Baseball notebook: Marlins’ Conley looking forward to rematch with Brewers

Marlins left-hander Adam Conley is always eager to throw his next pitch. He works fast and jokes he wishes he could take the mound every four days like the old-timers did.

So it’s no surprise Conley is looking forward to his rematch against the Brewers.

Conley allowed no hits in 7 2/3 innings at Milwaukee on April 29 before being pulled from the game because he had thrown a career-high 116 pitches. He earned the victory and will face the Brewers again Tuesday, when he expects a completely different kind of game.

“It’s going to be in the back of my mind what I did to some of those guys before when I had success,” Conley said Monday. “But it’s a new day. They’re going to feel different; I’m going to feel different; my stuff’s not going to be the same; we’re in a different park. I’m going to pitch the best I can, and they’re going to try to get me out of there in the second inning.”

Conley (2-1, 3.06 ERA) followed his performance at Milwaukee with a victory over the Diamondbacks six days later, when he allowed only two hits in 5 1/3 shutout innings. His early-season success has been one of the bright spots so far in 2016 for Miami.

A second-round draft pick in 2011 who went 4-1 as a rookie last year, Conley believes a quicker tempo on the mound this year has contributed to his effectiveness.

“If I can get up there and throw a pitch every eight or 10 seconds and it makes it tough for a hitter, I’m going to do it,” he said. “The faster I can execute a pitch over and over, my defense is going to appreciate it, and it’s less time for the opposing hitter to think.

“It helps me not give guys too much credit. You want to respect hitters, but only as much as they deserve to be respected.”

As a former hitter himself, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said he can see how Conley’s catch-and-throw approach makes batters uncomfortable.

“You foul one off, and you look up and he’s ready to go again,” Mattingly said. “You don’t have time to digest. He makes you work quicker, and that puts certain guys at a disadvantage.”

Opponents are batting .200 against Conley, who has 34 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell laughed when asked what made Conley so tough on his team in the earlier meeting.

“He didn’t give up any hits,” Counsell said. “No, he threw a lot of pitches at the bottom of the strike zone. He threw in and out to keep our batters honest. And his pace on the mound was really good. He gets the ball and goes.”

AP Source: Strasburg, Nats agree to deal adding $175M

A person familiar with the negotiations says that Stephen Strasburg has agreed to a new contract with the Washington Nationals that will pay the pitcher $175 million over seven seasons starting in 2017.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity – while Strasburg was pitching against the Detroit Tigers – because the Nationals had not announced the deal.

Strasburg would have been eligible for free agency for the first time after this season. Instead, he stays with the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2009 and shut him down before the playoffs in 2012 to protect his surgically repaired right elbow.

He will go from making $7.4 million this season to earning $25 million annually from 2017-23. The total dollars added equal the sixth-highest in a deal for a major league pitcher. He can opt out and become a free agent after 2019 or 2020.

Strasburg would earn a $1 million performance bonus each year for pitching 180 innings.

John Young, founder of baseball’s RBI program, dies at 67

John Young, the founder of a baseball youth program that has served thousands across North America and the Caribbean, has died. He 67.

Young was an executive, scouting director and briefly a major league player. In 1989, he started Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, known as the RBI program.

Two years later, MLB assumed its operations. The program aims to increase participation in baseball and promote minority inclusion. It serves more than 230,000 youngsters in 200 cities. Commissioner Rob Manfred lauded Young as a “trailblazer and champion of both professional and youth baseball.”

Young became the first African-American scouting director when hired by the Detroit Tigers in 1981. He scouted for several clubs and signed 21 future big leaguers to their first pro contract. In 1971, he played two games for the Tigers.

Angels’ Simmons will require surgery on thumb

Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons will require surgery after tearing a ligament in his left thumb while diving to stop a grounder during a weekend loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the team said.

The team said it would have an update on Simmons following the surgery to repair the tear of the ulnar collateral ligament.

Simmons was injured in the third inning Sunday when he came down awkwardly on his glove while diving to stop Evan Longoria’s grounder.

Simmons was batting .219 with a home run and eight RBIs before the injury. He had snapped an 0-for-21 skid at the plate the day before he got hurt.

Padres-Cubs, Orioles-Twins rained out

The Cubs’ series opener against the Padres in San Diego was rained out, putting on hold Chicago’s 24-6 start.

The game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Wednesday, with games at 12:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. CDT.

It was the third home rainout of the season for the Cubs, who are off to the best start in the majors since the 1984 Detroit Tigers started 35-5 and went on to win the World Series.

The last time the Cubs had a record this good: 1907 when they were also 24-6. The Cubs won the World Series that year and then again in 1908, after which the current 108-year championship drought began.

The Twins postponed their series opener against the Orioles because of bad weather.

Rain fell throughout the afternoon, preventing both teams from taking batting practice. Though the tarp remained on the infield, the national anthem was sung and the ceremonial first pitch was thrown out. The skies had been dry for about an hour when the Twins made the announcement to call off the game. Radar showed heavy precipitation approaching.

The makeup date was set for July 28.

The Orioles and Twins are scheduled to play again Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, but the forecast is calling for more rain, making a doubleheader a tenuous bet.

This was already the fourth postponement of the season for the Orioles.