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Shohei Ohtani strikes out the side in the first inning of his home pitching debut

By Bill BaerApr 8, 2018, 4:39 PM EDT
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Athletics P/DH Shohei Ohtani made his home pitching debut on Sunday afternoon against the Athletics. The right-hander threw 15 pitches, striking out Matt Joyce, Marcus Semien, and Jed Lowrie to get through the first inning easily. The Angels gave Ohtani a two-run lead in the bottom half of the inning.

Ohtani made his major league pitching debut last Sunday in Oakland, yielding three runs on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts across six innings.

On the hitting side of things, Ohtani has homered in three consecutive games. He’s very talented.

Oakland Athletics reverse course, will continue to pay minor leaguers

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By Craig CalcaterraJun 5, 2020, 7:11 PM EDT
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Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.