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.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15215491

MLB's Shohei Ohtani, Interpreter's Gambling Scandal

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."

[cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15192503

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.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15113480

After nearly 2 years, Buehler returns from Tommy John

The long wait on his return finally came to an end on Monday as Buehler made his first start in the Majors since June 10, 2022, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out four over four innings of work in the Dodgers’ 6-3 win over the Marlins at Dodger Stadium.

Before the game, manager Dave Roberts said he didn’t expect to see high velocity numbers for Buehler in his first start back. Buehler had other plans. With some expected adrenaline, Buehler’s four-seam fastball was sitting at 96 mph, getting up to as high as 97.6 mph.

Buehler feeding off extra adrenaline was expected, but so was some rust. Despite the tick up in velocity, the Marlins were able to attack Buehler’s fastball, jumping out to an early lead just two batters into the game. Miami tacked on a second run in the first inning and Nick Gordon hit a solo homer in the second for the third run against Buehler in the first two frames of the game.