Morning Mound Visit: Nick Castellanos suspension upheld

Wick Terrell | Red Reporter: Nick Castellanos lost his appeal and will serve a two-game suspension for role in a benches clearing incident between the Cardinals and Reds. Again, his role was to get hit by a pitch, score on a wild pitch, flex over the pitch who beaned him, and walk away. The Castellanos decision is just further evidence that MLB’s discipline policy is uneven and punishes players for acting in line with the “Let the Kids play” campaign.

Jay Jaffe | FanGraphs: The Yankees are 5-10 and off to their worst start in 24 years. The weekend series against the Rays went as poorly as it possibly could have gone, and ever-patient Yankees fans lost their cool on Friday hurling baseballs and garbage onto the field. How could a team that was expected to be the American League’s best get off to a start this poor and can they dig themselves out of this hole?

Ken Rosenthal | The Athletic $: The start of the 2021 season hasn’t been perfect in regards to the ongoing pandemic. Several teams have had to postpone games due to positive cases while others have been forced to play on which has left players and fanbases frustrated. In addition, teams have been slow to hit the 85 percent threshold for looser safety protocols because some players don’t want to receive the vaccine.

Quick Hits

Brandon Belt hit a two-run homer in Philadelphia prompting Zack Hample to beef it.

Yermín Mercedes played defense for the first time in his major league career, getting into the game as *checks notes* a pitcher.

Albert Pujols stole third without a throw because even if he’s among the slowest runners in baseball, he’s still a baseball genius.