Mets fan sues team, Luis Castillo, Rawlings over maple bat injuries - MLB

James Falzon was sitting along the third base line at a Mets-Braves game in 2007 when Luis Castillo’s bat shattered, sending the barrel flying towards his face and resulting in some pretty massive injuries. Falzon is now suing the Mets, Castillo, former Met Ramon Castro — who owned the bat — Major League Baseball and Rawlings, the bat’s manufacturer.

The reason: it was a maple bat, and baseball already knew by 2007 that maple bats had a propensity to shatter like that.

This is not the first time someone has been seriously hurt by a shattering maple bat. Pirates’ coach Don Long was victimized by a bat shard a few years ago. So was Dodgers fan Susan Long. They aren’t the only ones and they certainly won’t be the last.

I don’t know whether the risks posed by maple bats are enough to convince a jury that injuries they cause are actionable at law. But I do know this much: baseball has long acknowledged the dangers of maple bats and multiple studies have shown that they provide no tangible benefit to hitters over their less-prone-to-shatter ash counterparts. Despite this, Major League Baseball and the players’ association have done nothing about it.

SAN DIEGO — The scuffling San Diego Padres claimed catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from the New York Mets.

The two-time All-Star was designated for assignment after playing in three games for the Mets. He went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts and an RBI, looking shaky at times behind the plate.

With the disappointing Padres (24-29) getting meager offensive production at catcher, they hope Sánchez can provide a boost. Austin Nola is batting .131 with three extra-base hits and a paltry .434 OPS in 39 games. His part-time platoon partner, second-stringer Brett Sullivan, is hitting .170 with four extra-base hits and a .482 OPS in 21 games since getting called up from the minors April 16.

Luis Campusano has been on the injured list since April 17 and is expected to be sidelined until around the All-Star break following left thumb surgery.

San Diego is responsible for just over $1 million in salary for Sánchez after assuming his $1.5 million, one-year contract.

The star-studded Padres have lost seven of 11 and are 3-3 on a nine-game East Coast trip. They open a three-game series at Miami.

San Diego becomes the third National League team to take a close look at the 30-year-old Sánchez this season. He spent time in the minors with San Francisco before getting released May 2 and signing a minor league contract a week later with the Mets, who were minus a couple of injured catchers at the time.

After hitting well in a short stint at Triple-A Syracuse, he was promoted to the big leagues May 19. When the Mets reinstated catcher Tomás Nido from the injured list last week, Sánchez was cut.

Sánchez’s best seasons came early in his career with the New York Yankees, where he was runner-up in 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting and made the AL All-Star team in 2017 and 2019.

He was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season and batted .205 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 128 games last year.

With the Padres, Sánchez could also be a candidate for at-bats at designated hitter, where 42-year-old Nelson Cruz is batting .245 with three homers, 16 RBIs and a .670 OPS, and 37-year-old Matt Carpenter is hitting .174 with four homers, 21 RBIs and a .652 OPS.