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Willson Contreras suspended for six matches

This morning, colleague Sébastien Berrouard told you about the “prowess” of Willson Contreras.

The first baseman showed exceptional leadership by serving a man wearing the same uniform as himself a bat flying in his direction. He also spoiled the groundskeepers with candy.

https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1960170010212462830

You don’t have to read between the lines to understand that the veteran didn’t impress me.

Obviously, throwing a wooden stick at another human being is not exactly an acceptable gesture. And Major League Baseball was quick to understand.

Contreras received a six-game suspension from the Commissioner’s Office. He was also fined an undisclosed amount.

He has appealed his case, which means that in the meantime, he has the right to play.

https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1960471666007662781

It’s no wonder Major League Baseball cracked down. After all, this was a serious act that could have had serious consequences. A clear message had to be sent.

Remember that Victor Robles, who did the same in the minors, got 10 games. Was it more blatant?

I hope the first baseman gets his lesson. After all, you can be angry all you want, but to act like that (not to mention yelling at the umpire, who did call strike three that threw off Contreras) is just too intense.

And that’s even if it made for some good images.

  • Steve Cohen is building something good.

  • Wow.

  • Alek Manoah did well in AAA.

  • A machine.

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Adley Rutschman would fit in with the Giants

In recent days, it’s become clear that the chances of Adley Rutschman leaving Baltimore are greater than ever before. Bob Nightengale even says he expects to see him traded this winter.

But who could go after him?

With 24 months left on his contract (after the 2025 season), Rutschman wouldn’t be a rental player, but he wouldn’t be far from becoming a free agent either. Any club looking for him would want to have a chance of signing him.

And the catcher certainly won’t sign on the cheap.

So it takes a club willing to put money on the table. But above all, it takes a club that wants to win in the short or medium term… and a club that needs reinforcements at the #2 position.

And the more you think about it, one of the clubs that fits the description is the San Francisco Giants.

The trusted receiver there is Patrick Bailey. He has the potential to win a Gold Glove (as in 2024), but let’s just say he can’t exactly aspire to win a Silver Stick someday. His baton is really below average.

Could the Giants, who haven’t been afraid to bring in big names since Buster Posey took control of baseball operations, stick their noses into the matter? In my eyes, it’s not impossible.

The Giants of the 2010s dominated because they had a franchise catcher: Buster Posey. If Posey sees Rutschman as a potential catcher of his caliber, I can see him working hard to get him.

Nothing’s done, but… to see him relaunch himself in San Francisco, that would be something.

  • Jordan Romano is injured.

  • Season (probably) over for Nathan Eovaldi. Hard blow for the Rangers, who signed Dylan Moore in the minors.

  • Well done, Guardians.

  • Carlos Santana on the waivers.

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MLB in brief: Ryan Borucki in Buffalo | Blue Jays system

Ryan Borucki in Buffalo

The Blue Jays have brought him back into the fold in the minors.

Adley Rutschman traded?

Ken Rosenthal doesn’t think so.

Jonah Tong recalled

The Mets have a fine prospect on their hands. He’ll pitch Friday.

Not easy, baseball

Louis Varland was at home in Minnesota and his wife works nearby. The transaction took the family by surprise.

A healthy break

Kyle Tucker is in fine form right now.

The Blue Jays’ system

The club has the 12th-best system in the minors, according to ESPN.

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A’s to play home games in Vegas in 2026

The 2026 MLB schedule is out.

Interestingly, on March 25, the Yankees will be in San Francisco. And the very next day, the other teams will begin their season, which is going to be opening day.

There are several events to note in all this. Rivalry Weekend will be from May 15 to 17, the New York teams will face off on September 11 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the tragic event, the season will end on September 27, and so on.

Most importantly, the A’s will be playing in Vegas for a week.

From June 8 to 10, the Brewers will be the opponents. And then, from the 12th to the 14th, the Colorado Rockies will be the opponents of the A’s, who will be at home that week.

The A’s, who are building a Major League ballpark for (ideally) 2028, will play at Las Vegas Park, the A’s AAA club stadium.

As long as they’re playing in a minor league stadium in Sacramento, the A’s might as well go play a little in a small stadium in Vegas, just to build up their fan base in their next city. No?

These two duels aren’t the most attractive (two inter-league duels and not necessarily big-market teams), but the Vegas crowd should clearly be there.

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Yimi Garcia’s return is uncertain and it doesn’t look good

All is well with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2025. Except perhaps in the bullpen.

Number one reliever Jeff Hoffman is struggling to stay above league average with 28 saves and a 4.17 ERA after two good seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies.

As for the rest of the relievers, it’s very thin, with the exception of Brendon Little, who has an earned-run average of 2.88 in 56 and one-third innings of work on the mound.

Part of the reason for this lack of depth is the absence of Yimi Garcia, who has been one of the most important parts of Toronto’s reliever bullpen over the past four seasons. Garcia was placed on the injured list last May with a shoulder injury, before being activated on July 2, but returning to the injured list on July 5.

And his absence could well be prolonged, as according to Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling, Garcia is struggling with ulnar nerve symptoms and has not responded well to recent training sessions.

The 35-year-old will visit Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas, for another opinion on his elbow. Meister is one of the foremost elbow surgeons in baseball and operates for the Texas Rangers.

A second opinion from a specialist probably means elbow surgery, an internal splint or Tommy John surgery. The last option would be the worst-case scenario, as it would take over a year to make a full recovery.

If Garcia were to undergo surgery, it would be a major blow to the Blue Jays’ reliever bullpen not only this year, but next season as well.

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Willson Contreras is ejected and hits one of his trainers with his stick

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 last night (Monday). You may be wondering why we’re telling you about this unimportant duel, right?

Well, it wasn’t the Red Birds’ win that caught our attention, but rather what happened in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Cardinals designated hitter Willson Contreras didn’t like a third strike called while at bat. And when we say he didn’t like it, we mean he didn’t like it.

While facing a no-ball, two-strike count in a close game, he was called out on strikes following a pitch that landed in the zone. When you see the video replay, the shot does indeed appear to be a strike, down in the zone, but Contreras still took offense.

The latter then turned on home plate umpire Derek Thomas and was ejected from the game, causing him to explode with anger as the Cards’ coaching staff tried to restrain him.

While being pushed back to his dugout, Contreras even threw his bat toward the field as he continued to yell at Thomas, and hit one of his own coaches, St. Louis hitting coach Brant Brown.

When he finally entered the dugout, an entire bucket of chewing gum was thrown onto the field, and the team’s bat boys had to clean up the scene.

The good stuff.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was also ejected. We’ll see if there are any further sanctions in the wake of Contreras’ outburst.

All this for a properly called catch.

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50 circuits: Cal Raleigh nears Aaron Judge’s record

Once again last night, Cal Raleigh managed to hit a long ball. Nothing new under the sun, you might say.

It was, in fact, his 50th long ball of the season. He obviously leads the majors in this regard, and continues to rewrite the record books for a player playing catcher.

Of course, hitting his 50th home run on August 25 begs the question: what’s the limit? Will he hit 62, like Aaron Judge in 2022, when he rewrote the American League history book?

If he does, will he be MVP? And if he doesn’t, will he be?

What you need to know is that Judge had hit 51 home runs after 132 games. And Raleigh is precisely at 50 home runs in 132 games, which is pretty close to the Yankees captain’s pace.

Judge had hit four home runs in his next four games, by the way… but hey: the pace is similar for a catcher.

Naturally, the man himself can’t believe it. Hitting 50 home runs seemed unreal to him, but now he’s the first player this year to hit so many long balls.

Only seven other players had managed to do so before September, by the way.

It’s also worth remembering that he’s an ambidextrous hitter. He has 30 home runs as a left-hander and no less than 20 as a right-hander. He joins Mickey Mantle, who was the only ambidextrous hitter to hit 50 in a single season.

How’s that for a catch?

Noting that the Mariners won 9-6 against the Padres and therefore won more games against the Padres than the Padres won against them this season, they won the Eddie Vedder Cup, created in honor of the Pearl Jam singer.

That’s helped the Mariners in the standings.

  • The Padres are no longer tied with the Dodgers in the standings.
  • He’s good.

  • Eh boy.

  • Blue Jays’ win over the Twins.

  • Wow.

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MLB in brief: Ron Washington wants to continue managing | Donald Trump on Roger Clemens

Ron Washington wants to continue managing

He underwent heart surgery and hopes to return in 2026.

Donald Trump on Roger Clemens

He wants to see him at the Temple.

“Our shortstop”

Aaron Boone hopes Anthony Volpe will roll starting tomorrow.

We need to talk about Cade Horton

Will he be Rookie of the Year?

A series between the Dodgers and Padres

That would be special.

Aaron Judge’s mentality

He’s always trying to improve.

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Paul Skenes: his first 50 starts are historic

That’s it, the prolific Paul Skenes has reached the symbolic milestone of 50 first career starts. If you weren’t convinced that he was good and needed further proof, his earned run average since his MLB debut is 2.02.

Since 1920, when the Live Ball Era began, only Vida Blue, who wore the Oakland A’s uniform in the early 1970s, has done better than him in his first 50 starts. The latter’s average is 2.01, which, let’s face it, is very similar to what the Pirates’ pitcher achieved. Paul Skenes dominates on the mound and not much else!

A historic start to his career

The first pick of the 2023 draft has everything he needs in his toolbox to dominate hitters. At six feet, six inches tall, he’s physically imposing, throws hard and with velocity. His range of pitches is varied and he’s consistent on the mound. Above all, he seems to be ice-cold in any situation.

It’s often mentioned on this blog, but what a pity the Pirates don’t take advantage of Skenes’ presence in their line-up to build around him when he’s not yet being paid a lot of money.

Nuance upon nuance

Different times, different customs, as the saying goes. Indeed, today’s starting pitchers throw far fewer innings per game than those of yesteryear. In his first 50 starts, Skenes pitched 294 innings. As for Vida Blue, he would have pitched around 380 innings. That’s significant.

That said, innings pitched or not, why is Skenes the one who comes closest to Blue in over 50 years? There have been many dominant pitchers in the last five decades, though. The answer is that Paul Skenes is in a class of his own, and the talent is coming out of his ears.

Vida Blue had the season of his career in 1971, winning the Cy Young and MVP in his 21st season. Skenes is playing in his 21st birthday season this year. Predicting an MVP for Skenes would be audacious. However, barring injury, he’ll definitely be in the running for the Cy Young trophy.

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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. returns to the Blue Jays starting lineup

The Toronto Blue Jays host the mighty Minnesota Twins this week. It’s a good time to look for wins, in fact… even if Joe Ryan will be pitching for the Twins.

And the #1 issue we’re watching against Edouard Julien’s team (who will be playing tonight) is the status of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The first baseman was injured last Monday and struck out once on Sunday, but nothing more. But in the end, the Blue Jays manager was right when he said, yesterday, that Vladdy should be able to return to the game at home.

He’ll be batting third tonight, and he’ll be playing as a pinch-hitter.

By necessity, his return to the game will give his teammates gas. When a guy like him is able to return to the game, it makes a difference in how you prepare.

Especially when Joe Ryan is pitching on the other side…

While we’re on the subject of the Blue Jays, the club has decided to add a left-hander to its bullpen. Justin Bruihl was recalled from Buffalo to bring some freshness to the bullpen.

Paxton Schultz, meanwhile, headed to the minors.

At the moment, the Blue Jays are a game and a half behind the Tigers at the top of the American League. They’re five games ahead of the Red Sox atop the East Division, for that matter.

What will it be a week from now, when we’re in September? Because after the Twins, the Brewers will be in town…

  • Anthony Santander is making progress.

  • It doesn’t look good for Yimi Garcia.

  • Lars Nootbaar wants to represent Japan in 2026.

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