Baseball

It wasn't just any ol' lucky fan who caught left fielder Spencer Steer's foul ball in the fourth inning of the Reds' 7-3 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

The catch was made by Steer's fraternal twin brother, Trevor, who was seated in the loge section behind home plate with several members of their family.

On a 93 mph first pitch from James Paxton, Steer fouled it back, and the ball zoomed right to his brother.

“It was coming right back at me," Trevor Steer said. "I was like, ‘I’ve got to do something.’ It was pretty wild.”

Wearing a Reds cap backward and his brother's former No. 12 jersey that he wore in 2022, Trevor Steer stood up and pointed to the last name on the back to the crowd seated around him.

The Dodger Stadium faithful responded with a round of boos.

“It’s pretty cool," Spencer Steer said. "It’s hard for him to get to games. I think it was the first game he’s seen all year and I hit a foul ball to him. Pretty crazy odds but a really cool story.”

The late innings of lopsided contests are often times for things to get weird. But David Fletcher slinging unhittable knuckleballs? You can add that to the completed part of your baseball-watching bucket list.

With Triple-A Gwinnett having played a doubleheader Tuesday and falling behind 10-2 through seven-and-a-half frames just hours later Wednesday afternoon at AutoZone Park, the bullpen was understandably tapped out. So for the second time in a week – and just the second time in his pro career, which began in 2015 – Fletcher jogged over to the mound from his starting spot on the infield.

Was the 29-year-old slinging sliders? Changeups? Curveballs? Not even Statcast could entirely pinpoint it. (Which is largely due to the fact that not much data exists on a player who before May 8 had never as so much toed the rubber in a professional setting.) But the nine times that Memphis batters swung at something that looked an awful lot like a knuckleball, they missed six of them.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15277257

Bellinger has been limited since his return to designated hitter work for the time being. He sustained a right rib fracture on April 23 while crashing into the outfield wall at Wrigley Field. Following his emphatic return to action against the Padres on Tuesday, during which he homered and notched three hits, he admitted that he’s still not pain-free -- and it might be a bit until he is.

Hollywood didn't waste any time getting to work on a series about the Shohei Ohtani saga involving his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.

Lionsgate Television announced on Thursday its developing a scripted series about the gambling scandal that will be produced by Scott Delman and Albert Chen.

"This is major league baseball's biggest sports gambling scandal since Pete Rose—and at its center is its biggest star, one that MLB has hitched its wagon on," Chen said in the release. "We'll get to the heart of the story—a story of trust, betrayal and the trappings of wealth and fame."

The wait for Paul Skenes is finally over. The Pirates announced on Wednesday that they are promoting their top prospect to the Majors. Skenes, a fireballing right-hander, is scheduled to make his first start on Saturday against the Cubs at PNC Park (4:05 p.m. ET), according to the club.

Skenes was the first overall pick in last year’s Draft and is currently ranked as the No. 3 prospect, and top pitcher, in the game by MLB Pipeline. The 6-foot-6 Skenes burst onto the national scene last year with Louisiana State University, being named the Division I National Player of the Year and leading his school to the College World Series title.

Armed with a fastball that consistently registers in the triple digits and a wipeout slider, Skenes certainly lived up to the hype during his time in the Minors this year, where he recorded a 0.99 ERA and 45 strikeouts over 27 1/3 innings with Triple-A Indianapolis. He has also developed his pitch repertoire in his time as a professional, mixing in his changeup, curveball and “splinker” (a sinker-splitter hybrid) more, adding additional weapons to his arsenal.