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A look at what’s happening around baseball Wednesday:
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ARM SWING
Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to pitch for the Los Angeles Angels in Houston, and the two-way superstar is off to a much better start at the plate than on the mound this season. Ohtani is 0-2 with a 7.56 ERA after two outings. He has 14 strikeouts, but he's allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 8 1/3 innings.
At bat, last season's AL MVP entered Tuesday hitting .234 with three homers, seven RBIs and nine runs. He had a .733 OPS.
Jake Odorizzi (0-1, 6.48) goes for the Astros.
WEATHER MEN
After consecutive postponements in frigid Cleveland, the Guardians and White Sox will try again to play ball — this time with a traditional doubleheader beginning at 2:10 p.m. EDT.
The teams were postponed Tuesday by inclement weather and unplayable, cold conditions for the second straight day. The game was called off four hours before the scheduled first pitch, with the decision coming after Guardians manager Terry Francona and White Sox manager Tony La Russa met the umpires outside at Progressive Field.
Snow piled up in downtown Cleveland the past two days and temperatures have been in the low 30s.
Monday’s postponement will be played as part of a doubleheader on July 12.
This week’s four-game series is now a three-game set with two games Wednesday and one Thursday. With a dryer, warmer weather forecast, the AL Central rivals should finally meet for the first time this season.
“I think it’s like between 50-55 (degrees) at game time, which will seem like summertime,” Francona said. “That’s doable. Again, it’s going to be hard. We’re going to have 27 innings potentially in 27 hours, which isn’t perfect.
“But if you’re supposed to play, you play. If you’re not, you don’t. I think everybody kind of came to the same conclusion.”
The second postponement again pushed back a matchup between AL Cy Young Award winners — Cleveland ace Shane Bieber and Chicago lefty Dallas Keuchel. They’ll match up in Wednesday’s opener.
White Sox right-hander Jimmy Lambert will start the second game against Cleveland’s Triston McKenzie.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
San Francisco Giants left-hander Carlos Rodón (1-0, 1.50 ERA) has 21 strikeouts in 12 innings over his first two starts this season. He pitches at Citi Field against New York Mets righty Chris Bassitt (2-0, 0.75), also off to a sharp start with a new club.
SALES TEAM
There will be a new pitch on Major League Baseball fields next season.
The San Diego Padres became the first team to announce a deal for ads on their uniforms, saying Tuesday that patches with a Motorola logo will be worn on the sleeves of their jerseys.
The March 10 memorandum of understanding for a new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players’ association gave the 30 teams the right to sell patch ads on uniforms and sticker ads on helmets. The sides adopted an Aug. 6, 2021, proposal by MLB to amend a section of the Official Baseball Rules which states: “No part of the uniform shall include patches or designs relating to commercial advertisement.”
MLB’s proposal read: “Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything else in these rules, a club may license to third-party commercial sponsors the right to place their name, logos and/or marks on the uniform, provided that the patch or design is approved in advance by the Office of the Commissioner after consultation with the players’ association.”
MLB decided to launch the uniform ads with the 2023 season and says it may start the helmet ads with this year’s postseason.
The Padres will have the ads on the right sleeves of left-handed hitters and pitchers, and the left sleeves of righties — so as to face cameras more often.
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