Yesterday I took crap from everyone for wondering why the Sox didn’t call up Alan Embree instead of Fabio Castro to aid the bullpen. After last night’s game the Red Sox called up Alan Embree and sent down Fabio Castro, who didn’t throw a pitch in last night’s game, so maybe I’m not as dumb…

After posting my story last night about MLB.com writers being banned from using Twitter for non-baseball topics and MLB players being told their tweets will be monitored, I was contacted by a spokesperson for MLB who essentially said I was 100 percent wrong. In fact, he went so far as to say my story was…

Here’s Jake Peavy not making sense when talking about people criticizing his early season performance: ”I didn’t hear all these critics talking last year, when I did what I did after about the same amount of starts that I’ve made this year. [When I was] 3-0 with a low ERA, nobody was talking then.” There’s…

There aren’t many people who have ragged on the Mets more than I have over the past few years. But if you’re going to be negative, you have to be fair, and fairness demands that the Mets be given their due. Correction: fairness demands that the first place New York Mets be given their due.…

J.D. Drew said after last night’s game that he suffered a case of vertigo Sunday night and early Monday.  This is not the first time Drew has suffered from the condition. It hit him back in June 2008 as well, clearing up almost as soon as it arrived.  As someone whose only real familiarity with…

Pfun Pfact, via FanGraphs: The White Sox, Indians, Athletics, Red Sox and Mariners have DHs that are hitting worse than the pitchers for the Astros and Diamondbacks. Pitchers for the Padres and Rockies are hitting better than the DHs for Boston and Seattle. In other news, Jermaine Dye and Gary Sheffield are out of work…

As I mentioned in the recaps this morning, Trevor Hoffman got creamed last night. He came in to preserve a 3-2 lead in the ninth against the Pirates, but gave up a leadoff homer to Ronny Cedeno which tied the game. He then loaded the bases and gave up a grand slam to Ryan Doumit.…

When grade school kids are faced with what Stephen Strasburg is currently faced with — the total lack of a challenge — they are double promoted. Or at least put in the gifted class or something, because if they get bored they start setting fires and stuff. Strasburg pitched five no-hit innings yesterday with no…

Twins 2, Tigers 0: Francisco Liriano dominates again. Jon Rauch gets his seventh save in eight chances. Jim Thome, Jason Kubel and Delmon Young all get in the game and provide some production. As long as it doesn’t snow during the Twins’ next homestand, I think we’ll be able to say that all of the…

Multiple sources have confirmed to me that Major League Baseball is cracking down on Twitter usage, ordering MLB.com writers to cease tweeting about all non-baseball topics and scolding players for their Twitter usage in general. As someone who has every MLB.com beat writer and several MLB players in my Twitter feed, this is very unfortunate…

Uh-oh. Buster Olney of ESPN.com hears that Brett Anderson will miss four to six weeks with a flexor tendon strain. The Athletics placed the 22-year-old southpaw on the disabled list on Tuesday due to a left forearm strain and elbow irritation. He was scheduled to undergo an MRI earlier today. Anderson emerged as one of…

Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden began the season sharing the catching position in the major leagues. Now they’ll do it again with Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. It’s quite a surprising change of course, but now Max Ramirez will share catching duties with Matt Treanor for the time being. The move…

The Cubs did need some help setting up for Carlos Marmol, but the biggest reason Carlos Zambrano is in the bullpen right now is Carlos Silva’s exceptional start. He’s followed a rather strong spring by going 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA through four outings. This from a pitcher who went 5-18 with a 6.81 ERA…

Reliever Fabio Castro arrived in Boston’s clubhouse Tuesday only to be put to the test immediately. No, not on the mound. 5-foot-10 Marco Scutaro had the supposedly 5-foot-9 Dustin Pedroia and the 5-foot-7 Castro stand back-to-back to figure out who was taller. According to the Boston Globe: “The winner by an inch or so was…

They wouldn’t let me near him, what with that restraining order and everything (it’s OK Jason! I mean you no harm!), but NBC Sports’ own Tiffany Simons caught up with The Heymaker before last Friday night’s game against the Mets at Citi Field. Among the subjects they discuss: Heyward growing up as a Braves fan,…

There’s a new ferry service that takes fans from pier 11 in Manhattan to Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. Sponsored by Delta Airlines, the ferry makes it all the easier to get to Yankees and Mets games.  That is, if you don’t need to get back because it’s one way. And if you are one…

By the uniforms, silly.

UPDATE:  Turns out that Uecker is going to have his aortic valve replaced and his aortic root replaced on Friday morning. The surgery was described by his doctor as “relatively common.” Trevor Hoffman, Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Casey McGehee, Craig Counsell and Ken Macha were all at the presser, inspiring Uecker to say that “I’m…

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the A’s will place Brett Anderson on the disabled list with a strained forearm. Anderson left his Saturday start after just 80 pitches because of tightness in his elbow and forearm. He initially deemed it merely cramping and there’s no indication that the A’s feel it’s…

Nelson Cruz has had a heck of a time with his hamstring lately. He had to leave games in Boston last Tuesday and Wednesday because the hamstring tightened up on him, and after some time in and out of lineup since then, he had to leave last night’s game against the Tigers in the sixth…