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While he might be a name that you associate with the good years of the 1990s Yankees, Gerald Williams never played on a Yankees’ championship team. (He was on the 1996 Yankees, but was traded away during the season, although he was awarded a ring.) He had some good seasons, but he was never an outstanding player, putting up 6.5 career rWAR with an 82 OPS+. However, between his friendship with several beloved Yankees and by all account him generally being a really good guy and teammate, he’s a name that resonates with a lot of fans.

Were it not for his sad passing, Williams would be celebrating his 60th birthday today, so let’s give some love to “Ice.”

Gerald Floyd Williams
Born: August 10, 1966 (New Orleans, LA)
Died: February 8, 2022 (Sarasota, FL)
Yankees Tenure: 1992-96, 2001

Williams was born in Louisiana as one of 13 kids. After his time at East St. John High School in Reserve, Louisiana, he earned a spot on the baseball team at Grambling State University. Williams was a star at Grambling, hitting .409 in 1987. That got him on the pro radar, as he was then selected by the Yankees in the 14th round of the ensuing MLB Draft.

Slowly but surely, Williams worked his way through the minors, and was even considered a top 100 prospect by Baseball America before the 1993 season. Along the way, he also developed a close friendship with several future Yankee teammates. The most notable among them were Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter.

No relation to Bernie, but the two often roomed together in their minor league days. He also became a dear friend and something of a mentor figure to Jeter. Their relationship began in spring training 1993, when Williams helped put a stop to some hazing of the young shortstop. Williams then took Jeter out to dinner, cementing their friendship. In his book, Jeter said “I felt like I had been the last kid on the playground waiting to be picked for a game, and finally someone had selected me.”

Williams eventually made the majors as a September call-up in 1992. He hit well enough in that cameo, but he spent the next couple years going up and down to the minors and being a bench player. He started to get more playing time in 1995, appearing in 100 games and posting a 105 OPS+.

As mentioned earlier, Williams would end up traded during the 1996 season was over, but he did produce a couple memorable moments before then. On May 1st, in a 15-inning win against the Orioles, Williams recorded six hits. That’s tied for the most in franchise history in one game, even with Myril Hoag on June 6, 1934 and Johnny Damon on June 7, 2008. Then on May 14th, he made a running, over the shoulder catch to rob Alex Rodriguez and preserve Dwight Gooden’s no-hitter.

However, the Yankees did include him in a trade with the Brewers that August, that sent a couple players to New York, most notable of which was Graeme Lloyd. Williams spent that year and the next in Milwaukee before being traded to the Braves ahead of the 1998 season. He produced arguably his best career year there in 1998 and helped Atlanta to the 1999 World Series, where they fell to his former Yankee teammates.

Williams became a free agent after ‘99 and signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In 2000, he partly kicked off a brawl against the Red Sox, when he charged the mound after being hit with a Pedro Martínez pitch.

Williams struggled at the plate in 2001, leading to his release by Tampa Bay. He then returned to the Yankees, serving as a backup on the 2001 and ‘02 teams. He again left after that season, and was on the 2003 Marlins. While Williams again didn’t appear when the team won the World Series, he did win a second World Series ring with Florida. Williams spent two last seasons with the Mets before retiring.

Following his baseball career, Williams remained close friends with several Yankees teammates. He was notably among those invited to the 2014 game where the Yankees retired Jeter’s number as part of his retirement tour, and was also in attendance alongside Bernie, Tino Martinez, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and Joe Torre when Jeter hit a walk-off during his final game in the Bronx. Williams had settled in Florida, where he resided with his wife, Liliana. He lived there until 2022, when he passed away from cancer at the far-too-young age of 55. His death brought forward a lot of tributes, as Williams was clearly loved by those who played with him.

Remarking on his friend, Jeter said “If I had to make a model out of the type of person to have as a friend, a person you can lean on or joke with, it would be Gerald.”

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

The Diamondbacks did the World a favour.

For every Series Preview, there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that the Diamondbacks just owned the Dodgers.

Dodgers fans shrug about the loss, they say. They still have a huge lead in the NL West, they say. Making the post-season is as easy as pie, they say. The string of losses is no reason for concern, they say.

But they won’t say that it hurt that the Diamondbacks planted their shoe in the Dodgers faces. They won’t say the Diamondbacks silenced Dodger stadium this past weekend. They won’t say that they were planning the past weekend on making fun of Arizona after beating the shit out of the them.

Beating the Dodgers is the best news you can have. And we not only did ourselves a favour and give ourselves moments of joy. The Dodgers have become the “Argentina” of baseball. They are the Patriots and the Cowboys combined. Everyone hates their guts. And everyone wants them to lose. In the name of the entire world, I thank you, Arizona Diamondbacks, for serving the entire world.

The bad news is, this is all part of the past now.

Sweep needed.

Arizona is 6 games behind the Cubs, who hold the first Wild Card. The Cubs will be the team to beat in the Wild Card, because they are 5.5 games behind their league leader, Milwaukee Brewers. That leaves Arizona batting for two of the remaining wild cards. Enter the conversation the Phillies and Padres, who, just like Diamondbacks, have a positive balance over their final 10 games. Marlins and Cardinals should not be forgotten either, Nationals and Pirates are some games below .500 and remain on the outskirts, hoping for a huge winning streak.

The remaining schedule is lots of fun for Arizona, with so many important series against direct opponents or other strong opponents. Only few series are against teams that have nothing left to play for. Like the Giants, who we will meet at the end of the month, or the Royals, who we will fight against at the beginning of September. With so much left to play for and many good opponents waiting to take the venom out of the Snakes, a series against the Colorado Rockies becomes a must-win and a need for sweep. It feels like too often we have failed to reach the play-offs because of some games in which we utterly failed to capitalize on weak opponents. Let’s hope we don’t make that mistake again in the upcoming series.

We met the Rockies mid May. The doctor told us to heal in Colorado. The team was 20-22 at that moment, so you can imagine how our state of mind. We got some good doctor’s advice, helped by the MLB, who set us up for 13 consecutive games in 4 series against the Rockies and Giants. The Diamondbacks went 11-2, the two losses against the Rockies, and boosted themselves back into the Wild Card battle.

Colorado dropped 4 against Arizona and since that second series, on May 22, the Rockies have gone 26-38. That leaves them with a 46-72 record, just one game better than MLB’s worst team: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. You would say, this team, we need to sweep em.

The past trade deadline the Rockies were quiet. Despite the terrible record, they see some good stuff in their position players, where most of them are to be on the roster for the years to come. They even extended designated hitter Mickey Moniak to buy out his first free agency year (2028).

They traded away Antonio Senzatela, who was playing in the final year of a previous extension. Senzatela, now exclusively deployed as a reliever, has joined the almighty Brewers. The other three moves did not get much media attention. Seth Halvorsen, a 26-year old reliever with 71 major league innings this and the past two seasons, was acquired by the Dodgers in a below-the-radar-trade. Another reliever, Victor Vodnik, joined the Marlins. The White Sox trading for 2023 and 2024 Golden Glover Brenton Doyle, who is no longer blessed with an average hitting tool, was more surprising and will not hurt the Rockies. In all trades the Rockies added to their farm and depth, with Nick Frasso, acquired from the Dodgers, the only one added to the major league roster.

The Rockies head to Phoenix after losing 2-1 against the Cardinals in St. Louis. They took 5 from the Diamondbacks last season and 4 the year before, so let us improve on that. Currently Arizona wins the season series 5-2.

Matchups.

Game #1 Mon 08/10 6:40 PM MST, Michael Soroka (ARI) vs Gabriel Hughes (COL).

• Michael Soroka. 15 GS, 82.0 IP, 8 W-3 L, 3.07 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 1.09 WHIP, 79/17 K/BB. $6,750,000.
• Gabriel Hughes. 6 G, 5 GS, 29.2 IP, 0 W-3 L, 4.25 ERA, 2.65 FIP, 1.18 WHIP, 28/9 K/BB. $406,394.

Though he still needs to be added to the active roster at the time of writing, Soroka is scheduled to return to the major leagues after almost two months, getting injured against the Twins on June 19, tearing a muscle. Soroka made just one rehab appearance, in Reno, throwing 57 pitches in 4 innings, allowing a run on 3 hits and 2 walks, against just one strikeout. I suppose he will be on a pitch limit.

By the time Soroka leaves the game, the Diamondbacks will surely hope that the Rockies are far behind, though early results indicate that Gabriel Hughes might be a tough nut to crack. Hughes made his first major league start in July, against the Dodgers, allowing 3 runs over 6 innings and striking out 7. He then continued to excel against the Reds and Nationals, before running into a bit more trouble against the Padres. However, it wasn’t until his latest appearance, against Tampa Bay, before he had more problems, allowing 5 runs (1 homerun) over 5.1 innings. Hughes was taken by the Colorado Rockies with the 10th pick in the 2022 draft and, according to FanGraphs, projects as a back-end starter. He wasn’t dominating the PCL for Albuquerque nor has he dominated the minors until now, so his early success might be smoke and mirrors. The righty relies heavily on a 93-mph fastball and complements it with a sweeper and a slider. Left-handed batters also are served a changeup and curve.

Game #2 Tue 08/11 6:40 PM MST, Mitch Bratt (ARI) vs Tomoyuki Sugano (COL).

• Mitch Bratt. 6 GS, 27.2 IP, 1 W-1 L, 3.90 ERA, 5.51 FIP, 1.52 WHIP, 21/18 K/BB. $366,251.
• Tomoyuki Sugano. 20 GS, 107.2 IP, 11 W-5 L, 4.51 ERA, 5.39 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 61/26 K/BB. $5,100,000.

Most sites write him out of the rotation, but truth is that in his last two performances, Bratt has been excellent for the Diamondbacks, allowing just 1 run in 12 innings against Cleveland and San Diego. Against the Rockies Bratt will have another opportunity to add some major league experience, hoping to provide enough to cement his name in the rotation for yet another week.

Like I wrote in a previous series preview, Sugano was an unfamiliar face for the Snakes, because 2026 is only the second season for the 36-year old Japanese pitcher in the MLB. Last season he was a back-end starter for the Baltimore Orioles.

Sugano can make use of a huge amount of 7 different pitches: 4-seamer, split finger, cutter, sinker, slider, sweeper and curveball. All that off-speed and breaking ball arsenal is to hide a weak fastball collection (his 4-FB averages below 93 mph). Sugano has good command and hardly walks a batter.

It has been a recipe for success for Sugano against the Diamondbacks this season. He already faced Arizona twice and although he gave up 2 runs in each of his performances against the Snakes, it was good for a win and no-decision, despite giving up 13 hits in 11.2 innings. Third time’s a charm, they say.

Game #3 Wed 08/12 12:40 PM MST, Merrill Kelly (ARI) vs Ryan Feltner (COL).

• Merrill Kelly. 21 GS, 120.0 IP, 8 W-9 L, 4.88 ERA, 5.57 FIP, 1.47 WHIP, 80/50 K/BB. $18,000,000.
• Ryan Feltner. 17 GS, 82.0 IP, 4 W-6 L, 5.71 ERA, 5.75 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 59/33 K/BB. $2,450,000.

Last time Merrill pitched against the Rockies, he was able to pitch a complete game, allowing just one (home)run. Needless to say more.

A 4th round pick in the 2018 draft, Feltner has been pretty much part of the major league team since 2022, though not much more than a fringe back-end starter, except for a fine 2024 season, taking into account Rockies and Coors Field standards. This year Feltner is struggling heavily, especially away from Coors Field, with a .295 BA against, with BABIP at an average .300. Especially July was a tough month, allowing a 1.100 OPS and 20 runs in just 4 games.

His changeup and sweeper are his best pitches, the first one for left-handed batters, the other for right-handed batters. The rest of the arsenal (four-seamer, slider, sinker, curve) is graded poorly by statcast.

Last time Feltner pitched against the Diamondbacks was in 2024. In total he has give up 16 runs against Arizona, in 4 games (18.2 innings). The last time, though, he got his first win, at Chase Field.

Charlotte Knights
Record 4-2 (last week), 20-21 (second half), 62-52 (overall)

Knights Player of the Week
Korey Lee .333/.375/.800, 15 at-bats

Mario Camilletti .368/.429/.632, 19 at-bats
Dru Baker .429/.429/.571, 14 at-bats
Ryan Galanie .286/.375/.524, 21 at-bats
Andy Weber .333/.400/.500, 18 at-bats
Eric Haase .333/.538/.333, nine at-bats
Rikuu Nishida .167/.250/.167, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 18 at-bats

Jonathan Cannon 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Tyler Schweitzer 4 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Jaden Woods 4 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Shane Smith 4 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Jairo Iriarte 3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K

The Knights put a solid series together against the Bulls (52-61), winning four of six to improve to 10 games over .500 on the season.

Catcher Korey Lee, 28, had an excellent series to pick up his third Knight of the Week award this season. Lee went 5-for-15 with two homers, a double, a walk, and four RBIs to lead the team in OPS (1.175). After this great performance, Lee’s season slash line is .243/.329/.486 in 81 games, all with the Knights. Lee has been a stable presence behind the plate for the Knights, and his bat has been solid while playing a premium position. Given that Joey Bart is expected to miss more than a month after being hit by a pitch, Lee has a decent case to get his first chance of the season in the majors.

2026 Charlotte Knights Players of the Week
Korey Lee (March 27-April 5)
Oliver Dunn (April 6-12)
Shane Smith (April 13-19)
Jarred Kelenic (April 20-26)
Oliver Dunn (April 27-May 3)
LaMonte Wade Jr.(May 4-10)
Jacob Gonzalez(May 11-17)
LaMonte Wade Jr.(May 18-24)
Jacob Gonzalez(May 25-31)
Braden Montgomery(June 1-7)
Ryan Galanie(June 8-14)
Kyle Teel(June 15-21)
Korey Lee(June 22-28)
Caden Connor(June 29-July 5)
Nolan Jones(July 6-12)
Andy Weber (July 13-26)
Ryan Galanie(July 27-August 2)
Korey Lee(August 3-9)

Birmingham Barons
Record 2-4 (last week), 17-22 (second half), 43-65 (overall)

Barons Player of the Week
Samuel Zavala .444/.545/1.000, nine at-bats

Caleb Bonemer .217/.357/.565, 23 at-bats
Colby Shelton .278/.435/.389, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 18 at-bats
James Taussig .286/.412/.357, 14 at-bats
Ryan Burrowes .292/.370/.292, 2-for-3 stolen bases, 24 at-bats
Dylan Campbell .250/.379/.375, 2-for-3 stolen bases, 24 at-bats

Shane Murphy 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Dylan Cumming 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Jackson Kelley 4 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 K
Drew Thorpe 4 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Connor McCullough 3 2/3 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 K

The Barons came down to earth after an impressive 5-1 series last week by settling for a 2-4 series in Rocket City against the Trash Pandas (56-51).

This week, it was a tough call in terms of who should be Baron of the Week. Before discussing the winner, let’s get to a couple of players who fell just short. Left-handed pitcher Shane Murphy, 25, had a terrific game pitching, six shutout innings while only allowing four hits. Overall, in two August starts, Murphy has only allowed one run on seven hits in 12 innings. In addition, in his past four starts, Murphy has only allowed four earned runs in 21 1/3 innings (1.69 ERA).

Infielder Caleb Bonemer, 20, also deserves honorable mention. Bonemer, who already has four weekly awards, only went 5-for-23, but those five hits were impactful. Bonemer launched two homers, two doubles, and he drew five walks to finish the week with a .922 OPS. That .922 OPS led the way among Barons with more than 10 plate appearances.

However, in a tight race, outfielder Samuel Zavala, 22, took home his second weekly award of the season and his first since opening week. Although Zavala only played in three games, he made that time count. Zavala went 4-for-9 with a homer, two doubles, and a walk. Remember how Bonemer’s .922 OPS led the team among players with more than 10 plate appearances? Zavala had exactly 10 plate appearances, and his weekly OPS (1.545) made him stand out from the crowd. Overall, Zavala’s season slash line is .219/.353/.363 (100 wRC+), as he has found ways to contribute despite having a subpar batting average and a .276 BABIP.

2026 Birmingham Barons Players of the Week
Samuel Zavala (April 6-12)
Braden Montgomery (April 13-19)
Alec Makarewicz (April 20-26)
Wilfred Veras (April 27-May 3)
Jake Palisch(May 4-10)
Wilfred Veras(May 11-17)
Alec Makarewicz(May 18-24)
Drake Logan(May 25-31)
Dylan Cumming(June 1-7)
Anthony DePino(June 8-14)
Grant Magill(June 15-21)
Alec Briley(June 22-28)
Colby Shelton(June 29-July 5)
Dylan Campbell (July 6-12)
Caleb Bonemer (July 13-26)
Colby Shelton(July 27-August 2)
Samuel Zavala(August 3-9)

Winston-Salem Dash
Record 2-3 (last week), 20-21 (second half), 58-49 (overall)

Dash Player of the Week
Derek Cerda .556/.714/.778, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 9 at-bats

Roch Cholowsky .278/.381/.556, 3-for-3 stolen bases, 18 at-bats
Nick McLain .316/.480/.474, 19 at-bats
Javier Mogollón .300/.348/.700, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 20 at-bats
Wes Kath .375/.444/.875, 1-for-1 stolen bases, eight at-bats
Kyle Lodise .125/.391/.438, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 16 at-bats
George Wolkow .118/.211/.118, 17 at-bats

Justin Sinibaldi 10 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 10 K
Jake Curtis 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Grant Umberger 4 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Dylan Carmouche 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Caedmon Parker 3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Weather was an issue in Winston-Salem, as the Dash were unable to complete one of their scheduled games against Asheville (36-70). Overall, it was a disappointing week for the Dash, who only won two out of five against the Tourists.

Outfielder Derek Cerda, 23, was unstoppable across 14 plate appearances. Cerda went 5-for-9 with two doubles, five walks, and a stolen base in his only attempt. Cerda has played 47 games (six with the Complex Sox, 32 with Kannapolis, and nine with Winston-Salem). Overall, Cerda is slashing .302/.397/.451 (126 wRC+), and he is off to a fast start with the Dash. Cerda made an especially large impact on Wednesday, when he drove in the go-ahead run with a single and reached base four times.

2026 Winston-Salem Dash Players of the Week
Caleb Bonemer (April 6-12)
Colby Shelton (April 13-19)
Colby Shelton (April 20-26)
Caleb Bonemer(April 27-May 3)
Colby Shelton(May 4-10)
Boston Smith(May 11-17)
George Wolkow (May 18-24)
Morris Austin(May 25-31)
Caleb Bonemer(June 1-7)
James Taussig(June 8-14)
Kyle Lodise(June 15-21)
George Wolkow(June 22-28)
Kaleb Freeman(June 29-July 5)
Ryan Burrowes (July 6-12)
Ely Brown (July 13-26)
Calvin Harris(July 27-August 2)
Derek Cerda(August 3-9)

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Record 4-2 (last week), 23-19 (second half), 56-52 (overall)

Cannon Ballers Player of the Week
Grant Cleavinger 4 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 10 K

Matthew Boughton .333/.417/.429, 4-for-5 stolen bases, 21 at-bats
Steven Lancia .467/.467/.667, 15 at-bats
Grayson Fitzwater .273/.333/.273, 22 at-bats
Braden Holcomb .240/.321/.440, 25 at-bats
Efren Teran .375/.412/.438, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 16 at-bats
Billy Carlson .278/.458/.333, 18 at-bats
Jaden Fauske .190/.346/.333, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 21 at-bats

Gabe Tanner 5 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 1 K
Fabian Ysalla 5 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Alexander Martinez 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Anthony Patterson III 4 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K

The Cannon Ballers had a terrific weekend in Charleston to wrap up an impressive series victory against the RiverDogs (60-48). After this 4-2 week, the Cannon Ballers are four games above .500 in the second half and overall this season.

Left-handed pitcher Grant Cleavinger, 22, has been impossible for hitters to solve during his extremely young professional career. Cleavinger, who attended the University of Nebraska, entered the 2026 draft but did not get drafted. However, it appears that some teams should have taken a closer look at him. This week, Cleavinger faced 13 hitters and retired all of them, striking out 10 of them. Cleavinger made his professional debut with the Cannon Ballers on July 25, and since then, he has pitched 6 2/3 innings, and incredibly, he has not allowed any hits.

2026 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Players of the Week
Stiven Flores (April 6-12)
Abraham Núñez (April 13-19)
Javier Mogollón(April 20-26)
Arxy Hernández(April 27-May 3)
Javier Mogollón(May 4-10)
Max Banks(May 11-17)
Riley Eikhoff(May 18-24)
James Taussig(May 25-31)
James Taussig(June 1-7)
Derek Cerda(June 8-14)
Matthew Boughton(June 15-21)
Ryan Schiefer(June 22-28)
Christian Gonzalez(June 29-July 5)
Jaden Fauske (July 6-12)
Steven Lancia (July 13-26)
Anthony Patterson III(July 27-August 2)
Grant Cleavinger(August 3-9)

DSL White Sox
Record 1-4 (last week), 17-30 (overall)

DSL White Sox Player of the Week
Félix Lebron .400/.538/.800, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 10 at-bats

Ronald Cardozo .462/.500/.846, 13 at-bats
Orlando Patiño .417/.500/.667, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 12 at-bats
Fernando Graterol .250/.400/.833, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 12 at-bats
Samuel Luis .250/.308/.250, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 12 at-bats

Yordany Marte 4 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K
José Taveras 4 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K
Ronald Kelly 3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Roderic Ramírez 3 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Erlyn Lauriano 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 4 K

Although the DSL White Sox went 10-8 in July, they cooled off again this week, dropping four out of five games.

Shortstop Félix Lebron, 17, was on fire, going 4-for-10 with a homer, a double, three walks, four RBIs, and two stolen bases without getting caught. Lebron, who is still very young, got off to a cold start to his career in affiliated baseball, but he has turned that around in a big way. In June, Lebron slashed .121/.327/.121; in July, he slashed .235/.400/.294; this month, he is slashing .429/.529/.929.

2026 DSL White Sox Players of the Week
Carlos Vielma(June 1-7)
Sebastian Romero(June 8-14)
Sebastian Romero(June 15-21)
Ronald Kelly(June 22-28)
Orlando Patiño(June 29-July 5)
Ronald Cardozo (July 6-12)
Nestor Pérez(July 13-26)
David Colmenares(July 27-August 2)
Félix Lebron(August 3-9)

Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma unfortunately dropped this one to Las Vegas by a score of four to two, unable to take down a very solid Aviators squad that’s been excellent all year. Despite their losing record on the week, there were tons of great individual performances from some of the brightest stars on this roster; the typical performers continued to show up, but guys who’ve scuffled at times this season have really started to pick it up as of late. The Rainiers aren’t likely to be making much noise in the playoff race this season, but hopefully these performances are indicative of a stronger end to the season to build on as we head into an offseason filled with uncertainty.

It was a fantastic week for utility man Brock Rodden, a great sign for the 26 year old who’s had an up-and-down year in the PCL. Gathering nine hits across five games this series, Rodden’s two-homer game on Wednesday night headlined his monstrous week that saw him collect a double, a triple, and five homers. Rodden’s monthly slash currently sits at .313/.333/.906, good for a gaudy 1.239 OPS. Rodden’s versatility in the field and sneaky good bat make him a strong candidate for utility man of the future; if he can keep this level of production up, he’s sure to figure into the competition for a bench role come next spring.

Both Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo continue to impress in the PCL. Having adjusted almost immediately to the increased level of competition, the tandem has been lighting up the PCL offensively and are helping buoy this lineup to a more competitive level. Arroyo (.327/.395/.582) is finding a ton of success at the plate by attacking aggressively in the zone, and Laz (.284/.368/.560), who’s prodigious power plays incredibly well in the offense-happy PCL, has mashed his way to some incredibly impressive numbers. The pair are still just 21 years old and figure to major pieces of this club moving forward.

Arkansas Travelers

The Travs continue to falter ever so slightly and dropped the series to an Amarillo team that’s admittedly been very solid in the second half. Despite the oodles of talent up and down this roster, much of it is new to the level and still going through an adjustment period against the far superior stuff. Guys like Jonny Farmelo, Felnin Celesten, and Josh Caron are all premiere prospects, but until they’ve settled in against Texas League competition, the Travs may struggle to produce enough umph at the plate to consistently remain in the win column.

The newest member of this Travs team, Boston Smith, decided he’d show his teammates just how good of a player he’s been all season and absolutely torched Sod Poodles pitching all week. Acquired in the Luis Castillo trade, Smith launched five homers in his first week in the organization and raised his OPS to 1.553, an obviously otherworldly mark for the 23 year old. The young backstop employs a pull-happy approach that elevates the ball consistently and allows him to reliably get to his power in game settings, and this has led to some gaudy production all year. Smith has run an OPS just south of 1.100 across three different levels this year and looks like yet another fantastic pickup by this front office. Given his meteoric rise this past season, he’s a strong candidate for a big league look next season.

The weekly Kade Anderson report is exactly what you’d expect: extremely good. Working 5.1 scoreless innings, Anderson punched out nine and allowed just three hits and no walks on the afternoon. There’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said; he’s entirely too good for the minor leagues, but given the wealth of pitching the M’s have at the big league level and unwillingness to move him to the bullpen (a smart move, in my opinion), he’s likely to remain in Double-A for the remainder of the season. Perhaps he’s called up for a cup of coffee once his rookie eligibility for next season would remain in tact, but it seems closer to a toss up than a surefire bet at this point in time.

Everett AquaSox

The Frogs dropped four of six this week against Vancouver this week, unable to best an opponent that’s really struggled to get things going this year. The AquaSox have a bunch of new faces on this roster, and despite some very strong performance out of the newcomers, they’ve been unable to get too far off the .500 line. Hopefully a strong end to the season can push them to the top spot of the second half standings and give them a shot at the title series.

Aiden Taurek continues to mash in his new home and has been the best AquaSox batter for the past several weeks. Taurek, a corner outfielder with a line-drive approach at the plate, is presently slashing .340/.429/.566 in High-A and has been a doubles machine all season. Though it’d be aggressive, if he’s able to keep this level of production up through the end of the season, there’s a world where he earns his way to a debut in Double-A out of the gates in 2027.

Inland Empire 66ers

The 66ers had a fantastic week against Rancho Cucamonga, taking five of the six contests in the series. Though they’ve struggled all year, there’s a lot of fresh talent on this roster, and some new faces may be just what this team needs for a positive end of the season. Now just three games out of first place, IE has positioned themselves well to make a run for a spot in the postseason, a truly remarkable feat that seemed implausible just a week ago.

Now making up a healthy chunk of this team, the recent draftees coming out of the SEC have worked wonders for this IE lineup and have them operating as a well-oiled machine. Fourth rounder Hayden Yost (1.046 OPS) and sixth rounder Henry Ford (1.345 OPS) have been outstanding atop this lineup, and Ace Reese, who’s logged just five AB’s, has taken quickly to the level and already has three base hits. Jake Brown and Ryan Wynn have each contributed admirably as well; its frankly been tough to nitpick any one of the bats in this 2026 class of draftees, and several of, if not all of these guys figure to make up a strong core in Everett come next season.

DSL Mariners

Though the offense has slowed just a hair for this DSL squad, they’ve still performed incredibly well on the year and remain the most interesting version of this team in the last handful of years. In particular, the lesser-heralded Jarvis Gomez has been fantastic this season; the young outfielder has more walks than strikeouts, 13 stolen bases, and an OPS of 1.015 through 42 games on the year. He’s been a great get for this organization and looks like a riser heading into his inevitable stateside debut next spring.

Last week was a mixed bag for the Twins. After wrapping up the trade deadline by picking up a couple of additions to the pitching staff, they promptly dropped two straight series. Then they got the bad news that Joe Ryan was heading to the injured list due to a glute strain, but the youth movement has arrived, with the promotion of Kaelen Culpepper to the major league roster. Culpepper showed off in his first game, hitting a homer and showing some of the power potential that he has developed in the past year in the minors.

Surprisingly, despite the poor week in terms of wins and losses, the team is still only 1.5 games out of the final wild card spot.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• Game threads and recaps are back! Commiserate with your fellow fans as we experience the season together.
• Zach Koenig debates the main question facing MLB for these upcoming CBA negotiations – would the league be better off with a salary cap and floor?
• Aidan O’Brien updates his list of the Twins’ Top 40 prospects for the month of August.
• Ben Jones grades the Twins’ trade deadline moves.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Aaron Gleeman at AaronGleeman.com looks at how Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner’s career trajectories have changed since their demotions earlier in the year.
• Dan Hayes at The Athletic provides some insights into the Twins’ front office during the trade deadline.
• Bobby Nightengale at the Star Tribune looks at the busy week of negotiations, both successful and failed, during the trade deadline.
• Chris Schad at Zone Coverage looks at where Luke Keaschall fits in the Twins’ roster.

In the World of Baseball:

• The Rays continue to top the AL, extending their lead to 5.5 games over the Yankees. The Red Sox, who have had a pretty unprecedented turnaround in the past month, now find themselves third in the league and in the second wild card spot. The White Sox and Astros are the current division leaders in the Central and West, respectively, and the Rangers hold the third wild card spot right now, although they are only 0.5 games behind the Astros, so that spot will likely flip-flop for the rest of the season. The Tigers, Twins, Guardians, and Orioles are all within 2 games of the final wild card spot.
• The NL is a bit clearer-cut, with Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Los Angeles all clearly ahead of the next-best team in their division. The Cubs, Diamondbacks, and Phillies are currently in the wild card spots.
• Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs looks at whether Yordan Alvarez can really get the Triple Crown this year.
• It came at the Twins’ expense, but Jacob Misiorowski is now the second-quickest pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts in a season. Casey Drotter at MLB.com has more on the Miz’s start on Sunday.
• Anthony Castrovince at MLB.com looks at a peculiar trend for the 2026 season – the year of the lefty batter.

For the first time since 2021, Major League Baseball returns to the cornfields of Iowa.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins will turn back the clocks to a simpler time when they get together on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the site made famous in the classic 1989 movie, "Field of Dreams." The site has undergone major renovations since hosting its last MLB game and those upgrades should be on full display during the broadcast.

The Phils will be wearing road gray uniforms inspired by the ones the club wore from 1939-41. Meanwhile, the Twins will don home whites that harken back to 1961, the franchise's first season in Minneapolis.

More than 25 Baseball Hall of Famers are set to walk through the outfield as part of a stunning pregame ceremony.

Can we get some hand sanitizer in the Red Sox clubhouse please? Just as Willson Contreras came back from a bout with illness (one that he was still feeling the effects of even as he played over the weekend), another hitter went down. This time it was Masataka Yoshida. Contreras only missed two days so Masa will likely be back soon, but we better hope this thing doesn’t sweep through the lineup. (Miracle Dimwesh, Yahoo)

Let’s definitely keep Masa away from Adley Rutschman, who hopes to make his debut this week against the Blue Jays. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how the Rutschman trade went down, featuring the Zac Brown Band, Theo Epstein, and some welcome self-awareness from Craig Breslow: “How many good trades do you pass up in search of the perfect trade, only to find out that the perfect trade was never actually available?” Breslow said of the deal and the possibility that he may have “overpaid” in the eyes of many around the league. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

When Rutschman does return, the immediate focus will be on his health. But we’ll also need to keep an eye on how he’s integrating with the pitching staff. It’s very rare for a new number one catcher to join a playoff-bound team this late in the season. When it comes to learning how to handle Sonny Gray, though, Rutschman luckily will have at his disposal an entire library worth of notebooks that Gray maintains throughout the season to chart his performance. “He’s definitely cerebral,” Andrew Bailey said of Gray. “He’s well-prepared. He knows what he wants to do, what he does really well and his identity as a pitcher.” (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)

Of course Rutschman is not here because of how well he handles a pitching staff. He’s here because he’s one of the best hitting catchers in baseball. The Sox lineup could use a spark, like the one Kyle Schwarber provided when he came over at the 2021 trade deadline. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)

There is an obvious parallel between 2026 and 2021 given that both seasons saw the Sox trade for injured stars at the deadline, but it’s the Morgan Magic season of 1988 that 2026 echoes the loudest. Morgan, now 95 years old, still watches from his home in Walpole, specifically, he watches from the room he was able to build in his house because of that magic run. (Steve Buckley, The Athletic)

But not every Boston baseball manager is having success right now. Keith Foulke just left his position as manager of the Boston Hunters of the brand new Women’s Professional Baseball League, which is hosting its inaugural season in Springfield, Illinois. While it’s unclear whether Foulke was fired or left on his own terms, the move came after just 3 games and only 30 minutes prior to the Hunters’ most recent matchup. Needless to say, there’s probably some kind of story here… (Lauren Campbell, MassLive)

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Behind the dominant Logan Henderson, the Milwaukee Brewers are a -108 moneyline road favorite tonight at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres. 

With Casey Mize coming off a shaky San Diego debut, my Brewers vs. Padres predictions are eyeing the visitors to give him trouble while providing Henderson with enough run support. 

Find out more in my MLB picks for Monday, August 10. 

Who will win Brewers vs Padres tonight: Brewers (-116)

Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson has been in great form, posting a 1.85 xERA across his last two starts while limiting opponents to a 34.6% hard-hit rate.

The road profile stands out even more. Henderson owns a 1.95 FIP away from American Family Field, compared to a 4.13 mark at home.

Casey Mize is tougher to handicap after changing teams, but his San Diego Padres debut was ugly, as he allowed eight earned runs. Before that blowup, he did own a 3.33 xERA over his previous three outings.

Still, Mize now faces one of baseball’s best lineups, and Milwaukee owns a 102 wRC+ over the last week. The Brewers have the edge offensively and on the hill.

I’ll play this pick up to -130.

COVERS INTEL: Milwaukee has been far more effective against right-handed pitching, posting a 109 wRC+ compared to a 93 mark vs. lefties. That strengthens the matchup against Mize and gives the Brewers another offensive edge.

Brewers vs Padres Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 runs (-126)

This total sits at 7.5, and I'm leaning to the Under despite both offenses entering in respectable form. The splits are less intimidating, with San Diego posting a 94 wRC+ at home and Milwaukee carrying a 98 wRC+ on the road.

Henderson is dealing, while both bullpens have been reliable lately. The Brewers' relief corps owns a 2.56 FIP over the last week while limiting homers, and the Padres pen has a 2.71 xERA. 

Mize’s volatility is the main concern, but the lineup splits and bullpen form point toward a tighter game.

I’ll play this pick up to -140.

Brewers vs Padres home run prediction: Jackson Chourio (+474)

Jackson Chourio has four homers in his last seven games with a mind-boggling 35.3% barrel rate.

Nearly half of his contact during that span has been in the air, and he also owns a 50% HR/FB rate over the last week. Mize was hit hard in his Padres debut, and San Diego’s bullpen has a 41.7% fly-ball rate over its last 26.2 innings.

The matchup may not be perfect, but Chourio’s current barrel form gives him a clear path at this price. He is squaring up almost everything lately.

I’ll play this pick down to +400.

Brewers vs Padres weather

Weather at Petco Park looks mild and clean tonight, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures falling from 74 degrees to around 71 by midnight ET. Winds are light around 5–6 mph, and rain chances are basically nonexistent. The cooler late-night air should keep conditions fairly neutral, with no major weather boost for offense.

Brewers vs Padres odds

• Moneyline: Brewers -108 | Padres +104
• Run line: Brewers -1.5 (+163) | Padres +1.5 (-170)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (+117) | Under 7.5 (-122)

Brewers vs Padres trend

The Milwaukee Brewers have hit the Game Total Under in 14 of their last 22 games (+6.55 Units / 27% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Brewers vs. Padres.

How to watch Brewers vs Padres and game info

Brewers vs Padres latest injuries

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The Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants went in opposite directions ahead of last week’s MLB trade deadline, and the two teams are also at opposite ends of the standings ahead of their three-game set at Oracle Park beginning Monday, Aug. 10.

My top Astros vs. Giants predictions and MLB picks are calling for Houston to cash in at the plate with a convincing win as road favorites tonight.

Who will win Astros vs Giants tonight: Astros moneyline (-148)

The recent results from the Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants align with their activity ahead of the MLB trade deadline Monday, Aug. 3, and reinforce why the Astros are a sizable road favorite.

Houston is on a 13-5 run while ranking second in wOBA and averaging 5.3 runs per game and bolstered the roster ahead of the deadline, while San Fran has gone 7-12 with a 23rd-ranked wOBA and 4.1 runs per game during the same stretch.

The Giants dealing away established veterans is a massive blow, and in particular, Luis Arraez because he still paces the team in WAR by a large margin.

As a result, I’m confident Houston righty Hayden Wesneski can hold the San Fran lineup in check enough for the Astros to pull away offensively tonight, and I'd back the Astros down to -160.

COVERS INTEL: The Houston Astros rank third in wOBA and sixth in xwOBA across the past two weeks, while the San Francisco Giants respectively check in 27th and 26th, which positions the Astros to pull away for the road victory tonight.

Astros vs Giants Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (+101)

Even with the weather forecast calling for unfavorable hitting conditions, the Houston offense is set up to put runs on the board tonight with San Fran righty Blade Tidwell making just his fourth career start. He’s allowed opposing hitters to tee off to the tune of a .386 wOBA and .869 OPS across the first three, after all.

Plus, in addition to the highlighted heaters the Houston offense has strung together, the Astros rank ninth in wOBA and fifth in ISO against righties for the year. It’s also all added up to Houston playing to the Over in 20 of their last 35 games (+6.85 Units / 18% ROI).

This Over is in play down to -110.

Astros vs Giants home run prediction: Yordan Alvarez (+320)

Tidwell has surrendered a massive .396 wOBA and 1.98 HR/9 to left-handed batters during his career, and Houston superstar Yordan Alvarez sports the highest ISO and slugging percentage in the majors against righties among batters with at least 300 plate appearances.

The unfavorable hitting conditions forecasted at Oracle Park tonight are inflating the price for this prop, too, and I like it at +280 and above.

Astros vs Giants weather

The forecast calls for chilly and damp mid-50s temperatures that will create dense air and suppress ball carry at Oracle Park tonight. Consistent seven to eight mph winds blowing in from left field should also provide a pitching edge Monday.

Astros vs Giants odds

• Moneyline: Astros -155 | Giants +135
• Run line: Astros -1.5 (+105) | Giants +1.5 (-125)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-110) | Under 8.5 (-110)

Astros vs Giants trend

The Astros have hit the Over in 20 of their last 35 games (+6.85 Units / 18% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Astros vs. Giants.

How to watch Astros vs Giants and game info

Astros vs Giants latest injuries

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Let's kick off the new week on a high note!

Here are my MLB moneyline predictions for tonight's slate.

Before we dive in, be sure to check out all of our MLB picks on Monday, Aug. 10!

MLB moneyline picks for August 10

Matchup	Pick
Red Sox vs Blue Jays	-147
Mets vs Braves	+133
Orioles vs Twins	-108
Phillies vs Cardinals	+108
Rangers vs Angels	-106
Rockies vs Diamondbacks	+182
Brewers vs Padres	-111
Rays vs Athletics	+150
Astros vs Giants	+141
Royals vs Dodgers	+245

Prices courtesy of Polymarket as of August 10.

Expert MLB moneyline picks for August 10

Red Sox vs Blue Jays: Red Sox (-147)

Red Sox win probability: 60%

Death. Taxes. I will always fade Jameson Taillon.

The newly acquired Blue Jays hurler has posted a 7.78 ERA, 6.65 xERA, and 1.73 WHIP over his last five starts. In that span, opposing bats have generated a 45% hard-hit rate and 16.13% barrel rate.

This does not feel like a spot where the Red Sox cool off. If anything, it feels more like adding fuel to an already burning flame. Plus, Sonny Gray draws the least exciting offense in baseball.

Red Sox or nothing.

Mets vs Braves: Mets (+133)

Mets win probability: 43%

The Mets feel a little dangerous here, with Christian Scott holding a 2.18 xERA and 1.10 WHIP over his last five starts. Meanwhile, Bryce Elder has allowed opposing hitters to generate a 45% hard-hit rate and 11.25% barrel rate over his last five starts.

The New York offense has been stellar as of late, posting a 149 wRC+, .379 wOBA, and .875 OPS over its last six games. The Braves, on the other hand, have managed just a 102 wRC+ during that stretch, along with a 4.6% walk rate and 26% strikeout rate.

Orioles vs Twins: Orioles (-108)

Orioles win probability: 52%

There is no way I am fading Trevor Rogers in this spot. He has been lights out over his last five starts, while Dean Kremer owns a 9.00 ERA over his last three.

The Twins offense has gone cold, while the Orioles are starting to heat up. At -108, I think we are getting a great price to back an offense that is on a complete tear, especially with a lefty on the mound who has been owning opposing hitters.

Phillies vs Cardinals: Cardinals (+108)

Cardinals win probability: 48%

Phillies right-hander Andrew Painter's recent numbers have scared me off backing Philadelphia on the road here. The starter owns a 5.21 xERA and 1.50 WHIP over his last three starts. Cardinals starter Hunter Dobbins, meanwhile, carries a 2.23 xERA over his last three.

With both offenses heating up, I want to back the arm who's shown better form.

Go Cardinals.

Rangers vs Angels: Rangers (-106)

Rangers win probability: 52%

Angels left-hander Reid Detmers has been struggling in his recent starts, posting a 5.11 xERA over his last three outings. During that stretch, opposing hitters are making 53% hard contact and an 18.75% barrel rate. Rangers lefty MacKenzie Gore, meanwhile, has been shoving over his last five starts, owning a 3.01 xERA while limiting hard contact and barrels.

The Angels are notorious for struggling against southpaws, especially when it comes to striking out. I want no part of backing that frozen offense.

Give me the Rangers.

Rockies vs Diamondbacks: Rockies (+182)

Rockies win probability: 36%

I am not paying juice for the Diamondbacks to secure the win here against a Rockies team that plays better on the road. Plus, the Colorado offense has been on a tear over the last week, posting a 113 wRC+, .351 wOBA, and .813 OPS.

Gabriel Hughes has the tools to hold down the Diamondbacks' bats, and at +182, the Rockies are a fun play.

Brewers vs Padres: Brewers (-111)

Brewers win probability: 52%

First of all, when was the last time we got such a great price on the Brewers to win? It has been a minute.

Sure, the Padres offense has been on a tear, but Casey Mize has been brutal. Over his last five starts, he owns a 5.40 ERA and 1.40 WHIP while allowing a 44% hard-hit rate. On the other side, Logan Henderson has posted a 2.67 ERA, 2.25 xERA and 0.78 WHIP.

I like the overall better team here, especially at this price.

Give me the Brewers.

Rays vs Athletics: Athletics (+150)

Athletics win probability: 40%

Jacob Lopez has been lights-out over his last five starts, while Freddy Peralta still owns a 7.77 ERA over that same span. The Rays starter also carries a 7.11 ERA on the road this season.

Despite the Athletics' cold bats and the Rays' sustained dominance, this is a spot for the A's to come out on top.

Astros vs Giants: Giants (+141)

Giants win probability: 42%

Minimal thoughts here, aside from Hayden Wesneski not performing well on the road this season, while Blade Tidwell has some very solid underlying metrics.

The Giants are a steal at +141, especially with both offenses being a bit cold over the last week.

Royals vs Dodgers: Royals (+245)

Royals win probability: 29%

Strictly from a moneyline standpoint, I am not laying $2.51 on the ice-cold Dodgers. 

Despite snapping their losing streak, the Dodgers followed that up with a loss on Sunday afternoon. Tarik Skubal takes the mound this evening against Noah Cameron, who has been strong for the Royals, sporting a .285 xERA over his last five outings. 

With how poorly both offenses have been and Cameron's success on the rubber lately, this could be a fun sweat at +245.

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It's Tarik Skubal day in Southern California as the Los Angeles Dodgers (-285) host the Kansas City Royals to start a three-game series. 

L.A. is in the midst of its toughest stretch of the season, dropping eight of its last nine, but Skubal provides a great opportunity to right the ship.

See why I'm backing the home squad with my Royals vs. Dodgers predictions and MLB picks for Monday, August 10.

Who will win Royals vs Dodgers tonight: Dodgers -1.5 (-131)

A quick way to lose your hard-earned money is to back the Kansas City Royals when Noah Cameron takes the hill. Kansas City has dropped 16 of his 22 outings, and a faulty bullpen (league-worst 5.70 FIP in the last 14 days) can hardly save the day. 

Tarik Skubal (26.6% K-BB%) is a massive advantage on the mound, and he's held the Royals to a .619 OPS in 118 prior plate appearances. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers have the advantage everywhere, so I'd lay the run line up to -140 in a squash match.

COVERS INTEL: With the wind blowing out to dead center at 5-8 mph, Noah Cameron's 35th-percentile ground ball rate (39.7%) could prove problematic.

Royals vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-112)

Skubal's dominance means we should see a low-scoring game, especially from the visitors. Kansas City is 3-10 O/U in its last 13 road games, and the offense is unlikely to surpass expectations here.

Although Cameron's profile has plenty of holes, it's worth pointing out that he's in his finest form of the season. The southpaw has allowed a single earned run on six hits in his last 23 IP, which could help him avoid a total blow-up spot in this difficult matchup. 

A Dodgers win tends to correlate with the Under as they are 2-8 O/U in their last 10 victories.

Royals vs Dodgers home run prediction: Shohei Ohtani (+216)

Shohei Ohtani's numbers see a boost across the board at home, where his 168 wRC+ and .297 ISO stand out on a day where the wind will be blowing out to center field. 

He's knocked 11 home runs against left-handed pitchers, and Cameron pitches to contact, which is quite dangerous against a hitter of Ohtani's caliber. 

When things get to the bullpen, Kansas City's relievers have allowed more home runs (71) than all but two other teams. 

Royals vs Dodgers weather

The wind blowing out to center field is notable. Otherwise, temperatures will be warm without being too humid.

Royals vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: Royals +270 | Dodgers -285
• Run line: Royals +1.5 (+122) | Dodgers -1.5 (-127)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (EVEN) | Under 7.5 (-104)

Royals vs Dodgers trend

The Royals are 3-12 in their last 15 away games. Find more MLB betting trends for Royals vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Royals vs Dodgers and game info

Royals vs Dodgers latest injuries

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The Cubs had an exceptional week, ending a 17-game stretch without an off day with a 12-5 mark. That included six wins in the seven games since last Monday against the Dodgers, Blue Jays and Royals. They came from behind in five of the six wins and performed well offensively, defensively and on the mound.

Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.

Three up

Pete Crow-Armstrong solidified his MVP argument

Over the seven games, PCA batted .345/.457/.621 (10-for-29) with two doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, 11 runs scored, six walks and four stolen bases.

I mean, that’s a month for some guys. He continues to lead all MLB players in fWAR at 8.0 — that gives him a chance to have a 10 WAR season which is extremely rare for any player, much less a member of the Chicago Cubs. (His bWAR number is currently 7.4.)

We are seeing a special season from PCA and he’s only 24 years old.

We all know how he can create chaos on the basepaths, and when he did that in the 11th inning Thursday, he wound up scoring the winning run [VIDEO].

Michael Busch’s bat is heating up

Busch has had a slow year, at least compared to his 2025 season when he hit 34 home runs.

This week, though, Busch batted .345/.387/.517 (10-for-29) with two doubles and a home run.

There was one report last month that said Busch had changed his approach this year and is walking more (68 walks already compared to 56 all of last year), but it might have come at the expense of some power:

“I don’t think there’s one reason. I’m not going into the box necessarily trying to walk, just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Busch said before Saturday’s win in Pittsburgh. “That’s basically my approach. I’m always happy with a walk, but there are some things that go into it, except just trying to walk. A lot of it is just having some experience now. I’ve been in the league a few years and I think I have a better idea of what pitchers are trying to do with me.”

He’s still a productive hitter and continues to play strong defense at first base. Hopefully, some of the power will return over the season’s last few weeks.

Jacob Webb has become a lockdown closer

You don’t necessarily have to throw 100 miles per hour to be an effective closer in 2026 MLB. What you need is to throw strikes and have the right mindset, and Webb seems to have that.

Over the week he posted two saves — one after the Dodgers got to within a run Wednesday in what originally seemed a blowout — and retired all nine batters he faced, two by strikeout.

Webb has now had 19 straight scoreless appearances in which he’s thrown 19.1 innings and struck out 19, with a WHIP of 0.879. In those games he’s posted five saves (no blown saves) and three holds.

Here’s his strikeout of Kyle Isbel on a nasty changeup to nail down Friday’s win [VIDEO].

There are a bunch of honorable mentions this week, including Shōta Imanaga again putting up an outstanding start, ditto for Kevin Gausman, and Ian Happ finally coming out of his slump with two big games Saturday and Sunday.

Three down

Caleb Thielbar, yikes

Thielbar had a rough game against the Dodgers, allowing four runs and recording only one out, requiring Webb to come in and get the aforementioned save.

Then he allowed a pair of runs to the Royals Friday that ultimately turned out to be the difference in the game.

In between, though, he threw a scoreless 10th inning against the Blue Jays Friday, retiring all three batters he faced on only 12 pitches, helping set up PCA’s heroics in the 11th.

Clay Holmes had a rough first Cubs start

Holmes is likely still shaking off some rust from being on the shelf with a broken leg for three months, so I’m not going to criticize his outing that much.

One thing that was good: Of the 12 outs he recorded, 11 were on the ground balls that are his signature (the other was a strikeout). Keep doing that and good things should follow.

This space intentionally left blank

You know what, the Cubs had a really good week and so did almost everyone on the active roster. I looked up and down the list to find a third “down” entry and, well, no one really qualified. This is the first time I’ve done that in all the years I’ve been doing this feature.

We are watching what could be a special season for the Chicago Cubs.

I did want to make one small note about this Cubs season. As you know, the team has used a lot of pitchers this year, 38 of them (excluding Carson Kelly, who threw one inning in a blowout). That leads the major leagues this year.

Of those 38, there are six who made a single appearance for the team and at least three of them — Charlie Barnes, Yacksel Rios and Luke Little — will not return, as they are now with other teams. Three others — Ty Blach, Andrew Wantz and Antoine Kelly — are still in the Cubs organization and could theoretically pitch for the team again this year.

Just an interesting footnote to this potentially special season.

The mid-season Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs) voting period has finished, so it’s time to reveal the community’s top 30 prospects in the Colorado system. These prospects will be revealed over the next couple of weeks to give fans an overview of players who could make an impact on the Colorado Rockies soon.

First up: An introduction to the list and then a rundown of every single-ballot player to get votes (ranking from T-67 to 53). Later this week, I will reveal the multi-ballot players who landed outside the top 35, then I’ll reveal the five honorable mention PuRPs and move to the top 30 after that, five at a time. I’ll conclude the series with a voting summary and a state of the system post.

There were more qualifying ballots (29) than at pre-season (19), not surprising given the system’s improvement vs. this time last year, including a lauded draft class and some pieces from selling at the trade deadline. There were 68 players named at least once on a ballot (up from 55 in the pre-season 2026 list). There were 53 players named on multiple ballots (up from 46), while 32 were listed on at least 10 ballots (up from 31) and therefore had unmodified point totals. There were 23 different prospects receiving a top 10 placement on at least one list (up from 19), with the top 16 PuRPs all receiving at least one top ten vote. The top 17 made it on over 80% of ballots, so the top group was more or less a consensus. Here is a link to this list’s polling thread.

To score the voting, 30 points were granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on ten ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast. If necessary, the first tiebreaker went to the player who was ranked on the most ballots, then to the one who ranked highest on an individual PuRPs ballot, the third tiebreaker was the mode ballot — no ties were broken in the top 30 this time around.

All prospects in the system who retained their Rookie of the Year eligibility (fewer than 130 ABs, 50 IP, and 45 days on the active roster — IL time is not included) were eligible for selection on this list. Since the pre-season 2026 balloting, two PuRPs lost eligibility.

For each player on the PuRPs list, I’ll include a link to individual stats and contract status (via Baseball-Reference) and notes on their scouting reports, if applicable. For the sake of full disclosure, I’ll also include where I put each player on my personal ballot. With players receiving votes, I’ll provide the B-Ref link and voting stats, plus a short blurb. All ages will be as of the day the article is posted.

Remember, statistics are not the end-all, be-all when evaluating these players. Context is hugely important (notably, the player’s age relative to the league’s average, the league’s average offensive numbers, or the player’s 40-man roster calendar), as is the fact that injuries to prospects can affect both their tools and their stats. I’ll try to make mention of instances where this is the case as we go on.

Without further ado, here are the single ballot players in 2026 mid-season PuRPs voting:

Single Ballot Players

T-67. Jimmy Obertop (0.1 points, 1 ballot) — The 26-year-old righty is a catcher/first baseman who was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2025 out of Clemson. In two seasons in the system, Obertop has served as a reserve at both positions, moving up the system to Double-A Hartford this year. In 108 plate appearances there, Obertop’s walk/strikeout-heavy .209/.370/.372 line has been slightly above league average (106 wRC+).

T-67. TJ Shook (0.1 points, 1 ballot) — The 28-year-old righty reliever joined the Rockies this off-season in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft from the Mets. The 6’4” pitcher had been toiling in the minors since 2020 and has spent most of his time this season in the Triple-A Albuquerque pen. In a tough environment for pitchers, Shook’s 3.18 ERA in 45.1 innings across 37 games stands out. Shook was added to the 40 man roster and made his Major League debut on June 2nd. He spent a week in early June and one in early July with the Rockies, allowing six runs on ten hits and a walk with six strikeouts in 5.2 innings across four games (-0.1 rWAR).

T-64. Mason Albright (0.2 points, 1 ballot) — The former Angels farmhand has been in the system since the 2023 trade for Randal Grichuk and C.J. Cron. The 23-year-old 6’0” lefty starter moved up the ladder since the trade to Triple-A Albuquerque last year, but he has been sidelined by pre-season Tommy John surgery and hasn’t pitched in 2026. No individual pitch stands out in Albright’s mix (maybe the curveball); rather it’s the overall polish and feel for pitching he displays that sets him apart, though we’ll need to wait and see how he recovers entering 2027 for a fresh evaluation.

T-64. Sandy Ozuna (0.2 points, 1 ballot) — The 20-year-old righty pitcher signed out of the Dominican Republic for a mere $45k in 2023, but the 6’3” hurler has emerged as a real prospect who has been limited by injury to just 95.1 innings across four seasons. This season, Ozuna didn’t debut until early June but has thrown 20 innings across nine starts, seven in the Arizona Complex League and two with Low-A Fresno, where in total he has a 5.40 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 12.2 K/9 rate, and 4.5 BB/9 rate.

Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs listed Ozuna in the “Clipped Wings” honorable mention area of the system in March:

Ozuna had among the best stuff of Colorado’s complex-level group in 2024, but he missed time with an undisclosed injury and his arm strength was way down when he did get on the field. His ultra-long, inconsistent arm action already created a lot of relief risk.

Ozuna is healthy now, so we’ll see if he can carry that potential all the way through the 2027 off-season.

T-64. Riley Kelly(0.2 points, 1 ballot) — The pre-season No. 27 PuRP drops to single ballot status at mid-season. Kelly was Colorado’s fourth-round pick, 107th overall, in the 2025 draft out of UC-Irvine. The 6’5” 21-year-old righty starter signed for a $700k bonus, just about $15k under the slot value. Like many other high Rockies draftees, Kelly was a high school quarterback with some good athleticism. His standout trait is a high-RPM (3,000+) curveball, combined with low to mid-90s velocity and a decent changeup.

Here’s what Keith Law of the Athletic wrote about Kelly when he ranked him 20th in the system before the season:

Colorado’s fourth-rounder in 2024, Kelly sits 91-93 with a straight changeup that missed a ton of bats while he was in college and an 11/5 curveball that looks like it should be plus. If he gets a half-grade of command and control better, he’s a back-end starter.

As a pro, Kelly was assigned this season to Low-A Fresno, where he is league-average age. In 65 innings across 15 games, Kelly’s 5.40 ERA and 1.40 WHIP don’t stand out but his 12.0 K/9 rate (4.3 BB/9 rate) is good. If he had avoided the longball (he’s allowed 10 homers this season) a bit more, Kelly would seem right on schedule, but instead he’s been lost a bit in the shuffle for PuRPs voters this season and is now on the IL. Kelly is a 35+ FV player for me and is still firmly on my radar for future PuRPs lists.

T-61. Kyle Fossum(0.3 points, 1 ballot) — The 24-year-old outfielder was signed as an un-drafted free agent in February out of Youngstown State and was assigned to Low-A Fresno, where he is about two years older than league average. Fossum is hitting .268/.356/.455 with nine homers in 247 plate appearances, good for a 106 wRC+ while manning the corner outfield positions.

T-61. Braylen Wimmer (0.3 points, 1 ballot) — The 25-year-old righty utility player (he played six positions in 2025 but has mostly been in CF and RF this season) was Colorado’s eighth-round pick in 2023 out of South Carolina and received a $157k bonus. Unfortunately, Wimmer had a seizure in early November 2025 during the Arizona Fall League and needed brain surgery to remove a tumor (during which he was awake!).

Wimmer has been mostly available this season, but hasn’t achieved the success he’d had the previous few years in Double-A Hartford, where he is 1.3 years older than league average. After hitting at above league average level everywhere he’s been, Wimmer’s .228/.310/.337 line in 211 plate appearances is only worth 73 wRC+ this year.

Gawlowski of FanGraphs graded Wimmer as a 35+ FV prospect in March, ranking him 41st in the system:

Wimmer was a fourth-year junior when the Rockies selected him in 2023, and he has been old for his level at every stop until Double-A last year. He’s performed — his .284/.346/.389 line in 45 Double-A games was good for a 114 wRC+ — and on tools and peripherals, he has the skill set of a solid utility player. Limited pop curbs the upside here: He has fringy raw power, his flatter swing doesn’t let him get to all of it, and there’s a chance that good spin eats him alive. Still, he’s crushed lefties, and he saw time at six defensive positions last year: He played everywhere but first, catcher, and pitcher in 2025 and has the chops to handle short. He’d have made an ideal bench player in the three-man bench era, and even now, he does enough to give managers a lot of flexibility in a reserve role.

Wimmer is an easy player to fit onto a Major League roster given his ability to play premium defensive positions while providing some pop offensively, but he needs to get right at the plate again for that to come to fruition. Wimmer is a 35+ FV player for me, but that status is tenuous until he can get back to his 2025 form.

T-61. Mark Manfredi(0.3 points, 1 ballot) — The 26-year-old lefty reliever was half of the return for Antonio Senzatela earlier this month. Manfredi, a 2023 9th rounder who was a senior sign out of Dayton, had shown well in both Double-A and Triple-A in the Brewers’ system this year. Including two appearances with Triple-A Albuquerque, the 6’4” pitcher has a 4.13 ERA in 48 innings across 36 games this year with a 1.31 WHIP, 4.7 BB/9 rate, and a 13.5 K/9 rate while allowing lefties to hit just .171 against him.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs had this to say about Manfredi after the trade (ranking him 47th in the system as a 35+ FV player after the trade):

Manfredi has a good fastball. He sits 93-97 with uphill angle. His secondaries aren’t especially nasty, but he has two different breaking balls that play up a little bit against lefties because of his arm slot, and he’ll throw the occasional changeup to keep hitters honest. His fastball is going to play enough for him to be an up/down reliever with the ceiling of a bullpen’s second lefty. But if the Brewers couldn’t coax more out of his secondary stuff, it might not be in the cards for him to climb above the 40-man fringe.

Manfredi’s first exposure to the Rule 5 draft is set for this off-season, so it’s quite possible the Rockies could add him to the 40-man roster for some big league exposure down the stretch this season.

T-59. Cruzmel Arias(0.4 points, 1 ballot) — The 22-year-old Venezuelan catcher was signed in 2022 and spent three seasons in the Dominican Summer League before coming stateside in 2025, where he was the back-up on the ACL team. This season, Arias has again played the back-up role for the ACL team as well as Low-A Fresno for a few weeks. Across those levels in 2026, Arias has hit .247/.322/.325 in 87 plate appearances while throwing out 23% of base stealers.

T-59. Larry Suero(0.4 points, 1 ballot) — The 18-year-old Dominican was signed for $425k in 2025 as a shortstop, but he played 2025 at third base and in 2026 he’s played mostly center field in a repeat engagement in the DSL. The 6’2” lefty hitter, righty thrower has shown well in his second go-around in the DSL, hitting .269/.427/.506 with eight homers in 203 plate appearances (125 wRC+).

Suero was ranked as the 34th best international free agent by MLB Pipeline in 2025, here was their write-up at the time:

Suero boasts a sweet left-handed swing that features minimal moving parts and a slight front-foot toe tap reminiscent of All-Star Michael Brantley. At 182 pounds and growing, he displays minimal drift with his hands and has a repeatable bat path that enables him to make contact consistently, with an elevated feel for tapping into power during game action.

It’s not uncommon for the majority of talented international prospects to spend considerable time at shortstop as youngsters due to their preternatural gifts, which was the case early on for Suero. But as his body continues to fill out and his bat emerges as his primary carrying tool, Suero has been getting extended looks at second and third base. He has solid hands and quick actions along with average speed, which projects to make him an infielder in the long term, albeit one whose bat will make the biggest impact.

Suero’s ability to play both infield and outfield is a good sign, let’s see where he fits in once he comes stateside (presumably next year).

T-57. Eriel Dihigo(0.4 points, 1 ballot) — The 19-year-old Cuban righty third-baseman was signed in 2024 for a $500k bonus — and yes, he is a descendant of legendary Cuban player Martin Dihigo. After two strong seasons in the DSL, Dihigo played 2026 for the Rockies’ loaded ACL team, which won the league championship on Dihigo’s walk-off RBI groundout. Dihigo hit an impressive .351/.475/.532 in 140 plate appearances, walking in 15% of plate appearances (striking out in 19% of them), good for a 152 wRC+. He mostly manned third base but also played a little left field.

Gawlowski of FanGraphs listed Dihigo as a Prospect of Note before the season:

Dihigo got half a million dollars in the 2024 international class. After a strong showing in the DSL that year, he repeated the level last season and was again productive. While he still has a lot of projection ahead, he’s lean and without much power for a third baseman, and even though it’s early days, he has the look of a tweener. 

Dihigo’s plate discipline numbers are encouraging and part of why he’s a 35+ FV player for me, let’s see if that offensive production translates to full-season ball next year.

T-57. Jake Brooks(0.4 points, 1 ballot) — The 25-year-old righty starter was acquired from the Marlins this past off-season in exchange for Bradley Blalock. The 6’4” hurler, who will be Rule 5 eligible after the season as a 2023 draftee (11th round from UCLA), has spent the season in the rotation between Double-A and Triple-A.

Brooks has soaked up innings this year, making 22 total starts and throwing 115 1/3 innings between the two levels. In Hartford, Brooks had a 4.71 ERA in 78 1/3 innings with a 7.6 K/9 rate and 1.8 BB/9 rate. In seven starts in the tough Pacific Coast League with Albuquerque, Brooks has posted a 6.81 ERA in 37 frames with a 5.6 K/9 rate and 2.4 BB/9 rate. That’s not a lot of strikeouts, but he’s shown the ability to get some outs in the PCL if the Rockies need a stopgap starter down the stretch.

55. Carlos Torres (0.7 points, 1 ballot) — The 25-year-old righty reliever was Colorado’s 20th-round pick in 2022 out of Lehigh. The 6’4” Puerto Rican pitcher is repeating at Double-A Hartford this season, where he is of league-average age. In 52.2 innings across 34 games, Torres has a 3.93 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 7.3 K/9 rate, and 2.1 BB/9 rate with four saves. He’s done well against right-handed batters, holding them to a .615 OPS, but lefties have hit Torres hard (.933 OPS against).

54. Blas Castaño (0.9 points, 1 ballot) — The 27-year-old Dominican righty reliever was a waiver pick-up this April from the Mariners, with whom Castaño made his big league debut last year after seven years in the minors. The 5’10” Castaño was a starter most of the time until this year, when he began the year in the bullpen with Seattle and continued in that role with both Triple-A Albuquerque and the Rockies.

Castaño was called upon for two one-day stints to the Rockies, then he stuck with the big league club for about a month between late May and late June before going on the IL with a pectoral strain. In ten games, Castaño has thrown 20.2 innings for the Rockies this year with a 3.92 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 7.4 K/9 rate, and 2.6 BB/9 rate — which is worth 0.4 rWAR, placing him seventh on the team among pitchers this year. He’s also been good with Albuquerque, throwing 12 1/3 innings with a 3.65 ERA in ten games.

Castaño was ranked 20th in the Mariners system before the season as a 35+ FV player by Gawlowski of FanGraphs:

Castaño is a fun watch. He’s a small, lower-slot guy who generates big horizontal movement on all four of his offerings, and his ability to run his stuff on and off the plate helps him limit damage on contact. He’s got a big personality out there, which works for and against him: outward competitiveness is great, emotionally-charged ABS-challenges less so. Castaño’s ability to generate grounders is good but not special enough to work as a full-time starter, given his lack of a bat-missing secondary. He briefly debuted in 2025 and projects as a no. 6/swing type.

Castaño isn’t on the Rockies system rank right now for FanGraphs, but nonetheless he represents a ready relief option who could exhaust his rookie eligibility by the end of the season.

53. Bryson Hammer(1.4 points, 1 ballot) — The 24-year-old lefty pitcher was Colorado’s 12th-round pick in 2023 from Dallas Baptist. After being a pure reliever as a pro through 2025, Hammer stretched out into the starting rotation with High-A Spokane, making his first start in May. On the balance, the experiment has yielded good results, as Hammer posted a 4.34 ERA with a 1.45 WHIP, 9.8 K/9 rate, and 4.0 BB/9 rate in 85 innings across 20 games (14 starts) with Spokane before a promotion to Double-A Hartford recently — in fact, he earned the Northwest League Pitcher of the Month award for July.

The role change is intriguing and the results haven’t been bad as Hammer has nearly doubled his 2025 innings total already. He’ll be Rule 5 eligible this off-season.

Thanks to all who voted this time around! Next time I’ll reveal players who were listed between two and five times on ballots.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Congratulations to Mauricio Dubón, who has been named as this year’s recipient of the MLBPAA’s Heart & Hustle Award for the Atlanta Braves.

More on the award from MLB:

Now in its 21st year, this prestigious honor is presented annually to active players who exemplify a true passion for the game and who best embody the values, spirit and traditions of the game. The Heart and Hustle Award is the only award in Major League Baseball that is voted on by former players. Voting for team winners is conducted prior to the All-Star break.

To determine the winners, the MLBPAA formed 30 committees comprised of alumni players with established relationships to each team. One player from each Major League team is chosen by the committees based on their passion, desire and work ethic demonstrated both on and off the field. At the conclusion of the season, all alumni members and fans will vote to select the final winner from the 30 team winners. The previous overall recipients include: David Eckstein (2005), Craig Biggio (2006, 2007), Grady Sizemore (2008), Albert Pujols (2009), Roy Halladay (2010), Torii Hunter (2011), Mike Trout (2012), Dustin Pedroia (2013), Josh Harrison (2014), Anthony Rizzo (2015), Todd Frazier (2016), Brett Gardner (2017), Mookie Betts (2018), Howie Kendrick (2019), Ozzie Albies (2021), Paul Goldschmidt (2022), Marcus Semien (2023) and Bobby Witt Jr. (2024, 2025).

The 2026 overall Heart and Hustle Award winner will be announced in mid-November on MLB Network.

If heart and hustle doesn’t perfectly describe Dubón’s performance with the Braves this season, I don’t know what else does. Remember when he left eye black on the wall in Colorado? Atlanta traded for him in the offseason with Houston for an infielder swap for Nick Allen, intending for him to be a utilityman and valuable bench piece. Instead, injuries and underperformance paved the way for Dubón to become a nearly-everyday player, covering multiple infield and outfield positions while being a two-strike/two-out RBI machine. Off the field, he’s been hailed as a “glue guy” in the clubhouse and and a tone-setter for the team. Congratulations again, Dubie!

More on Mauricio

June 1: Mauricio Dubón’s versatility quickly making him indispensable to Braves

June 4: Mauricio Dubón: I’m “finally getting a chance” to hit in big situations

June 6: Walt Weiss: Mauricio Dubón “seems to be in the middle” of great Braves moments so far

Coming off a series split versus the San Diego Padres, the Diamondbacks prepared to welcome the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers into Chase Field for their 4th and Final series of the 2026 campaign. Due to a mixture of the Dbacks playing very well over the last month and half and the Dodgers having a season long 7 game losing streak and looking far from the World Series favorites that baseball fans are expecting, the Dodgers have seen their lead in the West go from a double digit lead to just 8.5 going into play Friday night. 

As we discussed in the last episode, the Snakes could make the most of their opportunity on the horizon and make the Dodgers sweat a little bit more than they had originally planned in regards to their pursuit of yet another NL West title with a series sweep. It would also be an opportunity for the boys in the desert to win the season series over LA for the first time since 2018 (I’m still not over that ‘18 late season collapse…).

Call of Waldy: Walk (Off) Ops 1

Friday night’s opening contest was one that saw the Dbacks in front 2-0 after 5 innings behind Merrill Kelly shutting the Dodgers down and looking like he would be on his way to his first regular season victory against LA, but a run in all 3 of the 6th, 7th and 8th innings had the Dodgers in front and ready to not only end their 6 game losing streak but to break the hearts of all Dbacks fans in attendance.

The Dodgers $69 Million dollar closer Edwin Diaz toed the rubber in the 9th hoping to secure that outcome but after a Max Kepler leadoff walk and a 1-out steal of second base by pinch runner Jorge Barrosa, in stepped Ryan Waldschmidt with the chance to tie things up. Waldy decided he didn’t just want to tie things up but be the hero of the night and smashed a hanging slider from Diaz over the left center wall and right into the lap of a Dodger fan for his 2nd ever career home run and his first MLB walkoff hit. The fellas and I discussed how special of a moment that has to be for any major leaguer to come up clutch in that kind of scenario, but Gabe highlighted specifically his approach at the plate that at-bat along with mentioning that moments like this will be something that not only Ryan Waldschmidt would remember forever, but Dbacks fans as well.

Starting Unit Shoves…Again

Outside of a short week or so stretch back in the end of April through the start of May, the Diamondbacks starting rotation has been nothing other than spectacular for the majority of the 2026 season. Whether it Michael “Maple Maddux” Soroka having a bounce back year, Eduardo Rodriguez having a career best year that lead to his first ever All-Star nod or even the resurgence of Big Game Brandon Pfaadt since being recalled from Reno, there have been some stellar performances (and some not so stellar…were all looking at Zac Gallen I know) from this starting staff and we saw another round of that in this 3 game series yet again.

Gabe, Brandon and I all brought up different aspects of each of Merrill, Brandon and Eduardo’s recent starts that all deserve their own praise. I mentioned that Merrill, while unfortunately missing out on his first regular season W against LA, has been showing shades of the Mainstay we have been so accustomed to the past few years as he has put up a 2.82 ERA over his last 38.1 IP. 

Gabe and I gave Brandon Pfaadt his flowers for not only extending his scoreless inning streak to 25 innings along with having a 1.32 ERA since his recall from Triple A Reno, but the fact that he was able to put up 7 shutout against one of the best offenses in baseball that has also seen him over 10 times and could have been used to seeing his arsenal more than other teams.

Brandon on the other hand thought that out of all the Dbacks starters in this series, ERod’s 115 pitches tossed across 7 innings was the most gutsy performance out of all. It was revealed by Torey Lovullo after the game that 4 bullpen arms were unavailable (or redlined), so knowing that the bullpen was more taxed then we might have known at the time adds more reasoning as to why some might agree with Brandon that this outing was the best of the bunch this series.

“Because of the Implication”

As mentioned previously by the crew, a sweep of the Dodgers this series would have been the perfect outcome because not only would have extended the Dodgers losing streak to 9 games, it would have brought the Snakes within 5.5 games of the NL West lead. Even though cutting the deficit from 8.5 top 7.5 doesn’t sound as exciting as a 5.5 deficit, it’s something that I dont think many fans expected as the Dodgers are usually running away with the West crown around this time of the year.

The fellas and I discussed the implications that this series could have for not just the NL WIld Card race, but for the whole NL West race as a whole. Gabe and I agreed that making the Dodgers have to try to still secure the title within the final week and keeping them from resting starters sounds ideal, Brandon brought up the counter point that in 2023 there were multiple reports that the Dodgers may have struggled to stay up to speed after their weeks rest and that resting could take some of their momentum away from them before October baseball gets underway.

Are the odds that the Dbacks or even Padres storm all the way back to take the West crown in their favor? No not really (+3000 odds or higher on most sites for both the Snakes and the Pads), but crazier things have happened, one of the most famous being the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals being 10.5 games out of the NL WIld Card race on August 25th to end up stealing that spot from the Braves on the final day of the regular season en route to one of the most memorable Fall Classics we’ve seen in all of postseason history.

Rocky 3

We ended off the night looking at the 3rd and final NL West matchup of the homestand, as the Dbacks would be welcoming the Last Place Colorado Rockies into the desert for their 3rd series against each other. 

The Rockies find themselves nearly 30 games under .500 heading into this series but don’t let that fool you, they have some talent on their roster that can make an impact at any moment, most notable former snake Jake McCarthy who is having a phenomenal 1st season in the Mile High City as Jake is slashing .305/.341/.516 for a .816 OPS and a 122 OPS+.

This will also be the Diamondbacks 3rd time facing RHP Tomoyuki Sugano, who in his 2 previous starts against the snakes has only allowed 2 runs in each outing, mostly because of his nasty splitter.

There aren’t going to be many easy teams left on the Diamondbacks schedule for the rest of August as they still have matchups against the Braves, Red Sox, Cubs and Phillies before the Calendar turns over to the last month of the regular season, so this series is one where the Dbacks need to come away with a series victory and minimum, but a series sweep would set them up for great success heading into a tough 6 game stretch in Atlanta and then Boston.