Top News:
Sports Illustrated:
‘This Should Be the Biggest Scandal in Sports’ — The inside story of how rampant pitch-doctoring in MLB is pumping pitchers up and deflating offenses. — To understand the fiasco of baseball's 2021 season, which people around the game describe as sullied by rampant cheating to a degree …
RELATED:
Buster Olney / ESPN:
MLB's enhanced plans for enforcement of foreign-substance rules being finalized, with June rollout pending, sources say — All Major League Baseball pitchers will be checked repeatedly and randomly for foreign substances by umpires under the plan being swiftly advanced — and perhaps implemented within the next 10 days to two weeks.
Discussion:
Sports Illustrated, Pinstripe Alley, MLB Trade Rumors, New York Post and Associated Press
Jesse Rogers / ESPN:
Sources: MLB umpires to crack down on pitchers using illegal substances on baseballs — After repeated efforts by Major League Baseball to dissuade pitchers from using illegal substances to get a better grip on the ball and create more spin, the league is going to crack down on the practice by giving umpires more latitude.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Talking Chop and baseballmusings.com
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
MLB informs owners of increased crackdown on pitchers using foreign substances — Major League Baseball informed owners Thursday that it is engaged in the next phase of league-directed enforcement banning the use of foreign substances by pitchers — which would include 10-day suspensions …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Federal Baseball and Padres
Bobby Nightengale / USA Today:
Nick Castellanos: MLB 'doesn't care' about pitchers using foreign substances — ST. LOUIS - With offense down across the league this season, attention is turning to the illegal foreign substances that many pitchers are believed to use. — After St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Genesis Cabrera …
Deesha Thosar / New York Daily News:
Jacob deGrom's all-time start gets even better as he lowers ERA to 0.62 in win over Padres — SAN DIEGO — Every five days, Jacob deGrom's excellence speaks for itself. His brilliant outing against one of the best offenses in the National League was just another such example.
Discussion:
Newsday
RELATED:
Deesha Thosar / New York Daily News:
Mets get shut out by Blake Snell, Padres in rough start to San Diego series — SAN DIEGO — The Mets, getting just one hit off Blake Snell, could not summon any offense or even pose as a viable threat in their 2-0 loss to the Padres at Petco Park. — Snell was dealing on Friday night …
Susan Slusser / San Francisco Chronicle:
Giants designate Scott Kazmir for assignment; veteran lefty mourning best friend's death — Scott Kazmir's second career comeback was one of the nicer stories in the first two months of the 2021 season, but the left-hander's time with the Giants might be over, and right during a tough time for Kazmir, who just lost his best friend.
Discussion:
NBCSports.com, MLB Baseball News … and McCovey Chronicles
ESPN:
Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means exits in first inning with injury — BALTIMORE — Orioles starting pitcher John Means left with two outs in the first inning of a 10-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians because of left shoulder fatigue on Saturday. — The left-hander allowed solo home runs …
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
Kiley McDaniel / ESPN:
Kiley McDaniel's 2021 MLB draft rankings 3.0: Two shortstops lead race to be next month's top pick — We're five weeks out from the 2021 MLB draft with college regionals starting Friday and high school seasons winding down or already wrapped up, so some consensus is building.
Discussion:
MLB.com, NBCSports.com, Lone Star Ball and MLB Baseball News …
Reds News:
Injuries & Roster Moves: Blandino to IL — ROSTER MOVES INJURY UPDATES — 10-day IL — IF Alex Blandino (broken right hand) — Blandino was hit on the hand by a pitch from the Cardinals' Jake Woodford during Friday's 6-4 Reds win. Manager David Bell said it was a clean break and that the injury would not require surgery.
Discussion:
Red Reporter and MLB Trade Rumors
Zach Buchanan / The Athletic:
Former Cub Aramis Ramírez says Bob Brenly's commentary was discriminatory; Brenly to take week off of Diamondbacks broadcasts — Former Cubs star Aramis Ramírez says he felt Bob Brenly made a point of attacking and deriding him on the air when Brenly was broadcasting Cubs games …
Discussion:
ESPN, Bleacher Nation, Beyond the Box Score, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and Awesemo.com
Jeff Passan / ESPN:
Why pitching as we know it today wouldn't exist without Mike Marshall — On the corner of two unpaved roads in a little Florida town sits a ramshackle green-and-white house that for years looked like the site of a cult gathering, and in a way it was. During the day, grown men with outlandish dreams …
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
