clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Around the Empire: Yankees news - 2/9/21

MLB/PA agree on rules for 2021 season; the baseballs will be changed again this year; Jameson Taillon ready for spring training with Yankees; finding the hit probability of a Pre-Statcast moment in history

Division Series - San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers - Game Two Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

NY Post | Joel Sherman: MLB and the Player’s Union came to an agreement yesterday on the health and safety protocols for the upcoming season. The rules will allow for seven-inning doubleheaders and a baserunner automatically starting on second base beginning in the tenth inning to return, after an experimental run in last year’s shortened season. The universal DH will not return, however, even though the union argued that it should be considered a health and safety issue since the league permitted it last year.

NY Post | Mike Puma: MLB is changing one of the variables in their baseballs again, but this time they went ahead and informed clubs to be transparent about it. The coefficient of restitution, or COR, is a measure of the bounciness of a baseball, and in recent years MLB has brought COR up. This year, however, MLB plans to lower COR, and The Athletic, who first reported on the change, estimates that it will result in about five percent fewer home runs this year.

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: After missing over a year due to Tommy John surgery, Jameson Taillon is raring to go entering his first Yankees camp. The right-hander has been “throwing with exceptional control,” a great sign for a pitcher with one of the nastiest curves in the game when he’s on point.

AZ Snake Pit | Nate Rowen: Our friends over in the Snake Pit attempted to find the hit probability of an iconic moment in the Pre-Statcast era. Obviously, the situation they chose isn’t a pleasant memory for the Yankees, but it’s an interesting read if you’re curious in how they went about it.

Twitter | William Boor: Righty reliever Addison Russ will be one of the many pitchers at Yankees spring training as a non-roster invitee. The 26-year-old last pitched in 2019, when he posted a 2.54 ERA in 55 games with Double-A Reading. Russ split his 2020 between the Phillies’ and Yankees’ alternate sites, coming to New York in the David Hale trade. PSA’s own Dan Kelly actually talked to him about the differences in the training sites (in addition to other topics) in his interview last September.