MLB Rumors: Red Sox regret calling up Matt Dermody
The Boston Red Sox gave pitcher Matt Dermody a spot start last week due to some injuries in their starting rotation. Normally, that wouldn't be a big story, but Boston didn't do their homework.
Homophobic tweets from Dermody surfaced prior to his start, which offended many Red Sox fans, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community. Red Sox executive Chaim Bloom regrets the fact that Dermody received a start with the team, despite the fact he was sent down shortly thereafter.
"We pride ourselves on doing the right due diligence so that we can have the right conversations around these things. We realized as this was unfolding [after the call-up] that a process that is normally pretty robust missed some things," Bloom told the Globe's Alex Speier. "There were other concerning things on social media. We usually don't miss these types of things. In this case we did."
Dermody allowed three runs over four innings in his lone appearance, and was sent back to Worcester afterwards.
"We're getting our arms around what the right steps are with respect to the new info, or at least the info that's new to us," said Bloom. "That's obviously a process that we'll need to go through to figure out the best way to address it and take it into account. We certainly take it very seriously."
In this day and age, racist and/or homophobic tweets are bound to surface on social media for any public figure, even a young pitcher making his first start with the Boston Red Sox. Dermody and Bloom found this out the hard way.
MLB Rumors: Daniel Vogelbach gets a break after Mets fans taunt him
It's been a tough season in New York for Daniel Vogelbach, who is slashing just .203/.343/.297 after a loss to the Yankees on Tuesday night. Vogelbach is struggling equally against lefties and right-handed pitchers, and was on the receiving end of angst from the Mets fanbase this week.
Per the New York Post, "in an attempt to get the struggling DH on track, Mets brass late last week decided to essentially play a man short for a stretch until Vogelbach can get his swing right, according to sources."
New York has lost nine of their last ten games, and face the Yankees again on Wednesday night. For the Mets to voluntarily keep Vogelbach on the roster and basically play a man down, fans should rightly question what Billy Eppler and Buck Showalter are thinking. This team needs reinforcements, as The Rising Apple's Tim Boyle notes:
"If the Mets aren't going to start Vogelbach against righties, he serves no purpose at all. It's what fans have been screaming about for weeks now. Unlike those early season requests to DFA Tommy Pham or Eduardo Escobar, this one has become painfully needed. At least those two can play the field. Each has performed much better of late, too.
The Mets may be giving Vogelbach the courtesy of getting designated for assignment after the road trip. They're not going to Willie Randolph him. It's a decision that'll only take another day to occur and doesn't really affect Sunday's game at all. It's different from DFA'ing a reliever because fresh arms are constantly a need."
With Ronny Mauricio and others raking at the minor-league level, keeping Vogelbach on the roster is indefensible for Eppler and Co.
No wonder fans are frustrated.
MLB Rumors: Will the Cardinals finally fire Oli Marmol?
A little over a month ago, the Cardinals front office and manager Oli Marmol met with catcher Willson Contreras, hoping to give him a break from the position so he could focus on improving at the plate, an area he typically excels at. At the time of that decision, Contreras' slash line was respectable for his position, but since then has fallen off a cliff.
FanSided's Zach Pressnell summarized Contreras' struggles of late:
"Through 62 games, Contreras has slashed .201/.293/.352, while currently having a career low in OPS+. His entire slash line is a career low, down significantly from his previous worst seasons.
He doesn't appear close to breaking out of this slump either. In fact, he has been much worse recently than he's ever been in his entire career. Contreras is currently riding a 5-for-59 slide at the plate and has shown no signs of bursting out of it."
Everything that can go wrong for the 2023 St. Louis Cardinals, has gone wrong for the 2023 St. Louis Cardinals. This includes moving their prized free-agent acquisition, a catcher, off of his natural position, though I could have told Marmol that was a bad idea and I am not paid to manage a baseball team.
