GDT 9/6/23 Philadelphia Phillies (Wheeler) @ San Diego Padres (Wacha)

[HopeSpringsEternal]

Dominant performance by Wheeler; bullpen closes out the game with 3 decent innings. Can’t complain about a .500 road trip

[LoneStarPhan]

A 3-3 road trip is fine at this point. A series win in San Diego to end the trip. Very nice.

Sorry to see a run given up in the ninth, but Strahm got the final out and it never really got tense.

A good start and win for Wheeler. Homeruns from Schwarber and Realmuto. 12 hits and 6 walks from across the lineup leads to a solid win.

[zambonir]

Schwarber .976 OPS since all-star break

Castellanos actually had an .860 OPS in August but he was brutal in July and is slumping now.

[bkox]

Padres catcher Gary Sánchez broke his wrist this afternoon when he was hit by a Jeff Hoffman pitch, manager Bob Melvin tells reporters

[Aquapong]

Brewers and Cubs series to close out their regular season could be huge.

[zambonir]

Hopefully not for us!

[LoneStarPhan]

Padres catcher Gary Sánchez broke his wrist this afternoon when he was hit by a Jeff Hoffman pitch, manager Bob Melvin tells reporters

Sorry to hear this. Hoffman threw several pitches that he had no control over. Never want to see a player hit and injured.

[bkeich]

If I were the Padres I would be pretty upset with the way Hoffman was pitching. He obviously wasn't trying to hurt him, but this is a bad side effect of the 3 batter rule. I manager can't remove a guy who is obviously having an out of control day, they do happen.

This is more or less exactly how Harper hurt his wrist last year

[andyb]

this is a bad side effect of the 3 batter rule

Sanchez was the first batter Hoffman faced. He was just wild coming in. Maybe his bullpen coach should have gotten somebody else up, but this had nothing to do with the 3-batter rule which is generally good.

It is really rare when a pitcher just doesn't have any control to the point where that would be the reason you pull a pitcher after even 2 batters. The 3-batter rule hurts LOOGYs and that is probably a good thing even though it really does not eliminate too many mid-inning switches. And I am totally fine with Trea Turner getting good pitches to hit because he is sandwiched between Schwarber and Harper.

[zambonir]

If someone faces two batters and hits both of them, or hits one but is that obviously wild, there is another way to keep him from facing a third batter of course.

[bkeich]

Oh, I like the 3 batter rule, this is just a bad side effect

[andyb]

But the examples you gave are not because of the 3-batter rule. Harper got hit by Snell last year too, a starter. The ball in the face the year before was from Genesis Cabrera but I don't think he hit anyone else that day that I recall. He was just wild pitching inside.

Clearly more batters are getting hurt as velocity increases and batting styles change (wearing armor, crowding the plate, etc.). It just isn't the 3-batter rule causing this problem. There are probably one or two instances a year when a wild pitcher should be pulled after 2 batters. Just not sure it has caused any injuries that we know about.

[Sabin]

The ball in the face the year before was from Genesis Cabrera but I don't think he hit anyone else that day that I recall. He was just wild pitching inside.

I remember that game. Harper was hit by Cabrera's first pitch; Gregorious took one in the back on his second one. Girardi got tossed, and I think McCutchen then knocked in an RBI, Cabrera's third, and final, batter of the evening.

I remember how genuinely distraught Cabrera was afterward. I felt bad for him. But no, the HBPs couldn't be blamed on the three-batter rule there.

[HopeSpringsEternal]

I think the manager would have removed Cabrera after two HBPs, but he could not, because of the three batter rule.

Added note: This instance notwithstanding, I like the three batter rule.

[Sabin]

He may have. The point is that the HBPs in that instance cannot be blamed on the rule, that's all.

[zambonir]

I realize intent is a factor but if you hit two batters on two pitches you probably should get tossed. Obviously Joe thought so too.

[Sabin]

I get that, especially when one is in the face and the other in the back. Still, while your argument seems fair from the side of protecting the players - who I'm sure don't want to be taking 95+ anywhere on their person when they don't have to - interpreting intent or the inability to correct course seems dangerous, too. What if this were a starter? Albeit without plunking two batters on two pitches, we have seen the Wheeler/Nola/Walker outing this year that started ugly but settled into an effective, 5-7 inning outing (some relievers have taken several pitches over a couple of batters to settle in this season as well).

Heck, Lorenzen's no-hitter started out looking doomed to be a bullpen-taxing four-inning start at best with his lack of command early.

[zambonir]

Oh I wouldn't eject a starter. But with a reliever, the umpire could loophole the three-batter rule if he genuinely feels the hitters are in danger. I'm just not sure if that's a reason to eject a pitcher by the letter of the law. But the ump is making a judgment call about intent most of the time.

It would be a funny position to put everyone in. The opposing manager doesn't want his guys to be endangered either but is probably happy to leave the ineffective reliever in for one more batter. And the pitcher's manager doesn't want his player to get tossed but would probably welcome the chance to get a better arm in there.