Ted Lilly grabs some pine tar on the sly

Maybe it was purely by accident, and maybe it didn’t help a bit — judging by his pitching line it didn’t anyway — but reader Big Leagues sends along a couple of screen captures from last night’s Dodgers-Rockies game which seems to show Ted Lilly opportunistically applying pine tar to his pitching hand after picking up a broken bat:

I mean, he’s not totally brazen about it, but he had that whole bat barrel to grab and still grabbed the part with the pine tar.

Hmm.

UPDATE: Yes, as many have pointed out, Lilly is a left-hander, so he’s not grabbing the pine tar with his pitching hand. Which means the only possible explanation is that, in addition to being really sly here, he’s a MASTER OF DECEPTION.

Former MLB player and manager Brad Ausmus will manage the Angels in 2019, the team announced Sunday. His contract will extend through the 2021 season, though it’s not clear whether a club option exists for 2022. A formal press conference will be held on Monday at 1:00 PM PDT to introduce the new skipper.

Angels general manager Billy Eppler gave a statement following Ausmus’ hiring:

Here’s Billy Eppler’s statement: pic.twitter.com/3SE9nUtBkq

— Maria I. Guardado (@mi_guardado) October 21, 2018

Ausmus, 49, was also considered for a managerial role with the Reds prior to their hiring of David Bell on Sunday. He’ll replace longtime manager Mike Scioscia, who finished his 19th and final campaign with the club on the last day of the 2018 season.

A former catcher and three-time Gold Glove Award winner, Ausmus capped his 18-year MLB playing career in 2010. He managed the Tigers from 2014 to 2017, during which he guided the club to a 314-332 record and a postseason berth in 2014. After the Tigers declined to offer the skipper an extension in 2018, he was hired as a special assistant to the Angels’ general manager, and remained in that role for the duration of the regular season.