Pitching injuries: Easy to discuss, hard to solve

Well I was not there and only saw a brief story or two on Tony Clark’s comments about use of pitchers. They were made at the World Series before the opening game on Friday.

Clark is the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

"The conversations that we've had with our players have suggested that unless or until you draw a line in the sand and force change, that the decision-makers on any one particular team are going to continue to make the decisions that they're making, which is have pitchers' - starting and relievers - max effort for the period of time that they can have them," Clark said at Dodger Stadium. “As soon as they seem to run out of gas, as the data suggests that they're going to, recycle them out and (move) to burn out another pitcher."

Because I have not seen many other quotes from Clark on this topic, I am not sure how he sees teams burning out pitchers. It is certainly not from use. Most starters are held often to about 100 pitches and teams pull starters often when they reach the third time through the batting order. Only four MLB pitchers even threw as much as 200 innings in 2024. Relievers are often held to one inning and seldom pitch more than two days in a row.

From this standpoint, teams are trying to protect pitchers and their investments in them.

Will latest offer spark talks or leave them stagnant?

Will latest offer spark talks or leave them stagnant?
Nobody really expected Major League Baseball's latest offer to players to bring an immediate end to the lockout, but there was hope it would at least spark more aggressive negotiations between the two warring parties as the clock ticks down to the point of no return. Based on the immediate reaction widely reported Saturday, it didn't achieve that goal. And that's only going to leave more people around the sport worried the season might not actually start on time. We don't have to delve into...

One vote for continuing some of the new MLB rules

One vote for continuing some of the new MLB rules
Major League Baseball is closing in on completing a unique 2020 season. One that featured 60 regular-season games, 16 teams in the playoffs, but zero fans in the stands. While everyone hopes the fans return next year, we could also see some rules that we saw for the first time in 2020 returning next year. This could include the extra- innings rule for one. We could also see more than the previous 10 playoff teams next year, although it may not be 16 that make it. This season, when extra innings...

MLB will impose season after players vote down final offer

MLB will impose season after players vote down final offer
The Major League Baseball Players Association resoundingly voted down the league's latest (and final) proposal for the 2020 season this evening, leaving commissioner Rob Manfred to unilaterally impose a shortened season on the players, the details of which should be announced in the next 24 to 48 hours. The MLBPA executive committee - made up of 30 team representatives and the eight-man subcommittee that includes Nationals ace Max Scherzer - formally voted today not to accept the league's...

Time for final decision on 2020 season has come

Time for final decision on 2020 season has come
After months of waiting followed by weeks of squabbling, the time has probably come for a final decision on the 2020 season. And barring a last-minute change of heart by the owners and players who have been refusing to budge from their most recent offers, it appears the sport is destined for a short season unilaterally mandated by commissioner Rob Manfred, which will probably be met with a formal grievance filed by the Major League Baseball Players Association. What, you thought this saga was...

Progress in latest round of talks, but no deal quite yet

Progress in latest round of talks, but no deal quite yet
Is it possible? Is it possible Rob Manfred and Tony Clark are close to a deal and the 2020 season is nearly upon us at last? Well, yes and no. After a Wednesday that featured a whirlwind of emotions, from brief moments of joy to forceful words of caution, here's where it appears things stand: Manfred and Clark, after meeting in person (and in secret) in Arizona, seem to have made significant headway toward a deal. But not a completed deal, both because they didn't sign any formal papers and...

Time for baseball to do what's in the best interests of baseball

Time for baseball to do what's in the best interests of baseball
When baseball owners approached Kenesaw "Mountain" Landis in 1920 and asked him to become the first commissioner in professional sports, the then-U.S. District Court judge insisted he be given a very specific power. Landis insisted he be allowed to make major decisions on his own, without approval of owners or players, for matters he believed were "in the best interests of baseball." Exactly one century later, that phrase remains written into Major League Baseball's constitution, and every...

Chance for deal seems dead after statements by MLB, players

Chance for deal seems dead after statements by MLB, players
Whatever sliver of hope remained that Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association might find a way to come together and negotiate a reasonable settlement to their ongoing fight over salary structure appeared to go up in smoke Saturday night after both entities issued nasty statements accusing each other of ruining any chance of a reasonable 2020 season. MLBPA executive director Tony Clark all but gave up further negotiations and essentially demanded that Rob Manfred tell the players...

MLB, union seem far apart, but middle ground awaits them

MLB, union seem far apart, but middle ground awaits them
It's hard to look at the competing proposals for the 2020 season offered up by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association and come to the conclusion that the two sides are anywhere close to striking a deal. But here's a key point that must be taken into consideration when trying to gauge the state of negotiations: Both sides are purposely making proposals that fall at the extreme ends of their acceptable spectrums. Not because anyone believes the opposing side is going to accept...

Manfred details plan for testing, quarantining players

Manfred details plan for testing, quarantining players
While the fight over compensation for a potential 2020 season draws most of the headlines, the matter of health and safety appears to be taking priority in early negotiations between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association. There are countless issues that must be worked out before a season can officially begin, but the question on most players' minds right now is a simple one: What happens if somebody tests positive for the coronavirus? MLB hadn't publicly said much of anything...

Union chief addresses players' vitriol toward Astros

Union chief addresses players' vitriol toward Astros
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Tony Clark, head of the Major League Baseball Players' Association, visits every club every spring. Those meetings can run long, sometimes topping two hours, depending on the list of topics that need to be discussed. This morning, Clark and his associates with the players' union, walked into the Astros clubhouse at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and did not emerge until nearly four hours had passed. Suffice it to say, this was no ordinary spring training meeting,...

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark visits Orioles camp

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark visits Orioles camp
SARASOTA, Fla. - Tony Clark is the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. He heads up the players union and met with the Orioles today at Ed Smith Stadium. After his meeting with the team he took questions from the Baltimore media. He are a few of them and his answers. What is the concern level of so many free agent players signing late or currently unsigned?: "We've got players that see guys at home that can help clubs win ballgames. Guys that have earned their...

Manfred, Clark offer widely different views of state of baseball

Manfred, Clark offer widely different views of state of baseball
Monday night's Home Run Derby, with Nationals slugger Bryce Harper front and center in his home ballpark, was a rousing success. On that point, Rob Manfred and Tony Clark are in complete agreement. "Bryce Harper put on one unbelievable show," Manfred said today in the Major League Baseball commissioner's annual Q&A session with members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. "Amazing how he engaged the fans here in his hometown." "Last night was phenomenal," Clark, head of...

Clubhouse visitors, monitoring workloads and injury updates

Clubhouse visitors, monitoring workloads and injury updates
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - There were plenty of visitors to Nationals camp today. Former Expos first baseman Andres Galarraga dropped by at the invitation of manager Davey Martinez. Galarraga, who had a 19-year career in the big leagues and twice beat Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, lives in the city the Nats now call their spring home. Martinez hopes he can get Galarraga back for another visit later in camp, maybe even in uniform as an instructor. The two were teammates on the Expos from 1988-91. This...

Orioles and Red Sox lineups

Orioles and Red Sox lineups
BOSTON - The Orioles activated closer Zach Britton from the disabled list today and optioned right-hander Mike Wright to Triple-A Norfolk. Wright didn't pitch after being recalled yesterday. Caleb Joseph is catching again, with Welington Castillo out of the starting lineup with neck spasms. For the OriolesJoey Rickard RFAdam Jones CFManny Machado 3BMark Trumbo DHChris Davis 1BJonthan Schoop 2BTrey Mancini LFJ.J. Hardy SSCaleb Joseph C Alec Asher RHP For the Red Sox Xander Bogaerts SS Andrew...

Opinions run in various directions regarding intentional walk

Opinions run in various directions regarding intentional walk
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles squeezed in a five-inning intrasquad game this morning before meetings occupied the rest of their day. Major League Baseball sent representatives to discuss rule changes with manager Buck Showalter and his staff. The team gathered in the clubhouse for the annual briefing from the players association, led by union chief Tony Clark, which prevented media access. Of all the rule changes proposed by MLB prior to the new collective bargaining agreement, only the removal...

Union chief Clark offers support for Desmond, Zimmerman

Union chief Clark offers support for Desmond, Zimmerman
VIERA, Fla. - Major League Baseball Players Association chief Tony Clark said it was "disheartening" to watch Ian Desmond's unemployment saga play out this winter and into the start of spring training and suggested the sport's qualifying offer system that contributed to it would be a point of emphasis during his coming bargaining negotiations with the league. In town this morning for the union's annual spring meeting with Nationals players, Clark spoke glowingly about Desmond and was...

Another intrasquad game, Tony Clark leftover and missing Monica

Another intrasquad game, Tony Clark leftover and missing Monica
SARASOTA, Fla. - Today's intrasquad game on the main stadium field will run seven innings. Six pitchers are listed for each side. Doing the math, two guys would have to throw multiple innings, which I don't anticipate. The alternatives, of course, are to add two more pitchers or slice off an inning. Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman, Jason Garcia, Brad Brach, Todd Redmond and Cesar Cabral will pitch for one side. Miguel Gonzalez, T.J. McFarland, Dylan Bundy, Vance Worley, Hunter Harvey and Ashur...

Union head Tony Clark visits camp

Union head Tony Clark visits camp
SARASOTA, Fla. - Players Association leader Tony Clark is making the rounds again this spring, his latest stop coming this morning at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. He's headed to Bradenton later today to address the Pirates. The collective bargaining agreement ends on Dec. 1, which places greater importance on Clark's visits. Hot topics this morning included the qualifying offer, which players want to see eliminated. The Dexter Fowler fiasco, which Clark blamed on the "race to be...

Adam Jones, MLBPA reps spend time with the kids at James Mosher Little League

Adam Jones, MLBPA reps spend time with the kids at James Mosher Little League
In a joint effort of Orioles outfielder Adam Jones and the Major League Baseball Players Association, several former players joined Jones this morning in West Baltimore at the James Mosher Fields, the home of one of the country's longest continuously operating African-American Little League. After the recent rioting in Baltimore, it was about spending time with the kids and letting them see that some baseball stars care about them. "It was for the community of Baltimore," Jones said this...