Bases Covered is a daily roundup of the most interesting stories in baseball.
The end of Miller Time
Yankees closer Andrew Miller has been placed on the 15-day disabled list. The 30-year-old left-hander has 17 saves this season, but he’s suffering from a left forearm strain.
Big Papi unhappy
Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, 39, has been struggling this season, especially against left-handed pitchers. But when he was benched Wednesday against Orioles lefty Wei-Yin Chen, Ortiz was apparently displeased. “You have to ask the manager. I’m not the manager,” said Ortiz, reportedly speaking with his back to reporters prior to the game, a 5–2 loss for Boston.
Price annoyed with All-Star voting process
David Price is not happy with the state of the All-Star Game vote. Kansas City fans have been busy pushing their players to the top of the polls at nearly every position, and Price tweeted in protest yesterday, stating that teammate Miguel Cabrera ought to be voted in (Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer currently leads Cabrera by some 500,000 votes). Over at Fox Sports, Ken Rosenthal breaks down what he calls “some of the most glaring atrocities” of the latest All-Star Game vote update.
Quicker games in the Atlantic League
Last year, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball rolled out a series of changes after their all-star break, all in the name of speeding up the pace of play. The result: slicing an average of 20 minutes off game times. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, ever in favour of shorter games, has taken notice. Here’s how the Atlantic League did it.
Baseball at the Olympics
Men’s baseball and women’s softball were dropped from the Olympics after the 2008 Beijing games, but there’s hope they could return: The World Baseball Softball Confederation is trying to get those games back in time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
