Manfred encouraged by mound-visit rules
Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday he’s encouraged by pace-of-play changes that have limited mound visits and reduced the time between innings at majorleague games this season.
Speaking in Toronto before the Blue Jays hosted the Red Sox, Manfred said the rules have sped up games without disruption.
“Whenever you change a rule in baseball, people predict all sorts of dire outcomes, and we have avoided even the smallest of incidents related either to the mound-visit rule or the shorter inning breaks,” Manfred said.
“Secondly, I’m positive about them because they’ve been effective. We are way down in terms of mound visits, I think down about 50 percent, and our inning breaks are significantly shorter. I take both of those as positives in an ongoing effort to make sure that we’re producing an entertainment product with as little dead time as possible.”
Braves to call up Acuña: MLB.com reported that outfielder Ronald Acuña, widely considered the top prospect in the minor leagues, will be called up by Atlanta from Triple-A Gwinnett. The 20-year-old was hitting .232 this season but .300 over his past 10 games.
A source told MLB.com that Acuña had been informed of the call-up and was to join the team Wednesday in Cincinnati. Dodgers option top prospect: Walker Buehler, the Dodgers’ prized pitching prospect, has been optioned to Class A Rancho Cucamonga, though the right-hander could be back this weekend.
Buehler, 23, made his first bigleague start Monday against Miami. He allowed four hits over five scoreless innings and struck out five, but didn’t factor in the decision in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win.
Manager Dave Roberts said the team wanted to keep Buehlernearby so it would have the option of starting him on Saturday against the Giants at AT&T Park.
Briefly: Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez, who missed nearly a month with strained knee ligaments, was activated along with outfielder Alex Gordon before Tuesday night’s game against the Brewers. In the other dugout, Milwaukee activated catcher Manny Piña from the DL and optioned catcher Jacob Nottingham to Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... The White Sox placed outfielder Avisail Garcia on the 10-day disabled list because of a strained right hamstring. ... The Rockies selected the contract of right-hander Brooks Pounders from Triple-A Albuquerque. ... The Padres placed first baseman Eric Hosmer on the family medical leave list. Manager Andy Green said the team hopes to have him back Friday. ... The Nationals put righthanded reliever Shawn Kelley on the 10-day disabled list with nerve irritation in his pitching elbow.