Steve Lein

It was a full slate of action on Tuesday night in the minors, and while three teams combined to score just five runs between them, a single player in another accounted for just as many and grand slammed his team to victory on the road. At AAA, it was Kyle Gibson making his first start after his demotion and he ended up taking the loss. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily (photos of Jonathan Rodriguez) It was a full slate of action on Tuesday night in the minors, and while three teams combined to score just five runs between them, a single player in another accounted for just as many and grand slammed his team to victory on the road. At AAA, it was Kyle Gibson making his first start after his demotion and he ended up taking the loss. Read on to see how all the affiliates fared on Tuesday night! TRANSACTIONS Before we get to the games, there were a few transactions on Tuesday. Byungho Park was reinstated from the disabled list to the Red Wings, but did not play in their game. To make room, Quintin Berry was released. At Fort Myers, Casey Scoggins traded places with Bradley Strong from extended spring training. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Lehigh Valley 4 Box Score Kyle Gibson made his first non-rehab assignment start in AAA since the 2013 after his demotion late last week and while it was of the quality start variety, he also took the loss. Three singles and two RBI groundouts against him in the first put the Iron Pigs up 2-0, and that would prove to be enough for them as the Red Wings managed just six hits and were only 1-3 with runners in scoring position on the game. They made it 2-1 in the third after Ben Paulsen led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a Bengie Gonzalez single, and came home on a Zack Granite double-play grounder. That was it for Rochester as they went down one-two-three in each of the sixth, seventh and ninth innings thereafter. Gibson left after six innings and down 3-1. He allowed six hits and walked one, but also struck out eight (for what it’s worth, Gibson owns nearly an 8K’s/9IP rate at AAA in his career, a full 2 K’s higher than his MLB rate). Buddy Boshers allowed one run on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. He struck out one. D.J. Baxendale finished the game for the Red Wings by retiring both hitters he faced. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Montgomery 5 Box Score After his offense left the bases loaded in the top of the first, starter Paul Clemens ran into early trouble of his own that led to two runs in the bottom half, and a 4-0 lead for Montgomery by the time he exited after the fifth inning. The four runs came courtesy of five walks and six hits, including two home runs allowed. He struck out three. Luke Bard came on for the sixth and had his own troubles, as the Biscuits extended their lead to 5-0 before he escaped a jam with runners on second and third. He came back out for the seventh and was able to get two outs, but two walks and his own throwing error ended his appearance with the bases loaded. Fireballer Nick Burdi was summoned and got his man on a swinging strikeout to end the threat. Putting out that fire with some of his own would prove to be one of the biggest moments of the game. The Lookouts finally got on the board in the eighth when Edgar Corcino led off the inning with a single that was followed by an RBI double from Jonathan Rodriguez. That would not be the last time Montgomery heard from him. Burdi went one-two-three in the eighth including another strikeout to get his team back up to the plate down four going into the ninth. A single, two walks, and a hit batter scored one and left the bases loaded for the Lookouts before the Biscuits were able to record an out. Unfortunately for them, Rodriguez was stepping in the box again next. His grand slam put them out front for the first time at 6-5, and the tables were turned. With his big night, he also extended his hitting streak to thirteen games. John Curtiss came on for the ninth and sent the demoralized Biscuits down in order, striking out the last two hitters of the game to pick up his fifth save. MIRACLE MATTERS Palm Beach 7, Fort Myers 1 Box score The Miracle had trouble with Cardinals starter Junior Fernandez the entire game, as his big velocity gave them fits. In the complete game effort, he held them to five hits and one walk while striking out six. Fort Myers’ lone run came in the fourth to cut the Palm Beach lead to 5-1, as Max Murphy led off with a triple and was driven in by a Nelson Molina single. Kevin Garcia had two singles in three at-bats, and Murphy added a single in the sixth to account for all five of their hits. David Fischer took the hill for the Miracle and went five innings. He allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out four. Four of those runs came in the third due to Fischer’s own throwing error on a bunt play, a wild pitch, and a two-run home run. Michael Theofanopoulus and Alex Muren each allowed a run in their inning of work, combining to allow three hits and a walk in the sixth and seventh, before Anthony McIver was able to stop the bleeding for the final two innings. He allowed just one hit and struck out all three hitters in the ninth to finish the game for Fort Myers. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Dayton 5 Box Score The Kernels fell behind early in this one and weren’t able to claw their way back in. Starter Tyler Beardsley gave up single runs in the first and second innings as they fell behind 2-1. An RBI triple in the first and groundout in the second accounted for those runs. Cedar Rapids made it 2-1 in the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Shane Carrier to bring in Caleb Hamilton, who had doubled. To that point Beardsley had settled in, but the sixth inning would put an end to his night. Five of the first six hitters reached base, and by the time he got a 7-2 double play on a tag attempt the Kernels were down 5-1. The offense added single runs in the seventh and ninth thanks to Jaylin Davis’ fourth home run of the year and an RBI single from Carrier, but they weren’t able to close any further. Reliever Andrew Vasquez pitched the final two innings for Cedar Rapids, allowing just one hit and striking out two. Hamilton (3-4, 2B, R) and Carrier (2-4, 2 RBI) had multiple hit efforts to lead the offense. Jermaine Palacios added his seventh double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Nick Burdi (W) and John Curtiss (S), Chattanooga Lookouts (2.1IP, 4 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Jonathan Rodriguez, Chattanooga Lookouts (2-5, R, 2B, Game Winning GS-HR, 5 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (2-2, 1.61 ERA) Chattanooga @ Montgomery (7:05PM CST) – TBD Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (10:05AM CST) – RHP Keaton Steele (1-4, 7.96 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (6:00PM CST) – RHP Tyler Wells (2-0, 2.17 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! View full article

I don't really know why, but Greene scares me. No doubt he has the highest potential, but I have to say I've been unimpressed with everything besides his velocity in all the videos I've watched. I don't think he has a remotely usable secondary pitch as a pro, yet. He also doesn't have the #'s I'd expect from a high-schooler with that velocity, I don't know, they just seem 'meh' for a guy with this much hype (he also fell off as a hitter this year). I'm more on the Mckay bandwagon, but he also might not be the college SP with the highest upside.

So, you don't think there is a difference in MLB to AAA in this? (FYI - there is, and quite a big one at that)

This is my thinking as well. Here's a couple videos of all the K-pitches from his last two starts: (his fastball was getting them in this one) (lots of out-of-zone swing and miss) From the look of it to me, he wouldn't have done nearly as well against MLB hitters in either. Not as many would have been missed in the first link, and not as many would have been swung at in the second. Who knows what would have come next against MLB hitters, but I did like the command in the first one a lot better. There's not a single pitcher in the history of baseball, who has gotten more swinging strikes than looking ones. This does not say anything.

Burdi made two more appearances since the last update, on April 26th vs. the Tennessee Smokies and the 28th vs. the Jackson Generals. Against the Smokies he pitched the ninth inning in a game the Lookouts lost 8-4. He gave up a single to the leadoff man, but struck out the next two and got an infield pop-up to keep his ERA at 0.00. He threw just 11 pitches, with 10 of them going for strikes (4 swinging strikes). He also finished the game on the 28th vs. Jackson, but the Generals again were on the winning end at 10-4. He gave up his first run of the season on a home run to the first hitter he faced, but got the next three out on weakly hit balls to the infield (2 pop-ups, 1 grounder). 7 of his 11 pitches in this one went for strikes (1 swinging strike). Cumulative stats: 7 games, 8.1 IP, 5 H's, 3 BB, 10 K's, 1.08 ERA, 0.96 WHIP.

Not much happened from an offensive side the whole game and adding something like "until extra innings" at the end of that sentence didn't work as a transition there. To understand the boredom I and others may have felt: the only half-inning that had more than four hitters step in the box was when Daytona scored their run in the sixth.

I almost gave it to Theo, and I have given it to relievers several times in the past But I'll take the 1 run allowed and over a K per inning in a 6 inning start every day of the week.

Ack! Yes, I think I totally forgot to update that line from last week. Daytona 1, Fort Myers 2!!! Man, I even went through this a couple times for edits...haha

Was said to have some pop, and always has had a big arm. Definitely showing good signs lately with his bat!

There wasn’t much action on Tuesday night in the Twins system as Chattanooga enjoyed a day off and Rochester was rained out an hour-and-a-half west of home in New York. But in the games that were played, there were fireworks. One version was of the walk-off variety in Fort Myers, while in Cedar Rapids a slugger recorded his first multi-home run game of his young career to propel his team to victory. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily (photo of Lewin Diaz) There wasn’t much action on Tuesday night in the Twins system as Chattanooga enjoyed a day off and Rochester was rained out an hour-and-a-half west of home in New York. But in the games that were played, there were fireworks. One version was of the walk-off variety in Fort Myers, while in Cedar Rapids a slugger recorded his first multi-home run game of his young career to propel his team to victory. To find out how it all went down on Tuesday night in the minors, keep reading! RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Buffalo (Postponed – Rain) Tuesday’s series opener against the Buffalo Bisons was rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday. David Hurlbut will likely take his normal spot while early season standout Nik Turley, freshly promoted to AAA is scheduled for game two. In award news, Jose Berrios was named the International League player of the week for his two most recent, dominating efforts. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Scheduled day off. The Lookouts were on their way back home on Tuesday after winning three of five against the Generals of Jackson, TN. They start a five game series at home vs. the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Chattanooga is looking to get back to .500 on the season in the opening game, as they are 3.5 games back of Jackson in the North Division at 12-13. MIRACLE MATTERS Daytona 1, Fort Myers 2 (10 innings) Box score Fort Myers got on the board in the bottom of the first inning courtesy of Zack Granite, who led off their half with an infield single. He then stole second base, moved to third on a groundout, and raced home on a passed ball to put them up 1-0. It got pretty boring after that as pitching took over on both sides. Starter Cody Stashak scattered six hits over six innings, allowing just one run while striking out seven in a quality start effort. His one run came in the sixth as three consecutive singles loaded the bases with one out, before a sacrifice fly tied the game at one. Tortugas pitcher Jose Lopez matched Stashak through the sixth as the Lookouts couldn’t capitalize on a double-steal attempt of home in the third after Brian Navaretto led off the inning with a double, his fifth of the season. Michael Theofanopoulos took over for the Miracle in the seventh, and struck out the side in a scoreless inning. He went on to pitch two more scoreless frames, getting Fort Myers to extra innings. He allowed two hits and struck out five. In the bottom of the tenth, Navaretto stepped into the batter’s box with two outs, and walked his team off instead of playing another inning. His solo shot was his second homer of the season and capped a 2-4 day at the plate for the 2013 sixth rounder from Florida. Jonny Drozd picked up the win by pitching a scoreless top of the tenth. He struck out one while setting the opposition down in order. Granite was 3-3 on the night with a walk and his first three stolen bases of the year. Chris Paul added his sixth double in a two-hit game. KERNELS NUGGETS Lake County 3, Cedar Rapids 7 Box Score Lewin Diaz put the Kernels up early when he popped one out to right field for his second home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning. He made it 2-0 in the fourth when he hit his third, marking the first multi-home run game of his young career. On the mound for Cedar Rapids was Eduardo Del Rosario, coming off a seven inning shut-out effort in his last turn where he struck out ten. He wasn’t as good in this one although he didn’t run into major trouble until the fifth. That was when he loaded the bases and walked one run in before a Diaz throwing error led to another and ended his night at 4+ innings. He allowed five hits, three walks, and struck out four on the night. Right-hander Hector Lujan came on in relief and allowed an inherited runner to score and give the Captains the lead 3-2, but escaped further damage with a double-play ball and a caught stealing attempt to end the inning. The home team tied the game back in the bottom of the fifth when Aaron Whitefield slugged his fifth home run of the year. Lujan finished two more scoreless innings to keep the game tied and struck out two along the way. As if Diaz hadn’t done enough already to make up for his earlier miscue, he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the seventh and cleared them with a double to break the game open and give him five RBIs on a 3-4 night at the plate. Catcher Caleb Hamilton tripled in the eighth and was driven in by a Brandon Lopez single to add an insurance run before Colton Davis picked up his first hold with a scoreless inning. Tom Hackimer closed the door in the ninth, striking out the side to put an exclamation point on the victory. Lopez (2-4, R, RBI) and Jermaine Palacios (2-4, R, 2B) added multi-hit efforts for the Kernels offense. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Cody Stashak, Fort Myers Miracle (6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 H’s, 7 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Lewin Diaz, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-4, 2 R’s, 2B, HR, 5 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Buffalo, Game 1 (3:15PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (1-2, 1.04 ERA) Rochester @ Buffalo, Game 2 – LHP Nik Turley (0-1, 0.44 ERA, 20.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 36 K’s at AA) Pensacola @ Chattanooga (6:15PM CST) – TBD Daytona @ Fort Myers (5:35PM CST) – RHP David Fischer (2-0, 0.95 ERA) Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – RHP Tyler Beardsley (2-1, 3.94 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! View full article

I don't know, Santana's ERA+ is 513, while Sale's is 361.... The strikeouts are a good case, but Erv's got him on WHIP too.

Going back to last season, Melotakis has yet to pitch on consecutive days since his surgery. Hopefully he crosses that benchmark soon, but good to see him doing well!

In the video linked in the article, they go through every one of his K's from his outing. I think they were split pretty good between breaking balls and 2-seamers/change-ups, and I'd venture there were a few of them that MLB hitters wouldn't offer at (several were caught in the dirt). Only one of them was a called strike.

I'm hoping Santana's day's are numbered with Adrianza on rehab assignment.

Exactly...

This seems like a deal more structured for someone like Kepler. I think Sano's going to require significantly more to get him to bite. At least double of what is proposed in the article and I think Brandon is a lot closer to the realistic number.

Lou Nanne was on KFAN last night talking about how getting Pominville to waive his No-Trade-Clause would be the best scenario for the Wild, and possibly even Las Vegas. This was why: 1. Las Vegas still needs to hit the Salary Cap floor with their roster, so they're going to need a few guys who do have bigger contracts. 2. If this were to happen, the Wild can make a deal with Las Vegas along the lines of pick Pominville from us and we'll give you someone else too or a draft pick. He also mentioned that these type of discussions are probably happening with every team, so I don't know how likely this would be to actually happen, and I guess it's up to Pominville.

Winner! He did. August 22nd of 2016. So both were very recent. I went back to 2012 among all the affiliates and haven't found another one...

The last player to strike out 14 in a game in the Twins organization, was much more recent than I figured it would be so I didn't try to look it up while writing this last night. But Jose Berrios struck out 14 on August 31st of last season, his last start of the year in the minors. He went 8 IP, gave up 3 runs on 5 hits, including 2 HR's, and walked 1 to go along with his 14 K's. 70 of his 99 pitches went for strikes... I challenge someone to find the game before that where a Twins prospect struck out 14 or more? (Hint: It's not Berrios, though he was close a few times).

Big names were slated to pitch in the Twins system Tuesday night, with Jose Berrios, Fernando Romero, and Dereck Rodriguez all taking the hill for their respective teams. They were all fantastic, but it was another starter who stole the day with one of the best performances you’ve seen in the minors since Twins Daily came into existence (trust me on this). But he also took the loss despite his efforts, and the Chattanooga Lookouts offense owes both their starters some penance after being swept in a doubleheader. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (photo of Nik Turley) Big names were slated to pitch in the Twins system Tuesday night, with Jose Berrios, Fernando Romero, and Dereck Rodriguez all taking the hill for their respective teams. They were all fantastic, but it was another starter who stole the day with one of the best performances you’ve seen in the minors since Twins Daily came into existence (trust me on this). But he also took the loss despite his efforts, and the Chattanooga Lookouts offense owes both their starters some penance after being swept in a doubleheader. Keep reading to find out just how well all the starters threw on Tuesday night, and why it’s the relative unknown who still gets the most glory! RED WINGS REPORT Gwinnett 4, Rochester 5 Box Score Jose Berrios was pretty good in his fourth start of the year, going six innings and allowing just one earned run on four hits and three walks while striking out ten. I apologize for the modest adjective while you read his state line again: 6IP, 2 R’s (1 ER), 4 H’s, 3 BBs, 10 K’s; but you’ll understand why it was just “pretty good” as you go further along in this report. He struck out multiple Braves hitters in the first, third, and sixth innings and at least one in each inning. His day was finished after 102 pitches and he left the game with the Red Wings down 2-0. A passed ball in the third resulted in one of those runs, while a solo home run in the fourth accounted for the other. D.J. Baxendale pitched a one-two-three seventh inning, striking out one before Rochester’s lineup came alive against Gwinnett’s bullpen in the bottom half of the frame. A Niko Goodrum double scored their first run, then an Ehire Adrianza single and Matt Hague sacrifice gave them the lead 3-2. It was Adrianza’s first game with the Red Wings after being assigned to the roster earlier in the day. Trevor Hildenberger came on for the eighth and gave the lead right back on a single, double, and single to consecutive batters before working his way out of the jam. He did strike out two. Now down 4-3 with two outs in the eighth, Tommy Field got a two-out rally started for Rochester with a double, and Goodrum finished it with his second home run of the season to put the Red Wings back out front. https://twitter.com/MorrieSilver8/status/857229498479239170 J.T. Chargois came on for the ninth and picked up his first save of the 2017 season with a one-two-three inning. Adrianza, Daniel Palka, Goodrum and J.B. Shuck had two hits on the night. Field and Goodrum each scored two runs in the victory. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Game 1: Tennessee 2, Chattanooga 0 (7 innings) Box Score In the regularly scheduled game of the double-header, Twins Daily’s #1 Prospect Fernando Romero was on the mound for the Lookouts and got himself into a pitcher’s duel. Unfortunately, his offense didn’t come to bat for him in this one. Nick Gordon led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and was followed by an Engelb Vielma walk to put him in scoring position, but that was one of the few opportunities Chattanooga would get all game. Smokies starter Zach Wedger retired the next ten before Travis Harrison drew a walk in the fourth and Tanner English got to second base after an error and stolen base in the sixth for the rest of the opportunities. Romero matched Wedger until the seventh inning. Through six innings he had allowed just three hits and walked two with four strikeouts. He started the final inning with two more K’s, but a Vielma error at shortstop got the losing wheels spinning. The next batter singled and Romero was removed after 81 pitches and was now responsible for the game without being the one throwing the pitches. I’m guessing he would have rather done the rest himself whichever way it went from there. John Curtiss came on, walked the bases loaded, and gave up a single to score both of Tennessee’s runs on the scoreboard before getting a K to end the inning. The Lookouts proceeded to go down one-two-three as Wedger slammed the door on them like he had all game. In his last two starts, Romero has tossed 12.1 innings and allowed just one earned run on ten hits and three walks, while striking out ten. He’s improved his ERA from 9.00 to 3.44. Game 2: Tennessee 1, Chattanooga 0 (makeup of 4/23 PPD, 7 innings) Box Score Nik Turley made his second start of the season for the Lookouts, and he couldn’t have done more. He was ridiculous. Fourteen K’s in a 7-inning complete game ridiculous. Tennessee got their one run in the top of the first as a walk, stolen base, sac bunt and RBI groundout version of offense was all they would end up needing. From there the 2017 signing out of the independent leagues was literally untouchable. He struck out the side one-two-three in the sixth and seventh innings, and eight in a row going back to the fifth to end the game. He allowed just two hits and two walks to go along with the plethora of strikeouts. Seventy-one of his ninety-seven pitches went for strikes as he was as efficient as you could possibly be sending that many opposing hitters on trots of shame back to the dugout. Unfortunately, it was much of the same in Game 2 for the Chattanooga offense, though they did manage to outhit Tennessee 4-2. Nick Gordon was 2-4, and Edgar Corcino and Dan Gamache added singles to account for the four hits. They did draw six walks as a team, but weren’t able to take advantage. For the day, the Lookouts were just 0-9 with runners in scoring position, and left only ten men on base. I hope the lineup took Romero and Turley out for dinner when their day was finally done. MIRACLE MATTERS Bradenton 3, Fort Myers 7 Box score Fort Myers struck first in this one, as Zander Wiel launched his second home run of the season to lead off the second inning, and starter Dereck Rodriguez took it from there. Through four innings he kept the Marauders off the board with some help from a couple of double-plays. In the fifth a leadoff home run tied the game at one before a triple and an error brought in another for a 2-1 Bradenton lead. Fort Myers got those runs back in the sixth thanks to a Casey Scoggins RBI double and a Max Murphy RBI hit-by-pitch. Rodriguez gave up another home run to the leadoff man in the seventh and got two outs before he reached his pitch limit, exiting the game responsible for a runner on third and having recorded only three strikeouts. Nick Anderson came on and got the next batter to fly out, leaving the game tied 3-3. The Miracle put the game away with four runs in the seventh thanks to singles from Nelson Molina, Alex Perez, and Casey Scoggins along with two errors on the Marauder defense. Anderson finished the game to pick up the victory, allowing two hits in 2.1 innings, striking out two along the way. Fort Myers improves to 9-10 on the season and look to get to .500 against Bradenton Wednesday night. KERNELS NUGGETS Burlington 1, Cedar Rapids 2 Box Score If you’ve sensed a theme yet in this report, you should have expected nothing less from starter Eduardo Del Rosario in Cedar Rapids in this one. He blanked the Bees for seven innings, allowing just five hits and one walk while also reaching double-digits in K’s like his upper-level cohorts with ten. The Kernels finally got on the board to support him against Burlington’s bullpen in the sixth inning when scorching hot shortstop and reigning Midwest League Player of the Week Jermaine Palacios led it off with a triple. He later scored on a wild pitch and Jaylin Davis added an RBI single to put the home team up 2-0. Alex Robinson walked one and struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning to pick up his first hold of the season, and Tom Hackimer notched his second save with a hitless ninth. An unearned run did score to make it interesting in the final frame as an error from Travis Blankenhorn and wild pitch put a runner on third with one out before a ground ball got the Bees on the scoreboard. Palacios was 2-4 on the night to put his average above .400 so far on the season, and Mitchell Kranson added his seventh double of the year for the Kernels offense. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Nik Turley, Chattanooga Lookouts (L, CG 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H’s, 2 BB’s, 14 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Niko Goodrum, Rochester Red Wings (2-4, 2 R’s, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Gwinnett @ Rochester (12:35PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut Tennessee @ Chattanooga (10:15AM CST) – RHP Felix Jorge Bradenton @ Fort Myers (5:35PM CST) – RHP David Fischer (2-0, 0.60 ERA) Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – RHP Tyler Wells (1-0, 2.12 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! View full article

If you think of it that way, that's your prerogative. I don't. The term "vastly" is an extremely poor choice of words for what it actually is. It's not like guys known for good eyes or pitchers known for good control get 6 more inches from umpires. If you were able to research it, I'd bet it's like an inch at the most, which if we're being honest, are callable pitches either way anyway. I think this idea of thinking about it is blown way out of proportion.

This is something I am unilaterally against. Always will be. This is why: The interaction between hitter/pitcher/umpire in every plate appearance of the game, is the biggest and most basic part of strategy in the game of baseball. If you take this away, you are altering the very core of how the game is played and what it is. Pitchers realizes throughout game that maybe they're getting a little more space on some side of the plate, so they start utilizing that to their advantage. The skill of a catcher (since we're so enamored with Jason Castro now) would be neutralized. You would literally eliminate a large part of why that position is so important on the defensive side of the game. You would also see hitters universally swing less, as they know a pitcher will have to be exact on getting strikes and would reduce (quite significantly, in my opinion) the idea that they need to protect with two strikes. This would lead to more walks (boring), lengthen games (what they're trying to curb), and furthermore, eliminate a large portion of talking points about the game. You want to make baseball LESS FUN? This is how that happens.