AROUND THE HORN
Nationals:
LHP Sean Doolittle will undergo an internal brace procedure on his elbow, ending his season. Doolittle, who has been on the injured list since April 20 with an elbow sprain, is expected to be out between five and six months. Doolittle underwent platelet-rich plasma and stem cell injections, but began feeling the same soreness in the last week as he did when he was first injured. “There’s still too much instability in the elbow, there’s too much instability being caused by that UCL not being healed enough and not being strong enough,” Doolittle said. “At this point, I just want to go in and get it fixed. I want to get to the root cause of it.”
Dodgers: The union representing concession workers at Dodger Stadium agreed not to strike during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game and its related events. Unite Here Local 11 and concessionaire Compass Group and its subsidiary Levy Restaurants have made what the union said is “substantial progress” in contract negotiations this week. As a result, the union agreed not to strike during the All-Star events that begin Saturday and conclude with the game on Tuesday night. “Both parties look forward to a successful All-Star Game and continued negotiations,” union spokesperson Maria Hernandez said in a statement.
Mets, Cubs: The second game of the Mets’ four-game series against the Cubs in Chicago has been postponed by rain. Steady rain fell in Chicago on Friday morning, and it was expected to continue for much of the afternoon. The game was rescheduled for a split-doubleheader on Saturday. Marcus Stroman (2-5, 4.91 ERA) is slated to start the doubleheader opener against his former team, and Drew Smyly (2-5, 4.43 ERA) is lined up for Game 2 for the Cubs. The Mets plan to send Taijuan Walker (7-2, 2.63 ERA) to the mound for the opener, and Max Scherzer (6-1, 2.15 ERA) starts the second game.
MLB settles: Major League Baseball agreed to pay minor leaguers $185 million to settle a federal lawsuit that has progressed through the courts for eight years without reaching a trial. The settlement, announced May 10, was filed with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, where Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero is expected to grant his approval. If approved, $120,197,300 will be split among the players, $55.5 million will go the the players’ lawyers, up to $5.5 million will be the reimbursement costs of the suit, $450,000 will be for the costs of administering the settlement, $637,000 will go to incentive awards for the player representatives in the suit, $400,000 for a contingency fund and $2,315,000 for a payment under the California Private Attorney General Act.
All-Star umpires: Bill Miller will umpire at home plate in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. This will be the second All-Star Game for the 55-year-old, who worked right field at the 2007 game in San Francisco. Miller became an MLB umpire in 1999 and a crew chief in 2014. He worked the World Series in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2020. His crew includes Lance Barksdale (first), Mark Ripperger (second), Will Little (third), Gabe Morales (left) and Carlos Torres (right). The replay umpire in New York will be Brian Knight, the right field umpire in 2012.