Nightengale’s Notebook: Brewers, irate over Josh Hader trade, have recovered that clubhouse vibe

April 24, 2023
Sport

PHOENIX – The Milwaukee Brewer players were stunned, completely blindsided by the news, leaving them so enraged they couldn’t see straight.

Really, we’re trading Josh Hader, our four-time All-Star closer, and three-time National League reliever of the year?

In the middle of a pennant race?

While leading the NL Central by three games on the way to a fifth consecutive postseason?

“Everybody still asks me, ‘Why did you trade Hader?’’’ All-Star reliever Devin Williams, who assumed the closer’s role, told USA TODAY Sports. “To this day, I still don’t know. I still can’t figure it out.

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Said outfielder Christian Yelich: “Nobody makes the moves with the intention of it not working out, but obviously it is what it is. It didn’t work out. We make mistakes on the field, it’s fair to say they made a mistake there. They’ll admit that. We fell apart.’’

doled out more money on a 49-acre lot in Las Vegas than they’re spending on their entire player payroll – and plan to open the 2027 season in a brand new $1.5 billion retractable-roof stadium.

Then again, they don’t say who’s coming up with the money.

They are asking Nevada officials for $500 million in public funding by the end of the legislative session on June 5. If the tax package collapsed, the A’s can simply renege on their deal and get their money back.

Max Scherzer is suspended 10 days for either using too much rosin or having an illegal foreign substance on his hand.

Scherzer insists it was only rosin, but the umpiring crew, led by crew chief Dan Bellino, says it was clear there was an illegal substance, causing his ejection and automatic 10-game suspension.

“MLB needs to employ available scientific methods (not subjective),’’ said Scott Boras, Scherzer’s agent, “to create verifiable certainty of rules. It’s not a rule, it’s a standard, because a standard is subjective. A rule is specific, objective, and it has identifiable criteria.’’

While Boras obviously is supporting his star player, the point is clear. It can be subjective. What one umpire’s view of stickiness is another’s view of tackiness. It’s not fair for the umpires to be the judge, jury, and pitch-clock watcher while doing their own jobs.

“No one can explain what is too sticky,” Boras said. “There are no units of stickiness to quantify. How do you appropriately enforce? MLB attempts to level the playing field by using standards that are not measurable….

It’s almost like the NBA’s conundrum with their referees having different viewpoints of flagrant fouls.

One major-league executive, who is on the competition committee, said he is hopeful that MLB can develop baseballs to be used at the Major League level within two years. It needs at least a 90% approval rate by pitchers.

A new baseball with a tacky surface is being used at the Class AA Southern League for the first half of the season. A similar test was tried last year, but was abandoned when it became clear it was not working. They have been experimenting with different baseballs since at least 2016, hoping to find a solution.

Well, time is of the essence, before it’s too late.

Can you imagine the outcry of a World Series game decided by a sticky vs. tacky debate?

Around the basepaths

► The San Diego Padres quietly are worried about All-Star left fielder Juan Soto, who simply hasn’t been the same player since his arrival from Washington.

The Padres believed it was simply getting adjusted to his new surroundings when he was traded at last year’s deadline, but his woes continue. He’s badly pressing, the Padres say, although he tells USA TODAY Sports, “I’m starting to feel a bit more comfortable, little by little.’’

He’s at his best when he hits line drives to left center, but has been mostly rolling the ball over these days.

The result?

He’s hitting a career-worst .192 with just seven extra-base hits this season, and has a slash line of .223/.381/.387 in 75 games with the Padres. Yes, he continues to draw walks, but is considered a below-average baserunner with one stolen base in the 75 games.

The Padres plan to be in heavy pursuit for free agent Shohei Ohtani, and if they land him, Soto could be the one traded, realizing they likely wouldn’t be able to meet his contract demands after already rejecting $440 million from the Nationals.

► Now that the A’s may be moving to Las Vegas and the Rays are hopeful of finding a permanent home in the Tampa Bay area by the end of the year, baseball could soon be ready for serious expansion talks.

The top two choices are clear: Nashville and Montreal.

► Ohtani’s price tag continues to soar as he’s off to one of the greatest starts by a pitcher in history. He has yielded a 0.64 ERA, a .092 batting average, and a .115 slugging percentage in his first five starts. It’s the lowest by a pitcher with at least 20 innings to start a season since 1893 when the pitching mound was moved to its current distance of 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate. He has yielded just eight hits this season, and has given up three or fewer hits in his last nine starts, the second-longest streak since at least 1901.

While speculation continues to build where he may land as a free agent, the Dodgers and Padres are the clear-cut co-favorites. He loves Southern California.

► Please send your prayers to beloved scout Dave Yoakum. The former Chicago White Sox executive is revered in the scouting industry for tirelessly helping thousands of scouts, co-founding the Professional Scouts Foundation. Now, the family is asking for your help with prayers.

► Bryce Harper is taking not just a page, but a chapter out of the modern-medicine book of miraculous recoveries by potentially returning to the Phillies in two weeks. He is attempting to play baseball quicker than any known player in history after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery.

Harper underwent surgery Nov. 23, 2022, and could return perhaps May 5, just 163 days later. It would be two months earlier than the Phillies originally projected.

Remarkably, the average time for a player to return to the baseball field is 382 days – 219 days more than Harper’s targeted return – according to a study of position players who underwent Tommy John surgery by the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, as The Athletic reported.

“I don’t want to just be the fastest,’’ Harper told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “I want to be smart about it, too. I don’t want to be dumb. This isn’t just some rinky-dink surgery that I had. It’s a big-time surgery.”

► The Cincinnati Reds would love to lock up the other two members of their young trio of starters now that they have signed Hunter Greene to a six-year, $53 million contract. They are in negotiations with left-hander Nick Lodolo and have had preliminary talks with Graham Ashcraft.

► How stunning has the Chicago Cubs offense been this season? They have already scored at least 10 runs six times in their first 19 games, equaling their entire total in the 2022 season.

“We knew in spring training this could be a special group,’’ Cubs first baseman Trey Mancini told reporters, “and it is.’’

► Meanwhile, on the South Side of Chicago, they can no longer blame Tony La Russa. They are off to a dreadful 7-14 start, failing to win a single series this season.

► The Royals may consider staying on the road for the rest of the summer. They are 1-12 at Kauffman Stadium this season, outscored 52-15 on their recent six-game homestand. They are 4-16 overall, the second-worst start in franchise history, hitting .203 and averaging a putrid 2.95 runs a game

► While the pitch clock certainly has had a dramatic effect on the game this year, the banning of infield shifts has had basically no impact on the offense. The 9.1 runs per game is unchanged from two years ago with the .248 batting average just .02 higher. The batting average in balls put in play by lefties (.286) is actually down 0.1 from two years ago while the batting average for right-handed hitters when the ball is put in play is up 10 points (.305 from .295).

The biggest difference, besides the games being 27 minutes shorter, is that stolen bases have increased from 1.7 per game compared to 1.2 per game in 2021, with a 80.8% success rate, including 94.1% stealing third base.

► Best news of the week was White Sox closer Liam Hendriks’ message that he is now cancer free. He could return to the White Sox before June. Hendriks began treatment in January for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“Baseball really wasn’t on my mind, but you always hope that he’s going to be OK and can be back because that’s what he loves to do,” White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz told reporters. “But when you get the news, the first thing you think of is his life. Is he going to get through this? Is he going to have a normal life?

“It’s hard to replace Liam Hendriks as a person and a player, so having him around is a huge asset.”

► Best performance of the week: Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts, who spent two nights in the hospital with his wife who was delivering their second child, rushing to Wrigley Field, entering the game in the sixth inning inning to pinch hit and play shortstop for the first time since 2013, and then turning a double play.

“That,’’ Betts told reporters, “was like a dream come true.’’

► The most surprising team in baseball, scouts say?

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who are off to their best start since 1992 with a 15-7 record.

The most disappointing?

The Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals, who already are a combined 11 games out of first place.

► Yes, there was actually a baseball game at Fenway Park that lasted just 1 hour, 57 minutes, the quickest game at Fenway since Oct. 1, 1989, between the Red Sox and the Angels.

Now, if there’s a game that ever goes that quick between the Yankees and Red Sox on national TV, with advertising dollars suddenly evaporating, don’t be surprised if the Fenway pitch clock suddenly becomes inoperable.

► Can we start working on the Hall of Fame plaque for Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw right now?

Kershaw won his 200th game this week, and joined Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Walter Johnson as the only pitchers to win at least 200 games with 2,800 strikeouts for one team.

► Yes, New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso actually has more homers this year (10) than the entire Washington Nationals team.

► The early NL Cy Young favorite?

Look no further than D-backs ace Zac Gallen, who hasn’t permitted a run in 21 ⅔ consecutive innings, with a major-league leading 39 strikeouts. He generated 32 swings-and-misses and struck out 11 in his Friday start against the Padres.

One of the best kept secrets in baseball?

“Not anymore,’’ says Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth.

► Baseball lost one of its superb athletes this week when Dave Frost, 70, passed away from injuries related to a car accident last month.

This is a guy who once scored 25 points against Bill Walton and UCLA while playing for Stanford. It was the most points scored by a single player against that UCLA team, which included Jamaal Wilkes.

“If he had not hurt his back,’’ said his agent David Sloane, Frost’s agent, “he would have made the NBA.

He instead was drafted by the White Sox, and won 16 games for the Angels on their 1979 AL West title team, earning the team’s MVP award over fellow 16-game winner Nolan Ryan.

► Don’t be surprised if MLB tries to incorporate a designated pinch-runner in the near future, allowing a pinch-runner to enter the game once, while still permitting the player he subbed for to re-enter the game just once. It’s an experiment they are trying this year in the Atlantic League.

After all, says one MLB official who is in favor of the rule, baseball is the only sport that does not have free substitution.

► It took 2,168 days, but Rockies outfielder Kris Bryant finally hit another home run at Coors Field. His last one there occurred on May 9, 2017, when he played for the Cubs.

► Houston Astros utilityman Mauricio Dubon certainly is making his presence known while filling in for injured Jose Altuve, hitting .333, with a 16-game hitting streak, while not trying to dissect his success.

“The power of belief is strong,’’ Astros manager Dusty Baker says. “Don’t try to figure out why, just keep doing it. When you’re talking to surfers: “When you ride that wave, just ride it all the way to the beach and jump off and go back and catch another one. If you start worrying about it or thinking about it, then you’ll fall off, so you just ride it.’’’

► Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa has become a book aficionado, telling the St. Paul Pioneer Press that “it’s a great way to keep evolving, keep trying to get better as a human.”

His reading list: