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ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - AUGUST 31: Robert Stock #89 of the New York Mets pitches in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on August 31, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Meet the Mets
Robert Stock turned in the best start his career to help the Mets get past the Rays 3-2. Mark Vientos homered in his first game back from the injured list, and the Mets held on after building a three-run lead.
Mark Bowman wondered whether this could be Chris Sale’s best season.
The Braves fell 7-3 to the Giants in a makeup game. After the game, Dylan Lee said he believes he’s tipping pitches, which might explain his second half woes for Atlanta.
The Nationals doubled up the Marlins 6-3. Daylen Lile, who was named NL Player of the Week, hit two home runs in the victory.
Around Major League Baseball
The Brewers continued to reign supreme in the latest MLB Power Rankings.
Anthony Castrovince explored 10 records that define Major League Baseball.
There may not be much at stake for the Mets in September, but there’s a lot at stake in general for the rest of the league.
Sarah Langs looked at what it means to be in first place entering September.
In addition to adding Tommy Pham, the White Sox acquired Jake Cave from the Rays.
The Red Sox placed Willson Contreras on the IL with a hamstring strain.
One of Boston’s broadcasters apologized for comments he made about the Yankees on a recent broadcast, saying they ‘crossed a line’.
In his return to Chase Field, Ketel Marte spoke to the media about his recent absence and said he plans to address his teammates.
Rafael Devers hit his 30th home run of the year to help guide San Francisco past the Braves.
The Padres blanked the Reds 5-0.
The Red Sox came back to beat the Mariners 9-8 in 10 innings. Roman Anthony and Trevor Story returned to the lineup with a bang in the win.
The Orioles beat the Rockies 2-1 to improve their record to 69-69, the first time they’ve been .500 this year since April, when they were 15-15.
The Twins beat up the Tigers 11-1.
The Cubs walloped the NL Central-leading Brewers 17-3. The Cubs hit a Wrigley record nine home runs to cap off a record-setting August, where they hit 62 dingers.
The Rangers easily handled the Athletics 8-1.
In a battle of first place clubs, the Astros defeated the White Sox 6-3.
Tom Seaver whiffed 10 Pirates in a 3-0 shutout win on this date in 1975. In the process, he secured 200+ strikeouts for the eighth straight season, becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to do so.
A Boston Red Sox broadcaster has apologized for suggesting that the team's pitchers should intentionally throw at New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm for his aggressive play during a blowout win over the weekend.
Radio play-by-play announcer WIll Flemming made a number of pointed comments about Chisholm, including calling him a "bush league player" after he swiped two bases in the eighth inning of the teams' game on Sunday, Aug. 30. The Yankees were leading 7-1 at the time.
Flemming went on to suggest that Red Sox pitcher Jovani Moran should intentionally throw at Yankees batter Austin Wells in retaliation.
Red Sox radio broadcaster Will Flemming says Boston's pitcher should drill Austin Wells and fight Jazz Chisholm Jr. because he thinks Chisholm is a "bush league player" that "doesn't play the game the right way" pic.twitter.com/wtXivJobxG
The comments added even more animosity to the longstanding rivalry between the two teams, and several Yankees players pushed back the following day,
"You've seen teams – actually them (last season) – do the same thing where they're pouring on runs. We didn't have nothing to say or nothing to do about it," Chisholm told reporters on Monday before the Yankees' game against the Los Angeles Angels. "That's just showing how unprofessional he is."
Added Yankees captain Aaron Judge: "He needs to stay out of that and not be telling people to throw at players and injure players. That's not what this game's about."
Flemming was not on the air for the Red Sox's home game Monday night against the Seattle Mariners. WEEI, the Red Sox's flagship station, said he was previously scheduled to be off this series.
However, Flemming did take to social media to address the controversy.
"My comments during yesterday's broadcast crossed a line," he wrote on X. "I'm emotional and a fan at heart and that bled into the broadcast ...
"I meant no disrespect to the Yankees players or organization. I could and should have used different words. These rivalry games get me fired up; I apologize for letting the emotion of the moment get the best of me."
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Flemming also apologized to him in a phone call on Monday.
Boone said he was the one – not Chisholm – who made the decision on the steal attempts since the Red Sox weren't holding the runner at the time.
The Red Sox and Yankees don't play again in the regular season, but they currently hold the first and second wild-card playoff spots in the American League, which would have them on track to face each other in a best-of-three series to start the playoffs.
HARRISBURG, PA - AUGUST 27: Ethan Anderson #22 of the Chesapeake Baysox celebrates with teammate Aron Estrada #10 after hitting a home run in the fifth inning during the game between the Chesapeake Baysox and the Harrisburg Senators at FNB Field on Thursday, August 27, 2026 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Casey Saussaman/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
As the minor league seasons start to wind down — with one week left for Low- and High-A, two weeks remaining for Double-A, and three for Triple-A — the Orioles’ four affiliates can clearly be delineated into the haves and the have-nots. The Frederick Keys and Chesapeake Baysox are surging, with the former headed to the league playoffs and the latter featuring a drool-worthy, prospect-laden rotation. The Norfolk Tides and Delmarva Shorebirds, meanwhile, are limping to the end of miserable seasons.
Here’s our weekly update of the latest goings-on in the Orioles’ minor league system.
Triple-A Norfolk Tides
Last week’s results: 4-2 at Durham Bulls (Rays)
Next week’s opponent: vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins)
Second-half record: 21-33, last place (12.5 GB) in International League East
Overall season record: 49-80
The Tides’ offense hit home runs this week — eight in all — but otherwise struggled, scoring just 22 runs and posting a .649 OPS. It was enough to win the series anyway. Ryan Noda and José Barrero socked two homers apiece, but each had only one other hit. Brandon Butterworth launched his first Triple-A dinger. The most realistic candidates for a September call-up, Heston Kjerstad and Enrique Bradfield Jr., were just OK. Kjerstad had six hits but no RBIs. Bradfield had more strikeouts (seven) than times reaching base (six). Will either make an appearance for the Orioles before the year is out? One guy who probably won’t is Creed Willems, who went 4-for-19 to drop his season OPS to .752.
The standout pitching performance of the week belonged to Cade Povich, who worked a 5.2 scoreless inning gem with 11 strikeouts. That’ll play. His reward was getting called up to the majors to pitch at Coors Field last night. No other Tides starting pitcher particularly stood out. Michael Forret, pitching against his former team, held the Bulls to two hits and two earned runs in five innings, but walked four. Juaron Watts-Brown continues to have a tough time at the Triple-A level, with a four-inning, four-run performance this week that inflated his Norfolk ERA to 7.84.
In the bullpen, lefty Andrew Magno added another two scoreless outings to his ledger, lowering his season ERA to 1.36. His 4.9 BB/9 rate is his biggest concern but he’s been otherwise effective, so it’s a little surprising he hasn’t gotten even a cup of coffee in the majors. Southpaw prospect Luis De León, who’s just been converted to relief, had one great outing (a perfect inning, 2 Ks) and one dud (two HRs, three runs in 0.2 IP).
On the other side of the field, former Orioles first-rounder Caden Bodine, part of the Shane Baz trade, made his Triple-A debut for Durham this week and was 8-for-15 with two homers. Bodine has exploded as a prospect in the Rays’ system, rocketing up four levels in one season with a combined .350/.415/.529 slash line. Baz has been solid enough for the Orioles, but Bodine is threatening to make the O’s regret that trade.
Last week’s results: 4-2 at Harrisburg Senators (Nationals)
Next week’s opponent: vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox)
Second-half record: 31-25, second place (6.5 GB) in Eastern League Southwest
Overall season record: 60-64
If you’re hoping to attend a Baysox game this year, this upcoming week is your last opportunity. It’s their final home series before they finish this season in Richmond. The Baysox are ending strong, currently in second place in their division, but with little hope of catching first-place Erie at 6.5 games behind and just 12 to play.
Aron Estrada just continues to get on base, with six hits and five walks this week. After a slow start this year with a .624 OPS in April, the 21-year-old infielder has an OPS of .850 or better every month since. I’d like to see him spend a week or two at Triple-A after Chesapeake’s season ends. First baseman Victor Figueroa had his best week yet at Double-A with eight hits, including three doubles and a homer, pushing his Chesapeake OPS over .800.
Ethan Anderson rejoined the Baysox for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in early July and was one of nine different hitters to homer this week. Wehiwa Aloy was another one, but was just 4-for-21 this week. Vance Honeycutt had one huge game, collecting 11 total bases in a four-hit effort on Friday, but was 1-for-15 in the rest of the series.
Let’s talk about this incredibly stacked Baysox rotation that features the Orioles’ #2, #3, and #4 prospects on MLB Pipeline — Anthony Eyanson, Joseph Dzierwa, and Caden Hunter, respectively — along with #14 prospect JT Quinn and former top-15 prospect Patrick Reilly, back from Tommy John surgery. Yet it was the one starter not among that group, lefty Sebastian Gongora, who had Chesapeake’s lone quality start this week. He held Harrisburg to two runs in six innings, including a homer by rehabbing MLB slugger James Wood.
The other five starters were solid, too, combining for a 3.32 ERA, though none worked more than five innings. Eyanson and Hunter each had eight strikeouts; Quinn and Reilly seven. Surprisingly it was Dzierwa who fared the worst, giving up four earned runs for the first time all season. His ERA rocketed all the way up…to 2.21.
Last week’s results: 5-1 vs. Asheville Tourists (Astros)
Next week’s opponent: at Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)
Second-half record: 36-22, first place (1.0 game ahead) in South Atlantic League North
Overall season record: 77-45
The Keys already clinched a spot in the Division Series by winning their division in the first half, and now they’re on the verge of winning the second half, too. If they do, I feel like they should be allowed to skip the Division Series and go straight to the next round of playoffs, but it doesn’t work that way. They’ll play against the second half runner-up.
Frederick is continuing to roll even after many of their first-half contributors like Dzierwa, Hunter, Figueroa, and Aloy got promoted to Double-A and Ike Irish suffered a season-ending injury. The addition of Enddy Azocar in the Adley Rutschman trade has helped a lot; he added another five hits this week and has a .986 OPS in 21 games since joining the organization. Jaiden Lo Re is fresh up from Low-A — he should be required to change his name to Jaiden Hi Re now — and went 3-for-17 with a homer in his first week with Frederick.
Boston Bateman was the Keys pitching prospect to watch this week. The 20-year-old lefty has battled some nagging injuries of late, but he looked no worse for the wear in a dominant performance: four scoreless innings, one hit, seven strikeouts. Frederick’s other top mound prospect, Kyson Witherspoon, did not appear this week.
Last week’s results: 2-4 vs. Fredericksburg Nationals
Next week’s opponent: at Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox)
Second-half record: 21-39, last place (18.5 GB) in Carolina League North
Overall season record: 44-82
The Shorebirds’ miserable season is almost over, as just one series remains on their schedule. But there’s not much reason to think that things will improve next year, because they rarely do for the Delmarva club. This marks their fifth consecutive season finishing in last place in their division, and their combined record in that span is 253-394, a winning percentage of .391. Ouch.
The Orioles’ first two 2026 draft picks, outfielders Eric Booth Jr. and Ty Head, are getting their feet wet at this level. Head, with five hits this week, is hitting .321 with an .891 OPS in 15 games. Booth is off to a slower start (.190 AVG, .535 OPS), which is not unexpected for an 18-year-0ld straight out of high school. Two other 2026 draftees, fifth-round shortstop Jimmy Anderson and 10th-round infielder Carlos Sanchez, have also debuted here. They combined to reached base 16 times this week. Overall, though, the Delmarva offense is in a sorry state. They scored a league-worst 15 runs this week and were shut out three times.
A few pitchers from this year’s draft class are with the Shorebirds as well: ninth rounder Collin McKinney, 15th rounder Braden Smith, and 17th rounder Diego Gutierrez, all right-handers. Gutierrez made his pro debut by striking out the side in a scoreless frame. Pretty good start!
Unfortunately, the Esteban Mejia experiment took a turn for the worse. The 19-year-old, who has a 9.06 ERA and 12.08 BB/9, had been seeing success with abbreviated outings of late, tossing three scoreless starts in a row. But this week he faced only three batters, walked all three, and left the game with a cracked fingernail.
It was an all Rutschman-trade-prospects poll last week, and Enddy Azocar pulled in 58% of the vote to beat out Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon. Azocar has been in the organization for less than a month and he’s already won two of these polls, joining fellow two-time winners Caden Hunter, Ike Irish, and Aron Estrada. One-time winners include Victor Figueroa, Payton Eeles, Braylin Tavera, Wehiwa Aloy, Jaiden Lo Re, Joseph Dzierwa, Luis De León, and Heston Kjerstad.
There weren’t a lot of showstopping performances this week, so it’s only a two-man ballot. Who’s your pick?
BOSTON, MA - AUGUST 30: Trevor Story #10 of the Boston Red Sox talks to teammate Roman Anthony #19 before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Fenway Park on August 30, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Pirates won 10-3. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello and happy Tuesday, folks. Happy primary Election Day as well; go out and do your civic duty!
Very simple question of the day for ya: how we thinking about Roman Anthony and Trevor Story’s performance after a pair of games off the injured list?
Perhaps that’s a silly question for a number of reasons. Obviously, Anthony’s already gotten a handful of extra base hits already (as well as a great slide into home to tie things up against Seattle). Meanwhile, last night’s victory might as well have been the Trevor Story game. It’s hard to complain about what we’ve seen from those two in the last 48 hours, even if it’s been merely a minuscule sample size.
Instead of looking just at the surface level numbers, I wanna know what you’ve noticed while watching these games. Tell me how jazzed you are about how hard Roman seems to be hitting the ball, looking like the type of guy we know he can be. Let me know if you’re nervous about Story’s arm maybe not being as strong as it once was. Talk about how you’re encouraged that Trevor hasn’t whiffed at every low-and-away breaking pitch he’s seen—because that’s improvement! Ask your fellow commenters when you think Roman might be patrolling the outfield on a full-time basis again this season.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have 30 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today, we look at the history of jersey #30.
Let's take a look at today's edition, which is all about goalies.
Marc Denis - 2001-2006 - Drafted by Colorado in 1995.
On June 7, 2000, Denis was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Over the course of five years, he played in 266 games, going 84-146-25.
On June 30, 2006, Denis was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Fredrik Modin and Fredrik Norrena. He set the then-NHL record for most minutes in a season with 4,511, playing 77 regular-season games for Columbus in 2002-03.
After the 2008-09 season, Denis retired after playing for the Montréal Canadiens and the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs. He is currently working as a color analyst for the Canadiens on RDS.
Fredrik Norrena - 2007-2009 - Drafted by Tampa Bay in 2002.
On June 30, 2006, Norrena was traded to the CBJ for Marc Denis. He would play in a total of 100 games, starting 35 of them. He finished his time in Columbus with a record of 35-45-11.
In 2008, the Jackets put him on waivers and reported to Syracuse. On December 20, he signed a deal in the KHL and left North America for good. After playing for years in Sweden and Finland, he would retire. After retiring, he would go into coaching, where he would coach in Finland from 2014 to 2023. He became an asst. coach for
Kölner Haie in the DEL in 2024 and will be coaching Tappara in Finland for the upcoming season.
Dan LaCosta - 2009 - Drafted by Columbus in 2004.
LaCosta played a total of four NHL games for Columbus. After Columbus, he played two years for the
Univ. of New Brunswick and then a year for the Cardiff Devils in the EIHL. He was also a goaltending coach for Cardiff.
LaCosta played in four games from 2007 to 2009. He spent the majority of his time playing for the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. He also played for the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL.
He retired in 2014 after playing a single season in England for the Cardiff Devils. He was also the goaltending coach for Cardiff.
Curtis Sanford - 2012 - Undrafted out of Owen Sound, Ontario.
Sanford signed a one-year contract with Columbus for the 11-12 season. He appeared in 36 games, going 10-18-4.
After his one year in Columbus, he left for Russia, playing for
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl for three seasons. He would retire on March 7, 2015. He spent the last few years as the goaltending coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Mike McKenna - 2014 - Drafted by Nashville in 2002.
On July 5, 2013, McKenna signed with Columbus, appearing in four games. He spent the bulk of the year playing for the Springfield Falcons of the AHL.
He would go on to play for the Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars, Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, and Philadelphia Flyers. On August 27, 2019, McKenna retired. He also spent two years as a studio analyst for the Vegas Golden Knights and three years as a Volunteer Goaltending Coach at
St. Lawrence Univ.
Curtis McElhinney - 2015-2017 - Drafted by Calgary in 2002.
McElhinney could have been listed as the player who wore #31 the best. He started 66 games for the Jackets and came in to relieve the starters another 19 times. His career record with Columbus was 26-33-8. He went on to win a pair of Stanley Cups for the Tampa Bay Lightning, backing up starter Andrei Vasilevskiy. He retired on September 25, 2021.
He was the Toronto Maple Leafs Dir. of Goaltending from 2023 to 2025.
Jean-François Bérubé - 2022 - Drafted by the LA Kings in 2009.
On June 27, 2018, Bérubé was traded by the Blackhawks to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Jordan Schroeder. He would play in 6 games for Columbus and go 3-2.
He would leave Columbus after that season and play two more AHL seasons. He is not officially retired.
Spencer Martin - 2024 - Drafted by Colorado in 2013.
On September 29, 2023, the Columbus Blue Jackets claimed Martin off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks. He would play in 13 games and go 3-8-1.
On January 19, 2024, he was put on waivers by Columbus and claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes. He left for CSKA Moskva of the KHL for the 25-26 season, but returned later in the season to play for the New York Rangers.
He is signed to the AHL's Hartford Wolfpack for 26-27.
With 30 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena, the anticipation for the season is in full swing.
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The Rangers have played 28 home games against below .500 teams who were starting, or opening with, a pitcher whose ERA sits above 4.0. They’ve gone 19-8-1 to the Over.
With Athletics relievers bleeding baserunners, the Rangers should have plenty of traffic on the basepaths throughout and are in a good spot to do the heavy lifting.
Gore ranks in the 25th percentile in both barrel rate and hard hit rate. Playing a bad, injury-plagued Athletics team will help his cause, but it’s not as if he has a spotless profile and is immune to giving up damage.
Play to 52%.
A's vs Rangers home run prediction: Jake Burger (17%)
Jake Burger is in nice form at the dish. He has piled up five extra-base hits over his last seven games, and has hit for plenty of power dating back further.
He leads the Rangers with a .341 ISO and 18.8% barrel rate over the last 20 games. He is the most consistent power threat on the roster, and he should get plenty of good pitches to hit against a steady stream of relievers out of a poor bullpen.
Todd Cordell's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 95-88, -12.95 units
Over/Under bets: 93-84-6, -3.03 units
A's vs Rangers weather
This game will be played indoors.
A's vs Rangers odds
Moneyline: A's 37% | Rangers 64%
Run line: A's +1.5 (54%) | Rangers -1.5 (47%)
Over/Under: Over 7.5 (49%) | Under 7.5 (52%)
A's vs Rangers trend
The Athletics have hit the game total Over in 17 of their last 30 games (+5.30 units, 16% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for A's vs. Rangers.
How to watch A's vs Rangers and game info
Location
Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX
Date
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026
First pitch
8:05 p.m. ET
TV
NBCSCA, RSN
A's starting pitcher
J.T. Ginn (9-8, 3.71 ERA)
Rangers starting pitcher
MacKenzie Gore (7-10, 4.40 ERA)
A's vs Rangers latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 8: RJ Barrett #9 of the New York Knicks shoots the ball during the game against the Boston Celtics on January 8, 2022 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2022 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Really, how often do you remember Rowan Junior?
Mayor Zohran Mamdani did. Speaking at the Knicks’ championship ceremony at City Hall on June 18, he made sure RJ Barrett’s name was included among those who helped build the title team:
“This championship belongs to them too, because championships aren’t just built in one season. It belongs to Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Donte DiVincenzo, Julius Randle, and also to a coach who also laid the groundwork, Tom Thibodeau.”
Still, Barrett has become strangely easy to overlook when we talk about the era that began with Thibodeau, Julius Randle, and the 2020–21 “We Here” Knicks. On this date, September 1, 2022, RJ signed an extension that appeared to establish him as part of the long-term core; 16 months later, he became the central piece of the trade that brought OG Anunoby to New York.
Rowan Alexander “RJ” Barrett Jr. arrived with bona fide basketball bloodlines. His father, Rowan Barrett Sr., starred at St. John’s, played professionally overseas, captained Canada at the 2000 Olympics, and later became general manager of Canada Basketball. His mother, Kesha, was a nationally ranked sprinter and long jumper at St. John’s. Steve Nash, one of the greatest Canadian basketball players ever, is RJ’s godfather. With all that preceding him, clearly young RJ was destined to be a professional bowler.
Born in Toronto in 2000, Barrett starred at St. Marcellinus before transferring to Montverde Academy in Florida. By the end of his high school career, he was the consensus No. 1 recruit in the class of 2018, with Naismith Prep Player of the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year honors in his trophy case.
Barrett entered Duke as the projected top pick in the 2019 draft, but his roommate Zion Williamson quickly became the main attraction in Durham. The two became close friends, referred to each other as brothers, and made history as the first freshman teammates to each average more than 20 points. Williamson’s gravitational pull (literal and figurative) pushed Barrett into the background somewhat, even as RJ set ACC freshman scoring records and earned consensus first-team All-American honors.
Meanwhile, the 2018–19 Knicks were deliberately dreadful, finishing 17–65 during the first season of the new lottery odds. Their 14% chance at Williamson turned into the third pick, with New Orleans selecting Zion and Memphis taking Ja Morant. Barrett was still considered a top-three talent and a clean fit for New York, so the Knicks pounced without hesitation. Still…he wasn’t Zion. (I still think about the woman who got the Zion Knicks tattoo ahead of draft night and wonder if she still has it…)
On draft night at Barclays Center, RJ became emotional when Adam Silver called his name, later explaining that his late maternal grandfather, a die-hard Knicks fan with Brooklyn and Jamaica roots, used to tell him he would someday play for the club. After his press conference, Barrett turned toward the cameras and declared, “Yo! I’m a Knick!” His excitement was so sweetly genuine: he wanted New York, and New York wanted him right back (but…he still wasn’t Zion…).
Never forget RJ Barrett with "Yo I'm a Knick!"
Appreciate the hard work and giving it your all with us!
Barrett’s rookie season was uneven, with 14.3 points per game on inefficient shooting. Thibodeau’s arrival changed the direction of the franchise and helped Barrett find firmer footing. He averaged 17.6 points in 2020–21, improved his shooting, defended harder, and helped Randle carry New York into the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
RJ reached 20 points per game the following season and continued to start nearly every night. When the Knicks extended him in September 2022, Barrett was only 22 and still looked like a key piece in whatever New York was becoming.
The fit never completely worked, though. Barrett and Randle both did their best work inside the arc, which cramped the paint, and Barrett never became a reliable enough three-point shooter or natural enough playmaker to solve the problem (particularly after Captain Brunson arrived). He could still bully his way downhill and occasionally produce a great Garden moment. His banked-in buzzer-beater that completed a comeback against Boston in January 2022 is a recent classic. Consistency, however, remained elusive.
Then, on December 30, 2023, the Knicks sent Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a second-round pick to Toronto for Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi (Evil Donte) Flynn. Anunoby’s defense and seamless fit transformed the team almost immediately, and it quickly became a pretty lopsided trade.
For Barrett, the deal meant going home. He became a steady 20-point scorer in Toronto, showed growth as a playmaker, and continued using his strength to batter his way toward the rim. Life hit him with tragedy when his younger brother Nathan died following an illness in March 2024. Barrett stepped away from basketball before eventually returning and speaking openly about his grief: “He was my best friend…I’m always missing him. I still text him.” Our hearts went out to him and still do.
The championship story understandably centers on Brunson, Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart. We love them all, but none were on the team when RJ arrived. MSG was still a sort of basketball wasteland. RJ brought some hope that someday soon, things would be different. He absorbed the expectations that came with being the third pick on a miserable team, helped the Knicks climb out of the lottery years, and supplied his share of memorable nights at the Garden. Mamdani remembered, and a few others still do. For a player once expected to become the face of the franchise, his name should come up more often.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 30: Rutger McGroarty #2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates the puck against Sean Walker #26 of the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period at PPG PAINTS Arena on December 30, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After last week’s look at our 2024 outlook about predicting the 2026 Penguins, let’s take the impossible stab at looking at what the 2028 Penguins could be working with.
This task is tough, since barely any players are under contract for the future. Pittsburgh only has six players under contract for 2028-29 as of right now. There’s a decent enough chance that two of them (Ryan Graves and Ville Koivunen) could be bought out or otherwise removed from the roster despite the current contractual status.
That roster buildup is by design by Kyle Dubas and the front office. The current version of the Pens is built to finish out the Crosby/Malkin era, as soon as its over the plug could get pulled in a major way to lean into a full franchise restart. Dubas has often said his goal is to continue to build in order to be strong in the short and long term, but there’s little doubt his talent pipeline lacks a lot of high-end, elite options. That could be coming and the 2028-29 Penguins might be a reason why.
The big question with this is whether or not Sidney Crosby will still be playing hockey in 2028-29. He’ll be 41-years old at that point and it would be a 24th season if he does come back. Crosby appears to still have the drive and desire to play now as much as ever, but sooner or later age and Father Time are going to end his playing career. Does he have three (or more) seasons left in him? At this point, it would be nothing more than a guess either way. There’s a good chance Crosby is still playing in 2028-29, realistically there’s also a good chance he hangs up the skates by that point. Clarity could come with Crosby’s expected upcoming contract extension – two years would commit him to playing 2028-29 and answer the question early. It sounds more likely it could be only a one-year extension.
Onto the roster projection, for now we will include Crosby (because it’s not like the team has a lot to the point of excluding him).
Top-six forwards: Sidney Crosby, Yegor Chinakhov, Ben Kindel, Tommy Novak, ?, ?
-Would love to include Koivunen here, but we haven’t seen it yet from him at the NHL level. If bought out, Koivunen would only carry a $479k cap penalty for the 2028-29 season. Ideally the Pens’ bet on him pays off, if not, then he becomes the footnote.
This listing shows the progress, yet continued challenges for Dubas. The good news: within about the last 12-15 months he has found both Kindel through the draft and Chinakhov through a trade. The bad news: Dubas needs to find another few key players in the coming years, ideally both young like he did before. Still a lot of work to do, maybe it means developing Mikhail Ilyin hoping for a big jump by Will Horcoff or Bill Zonnon, more than likely it’s going to have to be external adds.
-The Pens love to churn through a ton of options at the bottom of the lineup, which is almost certain to continue in the near future with various players getting looks and opportunities. Surely there will be unexpected additions from the trade and free agent market joining up. For best results and a healthy organization, it would be great to see as many internal development wins go up the ladder – even for players we didn’t project like Tanner Howe, Atley Calvert or Avery Hayes that certainly have some realisitic chance of being in the NHL picture two years from now.
LeftDefense: ?, ?, ?
-The picture looks bleak here. 2028 is a little too early to project someone like Tomas Galvas going from Czech league to NHL in two seasons in his early 20’s. Perhaps Jake Livanavage is in the picture. Maybe somehow it’s Owen Pickering. More than likely, we’ll just project the team needing completely new options on the left side. We’ll say there’s no Ryan Graves (who actually is under contract in 2028-29 for the final year). We said that in 2024 that he’d be gone by 2026, one of these times it’ll be right.
Right defense: Harrison Brunicke, Kaeden Korczak, ?
-The right side looks more projectable than the left at this point. Ideally a younger option like Chase Pietila or Finn Harding can even matriculate up and round out the group. That’s tough to call out of no where, so for now it’s too hazy to feel confident about projecting.
Goalie: Sergei Murashov, ?
-The Pens will surely be hoping Murashov works his way into being a longterm option in net. What the situation looks like beside him two years from now is up to interpretation. Dubas tends to flip and mix up goalies with some regularity, it stands to figure in a few years’ time there will be a fresh face involved with Murashov.
It's been an incredibly long summer, with Mathieu Darche's squad last playing a game on Apr. 14, a 2-1 loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
The offseason additions were slim -- that was expected -- with the organization saying goodbye to longtime captain Anders Lee, forward Maxim Shabanov, and backup goaltender David Rittich, bringing aboard forward Matias Maccelli and netminder Vitek Vanecek.
The Islanders also will be welcoming back forwards Kyle Palmieri and Pierre Engvall, defenseman Alexander Romanov, and backstop Semyon Varlamov from injury.
The biggest acquisition was the one Darche made with four games to go when he brought Pete DeBoer aboard. The longtime NHL head coach didn't have enough time left in the season to implement exactly what he wanted, but he has had the summer to do just that as we approach the start of training camp.
While we don't have specific dates just yet, the Islanders held their rookie camp on Sept. 11 last season, with training camp beginning on Sept. 18.
When it comes to rookie camp, just a few reminders:
No NCAA players will be in attendance, as they reported to school in early August. Also, No. 13 pick Matias Gustafsson isn't expected to be there, as his SHL season begins shortly.
For the first time, the Islanders will play in two prospect showcase games against the New Jersey Devils. The first game will be in New Jersey on Sept. 13 at 2 PM ET, and the second will be at Northwell Ice Center on Sept. 15 at 6 PM ET.
The Islanders' four preseason games consist of two against the Devils and two against the New York Rangers.
They'll kick things off in New Jersey against Devils at 1 PM ET on Sept. 20 followed by a game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 22 at 7 PM ET.
Then, their final two preseason games will be a back-to-back at UBS Arena, battling the Rangers at 7:30 PM ET on Sept. 25 before wrapping things up against the Devils on Sept. 26 at 7:30 PM ET.
The Islanders face the Toronto Maple Leafs north of the border on Sept. 30 for their season opener, a cool matchup as we are likely to see No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna make his NHL debut.
Japanese player wears Iverson’s signature cornrows
Outfit also has newspaper clippings about Osaka
Naomi Osaka channeled former NBA star Allen Iverson before her US Open first-round victory over Anastasia Zakharova on Monday.
Osaka made her usual fashionable entrance for her tournament opener, which she won in straight sets. The two-time US Open champion emerged on to the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing a long, white skirt and a gray, hooded robe featuring newspaper clippings about her.
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 30: Jalen Johnson #1 & Jonathan Kuminga #0 of the Atlanta Hawks high five during the game against the Boston Celtics on March 30, 2026 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Hawks fans and fans across the country.
With the news that Jonathan Kuminga has signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, all the major dominos in this summer’s free agency period have fallen. That means, barring a trade, the Hawks’ core roster is locked in for 2026-27.
With the team surging to the 6-seed after going 19-5 down the stretch of last season (20-6 after the All-Star break), the organization opted to retain flexibility and re-sign key free agents like CJ McCollum and Jock Landale to one-year contracts.
Add to the core of Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker the former Thunder duo Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins, and you have a roster full of potential — but also one lacking the talent to truly compete.
So I turn this microphone over to you, what letter grade would you give the Hawks this offseason?
Rockies bullpen coach Matt Buschmann works with pitcher Nick Frasso | Colorado Rockies | Kyle Cooper
As it turns out, 2026 has been a surprisingly strong year for the Colorado Rockies bullpen.
Through August 29th, Rockies relievers have been worth 3.0 fWAR, which is 15th in MLB. Their 4.81 ERA is not terrific, but it comes in 26th in baseball. (Given that their xERA was 4.80, the bullpen has performed about as expected.)
And it’s not like this has been an easy season for the bullpen, which has logged 549.2 IP this season, the sixth-most in the league.
The first thing he’s learned is that pitching at elevation is not unlike David Foster Wallace’s explanation of water in “This is water.”
It’s just the environment in which this team lives.
“I think once you’re in it a lot, it kind of goes away,” Buschmann said.
“There’s definitely some things about it, but it’s not as big a deal. From the pitcher’s perspective and what you can control, I think it’s very controllable. I think pitching at altitude becomes more (about) ‘What are you solving for?’ because a ball in play at altitude and with our field being so big, is a bit more of a penalty than a ball in play most other places.”
That imbalance requires more preparation on the part of Rockies pitchers.
“It’s just thinking through, ‘How do I attack hitters, knowing that a ball in play maybe costs a little more?” he said.
Buschmann is quick to complement the work of the Rockies bullpen staff and the way they’ve adjusted to playing at Coors and on the road.
“These guys handle it really well,” Buschmann said. “They understand how to pitch there. We’ve actually pitched at home compared on the road, pretty similarly. We get more two-strike swing-and-miss at home. So it’s not that guys don’t understand how to pitch at Coors. I think it’s just thinking through what is our attack plan, and how does that change? Because I think pitchers are going to execute fairly well in both places.”
For the record, Rockies relievers have a collective 5.91 ERA at Coors (29th worst) and a 5.14 road ERA (28th worst).
He’s also very aware of bullpen management.
“(With) relievers, you’re always managing workload,” Buschmann said. “There’s certainly injury risk in everything we do, but I think it’s more just output and ability and feeling good enough to execute and do these things, and so the fatigue more shows up in that. How good is this guy going to be? How good does he feel to go out and be his best? So managing that has been an interesting challenge.”
New technology
As one change brought in by the new front office, the Rockies are using technology to learn more about players and improve their performance — most notably, Catapult — and for that, Buschmann has worked with Brandon Stone, the Rockies manager of performance science and someone Buschmann knew from his time with the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Ultimately, we know everything that’s happening in a game,” Buschmann said. “We can measure every single thing in a game.”
The Rockies are in the process of learning how best to use that information.
“Now we’re trying to really measure ‘What do we do in between games?’ because we’re doing so much in between games, too. And when you get that total picture, you can you can basically understand ‘Here’s what’s expected of you from a workload perspective in the game.’ And if I know that, I know how to manage your workload in between games, and make sure the games don’t crush you, or they don’t fatigue you as much. And so the way to do that is to make sure your workload is high enough so that a game isn’t a big deal.”
The Catapult technology is helping the Rockies make better decisions.
“That’s helping us measure the throws and catch. It’s helping us measure not only their workload, but it’s helping us measure their strategy and how they’re going about workload. When we measure the strategy, little differences in strategy maybe tell us some underlying things that are going on. Maybe they’re tight in their lower half or upper half, and that just gets us ahead of things and makes sure we keep guys in their norm. And those things help measure when they’re outside their norm. And when they’re outside their norm in baseball, when you play every day, that can lead to kind of these small things over time end up to a big thing.”
Bullpen management
The changes aren’t limited to technology. Earlier in the season, the Rockies experimented with using bulk relievers, but they seem to have gone to a more-traditional bullpen strategy. However, Buschmann attributes that to improved length from the Rockies starters.
“Really, it’s just been a credit to our starters who, I think, have made adjustments,” Buschmann said, “and a lot of them have gotten more consistent and put together a good stretch here of our starters being being really good and getting deeper into games. And when you do that, you see the difference in how you can manage a bullpen, and maybe it lets you keep an extra leverage reliever instead of constantly worrying about length. Now you have extra leverage relievers, so each guy down there that can pitch in leverage isn’t necessarily always needing to be up.”
In addition to managing what’s happening with the Rockies, Buschmann has dealt with the bullpen churn that is part of an MLB season as relievers join the Rockies from Triple-A Albuquerque. For him, that goes back to veteran leadership.
“I think the biggest thing there is just the staples, the consistent guys, and Brennan Bernardino and Jimmy Herget and the veteran guys. It’s really fortunate for me that those guys have been there. They care about helping younger players, bringing them up, and they’re really good resources. They’ve both been in each situation you can think of, and so they were a really good resource for the younger guys to understand. ‘Here’s the expectation of you.‘ ‘Here’s you know how you need to prepare every day and to be your best.’ And so for me, it’s been leaning on those guys to make sure that they’re helping the younger guys come up.”
“So it’s I knew it would be really, I think, hopefully impactful on some of the younger guys to see him prepare every day.”
Closing thoughts
It’s been a learning season for the new Rockies coaching staff, but Buschmann identified one lesson in particular he has stuck out to him.
“You can talk about pitching at elevation, you can have ideas, but then watching it day to day, there’s so much context there that now you’re truly informed through experience,” Buschmann said.
“I think what I’m most excited about is taking that experience and now building things and iterating our philosophy, building tools that are now informed by a year of experience and seeing it and seeing things work and not work. And so I’m really excited for that and just time — like a full offseason —with this group and what we’ve experienced. (Then we can) start to go and build the things we want to build, and hit the ground running in spring instead of hit the ground like, ‘Let’s learn, everybody.‘ I think that’s the most exciting place.”
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - AUGUST 30: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts to striking out in the fifth inning while playing the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on August 30, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images
As the dog days of August turn into September, the Los Angeles Dodgers hope to turn the rough patch that they’ve gone through around and finally start scoring again.
This is the third year in a row that the Dodgers have gone through a slide like this, something that Bill Plunkett of the OC Register posits has become the feature and not a bug. This season has been especially egregious. The Dodgers were last in all NL teams in runs scored since July 1, and went 13-14 in August.
With the team having the highest average age for position players, Plunkett wonders if we are expecting too much of the Dodgers lineup?
“No. I don’t think you can expect too much of us. And we like that. We like that you think we should be scoring more,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said to that. “If you were content with us scoring three, four runs then we wouldn’t have a very good offense. I’m okay with you guys expecting more out of us. We expect more out of ourselves.”
Mookie Betts thinks that maybe fans expect a little too much, that they will always hit like they have in the past, or that they should be able to hit any pitcher at any time.
“That was when guys were throwing 92, 93 when we did that. And we were younger, yes,” Betts said of the prime years of the Dodgers’ stars, exaggerating how quickly velocity has jumped in MLB.
“I don’t care who you are. You can be Shohei or anybody, the best player in the league. You’re not hitting 100 (mph) consistently every day. Nobody is doing that. We’re facing 97, 98 every day. Then the guys who are 92, 93 – there’s something to it. Sometimes we hit it. Sometimes we don’t. That’s part of the human element of the game. But I think that part is getting missed. Y’all expect us to score six or seven (runs) every day, you know what I’m saying?”
If the Dodgers are going to three-peat, they need the offense to at least do something. The offense did barely enough last year, and there’s no reason to expect that ‘barely enough’ could get them that coveted third ring in a row.
The pitching has been phenomenal as always, and as long as it stays that way, the offense is the only thing standing in the way of another World Series win. Only one little hiccup there, hitting is always harder in the postseason. It remains to be seen if the Dodgers can eek their way to another ring.
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