I’ve mentioned many times in the past the dangers of looking too far ahead when it comes to potential pitching match-ups.
Rain-outs or other factors can lead to a late change in plan and take away an opportunity to catch a pitcher at a convenient time for us in the UK.
However, it’s worth throwing caution to the wind this week and looking forward to Thursday and the return of several pitchers from extended periods on the sidelines.
Baseball fans of all allegiances were devastated when the Miami Marlins’ Jose Fernandez succumbed to elbow surgery over a year ago. His starts had quickly become a must-see event for a team that has had precious little to shout about in recent years and losing him to Tommy John surgery was a real hammer blow.
Now, Fernandez has completed his rehab assignments and is on course to make his return at home against the Giants on Thursday in a 17.10 BST start. He’s set to compete against Matt Cain, who last pitched in a Major League game on 9 July 2014 due to his own arm injuries.
At the same time, the Tampa Bay Rays’ Matt Moore may be making his long-awaited return from Tommy John surgery. That assignment is a little more doubtful as he may in fact be held back until the Rays’ game on Friday, but for the moment he is penciled in to face reigning Cy Young winner Corey Kluber and the Cleveland Indians.
All times are in BST.
Monday 29 June
No early games
Tuesday 30 June
No early games
Wednesday 1 July
17.35. Minnesota at Cincinnati (May – Cueto) *ESPN
18.07. Boston at Toronto (Porcello – Buehrle)
20.35. Colorado at Oakland (Bettis – Hahn)
20.40. Seattle at San Diego (Elias – Shields) *MLB.com Free Game, ESPN
Thursday 2 July
17.10. San Francisco at Miami (Cain – Fernandez)
17.10. Cleveland at Tampa Bay (Kluber – Moore)
18.08. Pittsburgh at Detroit (Liriano – Ryan)
18.10. Chicago Cubs at NY Mets (Arrieta – deGrom) *ESPN
23.35. Milwaukee at Philadelphia (Garza – Morgan)
Friday 3 July
19.10. Miami at Chicago Cubs (Koehler – Roach) *ESPN
23.00. San Francisco at Washington (Peavy – Gonzalez) *MLB.com Free Game
All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB comes courtesy of the BT Sport and ESPN channels and these are highlighted above, as are any games that are available to view online for free via MLB.com. The above list of games just shows those starting before midnight UK time. The full schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.
