a radar system dubbed TrackMan to help home-plate umpires call balls and strikes during the 2019 season as part of an agreement with Major League Baseball.On Friday http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey , Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reported the robot umpire assistant is one of several tests the independent baseball league will run this year as part of its partnership with MLB. Other ideas being evaluated include banning the infield shift and a three-batter minimum for pitchers.Other changes include mound visits being eliminated aside from pitching changes and injuries, increasing the size of the bases by three inches and reducing the time between innings by 30 seconds, per Passan.In addition, the second half of the season will see a drastic modification as the distance from the pitching rubber to the plate will be increase by two feet to 62'6"."This first group of experimental changes is designed to create more balls in play, defensive action, baserunning, and improve player safety," MLB senior vice president, league economics and operations Morgan Sword said in a statement. "We look forward to seeing them in action in the Atlantic League."Although the idea of a robotic home-plate ump has been floated for awhile, Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber, a former catcher, said during an appearance on Tuesday'sBernsteinMcKnight Showhe doesn't like the impact it will have on that position."I feel like the art of catching will go away there Matt Szczur Jersey ," he said. "I think catching is an art. You have to be able to read pitches, get under them, get around them, things like that. But then once, if that computer strike zone comes in, that's going to go away. A catcher can just sit on a chair back there and just catch it wherever it's at."In February, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league wanted to implement changes that would improve the sport's overall pace of play."Repeated pitching changes obviously take a lot of time," Manfredtold reporters. "The idea of relievers having to go longer is appealing in terms of promoting the role of the starting pitcher, encouraging pitchers to pitch a little longer at the beginning of the game."The number of pitchers used per game by each team in 2018 was a record-high 4.36, perBaseball Reference.Along with reducing the specialized nature of some relief pitchers with the three-batter minimum, eliminating the shift by forcing two infielders to play on each side of the second-base bag should help increase offense. DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers didn’t solve all their offensive problems against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.After scoring eight runs on a 0-6 road trip, the Tigers got three hits against Ervin Santana and the Minnesota bullpen in their first game back at home.Somehow http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey , they turned that into enough for a 5-3 victory. Two of the hits were two-run home runs by Niko Goodrum and Jose Iglesias and the third was a JaCoby Jones triple that led to Detroit’s first run.“Three hits isn’t ideal, but we got a lot out of them,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We made some great defensive plays and we got a lot of pitching. We needed this.”It was the second time in franchise history the Tigers had gotten three or more hits in a game without a single or double. They beat the Washington Senators 3-1 on May 22, 1971 in a game when they also had a triple and two homers as their only hits.Detroit only scored eight runs while being swept in a pair of three-game road series against the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels.“We had a day off yesterday, and I think we were all able to put that road trip behind us,” Goodrum said. “I know I was able to work with the hitting coaches and make some adjustments that I needed.”Jordan Zimmermann (5-4) gave up two unearned runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out one batter and didn’t issue a walk.“I didn’t have my best stuff, but I felt like I was able to locate all four of my pitches,” he said. “The fastball was good, the slider was really good, and I yanked a couple curveballs but also had some good ones. I even played with a baby split that I threw a few times.”Shane Greene allowed an RBI double to Ehire Adrianza with two out in the ninth before retiring Joe Mauer for his 24th save.Ervin Santana (0-1) took the loss in his fourth start of the season. He allowed five runs on three hits and two walks in six innings, striking out two.“Some of the time you give up seven hits, eight hits Trevor Hoffman Jersey , even 10 hits and still win the game,” he said. “Sometimes you pitch good and lose. It’s a weird game. Nothing you can do.”The Twins had scoring chances in the first two innings but couldn’t take advantage.In the first, Tigers right fielder Nicholas Castellanos made a lunging grab of Logan Forsythe’s single down the line, forcing Jorge Polanco to hold at third.In the next inning, Nick Cave wiped out rounding second on what should have been an easy triple and Zimmermann escaped the inning. Cave made up for it in the bottom of the inning, making a running catch of Goodrum’s 419-foot liner to the center-field wall.“We had baserunners, but we didn’t get the hits we needed to score,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “I thought Ervin pitched better, but the two two-run homers were the difference at the end of the day.”The Twins did take a 1-0 lead in the third. After Polanco’s double in the third, Forsythe singled off Zimmermann’s glove. Goodrum’s belated throw to first was too high, allowing the runner to score.Jones led off the bottom of the inning with a heads-up triple. On an apparent double, he took a long turn and stopped. When left fielder Eddie Rosario threw behind him Evan Longoria Jersey , Jones took third and scored the tying run on Mike Gerber’s sacrifice fly.“I never know what Jonesy is doing out there,” Gardenhire said with a smile. “We didn’t know where he was going and neither did they, so he got away with it. He’s always entertaining.”Goodrum added a two-run homer in the fourth to put the Tigers up 3-1, and Iglesias made it 5-1 with his own two-run shot in the fifth. Mitch Garver’s sacrifice fly made it 5-2 in the sixth.TRAINER’S ROOMTwins: RHP Aaron Slegers was removed from his rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester when he experienced discomfort in his pitching shoulder. He’s been on the disabled list since July 15 with inflammation in the shoulder.SANTANA SOUNDS OFFSantana wasn’t pleased with the front office’s decision to trade closer Fernando Rodney this week.“We are only 10 games out and we have two months to left. It seems like they gave up,” he said. “We’re not giving up but they did. They take our pieces away and it is difficult to play without our good pieces.”NEW TIGERS PITCHERThe Tigers signed free-agent pitcher Zach McAllister to a major-league contract on Friday. McCallister went 1-2 with a 4.97 ERA in 41 relief outings for the Cleveland Indians before being released on Aug. 7. McCallister will pitch out of Detroit’s bullpen. To make room for him on the roster, the Tigers designated Jacob Turner for assignment.UP NEXTThe teams play the second game of their weekend series on Saturday, with Detroit’s Francisco Liriano (3-6, 4.37) facing Minnesota’s Kyle Gibson (5-9, 3.60).