Ex-Net Mills waived by Hawks SOMETHIN’ BRUIN
Poteet hopes to join fellow UCLA alum Cole on Yankees’ staff
ATLANTA — The Hawks waived 15-year veteran guard Patty Mills on Thursday.
The 35-year-old Mills, a former Net, played sparingly for the Hawks after he was acquired from Oklahoma City last summer. He averaged 2.7 points and 1.1 rebounds in 19 games with Atlanta.
The Hawks also converted the two-way contract of guard Trent Forrest to a standard NBA deal. He is averaging 2.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists over 20 games this season.
An undrafted player out of Florida State, Forrest spent last season with the Hawks on a two-way contract after two years under a similar deal with Utah.
Mills has 879 appearances, including 107 starts, over a career spent largely with the Spurs. He also played for Portland and the Nets before joining the Hawks, posting career averages of 8.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
EMBIID EYES OLYMPICS
Joel Embiid wants to play again this year — for the 76ers, yes, even as they fade without the injured All-Star in the playoff hunt, but also this summer for the U.S. Olympic team.
The reigning NBA MVP, Embiid has been sidelined since early February when he underwent meniscus surgery on his left knee after he was hurt when a player fell on him. Embiid had already been hampered by knee injuries this season that cost him multiple games — and cost the 76ers a good spot in the standings.
When healthy, Embiid continued to perform at an MVP level. He was the NBA’s leading scorer at 35.3 points per game at the time he was hurt and averaged 11.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists. He scored a franchise-record 70 points on Jan. 22 in a 133-124 victory,
for a “very smooth rehab.” He leaned on his faith and a “lot of good people” to get through the process.
That group included Eric Cressey, the Yankees’ director of player health and performance.
“It’s definitely nice to have a familiar face walking in here,” said Poteet, who first met Cressey while pitching in the Cape Cod League in 2014. “I know Eric really well. He brings all his great baseball knowledge into this place and just makes this place immediately better.”
Poteet began working out at Cressey’s Jupiter, Florida, training facility in 2020, and he did the majority of his Tommy John-related physical therapy there. That gave the Yankees some insight to the pitcher as they pursued him over the winter.
“We had homework on him and Eric knew him really well,” pitching coach Matt Blake said toward the end of the offseason. “We just had some exposure that way. Knowing his story, it helped us see where the upside is with him. He had been hurt the last couple of years. Maybe not a lot of opportunities, got back at the end of last year. Now he’s ready to hopefully take off again with good health.”
Poteet, who spent the offseason giving pitching lessons out of his backyard in Houston, is on track to start the 2024 season on time.
Earlier this week, he made his spring debut, throwing 1.2 scoreless innings in relief against the Twins. Leaning primarily on a four-seamer, sinker and changeup — he also sprinkled in a few sliders and curves — Poteet struck out three and walked one while not allowing a hit over 35 pitches.
The performance left Aaron Boone impressed.
“He’s definitely somebody that we valued and targeted this winter,” the manager said. “He can pitch.
“I thought he was really effective and efficient today. So we’ll see. We’re excited to have him, and I do feel like he can help us.”
Poteet has three minor-league options remaining, giving the Yankees the flexibility to use him as needed.
Boone noted that Poteet has the ability to start, something he did nine times for the Marlins and throughout his minor-league career. He could establish himself as one of the Yankees’ depth options should the projected rotation succumb to injury, but he also pitched well as a reliever over a handful of games for Miami in 2022.
After a few seasons interrupted by injury, Poteet will take whatever role he can get.
“I enjoy both,” he said of starting and relieving. “It would be hard for me to pick a preference.
“What I would love to do is just help this team win.”
PHILADELPHIA — For more than a quarter-century, Phillies fans considered Dollar Hot Dog Night among the best ballpark promotions — but the team has now decided it was the wurst.
Those dog days of April — when the Philly weather is cold and the wieners are a steal — are going, going, gone.
The Phillies officially ended the popular promotion Thursday and replaced Dollar Dogs on select dates with a 2-for-1 deal at two April games at Citizens Bank Park.
A statement from the team said the change was made “based on the organization’s ongoing commitment to provide a positive experience for all fans in attendance.”
What wasn’t positive about Dollar Dog Nights?
Armed with projectile frankfurters, some unruly Phillies fans began chucking their favorite Hatfield meat during a game last year, and the dogs soared like cans of corn throughout the stands and onto the field. The demand for the discount dogs also led to clogged lanes — if not arteries — on the concourse, and the cramped spaces led to security and safety concerns.
An April 11 game last season turned into a Philly food fight when fans — largely good-naturedly — tossed their ballpark franks in several sections, leading to multiple ejections.
“It wasn’t just the throwing,” said John Weber, senior vice president, Phillies ticket operations and projects. “It’s the concourse, the crowds of everybody being at the same X amount of stands. But obviously, you know, the throwing was a little bit of a tipping point.”
To be frank, the Phillies don’t necessarily need the deal these days to pack in crowds. The
Phillies started the promotion 27 years ago when they still played at cavernous Veterans Stadium to try to boost ticket sales on an otherwise dreary game night.
But the Phillies stuck with the food-frenzy deal through the decades, even as they rose again to become one of the best teams in the National League. The Phillies topped 3 million fans last season — and scheduled three Dollar Dog Nights for two April and one May weeknight game when attendance is generally down compared to weekend games.