Bryant: Astros should own up
MESA, Ariz. — Cubs slugger Kris Bryant was candid about the Astros’ sign-stealing tactics and said players should have been penalized for their involvement.
“What a disgrace, just watching their apology (Friday),” Bryant said. “There’s no sincerity, no genuineness when it comes to it. I certainly know that if I messed up big in that way, I’d be the first one to let you know just how big of a mess of it was.”
Bryant believes the tactics went back further than the 2017 season and thinks the Astros used buzzers inside their jerseys to indicate which pitches were being thrown.
“If they didn’t get caught, they’d still be doing it,” he said. “They’re only doing this apology because they got caught, and that’s it.”
Bryant even went as far to suggest Astros batters would be thrown at intentionally.
“If teams are going about it the right way, you know if you do get hit and you’re not going after people’s heads and stuff like that, I think they’re definitely going to experience some of that this year,” Bryant said.
Cole gets ovation in first session
New Yankees ace Gerrit Cole walked out to the mound at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Sunday to applause. He threw 27 pitches.
Cole struck out five of the eight batters he faced. He gave up two hits as he worked with just fastballs and changeups. He got a pat on the back from manager Aaron Boone as he walked off the mound and another standing ovation.
“I like the way I felt,” Cole said. “Good sweat. Kind of pushed the tolerance at the end, getting a little bit of fatigue. I felt like I got some good work in.
“It’s the first time I got a standing ovation for my first live BP, I can tell you that. It was fun. It was good.”
It was the first-time that some Yankees fans got to see their $324 million-man on the mound since he was signed in December.
Blue Jays great Fernandez dies
Tony Fernandez, a stylish shortstop who made five All-Star teams during his 17 seasons in the major leagues and helped the Toronto Blue Jays win the 1993 World Series, died Sunday after complications from a kidney disease. He was 57.
Fernandez was taken off a life support system in the afternoon with his family present at a hospital in Weston, Fla., said Imrad Hallim, the director and co-founder of the Tony Fernandez Foundation. Fernandez had been in a medically induced coma and had waited years for a new kidney.
Fernandez won four straight Gold Gloves with the Blue Jays in the 1980s and holds club records for career hits and games played.
He was part of a blockbuster trade in December 1990 that sent Fernandez and slugger Fred McGriff from Toronto to San Diego for Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar and outfielder Joe Carter, who hit the game-ending home run that won the 1993 World Series for the Blue Jays.