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Richard Justice, who joined MLB.com as an executive correspondent in 2011, has covered Major League Baseball for more than three decades and offers his insight on MLB.com and MLB.com/live.
Okay, it wasn’t the matchup we hoped for. We wanted Justin Verlander and Yu Darvish to go toe to toe for 11 innings, both throwing 99 mph, each matching the other inning by inning. We wanted one of those games we’d be talking about whenever great pitching matchups are discussed. That we didn’t get. Verlander […]
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The Yankees, Dodgers and Phillies would be out. They’re Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in payroll. The No. 7 Angels would be sitting home, too. So would the No. 9 White Sox and No. 10 Blue Jays. On the other end, Nos. 28, 29 and 30 would also be out. That’s the Rays, Marlins and […]
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The Dodgers lost three straight one-run games over the weekend in San Francisco, and afterward, Don Mattingly said he liked the way his team went about things. He didn’t like the outcome, but he liked the effort, approach, etc. For this, he has taken some shots. One columnist used the world “clueless.” Which brings up […]
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On this first day of May, the Red Sox, Orioles and Yankees have to be feeling pretty good about things. Letâs face it, not everyone believed in these three clubs. So far, though, theyâve passed every test. The Rockies, Royals, Pirates, Diamondbacks and Brewers are off to solid starts, too. There were significant questions about […]
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When the history of the Tampa Bay Rays is written, James Shields will have his own fat chapter. Perhaps more than any other single player, he’s responsible for the franchise becoming one of the most efficient, admired and successful in the game. Others—Stu Sternberg, Matt Silverman, Andrew Friedman—drew up the blueprint. Joe Maddon has brilliantly managed […]
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If you’re scoring at home, plate umpire Tom Hallion seemed to be more in the wrong than David Price. On the other hand, this situation was similar to the Zack Greinke-Carlos Quentin incident. In the heat of the moment, competitive people occasionally do and say things they might regret upon reflection. And that’s how things […]
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To the tote board we go: Red Sox pitchers lead the majors with 218 strikeouts and need 14 more to break the franchise’s all-time record of 231 in September, 2000. They lead the majors with 10 strikeouts per 9 innings and have 14 games of 10+ strikeouts. The Reds are next with 10. Boston’s rotation […]
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He has been indestructible. He played through everything. Actually, he did more than just play. He played at the highest level. Through all the years, his expectations for himself—and our expectations for him—never changed. Two years ago when we were about to write him off, he came back better than ever. He turned 38 last […]
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The Tigers won your basic seven-reliever, 14-inning, 4-hour, 27-minute victory Wednesday in Seattle, and who doesn’t enjoy one of those? I just hope they didn’t cut off sales of grilled salmon sandwiches in the seventh inning. Speaking of shutting something down, Detroit’s bullpen was outstanding, throwing zeroes on the board for the final six innings. […]
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It seemed logical that Roy Halladay eventually would pitch a game like this. Even with diminished velocity, he still has plenty of weapons. He has always known how to use them, too. He has been relentless in his preparation, in figuring out how to attack opponents and how to adjust to what he had working […]
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