Major League Baseball, proposing that teams be permitted to have 14 pitchers on their 26-man rosters instead of 13 in the next collective bargaining agreement, will also discuss modifying the rule on when position players can be used as pitchers in the game.
Several club executives and managers agree that games are turning into a farce in blowouts with the proliferation of position players taking the mound.
It has become totally absurd, ruining the integrity of the game, and destroying the sanctity of records.
In what once was a bit of comic relief in blowouts has become a disgusting display that’s more suited for the Savannah Bananas than actual major league games.
The Chicago Cubs set a franchise record, one shy of the Major League record, by
hitting nine home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers last week, but three of those homers were hit off first baseman Andrew Vaughn. The Cubs were able to pad their stats by facing Vaughn 18 times that night. Eighteen!
Remember when folks were saying that Shohei Ohtani’s 6-for-6 performance with three homers and 10 RBI against the Miami Marlins last year was the greatest game in baseball history?
Well, does it bother anyone that his three-run homer in his final at-bat was off Marlins infielder Vidal Brujan? Would anyone be calling a two-homer, seven-RBI game historic?
Should a prized rookie prospect like Minnesota Twins outfielder Walker Jenkins be laughing when he hits his first career homer with his teammates asking whether it should actually count, considering it was a 37-mph eephus pitch from Detroit Tigers utilityman Zach McKinstry?
Uncle!
Just 20 years ago, not once did a position player come into pitch during a blowout.
Ten years ago, it happened 24 times.
This season, position players have pitched a major-league record 135 times, according to FanGraphs.
It’s almost an everyday occurrence, with every team using a position player to pitch at least once this year, with the Dodgers even using Enrique Hernandez to pitch on the first day of September callups.
A position player has entered the game to pitch five times before the eighth inning, according to FanGraphs, with nine position players staying in the game to record more than three outs.
Athletics infielder Carlos Cortes has pitched nine times!
Enough is enough.
It would be easier to stomach having teams just forfeit games at that point and walk off the field than continuing this charade.
What happens when a position player blows out his arm on the mound, or wildly plunks an opposing hitter in the face? Will we still be laughing?
If MLB doesn’t modify the rule permitting teams to use position players to pitch when trailing by at least eight runs or leading by at least 10 runs in the ninth inning or later, teams should just put a circus tent over the field for the next occasion.
It’s an absolute travesty and has become an embarrassment to the game.
Around the Basepaths
- Rival MLB executives are convinced that John Mozeliak is staying put in Anaheim and will be the Angels president of baseball operations, and if there were any lingering doubts, they were erased when he restructured the front office last week.
- Rival owners predict that the Cincinnati Reds could be the next MLB team sold. Certainly, Bob Castellini will make a cool profit if he does put them on the block, purchasing the franchise for $270 million in 2006. It’s now worth about $1.6 billion.
- The New York Mets didn’t know if any team would actually be willing to pay $5 million for one month of Luis Roberts’ services when they placed him on waivers, and it turned out that at least two of them did, with the Baltimore Orioles claiming him as well as the San Diego Padres. The Orioles, with the worst record, won the claim.The Orioles now must decide whether they want to pick up his $20 million option next season or pay him a $2 million buyout.
- Remember when no one wanted to declare that the Seattle Mariners’ season was over because they were playing 16 of their final 22 games against the Athletics, Rockies and Angels?Well, when you’re 66-76 and look lifeless all season, maybe the Athletics, Rockies and Angels are saying the same thing about the Mariners as they try to avoid 100 losses?
- Corbin Burnes, who signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks after the 2024 season only to undergo Tommy John surgery one month into his deal, will return to the mound Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals. It will be his first appearance in 15 months. The D-backs will be cautious with him, knowing he still has four years, $140 million remaining on his contract, but his return could be a boost for their playoff hopes the final three weeks.Burnes’ return also gives teams a free look at him if Burnes really wanted to take the massive gamble and exercise his opt-out, but teams are fully expecting him to stay in Arizona.
- If teams want a scouting report on how to slow down Chicago Cubs MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong, they may want to study the Milwaukee Brewers.Crow-Armstrong is hitting just .108 with one extra-base hit against the Brewers this season with 18 strikeouts in 37 at-bats. His slash line: .108/.233/.189.
- Kudos to Minnesota Twins starter Pablo Lopez, who underwent season-ending elbow surgery in February, but instead of going home, staying out of sight, or, uh, hitting the casinos while his team is playing, he has been with the Twins every single game, including every road trip.
- Why are folks in Anaheim jazzed up for Stan Kroenke’s ownership of the Los Angeles Angels?His teams have won two Super Bowls, two Stanley Cups, an NBA championship, an MLS Cup, two NLL championships and a Premier League championship.
- If WAR was really this all-encompassing stat, then why wasn’t Baltimore Orioles center fielder Colton Cowser credited a full 1.0 when he robbed Brandon McCarthy of a game-winning two-run homer, preserving the victory for the Orioles? Isn’t that a full win above replacement?
- You ever wonder why first basemen don’t flip the baseball to a pitcher covering first base more frequently?It turns out that your analytic defensive statistics improve if you take the ball yourself.Really, just like infielders are penalized when they pick up the ball on balls that fall between the infield and outfield instead of the outfielder.And you wonder why no one wants to move runners over these days to protect their batting average.
- This isn’t quite what the Chicago White Sox had in mind when they acquired veteran starter Luis Castillo from the Seattle Mariners at the deadline.Castillo is yielding a 7.52 ERA and has lasted just 26.1 innings in his six starts.Oh, and they assumed the entire $30 remaining in his contract, too.
- It was an unbelievable run, but Shohei Ohtani’s bid for his fourth consecutive MVP award is over, with his recent struggles with nagging injuries preventing him from returning to the mound.It’s Pete Crow-Armstrong’s award to lose.
- When healthy players take days off, they may want to look at Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy for inspiration.Murphy, 67, underwent surgery to repair a ruptured disk in late June, returned to the ballpark the next day, and still needs hip replacement surgery when the season ends.‘‘Being tired is for guys who pick another profession,’’ Murphy told reporters. ‘‘Professional bowling is not as taxing. I don’t know. But if you’re tired, get another job.’’
- Hall of Fame second baseman Jeff Kent became a hero among his peers last week in his jersey retirement press conference in San Francisco when asked about the Giants’ struggles under Buster Posey, president of baseball operations.“I hope that there’s patience with Buster Posey because it’s going to be an uphill battle to change the dynamic of the evolution of a game that has gone the wrong way. I’m sorry. It’s gone the wrong way. …Analytics should be in the game to a point, but I think we’ve taken it too far where we’ve lost these kids. Because now run production is a .240 batting average and driving in 76 runs and you get paid $20 million. I don’t freaking get that.“I’m hoping that the game can be steered closer to run production. It won’t get there. … (But) I would think that as a hitter, if a guy kept getting you out eight out of 10 times, that a hitter would go, ‘Screw this. I’m tired of getting out.’ But if we got owners that are paying these kids $20 million to hit .220, I don’t know if they’ll stop.’’
- Who would have imagined that the best pitcher acquired at the trade deadline would be Tyler Mahle, with Alex Anthopoulos striking gold once again?Mahle, who was 3-9 with a 5.13 ERA in 18 starts with the San Francisco Giants, is now 2-1 with a 1.48 ERA with Atlanta, giving up just five earned runs in 30.1 innings. Opposing hitters’ OPS has plummeted from .848 to .583.
- The Chicago White Sox are interested in talking to slugger Munetaka Murakami about an extension, but it’s impossible to know what he’s worth.Is he the guy who hit .232 with 20 homers, 42 RBI with a .911 OPS in 60 games in the first half, making the White Sox look brilliant by signing him to a two-year, $34 million contract?Or is he the guy who’s hitting .123 with four homers and 46 strikeouts since Aug. 5, making scouts believe they were right all along in predicting his struggles?
- The scariest development for rival teams isn’t that the Angels will soon be owned by the richest man in baseball in Stan Kroenke, but that the good folks in Tampa are building the Rays a new ballpark.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB weighs position-player pitching rule, Corbin Burnes returns and more MLB news
