Bases Covered is a daily roundup of the most interesting stories in baseball.
Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose!
Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez will make his long-awaited return on July 2. Fernandez, who had Tommy John surgery in May 2014, will face the Giants at Marlins Park. The 22-year-old has a 2.25 ERA in 36 major-league starts.
Schwarber, Santana get the call
The Cubs are calling up power-hitting prospect Kyle Schwarber from the double-A Tennessee Smokies for a six-game stint. The 22-year-old (pictured above) will fill the DH role as the team heads on the road for a series of inter-league games. Meanwhile, the Astros are bringing up outfielder Domingo Santana to fill in for Colby Rasmus, who heads to the bereavement list.
The umpire’s role in a no-hitter
That umpires are human and prone to error is nothing new. But what role do they play in helping along a no-hit bid? An interesting analysis of PITCHf/x data looks at called-strike probability and how umpires’ calls seem to be affected by potential no-hitters.
FBI reportedly investigating Cardinals
According to a report in the New York Times, the St. Louis Cardinals’ front office is being investigated by the FBI and the Department of Justice “for hacking into the internal networks of a rival team to steal closely guarded information about player personnel.” The rival team in question is the Houston Astros, whose stolen information reportedly includes “internal discussions about trades, proprietary statistics and scouting reports.”
Rays to install Kinatrax
The Tampa Bay Rays will reportedly be the first MLB team to install Kinatrax in their stadium. Although it sounds an awful lot like the name of a prescription medication, Kinatrax is actually a sophisticated (and potentially game-changing) “markerless motion-capture system” that will be used to study pitchers’ mechanics.
