Rosters are getting expanded to 28 (temporarily), Shohei Ohtani get his very own rule, and it turns out the rumors of the ghost runner’s demise were greatly exaggerated.
Boo and hiss.
Like they really want to promote two way players.
In the absence of, you know, just ending the game in a draw after say 10 or 11 innings, I’m fine with ghost runners.
Same. Games are long enough.
I’m turning out to be less of a traditionalist about baseball than I thought. I’m just…fine with the DH in the NL, ghost runners, etc. If they decided to shorten games to 7 innings even, I think I’d adjust.
Can’t agree on designated hitters, but not for traditionalist reasons. I think they shouldn’t have had them in the AL.
Yeah, same. Honestly I think 7 inning games would be a huge improvement.
A new thread! Huzzah!
How many pitchers will be good enough hitters to even make the Ohtani rule matter? We have one but is there anyone else?
Does the DH always hit for the pitcher or could the DH hit for another player and then the pitcher has to bat? Maybe it would be a way to get a defensive wizard on the field who didn’t hit well.
Only the pitcher. If the pitcher moves to the field you lose the DH.
No thank you. Dominant pitching staffs would be even more dominant.
I’m with you. The game is better if both team’s pitchers have to hit and when both team’s managers have to work around the hole in the line-up. Supposedly having past their prime sluggers with heavy legs hitting in the 9-hole and either striking out or hitting a bomb is “better”, somehow. Casual fans seem to like it, anyway.
But whatever…we fought the war, and we lost.
If I had to choose DH vs no-DH I’d choose no-DH, but it’s not that big a deal to me personally.
Then again, Twins have had some truly incredibly DHs over the years, from Chili Davis to Nelson Cruz. Ortiz wha? Never heard of 'im.
At least it’s the same rules for both leagues now.
Surprising to no one who saw him pitch last season, longtime MLB reliever Andrew Miller has retired.
What’s pretty cool is that Miller knew he was very likely to call it a career, but over the offseason as a player rep and member of the MLBPA advisory board, he still spent countless hours on the phone between January and March, sometimes logging 16-hour days, to try to steer the players to the best deal they could get. He could’ve stepped away and said “This is your fight now, not mine” and played more golf or done more fishing or spent time doing woodwork, a thing he has in common with Nick Offerman.
But instead he said he realized that a lot of players who came before him had done so much to make the modern MLB what it is, that he felt it was his obligation to try to pay some of that forward. So he did.
Cardinals fans never got to experience firsthand the version of Andrew Miller who pitched for the Red Sox, Indians, or Yankees…but I’m still glad I got to cheer for him for a few years.
He’ll always be a legend here in Cleveland for helping carry a pitching staff of 1.5 starters and that elite bullpen to within an inning of the title. Wasn’t the same after that 2016 season with how hard Tito rode him.
My favorite Andrew Miller highlight.
I saw all too much of Miller as a Jays fan. Absolutely dominant when he was on the mound.
I so desperately wanted the Cubs to pick up Miller in 2016. He was such a great pitcher and by all accounts a great guy. Getting Chapman instead just barely worked out from a baseball perspective but I could never happily root for him like I would have Miller.