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Even after last night’s disappointing loss, the Royals have still won five of seven coming out of the All-Star Break. That’s not nearly enough to get them back into contention, but at least potential trade pieces like Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Matt Strahm have performed well.

One player who sadly hasn’t rebounded is tonight’s bulk reliever, Noah Cameron. Beck Way will open the game for him as the Royals continue to push the righty into more important relief work while they scramble to see if they have anyone who can be counted on even half the time in their bullpen.

I tried looking into Noah’s body of work earlier this week to see if I could find a glaring flaw with him that led from his terrific May into the awful June and July, and I really didn’t see much of use. His sinker is awful, and I don’t understand why he throws it, but he’s not throwing it more than usual. His average arm angle has ticked back up after dropping nearly 10 degrees from last season at the start of this year. The curveball lost about 100 RPMs from the good stretch to this bad stretch, which is probably a big part of the problem. If it were up to me, I’d have him ditch his sinker and four-seam fastball, lead with the cutter, throw a lot of sliders and changeups, and try to figure out what happened to his curveball. But those are probably far too simple and far too significant changes to make, especially in the middle of the season. So we’re just going to have to hope Brian Sweeney has a better idea than me.

The Tigers are going to pitch Tarik Skubal instead, in what might be his final start in Detroit as a Tiger. Or it might not. The Tigers have been winning a lot lately and might decide to go ahead and see if they can finish off the miraculous comeback. Your guess is as good as mine. What is clear is that Skubal is still one of the best pitchers we’ve ever seen. So good luck to the offense.

Lineups

The offense, in need of luck in the best of times, will still be without starters Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia. But Jac Caglianone will also miss a third straight game after injuring his shoulder in Tuesday’s contest. Salvador Perez, the third-worst qualified hitter in all of MLB, will bat third for the Royals today as he continues his hunt for career home run 318. I guess getting him some extra at-bats before his body completely falls apart to chase that record makes sense. Somewhere. Speaking of Salvy’s body falling apart, this will be his first start at catcher in almost a month. He’s been hurting but still played first or DH for almost that entire time. He did slash .250/.325/.485/.810 over that span.

Mets lineup

1. A.J. Ewing – LF
2. Juan Soto – DH
3. Bo Bichette – 3B
4. Francisco Lindor – SS
5. Carson Benge – RF
6. Luis Robert – CF
7. Jared Young – 1B
8. Marcus Semien – 2B
9. Francisco Alvarez – C

Sean Manaea – LHP

Dodgers lineup

1. Shohei Ohtani – DH
2. Andy Pages – CF
3. Tommy Edman – 3B
4. Freddie Freeman – 1B
5. Mookie Betts – SS
6. Miguel Rojas – 2B
7. Kyle Tucker – RF
8. Teoscar Hernández – LF
9. Dalton Rushing – C

Roki Sasaki – RHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 7:10pm EDT
TV: WPIX
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

San Diego Padres (50-53) at Miami Marlins (52-51), July 24, 2026, 4:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: loanDepot Park – Miami, Fla.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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New series in Miami 🌴 pic.twitter.com/Q2zzxg0VYo

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 24, 2026

Fish 🔙 home

🤝: @PNCBank
📺: https://t.co/pMAEOPHNJ8
👂: @MarlinsRadio, @radiomambi710, @1043wqam
⏰: 7:10 PM ET
🏟️: Roof status: CLOSED#FightinFish // https://t.co/ZrOdIbYDTIpic.twitter.com/iGcjWTPz6S

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) July 24, 2026

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After a successful layover in St. Louis, the D-backs head on for another series against a team who might kinda sorta have playoff aspirations. Though it depends who you ask. According to Jack’s chart, the Nationals either have a 6.1% chance of making the post-season… Or a 30.1% chance. Quite a radical difference in perception there. I suspect a difference in methodology, and perhaps also the degree to which past performance is weighted compared to future projections. As discussed in the preview thread, Fangraphs really does not like their chances going forward, projected the third-worst run differential and record in the majors for Washington the rest of the way.

Hopefully, the D-backs can deliver a couple more of the expected losses this weekend. Smallish sample, but they have been the best team in the National League since July 1st, with an 11-6 record over that time. The 99 runs scored over that time trails only the Braves in the majors, while the 72 runs allowed is also well above-average. Also of note: the Diamondbacks have just one loss by more than three runs over their last twenty games. This is in sharp contrast to earlier in the season, where it seemed they would get blown out almost every series. Even when they lose, the games are typically competitive. That’s a good sign, I feel.

Made it back from the Titanic exhibition. Certainly learned a lot, though disappointed there was no Nekkid Kate Winslet exhibit. 🙂 They did have a nice recreation of the staircase, and on entrance you were given a “boarding pass” representing one of the passengers, and their background. At the end, you learned whether or not they survived. Everyone in our group did not. The most impressive bit was a room where you sat in a lifeboat, and the LED walls around depicted the ship sinking, while the radio messages from the Titanic were played. Let’s just say, we won’t be going on a cruise in the near future. All told, recommended.

The Dodgers were supposed to have two games on Fox during this road trip, but last Saturday in The Bronx rain got in the way and postponed the middle game against the Yankees. So we’ll have to settle on a single Fox game on the road trip, on Saturday against the Mets at Citi Field.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for the Dodgers, coming off his first complete game of the season last Sunday against the Yankees. Mets rookie Nolan McLean has been excellent so far this season with a 3.34 ERA in 20 starts, including only two earned runs allowed over his last four starts combined.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Mets
• Ballpark: Citi Field, Queens
• Start time: 4:15 p.m. PT
• TV: Fox
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

All signs do not point to the Cincinnati Reds being huge sellers at the trade deadline in the next week and a half. Nick Krall confirmed as much to The Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmyer this week, suggesting that in lieu of rebuilding they are going to ‘retool’ with an eye on still being competitive (for them) in the 2027 season.

Cincinnati Reds president Nick Krall talked with the Enquirer this week about his job security and the Reds' wide-open mind at the MLB trade deadline. https://t.co/FGSQ4VnnRK

— Enquirer Sports (@ENQSports) July 22, 2026

What does seem increasingly clear, though, is that the Reds – barring a miracle win streak this week – will likely shed their veterans on the roster who are set to reach free agency at season’s end. Some of those will be easier to find takers than others what with salary obligations, performance, and positional demand, but one guy who seems almost certain to be dealt is righty Brady Singer.

Every team needs a workhorse starter with upside, and Singer has pitched well enough over the last two months that his durability and trend-line will have suitors galore. The Reds won’t land a superstar prospect for him, but there will be enough interest that not dealing him would be a complete non-starter, so it sure seems like one of the key cogs in the team’s rotation will be elsewhere down the stretch.

That brings us to Rhett Lowder, who’ll get the start on the road in St. Louis on Friday night as the Reds open their series against the Cardinals. He has pitched to just a 5.75 ERA and 1.64 WHIP for Cincinnati so far in 2026, sliding down to the bullpen when the rotation was fully stocked for a trio of appearances and fresh off being shelled for 8 ER in 2.1 IP in the hellscape that is Coors Field in the July heat his last time getting a start.

With just 72.0 IP with the Reds this season (and 5.0 IP with AAA Louisville), Lowder’s got plenty of innings he can log between now and the season’s end if he can manage to throw the ball over the plate and be more pitch efficient. And the obvious portion of the entire piece is that once Singer leaves, there are going to be a lot of innings down the stretch for pitchers specifically like him to begin to soak up.

Hunter Greene will be an every fifth day guy until season’s end, his March elbow surgery meaning he’s not going to slam into any innings limit this year. Andrew Abbott will presumably be tasked with going every fifth day for the rest of the season, too, his track record showing that’s not going to be much of a problem. Beyond those two, though, there is a whole lot up in the air for the Cincinnati rotation as ace Chase Burns will inevitably be throttled at some point after having already logged 107.2 IP this year. Nick Lodolo, you’ll recall, is on the IL for the second time with blister problems, and given that he’s reportedly working on a whole new grip for his breaking ball he’s a wild card in terms of how much – and how deep when he does – he’ll be able to work as a starter.

It all leaves a pretty open door for Lowder, Cincinnati’s 1st round pick from back in 2023. Not only will the Reds be giving him a pretty long leash due to the simple need for someone, anyone to pitch 6 innings every fifth day, but they’ll be eyeing just what Lowder can do as a big league starter as they retool their roster for 2027. Can he be a rotation cog? Just how much will they need to invest this winter to replace Singer, or will Lowder take the job and run with it?

In theory, Burns/Greene/Abbott/Lodolo/Lowder looks like a pretty stout rotation for next season. Lowder, though, is clearly the biggest question mark of the bunch, and how well he seizes the opportunity in a post-Singer world will dictate a ton of the direction the front office takes in addressing their roster on a shoestring budget this winter.

Lowder gets his first post-Coors chance to show he’s up for it tonight in Busch Stadium with the Reds season (and full deadline plans) in the balance.

Here’s how the Reds will line up to begin tonight’s game in St. Louis, with first pitch set for 8:15 PM ET:

First of three in St. Louis

Powered by @PNCBankpic.twitter.com/CwlIwqqmNH

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 24, 2026

Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, July 24, 2026, 6:40 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are back at home for a weekend series at PNC Park when they take on the NL Central rival Chicago Cubs.

Jared Jones is on the bump for the Bucks for the first time since July 18, when he pitched five innings in a 7-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on the road. He gave up three hits and one run in his first win since June 4, snapping a six-game drought where he didn’t pick up a victory.

The Cubs are countering with Matthew Boyd, who is making his 11th start of the season for Chicago. Boyd was injured for most of the day in June, but he returned to the lineup on June 25. He pitched 4.2 innings, giving up four hits against the New York Mets. Since then, he has made four starts and has picked up the victory in each of those contests, improving his record to 6-1. As a team, the Cubs are 8-2 when Boyd pitches, making this a difficult matchup for Pittsburgh.

The game plan for the Pirates tonight should be to attack Boyd early in the game, putting him on the ropes and forcing Chicago to get to their bullpen early in the first game of this series.

Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Matthew Boyd (6-1, 4.15 ERA) vs. Jared Jones (2-1, 4.05 ERA)

BD community, chime off in the comments section below.

With the Mets currently 17 games under .500 and 17.5 games back of first place in the NL East, there has been plenty of buzz around who the team will move by the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline.

New York has already informed teams they are open for business, SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes reported on July 16, and likely to deal players on expiring contracts. Janes noted everyone except Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Christian Scott, Nolan McLean and Juan Soto is said to be available, even including star shortstop Francisco Lindor as those potentially on the block.

While it does not mean that Lindor will be among those traded by Aug. 3 at 6:00 p.m., it does mean the Mets and president of baseball operations David Stearns are open to listening to offers. When asked about ruling out the possibility of trading the five-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger on Friday ahead of their series opener against the Dodgers, Stearns didn't give a straight answer.

"I'm not going to rule out or in any specific player on anything. I don't think that's wise for me to do," Stearns said. "What I will say is, we've got a group of young players and we've got some potential Hall-of-Famers, future Hall-of-Famers, that we view as our core. We expect them to be our core."

Stearns went on to say the team is being "open-minded" ahead of the trade deadline while expecting to "compete in 2027, adding they aren't "going to close any paths" at this time on who may or may not be dealt in next 10 days.

He was then asked if he considers Lindor part of the "core" he referred to going forward, and loosely included him, but did not make it clear if he's unavailable in trade talks.

"I think what I said was we have a group of young players who we are really excited about, we have some couple guys who are likely headed to Cooperstown one day, and we would consider that grouping of players our core," Stearns said. "I'm not going to get into specifics of who exactly is a name or who exactly we are or not going to trading right now."

After missing 57 games and returning from the injured list on June 26, Lindor owns an .808 OPS with four home runs and 11 RBI over 21 games. He's recently found some rhythm and is trending toward putting up his usual strong numbers by the end of the season (as noted in more depth here).

Meanwhile, Lindor also spoke with Janes on July 19 prior to the team's game against the Philadelphia Phillies and let it be known he is not bothered by the hypothetical trade buzz since it's all coming from outside of the clubhouse. 

Since Stearns did not rule anything out Friday, fans can only wait and see what will happen over the next week-plus with Lindor and other Mets who could potentially be playing elsewhere for the remainder of the 2026 season.

"I'm not going to rule out or in any specific player on anything. I don't think that's wise for me to do. What I will say is, we've got a group of young players and we've got some potential Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers, that we view as our core. We expect them to be our… pic.twitter.com/O6s4shL7ZB

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 24, 2026

The Yankees come to town for a three game series starting on Friday night. The Phillies will go with lefthander Jesus Luzardo for the opener.

Friday night at the Bank#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/aw7WBPR3LF

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 24, 2026

The Yankees starter will be righthander Cam Schlittler. The All-Star is 9-6 with a 2.20 ERA on the season.

Cam on the bump at the Bank. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/R75zKMFc49

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 24, 2026

Game time is 6:45 PM and it will be televised exclusively on Apple TV