Getty Images For as long as I can recall, Sandy Koufax has shown up at Mets spring training to do a little coaching of Mets pitchers and a little meet-and-greet kind of thing each year. This owing to his friendship with Mets owner Fred Wilpon.
I wonder if that’s all over, because the Los Angeles Dodgers announced today that Koufax has been hired as a special assistant to chairman Mark Walter, to work with Dodgers pitchers in Spring Training and to serve as a consultant throughout the year.
A nice move for the Dodgers, both substantively and for p.r. purposes, and, with all due respect to the Mets, a much more appropriate team for Sandy Koufax to associate himself with each spring.
-
Pirates starter Jeff Karstens felt pain in his right shoulder during his throwing program today. As a result, the Pirates have shut him down, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Travis Sawchik. Karstens has not thrown a pitch this season due to the shoulder injury, but was expected to return in early June. Karstens finished 2012 with…
-
Getty Images
Ike Davis entered tonight’s series opener against the Braves hitting .147 with a .481 OPS. The first baseman has heard rumors of a possible demotion to Triple-A amid an avalanche of criticism. He did nothing to alleviate concerns as he earned the illustrious golden sombrero, striking out four times tonight. As ESPN Stats & Info…
-
Getty Images
Angels starter Jered Weaver has been on the shelf since suffering a fractured left elbow in his second start of the season against the Rangers on April 7. After tossing a light bullpen session earlier today, Weaver feels good, according to manager Mike Scioscia. He’ll have one more bullpen over the weekend before the Angels…
-
Rockies activate Michael Cuddyer; Rafael Betancourt and Jeff Francis make progress
May 24, 2013, 10:20 PM EDT
Getty Images
The Rockies have activated Michael Cuddyer from the 15-day disabled list, tweets Troy Renck. The outfielder had been sidelined due to an inflamed cervical disc, halting a fantastic start to the year. The 34-year-old carried a .319/.383/.580 line through May 8, his last appearance. It should be noted his numbers are much better at Coors…
-
Well, that’s not nice. Here’s the full quote from T.J. Simers of the L.A. Times: Mattingly’s critical comments of the team and Ethier came a day after being assured by Colletti that he had management’s support. I’ve been writing it for years: Ethier is the most selfish athlete in town and counterproductive to a team’s…
-
Getty Images
Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez has no-hit the Twins through seven innings tonight in Detroit. The only base runners he has allowed came on walks to Jamey Carroll and Chris Parmelee, and he has retired each of the last 17 batters he has faced. Parmelee, Eduardo Escobar, and Aaron Hicks are slated to face Sanchez when…
-
Getty Images
Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson was hit in the hand by Rays reliever Cesar Ramos in the fifth inning of tonight’s game against the Rays. He stayed in the game to run the bases, scoring on a bases loaded walk by Jayson Nix, but exited before the top of the sixth. Ichiro Suzuki took his place…
-
The Braves are in Queens, New York tonight to open up a three-game series against the Mets. Catcher Evan Gattis isn’t starting, but figures to be used as a pinch-hitter late in the game if the Braves are in need of some offense, as the 26-year-old came up with two big home runs recently: on…
-
Two articles were posted recently in stark contract to one another. The first is a very insightful piece by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, detailing Reds first baseman Joey Votto‘s approach to hitting. The second was a not-so-insightful piece by Paul Daugherty of the Enquire, taking a swipe at Votto because he doesn’t have many runs batted…
-
Davey Johnson refuses to shave until the National offense wakes up
May 24, 2013, 7:10 PM EDT
AP
Nationals manager Davey Johnson isn’t happy with his team’s offense, which enters tonight’s series opener against the Phillies having averaged 3.38 runs per game, the second-worst rate in the league. Looking for a quirky way to motivate his team, Johnson says he will not shave until the offense makes an appearance: The Nationals manager apologized…
-
AP
This is a quick look at the very best and worst each major league lineup spot has to offer this year. Posted along with each line is the player most responsible. We’ll start out with the good before moving on to the bad. 1. Reds: .292/.442/.517, 9 HR, 37 R, 20 RBI, 5 SB (Shin-Soo…
-
The K-Crew at Royals games are people who roam the stands, dance on the dugout and fire up the fans. One of them also happens to be a nurse, and she helped save a 14 year-old fan’s life last Friday: Sam Sapenaro, 26, was working her second job as a member of Kauffman Stadium’s K-Crew…
-
AP
Mark Teixeira laid out his rehab schedule for Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York, saying the current plan calls for him to play four games in the minors next week and then come off the disabled list to rejoin the Yankees by the end of the week. It’s worth noting that Teixeira has repeatedly laid…
-
Danny Espinosa has been playing with a broken wrist since April
May 24, 2013, 5:02 PM EDT
Since that series against the Braves, specifically. The one in which he said he wasn’t impressed by them. Guess he meant it, because one of the Braves pitchers broke his friggin’ wrist and he apparently didn’t take notice of it: Source: #Nats 2b Danny Espinosa‘s right wrist was broken when Paul Maholm hit him with…
-
Barry Bloom of MLB.com has a fun, wide-ranging interview with Don Sutton. Lots of good stuff in there as Sutton is never short of opinions. But this is easily my favorite part: MLB.com: Did you cheat? Sutton: No, I never got caught cheating. Bloom did not, sadly, follow up on that. Maybe his mind was…
-
Red Sox place Victorino and Middlebrooks on DL, call up Aceves and Iglesias
May 24, 2013, 4:16 PM EDT
AP
David Ross is returning from a concussion tonight but the Red Sox are far from healthy, placing Shane Victorino and Will Middlebrooks on the disabled list. Victorino has a strained hamstring and Middlebrooks has lower back spasms, and Boston has added infielder Jose Iglesias and right-hander Alfredo Aceves from Triple-A to replace them. Iglesias, who’s…
-
AP
I get the sense that if Alfonso Soriano is on the trading block this summer he’s not gonna have a big problem waiving his no-trade rights. From Carrie Muskat at MLB.com, here’s Soriano venting about losing: “You think we’re going to win that game 3-0, and in five minutes, [we're down] 5-3 … I’m tired…
-
Getty Images
David Ross, who’s missed the past two weeks with post-concussion symptoms, has been cleared to return to the Red Sox and will be active for tonight’s game. That means Ryan Lavarnway is headed back to Triple-A after filling in for Ross as Jarrod Saltalamacchia‘s backup. Ross played in one minor-league rehab game at Double-A yesterday,…
-
Getty Images
For the second time this season Reds left-hander Sean Marshall is headed to the disabled list with shoulder problems. Last month it was tendinitis and now it’s being called a sprained shoulder, so it seems likely that Marshall will be out of action for more than the minimum 15 days. In between the injuries he…
-
Not long ago the Mariners benched Brendan Ryan for Robert Andino. Not realizing, it seemed, that while neither of then could hit their way out of a wet paper bag, at least Ryan could flash some serious leather. Someone finally figured that out, however: Andino has been designated for assignment. Andino was hitting .184/.253/.237 in 85…
