Day: September 29, 2021

OG Anunoby is young but getting older — at least by the strange aging standards of the NBA, where being in your late 20s makes you a veteran and anyone into their 30s is viewed as an oracle to be mined for wisdom.

Heading into his fifth year, the 24-year-old year-old Toronto Raptors forward has some official leadership responsibilities — he was anointed as one of the new-look roster’s three pillars, along with Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam.

It’s a new role. “I’ve been for so long now, it’s my fifth year so, (so I’m) old but young still,” he said. “So, I’m still learning also — some guys are older than me; Goran (Dragic) is older than me, I’m still learning from him. And then (I’m) also helping the younger guys, so I’m in the middle kind of, but still a leader.”

That’s off the floor, or in practice. “Just (show) how, like how coach expects us to play hard, our pillars defensively, offensively, what’s a good shot, what’s a bad shot. Just the structure we usually have to play with. Just show those guys …”

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But Anunoby’s role should expand on the floor, too. The Raptors could certainly benefit if he’s up to the task.

“Watching him early here in camp I think he’s continued to expand his offensive game, so I think people will see that,” said Raptors general manager Bobby Webster.

“Also, our message to him is continue to expand the offensive stuff but keep the defence at an all-NBA level. And he’ll also get a chance here early with (Pascal Siakam out recovering from shoulder surgery) here early, so it will be a big chance for him to be in a bigger role.”

He’s already come miles from the defense-first rookie who was trusted with little more than spot-up shooting duties. The growth has been incremental and has been stifled at times with injuries. His entire second season was almost a wash-out as a result, but in his third season he took a big leap after the league went on hiatus for four months after the pandemic struck in March of 2020. When play resumed in the bubble in Orlando, Anunoby was far more assertive with the dribble, more effective at finishing drives and was even showing some signs of an in-between game to complement much improved three-point shooting.

Last season he took another jump, and kept growing during the compressed, off-kilter season. He had an 11-game stretch early in the season when he shot 54 per cent from three on nearly six attempts a game, showing his utility as a high-end ‘3-and-D’ wing, the kind of player any elite team craves. At that point he was shelved 10 games with a calf injury. He came back briefly before missing another three weeks due to COVID-19 protocols.

But it was the next 20 games that offered the most reason for encouragement. With the roster largely emptied out and the push for best draft lottery odds in full swing, the Raptors put the ball in Anunoby’s hands and watched.

His usage rate increased to 22 per cent — significantly higher than his 14 per cent career average — as for the first time it was his responsibility to initiate offense, rather than space the floor and wait for others to find him.

The results were impressive. Before being shut down for the final week of the year Anunoby averaged 18.3 points a game while shooting 40.1 per cent from three on nearly seven attempts a game. Even more significant was the way he was mixing his offense up. He averaged just 3.5 drives per game in 2019-20 but nearly doubled that to 6.7 per game in the last part of 2020-21.

It almost goes without saying that a 6-foot-7, 240-pound man who is deadly behind the three-point line but who can drive the lane and finish at the rim profiles as a major problem for opposing defenses.

Watching it all and taking notes has been Scottie Barnes, the Raptors’ prized rookie and another defence-first wing who Toronto hopes can grow into a dynamic offensive piece as his skills round out.

“You just see how strong (Anunoby is),” said Barnes after the Raptors’ first official practice of training camp on Tuesday. “He knows how to get to his spots on the floor and I think that’s a great thing to see … how he can get to the basket, force his will when he gets into the paint, be able to score, he’s really good at getting to his mid-range, getting up shots, he gets his shot up from three. I would say he’s really good, he’s a really good basketball player. He’s got all the tools.”

Anunoby isn’t a big talker with a microphone in front of him but privately he’s more willful and aware than he lets on. He knows that to make an all-NBA defensive team, his offence might be the deciding factor if votes get tight. Even though he’s in the first year of a four-year, $72-million contract extension, he knows that further individual and team success will only help his cause when he hits free agency again in what should be the prime of his career.

What did he try to add to his game this summer?

“Everything,” he said. “Shooting off the dribble, getting into the lane, finishing, and passing, (using my) teammates.”

Did he improve?

“I think so.”

The early returns have been positive — not only from the first official practice but from informal workouts over the summer.

“I think his skill set and scoring ability continues to develop,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. “I think he’s put in a lot of work on it at both ends, I think there’s starting and ending drives, he’s gotten a little bit craftier, starting to get free and I think he’s gotten stronger and more balanced at the end of them and a (has) different array of ways to finish.

“But I also feel he’s developing a pretty good tempo of playing in between as well. Just being able to look at somebody and not necessarily go by him but make him move to get clearance for a shot as well.

“Again, continue to see progress with that,” said Nurse. “I think just from what I’ve seen this summer and today and this fall, I think he’s gotten better.

“We’ll see but, again, I think he’s got more things in his arsenal to be able to score.”

Anunoby growing as an offensive force would help the Raptors in all areas as they try to find their identity as a new-look team. The best way to lead in the NBA — whether young or old — is by example.

The Tampa Bay Rays sent shockwaves through baseball communities across the United States and Canada over the weekend when they announced they would begin promoting a two-city partnership with Montreal during the upcoming post-season. Now, the team is walking back that plan with an apology.

“I’m really here to speak directly to our fans today,” principal owner Stuart Sternberg said in a radio interview Tuesday, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “And to apologize, quite frankly. I’ve always said that baseball is meant to be fun and engaging and exciting. Brings a community together.

“I made a big mistake, a real mistake, in trying to promote our sister-city plan with a sign right now in our home ballpark. I absolutely should have known better. And really, I’m sorry for that. I’m here to tell … the fans that the sign is not going to go up.”

On Saturday, team president Matt Silverman announced the new marketing campaign, which would feature a “very simple Tampa Bay/Montreal graphic” displayed at Tropicana Field during the Rays’ upcoming playoff run. The plan would see the Rays open the season in Florida but finish the season in Montreal when the team’s current lease at the Trop expires after the 2027 season. While virtually unheard of in professional sports, Silverman said in a radio interview Saturday that “it’s the best and possibly only chance for baseball to be here for generations.”

“Especially with the eyes of baseball on us this October, we want that visible symbol of our plan and our excitement for it,” Silverman said of the sign. “It’ll mark the effort subtlely and keep the focus on winning and winning games in October.”

[radioclip id=5207879]

However, the plan was widely panned by Rays fans, who said the sign and potential move would distract from the team’s playoff run. Speaking Tuesday, Sternberg acknowledged those critics in his apology.

“I knew that a sign would bring us attention. And we do want the attention. I just didn’t completely process that now isn’t the moment for it,” he said. “Post-season is a special time. October baseball is a special time for a team and its fans, and nothing should take the attention away from the games.

“It’s a time for the whole community to come together and rally as one. By suggesting we have a sign that I knew could be controversial, I put much of that at risk. Plain and simple, it was a bad decision. And that’s why we aren’t going to go through with it.”

Montreal’s former team, the Expos, was relocated to the D.C. area and rebranded as the Washington Nationals in 2004.

TORONTO — Called up Tuesday and thrust into the most important series of the Toronto Blue Jays‘ season, the most important series Rogers Centre has seen in five years, a playoff series for all intents and purposes, Cavan Biggio doesn’t feel much has changed. He’s been playing playoff-style baseball with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons for weeks.

“Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun,” Biggio said Tuesday, standing in front of his sort-of new, sort-of old home dugout before the Blue Jays fell, 7-2, to the New York Yankees. “Down there everyone cares and pulls for each other just like they do up here. It’s definitely a similar feel.”

ROSTER MOVES:

INF Cavan Biggio reinstated from 10-day IL and will be active tonight

LHP Ryan Borucki optioned to Triple-A pic.twitter.com/PNBM8RJZzg

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 28, 2021

Similar in a couple ways. The Bisons began their season playing in Trenton, NJ while Buffalo’s Sahlen Field underwent a substantial renovation prior to hosting a portion of the Blue Jays’ home schedule in June and July. When the Blue Jays returned to Rogers Centre, the Bisons shifted home themselves and eventually won the franchise’s first division title since 2005, finishing the regular season with a 71-46 record and +144 run differential.

In non-pandemic times, that would have qualified Buffalo for a traditional postseason tournament culminating in a championship series. But this season’s playoffs are structured as a 10-game “Triple-A Final Stretch” in which each club plays a five-game home series and five-game road series. The team with the highest winning percentage over those 10 games is named champion.

So far, the Bisons are tied for second place with a 4-1 record through their first five-game series — three of the wins being walk-offs. And Biggio’s been right in the middle of it. Last Thursday, he walked to load the bases in the bottom of the 10th before Gregory Polanco won the game with a single. The next night he walked in the bottom of the ninth, this time ahead of Polanco’s walk-off homer. Sunday, he scored one of two runs on Christian Colon’s game-winning, ground-rule double.

“I can’t say enough about (Bisons manager) Casey Candaele and the rest of those players on that triple-A team,” Biggio said. “That clubhouse that they have down there, they keep it loose. … They have a lot of fun when they play the game. And the No. 1 thing down there is to win. And when you play like that, it just makes everything that much better.”

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Playing part in a pair of postseason pushes is a bright-side reward for Biggio at the end of a trying season, the toughest he’s had since turning professional in 2016. Over 290 plate appearances with the Blue Jays, Biggio’s hit .215/.316/.350, good for an 82 OPS+ that stands in stark contrast to the 122 he posted in 2020 and the 113 he put up a season prior as a rookie.

And his peripherals don’t play a nicer tune. His strikeout rate is up, his walk rate’s down. His .293 wOBA is higher than what would be expected (.278) based on the quality of contact he’s made. After featuring a patient, selective approach over his first two MLB seasons — Biggio swung at the lowest rate of pitches outside the zone of any qualified hitter in 2020 — his chase rate increased five percentage points in 2021. Pitches he once took on his way to walks became ones he whiffed at on his way to strikeouts.

Of course, context matters. Biggio’s 2021 began with multiple balls in play deflecting off his right hand during spring training, bending his pinkie finger “the way it shouldn’t bend” and causing a blood blister that had to be drained. He carried those hand injuries into the season, playing through pain until it became too much and sidelined him for several days in mid-April.

A month later, he took his first of two trips to the injured list due to neck and back issues — a cervical spine ligament sprain, officially — that plagued him throughout the summer. And while on a triple-A rehab assignment during the second IL stint, Biggio collided with Josh Palacios as the pair chased a sinking liner, suffering a Grade 1 UCL sprain in his left elbow.

It’s not so easy to rediscover an approach and find consistency at the plate when you’re spending that much time off the field and everything hurts when you’re on it. Biggio has tinkered with a few approach adjustments and mechanical tweaks throughout the season, as most players do. But he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to find something that works or let an adjustment take because his playing time’s been so sporadic.

“It’s definitely challenging. But that’s a big part of this game. And it’s a big part of this game that I’ve never really had to deal with before,” Biggio says. “If you want to look at the silver lining, I’m glad I went through it the way I did. I was able to learn a lot about myself and about my body. And I’m going to use that later on in my career as I go.

“I think the biggest thing was just finding a good routine — not only for my body, but also in the cage, as well. Making adjustments; the ability to make adjustments game-to-game. I feel like my routine that I developed down there has been pretty good. And I’m going to continue that here.”

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The good news is Biggio’s healthy enough to play and squeeze a few more afternoons of batting cage work out of his season. Although he hit .197/.308/.318 with 10 walks and 23 strikeouts over the 19-game rehab assignment he just completed with the Bisons, the Blue Jays have been encouraged by the quality of his plate appearances, particularly over his last four games when he walked four times and came up with a couple hits.

“He’s back physically healthy — I think that’s first and foremost. And he’s had really good at-bats. He’s continued to have better at-bats with the team in triple-A,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said. “His versatility, the handedness, the plate discipline — they’re good complements to us.”

For now, Biggio says he’s been told to expect to play the outfield if he gets into any of Toronto’s remaining games. That’s where he spent five of his final eight games with the Bisons before being called up. But this is late-September baseball, so it’s probably best not to expect anything. And Biggio’s ability to play any position on the diamond save for shortstop and catcher could make his a useful, late-game puzzle piece as manager Charlie Montoyo plays matchups and optimizes his defence.

“The expectation is to contribute in any way possible. And I could play pretty much every position out there,” Biggio said. “Anything can happen in this game and over the course of a game. In a big situation, whatever it calls for, I’ll be ready for it.”

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More than anything, Biggio’s merely happy to go from one playoff push to another. Toronto’s postseason chances may have taken a significant hit with Tuesday’s defeat to the Yankees. But they’re still alive. Still capable of landing one final, improbable punch at the end of a season of improbabilities. And if asked, Biggio will be ready to play his part in it.

“The past couple of months, it’s been tough. Whether I was here rehabbing, watching the games from the dugout. Or if I was watching from my bed in my hotel room in Buffalo. You can see the energy and the amount of fun that everyone’s having — and there’s a little bit of FOMO there,” Biggio said. “But this means a lot, just to be here, be a part of the team again. I’m just looking forward to contributing any way possible. We’ve got a special team here. And hopefully we can keep it going.”

The Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine has suspended Andrei Denyskin for three games, plus an additional 10 games that can be negated if he chooses to pay a ₴50, 000 fine instead, for the racist gesture he directed toward Jalen Smereck during a game on Sunday.

HC Donbass, who Smereck plays for, is urging the Federation to change its course, writing on Twitter that they “demand a reconsideration of the decision.”

The three games are a mandatory suspension, in accordance with the Ukraine Hockey Federation’s disciplinary code, for when a player uses gestures or expressions “related to racial discrimination.” The additional 10 games are the maximum amount allowable under the Federation’s rule.

The ₴50, 000 fine to negate the 10-game suspension amounts to $2,386.85 CAD.

“The Ukrainian Hockey League and I stand with Jalen Smereck and thank all of the fans and media who have offered their support to him,” Eugene Kolychev, the general manager of the Ukrainian Hockey League, wrote on Twitter. “The [UHL] believes that there is no place for racism in the world in which we live, let [alone] in the hockey community.”

The incident occurred in the second period of Sunday’s game between Donbass and Denyskin’s club, HC Kremenchuk. During a stoppage in play, Denyskin shouted at Smereck, who is Black, and then mimed unpeeling a banana and eating it. He was ejected from the game for doing so.

Denyskin later addressed the incident on Instagram, saying it was “a gesture that someone can consider as an insult in race” that he made after his emotions got the best of him. Denyskin went on to claim he respects “all people regardless of race or nationality.” Denyskin has since deleted the post.

Further disciplinary action can still be taken by the IIHF, which publicly condemned Denyskin’s racist gesture on Monday, calling his actions “a direct assault on the ideals and values of our game” while committing to investigate the incident further. It remains unclear at this time what the nature of that punishment might be.

“There is no place for such a blatantly racist and unsportsmanlike gesture in our sport and in society,” Luc Tardif, president of the IIHF, said in a statement earlier this week. “We will ensure that all necessary ethics violation investigations occur to ensure that this behaviour is sanctioned appropriately.”

News of Denyskin’s punishment comes one day after Smereck posted on Instagram saying he would “not play another game in the [Ukrainian Hockey League] until Andrey Denyskin is suspended and removed from the league.”

SEATTLE — Mitch Haniger hit his 100th home run and third in two games, and the Seattle Mariners pulled within a half-game of the second AL wild card berth by beating the Oakland Athletics 4-2 on Tuesday night.

Tyler Anderson pitched four innings on two days’ rest for the Mariners, who won their team-record 11th straight game over Oakland. The Mariners, 18 games over .500 for the first time since August 2018, has won four in a row and nine of 10.

Seattle (88-70) is just behind Boston (88-69) and just ahead of Toronto (87-70) in the wild card race, trailing the New York Yankees (90-67). The Mariners finish their series against the A’s on Wednesday, then host the Los Angeles Angels for their final three games of the regular season.

Seattle would be eliminated from the AL West race with one more loss or one win by first-place Houston (92-65).

Oakland (85-73) is 3 1/2 games back of the Red Sox.

Haniger hit his third homer of the series into the bullpen in left field in the seventh inning after hitting two nearly identical three-run shots in Monday’s 13-4 wins. His 38 homers and 95 RBIs are career highs, coming after he missed much of 2019 and all of 2020 due to two operations.

Casey Sadler set the team record with his 26th straight scoreless appearance, getting the Mariners out of a jam in the fifth with two on. He pitched 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout.

Anthony Misiewicz (5-5) and four relievers combined to give up one unearned run over five innings. Drew Steckenrider allowed a leadoff single in the ninth, then got three straight outs as he struck out two for his 12th save in 15 chances.

No. 8 hitter Jake Fraley had a go-ahead two-run double against Yusmeiro Petit (8-3) in the fourth, and No. 9 hitter Tom Murphy drove in a run for the Mariners in their 40th comeback win.

Anderson, acquired as a fifth starter from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, gave up nine runs and nine hits in two-plus innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. The abbreviated outing made it possible for him to start in place of struggling Yusei Kikuchi.

Anderson gave up two hits, including a solo homer to Chad Pinder in the fourth. He threw 40 of his 46 pitches for strikes.

STREAKING

Sadler has pitched 25 straight scoreless innings, second only to Shigetoshi Hasegawa’s 28 2/3 in 2003. ? Seattle’s previous consecutive wins streaks were set against Kansas City in 1985 and the Baltimore in 2001.

ROSTER MOVE

The Mariners bolstered their bullpen for the playoff run by calling up RHP Matt Brash from Triple-A Tacoma on the same day they selected him minor league system pitcher of the year. The 23-year-old rookie will be the 11th Mariners player to make his debut this season when he makes his first appearance. Brash had a 2.31 ERA in 20 appearances at Class A Everett and Double-AA Arkansas with 142 strikeouts. He was part of a combined no-hitter, pitching the first six innings, for Arkansas.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: OF Starling Marte (strained left lat) spent time in the batting cage Tuesday, manager Bob Melvin said, but is not yet ready to return to the lineup. Melvin said he remains day to day. ? INF Josh Harrison (strained quad) returned to the lineup.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Frankie Montas (13-9, 3.48) is 5-2 with a 2.33 ERA in 13 starts since the All-Star break.

Mariners: Rookie RHP Logan Gilbert (6-5, 4.83) will finish off the series. Seattle is 15-8 when he starts.