Nate Lowe named AL player of the week.

Expanded Roster info

Several of us, myself included, have asked about the new expanded roster rules. See below, from MLB.com. if you click the link they profile a few prospects that could be called up, Jung is included.



Expanded rosters are coming. Expanded rosters are coming.

OK, sure, this isn't the tidal wave of player additions that came in past years, but Sept. 1 remains a large date on the baseball calendar as Major League rosters swell just in time for final playoff pushes.
Here's what you need to know ahead of roster expansion on Thursday:

Roster limits
From Opening Day to May 1 this year, Major League clubs were allowed to carry 28 players before slimming back to normal 26-man levels from May 2 onwards. Until now. From Sept. 1 through the rest of the season, active rosters will expand again to cover 28 players, no more no less. Teams can carry 14 pitchers at most too to cut down on the endless parade of bullpen arms that often made September games a slog.
The hard cap at 28 is an important distinction from Septembers of old. Previously, clubs could call up any member of the 40-man roster for the month. That is no longer the case, though even a boost of two extra players should be helpful for the stretch run.

Minor League schedule
Typically, the Minor League Baseball season has ended around Labor Day. Now, Single-A and High-A regular seasons will end one week later on Sept. 11, Double-A on Sept. 18 and Triple-A all the way on Sept. 28. There won't be as much a concern that any farmhands close to the Majors aren't fresh or in game shape throughout the month ahead.

Rookie eligibility
In another change from previous years, any service time, at-bats or innings pitched accrued in September do count toward rookie eligibility. In other words, there will be prospect graduations coming in the weeks ahead.
That said, any prospect called up within the last few days -- such as Corbin Carroll or Cade Cavalli -- or moving forward is unlikely to hit the 45-day requirement to lose rookie status. (They could still reach 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched, but that is also improbable.) So even if we see an onslaught of prospect promotions shortly, then don't expect the callups to take players out of the running for 2023 Rookie of the Year Awards. That brings us to the next point …

Effect of new CBA
The collective bargaining agreement signed by MLB and the MLBPA in the spring instituted a new policy for 2022 aimed at curbing service-time manipulation. A club that starts a top prospect on its Opening Day roster while he retains rookie status is eligible to receive an extra Draft pick if the player gets sufficient award consideration before he becomes arbitration-eligible. It's likely part of why we saw big names like Julio Rodrguez, Bobby Witt Jr. and Spencer Torkelson make Major League rosters out of the gate back in the spring.

That's all well and good for Opening Day 2023, but how does it affect September 2022?
Well if clubs are considering starting their top prospects out of the gate next year, they might be more likely to give them their debuts now, in order to experience the Majors for the first time and make whatever adjustments necessary in the offseason to hit the ground running in late March.

Buckle up. Carroll and Cavalli may have just been the start. We could see an onrush of more prospects over the next month.

Absolute smash for Bubba's first career homer

Leiter update, looks good

Jack Leiter over his last 6 starts including tonight: 3.23 ERA, 35Ks, 12 BBs in 30.2 IP.

He went five and allowed one run tonight against Amarillo.

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) August 31, 2022

****ing Angel Hernandez!

Why is Angel Hernandez still employed??

In case not everyone saw it, here's the ball 4 call to Yuli.

Hard to imagine Nelson Cruz stealing 20 bases