was his second outfield assist of the season and No. 82 since 2011 -- the most in the Majors.

"That was a fantastic play," Yost said. "I mean, Drew didn't have to move. That's how great a throw it was. Drew just had to put the tag on the runner."

SOUND SMARTJay extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a bunt single against the shift in the third. He reached base two more times,

drawing a walk in the fifth and singling again in the eighth before scoring the tying run.

HE SAID IT"I heard somebody say, 'If we don't score, we'll be here until 5 in the morning.' I thought they were talking about our offense." -- Yost, who was unaware of the bad weather approaching the ballpark in extras

UP NEXTRoyals right-hander Brad Keller (1-1, 2.01 ERA) will start his first game in the Majors at 7:15 p.m. CT on Wednesday in the series finale against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium. Having previously worked as a reliever, Keller is expected to throw around 55-60 pitches. He'll be opposed by another rookie starter in righty Fernando Romero (2-1, 1.88), who has struck out 29 in his five starts this season for Minnesota.

Keller ready for first MLB start against TwinsRoyals righty will throw 55-60 pitches as he shifts from bullpenMay 29, 2018 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/brad-keller-set-for-first-start-with-royals/c-278842388

As Royals right-hander Brad Keller transitions back to being a starter, the assumption might be that he will pace himself to get through his 55-60 pitch limit.

Not the case. Keller, who will make his first Major League start for the Royals on Wednesday, said he won't be holding back.

"[Reliever] Blaine Boyer said to just treat every inning like it's the eighth inning," Keller said. "He said to just go attack. That's what I'll do."

Keller is starting in place of left-hander Eric Skoglund, who is on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained elbow.

As a reliever for the Royals this season, Keller, a Rule 5 Draft pick, has been phenomenal, posting a 2.01 ERA.

Starting, though, is in Keller's blood. He made 26 starts for the D-backs' Double-A team in Jackson, Miss., going 10-9 with a 4.68 ERA.

"He's not afraid to just go get early-count outs," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "That should keep his pitch count low.

"He's got a good two-seamer, a good four-seamer that cuts, good changeup. He's got two fastballs that go the opposite way. He'll be fine."

Keller said he won't have trouble sleeping on Tuesday night.

"It's something I've done before, obviously," Keller said. "I won't be over-excited."

Bo will rep Royals at DraftFormer outfielder Bo Jackson will represent the Royals at Monday's MLB Draft, one of 21 former All-Stars who will represent their former clubs at the event.

Royals area scout Colin Gonzales also will represent the club.

The Draft will begin live on MLB Network and MLB.com on Monday at 6 p.m. CT. Prior to the start of the Draft, MLB Network will air a Draft preview show, also simulcast on MLB.com, at 5 p.m. CT. The Draft will have 40 rounds, and a Club may pass on its selection in any round and not forfeit its right to participate in other rounds. The 2018 Draft will span three days, as it has since 2009. For day one on June 4th, Round 1 and Competitive Balance Round A will air exclusively on MLB Network and MLB.com.

Beginning with the first pick in Round 2 and continuing through overall pick No. 78, the Draft will air live exclusively on MLB.com, while MLB Network will continue to provide live look-ins and coverage of the Draft on MLB Tonight. The intervals between selections during round one will last four minutes, followed by one-minute intervals between selections for the remainder of day one.

The Draft will resume at noon on Tuesday, June 5, when selections will be made for rounds 3-10, with one minute intervals between selections. Day three of the Draft on Wednesday, June 6 will begin at 11 a.m. CT, featuring picks in rounds 11-40, with no time delay between selections.

Alcides Escobar's bat flip after home run was one of the best in Royals historyMay 30, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article212170589.html

Now we know where Alcides Escobar's son gets his bat-flipping skills.

Massimiliano Escobar learned it from his dad.

Alcides Escobar had one of the best bat flips in Royals history on Tuesday night after his walk-off home run in the 14th inning beat the Twins 2-1.

The home run was a no-doubter, traveling 398 feet and over the Twins bullpen. Minnesota left fielder Eddie Rosario was running back to the dugout before the ball landed.

Here is the homer:

Escobar knew it was gone, so he flipped his bat and didn't get cheated on that, either:

The Royals aren't known for the bat flips, so Escobar's might be rivaled only by Eric Hosmer's in Game 1 of the 2015 World Series.

Are there other bat flips by Royals players that I'm missing? Drop me a line if one comes to mind.

Click the link to view the videos.

Three years after wondering, 'Is this for me?' Hunter Dozier gains traction with RoyalsMay 30, 2018 By Vahe Gregorian/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/vahe-gregorian/article212162864.html

When it comes right down to it, a fundamental reason the 2018 Royals are 19-36 and submerged in rebuilding is that only one of their last 10 first-round draft picks is on the current 25-man roster.

Not that all the first-round choices in that span have been in vain.

Of course, Eric Hosmer (2008) signed a lucrative free-agent deal with San Diego only after being a transformative force in the organization and a catalyst in two pennant-winning seasons.

Brandon Finnegan (2014) was traded to enhance the chances of winning the 2015 World Series, and Christian Colon (2010) made key postseason contributions only to ultimately be discarded for his regular-season play.

But then there is Aaron Crow (2009), now pitching in Mexico. And the sad tales of Bubba Starling (2011) and Kyle Zimmer (2012), whose ultimate success now seems far-fetched.

Meanwhile, it’s too early to know what awaits Foster Griffin, the Royals’ second first-round pick in 2014, and Ashe Russell (2015), who left baseball last year before quietly returning this spring, and Nick Pratto (2017).

As of now, though, it’s a trend that amplifies the pivotal importance of next week’s draft — in which the Royals have five of the top 58 picks.

It also magnifies the story of the lone (current) exception in the last decade: Hunter Dozier, who along with Alex Gordon (2005) and Mike Moustakas (2007) are the only homegrown No. 1 picks on the team.

While Dozier may or may not be here to stay, may or may not even be at the position he’ll ultimately play, he is making plenty of what has become an extended opportunity in the wake of an injury to Lucas Duda — who was signed in large part because Dozier wasn’t deemed ready coming out of spring training.

With the Royals losing routinely, with their more-established players being subject to trade as the franchise seeks to replenish its farm system, Dozier's audition is one of the more compelling tales to follow this season.

Dozier, who is hitting .240 with four doubles in 15 games and coming off three straight multi-hit games last week, was disappointed to be left behind in the spring, he said Tuesday.

But he had the equilibrium to roll with it and zoom in on the things he could control.

Because that was only a blip to Dozier after what he learned through a wretched 2015 season.

Dozier, 26, was the eighth pick overall in 2013, and had known nothing but success throughout his baseball life.

He excelled with the Royals’ affiliates in Idaho Falls and Lexington that first year. Up another rung to Class A Wilmington in 2014, he was the team’s player of the year.

Then he plummeted in 2015, hitting .213 with Class AA Northwest Arkansas and striking out 151 times in 475 at-bats and feeling lost.

“I lost complete confidence; I didn’t think I was a good hitter any more …,” he said. “I was thinking stuff like, ‘Is this for me?’”

With considerable help from then-manager and current Royals bullpen coach Vance Wilson, Dozier came to appreciate the ups-and-downs of the game in a new way — and that “sometimes (it’s) just baseball is beating you.”

“The biggest thing was making sure that he understood everybody goes through what he’s going through,” Wilson said. “Don’t feel alienated. Don’t feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.”

Dozier learned to trust his talent and make adjustments, not radical changes, as he set out to “kind of reinvent myself in the offseason.”

If you ask him now, it was the best thing that ever happened to him — something with which Wilson agrees, saying having experience with adversity in your toolbox makes it easier to deal with going forward.

“I know how to deal with failure now, because in this game you’re going to deal with a lot of failure,” Dozier said. “And for me to fail for a whole year was a struggle. It was really hard, hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with.

“But it’s good. It made me stronger mentally.”

Don’t just take his word for it.

In 2016, Dozier was hitting so well at Northwest Arkansas that he was quickly promoted to Class AAA Omaha (.294, 15 home runs and 54 RBIs in 103 games) and got the call to join the parent club in September.

The experience of 2015 also made him more patient and better equipped to handle whatever may come — whether it was the injuries that sidelined him most of 2017 or handling the ever-changing demands of being a multi-position player.

Dozier was drafted as a shortstop and spent most of his minor-league career at third base, where he could end up as soon as this season if the Royals as expected move Moustakas for prospects.

Never mind that before being called up on May 14, Dozier had played only 16 games at first in his entire minor-league career.

As of Tuesday, he’s started nearly as many (13) at the major-league level.

He’s got a long way to go before establishing himself, he knows, but he’s also come a long way from 2015 — when even manager Ned Yost would later say he’d come to doubt Dozier.

“The last couple of springs, nothing impressed me about him,” Yost said when he was called up in 2016, adding that the 6-foot-4 Dozier had gotten “big and bulky and slow and choppy. But he’s worked hard to get his body back alive.”

Now his career is well-alive. And even if his trajectory remains uncertain, at least for now he’s the outlier in a pattern that has to change if the Royals are going to enjoy another revival any time soon.

Alcides Escobar's homer in 14th gives Royals their first walk-off victory of seasonMay 30, 2018 By Blair Kerkhoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article212142344.html

The Royals got a home run for their first walk-off victory this season from an unlikely source.

Alcides Escobar belted a no-doubter to left off Twins reliever Taylor Rogers with two outs in the 14th inning, giving the Royals a 2-1 triumph Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

"For all my homers, that's the best one," Escobar said. "I flipped the bat, a special moment right there. I celebrated after that."

As the innings piled up and midnight approaching for a game delayed 24 minutes at the start by rain, Escobar said he was thinking home run, for everyone else.

"For every guy, I'm saying, 'C'mon Salvy, C'mon Soler," Escobar said. "And I hit it."

The home run was Escobar’s first walk-off of his career. It was his second homer of the season and 39th of his 11-year career. He entered the game hitting .228.

The blast made a winner of relief pitcher Scott Barlow, who pitched four scoreless innings.. He figured to pitch on Wednesday in relief of Brad Keller, who will be limited to 55-60 pitches in his first scheduled start. But the Royals needed a long reliever Tuesday and Barlow was up to the task, producing half of the bullpen's eight scoreless innings.

“I was really pleased with (Barlow)," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He was the last man standing down there. He was going to go until we either won it or lost it.”

The pitching was superb throughout the game. Starters Danny Duffy and Kyle Gibson traded zeroes. Duffy departed after six innings trailing 1-0. Gibson left after seven in a position to grab the victory.

But the Royals tied it in the eighth. Jon Jay ripped a single through the box. Jay’s bunt single earlier had extended his hitting streak to 11. This hit gave him three straight with at least two.

One out later, Mike Moustakas singled and Salvador Perez was hit by a pitch. The Royals had early scoring chances, none this good.

Jorge Soler drew a full-count walk from Addison Reed, and the Royals had drawn even. But their chance to take the lead died when Hunter Dozier popped meekly to right and Alex Gordon struck out.

Whatever ailed Duffy through his first 10 starts — tipping pitches perhaps? — has been resolved, at least through his last two starts.

Counting last week’s outing at Texas, Duffy has surrendered seven singles and a double and two runs. He’s shaved more than a run from his ERA, from a season-worst 6.88 to 5.71, and worked with some solid defense on Tuesday.

"I feel like I'm getting back to who I am as a pitcher," Duffy said. "It was always in there. It's about using your stuff the way it's supposed to be used."

Gordon turned in the highlight play when the Twins loaded the bases in the third. Miguel Sano bounced a single to left, giving the Twins the lead. But it remained 1-0 because Gordon, a five-time Gold Glover, fired a strike to Drew Butera to cut down Brian Dozier for career outfield assist No. 84.

"He's done that for me a hundred times," Duffy said. "As soon as I saw that ball get to the outfield I was hoping they'd test him."

The play saved Duffy a run but he left the game with a deficit because the Royals could do little against Gibson, the former Missouri Tiger, who cruised through seven innings and was at his best when the Royals threatened.

Moustakas opened the sixth with a double and moved to third on a one-out passed ball. But Soler struck out and Dozier lined out to left.

A night after going 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position — the most they’ve had in scoring position in a loss since 2013 — the Royals went 0 for 9 in those situations on Tuesday.

But they finally got a big hit, from an unlikely source.

Defensive gems: Besides Gordon’s laser to home, the Royals turned in other highlight-worthy stops. In the sixth, second baseman Whit Merrifield went to his left to field a soft one-hopper from Max Kepler. Merrifield likely had a play at first, but he spun and threw out Eduardo Escobar, who had walked, at second.

Moustakas ended the Twins' seventh by gloving a bag-side smash from Brian Dozier. The Twins’ 14th frame ended when Soler went far to his right to flag down Eddie Rosario’s drive to the warning track.

Next up: The three-game series with the Twins concludes at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday with Brad Keller expected to make his first major-league start. Keller, 1-1, has been one of the Royals’ top relievers, with a 2.01 ERA in 22 1/3 innings with 13 strikeouts. A Rule 5 acquisition, Keller had a streak of 10 2/3 scoreless innings snapped in his previous outing, at Texas on Saturday.

The plan for Keller?

“Around 50-60 pitches,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Then we’ll start the process of lengthening him out.”

Yost said before Tuesday’s game that Brian Flynn or Barlow would be the candidates to follow Keller but both pitched on Tuesday.

Keller, who has thrown as many as 43 pitches in a game this season, was a starter in the minor leagues. He’s starting in place of left-hander Eric Skoglund, who is on the 10-day disabled list because of a sprained elbow.

Keller will oppose the Twins’ Fernando Romero, 2-1.

The Royals are off on Thursday and open a three-game series against the Oakland A’s on Friday.

Ned Yost would like to see defensive shifts outlawed in major leaguesMay 29, 2018 By Blair Kerkhoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article212142584.html

Put Ned Yost in baseball’s anti-defensive shift camp.

The topic arose from a recent report affirming that baseball was on pace to have the fewest singles in a season, and Yost had his reason.

“It’s a product of the shift in my mind, more than anything else,” Yost said. “It’s harder to hit singles. You either go the other way or find a crease, which is increasingly more difficult than it’s ever been.

The story by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports suggests several factors for singles accounting for 63.69 percent of the base hits in baseball this year: swing changes, strikeouts and defensive position chief among them.

Asked if he’d like to see shifts — usually a shortstop playing on the right side or a second baseman playing on the left side of the infield — outlawed, Yost nodded.

“Go for it,” Yost said. “Set it up. The game has changed so much. You can’t slide into second base (aggressively), you can’t make more than six visits to the mound, you can’t slide into home plate (through the catcher). I’m fine with all that.

“But you talk about low scoring, you talk about strikeouts, if you can eliminate the shift it’s going to increase offense. It’s hard to hit singles. It’s hard to bunch together runs. You’ve got to hit homers or doubles now.

“I don’t know they would ever do it but if they came to me and say would you like to outlaw the shifts, I would say yes.”

Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon often face shifts, and Moustakas saw more shifts than all by two players in baseball last season.

‘Game Over’: Inside Alcides Escobar’s perfect bat flip after a walk-off homer against the TwinsMay 30, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/373158/2018/05/30/alcides-escobar-walk-off-homer-royals-twins/

There is an art of sorts to the perfect bat flip. It requires timing and flare and just the right dollop of emotion. It demands gumption and opportunity, too. Sometimes perfection can surface at the most unexpected moments. You just never know.

On Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar entered the bottom of the 14th inning with just 38 career home runs. He is nobody’s idea of a power hitter. He has spent much of the last five seasons as one of the weakest offensive players in the American League. At age 31, he is a former defensive wizard who still offers stability in the middle of the diamond. Yet with the Royals and Twins locked in a stalemate, and a late-night rain storm approaching Kansas City, even Escobar was looking elsewhere for a hero.

“I said ‘Hit a homer,’ for every guy,” Escobar said. “‘Come on, Salvy. Come on, Soler. Come on. Come on.’”

But then Escobar stepped into the box with two out in the bottom of the 14th, and Twins reliever Taylor Rogers threw a 3-1 fastball toward the inner half of the plate. Escobar tracked the pitch with his eyes, unleashed a mighty hack, and perfection ensued. As the baseball soared toward the Royals’ Hall of Fame in left field, Escobar turned back to the Royals’ dugout and tossed his bat in the air. The bat flip, perfect in its swagger and timing, punctuated a 2-1 Royals victory in a game that lasted 4 hours and 12 minutes and survived a rain delay earlier in the night.

“I know right away,” Escobar said. “When I hit the ball, I say: ‘Game over.’”

Escobar had not hit a walk-off homer in a career that has spanned 11 seasons. The Royals (19-36) had not recorded a walk-off victory in 2018. That all changed with one swing of the bat as Kansas City evened the series at a game apiece.

“At that point, you’re taking anything from anybody,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Rookie pitcher Scott Barlow earned his first career win, striking out five across four scoreless innings. The Royals burned their bullpen on the eve of rookie Brad Keller’s first major-league start. Keller, 22, will be on a pitch count of 50 to 55 pitches on Wednesday night in the series finale. Barlow or Brian Flynn were expected to soak up innings behind him, but both pitchers were needed on Tuesday, even after Danny Duffy opened the night by allowing one run in six innings.

For most of the night, the Royals were looking for any semblance of offense. Their first run came in the bottom of the eighth, when Jorge Soler drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 1-1. They squandered a leadoff single from Escobar in the ninth. And then both teams settled in for a long and quiet run to the 14th inning.

“Luckily,” Barlow said. “Esky came up clutch.”

The Royals had not played a 14-inning game since 2016, and as the frame began, a storm approached from the west, ready to batter Kauffman Stadium with more rain. Inside the dugout, Yost remained unaware of the radar or situation.

“I didn’t have any idea,” he said. “I heard somebody say, ‘If we don’t score this inning, we’re going to be here until 5 in the morning.’ And I thought they were talking about our offense.”

For a moment, it appeared that the game indeed was heading for an early-morning finish. But then Rogers fell behind Escobar 2-1. From the dugout, Yost tried to relay a sign to third-base coach Mike Jirschele. Escobar mistakenly thought he was given the take sign, Yost said. Rogers missed with a ball anyway.

“I’m like: ‘Esky, if you’re 2-0, you hack,’” Yost said. “Because you never know. Something like that can jump off his bat.”

Moments later Rogers threw another fastball, and the ball did jump off the bat. The Royals’ shortstop knew it right away. As it made a parabola in the night sky, Escobar admired his blast for just a moment. And then he let the emotion take over. Mike Moustakas sprung from the dugout with a smile

on his face. Salvador Perez embraced him with a hug. Escobar flipped his bat in the air.

“All my homers, that’s the best one,” Escobar said. “Walk-off homer. When I hit the ball, I say: ‘Wow.’”

Here’s one concern surrounding Royals pitcher Brad Keller as he makes his first major-league startMay 30, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/372862/2018/05/30/royals-pitching-brad-keller-starting-rotation/

To listen to teammates discuss Royals pitcher Brad Keller is to process a string of lavish praise. Reliever Blaine Boyer says Keller, 22, can be “an absolute force” in any role. Starter Danny Duffy calls him “a damn stud” and “disgusting.” Reliever Brian Flynn calls him Wade Davis-lite.

Keller, selected in the Rule 5 draft last December, has mostly lived up to the praise, posting a 2.01 ERA in 21 appearances out of the bullpen. But there is one area of concern as Keller makes his first career start on Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins. His premium stuff has not translated to many missed bats; he has struck out just 13 hitters in 22 1/3 innings.

For now, Keller’s style has worked just fine. He utilizes a 96 mph four-seam fastball that naturally cuts in on left-handed hitters. He mixes in a two-seam sinker against right-handers, a slider and a rare changeup. His ground-ball rate (62.3 percent) ranks eighth among relievers in baseball.

In addition, he has been equally effective against lefties and righties; he entered Wednesday allowing a .531 OPS against lefties and a .579 OPS against righties. But if he is to translate his success as a reliever to the rotation, he will likely need to do one of two things: increase his strikeout rate or dominate with his cutter and sinker.

Keller entered Wednesday having allowed opposing hitters to make contact on 73.7 percent of pitches outside the strike zone and 82.3 percent of pitches overall. Put another way: He’s inducing swings and misses on fewer than 27 percent of pitches outside the strike zone. All of these numbers would put Keller in the bottom 10 to 15 among starters in baseball.

But the young right-hander does have two things going for him: The cutter and the sinker. With the ability to manipulate a baseball to both sides of the plate, he has proven exceptionally hard to square up. In 21 appearances, he has allowed “hard” contact just 26.1 percent of the time, according to FanGraphs data. The number puts him 27th among relievers in baseball.

In one appearance, Keller touched 99 mph in Boston. His best pitch, however, appears to be his cutter, which can neutralize left-handed hitters.

“A lot of times strikeout guys will elevate pitch counts trying to strike guys out,” Royals manager Ned Yost said on Tuesday. “He just goes after you with his good stuff and looking to get early decisions. I don’t mind that a bit.”

On Wednesday, Keller will be on a pitch count of 5o to 55 as he builds up his arm strength. He should, however, have an opportunity for a long audition in the rotation as lefty Eric

Skoglund recovers from a grade 1 sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament.

Skoglund, 25, went on the 10-day disabled list on Saturday after experiencing elbow issues in recent weeks. He will avoid surgery, appearing relieved on Monday when an MRI revealed no significant damage to his ligament. Still, his absence will be measured in weeks — and potentially months — which will open up a slot in the rotation.

The Royals had discussed Keller as a rotation option for weeks leading up to Skoglund’s injury. He spent five seasons as a starter in the Diamondbacks organization before being plucked away in the Rule 5 draft in December. He finished 2017 with a 4.68 ERA in 26 starts at Double-A Jackson. In the view of Yost, he offers the requisite pitch mix to be effective. But he had never pitched above Double-A entering spring training, nor had his minor-league strikeout rate (7.3 per nine innings) been eye-popping, so the Royals viewed the bullpen as a suitable training ground.

Earlier this month, Yost called Keller “a starter that’s a reliever right now.” On Wednesday, he will become a major-league starter, making his first start since last September at Double-A Jackson. On that day, Keller tossed six scoreless innings against the Tennessee Smokies. And he recorded eight strikeouts, the kind of strikeout total he’ll hope to see more of throughout his career.

“He’s been a starter his whole life,” Yost said. “He’s just going to go out and do exactly what he’s been doing. He’s going to go out and attack. There’s not going to be an adjustment for him that I see.”

MINORSBats, Beer and Mr. Belding: Three days with the future of the Kansas City RoyalsMay 29, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/371995/2018/05/29/lexington-legends-kansas-city-royals-top-prospects/

It is a warm evening in May, and the Royals’ first baseman of the future is talking about getting thrown out of a game. It happened just last night here at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Late innings. Close game. The Lexington Legends were batting against the Rome Braves. Nick Pratto took another strike he knew was a ball, and for once, he couldn’t hold back.

“It’s hard to put it into words,” says Pratto, Kansas City’s 2017 first-round pick. “He called me out on two balls that I thought were balls. And then I had four pitches in my last at-bat, none of them were in the strike zone, and he called me out.

“You just flat-out have to be better than that. We’re fighting to come back.”

Because Pratto is 1.) 19 years and 2.) in his first full season of professional baseball, this story may sound like an act of petulant griping. He has played fewer than 100 games in his career, and was in high school in Orange County just 13 months ago. And now he is a first baseman for the Lexington Legends, venting about the quality of umpires in the Low-A South Atlantic League.

The thing is, he’s fairly convincing.

Pratto is speaking in a confident tone, his words measured and considered. He sounds maybe 10 or 15 years older than most of his teammates. He is not trying to complain, he says, but rather explain the process of trying to develop as a hitter here.

“My whole life, my coaches have always said that I’ve kind of had too good of an eye for the level I play at,” he says. “It hurts me sometimes, because the umpires are learning as well.”

Pratto is resting on a bench outside the Legends’ home clubhouse, which sits just beyond right field. The sun is beating down. Another game starts in 90 minutes, and all around are signs of the minor leagues. There is a large black barbecue grill just outside the entrance to the clubhouse, which is adorned with a Royals logo. There is a small tent for shade. There are teammates milling about on their cellphones and Dennis Haskins, better know to all as Mr. Belding from Saved by The Bell, arriving for an special guest appearance.

There is also a top prospect. Last June, the Royals used the No. 14 pick in the draft to select Pratto out of Huntington Beach (Calif.) High School. One year later, he is here, attacking the process in A-ball, embracing the rigors of the minors, from the fast food to the long bus rides to the nights inside Whitaker Bank Ballpark.

“All the stories you hear are pretty true,” he says.

Back in Kansas City, the Royals are hurtling toward 100 losses for the first time in 12 years. The champagne stains from 2015 have all been removed. If there is hope for another parade through downtown, it resides in places like Lexington, where Pratto is just starting out.

He is a 6-foot-1 first baseman with short brown hair, a sweet left-handed swing and a man-crush on Joey Votto. And he is not the only hope. Here, walking out the clubhouse door, is MJ Melendez, a 19-year-old catcher with a wiry frame that reminds you of Jorge Posada. Here is Seuly Matias, a 19-year-old slugger from the Dominican Republic with prodigious power and strikeout numbers.

They, along with outfielder Khalil Lee at High-A Wilmington, represent the future, or at least part of it. They still seem a million miles from Kauffman Stadium.

“This little group we have, including Khalil Lee, I think it’s going to be really special to have in a few years,” says Pratto.

“I think it’s good that we’re playing together right now. Because we’re really close. We really enjoy playing with each other and grinding this out.”

The grind continues in an hour or so against the Rome Braves. The bus for Asheville, N.C. leaves soon after. In three days, across two cities in the south, the future of the Royals will play three games, the grind will continue, and Pratto will avoid another ejection.

“If we all make it together,” he says, “I think we’re going to compete at the highest level.”

Thursday, May 24,Whitaker Bank Ballpark, Lexington, Ky.

There is an hour or so until first pitch, and Mr. Belding wants to meet the skipper. You always have to give love to the skipper, he says.

Belding — OK, yes, it’s actor Dennis Haskins — is standing on the dirt near the third-base dugout. He is surrounded by local television reporters. He has pulled a green Lexington Legends hat on his head. He is preparing for what he says is his 90th guest appearance at a minor-league baseball stadium — at least.

He has even obliged when one reporter has come forward with what has to be the most tired (and awesome) request of the night

“Will you say, ‘Hey, hey, hey! What is going on here?’ ” the reporter asks.

“Sure,” says Haskins, 67, before breaking into his old catchphrase from Saved by The Bell.

“Hey, hey, hey! What is going on here?”

Belding is what you might call a mainstay in minor-league baseball, where weird promotions are king. Tonight, for instance, is “Teacher Appreciation Night” in Lexington, and that means Principal Belding is here. Yet he also has a strange connection to the Royals franchise. In July of 2016, Belding stumbled upon a Royals scout named Alec Zumwalt at an airport in Chicago. The two men started talking baseball, and pretty soon he asked if he could pose with Zumwalt’s 2015 World Series ring.

The photo ended up on Instagram. Zumwalt made a new friend. And on this Thursday night in Lexington, Belding said his friend wanted him to go see Legends manager Scott Thorman.

Belding, of course, spent most of early 90s as the principal at fictional Bayside High. Which, come to think of it, probably wasn’t all that different than where Pratto went to school in Huntington Beach. But while Zack Morris starred on the basketball team before wrecking his knee, Pratto was always a natural at baseball.

He grew up with the game, idolizing every Dodgers player he watched and starring for a local all-star team that won the Little League World Series in 2011. He roped a walk-off single in the championship game against Japan. It was in those moments, he said, where he felt most at ease.

“I loved competing,” Pratto said. “It was fun to go head-to-head with somebody and win a ballgame that’s close.”

Pratto spent much of his childhood playing for his father, Jeff, who juggled office hours at the family iron foundry business with baseball practices. It was in those early years that Jeff learned that his son took baseball more seriously than most kids. His son listened; he studied. While some local boys viewed the sport as a fun escape, Nick pursued the game with an intense devotion.

“My dad noticed it early,” Pratto says, “so he kind of had to keep me at a certain level.”

By high school, Pratto had grown into one of the top first base prospects in the country. He shined on Team USA’s Under-18 team. He committed to the University of Southern California. He separated himself from other players in two

areas: He had a preternatural feel for the strike zone, and he had confidence.

“He’s got a little swagger to him,” says Royals assistant general manager J.J. Picollo. “It’s a good arrogance. It’s not cockiness. His teammates like him. It’s a hard one to describe, but when guys have that swagger, you feel it.”

Inside the Royals organization, club officials often drill their top prospects with a familiar phrase: You must treat teammates like they’re the high pick. It’s quaint and catchy and worthwhile. Yet like Eric Hosmer before him, the Royals believe Pratto is positioned to be a transformational figure. General manager Dayton Moore compares him to Astros catcher Brian McCann, whom he watched as a young player in Atlanta. Others see traces of Hosmer, a player who led with both confidence and humility.

“We’re all brothers,” Pratto says. “You got to have common courtesy and make sure guys are OK.”

On this night, however, Pratto is more concerned with his plate discipline than his leadership style. In the bottom of the first inning, he flied out to left field against Rome starter Drew Harrington, a former third-round pick. Two innings later, as Belding returned to the broadcast booth, Pratto dug back into the box.

With two men on base, Pratto saw a breaking ball and clubbed the pitch over the fence in right-center field. The blast gave the Legends a 5-2 lead in an eventual 7-2 victory, and the moment offered a glimpse of a picturesque left-handed stroke.

“Kind of reminds me of McCann in the batter’s box,” says Moore, the Royals’ general manager. “The way he hits, his sureness, his secureness as a baseball player.”

In the year since the Royals selected him in the first round, the comparisons to Hosmer have been easy to make. Pratto, who signed for $3.45 million, grades as a strong fielder. His power could come later. His makeup is solid. Pratto, though, has another model in mind: Reds first baseman Joey Votto.

“The way he approaches the game,” Pratto says. “The way he’s patient and really attacks his pitch. The way he plays a game with the pitcher. I think it’s awesome what he does.”

Votto is a future Hall of Famer and former NL MVP. Pratto is in A-ball with 56 strikeouts and a not-so-Votto-like 11 walks in 45 games. But a few weeks ago, Pratto says, he went and looked at some advanced data about the pitches he was taking. His numbers have not been perfect. In a way, they’ve been frustrating. Yet he still believes this: He knows the strike zone.

“I’m not taking black-and-white strikes,” he says. “The umpire’s zones vary, but just the inconsistency is a challenge.”

Friday, May 25,McCormick Field, Asheville, N.C.

Eighteen hours after finishing off a win in Lexington, the Legends arrived at McCormick Field in Asheville, N.C. They were here to play the Asheville Tourists, the A-ball affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They were tired … but not exhausted.

McCormick Field is a stadium cut into the base of a steep, wooded hill, surrounded by breweries and culture in a tourist mountain town. It is a stadium where they trademarked the term “Thirsty Thursday” in 1983 and filmed scenes for the movie “Bull Durham” a few years later. It is also a stadium with a 297-foot fence in right field.

This is one of the first things you notice when you arrive here. The locals say the wall in right field is 36-feet high, just slightly shorter than the Green Monster at Fenway Park. But boy, does the fence look close. The power alley in right-center is just 320 feet from home plate; the wall in center is 373. As the Legends opened up a weekend series against the Tourists, the dimensions were on the mind of MJ Melendez, 19, the Royals’ second-round pick in 2017.

Melendez smashed two line drives to deep right-center in his second and third at-bats, only to see both hauled in by an outfielder playing at a strange depth in a strange ballpark. It was the kind of night that would frustrate any young player. Then again, maybe he was due for some bad luck.

Melendez has hit .278 with five homers and a .589 slugging percentage in May. He’s spent much of the year proving that his bat is as advanced as his glove behind the plate.

“I knew my hit tool was under-looked,” Melendez says. “I knew what I could do. I knew I just hadn’t shown it yet.”

The Royals selected Melendez with the 52nd overall pick in the 2017 draft, one round after Pratto. They spent $2.1 million to convince him to skip college and begin his professional career. Considering the money, it was an obvious decision — but harder than most. Melendez was committed to play baseball at Florida International, where his father, Mervyl, is the head coach.

“It’s tough, especially seeing they’re now in postseason,” Melendez says. “I’m just wishing I could be there to help in any way.”

Melendez could be one of the top freshmen in all of college baseball. Instead, he is hitting in the middle of the lineup for the Legends, a bilingual catcher who can translate for teammates and bridge cultures in the clubhouse.

“You’re able to connect with both sides,” he says.

Melendez says his Spanish is fluent but not perfect. As a catcher who can communicate with both Latin and American pitchers and anybody else in the clubhouse, he offers a certain model for this era of baseball. His parents were both born in Puerto Rico, while he was born in Daytona Beach, Fla. and spent part of his childhood in Alabama where his father was coaching. He is, Royals officials say, one of the most confident kids in the organization’s history.

He lives in a three-bedroom apartment in Lexington with teammates Julio Gonzalez, Sal Biasi, Holden Capps and Colin Snyder. They spend their spare time playing Fortnite, the video game of the moment, and grilling out by the pool. It is a cliche minor-league existence. So is Asheville, the tourist town with the large selection of sour beers and the stadium cut into the hill. And on this night, Melendez finally breaks through in the ninth inning, drilling a double that lands among the strange dimensions.

It is his 10th double in 35 games, and he will finish the weekend hitting .271 with a .912 OPS. He nods his head. He could be a part of the future.

Saturday, May 26,McCormick Field, Asheville, N.C.

When Eric Hosmer arrived in Kansas City in 2011, he used to tell stories about the minor leagues. “We’ve won everywhere we’ve been” he would say. “So why can’t we win here?”

In the moment, it sounded both impressive and crazy. The Royals hadn’t won in more than 25 years, so that’s why they couldn’t win. But Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez had won championships in the minor leagues. And the success was part of the organizational plan.

“You want them to be familiar with each other,” says Picollo, the assistant GM. “You want them to experience winning in the minor leagues.”

he Lexington Legends are not quite on pace to win a championship. They entered Tuesday with a 26-22 record, 5 1/2 games out of first. But they are winning, and Pratto is leading, and Melendez is hitting, and Matias, the freakish slugger, has 13 homers in 36 games.

“He impresses me every day,” Melendez says.

On the third day with the future of the Royals, the Legends lost 3-0 to the Tourists. The town of Asheville braced for a Memorial Day weekend, and the line outside Wicked Weed Brewing cared little about baseball. The players, meanwhile, will prepare for more games and more bus rides and more postgame spreads of Raisin’ Canes and local barbecue. (“It’s not the food,” Pratto says. “It’s the amount.”)

Pratto will work on his understanding of the strike zone, and Melendez will groove his swing, and Matias will seek to cut down on his strikeouts. And maybe it will work.

“The key is to get the group of players together, and you explain it to them,” says Moore, the general manager. “You articulate it to them, and you say, ‘Look, here’s the deal, this is our expectation.’”

There are other prospects, too, even on Lexington. There is center fielder Marten Gasparini, a rare prospect from Italy, and there are young pitchers, and all could be part of the next wave. But for now, the Royals will focus on what they have. The future is here, in places like Lexington and Wilmington and other places in the South. The process continues.

NATIONALSyndergaard goes on DL with finger injuryAce sidelined by strained ligament in right index finger; Lugo to return to rotation in Thor's absenceMay 30, 2018 By Tori McElhaney/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/mets/news/noah-syndergaard-placed-on-disabled-list/c-278814136

Mets ace starter Noah Syndergaard was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday, retroactive to Saturday, with a strained ligament in his right index finger. An MRI performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York

on Tuesday revealed the ligament strain. A blood blister in the same finger surfaced during his start on Opening Day.

Syndergaard, who was expected to start the Mets' series finale against the Braves at SunTrust Park on Wednesday, was experiencing soreness and bruising at the base of his right wrist as he went through his routine on Monday.

"It started popping up after his last start and he really noticed it on his bullpen day," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "This is really something that just popped up. He had no symptoms of this at all."

Syndergaard is now the Mets' 10th player to be placed on the DL. He joins other big names like Yoenis Cespedes and Todd Frazier who are just now moving into rehab, with Frazier rehabbing with Triple-A Las Vegas, and Cespedes now running amid his recovery from a strained right hip flexor.

The Mets hope it will be a quick turnaround for the ace, who has gone 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA and 76 strikeouts over 64 2/3 innings in 11 starts this season.

"You know he just pitched a few days ago, threw a side yesterday and that's when he really started noticing it," Callaway said. "It was a little sore and he had some bruising at the base of his wrist and then we were like, 'Hey, we need to get this checked out.'

"Right now the goal is to rest it a couple of days and give him a bullpen [session] this weekend, and after that he should be ready to go."

Callaway said Syndergaard will wear a splint on the finger to keep it immobilized. Right-hander Gerson Bautista will remain with the team after being called up from Triple-A to serve as the Mets' extra player during Monday's doubleheader.

Syndergaard, who missed nearly the entire 2017 season with a right lat injury, had remained consistent in a rotation that has largely struggled. Beyond Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom (4-0, 1.52 ERA), Steven Matz, Jason Vargas and Zack Wheeler have each had their struggles, and the club traded Matt Harvey, once the franchise star, to the Reds earlier this month after designating him for assignment. deGrom avoided a major injury scare when hyperextending his pitching elbow in a May 2 start against the Braves, which forced him to hit the disabled list for the first time since 2014.

When it looked as though Syndergaard may have to be put on the DL, Callaway turned his thoughts toward options for filling the vacancy. Vargas will move up one day to start in Syndergaard's place Wednesday, but that still leaves a hole in the rotation. Callaway had someone in mind.

Seth Lugo, the starter-turned-reliever whose run of excellent outings ended when Braves pinch-hitter Charlie Culberson took him deep for a walk-off, two-run home run in the first game of Monday's doubleheader, didn't have to hang his head for long after taking the blown save.

"I called [Lugo] into the office right after he blew the save and told him that was the reason we made him go two innings," Callaway said. "Because he'll be starting on Thursday."

The plan to get Lugo back in a starting slot has been in the back of Callaway's mind.

"It's always something that we have to think about, the way we use guys," Callaway said. "It's not just 'throw them out there on any given day.' We really have to have a thought process of what's going on the next few days and use those guys accordingly. … You are going to have to pitch when your name is called. … They have to continue to accept it."

Lugo says that he is more comfortable as a starter despite pitching exclusively in relief (20 appearances) this season. And despite one pitch against the Braves on Monday, Lugo has been holding his own as a reliever. Throughout May, Lugo has made 11 appearances, striking out 21 with a 1.47 ERA through 18 1/3 innings.

"I'm really excited, you know, especially after that tough loss yesterday. I get to turn around and pitch again in a couple of days," Lugo said. "I have always been a starter … so it's easy for me to get back in that routine that I've always used."

Lugo contributed in the starting rotation last season, starting in all but one of his 19 appearances from June to September with the Mets. Lugo finished the season with a 7-5 record and a 4.71 ERA.

But Lugo won't be the only Mets reliever required to step up in the coming days. The Mets' manager specifically called out Paul Sewald, Robert Gsellman and Jacob Rhame as some guys he wants to see take up some of the slack in Lugo's absence from the bullpen.

"Other people are going to have to step up, because we are taking one of our better bullpen guys and putting him in the rotation," Callaway said. "But I think we all feel in the end that this is going to make us the best team."

MLB: Rizzo's slide should have been interferenceMay 29, 2018 By Carrie Muskat & Adam Berry/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/anthony-rizzo-slide-was-interference/c-278822572

The Pirates and Cubs were informed on Tuesday that Anthony Rizzo's controversial slide into Pirates catcher Elias Diaz on Monday should have been ruled interference on Rizzo, reigniting debate in both clubhouses.

Umpires ruled that Rizzo's eighth-inning slide home was legal, and a replay review upheld the call in the Cubs' 7-0 win over the Pirates at PNC Park. Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle was ejected for arguing the call.

Major League Baseball reviewed the play, and indicated that its determination was that there was a violation of the rule regarding slides. The Pirates were pleased to gain some clarity on the call, while Cubs manager Joe Maddon defended Rizzo and disagreed with MLB Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre.

"The call is made," Hurdle said. "Life isn't fair. Sport isn't fair sometimes. You play on. What's most important, from my perspective, is that we let the industry know this particular slide was illegal, for the sake of the catchers. That was my argument yesterday, and I'm glad we came to some conclusion and some closure."

It didn't seem to bring much closure for Maddon, however. He argued that MLB should not penalize "good, hard baseball" and expressed some interest in revisiting the rule at the end of the season.

"I talked to Mr. Torre and he explained to me his interpretation, and I told him with all due respect I absolutely disagree," Maddon said. "There's nothing wrong with that play. Again, the umpires got it right both in New York and on the field last night. Almost like a doctor reading an MRI, you might get two different opinions on the same set of information."

According to MLB Rule 6.01(j), a bona fide slide "occurs when the runner (1) begins his slide (i.e., makes contact with the ground) before reaching the base; (2) is able and attempts to reach the base with his hand or foot; (3) is able and attempts to remain on the base (except home plate) after completion of the slide; and (4) slides within reach of the base without changing his pathway for the purpose of initiating contact with a fielder."

After stepping on home plate to record the forceout on a ground ball by Cubs catcher Chris Gimenez, Diaz stepped forward and threw the ball to first base. Rizzo slid into Diaz's right ankle as he went home, seemingly deviating his path to break up the double play, and tripped up Diaz as he released the ball.

Rizzo said he was told by Maddon and Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein that it wasn't a "dirty play," even if it was illegal, and said that he doesn't intend to change the way he slides to break up double plays. Rizzo said he did not think "anyone has clarity on the rule," while Maddon described it as "nebulous with regards to interpretation."

"We play baseball. Everyone I talk to in baseball knows it's a hard slide to break up a double play," Rizzo said. "You can go in and not try to break up a double play, but we're taught as baseball players to break up a double play. It is what it is and we have to move on."

Rizzo slid into Diaz's right ankle as he went home, seemingly violating the fourth part of Rule 6.01(j) by changing his route to break up the double play, and he tripped up Diaz as he released the ball.

"You kind of have a white line that separates it. For 80 feet, he's on one side of the line, and for 10 feet, he's on the other side of the line -- and where's the catcher?" Hurdle said. "To me, that's what it looked like, and then the call wasn't made. So the only thing I'm going to do then is voice my disapproval."

Diaz's throw sailed into right field, and Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber scored on the error.

"For that group out there that believes Anthony is dirty in any way, shape or form, that's my biggest concern about this rule," Maddon said. "Because all of a sudden, either it's an announcer or a fan base or somebody that believes Anthony did something dirty. It's only because the catcher fell down. I mean, seriously, that's all that was about. And that's such a bad interpretation of all of that."

Hurdle asked for a replay review, which upset Maddon, but the call was upheld as a replay official could not definitively determine that Rizzo did not take a "bona fide slide" into home plate.

Diaz rolled around in front of the plate in pain after Rizzo's slide caught him unaware and unprotected. Diaz said his ankle still felt sore on Tuesday, but it did not prevent him from being listed in the starting lineup for Tuesday night's game at PNC Park, and he homered in his first at-bat. Diaz insisted that he did everything on the play the way he was taught, despite Maddon's assertion that Diaz did not properly clear a path for Rizzo, whose solo homer sparked a rally in the Cubs' 8-6 win on Tuesday.

"After what happened yesterday and seeing the back and forth from the decision-making, I've come to the conclusion that, no matter what, I'm just going to start protecting myself," Diaz said. "This game has been good to me. It matters to me. It matters to my family, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to just continue protecting myself."

In an exclusive Q&A, Commissioner Rob Manfred discusses pace of play, expansion, betting (sorry, Pete) and moreMay 30, 2018 By Ken Rosenthal/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/373342/2018/05/30/in-an-exclusive-qa-commissioner-rob-manfred-discusses-pace-of-play-expansion-betting-sorry-pete-and-more/

As traditional as baseball is, no sport can remain static. The game changes. Society changes. The expectations of fans and even laws change, too.

Here at The Athletic, we’ve written a lot lately about the challenges baseball faces and ways to improve the sport. Some of the ideas were radical, such as Jim Kaat’s proposal to reduce games from nine innings to seven and David Samson’s series of head-scratching, jaw-dropping suggestions. But given the number of issues in play — from pace of play to pace of action, legalized gambling to expansion, the strike zone to the composition of baseball — we decided it was time to seek actual answers.

Commissioner Rob Manfred operates with only so much power — he implements change only with the approval of his owners, and in many cases must also secure agreements with the players’ and umpires’ unions. But Manfred, as the most powerful man in the sport, certainly possesses the authority to outline positions, propose solutions and drive conversations.

I sat down with Manfred on Tuesday at Major League Baseball’s offices in New York City for a wide-ranging discussion on the game’s present and future.

Rosenthal: We’re roughly one-third of the way into the season. How would you assess the way the pace-of-play initiatives are going?

Manfred: I’m positive about how they’ve gone for two reasons. No. 1, the threshold matter on any rule change is, “Has it been disruptive on the field?” I don’t think either the (changes in) innings breaks or the mound-visit rule has been disruptive on the field. People adjusted. We’ve had some other rules that had a longer period of adjustment. These did not. That’s a positive.

And we reversed the trend (on time of game). We had been going up every year. We’re down right around three hours right now (the average time of a nine-inning game through

Tuesday night was three hours, 25 seconds; at the same point last year it was 3:04:06 and at the end of the season it was 3:05:11). I see that as a positive. There is no silver bullet on this that is going to take you to 2:40, not that I’m suggesting that is my goal. This is ongoing maintenance, making sure it doesn’t go in the wrong direction and trying to move it back in the right direction.

Rosenthal: Do you still believe a pitch clock is necessary?

Manfred: I think the clock probably would be a positive on pace of game. I am thinking about what our strategy should be for the next off-season. I think some of the things we have seen this year suggest that maybe we should be thinking a little broader than just pace.

Rosenthal: This is the next question — pace of action. This is an ongoing issue. The trend is clear that there are fewer balls in play, and it’s not just a one-year trend. How concerned are you that for some fans — maybe not all — the game is simply becoming too dull?

Manfred: I don’t believe the game is dull. I just absolutely will not buy into the characterization of our game as dull. I do believe this: There is a growing recognition that analytics have produced certain trends in the game that we may need to be more pro-active about reversing.

There are owners that feel that way. There are fans that feel that way. To me, those are really important indicators of what we ought to be thinking about.

Rosenthal: Early in your tenure, you said you were open to banning shifts. There was immediate blowback. But, as you just mentioned, analytics have produced certain trends. Some people believe the increase in shifts led to the launch-angle revolution, which led to pitchers working more up in the zone, which led to more strikeouts. So, is it time to give more serious consideration to the banning of shifts?

Manfred: I’m not prepared to get into individual rule changes at this point. This is as far as I will go: I do think there is sentiment in the game for the idea that we need to be more aggressive about managing the trends that have been introduced in the game, at least partly based on analytics. And when I say more aggressive, I mean beyond just pace issues.

Rosenthal: What about mid-inning pitching changes? I don’t know if they fall into this category or not.

Manfred: Same category. I’m just not ready to go there.

Rosenthal: What other ideas are you considering to increase the rate of action?

Manfred: I genuinely don’t mean to be uncooperative on this, but we’re at a point in the process where we’re kind of shifting our thinking.

Let me go back. We thought focusing on pace was the low-hanging, least controversial set of changes. We’re in the process as a result of two things — No. 1, apparently we’re going to have resistance (from the players’ union) even on pace changes and No. 2, there is a growing recognition that maybe we need to go beyond pace changes. You put those two things together, and we’re just beginning the process of saying, ‘OK, if we’re going to get off pace and get into a little different vein, what are we thinking about?’ I’m just not ready to talk about that publicly.

Rosenthal: Given that the reduction of balls in play has played out over several years, really almost a decade, at what point does the situation become urgent?

Manfred: I would not use the word “urgent.” I think it’s at a point in time where we need to be a little more aggressive. It’s not like we didn’t see what was happening. The hope always is the game is going to self-correct. That’s the natural response to these sorts of changes.

At the beginning, when the shifts started and started to pick up, people said, “They’re going to learn to hit the other way. They’re going to bunt.” We just haven’t seen those changes. It evolved a different way. Because we have not seen the natural correction, because the trends seem to be persistent, I think we’re at the point in time that we do need to think about and really analyze hard some potential changes.

Rosenthal: Competitive balance is always a hot topic. Five teams are on pace to lose 100-games and a sixth is close to that pace. The record for a single season is four. How much does this concern you? I know it’s an early stage of the season. This can correct. But those teams also might get worse.

Manfred: Focusing on a third of a season given what our record on competitive balance has been over the last decade and a half doesn’t seem wise to me. We’ve had 12 different winners in 17 years. Twenty-seven of 30 teams have made it to the playoffs over the last decade even though we have the most selective playoff system in professional sports.

I think our record on competitive balance is pretty good. You look at the divisions right now. If you had read (in the) preseason, you would think we were going to have four or five teams that were knighted. It was all going to be over by May 1. That’s just not what we’re seeing.

Do I like teams losing 100 games? We’ve never liked teams losing 100 games. Obviously that’s not great for the fans in those markets. It does concern us. But frankly, the increase from four to five (100-loss teams) is hardly seismic.

Rosenthal: The strike zone is a never-ending source of discussion . . .

Manfred: I will tell you something about the strike zone. The strike zone has to be in the set of issues you talk about whenever you talk about the game. The difficulty with the strike zone is that when you talk to really good baseball people, you get vastly different predictions as to what you’re going to get if you make a change. That always makes me nervous.

If you get people we respect, people who have been around the game a long time, who played the game, and they at least directionally agree, “If you do X, you’re going to get Y,” can you turn out to be wrong? Yeah, you can. But what really makes you nervous is when people say, “We’re going to do X,” and some people say, “You’re going to get A,” and others say, “You’re going to get B,” and others say, “You’re going to get Z.” That really makes me nervous.

Rosenthal: So it’s hard to change . . .

Manfred: I wouldn’t say it that way. I think with the technology we have, we’ve shown that you can adjust the strike zone through our evaluation system. The umpires are in fact really skilled. When you motivate them to move in a

particular direction, they do. What concerns me more is the unpredictability of the outcome of a particular change.

Rosenthal: Given that, can you foresee a time when the zone is called by technology and not by umpires?

Manfred: Let me say it in two different pieces. I think we are much closer than we were a year ago to having the technological capability to actually call the strike zone. We have worked very hard on PITCHf/x (a pitch-tracking system). Hats off to (MLB Executive Vice-President of Strategy, Technology and Innovation) Chris Marinak and (Chief Technology Officer) Jason Gaedtke.

The accuracy is way up — way better than what it was a year ago. The technology continues to move . . . and it actually moved a little faster than I might have thought.

There remains a fundamental question the owners are going to have to address. When you take away the home plate umpire’s control over the strike zone, you take away a principal piece of his authority in terms of managing the whole game. You really need to think carefully about whether you want to make that change.

Rosenthal: I imagine the umpires would be violently opposed…

Manfred: It’s interesting. Fifteen years ago, the umpires were violently opposed to instant replay. They came around and actually wanted it. Who knows? We haven’t had a lot of conversations with them on this topic, but I do think there is a serious management-of-the-game issue you’d have to think about with respect to that change.

Rosenthal: Let’s talk about the baseball itself, getting to the report from last week (a committee of 10 experts, assembled by Manfred, attributed the increase in home runs, at least in part, to “a change in the aerodynamic properties” of the ball, citing, a “reduced drag for given launch conditions.”)

For years, baseball said there was no change in the ball. It turns out there was a change — inadvertently, it seems, and not in the way anyone suspected. Do you plan to address that in any way?

Manfred: The report says something happened that reduced drag. Whatever it was, there was no purposeful or known alteration of the baseball. (People wanted to test) whether the specifications were too wide (in range) or not. The report says they’re within a much narrower range than the actual specifications.

They don’t know what the drag change is. Maybe it’s global warming, who knows? (The committee determined weather is not a factor). We’re going to continue to test and hopefully we will get to the bottom of that.

Rosenthal: Why is there even drag? It just seems to be an odd thing.

Manfred: (The committee) did put forward two hypotheses. You can understand over time, with improved manufacturing capabilities, the centering of the pill (the round, cushioned cork center) might improve. No one would have noticed that. No one ever tested the centering of the pill. No one ever tested drag before we did, right?

And we did have the mud change. We have a different person (harvesting) it. It’s coming from the same place (the New

Jersey side of the Delaware River). One of the things they’ve noticed, we’ve noticed, is that baseballs look different. It is a human process by which a guy puts mud on a baseball.

(The committee recommended a standardized application of mud on balls, which is used by clubhouse attendants to make balls less slippery; the texture of the surface affects drag).

Rosenthal: What about the tackier (stickier) ball you’ve tested? (The goal of such a ball would be to end pitchers’ rule-bending use of pine tar, sunscreen, rosin and other foreign substances).

Manfred: Over the long haul, I do think the idea of a baseball that is tackier and eliminates any human variation — whether it’s the way it’s mudded, the use of tar, whatever — would be a positive for the game. We haven’t gotten there in terms of the rest of the performance characteristics of the baseball.

Rosenthal: Let’s talk about the schedule. There are people on all sides who suggest that maybe it would be better to shorten it from 162 games. And yet, because of the financial implications, it almost seems like a non-starter. But might there be ways for players to share the burden of this without reducing their pay?

Manfred: There is always a deal to be made. So in the right package, do the financial issues get resolved? Yes and maybe no is how I would answer that question.

Yes in the sense of the aggregate amount of dollars involved. It would be possible in some package to make that (shortfall) up. The thornier issue is that it cuts very unevenly across the clubs. You’re going to go to 154 probably, that would be the number that makes the most sense. Some clubs tell you it doesn’t matter that much. Other clubs tell you it’s a fortune. That unevenness is always a complicating factor.

Rosenthal: How do you view legalized sports gambling for baseball. Is it an opportunity? Is it a threat? Is it both?

Manfred: It’s a reality. I want to be really clear about this. I think there’s a misconception. We were not out there saying, “Let’s have legalized sports betting.” We watched the progress of the litigation that we brought (along with the three other major professional leagues and NCAA) to prevent sports betting and came to the realization there was an “L” out there.

Once we came to the realization that there was a loss possible, we talked to people in other countries where sports betting had become legal. The advice we got consistently was, “If it’s coming, you need to protect yourself.” That answers the threat question.

I do believe we will — of necessity — have to be more vigilant about monitoring integrity issues. That includes weighing in with regulators as to what kind of bets ought to happen, monitoring gambling activity. This can be a threat to our product. People say, “Well, it happens in Las Vegas.” A relatively small sports book in Las Vegas is something very different than sports betting nationwide, which is probably what you’re looking at, No. 1.

No. 2, people who say you can leave it to state regulators — no thank you. Nice offer, but we will take care of our own integrity.

Do we recognize that sports betting can be a source of fan engagement? Yes, we do. In that sense, it is an opportunity.

Obviously, we want people engaged with our sport. So, it’s both.

Rosenthal: I’ve always felt one of the reasons baseball is so popular is that people enjoy it in any number of ways — through fantasy, being a fan of a team, etc. Well, here’s another way.

Manfred: I agree with that. I’m not going to deny there’s upside. That doesn’t mean, for example, we ought to allow whoever the oddsmaker is in a particular state to ride free on our intellectual property and impose on us the burden of additional integrity monitoring just because there might be some upside for us. We’re perfectly fine where we are.

Rosenthal: Will legalized gambling change the outlook on baseball’s relationship with Pete Rose?

Manfred: No matter what happens in terms of legalization, there will always be a rule that prohibits betting on baseball. That’s the bedrock of our integrity. That’s the rule Pete Rose violated. Whether (gambling) is legal or illegal, the rule is still going to be there. First of all, it was illegal when he did it. But more importantly, we’re always going to have that rule applicable to on-field personnel. It doesn’t change my thinking at all.

Rosenthal: On expansion, you said recently you would like to get to 32 teams, that there are benefits to scheduling and the playoff format. Beyond eight four-team divisions, what do you have in mind in terms of structure?

Manfred: The toughest thing for us in the playoffs is always Anaheim against Boston (in a hypothetical matchup) on those four-game days in the Division Series. You’re either playing too early for the people in Anaheim or too late for the people in Boston.

Realignment has always been a difficult issue in baseball. You can make an argument that the demise of at least one commissioner (Fay Vincent in 1992) began with the issue of realignment. The reality of today’s media environment is that if you went to 32 teams and you could get to a more geographically-based alignment, you could help your playoff format, you could reduce your travel, you could more easily discuss things like a split season.

I’m not saying I’m in favor of any of those. I just think it creates options that the current three-fives (three divisions of five teams in each league) essentially make unavailable to you as a result of the inflexibility of the schedule.

Rosenthal: Where are you on a split season?

Manfred: I’ve never been a huge split-season fan. I think there is something pure about the one, long, grind-it-out (aspect). I’m sort of a purist. I know someone will say, “Oh my God, he characterized himself as a purist for the first time ever.” But I’m sort of a one-season thinker.

Rosenthal: Would a balanced schedule be more likely with expansion?

Manfred: Yeah, I think you probably could (do that). Balanced, unbalanced, it’s one of those issues like the DH. People are always going to debate it. The argument now is, “Win within your division. Winning the division is a big deal. You’ve got to play more games in the division.” That’s a good argument. I think it makes sense. The question is, how much?

Rosenthal: How would the playoffs work? Do you have an idea?

Manfred: We’ve just begun talking about a lot of formats. I want to be clear about expansion. We’re fortunate. I would not have raised the issue of expansion. We’ve made clear we have two big issues — Tampa Bay and Oakland — that need to be resolved before we think about it. But the fact of the matter is, we’re blessed. We’ve got cities out there that want to have Major League Baseball. And I think Major League Baseball has to show some receptivity to that because down the road, we are interested in it.

Rosenthal: That includes international cities?

Manfred: Some, yes.

Rosenthal: Last thing. In your mind, how healthy is the game right now, and how much healthier could it be if you did certain things?

Manfred: I think the game is very healthy. We’ve had two great postseasons in a row. It has increased the buzz around our game dramatically. Our involvement in the technology space has really helped people’s perception of the game. Financially, we’ve been a tremendous success. Our revenues continue to grow. And putting aside our weather-related issues at the beginning of this season, (average major league attendance through 62 dates is down from 29,172 to 27,334, a decline of 6.7 percent, according to STATS LLC) 114 million people go to watch baseball live, between us and the minor leagues. That’s the sign of a really, really healthy sport.

Having said that, no institution — no matter how great it is, and I do think our entertainment product is great — can sit still in today’s world. You have to think about ways to continue to grow the ties you have to our existing fans, which really matter to us, and how you make sure the game gets passed on to the next generation with the same kind of passion it has for yours and mine.

The risky (and challenging) business of identifying and developing pitchers in an era of changeMay 29, 2018 By Peter Gammons/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/371678/2018/05/29/gammons-the-risky-and-challenging-business-of-identifying-and-developing-pitchers-in-an-era-of-change/

On June 4, Major League Baseball begins its annual amateur draft, and if, as expected, Auburn’s Casey Mize is selected by the Tigers, he will be the sixth pitcher taken with the first pick in the last dozen years.

Sunday afternoon, Gerrit Cole faced his former UCLA staffmate Trevor Bauer. On one of those draft nights, Cole and Bauer were the first and third players picked, and on national television they were showcased as what the draft is all about.

They are now among the 10 best pitchers in the game, essentially what everyone thought they were. But understand this: While Cole and Bauer were arguably one of the two best pairs of starters in college baseball history, they got here in their eighth professional seasons. Each has been traded. Each has had return trips to the minor leagues.

Neither Cole nor Bauer has yet finished in the top three in a Cy Young Award voting, but, then each can take heart in this fact of life: Five pitchers won Cy Young Awards from 2015 to 2017 — Max Scherzer, Dallas Keuchel, Cory Kluber, Rick Porcello and Jake Arrieta. Not one was drafted with a top 10 pick. All but Keuchel were traded before they won the award, and Keuchel made 179 pro starts over six years before he had his first winning season in the major leagues.

And in the 11 seasons before Mize’s time, David Price, Stephen Strasburg and Cole were the first picks in their drafts. Mark Appel and Brady Aiken were the first picks in theirs.

Remember, the baseball draft began in 1965. When Trevor Hoffman and Jack Morris are inducted into the Hall of Fame this July, there will be 12 pitchers in the Hall who went through the draft; not one was selected in the first round of the regular phase. Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were taken in the second, Dennis Eckersley, Bert Blyleven and Randy Johnson in the third.

In a game in which 20 starting pitchers average more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings and the Tampa Bay Rays have started relievers for one-inning stints five times, one thing seems clear: Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner are the outliers, top 10 selections drafted and developed into Cy Youngs by their original teams. Closer to the norm was 2014, when the Astros took San Diego high school left-handed pitcher Brady Aiken with the first pick, did not sign him, and were rewarded with the second pick in the 2015 draft. Fortunately for Houston, that selection turned into Alex Bregman, who became a key member of the 2018 world champions.

Take the 2015, 2016 and 2017 world champions: The Royals, Cubs and Astros, respectively. They were built by high drafts of position players and supplemented when, as Dayton Moore always says, their time came and they traded for Johnny Cueto, Aroldis Chapman, Justin Verlander.

Analytics and the scientific hitting data that have changed offensive game plans have made the third time through the order a wall starting pitchers have to hurdle. The Dodgers got to Game 7 of last year’s World Series sticking with that theory, and while those teams with vintage innings starters—Houston, first and foremost, but Boston, Cleveland and Washington—try to get their starters into or through the seventh inning, reality is that by the sixth inning, most games have become a bobsled run of relievers.

The New York Times’ Tyler Kepner pointed out in his Sunday piece on Tampa’s experiment of starting relievers Sergio Romo and Ryne Stanek that the inning this season in which the most runs are scored is the first; hence matching a right-handed reliever against right-handed lineups and making it an eight-inning game. Now, as one American League East manager points out, “Kevin Cash is as good as any manager around, but he’s not doing that when he has Chris Archer or Blake Snell starting. He’s not going it against a balanced top of the order like Boston. And, let’s face it, you’re not telling Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander or Chris Sale to wait until the second inning to go to the mound.”

Cash has a severe pitching shortage. A lot of teams have a shortage of starting pitchers and have to hope they get 15 outs before using the bullpen. Jimmy Buffett called it “Trying to Reason With the Hurricane Season.”

Here’s the follow-up: Kepner wrote that the second highest scoring inning this season has been the sixth. Third Time Around The Order.

Then add in the increasing medical breakdowns afflicting starters and 180 innings is the new 200 innings, or — back in the days when greenies roamed the green, green grass of the game — 220 innings. Not one starter threw 220 innings in 2017. Only 15 threw 200. In 2010, 45 threw 200.

Then consider that there were 315 pitchers who started games in 2017, 10.5 per team. That’s a lot of games pitched by backend starters in the International and Pacific Coast Leagues.

Several general managers and scouting directors come back to the draft and how pitchers today are developed. “Most teams prefer college pitchers,” says a National League general manager. “But in today’s college game, the coaches have become such control freaks they call every pitch from the bench. You see the catchers looking over to the bench, then at their arms where they have all kinds of charts that tell them what the signs mean, and not only do the games last forever and the pitchers stand around cold—and in some programs then have to throw over to first base endlessly—but they do not learn to pitch. They’re simply executing an order. They don’t look in and watch hitters’ swing paths or how hitters adjust their feet, and, by the way, the coaches can’t see that from the bench, either. It hurts the catchers, who have to learn to call games in pro ball.” (An exception is Georgia Tech’s Joey Bart, who is allowed to call pitches, one of many reasons he likely will be one of the first two players selected on Monday).

“Cole and Bauer are smart, they are individuals who really want to be great, like Verlander, but it took them seven years to get to where they are now,” continues the GM.

Aaron Nola of the Phillies is an outlier, although he was a great college pitcher with feel who wasn’t a radar gun killer. He got taken with the seventh pick in 2014 and is right now a top three starter in WAR in the National League. Three pitchers were taken ahead of Nola in that 2014 draft—Aiken, Tyler Kolek and Carlos Rodon. They all have had surgery. Look at 2016: Six pitchers, high school and college, were taken in the first 12 picks. Every one of them has had surgery — the Padres’ Cal Quantrill went under the knife while he was at Stanford.

Therein lies a major issue in developing young pitchers. They are developed and rated by showcases, partially for their pitching ability, mostly for their velocities, and orthopedic doctors and scientists like Glenn Fleisig feel teenagers’ physiques can only hold up through a limited number of 95-103 mph pitches. Kolek is a great example. The Marlins took him with the second pick in the draft, and passed on Nola, because Kolek threw 100+ mph. A year later he had surgery. In 2016, 2017 and 2018 he has totaled 3 2/3 innings.

“The wear on these high-profile showcase kids is ridiculous,” says one National League scouting director. “It’s all about velocity and two-inning stints.”

In that 2015 draft, the Braves took two high school pitchers — lefty Kolby Allard with the 14th pick, and Mike Soroka with 28 — because of their feel for pitching. “They’re special, they’re going to be big factors for us in the second half of the season,” says Braves manager Brian Snitker. “They can pitch.” They are also 20 years old, and had they

gone to a big college program would be draft-eligible next June. “They are a testament to the notion that scouts ought to leave their radar guns in their cars and watch the games,” says one scouting director.

With starting pitching becoming so rare and so increasingly fragile, not only have relievers seen more usage in matchup roles—if you’re a Dodger reliever, you probably know whom you will face two hours before game time—but now, increasingly, also in 4-10 out roles.

“If we went back five years, Josh Hader and Archie Bradley would be either closers or starters,” says Arizona General Manager Mike Hazen. “But the game has changed to the hybrid roles they now fill.”

Rather than closers, Hader and Bradley are stoppers. “We use Josh at the time when we most need to shut the game down,” says Brewers manager Craig Counsell. In 11 appearances, Hader has pitched two or more innings. Going into Sunday, Hader had pitched in 18 games. The Brewers had won every one of those games. In 31 1/3 innings, his 62-10 strikeout-walk ratio is the sickest in the sport.

This version of the stopper came into focus in 2016 when the Indians acquired Andrew Miller and Terry Francona used him when he most needed him, allowing Cody Allen to, by and large, get the ninth inning with a clean slate. Brian Cashman saw this role emerging and built the Yankees bullpen up with Chad Green and David Robertson. Amir Garrett is becoming that stopper in Cincinnati, they just can’t get to him with enough leverage situation leads. As Joe Kelly—who has allowed one run since Opening Day, and has become a four-pitch guy with a filthy change and slider and 100 mph fastball—is used in the seventh or eighth, in front of Craig Kimbrel, depending on the game. In his last two outings before Sunday, Kelly was used in the seventh, because both times the Red Sox had a one-run lead; against the Orioles, on the 20th, Kelly protected that one-run lead by facing the heart of the Orioles order and struck out Adam Jones and Manny Machado with changeups that followed triple digit four-seamers.

For now, Oakland is using Blake Treinen in a more traditional closer role. “When we have another closer,” says Oakland pitching coach Scott Emerson, “Blake Treinin will be one of the best in that super reliever, stopper role. He can be the right-handed Hader.”

“With pitching the way it is, we can’t go on asking four starters and use five relievers,” says an AL general manager. The 1971 Orioles ain’t coming through that door, a team for which Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson started 143 games, threw 1080 1/3 innings and won 81 games. “We have to be creative,” says the GM.

Billy Eppler got creative with Shohei Ohtani. Tampa Bay may do the same with Brendan McKay. Maybe Bruce Bochy will DH Madison Bumgarner in an interleague road game. Years ago I saw Don Zimmer alternate Tom Burgmeier and Dick Drago between pitching and left field to save a game in Texas. Ask George Brett: His older brother Ken, who once homered in four consecutive starts, was Ohtani before Ohtani. Had he been the fourth pick in last year’s draft, like McKay, and what he was in 1966, they’d try to find a way to use him.

The risks involved in spending $6 million on a Tyler Kolek aren’t going away; the showcases are big-money propositions when it comes to the teenage pitchers, and the college

coaches are under too much pressure to stop calling every pitch and making their games for their own good, not the good development of their players.

Justin Verlander is probably going to be the first pitcher drafted in the first round to be inducted in Cooperstown. Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw will likely follow. Sergio Romo, not so much, although the Rays are a .667 team when he starts.

“The key to managing a mid-rung pitching staff is having lots of optionable pitchers you can shuttle to and from your Triple A affiliate,” says one general manager. “We thought about having two lockers with ‘TBA’ nameplates in the pitchers’ lockers area of the clubhouse.”

We all want Mize to be the next Verlander or Cole. But we have to remember that professional scouting and Jake Westbrook brought Kluber to Cleveland, that Jacob deGrom was a ninth-round pick and that Luis Severino was an international signing. And, if Mize has moments when he stumbles through the underbrush to the major leagues, he should remember that, in their eighth professional seasons, Cole and Bauer finally became what we thought they’d be — because they never gave up.

Somewhere in this draft, there may be a Keuchel. Ask Matt Harvey. When you’re a pitcher, there’s a thin line between love and hate, the All-Star Game and the DL.

MLB TRANSACTIONSMay 30, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

May. 30th, 2018

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

STL

Alex ReyesRemoved From 60-Day DL (Recovery from right elbow surgery)

STL

Alex Reyes Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

May. 29th, 2018

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

CIN

Tanner Rainey Sent to Minors

C

Jeff Beliveau Purchased From Minors

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

LE

CIN

Jesus Reyes Called Up from Minors

HOU

Brian McCann

Placed on 10-Day DL (Right knee soreness)

NYM

Anthony Swarzak

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

CLE

Myles Jaye Traded From Minnesota (for cash considerations)

ATL

Anibal Sanchez

Removed From 10-Day DL (Right hamstring strain)

HOU

Tim Federowicz Purchased From Minors

ATL

Sims, Lucas Sent to Minors

BOS

Adam Lind Signed to a Minor League Contract

ATL

Anibal Sanchez

Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

CAdam Plutko Sent to Minors

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

LE

LAD

Brock Stewart Sent to Minors

LAD

Breyvic Valera Called Up from Minors

CHW

Jairo Labourt Signed to a Minor League Contract

NYM

Noah Syndergaard

Placed on 10-Day DL (Strained ligament in right index finger)

CHC

Efren Navarro Outrighted to Minors

SD

Tyler Webb Sent to Minors

TOR

Aledmys Diaz

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

ARI

Shelby Miller

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

SF

Derek Law Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

T

Eliezer Alvarez

Designated for Assignment

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

EX

PHI

Crawford, J.P.

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

TEX

Ricky Rodriguez

Removed From 60-Day DL (Right biceps tendinitis)

TEX

Ricky Rodriguez

Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

TEX

Ricky Rodriguez Sent to Minors