Before he rehabilitates his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, A.J. Burnett must rehabilitate his body after undergoing surgery to fix a fractured right orbital bone . Burnett, who fouled a pitch off his face during batting practice Wednesday — ESPN has video — will have surgery Friday in Pittsburgh. At least it's not a pitching injury. Right? This seems like a good time to bring up how pitchers batting is a bad idea and both leagues should use the designated hitter. The American League adopted the DH in 1973, freeing its pitchers to fully concentrate on, well, pitching (aside from World Series appearances, that is). The NL has been stubborn about it, obviously, and we don't seem to be on the verge of change there. As a result, their pitchers spend valuable time practicing their hitting when they could be doing more pitcher-ly pursuits. The same goes for AL pitchers come interleague play. No matter that it was a freak occurrence, if Burnett wasn't wasting time at the plate trying to bunt (bunting — there's another abomination!), he would be preparing for his first Grapefruit League appearance and not for surgery.

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Before he rehabilitates his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, A.J. Burnett must rehabilitate his body after undergoing surgery to fix a fractured right orbital bone. Burnett, who fouled a pitch off his face during batting practice Wednesday — ESPN has … Continue reading →

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Alex Rodriguez is hoping a thin strip of tape will prevent any more pain in his sprained left thumb. The Yankees slugger hit in the cage and took batting practice Friday with a strip of athletic tape around the handle of his bat. The tape, about half an inch wide and approximately the same thickness, acted as a pad between Rodriguez's hands.

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Alex Rodriguez has been scratched from the Yankees' lineup Tuesday night because of a jammed left thumb sustained two days ago, his first game back from knee surgery. Rodriguez was originally set to bat fourth for New York in the opener of a three-game series against Oakland. But after cutting short his early batting practice he decided it was too sore to play.

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New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez could begin a rehab assignment as early as Friday, the New York Post reported Sunday. Rodriguez, on the disabled list while recovering from knee surgery, took batting practice Saturday for the first time since having right knee surgery...

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Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton took a big step toward a return to action, participating in batting practice with his teammates for the first time since breaking his right upper arm April 12. The reigning American League Most Valuable Player said he experienced no...

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The Cleveland Indians once again held batting practice on the Kansas City Royals sweeping them in a three-game series at home. The Tribe continues to hold the best record in the American League at 16-8. They are 10-2 at home, have won their last 10 home games, and above all, have a...

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Yankees pitcher Carlos Silva is scheduled to throw batting practice for the first time since signing with New York this month. Silva threw 45 pitches Thursday in his third bullpen session at the Yankees' spring training complex and will throw batting practice Saturday. The right-hander was released by the Chicago Cubs during spring training and agreed to a minor league contract with New York on...

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Yankees pitcher Carlos Silva is scheduled to throw batting practice for the first time since signing with New York this month.

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A knee issue prevented Chase Utley from playing any games in spring training. News that he has been taking batting practice, fielding grounders and will soon begin jogging seems to indicate that he will try to rejoin the Philadelphia Phillies earlier than anticipated.

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