Things got a little nasty this week in the Arizona Diamondbacks camp when general manager Kevin Towers fired a couple of the teams coaches, including pitching coach Charles Nagy. Wholesale Jerseys . It didnt end there. Towers, during a radio interview, slammed his pitchers for not executing "eye for an eye" justice by not hitting opponents with the pitches after their own players had been plunked. Towers added that he wanted a pitching coach with more fire who would convey the message that the Dbacks pitchers had to have more "fire in their bellies" and do a better job of protecting their teammates. That made me wonder if there is any correlation between pitching staffs hitting batters and those teams making it into the postseason. This season, for instance, Pittsburgh lead the Majors in hit batters with 70 and made it to the Wild Card game before losing the division series to St. Louis in 5. Cincinnati was second with 66 and lost the Wild Card game to the Bucs. The Central-winning Cardinals hit 64 batters. The top American League team was Texas with 65, and the Rangers made it to the tiebreaker game where they lost to the Rays. Arizona, surprisingly, fits in right after that with 60; which is a bit surprising considering what Towers had to say. I suppose he was just more than a little upset that his team led the NL West early, only to see the Dodgers overcome a horrible start and go shooting past them to win the division. L.A only hit 43 batters while the other National League playoff team, Atlanta, nailed 51. In the American League, after Texas, Cleveland hit 58 and then the numbers drop off from Tampa Bay at 52, Boston 47, Detroit 42 and Oakland just 35. A year ago, Towers had two of the top pitchers in hitting batters - Ian Kennedy with 14 and Trevor Cahill with 11 - but this year he wound up trading Kennedy to San Diego. You dont have to hit batters to be effective but you cant be afraid to pitch inside either. Clevelands Justin Masterson certainly qualifies. He led the Majors with 17 hit batsmen this season. The Tigers feisty right hander Doug Fister was second with 16. Interestingly, the Blue Jays two winningest pitchers also plunked the most. R.A Dickey with 10 and Mark Buehrle with nine, accounting for a combined 38 per cent of the Jays hit batters. If you look at the all-time career list, Gus Wehhing - who played the bulk of his career in the 1800s -leads the way with 277. Randy Johnson tops the modern era and is fifth overall with 190. Based on my perceptions growing up, I would have pegged Don Drysdale and Bob Gibson as being near the top of the list, but Drysdale checks in at number 18 with 154, while Gibson may be the most intimidating and greatest pitcher I ever saw was only tied for 79th place with 102. The biggest surprise name on the list was 38-year -old Jamie Wright whos still pitching out of the Rays pen with 151. Hes number 19 all-time. If you dont count Roger Clemens, the highest ranking Jays pitcher is Dave Stieb who nailed 129 batters. Thats good for a tie for 37th place and 37, of course, just happens to have been his number. A certain synchronicity to that, I guess. Watching all of these brilliant young pitchers in the postseason, you wonder what might have been if one had landed with the Blue Jays. In the 2011 June draft, the Blue Jays had no chance to get Gerrit Cole, as he went number one overall to the Pirates. The one who may turn out to be the best pitcher in that draft, Jose Fernandez, went number 14 to the Marlins while Sonny Gray, who starred for the As down the stretch and into the postseason, went 18th overall. The Blue Jays chose Tyler Beede at 21, but then were unable to sign him as he chose the college route. The 2012 draft is a little more frustrating. The Blue Jays opted for outfielder D.J Davis at number 17 and while he may turn into a solid Major Leaguer, St. Louis at 19 grabbed right hander Michael Wacha out of Texas A&M. The Jays took hard throwing right hander Marcus Stroman at number 22. Though he could start next year at Triple "A" Buffalo, he could appear with the big club at some point next year. Although the draft order could change a bit after all the free agency wheeling and dealing in the off season, right now, the Blue Jays will pick ninth overall in 2014 and also at number 11 (compensation for not signing their first round pick in 2013, right hander Phil Bickford at number 10). This could be the Jays most important draft in a decade, especially when you consider the average age of their pitching staff this season was 30.9 years old second eldest in the Majors behind the Yankees at 31.8. College Jerseys . "Its amazing to do this coming from such a small island, where tennis isnt necessarily recognized as one of the main sports," Puig said. "Im just happy Im able to be here playing tennis not only for myself, but for my country too. NHL Jerseys . Reimer told TSNs Mark Masters on Tuesday that he doesnt know if he will be moved leading up to the March 5 trade deadline but added he wasnt interested in discussing it. "Who knows whats going to happen on the horizon here and right now I dont know if I want to talk about it too much. https://www.cheapjerseysjustwholesale.com/ . That assertion is getting harder and harder to make, especially given the way 23-year-old Danilo Gallinari has been playing this season.BALTIMORE -- Orioles third baseman Manny Machado was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a sprained right knee ligament, an injury far less serious than originally feared. Machado took an awkward swing in Mondays game against the New York Yankees and crumpled in the batters box, clutching his knee. He had to be helped off the field and was provided a pair of crutches after the game. An MRI on Tuesday revealed that the 2013 Gold Glove recipient has a sprained ligament. If all goes well, he could be back for the final month of the season. "Obviously, its a great relief," Machado said. "When it happens, things cross your mind and you assume already the worse. But you cant assume anything until you actually see the results and its in front of your face. Im just glad its not as bad as we thought." Manager Buck Showalter expects to have Machado back sometime around Aug. 27, the day hes eligible to return. "Hopefully hell be back then or close to it," Showalter said. "Its not if now, but when." Machado didnt put a timetable on his return. "Whenever I feel good. Whenever Im able to go out there and be Manny Machado," he said. "I dont know when that is going to be. It could be tomorrow, it could be in a month, it could be in three weeks." Machado missed the first month of the season while recovering from surgery on his left knee. This is the other knee, but the 22-year-old insisted hee doesnt worry about chronic knee issues. MLB Jerseys. . "Obviously, you dont want to be in the position I am in right now. But it is all part of the game," he said. "Those are the things you cant control. Those are things only God can control. So, get it stronger, get back and keep running forward." Machado is batting .278 with 12 homers and 32 RBIs. He has also contributed defensively for the AL East leaders, who entered play Wednesday with a 6 1/2-game lead over second-place Toronto. Chris Davis started at third base for the Orioles on Wednesday. He replaced Machado on Monday and has 74 games of major league experience at the position. Baltimore has purchased the contract of infielder Cord Phelps from Triple-A Norfolk. The team cleared room for Phelps on the 40-man roster by moving catcher Matt Wieters to the 60-day disabled list. Phelps hit .258 with 23 extra-base hits and 49 RBIs in 97 games for the Tides. "Right now hes the best option," Showalter said. The left side of the infield has also been without shortstop J.J. Hardy, who sprained his left thumb Saturday. Showalter said Hardy could be pressed into action on Wednesday if needed, but the Orioles have a day off Thursday and its likely Hardy wont return until Baltimore faces the Indians in a three-game set that begins Friday. "My goal is to be on the field in the Cleveland series," Hardy said. "Not sure which day." ' ' '