MLB News & Rumors: Replay System A Failure, Dexter Fowler Out for the Year & More

Given that we are still very early in the 2021 MLB season, there is not a lot of major headlines being made at the moment. Most of what we are seeing is injury reports and minor deals, certainly nothing of the blockbuster news headlines that we are used to when it comes to the offseason and the period around the trade deadline. With that being said, there are still some things to report, including one team very upset with the replay system being used in MLB. Let’s get into all the news and rumors from the past week in the MLB so you can continue betting against their MLB odds.

Latest 2021 MLB Betting News & Rumors Apr. 13th Edition

Over the years, questionable calls have become part and parcel of the game, but the introduction of the challenge and replay system was supposed to take most of that out of the equation. If you listen to the players and coaching staff of the Atlanta Braves, you would certainly believe that this is a system that requires a little tweaking. The Braves challenged the winning run at home plate in their Sunday game against the Phillies, with the replays seemingly showing that the runner did not touch home plate before being tagged. Despite that evidence, the play was allowed to stand, giving the Phillies the 7-6 win.

As we have seen a lot in recent years, events in the news often spill over into the world of sports. It happened again this week, with the Minnesota Twins cancelling their game against the Boston Red Sox in the wake of a police shooting in Minneapolis. Besides the cancellation, which was almost inevitable, we also saw Aaron Hicks of the New York Yankees decide to sit out a game, with Giancarlo Stanton allegedly also thinking about doing the same before deciding to suit up and play. Hicks played in Minnesota before moving to the Yankees, so it is understandable that the situation there might be on his mind.

Heading into a new season, every team knows that they are going to need to deal with injuries on some level or another. The hope is always that things in that regard will not become too serious. The LA Angels were dealt a body blow with the news that Dexter Fowler is done for the year after suffering an ACL injury versus the Toronto Blue Jays last Friday night. This is in addition to Anthony Rendon being placed on the 10-day DL this week. The Angels are off to a very good start this season, so it will be interesting to see how they deal with this.

Without a doubt, the strangest piece of news this week came out of Washington. As you are probably already aware, the Nationals had a delayed start to the season after having to deal with a COVID outbreak at their facility. Josh Bell has been out from the start, which means that he is not allowed near the ballpark. To make matters worse, he revealed that he hasn’t even been able to watch any of the Nationals games because of the blackout rules imposed by MLB. Given the fact that there are still some restrictions on fan attendance, the rule seems a little outdated.

I have read enough, I need to place my bet now. What to do?