MLB Bullets is going to miss some time

Good morning, March.

• So following up on what was discussed in these pages on Friday, officials from MLB, the NBA and the NHL are all keeping track of the spread of the coronavirus/COVID-19 and are making contingency plans. So far, there is no reason to postpone games or play them in front of empty stadiums like they’re doing in Italy’s Serie A soccer league. There’s even talk of calling off the rest of the season in Italy.
• Then there are those who won’t be playing on Opening Day no matter what anyway. Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen will start the season on the injured list as he still recovers from a torn ACL suffered last season.
• Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge hasn’t played in a Spring Training game yet and the Yankees aren’t sure of when he will because of a “balky” shoulder.
• Angels pitcher Griffin Canning is going for more tests as he’s been unable to throw so far this spring. Canning will likely start the season on the IL.
• Rays pitcher Blake Snell is dealing with elbow soreness, but he hopes to be ready for Opening Day.
• Rangers pitcher Corey Kluber pitched for the first time in ten months since his arm was broken by a line drive last season.
• Astros pitcher Lance McCullers pitched for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018.
• Free agent infielder Scooter Gennett is still unsigned. Tony Wolfe feels terrible for Gennett, who this time last season was looking for a big multi-year contract extension, but those hopes were all dashed when he suffered a serious groin injury in Spring Training last year.
• Jay Jaffe believes that there are some good reasons for the Red Sox to be concerned about pitcher Chris Sale. Sale suffered from both injuries and a significant decline in velocity last year.
• Sad news as former New York Giants pitcher Johnny Antonelli has died. He was 89. Antonelli was a six-time All-Star and the ace of the 1954 World Series champions.
• More sad news as the daughter of former MLB first baseman John Olerud has passed away at 19. Jordan Olerud was born with a rare genetic disorder and John and his wife Kelly spent much time and money trying to help families care for special needs children.
• MLB has agreed to let players on the 40-man roster compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The player needs permission from their club so there will be no active major leaguers on the Olympic squads. But it does open up the door for some top prospects to participate.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks new Mets manager Luis Rojas could be an outstanding manager, assuming the Mets show patience and let him do his job. (The Athletic sub. req.) Rosenthal believes there’s a good chance the Mets won’t do that. What would have happened to the Nationals had they fired Dave Martinez back in May? They might have won the World Series anyway, but they definitely won it after they didn’t fire him.
• Buster Olney lists the many unintended consequences that that the new “three-batter rule” could have. (ESPN+ sub. req.) For one, Olney thinks we’re going to see a lot more in-batter pitching changes, since pitching part of an at-bat counts as one full batter faced.
• Will Leitch and Mike Petriello rank the 20 players they think are most likely to win an MVP Award in 2020.
• Not on that list is Athletics first baseman Matt Olson, but Thomas Harrigan thinks that Olson could hit 50 home runs in 2020 and win a Gold Glove.
• Fifty home runs would be hard if pitchers Masahiro Tanaka and Zach Eflin are correct. Both pitchers have claimed that the ball that is being used in Spring Training feels “less lively” and more like the ball used in 2017. Of course, that ball was still pretty lively compared to the 2014 ball.
• Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda revealed that he asked the Dodgers to trade him this past offseason. Presumably he’s much happier in Minnesota, but we’ll see how he feels when he finds out what the weather is like there in late March and early April.
• Pitcher David Price said he’s much happier pitching for the Dodgers than he was in Boston last year. Price did stress that he neither asked nor wanted to be traded, but he does indicate that he feels more comfortable with Los Angeles.
• Hall of Famer Chipper Jones has been hired by ESPN to be their main analyst for Wednesday Night Baseball. He takes the place of David Ross, who indicated that he wasn’t going to be back this year.
• Craig Edwards finishes up his series on baseball and broadcasting and notes that baseball is putting the short-term profits from restricting broadcasting over the long-term growth of the sport.
• Tom Verducci examines the problems that MLB is going to have to solve dealing with the use of technology going forward in light of recent events.
• Contrary to popular opinion, no one is intentionally throwing at the Astros this spring, notes David Schoenfield.
• Even though it is no longer being tested for an is no longer on the list of banned substances, MLB told players that they can still be suspended for marijuana use. Basically, if a player gets in trouble with the law or shows up to work high, he’s still getting suspended.
• Sean Fitz-Gerald notes that MLB is showing an interest in the city of Vancouver and in particular the Diamondbacks have been checking out the city. (The Athletic sub. req.) It’s possible that the D-Backs would move to Canada just temporarily while a new stadium was constructed (or Chase Field extensively remodeled), but it’s also possible that they’re considering a permanent move. Vancouver is also on the list of possible expansion cities going forward.
• And finally, Tim Brown profiles White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson and his relationship with his father, who was in prison for almost the first 16 years of Anderson’s life. This is why being there for his daughters is the most important thing to the Pale Hose infielder.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.