Rob Manfred normally does what many fans consider an annoyingly effective job of keeping Major League Baseball’s strategic plans out of the public square.
So maybe the MLB commissioner was caught in an unguarded moment, staring down at a diamond from the ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” booth in the cozy confines of Williamsport, Pa., and the Little League World Series.
Or maybe his comments were calculated. Either way, he spoke freely about how expanding from the current 30 teams could create an ideal chance to reset the way teams are aligned in divisions and leagues.
Manfred was asked on air for a window into the future. Expansion, realignment, both?
“The first two topics are related, in my mind,” he replied. “I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign. I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. And I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN, because you’d be playing out of the East and out of the West.”
Taking that thinking to an extreme would put the Dodgers and Angels in a division with, say, the San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Las Vegas Athletics and Seattle Mariners.
Would that collection — let’s call it the Pacific Division — be part of the American or National League? Maybe neither. Instead, geographic realignment could result in Eastern and Western Conferences similar to the NBA.
Pushback from traditionalists might be vigorous. Call them leagues, call them conferences, geographical realignment would make for some strange bedfellows.
Former MLB player and current MLB Network analyst Cameron Maybin posted on X that making sure the divisions are balanced is more important than geography.
“Manfred’s realignment talk isn’t just about moving teams around, it tilts playoff balance,” Maybin said on X. “Some divisions get watered down others overloaded and rivalries that drive October story lines we love, vanish. Baseball needs competitive integrity not manufactured shakeups.”
Manfreds realignment talk isnt just about moving teams around it tilts playoff balance. Some divisions get watered down others overloaded and rivalries that drive October storylines we love, vanish. Baseball needs competitive integrity not manufactured shakeups.
Yet Manfred makes a persuasive argument that grouping teams by geographic location would have its benefits.
“That 10 o’clock time slot where we sometimes get lost in Anaheim would be two West Coast teams,” he said. “Then that 10 o’clock spot that’s a problem for us becomes an opportunity for our West Coast audience. I think the owners realize there is a demand for Major League Baseball in a lot of great cities, and we have an opportunity to do something good around that expansion process.”
Manfred said in February that he’d like expansion to be approved by 2029, his last year as commissioner. MLB hasn’t expanded since the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays were added in 1998.
Expansion teams “won’t be playing by the time I’m done, but I would like the process along and [locations] selected,” Manfred said.
Several cities are courting MLB for a franchise, and the league is reported to be leaning toward Nashville and Salt Lake City as favorites. Portland, Orlando, San Antonio and Charlotte are other possibilities.
The Times’ Bill Shaikin has pointed out that geographical realignment would be tied to schedule reform that could help kindle rivalries and encourage fans to visit opposing ballparks that are within driving distance.
The future home of the Rays is in flux, and that decision likely will precede MLB choosing expansion cities, even after the recent news that Florida developer Patrick Zalupski has agreed to pay $1.7 billion for the team.
And soon afterward, if Manfred’s vision comes to fruition, geographical realignment would follow, and the Southern California Freeway Series could become just another series between divisional rivals.
Junior Caminero hit his 29th and 30th homers, Christopher Morel had a go-ahead shot and six Tampa Bay pitchers combined to strike out 16 in the Rays’ 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
Caminero hit a career-long 447-foot shot with a man on in the first, and had a solo homer in the third. Morel was 0 for 6 with six strikeouts in the series before hitting his solo homer in the seventh.
It was Caminero’s third two-homer game this season and he reached 101 RBIs for his career.
Nick Fortes also homered, his first hit in five games with the Rays since being acquired from Miami.
Starter Shane Baz struck out nine in four innings to help Tampa Bay win for the fourth time in 14 games. Garrett Cleavinger (1-4) was the winner, and Pete Fairbanks got his 19th save.
Ryan Zeferjahn (6-4) took the loss.
Mike Trout tied the score for Los Angeles with a three-run homer in the third. His 20th homer this season and 398th of his career was his 200th in Angels Stadium. He’s the first player in major league history with 200 homers and 100 steals (101) in one stadium.
The Angels loaded the bases with no outs against Griffin Jax in the eighth. But Jax, acquired from Minnesota for Taj Bradley on July 31, struck out the next three batters.
Rays center fielder Jonny DeLuca left in the sixth with right hamstring tightness after legging out a triple. DeLuca was reinstated from the 60-day IL (right shoulder strain) on July 25.
Up next
Both teams are off Thursday. Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.59) will pitch at Detroit against LHP Tarik Skybal (11-3, 2.18) on Friday night. Tampa Bay will start RHP Drew Rasmussen (9-5, 2.81) against RHP Luis Castillo (8-6, 3.22) at Seattle on Friday night.
Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer and Jake Mangum had a two-run single during the Tampa Bay Rays’ seven-run fourth inning in a 7-3 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night.
Yandy Díaz scored a run and drove in another during the decisive inning in Tampa Bay’s third win in 13 games.
Ryan Pepiot (7-9) yielded five hits and two earned runs while pitching into the sixth inning for Tampa Bay, breaking his five-start winless streak.
Jo Adell homered and drove in all three runs for the Angels, who dropped to 6-6 on their 13-game homestand.
José Soriano (7-9) threw three hitless innings before the Rays demolished him in the fourth.
After Díaz led off with the Rays’ first hit, Lowe followed with his 20th homer on a 411-foot shot to center. Four of Tampa Bay’s next five batters got hits, and Díaz added an RBI grounder in his second at-bat.
Adell hit a two-run shot for his 23rd homer in the fifth, and he added an RBI single in the sixth.
The Angels’ fifth inning could have been much bigger, but Logan O’Hoppe was thrown out at home while trying to score from first on Christian Moore’s double before Oswald Peraza got doubled off first on Bryce Teodosio’s sharp lineout to Lowe.
Lowe has 20 homers in three straight seasons and four of his last five.
Emmerdale spoilers have appeared to confirm who new villain Ray will target in the village, as next week on the ITV soap it’s someone other than Dylan he has a job for
There was a worrying Emmerdale hint on Tuesday night about who Ray may be after next(Image: ITV)
There was a worrying Emmerdale hint on Tuesday night about who Ray may be after next, after initially targeting teen Dylan Penders.
Now a new spoiler for the ITV soap may have confirmed the twist and who Ray will really be targeting over the next few weeks. On Tuesday we saw Dylan trying to get out of working for the dealer who had been giving him money, pretending to be his friend.
Bond or not, Ray has Dylan exactly where he wants him and is getting him to do his dodgy dealings. We’ve seen Dylan hiding drugs and sneaking off for drop-offs and whatever else Ray has for him. It comes after fans learned Ray had targeted Moira Dingle off the back of his deal with Robert Sugden.
Emmerdale spoilers have appeared to confirm who new villain Ray will target in the village, amid him being in cahoots with Dylan(Image: ITV)
So far on the show, Dylan’s return led to the news he was in cahoots with Ray. Ray had sent him and someone else to scope out Moira’s farm to check if Robert was lying about there being no more weed in the barns.
Dylan was injured and is now recovering at the home of Mandy and Paddy, who have taken him in. They of course no idea about his secret visits with Ray, who is giving him money and lining him up with dodgy jobs.
Dylan clearly wants out though and on Tuesday, fans saw the character rumbled over his link to the break-in at Moira’s. He was confronted but it was agreed that the police, and Moira, would not be told.
As for Ray, Dylan told him about Paddy and Mandy as well as his blossoming relationship with April Windsor. Claiming he didn’t want to take advantage, he also wanted to spend some time in the village.
So he told Ray he didn’t want to do the latest job on offer. Ray seemed fine with it as Dylan told him he wouldn’t be able to help this time, with Ray agreeing to ask someone else.
Ray is now targeting April(Image: ITV)
But when Dylan was away from him, it was clear Ray was spying on him and April. His true intentions became clear when Ray was shown on the phone, telling someone that “sweet and innocent” April would be “of use” to them.
So Ray is now targeting April to get her involved in his criminal world – but will she be lured in? Spoilers for next week confirm Dylan reveals April has been offered a job by Ray.
It seems that there is an agreement that if April does the job, Ray will leave Dylan alone. At least that’s what the teens believe, and soon April is tasked with a drug drop by a manipulative Ray. But will she go through with it, and will Ray leave them both alone?
Jo Adell hit a two-run homer, Yusei Kikuchi surrendered four hits in six innings and the Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 on Monday night.
The Rays (55-59) struck in the opening inning when Yandy Díaz doubled to right and scored on Junior Caminero’s sacrifice fly to center field. Kikuchi (5-7) escaped without further damage and finished with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Angels pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts.
Yoán Moncada reached on a fielder’s choice for the Angels in the second inning before Adell launched a 428-foot homer to left-center off Adrian Houser (6-3), putting the Angels (55-58) ahead 2-1.
The Angels made it 4-1 in the third inning on Taylor Ward‘s two-run single. Bryce Teodosio doubled in the sixth and Zach Neto drove him in with a double of his own that put the Angels up 5-1.
Ward and Teodosio both had three hits.
Houser worked 5⅔ innings, yielding 11 hits and five runs while striking out three.
Christopher Morel finished 0 for 4 with four strikeouts for the Rays.
Key moment: Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch, and Mike Trout doubled to left field to open the third inning. Ward followed with a single to center that drove both runners in and gave the Angels a three-run lead.
Key stat: Ward and Teodosio both had three hits.
Up next: The Rays and Angels face off again Tuesday night. RHP Ryan Pepiot (6-9, 3.80 ERA) is expected to start for Tampa Bay against RHP José Soriano (7-8, 3.65 ERA) for Angels.
TAMPA, Fla. — Scoring runs at Steinbrenner Field should not be as hard as the Dodgers made it look this weekend.
The spring training ballpark, which is doubling as the Tampa Bay Rays’ temporary home this season after Tropicana Field was shredded in an offseason hurricane, has small Yankee Stadium-inspired dimensions that played even shorter in this weekend’s sweltering Florida summer heat.
Yet, for 18 innings from late Friday night to midway through Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers put nothing but zeros on the scoreboard.
They couldn’t capitalize on the short porch in right field. They didn’t run into any cheap home runs amid conditions that should have helped the ball fly.
During a 3-0 win over the Rays on Sunday, the Dodgers manufactured offense in different kinds of ways.
In the top of the sixth, third base coach Dino Ebel decided to wave his arm on an aggressive send of Freddie Freeman, who went chugging around third base to score just ahead of a tag at home on Andy Pages’ RBI single to left.
In the seventh, they needed a swinging-bunt single from Shohei Ohtani, a one-out walk from Mookie Betts and a double-steal from both players to set up Freeman for another RBI single.
And in the ninth, they extended their lead with a sacrifice fly from Betts at the end of a 10-pitch battle for a key insurance run.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during the first inning of a win over the Rays in Tampa, Fla.
(Jason Behnken / Associated Press)
Such results will do little to quell the concerns about the Dodgers’ slumping lineup, which has seen a brutal performance in July (when they scored the third-fewest runs in the majors) continue into the early days of August.
But on a day Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered 5 ⅔ scoreless innings and the Dodgers’ bullpen completed a second shutout of the Rays in this weekend’s series victory — despite a bases-loaded scare in the bottom of the ninth — it was nonetheless enough to ensure the team returned home from this nine-game road trip with a winning 5-4 record.
The Dodgers’ ongoing search for offense included another twist on Sunday morning. Two weeks after flipping Ohtani and Betts at the top of the batting order, manager Dave Roberts reversed course by returning Ohtani to the top spot and dropping Betts — who has remained mired in his season-long slump — into the two-hole.
Early on, the results weren’t promising.
Betts grounded into a double-play in the first inning, immediately after Ohtani had led off with a walk.
In the fifth, the Rays intentionally walked Ohtani to put two aboard in front of Betts. But he flied out to center to end the inning, extending his recent hitless streak to 16 at-bats.
“It’s kind of just trying to figure out what’s best short term,” Roberts said of the lineup adjustment, while remaining undecided on how the batting order will look in the coming days. “With [Teoscar Hernández, who got an off day] not being in there, this was the best lineup for today.”
Roberts hinted that more tinkering could happen once Max Muncy returns from the injured list, which could happen as soon as Monday — especially after infielder Tommy Edman left Sunday’s game early with a sprained right ankle, aggravating his lingering ankle injury while rounding first base on a single in the fifth.
Roberts also left open the possibility of Betts, who saw his season batting average dip to .233 despite his seventh-inning walk and ninth-inning sacrifice fly, dropping further down the batting order at some point, as he continues to search for answers to his faltering swing.
“I’ve thought about it,” Roberts said. “I think it’s a totally fair question. I’m just trying to figure out what would be best for him, for the team. But yeah, I’ve thought about it.”
For now, however, the Dodgers are clinging to what positives they can.
Ohtani entered Sunday in a recent skid that included 20 strikeouts in his last 10 games, but managed to reach base four total times to go along with two steals. Freeman stayed hot with his second three-hit performance of the trip, raising his batting average (which had slipped to .292 just a week ago) up to .306. And by the end of the day, even Betts had pitched in, following up his seventh-inning walk by staying alive against reliever Griffin Jax for his sacrifice fly in the ninth.
TAMPA, Fla. — Blake Snell nearly had a flawless return from the injured list on Saturday afternoon.
If only the Tampa Bay Rays didn’t have slugger Yandy Díaz, or a quirky short right-field wall at their temporary home at Steinbrenner Field.
Making his first start since the second week of the season, when he went down with a shoulder injury that shelved him, Snell largely looked like the ace the Dodgers thought they were getting when they signed him to a $182-million contract this offseason.
Over a five-inning outing that included eight strikeouts, no walks and a whole bunch of flailing swings by the Rays, the veteran left-hander flashed his two-time Cy Young Award-winning stuff and tantalizing late-season potential for this year.
However, in the Dodgers’ 4-0 loss to the Rays, Snell gave up three runs on a pair of long balls to Díaz — who twice took advantage of the ballpark’s short porch in right field.
“I thought, to be quite frank, he was a victim of this ballpark,” manager Dave Roberts said afterward. “There were a couple fly balls to right field that just went out. … Unfortunately, got a little bit of bad luck.”
After the Rays’ permanent home, Tropicana Field in nearby St. Petersburg, had its canvas roof shredded during Hurricane Milton this winter, the club relocated to Steinbrenner Field for this season; using the New York Yankees’ open-air, Tampa-based spring training park for its home schedule.
Since the 10,000-seat venue was modeled after Yankee Stadium in New York, its defining feature is a short right-field wall (similar to the one in the Bronx) that measures at just 314 feet down the line — eight feet shorter than the dimensions at Tropicana Field.
In the bottom of the first inning, Díaz took full advantage, golfing a 3-1 fastball the other way for a solo home run. According to MLB’s Statcast system, the ball traveled only 326 feet, and would have stayed in play at each of the league’s other 29 stadiums. But not here, and especially not on a sweltering summer afternoon with a first-pitch temperature of 91 degrees.
“I was surprised,” Roberts said of watching Díaz’s ball land in the first row of seats.
“They took advantage of the field,” added right fielder Teoscar Hernández.
Indeed, Díaz repeated the act two innings later; snapping the groove Snell had settled into after retiring seven of the next eight batters, including five on strikeouts.
On a 1-1 fastball that was up in the zone, Díaz launched one to the opposite field again, hitting a two-run blast on a 341-foot fly ball that would’ve been a homer in only two other parks (Yankee Stadium, and Daikin Park in Houston).
“The first homer to Yandy, that was not a good pitch,” Snell said. “On the second homer, I thought that was a really good pitch to him, and it was. Just a good result for him.”
Still, on the whole, Snell offered plenty of promise in his return to action Saturday.
First and foremost, he filled up the strike zone, eliminating his habit of nibbling around the plate by throwing 57 strikes in 86 pitches.
“I was in the zone more than I thought I would’ve been,” he said. “You’re just trying to feel it out again, so I like that.”
And, in another positive development, many of those strikes were of the swing-and-miss variety.
Snell racked up 19 total whiffs, tied for third-most by a Dodgers pitcher in a game this season. Seven came on 12 total swings against his changeup, a key offspeed pitch that showed no signs of rust after his four-month layoff. Five more were courtesy of his slider, with the Rays coming up empty on all five swings against it.
“I was in the zone, I was confident, I knew what I wanted to do,” Snell said. “Overall, first start back, emotions, there’s a lot that I’m dealing with to get better. … But definitely something to build on, learn from.”
In the big picture, after all, the Dodgers’ main priorities for Snell are: 1) Stay healthy; 2) Pitch better than he did at the start of the season, when his bothersome shoulder contributed to two underwhelming outings that marred the beginning of his Dodgers career.
Tampa Bay’s Yandy Díaz watches his solo home run off Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell during the first inning Saturday.
(Chris O’Meara / Associated Press)
Down the stretch this season, the Dodgers’ biggest strength might be their rotation. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is in the Cy Young Award conversation. Tyler Glasnow has looked improved since returning from his own shoulder injury. Shohei Ohtani has quickly rediscovered his premium stuff coming off a second career Tommy John procedure. And even Clayton Kershaw has been productive in his 18th season.
The biggest linchpin, though, likely remains Snell — whom the Dodgers targeted this offseason in hopes of avoiding the tightrope they walked last October, when their injury-ravaged rotation was almost completely depleted by the start of the postseason.
“Last year, we found a way to do it, not having that [rotation depth],” Roberts said. “But having the starters healthy, pitching the way they’re capable of, makes it a better quality of life for everyone.”
While the Dodgers had managed in Snell’s absence, maintaining a narrow lead in the National League West despite another prolonged stretch of patchwork pitching, Roberts acknowledged they had missed his “presence” over the first two-thirds of the season.
And after watching from afar how well Snell finished last year — when he rebounded from another extended early-season IL stint with the San Francisco Giants by posting a 1.23 ERA over his last 12 starts, including his first no-hitter exactly one year ago Saturday — Roberts was hopeful the 32-year-old could mount a similar “heater” now.
“He’s really focused,” Roberts said. “I love where his head’s at.”
The results on Saturday might not have been enough to compensate for the Dodgers’ quiet day at the plate — with their lineup managing only six hits and squandering its best opportunity to rally on Hernández’s bases-loaded, inning-ending double-play grounder in the top of the sixth.
But it nonetheless raised hopes about the potential of the team’s late-season rotation, offering a long-awaited glimpse of the kind of dominance Snell could provide to the Dodgers’ push to defend their World Series championship.
“I thought Blake threw the baseball really well today,” Roberts said. “Just kind of seeing him out there, competing, making pitches, it just makes you feel better going forward.”
José Caballero was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays at the start of Thursday’s game against the New York Yankees.
He was a member of the Rays when he turned a double play to end the fifth inning.
He was a member of the Rays when he popped out to second base to start the sixth inning.
He was a member of the winning team when he spoke to reporters after the game.
That team was not the Rays. In a bizarre scenario that played out as the MLB trade deadline came and went, Caballero was dealt to the opposing team during a game in which he was playing.
“I was winning today regardless,” Caballero said following the Yankees’ 7-4 victory. “We won the game, I guess. That’s what I feel right now.”
As part of the deal, the Rays received triple-A outfielder Everson Pereira and a player to be named or cash.
Caballero is tied for the MLB lead with 34 stolen bases this season. He has played in 86 games at six positions (shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield spots) and has a batting average of .226 with two home runs and 27 RBIs.
After entering Thursday’s game in the bottom of the fifth inning, Caballero could be seen in the Tampa Bay dugout during the top of the seventh, giving hugs and saying his goodbyes. Shortstop Taylor Walls looked particularly stunned by the development.
Caballero, who was acquired by the Rays in a trade with the Seattle Mariners before the 2024 season, bid his final farewell Friday on his Instagram Stories.
“Grateful for every moment, every game, every memory, every person,” he wrote. “Y’all made it special. Forever part of my journey. Thank you Rays!!”
Caballero also had a message for his new team.
“Honored to join such a legendary organization,” he wrote. “Thank you, Yankees, for the warm welcome. Let’s get to work! #NewChapter”
The Panama native is now a member of the team he grew up rooting for (Derek Jeter was his favorite player, Caballero told reporters). He is also now teammates with Gerrit Cole, the Yankees pitcher who famously wagged his finger in annoyance at then-Seattle Mariners rookie Caballero during a June 2023 game.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters he spoke briefly with Caballero after the trade.
“I said, `We’ve had some battles but I like your game,’” Boone said. “So I think he brings a lot to the table and I think he’s going to be a very useful player for us, just a lot of different things he can do on a diamond and provide a lot of position flexibility.”
Tommy John surgery was never supposed to go this far.
It was once a cross-your-fingers-and-pray fix for a career-ending injury. Now, MLB teams cycle through as many as 40-plus pitchers a year, knowing that surgery is a phone call away.
Just ask John himself, a left-hander who never threw all that hard, only reaching the mid-80s on his sinking fastball. The soft-throwing lefty was having his best year as a Dodgers starting pitcher in 1974.
He didn’t have the strikeout acumen of teammate Andy Messersmith, or the ace makeup of future Hall of Famer Don Sutton. But what John did have was consistency. John consistently pitched late into games, and sent opposing hitters back to the dugout without reaching first base.
“The game of baseball is 27 outs,” said John, now 82. “It wasn’t about throwing hard. It’s, how do I get you out?”
He was the first to go under the knife. The first to lead pitchers through a dangerous cycle of throwing as hard as possible, knowing the safeguard is surgery.
“I threw one pitch and boom, the ligament exploded,” John said.
John’s arm injury left a sensation akin to what an amputee feels after losing a limb. In 1978, he told Sports Illustrated, “It felt as if I had left my arm someplace else.” He didn’t feel pain. He felt loss. His left arm was his career. It was the direct cause for his toeing the Dodger Stadium mound in the first place. Then, John went on to pitch another 15 years in MLB.
It’s the same loss that Hall of Fame Dodgers left-hander Sandy Koufax felt when he retired at age 30 after numerous arm injuries, which could have likely been fixed if current elbow and shoulder surgeries had existed in 1966.
It’s the same loss that Texas Rangers team physician Keith Meister sees walking daily into his office.
Today, Meister can view MRI scans of elbow tears and can tell pitchers where and how they hold the baseball. The tear patterns are emblematic of the pitches being thrown in the first place. The solution — Tommy John surgery, a once-revolutionary elbow operation — replaces a torn or partially damaged ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow with a tendon from somewhere else in the body. The operation is no quick fix. It requires a 13- to 14-month recovery period, although Meister said some pitchers may require just 12 months — and some up to 18.
Meister, who is currently tallying data and researching the issue, wants to be part of the change. Midway through an October phone interview, he bluntly stopped in his tracks and asked a question.
“What is the average length of a major-league career for a major-league pitcher?” he said.
Meister explained that the average career for an MLB pitcher is just 2.6 years. Along with numerous other interviewees, he compared the epidemic to another sport’s longevity problem: the National Football League running back.
“People say to me, ‘Well, that sounds like a running back in football,’” Meister said. “Think about potentially the money that gets saved with not having to even get to arbitration, as long as organizations feel like they can just recycle and, you know, next man up, right?”
Orthopedic surgeon Keith Meister, in his TMI Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Surgery office in Arlington, Texas, in 2024, has advocated for changes to mitigate pitching injuries.
(Tom Fox / The Dallas Morning News)
Financial ramifications play close to home between pitchers and running backs as well. Lower durability and impact have led to decreasing running-back salaries. If pitchers continue to have shorter careers, as Meister puts it, MLB franchises might be happy to cycle through minimum-salary pitchers instead of shelling out large salaries for players who remain on the injured list rather than in the bullpen.
The Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays have shuffled through pitchers at league extremes over the last five years. In the modern era — since 1901 — only the Rays and Dodgers have used more than 38 pitchers in a season three times each. Tampa used 40-plus pitchers each year from 2021 to 2023.
Last year, the Dodgers used 40 pitchers. Only the Miami Marlins tasked more with 45.
The Dodgers have already used 35 pitchers this season, second-most in baseball. The Rays tallied just 30 in 2024 and have dispatched just 23 on the mound so far this season. What gives?
Meister says the Rays may have changed their pitcher philosophy. Early proponents of sweepers and other high-movement pitches, the Rays now rank near the bottom of the league (29th with just 284 thrown) in sweeper usage entering Saturday’s action, according to Baseball Savant. Two years ago, the Rays threw the seventh most.
Tampa is rising to the top of MLB in two-seam fastball usage, Meister said, a pitch he says creates potentially much less stress on the elbow. Their starting pitchers are second in baseball in the number of innings, and they’ve used just six starting pitchers all season.
“It’s equated to endurance for their pitchers, because you know why? They’re healthy, they’re able to pitch, they’re able to post and they’re able to go deeper into games,” Meister said. “Maybe teams will see this and they’ll be like, ‘Wait a minute, look what these guys won with. Look how they won. We don’t need to do all this crap anymore.’”
The Dodgers, on the other hand, rank ninth in sweeper usage (1,280 thrown through Friday) and have used 16 starting pitchers (14 in traditional starting roles). Meanwhile, their starting pitchers have compiled the fewest innings in MLB. Rob Hill, the Dodgers’ director of pitching, began his career at Driveline Baseball. The Dodgers hired him in 2020. Since then, the franchise has churned out top pitching prospect after top pitching prospect, many of whom throw devastating sweepers and change-ups.
As of Saturday, the Dodgers have 10 pitchers on the injured list, six of whom underwent an elbow or shoulder operation — and since 2021, the team leads MLB in injury list stints for pitchers.
“There are only probably two teams in baseball that can just sit there and say, ‘Well, if I get 15 to 20 starts out of my starting pitchers, it doesn’t matter, because I’ll replace them with somebody else I can buy,’” Meister said. “That’s the Yankees and the Dodgers.”
He continued: “Everybody else, they’ve got to figure out, wait a minute, this isn’t working, and we need to preserve our commodity, our pitchers.”
Outside of organizational strategy changes, like the Rays have made, Meister has expressed rule changes to MLB. He’s suggested rethinking how the foul ball works or toying with the pitch clock to give a slightly longer break to pitchers. He said pitchers don’t get a break on the field the same way hitters do in the batter’s box.
“Part of the problem here is that a hitter has an ability to step out of the box and take a timeout,” Meister said. “He has to go cover a foul ball and run over to first base and run back to the mound. He should have an opportunity take a break and take a blow.”
Meister hopes to discuss reintroducing “tack” — a banned sticky substance that helps a pitcher’s grip on the ball — to the rulebook, something that pitchers such as Max Scherzer and Tyler Glasnow have called a factor in injuries. Meister has fellow leading experts on his side too.
“Myself and Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache are very good friends, and we talk at length about this,” said Meister.
Meister explained that the lack of stickiness on the baseball causes pitchers to squeeze the ball as hard as possible. The “death grip on the ball,” Meister said, causes the muscles on the inner side of the elbow to contract in the arm and then extend when the ball is released. The extension of the inner elbow muscles is called an eccentric load, which can create injury patterns.
The harder the grip, the more violent the eccentric load becomes when a sweeper pitch, for example, is thrown, he said.
“Just let guys use a little bit of pine tar on their fingertips,” Meister said, adding that the pitchers already have to adjust to an inconsistent baseball, one that changes from season to season. “Not, put it on the baseball, not glob the baseball with it, but put a little pine tar on their fingertips and give them a little better adherence to the baseball.”
According to the New Yorker, MLB is exploring heavier or larger baseballs to slow pitchers’ arm movements, potentially reducing strain on the UCL during maximum-effort pitches.
Meister, however, said there does not seem to be a sense of urgency to fix the game, with a years-long process to make any fixes.
In short, Meister is ready to try anything.
For a man who has made a career off baseball players nervously sitting in his office waiting room, awaiting news that could alter their careers forever, Meister wants MLB to help him stop players from ever scheduling that first appointment.
“To me, it’s not about the surgery any more as much as it is, what can we do to prevent, and what can we do to alter, the approach that the game now takes?” Meister said.
Emmerdale’s Robert Sugden featured in a huge twist with new villain Ray on the ITV soap on Tuesday night, and it won’t end well for Mackenzie Boyd or Ross Barton
20:00, 01 Jul 2025Updated 20:08, 01 Jul 2025
Emmerdale’s new villain Ray made his debut leading to a twist(Image: ITV)
There was a dangerous new alliance on Emmerdale on Tuesday night, as new villain Ray made his debut – and it’s bad luck for Ross Barton.
As the character arrived claiming to be an acquaintance of Mackenzie Boyd, he suggested he was selling farm machinery and wanted to see if he was interested. But soon his real agenda became clear when he was shown the weed crops that were stashed in the barn.
Ross, his brother Lewis Barton, who owns the cannabis and has been harvesting it for a while, and Mack were secretly hiding the crops there with a plan to sell it for money. With Moira Dingle’s farm facing closure and the family in crisis, Mack blamed himself for his sister’s situation and wanted to raise the funds.
But he left Ross and Lewis furious when he secretly told Ray about the crops and took him to see them. Lewis refused to sell to him, with it soon clear Ray was a dealer.
As the end of the episode approached though, the crops vanished and one person was thought to be to blame. Ross accused Mack, believing he’d stolen them and sold them onto Ray like he’d initially suggested.
There was a dangerous new alliance on Emmerdale on Tuesday night(Image: ITV)
But Mack protested his innocence and insisted he had nothing to do with it. Ross didn’t believe him, with Mack saying he planned to take it but had cold feet.
He told Ross to call Ray from his phone knowing he’d prove he was innocent, before he then showed him messages that showed he was not in contact with the dealer all day. They both then feared Lewis had actually fled to Leeds with the crops to sell them on.
But when Lewis returned home Ross asked him about it, and he had no idea what he was talking about. Ross then had to explain the weed was gone, leaving his sibling horrified.
As Lewis questioned whether Mack was to blame wanting answers, Ross shared his determination to track down the real culprit. But soon enough the camera panned to Ray who was asking someone about selling drugs, and soon we saw the stolen crops in the back of a van.
Emmerdale’s Robert Sugden featured in a huge twist with new villain Ray(Image: ITV)
It was none other than Robert Sugden who then stepped forward and was confirmed to be the person who stole the drugs and then sold them for a huge amount to Ray without telling Lewis, Mack or Ross. He’d come across the weed while working on the farm, before selling them on for the cash.
He told Ray there would be no other dealings, most likely because Lewis now had nothing left. Then he made it clear he planned to “cause mayhem” wanting to use the money to do so, so what does he have up his sleeve?
Either way, it’s bad news for Ross as his relationship with Lewis is now at risk because of the whole drama, and him getting Mack involved – leading to Ray and Robert being able to steal everything. Ross is also set to face drama when he confronts Robert about the theft, with Robert threatening to ditch his deal with Moira as a result – so will Ross bring more trouble to Moira’s door?
PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic — Wander Franco, the suspended Tampa Bay Rays shortstop charged in a sexual abuse case, was found guilty on Thursday but received a two-year suspended sentence.
Franco was arrested last year after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14 at the time, and of transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship.
Franco, now 24, also faced charges of sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking.
Judge Jakayra Veras García said Franco made a bad decision as she addressed him during the ruling.
“Look at us, Wander,” she said. “Do not approach minors for sexual purposes. If you don’t like people very close to your age, you have to wait your time.”
Prosecutors had requested a five-year prison sentence against Franco and a 10-year sentence against the girl’s mother, who was found guilty and will serve the full term.
“Apparently she was the one who thought she was handling the bat in the big leagues,” Veras said of the mother and her request that Franco pay for her daughter’s schooling and other expenses.
Before the three judges issued their unanimous ruling, Veras orally reviewed the copious amount of evidence that prosecutors presented during trial, including certain testimony from 31 witnesses.
“This is a somewhat complex process,” Veras said.
More than an hour into her presentation, Veras said: “The court has understood that this minor was manipulated.”
As the judge continued her review, Franco looked ahead expressionless, leaning forward at times.
Franco, who was once the team’s star shortstop, had signed a $182 million, 11-year contract through 2032 in November 2021 but saw his career abruptly halted in August 2023 after authorities in the Dominican Republic announced they were investigating him for an alleged relationship with a minor. Franco was 22 at the time.
In January 2024, authorities arrested Franco in the Dominican Republic. Six months later, Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list, which cut off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave.
He was placed on that list because he has not been able to report to the team and would need a new U.S. visa to do so.
While Franco awaited trial on conditional release, he was arrested again in November last year following what Dominican authorities called an altercation over a woman’s attention. He was charged with illegally carrying a semiautomatic Glock 19 that police said was registered to his uncle.
That case is still pending in court.
After the ruling, Major League Baseball issued a brief statement noting it had collectively bargained a joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy “that reflects our commitment to these issues.”
“We are aware of today’s verdict in the Wander Franco trial and will conclude our investigation at the appropriate time,” MLB said.
Adames writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press writers Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Ron Blum in New York contributed.
