PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 10: Gabriel Hughes #43 of the Colorado Rockies delivers a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 10, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Colorado enters today at 49-74, two games behind the 51-72 Giants for fourth place in the NL West.
The Rockies are bad. I know the Rockies are bad. But I am still completely invested in these guys.
And for all the ugliness in the standings, there is still plenty worth caring about today:
A win would give the Rockies the season series, finish their nine-game road trip with a winning record, and pull them within one game of San Francisco inside the division.
The Rockies took Friday night’s opener before dropping Saturday’s game 7-1 after one miserable fourth inning put the Giants in control.
Rookie right-hander Gabriel Hughes gets the ball for Colorado in his seventh major-league start.
Hughes enters at 0-4 with a 5.61 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 31 strikeouts across 33.2 innings.
He posted a 3.33 ERA across 24.1 innings through his first five major-league appearances, four of them starts. Over his last two starts, Hughes has allowed 12 earned runs in 9.1 innings.
The underlying contact numbers remain considerably better than the ERA. Hughes owns a 3.03 xERA, while hitters have barreled only 4.1% of their batted balls against him with a 29.6% hard-hit rate.
Hughes throws his four-seam fastball roughly 57% of the time. It averages a little over 92 mph, though his 6.9 feet of extension helps it play a little faster, and he works five secondary pitches around it.
The concern lately has been his strike-throwing and ability to get hitters to expand.
Hughes had been at or above a 50% zone rate before falling to 41% two starts ago and 45% in his most recent outing. His fastball velocity was also down nearly a full mile per hour last time out.
His ability to get hitters to expand outside the zone has slipped, too. Hughes generated only a 19% chase rate in his last start.
When Hughes gets ahead, the secondary pitches give him enough ways to finish at-bats. The question is whether he can get back into those counts often enough.
The Giants counter with the recently recalled Blade Tidwell, who enters at 0-0 with a 2.78 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 19 strikeouts across 22.2 innings. Today will be his 11th appearance of the season but only his third start.
The 25-year-old right-hander is attacking hitters very differently than he did during his 2025 debut: His sweeper has jumped from 22% usage last season to 38% this year, while the four-seamer has fallen from 39% to 34%.
So far, that change has shown up in how hitters are reacting to him. Tidwell’s chase rate has climbed from 20.8% to 28.1%, while hitters have made contact on just 38.9% of their swings outside the zone after doing so 62.5% of the time last season. His walk rate has also fallen from 12.8% to 5.5%.
The sweeper was especially effective in his last outing, accounting for 12 of Tidwell’s 16 swings and misses.
But today’s matchup adds another layer to that profile.
Tidwell has led with the four-seam fastball 39% of the time against lefties, followed by the sweeper at 31%. Against righties, the sweeper jumps to 45% while the fastball drops to 29%.
Jordan Beck is the only Rockies hitter who will bat right-handed today, giving Tidwell eight left-handed looks.
The early platoon results make that construction even more interesting. Left-handed hitters have an .836 OPS against Tidwell across 44 batters faced this season, compared with a .373 OPS from right-handers across 47. Those are small samples, but they give the Rockies plenty of reason to make Tidwell prove the split will not hold.
Colorado has been aggressive early in counts this season, but it cannot let that aggression turn into easy chases when Tidwell goes with the sweeper.
Hunter Goodman remains out of the lineup after being scratched Saturday with shoulder inflammation. Zac Veen gets another start in right field, while Adael Amador will make his first start in the field since returning to the majors. He pinch-hit Saturday but had not appeared in the field in the big leagues since last season.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 10: Jacob Lopez #57 of the Athletics pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays at Sutter Health Park on August 10, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning A’s fans! The series finale is this afternoon as the A’s will look again for win #49 this year. The late collapse last night sent the Athletics into sole possession of last place in all of baseball so the club will need to get the win and get a bit of help if they’re going to climb out of it tonight.
Before we get to the game, the Athletics announced a somewhat major roster move. Left fielder Tyler Soderstrom is heading back to the IL thanks to that hip issue that’s bothered him this year, with infielder Darell Hernaiz coming up to take his roster spot:
Another A’s slugger goes down as Tyler Soderstrom is placed on the 10-day IL with a left hip impingement.
The writing is on the wall that Sodey’s season is likely over, joining Brent Rooker and Nick Kurtz as season-enders. This was the first year of Soderstrom’s seven-year, $86 million extension and he took a step back in just about every category. Hips can be tricky and with the season lost and just six weeks left it’s time to shut him down. We need our Gold Glove-caliber, slugging left fielder to help lead this team next year and we can’t afford any setbacks.
If he’s really done for the year he’ll finish with a .245/.338/.472 slash line with 19 long balls. He was still roughly 20% better than the league average but the team was probably hoping for more growth from the 24-year-old. Chalk it up to the hip issue for now, and make sure it isn’t a concern that lingers into next year. He’s still got his entire physical prime ahead of him and the A’s will have him locked in for those years. Expect lots of Zack Gelof in left field for the remainder of the year.
Meanwhile Hernaiz will get another chance in the big leagues, but with all the highly-rated infield prospects coming up at this point it’s hard to imagine him being anything more than a depth piece for the club moving forward. There’s value in that, but we need to see as much of the younger guys like Tommy White, Max Muncy (and maybe Joshua Kuroda-Grauer if he’s able to return?) as possible over these final weeks. We know what we’re getting out of Hernaiz at this point.
Now, to the game. For today’s series finale it’s lefty Jacob Lopez on the bump for the Green & Gold and he’ll be looking to continue his strong return to the starting rotation. In his past four starts he’s been much more consistent and stable, looking much more like the arm that made an impression last year. The Athletics’ pitching depth is among the worst in the league but getting Lopez back to pitching well would help in offseason planning for the front office, even if they consider him to be a depth option at best.
Here’s how manager Mark Kotsay decided to line his squad up this afternoon for the homestand and series finale:
Shortstop Jacob Wilson returns to the lineup after the HBP on his hand in Friday’s series opener. Thank god. This team can’t afford anymore injuries, especially to the core guys.
We have a very similar lineup to yesterday, which as you may recall only produced a three-run home run off the bat of rookie center fielder Henry Bolte, who is back in the leadoff spot today. It’s Gelof, Wilson, Heim, White and Butler right behind him, with the only change being Wilson taking Jeff McNeil’s spot in the three hole. Muncy is today’s DH, making way for Hernaiz at third.
Facing them today is lefty Cody Bradford. Once considered one of the Rangers’ top pitching prospects, Bradford missed all of last year and only just recently returned a couple weeks ago from a tough elbow injury that required surgery. The 27-year-old doesn’t look like he’s missed much of a beat in his two starts since rejoining the Rangers, first going 4 1/3 shutout innings against the Giants before seven full frames against the Angels while allowing only three runs. How will the Athletics’ cool offense do today against an arm still possibly shaking off the rust?
And Texas’ starting nine this afternoon looks like this:
Gotta win today and we need some help to get out of last place. Not just in our division, but in all of baseball. We can’t end the year here. Start winning guys! Let’s go A’s!
Aug 15, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo (24) celebrates with teammates after scoring a run against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 11: Hunter Dobbins #40 of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 11, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The St. Louis Cardinals will wrap up their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs Sunday. Hunter Dobbins is the starter for the Cardinals. He’ll go up against Edward Cabrera who will start for the Cubs. First pitch is scheduled for 2:15pm central time and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.
SAN DIEGO, CA - AUGUST 10: Logan Henderson #43 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches during the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Monday, August 10, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Ryan Levy/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Milwaukee Brewers are set to face the Dodgers in the series finale in Los Angeles with Logan Henderson on the mound opposite Tarik Skubal.
It’s been a disappointing West Coast trip overall, as Milwaukee was swept by the Padres in San Diego, but they’ve bounced back to win two of the first three games here in L.A.
Henderson, 24, continues to be a strong presence in Milwaukee’s rotation, though he took just his second loss of the season in his last appearance after giving up a go-ahead homer in the seventh. Henderson went 6 1/3 innings in that one, allowing three runs on five hits (a pair of homers) and a walk, striking out seven as the Brewers lost 3-2 in San Diego. For the season, he’s 6-2 with a 2.88 ERA, 3.35 FIP, and 69 strikeouts across 56 1/3 innings.
Skubal, 29, was the prize of the trade deadline, and he, of course, ended up in a Dodger uniform. For the season, he’s made 18 starts with a 2.93 ERA, 2.80 FIP, and 128 strikeouts over 107 2/3 innings, though he hasn’t been quite as good in two appearances with the Dodgers — he has a 4.09 ERA, 4.63 FIP, and 12 strikeouts over 11 innings in a loss to the Cubs and a no-decision to the Royals (L.A. went on to win that one).
In injury and roster news, Brice Turang said he continues to improve and, while he isn’t in the lineup today, is expecting to return on Tuesday against the Mariners after Monday’s off day. Also, Curt Hogg notes that while the Brewers will continue to roll with a six-man rotation through the next week, the plan appears to be that Shane Drohan will move to the bullpen after his next outing. Drohan, 27, has pitched 98 1/3 innings in the majors this year and 13 2/3 at Triple-A Nashville, giving him 112 total. His career-high innings mark in a season is 129 2/3, set back in 2022, and he hasn’t been close to that mark since 2023 — he pitched just 16 1/3 innings in 2024 and 54 innings in 2025 as he dealt with injuries.
Brice Turang says he’s continuing to improve after testing his knee yesterday. He’ll get more treatment today and tomorrow on the off day before hopefully returning to the lineup Tuesday against the Mariners.
It sounds like the Brewers plan to go with the six-man rotation for one more turn through, then they will shift Shane Drohan to a long relief role. Drohan is nearing his career high of 129 innings.
Today’s lineup is an interesting one, as William Contreras is at DH and batting leadoff. Per Mike Vassallo, it’s the 11th time Contreras has batted leadoff and the first since May 2024. He’s followed by Luis Lara, Jackson Chourio, Jake Bauers, and Andrew Vaughn. Gary Sánchez is catching and bats sixth, with Brandon Lockridge, Joey Ortiz, and Jonathan Ornelas rounding things out behind Henderson in a righty-heavy lineup — the only true lefty in today’s order is Bauers, though Lara is a switch hitter.
First pitch is set for 3:10 p.m. CT on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.
John, the first to undergo the revolutionary elbow ligament replacement surgery that saved and prolonged his career, was 83.
Los Angeles Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten lauded the left-hander for "his impact both on and off the field."
“We are saddened to hear the news of Tommy John’s passing today,” Kasten said in a statement. “Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball, and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated."
Tommy John pitched for six MLB teams over his lengthy career, led by eight seasons with the New York Yankees (1979-82, 1986-89).
In a statement, the Yankees called him “a bedrock of our rotation during his time in pinstripes and a longtime favorite of Yankees fans."
John posted back-to-back 20-win seasons with the Yankees in 1979 and 1980, earning his third and fourth career All-Star nods.
"We pause to remember the totality of his legacy – his competitiveness and skill, his penchant for conversation, his kind and gracious nature, and his stature as an athletic and medical pioneer," the Yankees added.
STATEMENT FROM THE NEW YORK YANKEES:
“The New York Yankees mourn the passing of Tommy John, who was a bedrock of our rotation during his time in pinstripes and a longtime favorite of Yankees fans. While his incredible longevity and post-surgery achievements changed the fortunes… pic.twitter.com/p6ndlBxUTb
After John injured his elbow in 1974, he received the first ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery from Dr. Frank Jobe. John returned to pitch in 1976, then won 20 games three times in four years from 1977-80.
LOS ANGELES — Tommy John, who won 288 games during a 26-year big league career and became the first pitcher to successfully return following groundbreaking elbow surgery that later was named after him, has died. He was 83.
He died at his home in Bradenton, Florida, on Saturday night, agent Mike Maguire said Sunday. He had been in hospice care.
On Aug. 8, the New York Yankees released a social media post in which John wrote that he wanted to say goodbye to everyone, including friends and fans who followed him throughout his career, saying, “I will never forget you.”
John was a four-time All-Star with a record of 288-231 and a 3.34 ERA during a career that stretched from 1963 to 1989. He pitched for Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees, the California Angels and the Oakland Athletics.
The left-hander was 31 years old when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow in 1974, a death knell for pitchers’ careers to that point.
John allowed Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers’ team physician, to replace the ligament with a tendon from his right forearm. Jobe gave the surgery 100-to-1 odds of being successful.
“Dr. Jobe, if you do your job, I’ll do mine,” John told the doctor at the time.
Baseball’s “Bionic Man” pitched another 14 seasons after that.
“Thanks to Dr. Jobe, who saved my arm & made it possible for me to continue pitching,” John posted in his Aug. 8 message.
ANAHEIM, CA - AUGUST 11: Cody Bradford #61 of the Texas Rangers pitches during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Tony Macon/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Texas Rangers lineup for August 16, 2026 against the A’s: starting pitchers are Cody Bradford for the Rangers and Jacob Lopez for the Rangers.
Texas will try to make a disappointing road trip a little less disappointing this afternoon. There’s a lefty on the mound for the A’s, so the righthanded-heavy lineup is being utilized. Corey Seager gets the day off.
The lineup:
Langford — LF
Duran — SS
Nimmo — RF
Burger — 1B
Foscue — 2B
Freeman — 3B
Diaz — C
Wynns — DH
Carter — CF
3:05 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -133 favorites.
While Baez's Aug. 15 performance at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs will go down in the history books, it also serves to remind baseball fans that single-game dominance doesn't always translate into a memorable or lengthy career.
The game has seen many a rookie make a big splash in his first game or first few games, only to have a forgettable season (or career) come afterward.
What could be in store for 23-year-old Joshua Baez? Let's look at a variety of possibilities.
While Baez's three-homer debut was unprecedented, it's not uncommon for players to have a great game in their first major league appearance. Just look at a couple who did so already this season.
Kevin McGonigle, Detroit Tigers
The highly touted prospect who made the Tigers roster out of spring training has validated the team's confidence in him from the get-go. Starting at third base on opening day and batting sixth, McGonigle got four hits, (two of them doubles), scored two runs and drove in two more in five at-bats. He's now Detroit's everyday starter at shortstop and a leading contender for AL rookie of the year honors.
Chase DeLauter, Cleveland Guardians
Though it technically wasn't his first appearance in a major league uniform (after suiting up for the Guardians in the 2025 playoffs), DeLauter's first official MLB game was a memorable one. He slugged a pair of solo home runs and scored three times in going 3-for-5 on opening day in Seattle. DeLauter has battled injuries this season, as he has throughout his baseball career, but he's been an above average hitter and one of the Guardians' team leaders in Wins Above Replacement.
Most impressive MLB debuts this century
What makes a stellar MLB debut even more memorable is when it becomes a stepping stone to an even more accomplished career. Here are some recent examples:
Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
Taken first overall by the lowly Nationals in the 2009 draft, Stephen Strasburg didn't take long to reach the major leagues. After 11 starts (and a 1.30 ERA in the minors), the 21-year-old right-hander was summoned to Washington to face the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 8, 2010.
What happened that night was pure magic. Strasburg not only lived up to the hype, he exceeded it by striking out 14 batters in seven innings and getting the win. He went on to earn three All-Star berths and capped his injury-shortened career with a World Series MVP award as the Nats defeated the Houston Astros in the 2019 Fall Classic.
Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies
Sure he played his home games in hitter-friendly Denver, but Story kicked off a stellar 2014 rookie season with a two-homer game at Arizona. In fact, he homered in each of his first four MLB games on his way to hitting seven in his first six contests. Thanks to that blazing start, Story finished with 27 dingers that year and finished fourth in the NL rookie of the year voting. He would hit as many as 37 in a season and earn a pair of All-Star nods in Colorado before signing with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent in 2022.
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Judge did famously struggle in his initial season (.179 average, 4 HR in 84 AB), but his first game as a major leaguer was one to remember. Both he and fellow rookie Tyler Austin went back-to-back ("and belly-to-belly") over the fence at Yankee Stadium against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 13, 2016. Judge has since gone on to win three American League MVP awards and earn eight All-Star selections. (Austin has not.)
Great start, not-so-great career
On the other hand, a player can have an incredible first game, first week or even first month in the majors ... and never really approach that kind of success again. For example:
Aristides Aquino, Cincinnati Reds
Aquino's MLB debut was completely forgettable (to anyone else) when he struck out in his lone appearance in August of 2018. He made it back to the majors the following August and after going hitless in six at-bats, he reeled off seven home runs in his next seven games. By the middle of the month, he tallied a record 11 homers in his first 17 games. Over 56 games in 2019, Aquino hit a total of 19, to go along with 47 RBI.
But after that, things would never be the same. Pitchers exploited a massive hole in his swing and he lasted only three more seasons in the majors − never playing more than 84 games, slugging more than 10 homers or hitting over .200.
J.P. Arencibia, Toronto Blue Jays
Taken 21st overall in the 2007 draft, Arencibia reached the majors on Aug. 7, 2010. That day against the Tampa Bay Rays, the catcher set a record with 11 total bases in his MLB debut, hitting a pair of home runs, as well as a double and a single. While he did have a couple of 20-homer seasons with the Jays in 2011 and 2013, Arencibia would play in just 86 more major league games after leaving Toronto. He finished with a .212/.258/.412 slash line and 80 career homers.
Nick Kingham, Pittsburgh Pirates
Finally, here's one of the best − and most obscure − pitching performances in a major league debut. On April 29, 2018, the Pittsburgh Pirates needed a spot starter so they called up the 26-year-old Kingham from Class AAA Indianapolis. Once a top prospect until undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015, the right-hander sliced through the St. Louis Cardinals lineup, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning. With two outs, he give up a single to Marcell Ozuna before concluding his day by getting one final out. He appeared in 18 games for the Pirates that season and lasted more year in the majors before playing three more professional seasons in Korea, China and Mexico.
LOS ANGELES - OCTOBER 1978: Tommy John #25 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during the World Series against the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium on October 1978 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Focus On Sport/Getty Images) | Focus on Sport via Getty Images
Tommy John, the longtime major league pitcher who was the first to undergo the eponymous surgery that revolutionized baseball, has passed away, it was announced today, having battled bladder cancer for some time. He was 83.
John was originally signed by Cleveland and pitched briefly in the majors for them before being sent to the Chicago White Sox in a three team deal. John spent six seasons with the White Sox, including three 5+ bWAR seasons from 1968-70, before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1971 season for Dick Allen.
John spent three seasons as a fixture in the Dodgers’ rotation, leading the league in winning percentage in 1973 and 1974, although a damaged UCL cut his 1974 season short. Facing an injury that was potentially career-ending, he opted to undergo an experimental surgery in September of 1974, with Dr. Frank Jobe replacing his damage UCL with a tendon from his forearm. It was the first time the surgery had been performed on a pitcher’s elbow, and when John successfully returned to action in 1976, “Tommy John surgery” entered the sport’s vernacular.
John spent 14 seasons in the majors post-surgery, finishing second in the N.L. Cy Young voting in 1977, advancing to the World Series with the Dodgers in 1978, finishing second in the A.L. Cy Young voting in 1979 in his first season with the New York Yankees, and ultimately accumulating 288 career wins. John’s 61.6 career bWAR is 58th all time among major league pitchers.
CHICAGO - UNDATED 1980: Tommy John of the New York Yankees poses before a MLB game at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. John played for the Yankees from 1979-1982 and 1986-1989. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | Getty Images
Former Yankees pitcher Tommy John passed away last night in his Florida home in Lakewood Ranch, according to a statement released by his agent Mike Maguire this morning. The news comes just eight days after he had penned a goodbye to the fans and the baseball community, published on his behalf by the New York Yankees on Old Timers’ Day, amid reports that he was in hospice care. He was 83 years old. The Yankees, the Dodgers, and Major League Baseball confirmed the news.
A native of Terre Haute, Indiana, John pitched for a remarkable 26 seasons (1963-89), including eight with the Yankees (1979-82, 1986-89); we ranked him 65th on our Top 100 Yankees countdown a few years back. He made his MLB debut with Cleveland, the team that signed him out of high school, on September 6, 1963, before being traded to the White Sox following the 1964 season. Across seven seasons on the South Side, he established himself as one of the top pitchers in the game, leading the league in shutouts in back-to-back seasons before earning his first career All-Star nod in 1968.
After a down year in 1971, he was traded to the Dodgers, where he entered baseball immortality — not just from his performance on the field, but from what he overcame. On July 17, 1974, in the midst of his best season since 1968, John felt “strangest sensation [he] had ever known” as his arm went dead; speaking about the incident later, he would say, ““It felt as if I had left my arm someplace else. It was as if my body continued to go forward and my left arm had just flown out to right field, independent of the rest of me.” Although he didn’t know it at the time, that feeling was the “pop” that meant his ulnar collateral ligament had torn.
At the time, the injury was a career-ender. However, Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers’ team physician, attempted a surgery that had never been done on an elbow before, replacing the UCL in John’s left elbow with a ligament from his right wrist. After a long recovery that required an additional surgery to reroute the ulnar nerve, John returned to the mound on April 16, 1976 — and changing baseball forever.
John pitched for 14 more seasons after receiving the surgery that takes his name, including all eight of his years in pinstripes. He retired after the 1989 season — his age-46 campaign! — embarking on a career as a television analyst, college and minor league baseball coach, and a motivational speaker. The last was pretty big accomplishment, as he had a stutter growing up, and was shamefully even forbidden from speaking at his high school graduation despite being the valedictorian because of it.
While John never made it into Cooperstown despite his long career and pioneering efforts, he unquestionably goes down as one of the most important players to have ever played the game. His courage to brave an experimental surgery and resilience to engage in a year-long recovery from near-paralysis to return to the big-league mound revolutionized sports medicine and has made possible the careers of countless pitchers, and more than a handful of position players, who would otherwise have seen their dreams cut short.
Consider the following list of excellent players: Gerrit Cole, John Smoltz, Shohei Ohtani, Max Fried, Bryce Harper, Justin Verlander, Carlos Rodón, Jacob deGrom, Didi Gregorius, David Wells, A.J. Burnett, Chris Carpenter, Chris Sale, Tyler Glasnow, Gleyber Torres, Tom Gordon, Tim Hudson, Yu Darvish, Sandy Alcántara, Paul Molitor, Francisco Liriano, Garrett Crochet, David Robertson, Nathan Eovaldi, Billy Wagner, Salvador Pérez, Aníbal Sánchez, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Luis Severino, Corey Seager, and Stephen Strasburg. All had second (or third) acts to their careers made possible by Tommy John and Frank Jobe. Now that’s a legacy.
Rest in peace, Tommy; we wish your family the best.
After the news was announced, the Yankees and Major League Baseball released the following statements:
STATEMENT FROM THE NEW YORK YANKEES:
“The New York Yankees mourn the passing of Tommy John, who was a bedrock of our rotation during his time in pinstripes and a longtime favorite of Yankees fans. While his incredible longevity and post-surgery achievements changed the fortunes… pic.twitter.com/p6ndlBxUTb
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tommy John, a veteran of 26 MLB seasons who helped revolutionize recovery from pitching injuries in the 1970s.
John broke in with Cleveland as a 20-year-old in 1963 and made his last appearance for the Yankees at age 46 in 1989, also… pic.twitter.com/z4bB9I31vL
The Cubs and Cardinals will play the rubber match of this series Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The Cubs took game one Friday afternoon, which was quite the pitchers’ duel only interrupted by a home run swing from Seiya Suzuki for a Cubs win. The Cardinals took Saturday’s game on the strength of a rookie debut for the ages with a three-home run game from Joshua Báez. Sunday’s action will be featured on ABC nationally, for baseball fans to enjoy the greatest rivalry in baseball, Midwest Style.
As long-time readers of Bleed Cubbie Blue know, nationally featured games call for a Bingo card. This tradition began in 2019 as a way to distract from the sometimes groan-inducing ESPN booth that had a penchant for ridiculous takes. But even as that booth improved we kept the game around. It’s a fun way to follow the action and see just how predictable a national crew can be as it features baseball action from the cathedral of the sport at the corner of Clark and Addison.
Today’s version features the Cubs hosting their biggest rival in a game that has implications for both teams, with the Cubs trying to chase down the Brewers for the division and the Cardinals trying to eke out any wins they can in the hope of securing a wild card spot in October. As always, make it a blackout game for a challenge, but I don’t recommend making it a drinking game unless you are personally trying to black out.
Tommy John before a game with the Dodgers on Aug. 12, 1977. It was his first season back after a revolutionary elbow procedure that would eventually bear his name. (Lennox McLendon / Associated Press)
It’s right there in the medical books, along with Belsey fundoplication, Heineke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty and Keller’s excision arthroplasty: Tommy John surgery.
Purists might refer to it as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, but the rest of the world knows it as the career-saving surgery named for a sore-armed left-handed Dodgers pitcher.
Tommy John was facing the bleak reality that his career was likely over when he ruptured a ligament in his left elbow on a summer night in 1974, an injury that had sent so many pitchers into an early retirement. But a then-radical surgery not only saved but revived his career, as well as the careers of hundreds of baseball players ranging from Tom Candiotti to John Smoltz to Shohei Ohtani in the 50 years since.
Always more famous for the surgical procedure than his career stats, John died Saturday, the Dodgers announced. He was 83.
“We are saddened to hear the news of Tommy John’s passing,” Dodgers president and Chief Executive Officer Stan Kasten said in a statement. “... Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated. His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come.”
A good pitcher before the surgery with 124 wins in 12 seasons with three teams, he won 164 more afterward — only one fewer than Sandy Koufax during his entire career, he liked to point out — in 14 more seasons with four teams, finally retiring at 46 with a 288-231 record and a 3.34 earned-run average.
“Dr. Jobe made it so I could throw a baseball again,” John told The Times’ Sam Farmer in 2023 from his home in Sarasota, Fla. “After surgery, I never missed a start, and I even pitched out of the bullpen every once in a while.”
He pitched for the Dodgers and the Angels and had two successful stints with the New York Yankees but it was with the Dodgers that he had his greatest success, an 87-42 record and a 2.97 ERA, helping them to consecutive World Series appearances.
It was also as a Dodger that he had his history-making operation.
He came to the Dodgers in a trade from the Chicago White Sox in December 1971 with an 84-91 record, a good curveball and a less than intimidating fastball. Pitching coach Red Adams convinced him that precision location and ball movement were more effective than raw speed and John went 11-5 the following season. He also became well acquainted with orthopedist Frank Jobe, the team physician.
Late in the season, he jammed his left elbow sliding into home plate, jarring loose some bone chips. Jobe cleaned things up for John during the offseason.
Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda congratulates Tommy John after John shut out the Phillies during 1978 National League Championship Series. (Associated Press)
Then in July 1974, by which time John had become a mainstay in the pitching rotation, he threw a pitch to Hal Breeden of the Montreal Expos that changed his life, and ultimately the lives of many others.
“Right at the point where I put force on the pitch, the point where my arm is back and bent, something happened,” he told Sports Illustrated. “It felt as if I had left my arm somewhere else. It was as if my body continued to go forward and my left arm had just flown out to right field, independent of the rest of me.
“I heard this thudding sound in my elbow, then I felt a sharp pain.”
John had ruptured the medial ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, although he didn’t know that then. The pitch, of course, was nowhere near the strike zone and, despite the pain and in an effort to see if that was a fluke, he tried to throw another. It bounced off the plate, ending his outing and, for all anyone knew, his pitching career.
Jobe recommended total rest but after a month, with no sign of healing, he came up with an outside-the-box suggestion. Earlier, Jobe had grafted a tendon to a recovered polio patient’s ankle to provide stabilization. He thought maybe a tendon could be grafted to a pitcher’s elbow as well.
He gave John a grim choice: Do nothing and never pitch again, or try the surgery at 100-1 odds against success.
“I told Dr. [Frank] Jobe if you do your job I will do more than mine,” John told The Times last year. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right doctor and team.”
So, on Sept. 25, 1974, Jobe took a tendon from John’s right arm, threaded it through holes he had drilled in John’s left elbow and hoped it all would work.
Nerve damage necessitated a second surgery several months later and the prospects were not promising. John’s left arm had atrophied, his hand now basically a claw, and two of his fingers were numb.
Even so, he began rehab, knowing he would miss the entire 1975 season. He taped the unfeeling fingers to the functioning ones so that he could grip a baseball, then, resembling “a little boy throwing against the steps of his back porch,” threw against a wall. He squeezed Silly Putty and strictly adhered to a physical therapy regimen.
By June 1975 he had regained the use of his entire hand and in late September pitched three innings in an exhibition game. He continued his routine through the offseason and into spring training, once joking, “When they operated on my arm, I asked them to put in a Koufax fastball. They did but it turned out to be Mrs. Koufax.”
Surprising many, who considered it at least a minor miracle, he was back in the rotation at the start of the 1976 season and went five innings in his first start, giving up five hits and three runs in a loss to the Braves in Atlanta. He finished the season at 10-10 with a 3.09 ERA, and if anyone was still wondering about his comeback, he put doubts to rest in 1977.
In one of his best seasons, he won 20 games, had a 2.78 ERA and finished second in National League Cy Young award voting for the pennant-winning Dodgers. In a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the clinching Game 4 of the NL Championship Series — then a best-of-five format — John pitched a complete game, striking out eight in a 130-pitch effort.
Dodgers pitcher Tommy John celebrates after the final out in a 4-1 victory over the Phillies in Game 4 of the 1977 NLCS that clinched the pennant for the Dodgers. (Associated Press)
He came back with a 17-victory season in ’78 and the Dodgers won the pennant again but again lost to the Yankees in the World Series, with John winning a game in both the NLCS and World Series. After the season, he signed with New York as a free agent.
He was an immediate hit with the Yankees, winning 21 games in 1979 and finishing second in the American League Cy Young voting, then won 22 in ’80. In 1981, the Yankees reached the World Series, once again facing the Dodgers — and John was at the center of the most controversial decision in the series that ultimately sealed New York’s fate.
John was the starter in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium with the Dodgers leading the series, 3-2. The left-hander had won Game 2, giving up three hits over seven innings in a 3-0 victory, and had completed four innings of one-run ball when Yankees manager Bob Lemon elected to pinch-hit for John with two runners on in a 1-1 game. ABC, which broadcast the World Series that year, showed John looking visibly upset and surprised as he paced the dugout.
Bobby Murcer flied out to right to end the inning, and the Dodgers would score eight runs over the next four innings against an ineffective Yankees bullpen to secure a 9-2 victory and win the franchise’s first World Series since 1965.
“At the time my reaction was, ‘why is he doing this?’ I was pitching fine and you don’t pull someone out in the fourth inning just because you need a hit at the time,” John said last year. “I was not happy, but that was so long ago in retrospect could we have won? I think so. Does it matter now? No.”
In John’s two stints with the Yankees — he had four seasons with the Angels in between — he was 91-60 with a 3.59 ERA.
And it was with the Yankees that he made the record book, in a way no player would ever want. He committed three errors in an inning, all on the same play during a game July 27, 1988.
With the Yankees leading the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 and Jim Gantner on first for the Brewers, John charged a slow roller by Jeffrey Leonard to the first-base side of the mound. First, he bobbled the ball. Then, he sailed it past first baseman Don Mattingly, bouncing it off the right-field ballboy. Dave Winfield made a nice play on the ball and fired a strong throw home. It was on line and probably would have nailed the hustling Gantner but John cut it off, then threw wildly past catcher Don Slaught and into the Brewers’ dugout as Gantner scored.
John’s summation, according to Newsday? “I must have had a metal cup on. It glitched the ions in the air.”
After his playing days, John did some broadcasting, some minor league managing and became a strong advocate for suicide prevention after one of his sons took his own life. And after seeing many young pitchers, some still in their teens, undergo the surgery named for him, he spoke out against arm overuse, recommending less than year-round pitching by young arms.
But regardless of the context, John is forever linked to the operation that continues to be performed by orthopedic surgeons such as Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who began learning how to perform the procedure when he was a fellow at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in 1990 from Jobe himself. The two would operate together twice a week throughout the 1990s and were close friends until Jobe’s death in 2014.
“It should have been called the Frank Jobe operation,” ElAttrache told The Times in 2023. “But with Frank being the man he was, it was all about the person he was treating. It wasn’t about him.”
By ElAttrache’s estimation, he has performed the operation between 50 and 75 times per year over his career — including the two he has done on Ohtani, one in 2018 and one in 2023. And although ElAttrache has put his own signatures on the surgery — including a second graft to further fortify Ohtani’s elbow — the operation has remained largely the same since Jobe first performed it in 1974.
John is survived by his wife, Cheryl, and his children, Tommy, Travis and Tamara. A private celebration of his life will be held in Florida.
Former Times staff writer Michael Kupper wrote this obituary prior to his death in 2025.
Tommy John, the namesake of a revolutionary elbow surgery that has saved thousands of pitchers' careers over the past five decades, including his own, has died at the age of 83, Los Angeles Dodgers announced Sunday, Aug. 16.
John had been in hospice care at his home in Bradenton, Florida, and sent a message to the New York Yankeessaying his goodbyes before the team's Old Timers' Day home game against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 8, 2026, also thanking Dr. Frank Jobe, who performed his surgery.
"I want to thank the Yankees organization & the Steinbrenner family for giving me this opportunity to say goodbye to everyone, along with all the friends & fans who followed me throughout my 26-year career," John, who pitched for the Yankees from 1979-82 and 1986-89, said in a statement.
"The day I left for my first job as a pitcher, my father looked at me & said, 'Good luck, Tommy. Just remember one thing: whether you make it big in the big leagues or you don’t, you’ll always just be Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana."
John started his major league career with Cleveland in 1963, before pitching with the Chicago White Sox from 1965-71.
In 1974, while pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers, John suffered an injury to his left pitching arm. Jobe, the Dodgers team physician, performed the four-hour ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery on Sept. 25, causing John to miss the entire 1975 season. The surgery entailed replacing the UCL with a tendon from elsewhere in the body, in this case, John's right wrist. Jobe then took that wrist tendon, drilled holes in John's injured elbow, and wove the tendon through the holes.
John returned for the 1976 season and went on to pitch 14 more years, winning another 164 games with the Dodgers, Yankees, California Angels (1982-85) and Oakland Athletics (1985).
"We are saddened to hear the news of Tommy John’s passing today,” said Dodgers president Stan Kasten in a statement released by the club. "Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball, and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated. His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come.”
John finished his career with a 288-231 record and 3.31 ERA in 760 career games, and he was named to four All-Star teams. He fell off the Hall of Fame ballot in 2009 in his 15th and final year of eligibility after receiving 31.7% of the votes.
John had broadcasting stints with the Minnesota Twins and Class AAA Charlotte Knights and also served in coaching capacities at the collegiate, minor league and professional level.
Aug 13, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) hits an RBI single in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Detroit Tigers (60-63) vs. Chicago White Sox (64-58)
Time/Place: 1:40 p.m., Comerica Park SB Nation Site:South Side Sox Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network Pitching Matchup: RHP Drew Anderson (4-4, 3.91 ERA) vs. RHP Sean Burke (7-6, 2.99 ERA)
