Greinke’s start cut short because of groin tightness
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. » Arizona ace Zack Greinke’s start against Cincinnati was cut short Wednesday after one inning because of right groin tightness.
Greinke had been scheduled to throw five innings. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner retired Ben Revere on a groundout, allowed Jesse Winkler’s single, then struck out Joey Votto and Scooter Gennett.
Albert Suarez relieved to start the second.
Greinke was making his just second big league exhibition appearance this year. The 34-year-old right-hander pitched 1.2 innings against Milwaukee on Feb. 25, then made a pair of appearances in “B” games.
Marlins’ Prado to begin season on disabled list
MIAMI » The Marlins say third baseman Martin Prado will begin the season on the disabled list while he recovers from right knee surgery.
Hamstring and knee injuries limited Prado to 37 games last year, and while he has been working out, he has yet to play in spring training.
Brian Anderson, who played in 25 games as a rookie last year and batted .262, is expected to start at third on opening day.
Prado, 34, is a career .291 hitter but hasn’t played since July 17.
Extra innings to start with runner at 2nd base in minors
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. » Extra innings throughout the minor leagues will start with a runner at second base.
In addition, a 15-second pitch clock when there are no runners on base will be implemented at TripleA and Double-A, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues said Wednesday. The timer
will remain at 20 seconds with runners on base, the same as it has been since 2015.
New limits on mound visits without pitching changes also will be added, the minor league governing body said.
The maximum will be six by managers, coaches or players at Triple-A, eight at Double-A and 10 at full-season Class A.
There will not be short-season Class leagues.
An additional visit will be added for each extra inning. A team with no more remaining mound visits may ask the plate umpire for additional trips to deal with crossed-up pitch signals.
Limited by the players’ association in changes at the big league level, Major League Baseball worked with the minor league governing body on the new rules.
A runner who starts an extra inning at second shall be counted as any limits at A or rookie reaching on an error for purposes of determining earned runs, but no errors shall be charged.
Ballplayer released after domestic violence video released
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS » A Pennsylvania minor league baseball team has cut an outfielder after a Texas police department released a video of a domestic violence incident for which the player completed a probationary sentence.
The Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League announced on their Facebook page late Tuesday that they had released 24-year-old Danry Vasquez.
That was after Corpus Christi police released to KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi security video of the Venezuelan native slapping and backhanding his fiancee several times in August 2016 at Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks baseball team.
At the time, Vasquez was a member of the Hooks, Houston’s farm team in the Double-A Texas League. Major League Baseball suspended Vasquez indefinitely; independent leagues aren’t subject to MLB’s authority.
Nueces League District Attorney Mark Gonzales told KRIS that Vasquez had completed all requirements of his probation.