Braves right-hander Mike Soroka was removed from today’s game after being hit by a pitch by Austin Voth. Soroka was struck in his right forearm, and while he took his base and finished the inning, he didn’t return to the mound in the bottom half of the frame. The team announced that Soroka was removed “as a precaution,” and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweeted that x-rays on Soroka’s forearm were negative. It doesn’t appear as if the injury is too serious, which is undoubtedly a big relief for both the Braves and the rookie sensation. While advanced metrics indicate that Soroka’s grounder-heavy (57% ground ball rate) arsenal is due for some regression, his 2.07 ERA over 78 1/3 innings has been a huge boost to an inconsistent Atlanta rotation.
Here’s more on some injury situations from around the game…
- After throwing 60 pitches in a simulated game on Thursday, Sean Manaea’s rehab has been halted after the southpaw reported soreness in his right side, Athletics manager Bob Melvin told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other media. “He’s got a little bit of a side soreness, so we’re shutting him down for a little bit. I don’t know if it’s an oblique or if he’s just feeling it a little bit in his side,” Melvin said. “We’re cutting back on him for a little bit here to get healthy. It’s not the arm, which is good.” There isn’t any known timetable for when Manaea could begin throwing again, though Melvin didn’t seem to consider the issue to be major. The A’s were projecting a possible return for Manaea after the All-Star break, as the left-hander was slated to begin a minor league rehab assignment following his last simulated outing. Manaea hasn’t pitched since August 24, 2018 after undergoing shoulder surgery last September.
- Scooter Gennett’s rehab assignment shifts from high-A ball to Triple-A this week, and Reds manager David Bell told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that “there’s a chance” Gennett could be activated off the injured list on Friday, when the Reds begin a series against the Cubs. The club will be as careful as possible with Gennett’s recovery process, of course, as the second baseman has yet to play this season due to a severe groin strain. Gennett’s minor league rehab stint can last up to 20 days in length, and he only just got back on the field earlier this week.
- Alex Wood, another Reds player who has yet to see action this season, is scheduled for his first rehab start on Thursday, Bell said. Back problems have kept Wood out of action since late February, and he isn’t expected to be a candidate to join Cincinnati’s roster until after the All-Star break. “We can’t rush it and he hasn’t had a Spring Training. We have to build him up,” Bell said.
Thank goodness Soroka is OK. We really need him.
Why is MLB still letting pitchers bat in the 21st century?
because quite a few fans and players like it.
I’d prefer pitchers do what they get paid to do and that’s pitch.
So by that logic, then shouldn’t we just allow catchers get paid to do what they do and that’s catch?
Speak for yourself. It’s not real baseball unless the pitcher takes his turn at bat. Every other position takes their turn at bat, the pitcher is no different.
the only players that like it are pitchers, and thats mostly because they know in the NL they dont have to face 9 real, professional hitters, they face 8 and one of their own, who are all shockingly terrible at hitting
MadBum says hello.
Oh yeah MadBum’s 27 OPS+ is really lighting the world on fire isn’t it? Bumgarner talks about how much he loves hitting and to his credit over his career he’s hit better than a regular pitcher but he hasn’t hit will by any stretch of the imagination. He’s 0/27 with 1 walk and 14 strikeouts in the postseason in case you needed another reference point. He might hit the occasional bomb over the course of a 162
Game season but this guy is twice as bad as Chris Davis currently is.
Being born, raised and still living in Pittsburgh, in my heart NL ball is real baseball and AL ball is baseball for people who get distracted by shiny objects and are easily entertained by loud noises. Most importantly though is that it’s perfectly cool if AL ball is what rocks your or anyone else’s boat, just not my cup of tea but if MLB wants both leagues to play under the same rules I think it would work best if neither the DH or the pitcher’s spot existed in the lineup. Just roll with an 8 man lineup, who cares if you need to run through the order more than 3 times to get 27 outs, no teams are getting 27 straight outs anyway.
It’s called baseball.
Either we need a universal DH or have universal pitchers hitting.
I think they should all just run an EH like in high school rules. Bat him for whoever you want. It would allow for specialized catchers, hitting for your pitcher, or if you’ve got a great defensive center fielder like JBJ, and he can’t really hit, then there you go.
I didn’t know Jon Bon Jovi played center field.
Yeah, and third basemen for that matter.
Because it is called baseball, not the AL crap.
AL baseball is much more watchable than NL baseball. It’s time we state this as a fact, not opinion.
Your opinion
@Rumncoke, exactly!
Strike Out does not know the difference between a fact and an opinion. With that said, my opinion is I find watching the easy out of a pitcher hitting very boring.
And not a very good one, I despise the DH…thank God the NL gives us the REAL game!!
@Strike Four, it’s funny you say that, because I feel National League baseball is more watchable due to the pitcher hitting.
love all the double switches and lineup strategy in the AL…oh wait.
No Strategy in American League!!! AL Baseball is so boring!!!
I only watch NL. AL is boring and has no strategy. Just fat old men and unathletic pitchers
To all the fans crying for the DH in the NL its never going to happen. The players dont want it because the NL allows for more utility jobs thats the DH would eliminate
And it’s the way baseball is supposed to be played because it’s more strategy.
oh, those poor aging, defensively limited players. what are they to do with themselves!
That is a dumb explanation. DH allows for players who aren’t athletic enough to field. Most fans oppose it because it takes strategy out of the game and makes it boring.
That’s why the NL is the Senior Circuit and the AL is the Junior Circuit
Fact…
Last time I agree with you bird
Yeah going to agree with the people above. Used to be a baseball purist, but the NL should adopt the DH. Big disadvantage currently, and this might not fix the high K era, but at least should give teams like the Cubs, Dodgers, and Phils another legit hitter in the lineup. It’s like watching paint dry when you see a pitcher (90% of the pitchers) go up there and not even hack, or barely swing etc. people want to pay good money to see that I’ll gladly sign up and swing that poorly at pitches.
I’m tired of watching AL games with some unathletic geriatric playing half a position and a manager taking a nap in the dugout. I will only watch NL these days.
Also not to call people’s intellect out, but if you watch enough baseball you know exactly when to double switch or take a pitcher out. The game is results oriented. You take a struggling ace out in the 6/7th and relief pitcher gives up HR most people will criticize. If the numbers say leave x pitcher in game and you do and same result happens, you get scrutinized. People need to stop acting like NL has much more thought to it. Baseball is way more fun to watch when you see good hitting/DH’s. Also it helps preserve guys/keep them with teams. A guy like Anthony Rizzo, my fav, would benefit with a DH not because he’s a bad fielder, but because the cubs could justify giving him a crap ton of money. Now they’re kind of forced to low-ball or not resign him eventually. It would be awesome to see your fan favorites stick with the team throughout 10-15 years. Instead we might be heading towards NBA style, “ 3-5 year stretches before they leave”. Baseball is a lot about team building and I guarantee you give the NL a DH people will come around.
Except putting both leagues in DH situation removes the need to PH and double switch and yes even the occasional thought of removing the pitcher. If you have a pitcher who is at 93+ pitches in the 7th but they are rolling do you continue with them if the game is close? There are numerous instances and opportunities that are lost with a DH. AL baseball is boring because the lineup you put out does not change(aside from maybe the occasional defensive replacement). There is A LOT that goes on in an NL game that most AL fans do not know and can confuse them.
Exactly. AL baseball doesn’t need managers and keeps fat old half-players in the league.
If you look at the official rules of baseball: it is a game of 9 players against 9 players. I know that rosters now have 25-40 players on them but that is is irrelevant. It means there are only 9 eligible players on each team at 1 time. If you add a player you have to take out a player. You know where I got this “official rule of baseball?” MLB.com. I don’t understand how MLB itself can openly violate the rules of baseball. It does though. It does so openly. All I can say is that the game of baseball has been around for centuries. Well before MLB came into existence. I’ve been to Abner’s DoubleDay Field. I touched Babe Ruth’s Hall of Fame plaque. They pushed that man out of the league even though he hit 3 home runs in his last game. You know why? He was only able to hit. He couldn’t play baseball. I get that it brings more viewers on TV to boost up the stats but it’s disgusting. Why not just change the game totally? Instead if 9 against 9, let’s make it 18 against 18 if they want the DH. Why just replace the pitcher or even catcher with the best defensive version of them while we DH? If that’s the philosophy, then we should have the courage of our own convictions and take it down to the wire. Every team should have the best defensive left fielder and replace them with a DH too. Oh, wait… that wouldn’t be the game of baseball. That wouldn’t be the game of baseball according to the rules of baseball. The DH for a pitcher isn’t the game of baseball according to MLB.com. I get that some fans want to see rule changes to make the game more exciting. Those fans should go watch WWE wrestling. Unfortunately, the rules of baseball existed far before MLB did. I know what Bonds did and I am the BIGGEST Hank Aaron fan you will ever meet in your life. Babe Ruth was the best player ANY American sport has ever seen. Imagine how much he would have been able to do if he had the opportunity to DH. 800+ HR’s? Nevermind… It wouldn’t matter anyway. He would never do that. He was actually a baseball player.
I hate the DH! I love watching pitchers bat!
Agreed
I’ll add to the discussion that IF the DH rule was never put into place, we would have better hitting pitchers now.
I’m not a big fan of the DH, but why do the two leagues play under different rules? That’s just plain dumb.
@DS1, you just answered your own question. They are different leagues, both are major league, but different leagues.
One changed its rules when it was operating more as a “Junior Circuit”
Yeah because A) as low as independent leagues/high schools has adopted DH’s. B) Your point is incorrect as well. There isn’t 9 eligible players at one time, you can literally pinch hit anyone one your roster, hence anyone at anytime could be considered eligible. I get being a fan, but don’t brag about loving inferior baseball. (NL team fan)
@justacubsfan, your last sentence about inferior baseball is your opinion. Some of us will brag all we like about National League baseball, and to us it isn’t inferior. But thanks for trying.
There are EXACTLY 9 players at ALL times regardless of the pinch hitter. There can be as many as 40 players who are eligible to enter the game but only 9 can play at one time. In order to bring in a pinch hitter you have to remove one of the other 9. Once that player is removed he is not eligible to enter the game again. 9-1+1 still equals 9. That’s basic 1st grade math. You can do better than that. I’m not going to call one league inferior or superior compared to another. That is a matter of opinion. What I will say is that according to the rules of baseball as proposed by MLB itself, any team that uses a DH is clearly not playing the game of baseball. It is some sort of baseball/pro-wresteling hybrid. MLB is a business. They introduced the DH so that they could sell tickets to people that don’t care about baseball but are so easily amused that they just want to watch people hit home runs. Baseball itself is a game of 9 against 9. It has existed for centuries longer than MLB. Just because MLB is a business it does not afford the organization the right to change the rules of a game centuries its senior and still call it by the same name. MLB knows that. They haven’t even tried to change the rules of baseball. They say that on their own website. They are openly admitting that whatever game they play in the American League is NOT baseball. There is no DH in baseball. In the National League they play Baseball. In the American League they do NOT play Baseball. If they want to create their own game with the DH they can go right ahead. Just stop exploiting the name Baseball by calling it that. I can’t invent my own game and get people to pay to watch it by naming it Basketball. That’s because it wouldn’t be Basketball. The sad thing is that teams like the Yankees and Red Sox actually have some of the best and most knowledgeable Baseball fans on the planet. Unfortunately they never get to watch their team play it because MLB sold out to people that should just be watching the Home Run Derby every July and leaving the real game of Baseball up to people that are actually knowledgeable about the game. Once you water the game down this much it isn’t even the same game. I can’t say I’m surprised to hear this kind of rhetoric from someone that is “just a Cubs fan” though. Y’all actually got excited when your team signed Jason Heyward.
Cool comment, “NL Team fan”. I don’t watch AL because there’s no strategy and I don’t want to see fat old men play half a position. Besides, it diminishes the talent of guys like Michael Lorenzen when you change the rules of the game to make it easier for players without his talent.