JCC's Athlete of the Week ending April 27
JCC's Athletes of the Week ending April 13
Call, a 2023 graduate of Indian River Central School, is majoring in Physical Education.
Call this past week, averaged 500 with 8 hits in just 16 at-bats and scored eight runs. With her consistent offensive output and relentless pressure on the opposition defenses, Call's play was crucial to the team's victory.
The Cannoneers' next game will be Baseball today at noon at SUNY Broome Community College.
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Washington Post
14 hours ago
- Washington Post
Padres' Bogaerts loses homer on fan interference call, manager Mike Shildt ejected in 4-3 loss
SAN DIEGO — Xander Bogaerts of the San Diego Padres had a home run overturned due to fan interference , and manager Mike Shildt was ejected for coming out of the dugout to talk to the umpires in the second inning of Monday night's game against the San Francisco Giants. The call turned out to be critical because the Padres lost 4-3. Bogaerts hit a flyball to left field that appeared to bounce out of Heliot Ramos' glove and over the fence as two fans, including one in a Giants shirt, reached for it. The ball might have clipped one of the fans' arms and, after a lengthy review, the home run call was overturned and Bogaerts was called out. Shildt was ejected immediately when he came out of the dugout. Fans booed the rest of the inning. 'No contact. It was a big run. Huge,' Shildt said. 'Listen, I don't bark at the league a lot, but the definition that we got from replay was that it was clear that there was some impediment that took place. Clearly, he didn't touch the baseball. ... And if it's so clear, how come it takes 2 minutes, 40 seconds to figure it out? What are you looking for? If it's so clear, overturn it early and if it's not, it's a home run. 'That's just really disappointing to go that long and have to come up with a conclusion that's not conclusive to overturn a home run. It cost us an opportunity to win a baseball game. ... I had a lot of time on my hands and if you can find an angle where the fan touched the baseball, I'd like to see it.' Ramos wasn't surprised the call was overturned. 'I did think I had it easier than that, but whenever I was about to catch it, I saw his arm was over me, kind of him, so I'm guessing it hit the arm or something. I saw the replay and it only shows the guy on the bottom, it doesn't show the guy on the top, but he was like literally over me and his whole body was across the wall. It just clipped the finger a little bit. Before the ball got to my glove, he was already with his hands up.' Ramos said the fan blocked his view 'a little bit because I saw his shadow coming on top of me so I was kind of confused about it.' Giants manager Bob Melvin said it appeared the fan 'reached over. I think it just nicked him. Regardless, if your hand's over it could affect his vision, too. You don't see that call often but I think it was the right one.' Ramos hit a leadoff homer against Nestor Cortes, one of three homers within the first five batters that gave the Giants a 4-0 lead. ___ AP MLB:
Los Angeles Times
08-08-2025
- Los Angeles Times
‘Straight grinder.' How new Dodger Alex Call became one of MLB's toughest at-bats
At the end of the 2019 minor-league season, Alex Call looked at his hitting numbers, then looked himself in the mirror. A former third-round draft pick who had already changed organizations once, he knew he had just had the kind of year that typically portends a short professional career. As a 24-year-old outfielder at the double-A level in the Cleveland Guardians organization, Call had taken 325 plate appearances that year with the Akron RubberDucks. In 93 of them — a rate of nearly 30% — he recorded a strikeout. It wasn't the only ugly stat in a season that saw Call bat just .205, reach base at a .266 clip and hit only five home runs. But it was the biggest sign of a fundamental flaw plaguing the right-handed hitter's game. 'That,' he recalled recently, while reflecting on what became a turning point moment in his career, 'just wasn't gonna get it done.' Six years later, Call joined the Dodgers as a trade deadline addition last week with a polar opposite reputation. Now, the defensively versatile outfielder is one of the harder outs in all the majors. Since the start of last season, his .297 batting average ranks eighth among MLB hitters with at least 350 plate appearances. More important, over that same span, he ranks top 60 in strikeout rate and walk rate (with a 55-to-39 ratio overall), and 22nd in chase rate; consistently putting together some of the better at-bats in all the sport. 'This guy's just a straight grinder, works at-bats,' general manager Brandon Gomes said after the Dodgers acquired Call from the Washington Nationals in exchange for two pitching prospects. 'Playing against him, he's always incredibly frustrating to try to game plan for and get out.' 'I've faced Alex a few times,' added future Hall of Fame left-hander Clayton Kershaw. 'He's tough against lefties, a great defender. A good add, for sure.' The Dodgers, of course, could have made splashier adds at the deadline. They were linked to other All-Star caliber names, including Steven Kwan of the Guardians, but didn't splurge to pay such inflated deadline prices. Instead, they settled for Call, who was a smaller name but came with team control through 2029. They put their faith in his overhauled offensive skill set, hopeful a personal transformation more than half-a-decade in the making will make him a key piece in their pursuit of a second straight World Series title. 'That is my whole game,' Call said on the day he arrived with the club. 'I am going to grind out at-bats, put the ball in play, take my walks, make it tough on the pitcher, lengthen out the lineup.' The origins of that mindset date to that 2019 season, and the pandemic-altered year that followed. Entering 2020, Call committed to a change at the plate. In what was a crowded pipeline of outfielders in the Guardians system — highlighted at that time by Kwan, who has since blossomed into one of the best left fielders in the game — he recognized he needed a new identity. If he was going to reach the majors, it was going to start with simply working better at-bats. 'It's a bad feeling,' he said, 'having a cloud hanging over your head after a season like that.' The only problem: COVID-19 came, the 2020 minor league season was canceled, and Call (like so many other minor-league longshots clinging to big-league dreams) was left effectively on his own. So, he found different ways to improve his bat. As the baseball world shut down, Call bought a portable Junior Hack Attack hitting machine with a self-feeding ball dispenser. And everywhere he went that year — from spring training housing in Phoenix to his childhood home in Wisconsin to his family's offseason residence in Indiana — he sought out any place 'I could find a hitting cage and an outlet' to use it, he said laughing. His focus was simple. Work on hitting fastballs up in the strike zone. Eliminate what had been one of the biggest holes in his swing. 'For me, it's just about having that mentality to where, it doesn't matter if I have two strikes or if it's an 0-0 count,' he said. 'Believe I'm comfortable in every situation. I'm going to put the ball in play.' By that winter, Call sought out a more advanced piece of training technology as well. Over the previous couple years, a company called Win Reality had begun manufacturing virtual reality hitting goggles — using data-driven models, actual video and computer-generated images to recreate virtual at-bats against real pitchers from a hitter's point of view inside Oculus-style headsets. A handful of MLB teams, including the Dodgers, had invested in the system for their teams. In the months leading up to the 2021 season, Call decided to do the same for himself, buying the $300 product (and paying for its annual $200 software program) to help couple his new swing with a more discerning approach. '[I was] just really practicing the zone,' Call said. 'Knowing what pitches are my strengths and what pitches I don't want to swing at until two strikes. Developing that plan and developing that approach.' The training paid off. At the start of the 2021 season, Call was sent back to double-A Akron. When he arrived, he was informed by manager Rouglous Odor that he would only be slated to play 2-3 games per week — a quick reminder of how far down the organization depth chart he'd fallen. 'I remember him being very disappointed,' Odor, now the Guardians' big-league third-base coach, recalled this week. 'But he took ownership of his career, and didn't let what I told him affect him.' Call's chance arrived that May, after Kwan went down with a hamstring injury. And almost immediately, his COVID-year changes took effect. Over 180 plate appearances, Call hit .310, drew 21 walks and — just as he'd hoped — cut his strikeout rate by half, punching out only 26 times. 'He was a totally different hitter,' said Odor, who had also been Call's manager during his dismal 2019 campaign. 'Defensively, he was already to play in the big leagues. He made some unbelievable plays … But offensively, he found his stroke. His plate discipline was more consistent. And he had an unbelievable season.' By the end of the season, Call had been promoted to triple-A. The next July, he earned a promotion to the majors. The ascent from there wasn't linear. In August 2022, he was designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Nationals. In 2023, he played in 128 big-league games but hit only .200, sending him back to triple-A for most of last year. Still, his plate discipline didn't waver (he struck out only 78 times in his 439 plate appearances in 2023, an 18% rate, while also drawing 53 walks). His VR routine only became more ingrained, seeing upward of 54,000 simulated pitches (or, essentially 25 seasons' worth of throws) through his headset each year, as he told the Washington Post last month. It all has clicked over the last calendar year, with Call following up a productive return to the majors at the end of 2024 with his best full-season performance this term. 'The type of player that I am, I can hit the ball over the fence, but it's not really my full game,' Call said. 'So for me, it was about trying to create as many opportunities to get on base as possible … I have to be able to hit the ball at good angles.' Call is one of only four players with 200 plate appearances this season (along with Kyle Tucker, Gleyber Torres and Geraldo Perdomo) who strikes out less than 15% of the time, chases less than 20% of the time and whiffs less than 20% of the time. He has hit .236 with two strikes (better than everyone else on the Dodgers except Hyeseong Kim). He had his first standout game with the Dodgers on Wednesday, when he singled, doubled and made a catch while crashing into the left field wall to save an extra-base hit. Eight at-bats into his Dodgers career entering Friday's game, he has also yet to strike out once. 'I'm always proud of players like Alex, because he wasn't this big prospect, but he became an everyday big-league player,' Odor said. 'He had the urgency to make something happen in order to reach his goal, and his dream.' And now, Call is aiming to take his career one step further — to be not just a productive big-league bat, but one capable of playing an impactful role on a title-contending club in Los Angeles. 'I always knew that I could do it and be an established major leaguer,' Call said. 'It's just, sometimes it takes a little bit of time. And I'm grateful that I was given that time, and just continued to get better.'
New York Times
01-08-2025
- New York Times
Sources: The Phillies' next trade target
The 2025 MLB trade deadline has passed. Follow along for live reaction and analysis after an active week around the league. Getty Images Getty Images The Phillies took their biggest swing about 24 hours before Thursday's deadline, but they continue to canvass sellers for potential outfield upgrades — big and small. They would prefer to add a right-handed bat to the mix. They have interest in Alex Call, a 30-year-old outfielder with the Washington Nationals, multiple major-league sources said. Call, as a part-time player, has hit .274/.371/.386 in 237 plate appearances this season. He's done well against lefties, which is why the Phillies are targeting him. Call has an .802 OPS vs. lefties in 2025. He can play all three outfield positions. If the Phillies choose a marginal upgrade in the outfield, they could pair it with an internal move by promoting Justin Crawford to the majors. Crawford could have arrived earlier this month, but the Phillies want him to play every day if he's in the majors, so they have waited to see how the deadline unfolds. The Phillies continue to engage the Chicago White Sox on Luis Robert Jr. and the Cleveland Guardians on Steven Kwan, sources said, but after unloading two of their better prospects to acquire Jhoan Duran, they could take a more measured approach Thursday. Getty Images Leo De Vries is 18 years old in High A and more than holding his own, hitting comfortably above the league average despite being the youngest regular at that level. He's a switch hitter who's clearly better from the left side, The Athletic's Keith Law wrote in his midseason MLB prospect rankings where De Vries came in at No. 13, even though he hit for more power right-handed last year, with a strong left-handed swing that's going to produce at least a ton of extra-base hits to the gaps. He's a definite shortstop who might end up plus there, with a 60 arm and plenty of lateral range. He would have been a high school senior this spring had he grown up anywhere covered by the draft, and he's already producing in High A; that alone would mark him as a potential star. GO FURTHER Top 60 MLB prospects: Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark top newest rankings Getty Images By Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin A year ago, Athletics closer Mason Miller was considered untouchable. On Thursday, hours before the trade deadline, the team with baseball's best bullpen swung a big deal to land him. Ever aggressive, the San Diego Padres have agreed to acquire Miller and left-handed starter JP Sears from the A's in exchange for top prospect Leo De Vries, and right-handed pitchers Braden Nett, Henry Báez and Eduarniel Nuñez, league sources told The Athletic . GO FURTHER Padres add Mason Miller in blockbuster deal, ship top prospect Leo De Vries to A's: Sources Getty Images Has A.J. Preller become the all-time king of the trade deadline? He has now traded for all of these guys just since the middle of 2022: Juan Soto Josh Hader Tanner Scott Jason Adam Mason Miller JP Sears There isn't a star in the baseball cosmos the Padres' president of baseball ops won't chase. It hasn't lifted them into any World Series, but it isn't for lack of outside-the-box effort. Getty Images Since last night, we've seen Mason Miller, Jhoan Duran and Ryan Helsley each change teams. The Pirates are apparently undecided on whether to trade David Bednar. The Rays and Giants seem also on the fence about whether to trade Pete Fairbanks and Camilo Doval. The Tigers could use a meaningful bullpen upgrade. The Yankees and Blue Jays also seem to be in the market, the Red Sox might not be done adding relievers, and Ken Rosenthal has reported the Dodgers, Mariners, Rangers and Brewers are also looking for bullpen help. Phil Maton and Danny Coulombe are pending free agents who seem likely to go somewhere by the end of the day. Getty Images Two of the most compelling outfield trade candidates, both Steven Kwan and Jarren Duran had been linked to the Padres, with The Athletic reporting that a deal involving either one could hinge on the Padres giving up top prospect Leodalis De Vries. Now that De Vries is with the A's, is there still a team with the prospect capital — and the willingness to trade that prospect capital — that could make a move for Kwan or Duran? Getty Images The Padres just got a closer and a starting pitcher. Two of their best trade chips — pending free agents with value — are a closer (Robert Suarez) and a starting pitcher (Dylan Cease). Is this blockbuster setting the stage for moves to follow? Here are three questions I'm asking in the wake of the Padres' blockbuster move for Mason Miller... Getty Images The Los Angeles Dodgers said throughout their World Series run last year that the San Diego Padres had represented their biggest challenge, pushing them to the brink of elimination in the National League Division Series. Arguably the biggest reason why: the strength of their bullpen (which, on a separate note, made the decision to start Dylan Cease in Game 4 on short rest all the more curious). Last year, it was Tanner Scott who was the difference-making deadline acquistion for San Diego. Now, it's Mason Miller for a Padres team that is suddenly just three games back of the Dodgers for the NL West. WOW. A.J. Preller strikes again at the deadline. This deal is especially intriguing when considering that the Padres' pitching is their strength and their offense is what needs upgrading. But there have been rumors swirling around potential trades of starter Dylan Cease and closer Robert Suárez in exchange for a bat — and now those deals become much more likely as the Padres have just secured replacements (and upgrades) for those two in J.P. Sears and Mason Miller. But Preller once again paid a hefty price — Leodalis De Vries, the consensus top prospect in San Diego's organization, is headed to the A's. All-Star Athletics closer Mason Miller and starter JP Sears are heading to Padres, a source confirms to The Athletic . Top shortstop prospect Leodalis DeVries heading to A's. ESPN first reported the deal. Imagn Images On Monday, we released version 3.0 of our Trade Deadline Urgency Index. Until Eugenio Suárez was traded to Seattle, we'd had no impact starters or hitters traded but seen plenty of action in the relief market. So, let's fine tune Monday's rankings to see who has the most work to do today. San Diego Padres: It still seems like they're cooking something up, whether that's a deal for Steven Kwan, Jarren Duran or another outfielder. Houston Astros: They need more than Ramón Urias. This is a logical landing spot for a lefty like Ryan O'Hearn. Detroit Tigers: The bats have come back to life the last couple days, but if the Tigers only add arms at this deadline it'll leave them very vulnerable in October. New York Mets: A center fielder would really be ideal, especially since the third-grade upgrades seem to be off the board by now. Texas Rangers: Our previous index had the Los Angeles Dodgers in this spot. I'm moving the hard-charging Rangers into this spot. They need more production from the catching, first base and designated hitter positions. Let's get moving with those lineup improvements. Stay tuned for updated Urgency Indexes focusing on starters and relievers. GO FURTHER MLB trade deadline Urgency Index 3.0: Who needs what? Who needs it the most? Getty Images By Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal Even after acquiring Ramón Urías from the Baltimore Orioles, the Astros remain interested in upgrading their lineup, according to sources briefed on their plans. One option is still a reunion with Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa, who is guaranteed $96 million through the next three seasons and would have to waive his no-trade clause. Correa told reporters on Wednesday night that talks with the Astros were "not something that I think is serious right now"and sources from both teams downplayed the likelihood of a trade. Talks, however, remain ongoing. Houston is also still pursuing starting pitching, but some are worried the club could lose a bidding war in competition for Dylan Cease or Sandy Alcantara. If that happens, the Astros could pivot and to add a right-handed leverage reliever. Getty Images After trading Ryan Helsley and Steven Matz on Wednesday, the Cardinals expect to complete their trifecta of reliever deals before the deadline this evening. Several teams are competing for right-hander Phil Maton, a veteran reliever with extensive postseason experience. He's owed roughly $700,000 for the remainder of the season. "It's not a matter of if (Maton) goes, it's when," a team source said Thursday morning. Getty Images In the Orioles' trade of Ramón Urias to Houston, they got back a right-handed pitcher named Twine Palmer. Bet you didn't know the last pitch thrown for the Orioles by a pitcher named Palmer was thrown by (yep) Jim Palmer, on May 12, 1984. Getty Images With hours to go until the deadline and after bolstering their bullpen, the Mets remain interested in upgrading at center field, people familiar with their plans said. Speculatively, Luis Robert still stands out as a logical fit because he hits left-handed pitching well while playing strong defense with speed. Getty Images Baltimore Orioles right-hander Zach Eflin is going on the injured list, according to sources briefed on the matter. It is still 'very possible' he will be traded, one source said. Eflin's injury is not arm-related and he is expected back during the regular season.
