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Blue Jays brace for rule changes, with players feeling their input ignored – Sportsnet.ca

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2 years ago

September 10, 2022

ARLINGTON, Texas – Shift or no shift, Whit Merrifield likes to set up a few steps beyond the dirt cutout, walking back onto the infield as his pitcher comes set and delivers. The Toronto Blue Jays super-utility man is far from the only infielder to get ready for each pitch in that way and he’s been doing it for as long as he remembers, but under the rule changes Major League Baseball unveiled for the 2023 season, his long-established habit is out the window.

The incoming requirement that infielders have both feet within the cutout’s boundaries means “you’d be halfway into the dirt” with a walking start, he explained, “so it changes the whole pre-pitch routine.” Concern about the disruption to the game’s subtleties, as much as wholesale opposition to change, is why the four players on the Competition Committee representing the players association, Merrifield among them, voted against the implementation of the new rules.

“Players weren’t against the pitch clock or the shift ban,” said Merrifield. “There are just certain things that as players we were trying to avoid as far as altering the dynamic of the game that come along with the pitch clock and the shift. We brought those issues up and we tried to address them in a couple of different ways and didn’t feel like the final proposal addressed the issues that are going to come with this stuff. We wanted it on the record that we weren’t for all the specifics that came along with the rule changes.”

That the final vote ended up falling along management-union lines – six for, all from the ownership side, including Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro, versus four against – is reflective of the persisting schism between the sides. The Competition Committee, a smart creation to come out of the bitter lockout, offered an opportunity for the sides to work in a more collaborative fashion on rule changes. But the 6-4 composition plus an umpire representative means that the league always gets final say and in the body’s first major act, commissioner Rob Manfred wielded that hammer.

“It went really well,” Merrifield said of the committee’s process. “It felt like we were heard. I felt the conversations were good. They were two-way. They were genuine. It was just disappointing to see the actual proposal and see all the stuff we talked about not in there. I don’t know why that was. I don’t know if Manfred came in and said, no, this is how we’re going to do it, or that the plan all along was to make us feel like we were a part of it. I don’t know. But I do feel like the calls went well. It was a little disappointing.”

Especially since the three changes are so significant, even if they aren’t entirely surprising given Major League Baseball’s testing of them in the minor leagues in recent seasons.

The pitch clock is the most substantial, with pitchers mandated to begin their motion within 15 seconds when the bases are empty and 20 seconds when runners are on. Pitchers can disengage the rubber twice during an at-bat without penalty, which limits them to two pickoff attempts. Hitters, meanwhile, must be ready with eight seconds left on the clock and can call time once per trip to the plate.

Next are the defensive shift restrictions, which will force two infielders to be positioned on either side of second base with both feet on the dirt. As well, infielders won’t be able to switch sides unless there’s a defensive substitution.

Finally, in the least controversial switch, the bases will be expanded from 15 inches to 18 inches, reducing the gap between first and second and second and third by 4.5 inches, but more importantly creating a safer space for plays at first base.

During a news conference in New York, Manfred deflected some of the player reaction by saying that “if you look back at the changes that have taken place in the game in the last few years, there’s always a period at the beginning where because all of us love the game so much, there’s a reluctance to see change.”

“It’s just a reflection of people’s attachment to the game,” he continued. “Then as you watch the change in operation, I think there is more acceptance, and, in a lot of cases, people who were initially opposed actually become supporters of the change.”

There was certainly no shortage of concern around the Blue Jays, for whom the new rules will force change at both the individual and collective level. Some numbers to digest:

• Defensively, they’ve employed shifts in 54.4 per cent of all plate appearances, per Statcast data, more than any other team in the majors and well above the average of 34.3 per cent.

• They also shifted right-handed hitters a big-league high 47.6 per cent, more than double the average of 20.3 per cent.

• The Blue Jays have also been far more aggressive in using four-man outfields, deploying them in 238 plate appearances, per Statcast data, more than double the second-place Tampa Bay Rays count of 103.

• Among their regular staff members, Trevor Richards has been shifted behind most at 67.5 per cent of his plate appearances, followed by Jose Berrios (62.3), Ross Stripling (61.4), Jordan Romano (55.8) and Alek Manoah (54.5). Kevin Gausman, notably, was among the lowest at 45 per cent.

• Shifting is less common against their hitters, although Cavan Biggio, at a team-high 83.4 per cent, Jackie Bradley Jr. at 64.3 and George Springer at 60.1 will all have the field open up for them. Santiago Espinal, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., have been shifted in 11.3 per cent of plate appearances or less. Bo Bichette has been shifted once all year.

“Like every team, we’ll have to make some adjustments in the off season and see how we’re going to deploy defensively,” said interim manager John Schneider. “We’ll be fine with it, mainly up to us to adjust accordingly as an organization, as a staff and go from there.”

Gausman sees the merit in restricting shifts and likes working fast to put hitters on their heels, but in spite of that, “I just don’t agree with the pitch clock, I just don’t like changing the game,” he said. “I’m kind of like an old school mentality where I think the game is great the way it is. I don’t think we need to change anything. I think hitters need to adapt to how nasty pitchers are now. And that’s why guys can’t hit the ball where they want to, because the pitches are moving at historical speeds with historical movement. And so I think that’s Rob’s way of trying to combat that.”

Similarly, Biggio immediately noted how the defensive restrictions will open up the 3-4 hole for him and likely mean several more hits a season. But he added, “I watched my dad play for the first 12 years of my life and I fell in love with the game so I hate to see it changed.”

Biggio experienced the pitch clock first-hand during a rehab assignment at triple-A Buffalo earlier this season and felt it “is a little bit too fast.” While the MLB timer will be set a touch slower at 15 and 20 versus 14 and 18/19 in the minors, “it’s going to take a little bit of an adjustment period next year, especially with guys who have been in the league longer than myself.”

During his plate appearances with Buffalo, Biggio consciously reminded himself to be ready with nine seconds left on the time “and it took my thoughts away from what I’m trying to do in the box, even a little bit. It is kind of a distraction. … You have to change your routine in between pitches.”

Gausman expected the pitch clock’s introduction to be more staggered, Biggio had hoped for a bit more pace and Merrifield said players pushed for a more gradual introduction of the shift, with players either allowed to stay on the dirt and play where they want, or stay on either side of second but be given more rein to move into the outfield.

“At the end of the day, they’re going to do what they want, they really don’t need our approval,” said Biggio. “If you look at the voting, all the players voted against it and they really don’t care. That sucks to hear but it’s kind of where the game is. You’ve got to make adjustments to where the game is going to go. We’ll see.”

Consequences, both intended and not, are sure to follow.

Research cited by MLB showed that fans most enjoyed stolen base attempts, triples, doubles and great defensive plays, while the least popular actions on the field were mound visits, walks, pitching changes and pickoff attempts.

Over the past 25 years, the average game time has risen from 2:56 to 3:07 despite a reduction in scoring from 4.77 to 4.30. Batting average has dropped from .267 to .243 as strikeouts have spiked from 17.1 per cent to 22.3 per cent. Stolen base attempts have plummeted from 2.15 to 1.35.

Merrifield worried about how the art of the stolen base will disappear, with capable baserunners forcing two pickoff attempts before taking off on the third.

“It’s just going to be a track meet, you’re not going to have to put any work into it, really,” he said. “Get a big lead, make the pitch pick over and watch the clock and when the clock runs out, you’re going to go.”

MLB consultant Theo Epstein pointed to the wider trends in the game and argued that rule changes were made in “an effort to restore the game to previous eras and to more traditional norms that featured more contact, more action, faster pace and greater entertainment value.”

Those efforts come at the expense of the norms and routines, often preached by organizations, established by players. Though minor-league players adapted quickly, change is easier for players at the beginning of their careers. Some big-leaguers are sure to struggle as they seek new comfort zones and patterns. Evaluating players within the context of what the game is expected to look like next year and beyond is going to be a challenge. So much has the potential to be different, in ways both expected and not.

“It’s not management’s fault – they just haven’t been between the lines to know the little intricacies that come with it,” said Merrifield. “We get that people watching the game now say it’s too slow and they want more action and they want faster games. Players understand that. We’re just trying to give our spin on it. We did and as much as they said it was heard, it wasn’t put on paper.”

As a result, for better or worse, it’s MLB’s vision for the sport that is coming.

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NHL roundup: Hurricanes beat Flyers 6-4 for seventh straight win

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1 hour ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas scored a go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4 on Tuesday night.

It was the seventh straight win for the Hurricanes, who also got goals from Jack Roslovic, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Necas typically saves his game-winners for overtime, with nine in his career, but he was able to take care of business in regulation with his team-best seventh goal of the season.

Travis Konecny scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia.

Aleksei Kolosov made 28 saves for the Flyers, who trailed 2-1, 3-1 and 4-3 but kept coming back. Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov struggled in net allowing four goals on just 16 shots.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

—

SABRES 5 SENATORS 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored 16 seconds apart to open the third period, and Buffalo snapped a three-game skid with a win over Ottawa.

Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.

Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.

Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram’s second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenceman’s shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.

—

MAPLE LEAFS 4 BRUINS 0

TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in Toronto’s 4-0 victory over Boston.

Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists as Toronto connected three times on the power play. William Nylander and Matthew Knies added a goal and an assist each. Mitch Marner had two assists of his own. Steven Lorentz rounded out the scoring into the empty net.

The Leafs played without captain Auston Matthews, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops for Boston, which was coming off consecutive weekend shutouts of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken.

Toronto’s porous 31st-ranked power play scored for the second time in as many games at 8:44 of the second period when Rielly fired through a screen. Nylander banked in his team-leading 10th goal of the season on another man advantage 1:14 later for a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins entered the game 8-0-0 in the regular season against their Atlantic Division rival dating back to Jan. 14, 2023.

—

FLAMES 3 CANADIENS 2 (OT)

MONTREAL (AP) — Matt Coronato scored twice as Calgary came back to defeat Montreal in overtime.

Coronato tied the game with 2:46 remaining in regulation when he cruised into the slot and went off the post and in. He then buried the winning goal seven seconds into the extra period.

Connor Zary also scored for Calgary, which won its second game in seven outings. Dustin Wolf stopped 21 shots.

Joel Armia — with a short-handed goal — and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal (4-7-2). Armia also provided an assist, while Sam Montembeault made 32 saves as the Canadiens’ losing streak extended to four games.

Zary opened the scoring with his third 4:20 into the second period when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired a shot past Montembeault.

Gallagher then slipped the puck between Wolf’s pads at 16:23 to level the score with his fifth of the season.

—

BLUES 3 LIGHTNING 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist scored to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay 3-2.

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his 149th career win moving him past Jake Allen for second place in franchise history, just two wins behind Mike Liut’s 151.

Nick Perbix and Victor Hedman scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning who have lost three straight games.

Kyrou scored his fourth goal of the season 8:51 into the third period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Toropchenko scored his first goal of the season with 1:35 remaining in the second period to put St. Louis ahead 2-1 after Sundqvist tied the game with his first of the season 7:47 into the period.

—

ISLANDERS 4 PENGUINS 3 (SO)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and New York rallied past Pittsburgh 4-3.

New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the shootout and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.

Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.

Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.

—

KINGS 5 WILD 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Trevor Lewis scored twice, Kevin Fiala added another on the power play and Los Angeles beat Minnesota 5-1.

Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield also scored for Los Angeles, which was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 3-0 win in Nashville a night earlier. David Rittich made 23 saves for the Kings.

Fiala, who was traded to Los Angeles in 2022 by Minnesota for a first-round pick draft pick and defenceman Brock Faber, scored his seventh goal of the season. He now has three goals and six assists in his last seven games against the Wild.

Minnesota, which had won three in a row, opened the scoring in the second period on Zach Bogosian’s first goal of the season. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for the Wild.

—

JETS 3 UTAH 0

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Nino Niederreiter scored twice in his 900th NHL career game and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves to help Winnipeg defeat Utah 3-0.

It was Hellebuyck’s second shutout of the season and 39th of this career.

Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets. Adam Lowry assisted on both goals by Niederreiter.

Utah ended a run of picking up points in three consecutive games (1-0-2).

Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots for Utah in its second stop on a four-game road trip.

Jets winger Kyle Connor had his franchise-record, season-opening points streak end at 12 games.

—

AVALANCHE 6 KRAKEN 3

DENVER (AP) — Arturri Lehkonen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play in his season debut and Nathan MacKinnon had five assists as Colorado beat Seattle 6-3.

Mikko Rantanen added two goals for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Chris Wagner also scored for Colorado.

Cale Makar had two assists but the star defenceman barely played in the second half of the game and appeared to be slowed by an apparent injury during a brief shift.

MacKinnon and Makar extended their season-opening point streaks to 13 games.

Lehkonen played for the first time since off-season shoulder surgery.

Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken.

—

CANUCKS 5 DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brock Boeser, Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist apiece, and Quinn Hughes recorded his 300th career assist in Vancouver’s victory over Anaheim.

Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson also scored and Hughes had three assists for the Canucks, who have won six of eight. Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves in Vancouver’s sixth consecutive win over the Ducks.

Olen Zellweger scored a power-play goal early in the first period for Anaheim, which has lost seven of nine. Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots.

Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko took shots from teammates again after the morning skate, and he could return to practice this week. The Southern California native and 2023-24 Vezina Trophy finalist hasn’t played this season due to a knee injury incurred late last season.

—

SHARKS 2 BLUE JACKETS 1 (OT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alex Wennberg scored 3:11 into overtime and San Jose celebrated the return of No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini with a win over Columbus.

Defenceman Jack Thompson scored his first career goal for the Sharks (4-8-2), who entered the night with the worst record in the NHL. San Jose has won four of five.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, missed 12 games with a hip injury he sustained in the season opener Oct. 10 — an injury first incurred during the pre-season. Celebrini didn’t score and missed a shot early in overtime.

San Jose goalie Vitek Vanacek was fantastic in net, making 49 saves.

Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko scored for the second consecutive game. Columbus (5-6-1) has lost three straight.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

Published

1 day ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

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1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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