Major League Baseball is back
The Miami Marlins are 1-4 as they slide into the 2022 season. Despite their record, the players have accomplished impressive feats.
Pitcher Jesus Luzardo racked up a career-high 12 strikeouts in five innings against the Angels, tying two Marlins records. In the same game, shortstop Jazz Chisholm slugged his second two-run homer this season.
These achievements are instrumental for the Marlins, as they recently exited a league-wide lockout.
There are two kinds of labor stoppages, a strike, and a lockout. In essence, a strike is the labor side, or the players, refusing to work. A lockout is the management side, or the team owners, prohibiting work from being done. During an MLB lockout, owners suspend all baseball activities and can lock out players from their facilities. They do this to pressure the union to speed up Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations.
The lockout began on December 2nd and ended on March 10th with the signing of a new agreement. The agreement ensures a designated hitter for National League teams.
Previously only the American League had designated hitters for the team’s pitchers but now the National League, which includes the Marlins, will also have them. A designated hitter is someone on the lineup who hits for the pitchers. The new CBA for this year made the designated hitter position universal.
On the bright side, the lockout did not result in the cancellation of any games.
“I am genuinely thrilled to be able to say that Major League Baseball is back,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said to Los Angeles Times, “and we’re going to play 162 games.”
The Marlins have most of the season ahead of them, giving them a chance to turn their record around for the better, as they will face off against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 15th in Miami.
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