Managers frustrated with replay system
By Buster Olney
ESPN INSIDER
As managers discussed instant replay prior to the season, they were generally circumspect, understated in their public comments. You got some eye rolls, and privately, some expressed concern, particularly with the challenge system.
But less than two weeks into the start of the regular season, frustration with the system is beginning to boil over, as it did with Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams on Saturday.
Williams challenged an out call of Nate McLouth on a throw to first base, and the replay on the Nats’ broadcast appeared to indicate that the ball wasn’t quite in Freddie Freeman's glove when McLouth’s foot hit the base; in other words, McLouth appeared to be safe. You can see it here, over and over, because the challenge decision lasted four minutes. And McLouth was called out.
Williams was befuddled, as James Wagner of the Washington Post reported. From his story:
Earlier in the day, in New York, the Red Sox challenged a call on Dean Anna, and while Boston appeared to be right, the Sox's challenge was rejected. MLB acknowledged later that the call was wrong.
Boston manager John Farrell was perplexed. “We had probably five angles that confirmed his foot was off the base, and when the safe call came back, it certainly raises questions on if they're getting the same feeds we are, the consistency of the system," Farrell said. "Yeah, it makes you scratch your head a little bit on why he was called safe."
What the managers want, above all else, is reliability, some degree of predictability. They don’t want to feel as though there is a roll of the dice when they’re issuing a challenge, and that they have no idea what the replay officials are looking at. They want to know that each challenge will be treated in the same way, with an expected outcome.<!--offer--> So it’ll be interesting to see what sort of response Williams and other managers get when they express their doubts.
One thing you can expect: Less yelling, Rob Biertempfel writes.
Ring habits vary among the Red Sox
Jonny Gomes was among a small handful of Red Sox players who decided to wear their championship rings on the Boston road trip that started Friday. Gomes loves his new piece of jewelry, and is extremely proud of it. But walking around with it, he found, can be a little awkward.
“I was wearing it the other day on the streets, and I found myself protecting it,” he said, indicating how he was covering it up. “It’s that happy medium of being proud and showing it off, and on the other hand, I don’t want anyone to try me for this thing.
“I don’t think I’ll wear it every day, but I don’t think there will ever be a time in my life where I won’t know where it is. You’ll hear guys say, ‘I don’t even know where it is,’ or ‘I’ve got it tucked away in a safe.’ I’m going to know where it is, a lot -- or, always, actually.
“I’ve spent a lot of time looking at it. I’ve got it on the sink, right next to my wedding ring. You’ll wake up and you’re a little groggy, and you look at it, and it turns your day around.”
Jake Peavy pitched on the day that the Red Sox received their rings, nine days ago, and the Red Sox lost, so Peavy found that day to be a difficult time to appreciate the ring. But the next day, he found himself sitting in his place staring at the ring, examining the different elements of it, the significant parts of it, including his own name: The fact his name was on the ring was incredible to him, and he loved the date engraved on the ring: 10-30-13. That’s the day the Red Sox won the World Series, and seeing that date takes Peavy back instantly into that moment, to that time and place when a group of players who had bonded celebrated together.
“I don’t think I’ll wear it a lot,” Peavy said. “When we came on this trip, I wanted to wear it so bad. But at the end of the day, there was no chance I would walk out of the house with it for no other reason than complacency. Not knocking any of the guys who wore it on this trip, I didn’t want anyone to get the idea that [I think] we’ve accomplished what we want to accomplish. Last year’s dead and gone. When I retire, I think I’ll wear it more. If you wear it in a social setting, other people will want to see it, and they’ll appreciate it.”
David Ortiz says he doesn’t wear any of his championship rings.
“All of them have such different meanings to me,” he said, detailing the various aspects of each season. In 2004, the Red Sox ended a streak of more than eight decades without a title. In 2007, Ortiz recalled, the Red Sox were recast.
“I remember sitting down with [then-GM] Theo [Epstein] and we talked about the things I think we needed to win it,” he said, “and he did everything I told him -- and then we won in 2007.”
And 2013 was different, too. “Last year, we had gone through all we did in 2012, and then we had the bombing. We went from worst to first, and that was special.”
David Ross: “I’ll wear it when we dress up. I didn’t wear it on this trip. I’ll probably wear it a little bit more, especially this first year. I saw it on [Jon] Lester, he had it on the bus, and it kept catching my eye. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool.’”
• The other day, the Yankees placed a defensive shift against the left-handed hitting Jackie Bradley Jr., and afterward, Ortiz encouraged Bradley to take the hit -- the bunt -- if the Yankees give it to him. “It’s different,” Bradley said. “I’ve never seen it before. Just trying to get inside my head.”
The Red Sox will play the Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball at 8 ET on ESPN and WatchESPN.
• Xander Bogaerts is noted for his calm at the plate, for his plate discipline. Playing shortstop, on the other hand, is something that seems to require more emotional energy. He has done well so far, but he wants to do even better, and so there is more anxiety in his defensive play.
“He is a pleaser on defense,” said infield coach Brian Butterfield, who has seen progress in Bogaerts, and believes that he is benefiting from working alongside Dustin Pedroia.
The Boston second baseman is blunt, and loud, but Butterfield says that Pedroia is exceptional at working with young players, mixing his instruction with encouragement and humor.
• Alfonso Soriano says that if he struggles this season, he will retire at year’s end, probably to go home to spend more time with his six children, who range from ages 12 to 5. But Soriano says that if he feels good, he’d like to play two more seasons, preferably with the Yankees.
Around the league
• The best moment of Saturday’s games: Justin Verlander getting the first two hits of his career, finally, with his teammates giving him a hearty response. This was Verlander’s first win of the season, writes John Lowe. From his story:
Verlander was smiling, too. He tried not to when he got to first base after the first hit, in the second inning. “I looked over there and saw all of my teammates cheering, and I couldn’t help it,” he said.
• The worst moment from Saturday: Ryan Zimmerman broke his right thumb while getting picked off. He’ll be out more than a month, probably.
• That’s eight straight wins for the Brewers, who played some serious defense in the eighth inning.
• John Mozeliak got a two-year extension, through 2018. He has been masterful in his handling of a disparate cast of personalities in his time as the Cardinals’ GM.
• The Red Sox are going to take every precaution with Koji Uehara. Boston doesn’t look so good, writes Dan Shaughnessy.
• A sizable gap exists in the Lester talks, Gordon Edes writes, although there is said to be more nuance in the fine print of these discussions that hasn’t been reported yet.
Wrote here recently that the middle ground in these talks are somewhere in the range of $110 million over five years, which means that the Red Sox would probably have to extend out of their comfort zone, and Lester would probably have to take less than he would get in the open market. The Red Sox really like Lester, value him as a person, and want to retain him; but over the past couple of years, they have been disciplined in not extending themselves too far beyond their terms.
• The Diamondbacks lost again, and are 4-10. They are viewed by a lot of rival executives as candidates for early change in one way or another, given the level of expectation and investment they had in 2013.
• Clayton Kershaw threw lightly off a mound.
• The Red Sox and the Yankees are among the teams that will watch Joel Hanrahan in a workout this week, as he works his way back from surgery. The Royals, who are having some bullpen issues, will also monitor him.
• Joe Girardi was blunt when asked about Derek Jeter being out of the lineup, at a time when a lot of fans want to see him play: “I wasn’t hired to put on a farewell tour.”
Girardi is a manager of principal, writes Mike Lupica. He is sticking to his plan, writes Bob Klapisch.
Dings and dents
1. Brett Anderson hurt his finger.
2. The Rangers are leaning toward placing Adrian Beltre on the disabled list. The Rangers are feeling his absence, Gil LeBreton writes.
3. Mat Latos is dealing with a forearm injury.
Saturday’s games
1. Sonny Gray just keeps rolling along, writes Susan Slusser.
2. Adrian Gonzalez's power continues to come back.
3. Alex Rios made some mistakes.
4. The Astros took one back from Texas.
5. Alex Cobb was superb against the Reds. From ESPN Stats & Information, here's how Cobb won:
• Did not allow a hard-hit ball in play for the second time in his career (the other outing was Sept. 21, 2013)
• 44 of 87 pitches (50.6 percent) were located in the lower third of the zone or below; the Reds were 0-for-11, with five strikeouts, in at-bats ending in a pitch to that location
• Fastball averaged 92.5 mph, the second-highest average velocity in a game in his career; his maximum velocity of 94.1 matched his highest ever (Oct. 2, 2013); he threw 44 fastballs and allowed only one baserunner off of his fastball (single)
6. Jimmy Rollins sent the Phillies into a frolic.
7. The new guys stepped up for the Yankees.
8. A Met got a huge hit in extra innings.
9. That’s two good starts in a row for the Twins.
10. Alex Wood looked good again.
11. The O’s bounced back from a blown save, writes Dan Connolly.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. The Mariners swapped Hector Noesi to the Rangers.
2. Taijuan Walker was sent to Triple-A.
3. Oakland made a roster move.
4. The Royals called up Danny Duffy.
5. Jose Veras is out as the Cubs’ closer.
NL West
• Mark Trumbo has had his share of defensive problems, writes Zach Buchanan.
• Wilin Rosario blocked some pitches in the dirt, writes Troy Renck.
• Matt Cain made only a couple of mistakes Saturday, Steve Kroner writes.
• Michael Morse is becoming a fan favorite in San Francisco, writes Ann Killion.
• Pablo Sandoval says he isn’t pressing at the plate.
• The Rene Rivera-Andrew Cashner battery is working for the Padres.
NL Central
• Joey Votto was moved to the No. 2 spot in the lineup, but the Reds continue to struggle: They have 28 runs in 11 games.
• The Pirates played a wild game.
• Francisco Rodriguez has stepped right in at closer.
• Patience with the Cardinals’ offense is paramount, writes Bernie Miklasz.
• The Cubs have to strike deep in the draft, writes Gordon Wittenmyer.
NL East
• Giancarlo Stanton's power didn’t make a difference.
• It’ll be torture until Jose Fernandez gets back on the mound.
• Rollins is getting comfortable batting second.
• A Phillies prospect is lighting up the radar gun.
AL West
• Raul Ibanez collected career hit No. 2,000.
• Jerry Brewer wonders if the Mariners can thaw out their fans.
AL Central
• Jason Kubel seems to have rediscovered his power stroke, writes Patrick Reusse.
• There is an art to framing pitches, writes Mike Berardino.
• James Shields struggled against the Twins.
• Justin Masterson had a tough outing, but the Indians pounded out a lot of hits.
• Trevor Bauer gave the Indians a chance to exhale.
• Jose Abreu is living up to the hype.
AL East
• Reaching the big leagues was a family affair<,/a> for Yangervis Solarte. By the way: He and Felix Doubront, who pitches for Boston on Sunday night, played on the same team when both were 11 years old.
• Soriano continues to heat up.
• Dustin McGowan amazed a teammate.
Other stuff
• The DL numbers have erupted and PED testing could be one reason, Joel Sherman writes.
• Teams are finding value in potent hitters batting second, writes John Shea.
• Scott Feldman was placed on the bereavement list.
• Don Zimmer is a treasure trove of stories, writes Roger Mooney.
And today will be better than yesterday.
By Buster Olney
ESPN INSIDER
As managers discussed instant replay prior to the season, they were generally circumspect, understated in their public comments. You got some eye rolls, and privately, some expressed concern, particularly with the challenge system.
But less than two weeks into the start of the regular season, frustration with the system is beginning to boil over, as it did with Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams on Saturday.
Williams challenged an out call of Nate McLouth on a throw to first base, and the replay on the Nats’ broadcast appeared to indicate that the ball wasn’t quite in Freddie Freeman's glove when McLouth’s foot hit the base; in other words, McLouth appeared to be safe. You can see it here, over and over, because the challenge decision lasted four minutes. And McLouth was called out.
Williams was befuddled, as James Wagner of the Washington Post reported. From his story:
“I’m extremely frustrated by the process at this point,” Williams said. “Because if they’re seeing the same feed that we’re seeing, I don’t know how he’s out. I don’t know how Nate is out if they have the same feed that we have, so that’s frustrating because I thought he was safe. We’ve looked at it 100 times since then, and we believe he was safe. And if that is a safe call, then we maintain our challenge. … Again, I’m frustrated by the first one, though, because I see him as safe. And we have the same technology and the same video. I don’t know about that one. That frustrates me.”
Earlier in the day, in New York, the Red Sox challenged a call on Dean Anna, and while Boston appeared to be right, the Sox's challenge was rejected. MLB acknowledged later that the call was wrong.
Boston manager John Farrell was perplexed. “We had probably five angles that confirmed his foot was off the base, and when the safe call came back, it certainly raises questions on if they're getting the same feeds we are, the consistency of the system," Farrell said. "Yeah, it makes you scratch your head a little bit on why he was called safe."
What the managers want, above all else, is reliability, some degree of predictability. They don’t want to feel as though there is a roll of the dice when they’re issuing a challenge, and that they have no idea what the replay officials are looking at. They want to know that each challenge will be treated in the same way, with an expected outcome.<!--offer--> So it’ll be interesting to see what sort of response Williams and other managers get when they express their doubts.
One thing you can expect: Less yelling, Rob Biertempfel writes.
Ring habits vary among the Red Sox
Jonny Gomes was among a small handful of Red Sox players who decided to wear their championship rings on the Boston road trip that started Friday. Gomes loves his new piece of jewelry, and is extremely proud of it. But walking around with it, he found, can be a little awkward.
“I was wearing it the other day on the streets, and I found myself protecting it,” he said, indicating how he was covering it up. “It’s that happy medium of being proud and showing it off, and on the other hand, I don’t want anyone to try me for this thing.
“I don’t think I’ll wear it every day, but I don’t think there will ever be a time in my life where I won’t know where it is. You’ll hear guys say, ‘I don’t even know where it is,’ or ‘I’ve got it tucked away in a safe.’ I’m going to know where it is, a lot -- or, always, actually.
“I’ve spent a lot of time looking at it. I’ve got it on the sink, right next to my wedding ring. You’ll wake up and you’re a little groggy, and you look at it, and it turns your day around.”
Jake Peavy pitched on the day that the Red Sox received their rings, nine days ago, and the Red Sox lost, so Peavy found that day to be a difficult time to appreciate the ring. But the next day, he found himself sitting in his place staring at the ring, examining the different elements of it, the significant parts of it, including his own name: The fact his name was on the ring was incredible to him, and he loved the date engraved on the ring: 10-30-13. That’s the day the Red Sox won the World Series, and seeing that date takes Peavy back instantly into that moment, to that time and place when a group of players who had bonded celebrated together.
“I don’t think I’ll wear it a lot,” Peavy said. “When we came on this trip, I wanted to wear it so bad. But at the end of the day, there was no chance I would walk out of the house with it for no other reason than complacency. Not knocking any of the guys who wore it on this trip, I didn’t want anyone to get the idea that [I think] we’ve accomplished what we want to accomplish. Last year’s dead and gone. When I retire, I think I’ll wear it more. If you wear it in a social setting, other people will want to see it, and they’ll appreciate it.”
David Ortiz says he doesn’t wear any of his championship rings.
“All of them have such different meanings to me,” he said, detailing the various aspects of each season. In 2004, the Red Sox ended a streak of more than eight decades without a title. In 2007, Ortiz recalled, the Red Sox were recast.
“I remember sitting down with [then-GM] Theo [Epstein] and we talked about the things I think we needed to win it,” he said, “and he did everything I told him -- and then we won in 2007.”
And 2013 was different, too. “Last year, we had gone through all we did in 2012, and then we had the bombing. We went from worst to first, and that was special.”
David Ross: “I’ll wear it when we dress up. I didn’t wear it on this trip. I’ll probably wear it a little bit more, especially this first year. I saw it on [Jon] Lester, he had it on the bus, and it kept catching my eye. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool.’”
• The other day, the Yankees placed a defensive shift against the left-handed hitting Jackie Bradley Jr., and afterward, Ortiz encouraged Bradley to take the hit -- the bunt -- if the Yankees give it to him. “It’s different,” Bradley said. “I’ve never seen it before. Just trying to get inside my head.”
The Red Sox will play the Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball at 8 ET on ESPN and WatchESPN.
• Xander Bogaerts is noted for his calm at the plate, for his plate discipline. Playing shortstop, on the other hand, is something that seems to require more emotional energy. He has done well so far, but he wants to do even better, and so there is more anxiety in his defensive play.
“He is a pleaser on defense,” said infield coach Brian Butterfield, who has seen progress in Bogaerts, and believes that he is benefiting from working alongside Dustin Pedroia.
The Boston second baseman is blunt, and loud, but Butterfield says that Pedroia is exceptional at working with young players, mixing his instruction with encouragement and humor.
• Alfonso Soriano says that if he struggles this season, he will retire at year’s end, probably to go home to spend more time with his six children, who range from ages 12 to 5. But Soriano says that if he feels good, he’d like to play two more seasons, preferably with the Yankees.
Around the league
• The best moment of Saturday’s games: Justin Verlander getting the first two hits of his career, finally, with his teammates giving him a hearty response. This was Verlander’s first win of the season, writes John Lowe. From his story:
[Miguel] Cabrera said he felt better at the plate. He smiled when someone said, "You have 2,000 hits, and Verlander has two."
Verlander was smiling, too. He tried not to when he got to first base after the first hit, in the second inning. “I looked over there and saw all of my teammates cheering, and I couldn’t help it,” he said.
• The worst moment from Saturday: Ryan Zimmerman broke his right thumb while getting picked off. He’ll be out more than a month, probably.
• That’s eight straight wins for the Brewers, who played some serious defense in the eighth inning.
• John Mozeliak got a two-year extension, through 2018. He has been masterful in his handling of a disparate cast of personalities in his time as the Cardinals’ GM.
• The Red Sox are going to take every precaution with Koji Uehara. Boston doesn’t look so good, writes Dan Shaughnessy.
• A sizable gap exists in the Lester talks, Gordon Edes writes, although there is said to be more nuance in the fine print of these discussions that hasn’t been reported yet.
Wrote here recently that the middle ground in these talks are somewhere in the range of $110 million over five years, which means that the Red Sox would probably have to extend out of their comfort zone, and Lester would probably have to take less than he would get in the open market. The Red Sox really like Lester, value him as a person, and want to retain him; but over the past couple of years, they have been disciplined in not extending themselves too far beyond their terms.
• The Diamondbacks lost again, and are 4-10. They are viewed by a lot of rival executives as candidates for early change in one way or another, given the level of expectation and investment they had in 2013.
• Clayton Kershaw threw lightly off a mound.
• The Red Sox and the Yankees are among the teams that will watch Joel Hanrahan in a workout this week, as he works his way back from surgery. The Royals, who are having some bullpen issues, will also monitor him.
• Joe Girardi was blunt when asked about Derek Jeter being out of the lineup, at a time when a lot of fans want to see him play: “I wasn’t hired to put on a farewell tour.”
Girardi is a manager of principal, writes Mike Lupica. He is sticking to his plan, writes Bob Klapisch.
Dings and dents
1. Brett Anderson hurt his finger.
2. The Rangers are leaning toward placing Adrian Beltre on the disabled list. The Rangers are feeling his absence, Gil LeBreton writes.
3. Mat Latos is dealing with a forearm injury.
Saturday’s games
1. Sonny Gray just keeps rolling along, writes Susan Slusser.
2. Adrian Gonzalez's power continues to come back.
3. Alex Rios made some mistakes.
4. The Astros took one back from Texas.
5. Alex Cobb was superb against the Reds. From ESPN Stats & Information, here's how Cobb won:
• Did not allow a hard-hit ball in play for the second time in his career (the other outing was Sept. 21, 2013)
• 44 of 87 pitches (50.6 percent) were located in the lower third of the zone or below; the Reds were 0-for-11, with five strikeouts, in at-bats ending in a pitch to that location
• Fastball averaged 92.5 mph, the second-highest average velocity in a game in his career; his maximum velocity of 94.1 matched his highest ever (Oct. 2, 2013); he threw 44 fastballs and allowed only one baserunner off of his fastball (single)
6. Jimmy Rollins sent the Phillies into a frolic.
7. The new guys stepped up for the Yankees.
8. A Met got a huge hit in extra innings.
9. That’s two good starts in a row for the Twins.
10. Alex Wood looked good again.
11. The O’s bounced back from a blown save, writes Dan Connolly.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. The Mariners swapped Hector Noesi to the Rangers.
2. Taijuan Walker was sent to Triple-A.
3. Oakland made a roster move.
4. The Royals called up Danny Duffy.
5. Jose Veras is out as the Cubs’ closer.
NL West
• Mark Trumbo has had his share of defensive problems, writes Zach Buchanan.
• Wilin Rosario blocked some pitches in the dirt, writes Troy Renck.
• Matt Cain made only a couple of mistakes Saturday, Steve Kroner writes.
• Michael Morse is becoming a fan favorite in San Francisco, writes Ann Killion.
• Pablo Sandoval says he isn’t pressing at the plate.
• The Rene Rivera-Andrew Cashner battery is working for the Padres.
NL Central
• Joey Votto was moved to the No. 2 spot in the lineup, but the Reds continue to struggle: They have 28 runs in 11 games.
• The Pirates played a wild game.
• Francisco Rodriguez has stepped right in at closer.
• Patience with the Cardinals’ offense is paramount, writes Bernie Miklasz.
• The Cubs have to strike deep in the draft, writes Gordon Wittenmyer.
NL East
• Giancarlo Stanton's power didn’t make a difference.
• It’ll be torture until Jose Fernandez gets back on the mound.
• Rollins is getting comfortable batting second.
• A Phillies prospect is lighting up the radar gun.
AL West
• Raul Ibanez collected career hit No. 2,000.
• Jerry Brewer wonders if the Mariners can thaw out their fans.
AL Central
• Jason Kubel seems to have rediscovered his power stroke, writes Patrick Reusse.
• There is an art to framing pitches, writes Mike Berardino.
• James Shields struggled against the Twins.
• Justin Masterson had a tough outing, but the Indians pounded out a lot of hits.
• Trevor Bauer gave the Indians a chance to exhale.
• Jose Abreu is living up to the hype.
AL East
• Reaching the big leagues was a family affair<,/a> for Yangervis Solarte. By the way: He and Felix Doubront, who pitches for Boston on Sunday night, played on the same team when both were 11 years old.
• Soriano continues to heat up.
• Dustin McGowan amazed a teammate.
Other stuff
• The DL numbers have erupted and PED testing could be one reason, Joel Sherman writes.
• Teams are finding value in potent hitters batting second, writes John Shea.
• Scott Feldman was placed on the bereavement list.
• Don Zimmer is a treasure trove of stories, writes Roger Mooney.
And today will be better than yesterday.
