Worldwide Sports News

Atlanta Braves right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver returned to the lineup card and made a rehab appearance for the Augusta GreenJackets on Tuesday evening. He underwent Tommy John surgery a little over a year ago and is ramping up just in time to contribute to the struggling Braves’ rotation. 

During Tuesday’s outing, Smith-Shawver threw three innings of one-run ball. He gave up three hits, one of them a homer, and recorded four strikeouts. 

Overall, it was an encouraging first step back for Smith-Shawver, who could factor into Atlanta’s rotation later this season if his rehab continues to go smoothly.

More Braves News:

The Braves ended the month with a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. 

MLB News:

The Miami Marlins placed reliever Anthony Bender on the 15-day injured list with a stress fracture in his right shin. Zach Brzykey has been called up to take his place in the bullpen.

Washington Nationals lefty Mitchell Parker has been diagnosed with a Grade 3 UCL sprain and will likely require Tommy John surgery. 

From the Feed:

Ronald Acuña Jr. continues to work his way back and had a full workout ahead of Tuesday’s contest.

Do you think July will shape up to be better than June? 

A more definite set of attributes, traits, and countenance has emerged after half a season of Cardinals baseball in 2026. It is surely not definitive, as this mercurial team arises from the ashes of the past. It is halfway set and halfway emerging out of the fires of change and progress like an Apollonian fever dream. Is Chaim Bloom our agent of change? It sure appears so… but, this team also has a lot of players from the wiles of John Mozeliakian machinations. What is it that they do well?

It is Monday at 7:30PM, no game on, half the season gone, A/C cranked. I worked yesterday, and it was plenty hot enough. Not tonight after a full shift of work. But I will probably have to venture out into the wall of steam tomorrow night, possibly. We will see how I feel. I’m a jack of all trades, master of none. But I’m pretty good at a lot, I’d like to think. Rennaissance man? I think not. Polymath? I hope not. Just some middle aged dude writing about baseball and other miscellany.

The Cardinals don’t have the fortune to be able to work from home. They have to go to Atlanta next. Is that even hotter than playing in StL? I would think so! But I really don’t know. Atlanta and Houston are my last two big cities to go to, and Phoenix but I’ve been to Mesa. I’d love to go to Seattle again. I know the other big cities well enough, for now. June ends with a new beginning.

The Cardinals go on their toughest stretch of the season leading up to the All-Star Break. There is no doubt about that, with a road trip to Atlanta and Chicago’s northside, and then turning around and hosting the Brewers for 4 games. And then… the Braves again. This first series at Atlanta will definitely set the tone for this stretch more than anything. As a whole, the 4 series amount to around a .590 winning percentage foe vs our 5 over guys.

How could the Cardinals possibly beat the Braves? This might come as a surprise (it was for me) the Cardinals have a little better position players. Cardinals have a better defense, no question. On offense, StL position players are batting 102 wRC+ as a group, while Atlanta is a hair below league average. Why are the Braves so good? Actually, I’m not sure. Their pitching is definitely quite a lot better than the Cardinals, but they’re not one of the best teams at pitching, either.

The Cardinals top 5 hitters by xwOBA are, you guessed it, Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera, Jordan Walker, and JJ Wetherholt. After that it drops off a cliff. But with a solid 4 above .350 xwOBA, that’s going to win some games. Winn, Church, and crew are not yet pushing this team over the top. Except newcomer Nootbaar (everything new is old again) has brought the offense a new aspect with his top notch but newly minted 2026 baseball savant page. That’s mostly bars of red there. So how does that change this offense?

For one, it appears to be insurance if Jordan Walker isn’t as good in the second half. But what if Walker truly has become one of the National League’s best hitters? That is then over half the lineup of damage-doing hitters, with the rest of them either likely to do a little better or at least have a chance of being an improvement over Scott and Pages. With a strength of schedule that seems to be relatively soft after the all-star break, I find it quite an interesting topic. If Nootbaar is not traded away, all that has to happen is Walker and Wetherholt keeping up the good work, and for the pitching to be able to not crumble under the pressure of innings and summer heat.

While looking through the lens of xwOBA, I can see a better lineup than what fangraphs wRC+ described. So, I suppose it’s a toss-up on the offenses. We will find out after these next two series are in the books. Luckily for the Cardinals, the Braves best hitter, Acuna, is currently injured. So that could be the real difference maker.

But I should add, as a team, once again, the Cardinals are better at xwOBA and are #3 in MLB as a team stat. I guess what I’m saying is, both teams offenses could heat up at any moment. This should be interesting.

Of course, when it comes to pitching, the Braves are top 5 by xwOBA and the Cardinals are bottom 5. Therein lies the big difference. St Louis pitching has been the worry all along.

Since the Cardinals are actually doing a lot better than what most people would’ve predicted at the halfway point, how are they bucking the odds? What are they doing to win games while keeping a negative run differential?

What are the Cardinals good at?

The St Louis Cardinals have a pitching staff that lead MLB in inducing groundouts, and also a middle infield defense that leads MLB in turning the double play. So, naturally, the pitching staff is leading the Big Leagues in ground into double plays. So that is our best stat. If they get on, there’s a good chance they’ll get erased through our defensive machine up the middle. Burleson has been good enough to scoop a lot of plays that no one would ever think either JJ Wetherholt or Masyn Winn would execute. Burly has been on his toes at first base.

You know what the Cardinals are also good at? Getting on base through hit-by-pitch! They are boosting their offense the toughest way possible. The Cardinals are ahead of the Angels, Mariners, and White Sox in total HBP. That’s one way to make an abundance of baserunners! Along with a good walk rate of course.

So the Cardinals are best at inducing ground balls into double plays on defense and getting hit by the pitch. Is the latter sustainable? Who knows! Kind of hope not, but if that’s a built-in trait for this team, maybe it helps just enough.

Beyond those two top tier traits, the Cardinals’ offense doesn’t strike out a lot… and xwOBA think they’ll do better. They’re rather average or mediocre at everything else.

June is over

It sure has felt like people have been a little down on the Cardinals during their recent play, so let’s take a look at the last month. The Cardinals position players have been top 10 in MLB by fWAR, tied with Detroit and just ahead of the White Sox. So the promotions and changes to the bottom of the order certainly have not hurt.

In June the Cardinals got on base at a rather beneficial .339 clip, top 5 in MLB… but ended up bottom five in HR. There was definitely a power outage, not that they were ever a huge home run threat, but they were much better than expected prior to June. So they hit less home runs in the humidity, I guess? And regressed, I digress.

Not to worry though, the Cardinals were a top 10 offense by wOBA. They should be ok, and go through different phases. As long as they gel after the All-Star Break, I think they’ll always be a strength. How much of one, we will find out. Defensively they seem to be a little worse off in June.

It is difficult to say what the better setup is: optimizing defense as we did earlier in the year, or optimizing offense as we seem to be doing now. Things will sort themselves out.

The Cardinals pitching was not a disaster in June. But they were below average, about the same as NY Mets pitching and SF Giants pitching, two other ballclubs who are struggling but not sinking to the bottom. They are above replacement level, but only by a game and a half in June.

If the Cardinals want to continue their strengths, they need Masyn Winn and JJ Wetherholt to stay healthy, and to continue run preventing center field defense. Pedro Pages may see more playing time if Jimmy Crooks III doesn’t steal his spot. That would play back into that defense that actually takes runs away from the other team.

Maybe part of that plan was Ramon Urias but he’s doubly hurt and not a big part of this team, and wasn’t really the elite defender that was advertised anyway. Blaze Jordan or Nolan Gorman types will be fine at third base, but they aren’t going to steal runs away, or be a huge difference maker with the bat either. Hahahaha just trying to rile up Blaze, Blaze Jordan fans.

These two Braves series will be more interesting than most think, and I think we can take the Cubs if they are slumping again. Wrigley can be a bad place to play sometimes, but it can also provide the long ball. It is the Brewers series that is most worrisome, we need to avoid the sweep and if we are to have any hope of beginning to catch up to them (I don’t), you just gotta win that series. But most of all, just don’t get swept while hosting the Brewcrew! Get into the All Star Break with a decent record and the rest of the season doesn’t seem so formidable.

Ok, I’m sorry, I could talk about Cardinals baseball all day. Here is the music portion of the broadcast.

1992 Music Extravaganza (Part 1)

Ok I have been reminiscing about my high school years and 1992 is where things really hit a turbo charged cultural take off. Already huge genres like hiphop and metal are absolutely on fire, fledging genres like shoegaze and industrial really begin to take off, and the overall quality of albums and how they are produced really pushed the envelope taking sounds to new heights.

1992 was a year that meant a lot to me, both when I was in high school and later in life, when I figured out I missed out on bands like Kyuss, Polvo, and many more on the list. I did have a good collection of tapes and CDs in high school though! And many of them I still love.

• Faith No More – ‘Angel Dust’ their absolute best, words cannot describe experiencing hearing this album the first few times, and living with it your whole life. Its own dimension of sound to visit when you need a good mental shakedown, it will take you to another place and that place is 1992. But it is also rather timeless, sounding still fresh today due to a crisp production and excellent songwriting with a full band and one of the best singers of all time at the top of his game.
• Polvo – ‘Cor-Crane Secret’ Chapel Hill genius guitar duo debuts with Polvo’s first official full length and it’s all of what you want in an album: creative, fun, innovative, emotive, and absolutely one of a kind. Reinventing the wheel and rewriting the script. Both catchy and devastating, but not extremely heavy in a conventional sense, they’re just more emotionally impactful and absolutely absurd. There’s no way to explain, you just have to hear it multiple times before it even starts to make sense. Then it grows…
• Kyuss – ‘Blues For The Red Sun’ an absolutely stunning wall of sound with the only rocker to be in the same territory as Chris Cornell on vocals, but sounding more like what I would call a male Janis Joplin. More raw and over the top. And that goes for the whole band. That California desert sound was put on the map by this band, and it is the precursor to the more popular and well known Queens of the Stone Age. I love both bands, but I’d rather hear Kyuss, to be honest. Regardless, 1992 is the beginning… they started to become famous because of “generator parties” out in the desert. They never quite got behind cult status, but one of the best American bands. And this sounded like nothing else before or since!
• Sonic Youth – ‘Dirty’ NYC was always on the map in the 90s, since they had Sonic Youth and the Beastie Boys in the prior decade. And a gazillion more, but …this album changed my thinking about music. I found this one before Helmet, another NYC band, before Polvo, they were some article in a magazine and sounded so cool I bought this CD. And I still love it a whole bunch. Extremely influential to bands who will never make it big. The 1990s were a whole different dimension.
• Helmet – ‘Meantime’ so far on the list we have seen heavy being reinvented in new rock n roll ways that aren’t really heavy metal per se, but I could see why you might say this is a heavy metal album. If anything it sounds like it influenced nu-metal years later, but I find it ultimately an alt rock thing melding hiphop and jazz college knowledge with punk and a new approach to presenting heavy riffs and vocals, as well as solos. I wouldn’t blame you if you filed this under heavy metal, but most true metalheads would be mad at you. Maybe it was their short hair and hipster clothing.
• Medeski Martin And Wood – ‘Notes From The Underground’ these guys were real good from the beginning, and this might be their most unnecessarily overlooked album by me and many fans. They made both avant garde and classic jazz more accessible to the 90s and the 00s. And after this small stage jazz phase they got super funky and then blossomed out into the jam band big stage scene. I much prefer their first two stages, but they have always been a damned good band and always will be. I absolutely love them. And in case you didn’t know, it’s a keyboards (Medeski), drums (Martin), and bass (Wood) trio, for the most part!
• Thinking Plague – ‘In This Life’ this won’t be on the playlist, sadly enough, but it is America’s answer to the Rock In Opposition movement that started around a decade before. If you like prog rock or just straight up weird music with amazing musicianship, , or even classical, you must check this out! From Denver.
• Alice In Chains – ‘Dirt’ the crowning achievement of grunge? You decide! I was more into this album than even ‘Badmotorfinger’. Unbelievably catchy for how heavy it is, it’s alt rock having a meeting with heavy metal, with a dual vocal attack and very creative solos and song structures. Layne Staley was on the same level as Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell, one of the all time great rock vocalists.
• Beastie Boys – ‘Check Your Head’ the Beastie Boys show their full scope on this one; it’s an all-time hip-hop and alt-punk classic with top-notch production. This has got to be a part of your 1992 soundtrack unless you have a bias against the Beasties. This is them at their peak, with a lot of variety filtered through experience and focus. They took their past success to the next level here!
• Rage Against The Machine – self titled this album had a big effect on me as a teenager, but the riffs and music stand up over time and embarrass the naysayers with good, inspirational music. Catchy as fuck and sounds more like 1992 than most of the albums on this list! I truly love the whole band as musicians and I don’t see what all the talk is about with them as people. They spoke their mind and made a good band about it… it just so happened to blow up to international levels. And yeah, they were college-educated people.
• Ministry – ‘Psalm 69’ this album is one of the best party albums of all time, throw it on and everyone is gonna get energized somehow, for better or worse. It also crystallized Ministry’s sound into a perfect form that won over a ton of new fans (for better or worse). They went full industrial metal hybrid on this one, but it’s also catchy as hell, until it (d)evolves into some disturbing, nightmarish soundtrack sounds to round out the experience. When grunge was hitting in Seattle, Chicago had Ministry, the Jesus Lizard, and Smashing Pumpkins (and plenty more). Al Jourgensen is a Chicago legend for all the wrong reasons, but his musical genius remains.
• The Jesus Lizard – ‘Liar’ A wild ride start to finish, Steve Albini production, a noise rock classic, it will even grow on you the more times you hear it, even though it’s good upon first listen. And their best album cover! Deranged insanity, presented artfully. But also a real ripper, with monster bass sounds and amazing riffs, with many a trick up its sleeve, and tight shifts contrasted with musical abstractions… equals a perfect album.
• Stereolab – ‘Peng!’ I love me some Stereolab and yes even this early stuff is quite good! an all time classic.
• Medicine – ‘Shot Forth Self Living’ Cali shoegaze champs Medicine before their big spot on the Crow soundtrack. They’re one of my favorite bands ever so I’ll just leave it here, check out how the guitarist processed his guitar sound on this. https://tapeop.com/interviews/116/brad-laner I would describe Medicine as America’s answer to the UK’s My Bloody Valentine (although sometimes I gotta say the Swirlies are ultimately the only band to compete with MBV for world crown).
• Lush – ‘Spooky’ and to round out my top 15 albums of 1992 (at this time) I must include the super awesome Spooky album by noise-popsters Lush. There are certain songs on here that are my favorite songs ever. “Tiny Smiles”, “Superblast!”, “Laura”, and “Starlust” would all make my best songs of all time soundtrack, but the rest of the album ain’t bad either.

I’ll have another whole 15 (non-metal) albums from 1992 next week, I have severely run out of time! But it’s been fun, VEB. Hopefully the Cardinals will get this pre-ASB stretch started off right and they can just go on a good run. Starting off on the right foot despite a bad performance by JoJo Romero and Ryan Fernandez. I think the reinforcements can only help the team, and platooning for Burleson will yield even more results.

1905
White Sox pitcher Frank Owen won both games of a doubleheader at St. Louis, 3-2 and 2-0. In both games he went the distance, and only allowed the Browns seven total hits for the afternoon.

It was the first time in American League history that this milestone was accomplished, and Owen remains one of only 10 pitchers in baseball history to accomplish the feat of two complete-game wins in a single day.

1910
The White Sox opened the original Comiskey Park and lost, 2-0, to the St. Louis Browns. Within three days of the first game, three Sox players were sidelined with injuries, thus beginning in the minds of some a “Curse of the Comiskeys” or “White Sox Curse.”

Owner Charles Comiskey himself believed he had cursed the franchise because the stadium was opened on a Friday — in Irish lore, always a bad omen, “Never of Friday” being the watchword.

Infielder Lena Blackburne stroked the first two Sox hits in their new park, both singles coming off of Barney Pelty.

1920
Future Hall of Fame catcher Ray Schalk was honored with his own Day. The ceremony took place before a doubleheader with the St. Louis Browns. The White Sox split the two games, winning the opener, 3-2, in 11 innings, and losing the nightcap, 4-1. Schalkwent 1-for-4 in the twin bill, with an RBI.

1962
The White Sox set the AL record for sacrifice flies in an inning, as they got three straight in the fifth as part of a 7-6 win over Cleveland at Comiskey Park. It was the second game of a doubleheader, with the Sox winning both contests. Juan Pizarro, Nellie Fox and Al Smith did the honors. The Sox were able to accomplish this feat because Cleveland outfielder Gene Green committed errors on two of the fly balls. Chicago took that first game, 5-4.

1972
The Twins scored just once in a 5-1 loss at Comiskey Park, but what a run it was: Harmon Killebrew hit a ball over the roof in left field. The blast came off of Dave Lemonds, who pitched eight innings for his first win of the season. Ed Herrmann went 3-for-3 with an RBI and runner caught stealing to help fuel the win for the 40-27, second-place Sox.

1977
Although they had been flirting with first and second place all season long, a 5-2 win over Minnesota marked the start of a five-week run atop the AL West Division for the White Sox.

Richie Zisk clubbed two homers, including a three-run shot in the bottom of the first that put the White Sox in front for good. Chris Knapp went the distance to earn his seventh win of the year.

For the Twins, Rod Carew singled and tripled in five at-bats to keep his incredible pursuit of .400 at his season-high mark of .411.

1990
On the 80th anniversary of the opening of Comiskey Park, New York’s Andy Hawkins threw a no-hitter.

There was for one small problem … he lost the game, 4-0! The White Sox got all their runs thanks to back-to-back fly ball errors courtesy of Jim Leyritz and Jesse Barfield in the eighth inning. Leyritz’s error was the back-breaker, as it came on a fly ball off the bat of Robin Ventura with the bases loaded and two outs, enabling three runs to come home.

Greg Hibbard matched Hawkins pitch-for-pitch in the early going, as he also had a no-hitter through the first 5 1⁄3 innings. 

1991
Thanks to a Carlton Fisk home run in the 10th inning, the White Sox beat Minnesota at the Metrodome, 5-4, for the franchise’s 7,000th victory. Bobby Thigpen, the fifth Sox pitcher of the game, picked up the win. 

2006
Just six weeks after “The Punch” win over the Cubs at Sox Park in which A.J. Pierzynski played a central role, the rapscallion struck again. With the White Sox trailing, 6-5, with two runners on and down to their last out, Pierzynski clubbed a home run onto Sheffield Avenue to put the White Sox up, 8-6. Bobby Jenks closed it out with a 1-2-3 ninth for his 25th save.

An unheralded role in the stunning comeback was authored by Ross Gload, who was down to the final strike of the game before singling. A Jermaine Dye walk followed, and A.J. took it from there.

Also notable, Cubs fans delaying the game after A.J.’s homer by tossing garbage onto the field, like three-year-olds having a tantrum.

2007
Honoring the legacy of the Negro Leagues, the White Sox wore full Chicago American Giants jerseys in a game for the first time (on May 2, 1992 the White Sox honored the American Giants as well, but only by wearing the club’s caps during the game). Led by seven strong innings from Jon Garland and a powerful, 2-for-3 game (double, homer) from Paul Konerko, the White Sox won in Kansas City, 3-1.

The Mets have signed first baseman Christopher Morel to a minor league deal, according to a report by Will Sammon. And Jorge Castillo adds that the deal contains three opt-outs, the first of which is on July 15.

Now in his age-27 season, the right-handed hitter is several years removed from his best years in the big leagues. His first two seasons in the league in 2022 and 2023, which he spent with the Cubs, were his best, as he hit .241/.311/.471 with 42 home runs and a 115 wRC+ in 854 plate appearances.

Since then, however, Morel has hit just .201/.283/.351 with 32 home runs and a 79 wRC+ in 989 plate appearances. After his struggles at the plate began in the 2024 season, the Cubs traded Morel and two other players to the Rays for Isaac Paredes. And following the 2025 season in Tampa, Morel was non-tendered and became a free agent before signing with the Marlins ahead of the 2026 season. In 73 plate appearances with Miami this year, Morel has hit just .162/.219/.206 with zero home runs and an 18 wRC+.

Etowah baseball coach Greg Robinson still remembers the first time he laid eyes on Kansas City Royals outfielder Drew Waters.

Robinson was umpiring a middle school game when Waters stepped up to the plate.

“I'm behind the plate when he's coming to bat and I'm watching him and he barrels a ball into center field,” Robinson said. “And I'm like, ‘This guy's going to be special.’”

Years later, Robinson sat at Waters’ MLB Draft party as the then-18-year-old received the call from the Atlanta Braves – a moment that Robinson saw coming for a long time.

Over his 32 seasons as a high school head coach, Robinson has watched numerous other stories like Waters’ unfold. From Dexter Fowler to Sawyer Gipson-Long and now Trevor Condon and Matthew Sharman, Robinson has coached plenty of stars along the way.

But in just a few short years, those moments might be delayed.

On June 18, MLB proposed the elimination of high school draftee eligibility, stating players wouldn’t become draft-eligible until the completion of their sophomore year of college, encouraging athletes to attend college.

Robinson believes the change could strengthen college baseball but also take opportunities away from certain players who are prepared to begin their professional careers. 

“It's a maturity level thing that these guys are ready for mentally,” Robinson said. “So, I think those guys ought to be rewarded with the opportunity to go ahead at the next level.”

However, this could also be an opportunity for continued growth at the college level. With more elite prospects on hand, college baseball would become even more competitive.

“There's a lot of value in a kid going off to college for a couple of years and playing 60 games,” Robinson said. “Look at these facilities. Look at the competition.”

There’s no doubt that this season has seen the ebbs and flows of the Brewers. We’ve seen stretches where the offense is unstoppable, and we’ve also seen stretches — such as the last week — where the offense can’t cash in a runner in scoring position. The same applies to the pitching staff, which, entering Tuesday night’s game, is the second-best pitching staff in baseball, right behind the New York Yankees.

Despite having the best pitching staff in the National League, pitching is still a cause for concern, particularly the bullpen, which, as we know, has always been an issue for the Brewers come playoff time. Outside of the bullpen, it never hurts to have another starting pitcher, even if the Brewers have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to that category. And of course, the left side of the infield has been a cause of concern since the departure of Willy Adames in free agency two years ago.

Today, in no particular order, we take a look at five former Brewers players that Matt Arnold could potentially reunite with at the trade deadline come August 3.

RHP Grant Wolfram – Baltimore Orioles

The first player we recognize as part of bringing back to the Brewers is a guy who never appeared in a uniform but was on the roster. Grant Wolfram was traded to the Orioles in April 2025 for Daz Cameron, and his second season has been better than his first. Through 31 games this season, he has posted a 3.96 ERA, striking out 29 batters. The Orioles find themselves 11.5 games back of first place in the American League East division and could be sellers at the deadline.

LHP Bryan Hudson – Chicago White Sox

Our first left-handed pitcher on the list goes to the arm that got away. Matt Arnold has done a great job of trading away players, and wherever they go next, they aren’t quite the same as they were with the Brewers. Hudson is maybe the worst of the ones he didn’t hold onto.

Selected off waivers by the White Sox in August 2025, Hudson has been having a great bounce-back season. In 2024, Hudson broke onto the scene with the Brewers and pitched to a tune of a 1.73 ERA in 43 appearances. Last year was a year to forget, as he had a 6.00 ERA between the Sox and the Brewers, returning to the version of himself we saw the year prior. However, he has since reverted to a similar version of himself this year, as in 38 games, he has a 2.13 ERA, striking out 35 and walking just 16. With the need for left-handed pitching and the White Sox holding onto a one-game lead in the AL Central, this could be a bit of a costly pickup for the Brewers.

UTIL David Fry – Cleveland Guardians

Another player who never appeared in a uniform for the Brewers but was drafted in the seventh round of the MLB Draft and spent quite some time in the minors is utilityman David Fry. Fry could be compared to what David Hamilton brings to the table, minus the speed. His ability to play all over the field and his clutch offense in the postseason could make him an attractive trade candidate.

There’s no doubt, looking at his numbers, that he hasn’t been producing at the rate that he was when he was named to the All-Star team in 2024. Last year was a career-worst season, but he was dealing with injuries. This year, he has the second-best on-base percentage mark of his career, and the Brewers love guys who can get on base; Fry could be one of those. The Guardians are in a similar spot to the White Sox, as they’re the team right behind them, making Fry a player that could be a bit of a struggle to get from Cleveland, but he could be someone that would solve some bench issues for the Brewers.

SS Willy Adames – San Francisco Giants

Willy Adames is quite possibly the biggest trade target amongst Brewers fans. A staple in the clubhouse throughout the 2021-24 season, Adames could be the missing piece to the left side of the infield. While Cooper Pratt is hoping to be the answer at shortstop, perhaps he can move over to third base to make way for Adames, who has never played at the hot corner in the big leagues.

The Giants have made it clear that they are willing to move on from Adames, but he comes with serious baggage as he is in his second year of a seven-year, $182 million contract. The Brewers would almost certainly have to give up one of their top five prospects to bring him back if they wanted the Giants to eat part of the contract. But, at the end of the day, Adames brought more to the team than just clubhouse culture; he brought a top-10 MVP finish in 2024 and four seasons that featured some of the best baseball he produced in his career.

LHP Eric Lauer – Los Angeles Dodgers

With the need for left-handed pitching, what about reuniting with an arm that spent four seasons with the Brewers, featuring two of the best seasons in his career? This season, he’s off to the best start in his career with the Dodgers. He has posted a 2.88 ERA through six appearances with the defending World Series champions.

The former first-round pick is on a one-year deal with the Dodgers worth $4.4 million. The Dodgers don’t have many weaknesses, and certainly don’t want to be trading with a team they could be competing with come playoff time. But with the need for a left-hander that can give you both starts and bullpen appearances, perhaps this could be the splurge Arnold and Co. could be looking for.

Honorable Mentions:

• Brent Suter – Los Angeles Angels
• Jakob Junis – Texas Rangers
• Lucas Erceg – Kansas City Royals
• Jordan Montgomery – Texas Rangers
• Freddy Peralta – New York Mets

Who would you like to see the Brewers reunited with at this year’s trade deadline?

The Yankees are officially reeling as they jump into July, losing their sixth straight game in lackluster fashion. The Tigers took ace Cam Schlittler to task from the get-go, scoring four runs in the first inning and six by the time he exited after just three innings. New York did get another home run off of Tarik Skubal, this one from Ben Rice in the bottom of the first, but that was also the only hit they’d collect off the two-time Cy Young winner for six innings in what quickly became a rout.

With that, there’s another chance for the Rays to gain some ground in the AL East and unfortunately, when it rains it pours.

Tampa Bay Rays (49-33) 10, Kansas City Royals (35-51) 4

Despite a fantastic day from Bobby Witt Jr., the Royals were out of this game in a hurry. The Rays staked them a 1-0 lead on a Carter Jensen home run in the first inning, just to turn around and put up a six-spot in the third. It started on a Nick Fortes bunt single that drew an errant throw allowing him to move to second, and then Yandy Díaz walked ahead of a Jonathan Aranda single that tied the game up. Junior Caminero turned it into a big rally in a hurry, crushing a three-run homer 438 feet to left-center that made it 4-1, and Ryan Vilade went back-to-back with him to push the lead to four. Two more singles followed that before Noah Cameron finally recorded the first out of the frame via a pickoff, but Ben Williamson brought one more across on yet another single.

Witt did get involved, getting two of those runs back immediately via a two-run shot, but there was little else the Royals got done on Tuesday. Fortes singled home two more runs in the fifth, and a wild pitch plus a bases-loaded walk allowed two more Tampa baserunners to cross home plate in the sixth to make it a 10-3 romp. Witt made it a two-homer day for himself with a solo shot in the eighth, the 12th of his MVP-caliber season, but there was little else he could do as the Rays rolled.

Other Games

New York Mets (36-50) 3, Toronto Blue Jays (40-46) 0: A day after joining the 50-loss club, the Mets turned around and played a rare clean game all around. Nolan McLean delivered six strong innings, striking out seven and walking two while Francisco Alvarez gave them all the firepower they’d need with a solo shot in the fifth inning. For good measure, Luis Torrens gave them some insurance with a solo shot in the seventh and Brett Baty lifted a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver, and Devin Williams all tossed an inning of work to secure the win with a lone single in the ninth inning being the Jays’ only fragment of success against the Mets’ bullpen.

Texas Rangers (44-42) 4, Cleveland Guardians (44-42) 2: This one’s gonna be a hard one for Cleveland to live down. They got ahead 2-0 in the first inning thanks to a Kyle Manzardo two-run blast, but gave it up in the third when Joc Pederson hit a two-run blast of his own. From there the two sides were in a stalemate, as Jacob deGrom and Tanner Bibee both had outstanding outings lasting seven innings each. Unfortunately for Bibee, his defense blinked before he did — after a leadoff single, Bibee got Evan Carter to ground out and Alejandro Osuna to fly out to the left fielder Cooper Ingle. Ingle thought that was the third out instead of the second, however, and tossed the ball into the stands only to allow an unearned run to score instead. The Rangers did get an extra run in the eighth on a Josh Jung solo shot, but giving up the go-ahead run on a miscue like that has to sting.

Seattle Mariners (44-43) 8, Los Angeles Angels (36-51) 3: A scoring fest broke out in the middle of what was a pitchers’ duel. Bryan Woo and Jose Soriano were both dealing through five, matching zeroes on the scoreboard. Soriano got into trouble in the sixth though, allowing three straight singles to suddenly break the scoreless tie and chase him from the game. Chase Silseth didn’t make things much better, issuing a walk immediately followed by a pair of singles and a wild pitch that culminated in five runs scoring in the inning.

The Angels did get three of those runs back in the top of the sixth, but they watched them slip out of their grasp as the Mariners responded with three more runs in the bottom half. Those two innings were all the offense that we’d see, as the bullpens locked in and didn’t allow anyone else to advance into scoring position, but they were all Seattle needed to run away with the win.