Another week in MLB, and another incident with the Houston Astros. The Athletics and the Astros got into it after Ramon Laureano got plunked for the third time in the series. The benches-clearing incident resulted in two big suspensions and a whole lot of buzz on the internet. Let’s jump into some of the news from around the league this week.
Top News This Week
- As a result of the benches-clearing incident between the Astros and A’s, Houston hitting coach Alex Cintron has been suspended by the league for an astounding 20 games this year. Cintron antagonized Laureano and motioned for him to charge at the dugout, which he did.
- The Mets are winding down the sale of their team, and we could have a buyer as soon as September. It was reported that the team was asking for all offers to be in by August 31st so that they could proceed with the sale. The group asked for several items in the letter sent out to potential bidders, including each group’s sources of financing and a list of members in their bid group.
- The Cardinals once again look like they will be missing a series start originally set to begin on Friday against the White Sox. After another coach tested positive, St Louis will likely not be able to play at least on Friday. The Cardinals have played literally just five games so far this year.
- The Braves will be without one of their stars for this upcoming series with the Mets as Ronald Acuna Jr is going to be sitting the weekend out. Acuna is dealing with inflammation in his left wrist that was previously described as discomfort. Acuna had to be scratched from Tuesday’s game against the Yankees leading to him sitting this weekend.
- The Red Sox have placed Andrew Benintendi on the Injured List and is expected to miss more than 10 days. Benintendi went on the list with a rib cage strain that has limited him drastically. The normally standout outfielder has struggled mightily in the early part of the 2020 season with a .103/.314/.128 (47 wRC+) across 52 plate appearances. Benintendi is also striking out a ridiculous 32.4 percent of the time.
- After an appeal, Joe Kelly’s suspension has been reduced for his role in the Astros/Dodgers benches-clearing incident. Rather than serving an 8-game suspension, Kelly will only face 5 games. Kelly was handed the suspension partially due to his past of throwing at hitters on purpose, though Kelly argued otherwise. He reportedly put together a whole video of him throwing accidental pitches in his argument against MLB’s claim.
- The Astros’ Justin Verlander might be closing in on a return sooner than anyone thought. After it was reported his season was over, Verlander came back to say that he was working on getting back this year. He may resume throwing within a week if all goes as planned.
Social News
What better way to start out a year than by hitting some of the furthest homeruns we’ve ever seen? That’s what Juan Soto is doing, with two of the longest bombs hit in 2020 just a few games into his season. Soto blasted a 463 foot shot and just days later a 466 foot shot.
No one in the NL has hit a HR farther this season than Juan Soto. pic.twitter.com/ofmz98nGL1
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) August 13, 2020
What’s baseball without a good blooper mixed in? Welcome to the big leagues Jo Adell, it probably gets easier after this.
OH NO 😅
(via @Rangers)pic.twitter.com/BhzL0KJrVo
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 9, 2020
Andrew McCutchen has really grown into an entertaining guy on and off of the field lately, but I’m not sure if anything beats him giving a cardboard cutout the ball.
Andrew McCutchen wanted this "fan" to go home with a souvenir 😂 pic.twitter.com/rnA5uGmMew
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 12, 2020
And finally, you’ve got to hear this hilarious/kind of heart-warming story about Jay Bruce trying to call Ken Griffey Jr at 10 years old.
You're gonna wanna hear the story about 10-year-old Jay Bruce trying to call Ken Griffey Jr. pic.twitter.com/i2vF9zmb3j
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 12, 2020
All of that news and more, this week in MLB! Check back weekly with GMS Sports for the most up-to-date information on your favorite sports.
