Category: MLB

The D-backs’ Ketel Marte didn’t run on a game-ending double play and of course Jonathan Papelbon noticed

It really shouldn’t be difficult to hustle to first.

While baseball does have its share of silly unwritten rules, the expectation for players to show effort is absolutely reasonable. And nearly nine years after Jonathan Papelbon’s in-dugout altercation with Bryce Harper, he’s still bothered watching players cost their teams by not running out ground balls.

The Arizona Diamondbacks lost Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Cardinals, 5-1. And though it was unlikely that the D-backs would have been able to put together a four-run, two-out rally, Ketel Marte should have at least been on first base to give Arizona the chance.

Instead, he did this on a grounder to first base to end the game.

Marte did not expect Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley to be able to cover first base on the turn for the double play, so he basically went to first on a half jog. And by the time he realized that Helsley was going to be there, Marte was only able to get within a step of beating the throw back to first. Had Marte hustled out of the box at all, he would have been safe easily to extend the game.

Of course, the video made its way over to Papelbon who tweeted about Marte’s poor effort there.

Marte should probably consider himself lucky that the former MLB pitcher wasn’t in the dugout waiting for him after that one.

We know how that would have turned out.

Mookie Betts had an extremely classy response after noticing that Lane Thomas got hurt on a stolen base

This is what sportsmanship is all about.

While Shohei Ohtani’s blistering 450-foot home run was the obvious highlight from the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Nationals, Mookie Betts showed what sportsmanship was all about on Tuesday.

During the fifth inning, the Nationals’ Lane Thomas stole second safely on an errant throw. But on his slide, his leg got caught underneath him with the Nats outfielder in obvious pain.

Betts was closest to Thomas on the play and noticed that Thomas was struggling. He intervened to make sure Thomas didn’t hurt himself worse and caught Thomas as he struggled around the base. And shortly after that, it actually seemed like Thomas was OK.

@mlb Mookie immediately checking on him tells me everything i need to know ❤️ #emotional #baseball #real #moments ♬ slow piano music(1297827) – syummacha

Thomas did stay in the game briefly and shared a laugh with Betts who seemed relieved that Thomas wasn’t seriously hurt. But that knee did start to tighten up on Thomas the following inning, and he was taken out of the game. Thomas is set for an MRI on that knee Wednesday and is likely heading to the injured list.

Still, it was all class from Betts to show concern for Thomas in that moment. Some things are just bigger than the game.

Juan Soto struck out without seeing a single strike because of a dreadful umpire

It’s already been quite the week for MLB umpires and it’s only Wednesday.

We’ve all been watching baseball long enough, right? I think, generally speaking, we all know where the strike zone is supposed to be.

Over the plate, above the knees and below the shoulders. Give or take a few inches here and there, that’s generally where you place it. Or, at least, that’s what I thought anyway.

After watching this wild seven-pitch at-bat from Juan Soto on Tuesday night, I’m not sure where the strike zone is anymore.

Soto was called out on strikes after seemingly not getting a pitch in the strike zone. It’s so confusing. You have to see it for yourself.

Some of those pitches are close, sure. But most of them are just out of the box. And Soto isn’t even swinging. There’s just no way he should’ve been called out here.

What a disastrous week for the MLB’s umpires and the Yankees. Between this and the Aaron Boone fiasco, things aren’t looking too great.

NSFW video shows umpire Hunter Wendelstedt told Aaron Boone he was ‘probably right’ about fan yelling to get Yankees manager ejected

This video is quite revealing about what the ump and Aaron Boone said to each other.

It was one of the weirder ejections we’ve seen in baseball: New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone was warned by umpire Hunter Wendelstedt not to complain further about a call, and Boone complied.

But then Wendelstedt heard something from Boone’s direction — which turned out to be a Yankees fan yelling at the ump — and he ejected the manager.

Wendelstedt’s explanation later was pretty bad, but thanks to Jomboy — known for breaking down Boone ejection videos over the years — is on the case. There’s one piece of audio that’s fascinating, in which the umpire says that Boone “is probably right” that he didn’t say anything.

Here’s the video and WARNING: LOTS OF NSFW LANGUAGE AHEAD!

The Pirates’ Jared Jones embarrassed Brice Turang with a devastating pitch that struck him out while falling

Jared Jones devastated Brice Turang with this pitch.

It’s OK, Brice Turang.

We’ve seen pitches that are so good that they embarrass the hitter, who either falls down while checking a swing or even gets hit by it.

In this case, we have Milwaukee Brewers utility man Turang, who was facing breakout Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jared Jones, who sports a 2.79 ERA and 39 strikeouts this season. Jones threw him a disgusting slider that came in and dived down on Turang, who tried to hold up his swing as the pitch came in and he ended up falling down, the baseball equivalent of breaking someone’s ankles.

Turang had to smirk, and Jones’ reaction later was great:

 

Orioles rookie Colton Cowser had a great response to realizing he tossed Craig Kimbrel’s milestone baseball into fountains

“I just yeeted it behind me!”

Big-league teams know that rookies are going to make mistakes. It’s part of the process for every player. But I don’t think the Baltimore Orioles quite anticipated the kind of mistake star rookie Colton Cowser would make on Saturday night.

It nearly had him going to take a dive into the fountains at Kauffman Stadium.

Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel went into the game needing just one more save to tie Billy Wagner for seventh on the all-time save list. And sure, seven isn’t a huge milestone. But Kimbrel was the replacement at closer for Wagner in Atlanta. So, that milestone was personally meaningful to Kimbrel.

And when Kimbrel recorded that final out on a fly ball to Cowser, the Orioles left fielder clearly wasn’t informed of that milestone. He dramatically chucked the ball over his head and into the fountains.

Cowser quickly realized he messed up, but he was a great sport about it. He detailed that realization to MLB.com after the game:

“I just yeeted it behind me … Right when I threw it, I said, ‘Craig has a lot of saves, that one might have been important. I literally told [center fielder Cedric Mullins] right whenever, ‘I might have messed up.’ And it turns out I did. We got the ball back, though.”

According to MLB.com, the stadium staff went to retrieve the baseball out of the fountains. And it was easy to pick out the correct baseball because only two baseballs were in the water — one of which was way too old to be the Kimbrel ball.

As for Kimbrel, he wasn’t upset that the ball ended up in a fountain and told Cowser not to worry about it.

Aaron Judge gave a brutally honest response to Yankees fans booing him after 4-strikeout afternoon

Aaron Judge understands why people were booing at him on Saturday.

New York Yankees superstar outfielder is one of the best players of his generation. However, he’s not immune to the boo birds.

After he struck out four times during his team’s 2-0 home loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, Judge gave a brutally honest assessment of his lackluster day at-bat when talking about the boos from Yankees fans with reporters.

“I’ve heard worse, and I’d probably do the same thing in their situation,” Judge said after the loss.

Well, if that’s not as forthright an assessment from Judge about the jeers from Yankees fans, we’re not sure what is.

Judge seems very understanding of the ire from the New York crowd, as nobody expects an elite batter like him to strike out four times during a game.

However, Judge is still human, and we’re sure he’s going to find his momentum when he goes to the plate sooner than later.

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John Sterling had the most relatable reason for why he’s retiring from calling Yankees games

Relatable!

Longtime New York Yankees radio announcer John Sterling has officially retired from his job after multiple decades of calling games.

While appearing on a broadcast of Saturday’s Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays game, Sterling was asked if he’s going to miss calling Yankees games down the road how that he’s officially stepped away.

His blunt answer? “No… I’m exhausted.” Understandable!

“Mel Stottlemyre would say to the pitcher in his last inning, ‘Empty the tank.’ Well, my tank is empty,” Sterling shared on the broadcast, something that anyone who has done a job for a long time can absolutely related with.

Sterling leaves behind a fantastic legacy, as MLB fans poured out tributes to the broadcasting legend when news of his retirement broke.

While Sterling happily said he will still follow along with the Yankees, he does sound like a man who is very ready to just watch the team with the fans instead of broadcast what New York is doing on game days.

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A new MLB pants problem in 2024? Uniforms are ripping everywhere when players slide

Not great!

For a few weeks before the 2024 MLB season began, all we could focus on was the issue with the uniforms was the white pants were see-through, with the annual Photo Day producing some funny results.

But now, we’ve got a real-life Seinfeld situation — pants are ripping everywhere when players are sliding in 2024.

On Friday, we saw Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith slide in against the New York Mets and a sizeable hole showed up near his knee.

Earlier in the month, the Detroit Tigers’ Riley Greene ripped open the side of his pants sliding into home. Chicago Cubs slugger Cody Bellinger ended up with a hole after sliding into third.

You get the idea. This isn’t great!

The Mets’ City Connect purple-ish jerseys are here and fans generally liked what they saw

Fans think the Mets did a pretty good job on these.

After much anticipation, the New York Mets unveiled their City Connect jerseys for the 2024 season.

Fans knew to expect at least some purple on the uniforms or hats based on the teaser video posted earlier this month. But now that they are officially here, we now know exactly what the jerseys will look like when they are on the field.

New York will wear these for the first time on April 27 against the Cardinals. The team will continue to rock the purple look for the majority of their home games played on Saturdays for the remainder of the season.

While the MLB jerseys produced by Fanatics are getting widely criticized this year, these are generally receiving positive reviews.

Some cool details include nods to the concrete sidewalks, the New York subway system (including the 7 Line train to Citi Field) and tokens, bridges, and maps.

Fans generally liked what they saw

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