Abomination

Not really. Happy to hope though.

You mean like a leading Cy candidate?

Time for the bats to do some work.

Huh. Make-up strike?

I think he was out, but not enough to overturn it regardless. Terrible decision there by Bo.

Maybe he lost a bet.

The most knowledgeable are probably Rays fans. There's so few of them, it only takes one genius to skew the results.

Wow. That looked like a big swing from Espinal and the ball went nowhere. Must have got it off the end.

The only real abuse might be someone putting a good suspended or Covid player on there, then being able to keep them there indefinitely until they're needed. However, I don't really see it happening often enough to be worth the aggravation in keeping track.

I don't know. I think in the next few years we could see more utility type guys pitching regularly in blowouts. It would also potentially encourage the development of more guys that can play both sides.

Definitely a short leash. On the plus side, he's pitched pretty well in all four appearances against the Yankees this year.

They probably deserved it in general after having two replays go against them (the first correctly).

I'm saying the pitcher never has a spot in the batting order. They would be treated as a special case. So Ohtani would be the DH who just happens to be filling a dual role and also be pitching. If someone else came in to pitch, it would have no impact on anything else. Ohtani would still be the DH and would no longer be pitching. Once he left as a pitcher though, he couldn't come back and pitch again in the same game. I don't know if it's a good idea or not, but it would make some degree of sense.

What I'm basically saying is that the pitcher would be treated special. There would no longer be a pitching slot in the batting order. Ohtani therefore wouldn't be technically pulled from the game, someone else would simply come in to pitch. Once a pitcher was removed though, they couldn't return to the game again as a pitcher (to prevent possible nonsense). Totally agree on the challenges. They also need to implement the tennis system for automatically calling fair/foul. Also, while we're at it, fix the damn rule regarding losing contact as you slide across the bag at 2nd and 3rd. You're out or safe the instant you first touch the bag, and remain that way unless you lose contact due to moving too far away from the base. As long as some part of you is on or over the bag at all times, you're good.

-Agree with the universal DH and roboumps. It would be interesting to allow a guy like Ohtani to remain as the DH after leaving the game as a pitcher though (assuming the new pitcher coming in wasn't going to hit). -I don't see any real argument against bigger bases, so if they really do reduce a few injuries and don't grow to ridiculous sizes, then sure. -I like shift policing. It's entirely possible it has very little real world effect, but it will have a large optical effect on the game. It's really no different than rules regarding lining up in the NFL. -I think I'm okay with the 7 inning double headers now. If they wanted to tweak it, maybe do 7 innings if a team is up by more than 3 runs or something, otherwise 9. -I absolutely HATE the runner on 2nd in extras. It actually makes me want to turn the TV off for extra innings. -Completely on board with the pitch clock. The batters stepping out after pitches needs to be properly enforced too. -Limited pickoffs (at least that low a number) is horrible. If you want to make it 5 or something, I could get on board with that to prevent fringe nonsense. Maybe make all pitchers step off the rubber to throw to first (lefty or righty) if you want to increase stolen bases. -Completely on board with expanded playoffs. You could also do something like requiring the higher seed to win 3 games and the lower seed to win 4 games in order to advance (first round only).

Okay, not McKay (IL), but you get the point.

This isn't clear. The Rays are going to be resting guys. They also aren't going to want to let the Yankees see their SP more than necessary right before they (could) have to face them in the playoffs. I wouldn't be surprised to see them roll with Wacha, Honeywell, and McKay in those three games.

Well that's interesting.

Just watch him get a bunch of playoff games as a send-off to retirement too.

It's a new game!

Good decision after all the pitches he threw yesterday.

Vincent is a human rain delay out there.

When a batter actually leans INTO the pitch, it should be a strike. At least he paid for that one a little.

I was just looking through a huge lot of CDs I got. Have a look at this beauty!

Ohtani with 2 triples tonight and it's only the 3rd inning.