Daily Dose: Beaning sends Wright to DL - MLB

David Wright spent Saturday night in the hospital after getting beaned in the head by a 94-mph Matt Cain fastball, but was released Sunday after being diagnosed with post-concussion symptoms. Corey Koskie’s career was ruined by the aftereffects of a concussion and the Mets saw how much it hurt Ryan Church last year, so certainly Wright isn’t out of the woods yet.
However, simply avoiding a major facial injury is great news given the pitch’s speed and location. With the Mets out of contention there was no real need to see if Wright could get back on the field in a hurry, so the team smartly placed him on the disabled list Sunday afternoon. “David wanted to give it a chance to try to go out there and play, but we decided to take it away,” general manager Omar Minaya said.
Wright’s batting average (.324), on-base percentage (.414), and steal total (24) are all the second-best marks of his career, but his power has been absent all season with just eight homers in 497 plate appearances. He’ll no doubt try to come back in two weeks, but certainly could be shut down for the season. Fernando Tatis will man third base in the meantime and should have solid value in NL-only leagues.
While the Mets’ disabled list could probably beat their active roster at this point, here are some other notes from around baseball …

* Saturday was apparently a bad time to be a baseball player’s noggin, because in addition to Wright’s beaning Hiroki Kuroda took a line drive off his forehead and also spent the night in a hospital. Kuroda didn’t lose consciousness and CAT scans were negative, so he was released Sunday and has been cleared to fly with the Dodgers. He’ll be tested further before the team decides if he needs a disabled list stint.
* The deadline to sign draft picks is midnight Monday and 11 of the first 20 picks are unsigned, including No. 1 overall selection Stephen Strasburg. Nationals president Stan Kasten said Saturday that Strasburg has been offered a record-setting contract, but various reports suggest that the current proposal won’t get him signed and some speculation has agent Scott Boras seeking upwards of $40 million.
AL Quick Hits: After sitting out over a month, Torii Hunter (groin) rejoined the lineup with two hits Sunday … Impending free agent Erik Bedard said Saturday that he’d like to re-sign with the Mariners following shoulder surgery … Nick Blackburn had another terrible outing Sunday, serving up three homers before being chased in the third inning … Junichi Tazawa failed to record a strikeout Sunday and coughed up four runs on 10 hits in five innings … Jim Thome will miss at least one game after aggravating his left foot injury Sunday … Juan Rivera went 3-for-8 with four RBIs and three runs Sunday as his three-run homer capped the Angels’ amazing nine-run 13th inning … Mark Ellis delivered a walk-off homer Sunday against Chicago closer Bobby Jenks … Delmon Young is finally showing signs of life, homering Sunday for the third time in six games.
NL Quick Hits: Johnny Cueto is likely to have his next start skipped after going 0-6 with a 10.63 ERA in his last eight outings … Carlos Zambrano (back) is expected to make a rehab start Thursday at Single-A … Jonny Gomes went deep again Sunday and now ranks second to Albert Pujols in at-bats per homer … Roy Oswalt struggled Sunday for the second straight start, giving up five runs over six innings as his ERA climbed above 4.00 … Rich Harden will be skipped in the rotation for now because he warmed up before Sunday’s rainout … Nick Johnson left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury, which is amazingly his first real health issue of the year … Randy Wolf had 10 strikeouts in 7.2 innings of three-run ball Sunday and also went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, and three RBIs at the plate … After missing his last start with a toe injury, Aaron Cook returned by allowing seven runs Sunday … Colby Rasmus delivered a walk-off homer Sunday against Padres closer Heath Bell.

NEW YORK — With the stench of smoke permeating Yankee Stadium and wafting through its walkways, Major League Baseball postponed games in New York and Philadelphia on Wednesday night because of poor air quality caused by Canadian wildfires.

A National Women’s Soccer League game in New Jersey and an indoor WNBA game set for Brooklyn were also called off Wednesday amid hazy conditions that have raised alarms from health authorities.

The New York Yankees’ game against the Chicago White Sox was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader starting at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, and the Philadelphia Phillies’ game against the Detroit Tigers was reset for 6:05 p.m. on Thursday, originally a day off for both teams.

“These postponements were determined following conversations throughout the day with medical and weather experts and all of the impacted clubs regarding clearly hazardous air quality conditions in both cities,” MLB said in a statement.

The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for New York City, saying: “the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects.” In Philadelphia, the NWS issued a Code Red.

The Yankees and White Sox played through a lesser haze on Tuesday night. A day later, stadium workers and fans arriving early to the ballpark wore face masks for protection in a scene reminiscent of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was business as usual for me coming in. I got in around 12, 12:30, and didn’t really think too much of it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I actually walked outside about 2 o’clock and was like – like everyone else, like – whoa.”

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol thought MLB made the right decision postponing the game.

“These are health issues, right? So this has got to be it. We’ve been through everything – snow, rain, hail. I don’t think I’ve been through something like this,” he said. “Today at one point, it was pretty bad out there. We walked out of the dugout and it was kind of orange. They did the right thing. They got all the information.

“I’m assuming if Major League Baseball is comfortable setting up a doubleheader tomorrow, they have some type of information that it should be better than what it is today, or at least safe.”

In Philadelphia, the Phillies beat the Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday night in a game played in hazy conditions with the smell of smoke in the air. Afterward, manager Rob Thomson and his Phillies players said the conditions didn’t affect them.

About a half-hour before Wednesday’s postponement, Thomson said he thought the game would be played. But the Philadelphia skyline could not be seen from the ballpark in the afternoon, and the smoky smell remained.

Minor league teams nearby also changed plans. The Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania, and the Mets’ top farm club in Syracuse, New York, postponed their games for the second consecutive night.

The Mets’ High-A affiliate in Brooklyn completed a game Wednesday against Greenville that began at 11 a.m.

The WNBA called off a game between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty, saying the decision was made to “protect the health and safety of our fans, teams and community.” A makeup date wasn’t immediately announced.

Even inside Barclays Center at the morning shootaround, reporters could smell smoke in the arena.

The NWSL postponed Orlando’s match at Gotham in Harrison, New Jersey, from Wednesday night to Aug. 9.

“The match could not be safely conducted based on the projected air quality index,” the NWSL said.

At nearby Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association said training went on as planned Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s Triple Crown horse race. However, NYRA canceled training Thursday morning at Belmont and Saratoga Race Course upstate “due to poor air quality conditions forecast to impact New York State overnight and into Thursday morning.”

NYRA said a decision about Thursday’s live racing program, scheduled to begin at 3:05 p.m., will be made Thursday morning “following a review of the air quality conditions and forecast.”

“NYRA utilizes external weather services and advanced on-site equipment to monitor weather conditions and air quality in and around Belmont Park,” spokesman Patrick McKenna said Wednesday. “Training was conducted normally today, and NYRA will continue to assess the overall environment to ensure the safety of training and racing throughout the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.”

New York’s NFL teams, the Giants and Jets, both had Wednesday off from offseason workouts. The Giants had been planning to practice inside Thursday, and the Jets said they are also likely to work out indoors Thursday.

Youth sports in the area were also affected, with parents quick to voice concern about their children’s safety outdoors.

In a statement Wednesday, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association said schools should understand that all schedules were subject to change.

“NJSIAA is closely monitoring air quality data across New Jersey and local/state health advisories. As start times for athletic events draw near, we will make decisions for each venue and sport based on currently available information,” the organization said.

It’s not the first time in recent years that wildfires forced changes to the MLB schedule. A two-game series in Seattle between the Mariners and Giants was moved to San Francisco in September 2020 because of poor air quality caused by West Coast wildfires.

About an hour after Wednesday night’s game at Yankee Stadium was postponed, two fans visiting on vacation from Vancouver, British Columbia, were still lingering outside the ballpark.

“It’s just circumstances. What do I say? It makes me disappointed because this is one of the highlights of the trip,” said Malcolm, who was in town with his daughter and didn’t want to give his last name.

“I have a heart condition. That’s the only reason I’m wearing two masks and whatever. And my personal thought is that, why wasn’t it canceled two days ago? Because we knew about all this two days ago. But having said that, I don’t want the players running around and putting out in this, too. It can’t be good for them.”