Henry flew to Kansas City because Devers called out chief baseball officer Craig Breslow the previous day for asking him to replace the injured Triston Casas at first base. Despite Breslow and manager Alex Cora calling the session “productive,” Devers still wouldn’t acquiesce. As Breslow and team CEO/president Sam Kennedy put it, Devers and the Red Sox couldn’t “find alignment” on what was best for the organization, resulting in the homegrown star’s departure.
So, why couldn’t Devers and the Red Sox find common ground during the meeting with Henry?
“They wanted me to play first base” Devers said, according to Pete Abraham, of The Boston Globe. “I told [Henry] they eventually, yes. I could play first base but maybe next year. It was not my fault that players get hurt. I felt like if another player got hurt, they would move me again.”
Devers had already reluctantly moved from third base to designated hitter following the club’s offseason acquisition of All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman. The 28-year-old grew frustrated with what he deemed poor communication from the front office, and he gradually became more disconnected from the team that signed him as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic.
“As a trade was being discussed, Devers steadily withdrew from the day-to-day culture of the Red Sox, typically arriving at the ballpark just before the start of team activities for the day,” Abraham wrote. “Devers would dress while keeping his AirPods in, a silent message that he wasn’t interested in speaking to anybody. Once the game ended, he would dress quickly and leave.”
Devers’ attitude flipped upon his arrival in San Francisco. During his introductory Giants press conference, Devers said he would be open to playing anywhere he’s asked to play, including first base. In fact, he has already worked out at first base multiple times in preparation to play the position for his new club.
While it would’ve been poetic for Devers to play first base against his former team, that won’t happen when the Red Sox begin their three-game series in San Francisco on Friday night.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen this weekend,” Giants manager Bob Melvin told KNBR’s “Murph and Markus”. “We haven’t gotten there. … It’s going to take a little bit more time than having him at first base during the Red Sox series.”
First pitch for Friday’s much-anticipated matchup at Oracle Park is set for 10:15 p.m. ET.
Francisco Alvarez’s rather puzzling failure to live up to predictions of stardom seemingly has reached the crisis stage.
After a recent stretch of futility, his seventh-inning at-bat against the Braves in Atlanta on Thursday night, in fact, looked like something of a rock-bottom moment for the Mets’ struggling young catcher.
Alvarez struck out for the second time in the game, but it was the way he did it that was especially alarming. First losing his grip on the bat and sending it flying when he was fooled badly on a slider. And then, after fouling off a couple of very hittable fastballs, chasing another heater above the strike zone for the K.
“It felt like a low point for him,” was the way one major league scout put it Friday, speaking of that at-bat. “He’s not squaring up pitches he should hammer and he’s chasing pitches he should take. He looks completely lost.
“I like the way he plays the game. So in one sense I hate to say it, but I think he’s in his own head so much that the Mets need to try something drastic and send him down [to the minors]. Give him a chance to figure some things out away from the spotlight."
The scout’s suggestion is not an outlier at this point. On social media, it actually seems to be the prevailing opinion, which isn’t stunning -- Alvarez’s poor play still resonates as somewhat remarkable, considering how beloved he was by Mets fans as the can’t-miss kid, the high-energy, power-hitting catcher of their dreams.
Such was the hype for Alvarez just a couple of years ago. For example: In the spring of 2023, The Athletic’s prospect analyst, Keith Law, went so far as to write, "He could be as mobile as a statue and still be an above-average regular for a catcher with -- dare I say it -- a Mike Piazza-like upside if his bat keeps improving."
That same spring, MLB Pipeline ranked Alvarez as the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball, behind only Gunnar Henderson and Corbin Carroll. And such projections looked on-point when Alvarez hit 25 home runs in 123 games his rookie season.
Yet here he is, two years later, hitting .229 as of Friday with a shockingly low .305 slugging percentage, with two home runs in 34 games since returning from a broken hamate bone in his hand -- and just one home run since April 26. This after hitting only 11 homers in 100 games in 2024, missing time due to a torn thumb ligament.
So, what’s happened to his power? Is it the injuries? Is it his relative youth, at age 23? Or is it due more to his largely undisciplined approach at the plate that major league pitchers have exploited since his rookie year?
Law thinks it’s a combination of all of that, and still believes there’s a good chance Alvarez reaches the ceiling he once predicted for him.
“When you look at some of the numbers, he’s hitting the ball as hard as he ever has,” Law said. “He’s just not doing it consistently. Pitchers are attacking him on the outer third of the plate and he’s having trouble laying off them.
“He’s going to have to make the adjustment and he’s still young, especially when you factor in those two injuries to his hands. But it’s also a fact that some guys never make the adjustment in terms of pitch recognition at the big league level, so that remains to be seen. Also sometimes, it just takes longer for young catchers because of their defensive responsibilities.
New York Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes (35) talks to catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) against the Atlanta Braves after the first inning at Truist Park / Brett Davis - Imagn Images
“I certainly wouldn’t give up on Alvarez and I don’t think sending him to the minors and facing Triple-A pitching would really accomplish anything, unless the Mets believe he simply needs a mental break. In that case, maybe it would help him get a reset.”
So, opinions differ, obviously, on how to fix Alvarez. And in a sense, the biggest question may be whether his problems are more mental than mechanical.
Todd Zeile, SNY's analyst for the Mets' pregame and postgame shows, thinks the mental could be causing the mechanical, due to the sky-high expectations that have hovered over Alvarez since his days as that uber-prospect.
“I think he wants so badly to be that guy that everybody said he was,” Zeile said by phone recently. “And that’s made it hard for him.”
Zeile’s perspective is unique. He too broke into the big leagues as a catcher with the St. Louis Cardinals, before eventually transitioning to third base. He was sent down to the minors in his third year there, due to offensive struggles, and it proved to be exactly what he needed, returning in three weeks and going on to have a 16-year career.
And, finally, Zeile has seen nearly all of Alvarez’s at-bats in the majors. When I spoke to him, he prefaced his thoughts by saying he’s a big fan of Alvarez, noting how hard the young catcher has worked to improve defensively and how much he invests himself in game plans and pitch-calling to do right by his pitchers and his ballclub.
“He really cares,” Zeile said. “I think that’s what everybody loves about him.”
Yet, Zeile was also candid in expressing concerns about Alvarez’s diminishing returns with the bat, starting with being affected by the prospect hype.
“I think the expectations of being such a huge power-hitting prospect have ended up hurting him,” Zeile said. “It’s hard to say exactly why the power hasn’t been there, but at some point he began searching for the power, rather than just trying to hit the ball hard and let it come organically.
“Trying to create power is a recipe for a lot of frustration at this level because it leads to a poor approach.”
Zeile breaks it down into different stages. He said when the power wasn’t there after the thumb injury in 2024, Alvarez first began trying to force the issue.
“He tried to pull more,” Zeile recalled. “In doing so, he created holes in his swing because he was trying to get the ball out front, and he started pulling off the baseball. That made him more vulnerable to offspeed stuff, breaking balls on the outer part of the plate.
“Occasionally he’d still hit one 450 feet and you’d say, ‘OK, the power is still there, why isn’t he doing it more consistently?’ It was because pitchers recognized that he was selling out on the pull side, and they weren’t throwing those middle-in fastballs, or rarely, anyway. They exposed those holes in his swing.
“This year he tried to make adjustments to hit the ball the other way, but I think he got to the point where again, he was frustrated by the lack of power. And so at times, he goes back to trying to create a launch angle, which has led to some wild swings and made him vulnerable to chasing.
“The other night in Atlanta, he swung at a pitch and almost fell down going away from the plate. That was telling to me. If you lose balance in any direction, it should be toward home plate if you’re staying on the ball. So to see him fall away, that’s where it becomes obvious that he’s still so pull-conscious.”
Two scouts, including the one quoted earlier, offered similar observations.
“Chasing power could be the root of his problems,” said one scout. “It looks like it sometimes. But at some point you also have to ask if he just has a hard time recognizing spin, and that leads to chasing and looking bad. Even going back to his rookie year, pitchers stopped challenging him as much with the fastball in the second half and he struggled.”
The numbers back that up. In the second half of 2023, Alvarez hit just .174 with a .343 slugging percentage and only eight home runs. That after slugging .514 with 17 homers in the first half.
“He really hasn’t looked like that guy since the first half of his rookie year,” said the scout. “But I also wouldn’t discount the injuries being a factor in his development. He needs more time before anyone can judge him with any real certainty.”
As for the question of whether sending him down to the minors is worthwhile, Zeile draws on his experience in seeing the possibility that it could help Alvarez.
“I was ticked off when I was sent down but I went down for 21 days and raked,” Zeile recalls. “Part of that was working with my old minor league hitting coach and getting back to my old swing, after guys at the big league level had been trying to change my swing.
“That’s where it could be valuable for Alvarez -- get out of the fishbowl for a minute, get your confidence back without the scrutiny at that level. It worked for me. But everybody reacts differently to something like that.”
Finally, touching on Zeile’s experience, it’s hard to know if Alvarez has been affected at all by any changes the organization has tried to make with his swing or approach. But Law does add that factor into the equation.
“With the Mets, you’re not seeing the development with some of their young hitters,” Law said. “[Brett] Baty is an example for me. If Alvarez were a Dodger, for example, you might be seeing a different result because I think they do a really good job of developing guys as far as swing decisions and plate discipline.
“I’m not saying it’s on the organization. Sometimes it’s just the player. One thing for sure is the power is very real with Alvarez. It’s just a matter of whether he can get to a place where that power plays for him in a big way. He’s still got time.”
At this point, however, with Luis Torrens looming as perhaps a better option to be the No. 1 catcher right now, the more pressing question is how much time the Mets are willing to give Alvarez.
Federal agents stage outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on Thursday. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
More than 50 community and religious leaders from around Los Angeles signed a petition Friday that called on the Dodgers “to take a public stand against the indiscriminate ICE raids which are causing immense terror in our communities, hurting businesses, and separating families.”
“This is the moment for the Dodgers to stand with the families whom masked agents are tearing apart,” read the letter, which was signed by religious officials, labor leaders and immigrant-rights activists, and addressed to Dodgers owner Mark Walter.
“If these truly are OUR beloved Los Angeles Dodgers, we need you, more than ever, to stand with us, immigrants and non-immigrants alike. Stand with all of us.”
The petition, which was organized by faith-based community organizing network PICO California, came a day after the Dodgers postponed what was scheduled to be their first public comment regarding the immigration raids that have swept through the city over the last two weeks.
On Thursday, the club had been preparing to announce their plans for assistance to immigrant communities affected by the recent events in the city, a team spokesperson told The Times this week.
But then, federal immigration agents showed up at Dodger Stadium on Thursday morning, attempting to access the ballpark’s parking lots in an apparent effort to use them as a processing site for people who had been arrested in a nearby immigration raid.
The Dodgers denied the agents entry to the grounds, according to the team, but the resulting fallout prompted their planned announcement to be delayed.
“Because of the events earlier today, we continue to work with groups that were involved with our programs,” team president Stan Kasten said. “But we are going to have to delay today’s announcement while we firm up some more details. We’ll get back to you soon with the timing.”
Friday’s petition implored the club to not wait any longer, asking the team to:
Issue a public statement affirming that families are sacred, and that the ICE raids must stop
Stand with and support community organizations that are welcoming, protecting, and integrating immigrants into the fabric of our great region
As when you asked ICE to leave the property yesterday, continue to ensure that no Dodgers’ property or assets will be used to aid or abet immigration enforcement operations
A news release announcing the letter also promoted a public petition campaign for fans to sign.
Many of the signatories of Friday’s petition were local church leaders, including the bishops of the Methodist California-Pacific Conference and Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.
“For generations, Angelenos have prayed their Dodgers on through good times and bad,” John Harvey Taylor, the Episcopal bishop, said in a statement. “Dodgers security were champions this weekend. We pray that the Dodgers will stand with their fans, and their friends and family, who are at risk from these cruel workplace raids.”
The petition was also signed by representatives from more than 20 community advocacy groups, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and National Day Laborer Organizing Network; as well as labor leaders from local teacher unions and the Service Employees International Union, among others.
“We love the Dodgers not only because they are champions, but even more because they are the team of Jackie Robinson, of Fernando Valenzuela, of Kiké Hernandez — baseball players who have helped bend the moral arc of the universe towards justice,” Joseph Tomás McKellar, executive director of the PICO California organization that organized the petition, said in a statement. “This is a moment when the Dodgers, a beloved family and cultural institution for 67 years, can take a moral stand and make an impact on the lives of vulnerable families in our region. Families are sacred.”
The Dodgers — which, the petition notes, has a roughly 40% Latino fan base — had been under increased public pressure in recent days to address the immigration raids happening around the city.
Last weekend, they received backlash when singer and social media personality Nezza performed a Spanish-language version of the national anthem at a game, in an act of protest against the raids, despite being asked by a club employee to sing it in English. Stadium security officials have also been seen cracking down on anti-ICE signage that some fans have tried to display around the ballpark recently. And this week, some fans on social media began to call for a protest against the team on Saturday.
The Dodgers are still expected to unveil their plans to assist local immigrant communities in the near future. If not for Thursday’s unexpected encounter with federal immigration agents, it might have already happened by now.
But instead, they have yet to break their silence on the issue.
And on Friday, community leaders turned up the public pressure to do so.
SAN FRANCISCO — When a few Boston questions were mixed in during Tuesday’s press conference at Oracle Park, Rafael Devers deflected them, saying he didn’t want to talk about the past. At one point, Buster Posey smiled and said he liked the way his new superstar answers questions.
Posey really, really would have liked the way Devers handled his second large media availability of the week.
About two dozen reporters and six cameras — many of them from Boston — descended on the dugout Friday so Devers could offer answers to Red Sox reporters and his former fan base. He spoke for more than 10 minutes, and nearly every answer was some variation of “I don’t want to talk about the past, I’m focused on the future.” But when asked about his future in San Francisco, Devers lit up.
Devers was asked if he could remember the last time he had been this happy, and his answer surely pleased Posey and the Giants.
“It’s been a long time,” he said through interpreter Erwin Higueros. “I don’t know how to explain it. Yes, I feel happy. I feel relaxed now.”
"I feel very relaxed now."
Rafael Devers spoke to Bay Area and Boston reporters about the last time he was this happy professionally. pic.twitter.com/tb6DBnYG81
If all goes according to plan, that’ll be the last time Devers has to address a week that stunned Major League Baseball. He’s clearly ready to move on, but the timing of this weekend’s series — less than a week after the blockbuster deal — led to an interesting situation. He said he spent Thursday catching up with some former teammates after the Red Sox arrived from their series in Seattle, and on Friday, he spoke to reporters who once thought they might be covering him for the next eight and a half seasons.
Devers did not offer a lot of answers to the questions that persist across the country, although he did say that had the Red Sox asked him to play first base during the spring — instead of after Triston Casas got hurt in-season — he would have agreed. Asked for further details, he said all of that was in the past.
Devers said he did plan to catch up with former manager Alex Cora, although they haven’t spoken since the trade. If Cora watches closely this weekend, he’ll see Devers taking grounders at first during batting practice, something he refused to do for Cora and the Red Sox.
The Giants will continue to get Devers work there all weekend after two days of grounders earlier this week. He said he’s not ready to play first base against his former team, though. Devers isn’t sure when he’ll be ready for a new position, but he promised to inform his new manager, Bob Melvin, as soon as he feels comfortable.
In the meantime, the Giants will continue to start Devers at DH. He reiterated Friday that he’ll do anything his new bosses want, and said he’s confident that better days are ahead. The Giants scored just six runs in their first three games with Devers in the lineup, but he said he’s excited about the future.
“There’s a reason they brought me here,” he said. “Our offense is going to hit.”
It's Friday, June 20 and the White Sox (23-52) are in Toronto to take on the Blue Jays (40-34). Davis Martin is slated to take the mound for Chicago against Spencer Turnbull for Toronto.
Chicago has lost eight straight games and are 1-9 over the last 10 games after being swept in two straight series. Toronto took the series against Arizona, 2-1, but are 2-4 over the previous six games. This is the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch White Sox at Blue Jays
Date: Friday, June 20, 2025
Time: 7:07PM EST
Site: Rogers Centre
City: Toronto, ON
Network/Streaming: CHSN, Sportsnet
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Odds for the White Sox at the Blue Jays
The latest odds as of Friday:
Moneyline: White Sox (+171), Blue Jays (-207)
Spread: Blue Jays -1.5
Total: 9.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for White Sox at Blue Jays
Pitching matchup for June 20, 2025: Davis Martin vs. Spencer Turnbull
White Sox: Davis Martin, (2-7, 3.79 ERA) Last outing: 6.0 Innings Pitched, 4 Earned Runs Allowed, 7 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 5 Strikeouts
Blue Jays: Spencer Turnbull, (1-0, 2.08 ERA) Last outing: 2.1 Innings Pitched, 1 Earned Runs Allowed, 5 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 0 Strikeouts
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Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the White Sox and the Blue Jays
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Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday’s game between the White Sox and the Blue Jays:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Toronto Blue Jays on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Chicago White Sox at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play on the over on the Game Total of 9.0.
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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of White Sox at Blue Jays
The Blue Jays are 8-2 in their last 10 home games
The Blue Jays' last 4 games have gone over the Total
The Blue Jays have covered in their last 4 games against the White Sox
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It's Friday, June 20 and the Braves (34-39) are in Miami to take on the Marlins (29-44). Didier Fuentes is slated to take the mound for Atlanta in his MLB debut against Janson Junk for Miami.
The Marlins are 1-3 over the last four games and are 4-4 in the previous eight outings, while the Braves enter on a three-game winning streak and 6-1 over the past seven games (4-plus runs scored in all six runs).
These two teams split the first series earlier in the year 1-1 with another contest being postponed.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Braves at Marlins
Date: Friday, June 20, 2025
Time: 7:10PM EST
Site: LoanDepot Park
City: Miami, FL
Network/Streaming: FDSNSO, FDSNFL
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Odds for the Braves at the Marlins
The latest odds as of Friday:
Moneyline: Braves (-143), Marlins (+120)
Spread: Braves -1.5
Total: 9.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Braves at Marlins
Pitching matchup for June 20, 2025: Didier Fuentes vs. Janson Junk
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Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday’s game between the Braves and the Marlins:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Atlanta Braves on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Miami Marlins at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 9.0.
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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Braves at Marlins
The Braves are 34-39 this season but they've won 7 of their last 9 games
5 of the Marlins' last 6 matchups against NL East teams have gone under the Total
Miami is 2-3 on the ML when Janson Junk pitches this season
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It's Friday, June 20 and the Mets (45-30) are in Philadelphia to take on the Phillies (45-30). Blade Tidwell is slated to take the mound for New York against Zack Wheeler for Philadelphia.
The Phillies are 7-1 in the last eight games and 8-2 over the past 10 to follow up a 0-5 and 1-9 stretch of play. Philadelphia took three out of four against Miami despite outscoring the Marlins 14-13.
The Mets are on a six-game losing streak after being swept by Tampa Bay and Atlanta. New York has scored 14 runs in that span with three games of one or fewer run.
New York swept Philadelphia earlier this season at home, so this appears to be good timing for the Phillies to win the series and attempt to extract revenge in the form of a series sweep.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Mets at Phillies
Date: Friday, June 20, 2025
Time: 7:15PM EST
Site: Citizens Bank Park
City: Philadelphia, PA
Network/Streaming: Apple TV+
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Odds for the Mets at the Phillies
The latest odds as of Friday:
Moneyline: Mets (+156), Phillies (-187)
Spread: Phillies -1.5
Total: 8.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Mets at Phillies
Pitching matchup for June 20, 2025: Blade Tidwell vs. Zack Wheeler
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Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Mets and the Phillies
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Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday’s game between the Mets and the Phillies:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Philadelphia Phillies on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the New York Mets at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.
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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Mets at Phillies
The Phillies have won 5 of their last 6 games at home
4 of the Mets' last 5 matchups against NL East teams have gone under the Total
The Mets have failed to cover the Run Line in 7 of their last 9 games
New York is 3-0 on the ML against Philadelphia this season
New York is 0-1 on the ML when Blake Tidwell pitches this season
Philadelphia is 10-4 on the ML when Zack Wheeler pitches this season
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It's Friday, June 20 and the Tigers (48-28) are in Tampa to take on the Rays (41-34). Jack Flaherty is slated to take the mound for Detroit against Shane Baz for Tampa Bay.
Detroit played a double-header at home against Pittsburgh yesterday, winning the first and losing the second to take the series 2-1. The Tigers are on the road after those two games for a new series as they haven't lost a road series since April 30.
Tampa Bay is 5-2 in the past seven games and coming off a 2-2 series split with Baltimore. The Rays scored 19 runs in their two wins and 2 runs in the two losses against the Orioles. This is the first meeting of the season between the Tigers and Rays.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Tigers at Rays
Date: Friday, June 20, 2025
Time: 7:05PM EST
Site: George M. Steinbrenner Field
City: Tampa, FL
Network/Streaming: FDSNDT, FDSNSUN
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Odds for the Tigers at the Rays
The latest odds as of Friday:
Moneyline: Tigers (-109), Rays (-110)
Spread: Rays 1.5
Total: 8.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Tigers at Rays
Pitching matchup for June 20, 2025: Jack Flaherty vs. Shane Baz
Tigers: Jack Flaherty, (5-7, 4.03 ERA) Last outing: 4.2 Innings Pitched, 7 Earned Runs Allowed, 5 Hits Allowed, 5 Walks, and 5 Strikeouts
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Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday’s game between the Tigers and the Rays:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Tampa Bay Rays on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Detroit Tigers at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Tigers at Rays
The Under has cashed in 5 of the Rays' last 7 games with Shane Baz starting
Tampa Bay is 10-4 on the ML when Shane Baz pitches this season and a profit of +5.46 units
Detroit is 5-9 on the ML when Jack Flaherty pitches this season
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
It's Friday, June 20 and the Orioles (32-42) are in Bronx to take on the Yankees (43-31). Tomoyuki Sugano is slated to take the mound for Baltimore against Max Fried for New York.
Baltimore is coming off a split of a series against Tampa Bay where 39 combined runs were scored. The Orioles are 16-6 over the last 22 games after going 16-36 through the first 52 games.
New York lost six straight, which was a season-long losing streak, before ending a four-game series against the Los Angeles with a 7-3 win. The Yankees were swept by the Red Sox and lost three of four against the Angels mainly because of the offense. New York scored five runs total over their six-game losing streak, but bounced back with seven yesterday in a game that featured two rain delays.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long.
Game details & how to watch Orioles at Yankees
Date: Friday, June 20, 2025
Time: 7:05PM EST
Site: Yankee Stadium
City: Bronx, NY
Network/Streaming: MASN, YES, MLBN
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Orioles at the Yankees
The latest odds as of Friday:
Moneyline: Orioles (+188), Yankees (-229)
Spread: Yankees -1.5
Total: 9.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Orioles at Yankees
Pitching matchup for June 20, 2025: Tomoyuki Sugano vs. Max Fried
Yankees: Max Fried, (9-2, 1.90 ERA) Last outing: 7.0 Innings Pitched, 2 Earned Runs Allowed, 6 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 9 Strikeouts
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Orioles and the Yankees
Rotoworld Best Bet
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) thinks there is still value on Aaron Judge to be the home run leader:
"Aaron Judge has been cold lately with two hits and three walks (two intentional) since that game-tying homer in the 9th against Boston (six game span).
His odds of hitting .400 before the All-Star break are barely worth a sprinkle now as he's at a .366 batting average. However, he is still -110 to +110 to lead the MLB in homers and with 26 on the season, he ranks second.
I don't expect Cal Raleigh (27) to lead the MLB and Shohei Ohtani (25) is pitching now, so the wear and tear could affect the NL MVP favorite, so I think Judge is still a good bet to lead the MLB in homers."
Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday’s game between the Orioles and the Yankees:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the New York Yankees on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Baltimore Orioles at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the under on the Game Total of 9.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Orioles at Yankees
The Yankees have won 13 of their last 20 home games against teams with losing records
The Under is 41-30-3 in Yankees' games this season
New York is 12-3 on the ML when Max Fried pitches this season
Baltimore is 8-6 on the ML when Yomoyuki Sugano pitches this season
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
BALTIMORE – Nobody in the Baltimore Orioles organization is happy about how the season opened in the second year of David Rubenstein’s ownership.
“We just had an incredibly frustrating and disappointing start,” Mike Elias, the team’s executive vice president and general manager of baseball operations, said in an interview this week. “It was a Murphy’s Law kind of start.”
Everything went wrong as the O’s lost 32 of their first 47 games. Elias cited injuries, underperformance and players pressing for the face-plant that followed last year’s 91-win season.
“You name it,” he said. “It was all a contributing factor.”
The perception by fans as the season began was that the Orioles didn’t spend enough this offseason to improve the team. However their player payroll increased by $57.5 million. The issue? How they spent that money.
Of MLB.com’s top 25 free agents, Baltimore signed just one: outfielder Tyler O’Neill. And in an offseason where several high-profile starting pitchers were on the market—like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Blake Snell and Jack Flaherty—the O’s filled their rotation holes with 41-year-old journeyman Charlie Morton and Japanese rookie Tomoyuki Sugano. Of their seven MLB signings, only O’Neill’s deal was for more than one year.
“Ownership made a lot of payroll investment this past winter,” said Elias. “Unfortunately, the first few weeks it didn’t bear fruit, but in their first offseason they showed a willingness to spend, and we were among the highest payroll escalations.”
The team so far hasn’t gotten much bang for its buck. Morton, the third-highest paid player on the team this season at $15 million, entered this week with a 6.05 ERA. O’Neill has been limited to two home runs across 24 games because of injury.
Local fans have responded. Average attendance is down 4,908 to 23,606 a game at Camden Yards, which ranks 22nd in Major League Baseball. The still-beautiful ballpark opened in 1992, leading a revolution of similar baseball stadium construction throughout the U.S., but has never hosted a World Series game.
That streak won’t end this year, barring a miracle turnaround story.
Charlie Morton has posted his highest ERA since 2010. Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
Baltimore’s dismal start cost incumbent manager Brandon Hyde his job in mid-May. Only two seasons earlier, the O’s won 101 games and the American League East title, and Hyde was named AL Manager of the Year. He was replaced on an interim basis by third base coach Tony Mansolino, who had no MLB managing experience. Mansolino is 42, but looks and sounds much younger.
There was a lot of nervousness when he took over that first day, he said.
“You prepare, deal with the nerves, but then you settle in,” Mansolino said. “You try to do things the best you can … in the end it’s just having confidence in yourself like the players.”
The immediate results were predictable. The Orioles kept losing under Mansolino, hitting their season low of 15-32 on May 20. But what’s happened since then has given Elias hope. They’ve started playing better and winning as key players such as Cedric Mullins and Jordan Westburg have returned from injuries. They are over .500 since that low water mark, including a three-game home sweep last weekend of the Los Angeles Angels.
Still, the same problems they met out of the gates have popped up and hindered momentum. Baltimore’s pitching staff squandered an 8-0 lead to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night to lose, 12-8.
“We’re playing more relaxed,” Elias said. “We’re a healthier team now. We’ve received some stabilization from our pitching staff. And most importantly our young core of hitters has been improving. We haven’t quite dug out of the hole, but the team is very talented. Time is on our side a little bit.”
But time is not really on their side this season, playing in one of the toughest divisions historically in MLB. Making the playoffs is going to be a steep uphill climb, and every multi-run collapse like Wednesday night’s hammers morale.
Everything for the Orioles the rest of the way is going to have to go right, while other AL teams have to fall apart. FanGraphs gives Baltimore a sub-5% chance of making the playoffs. Baseball-Reference has the team at a sub-1% chance.
“I hope there is time,” Westburg said. “I prefer to look at the positives. It’s a long season and there’s a lot of things that can change between now and then.”
That doesn’t seem likely with the Rays, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox above them by a solid distance in the division standings. As far as the three Wild Card berths, there are seven teams between the O’s and the final spot.
The roots of this year’s problems go back to last season. The Orioles were 58-38 at the 2024 All-Star break and boasted what many considered the top farm system in baseball. But the team was widely believed to need to bolster its rotation at the trade deadline, and the club hung onto its top five prospects and dealt for Rays starter Zach Eflin and Marlins starter Trevor Rogers. The latter posted a 7.11 ERA in four starts for the O’s before getting sent down to Triple-A.
“We accomplished our goals,” Elias said on MASN after the deadline. But the O’s faded down the stretch, going .500 in the second half and giving up first place to the Yankees for good on Sept. 6. Their 91-71 record was 10 games worse than 2023, but good enough for second place in the AL East and a Wild-Card berth. They were knocked out by the Kansas City Royals in two games, scoring just one run.
Adding their sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers in a 2023 AL Division Series, the Orioles haven’t won a postseason game or series since 2014.
Following its 2024 exit, Baltimore’s ace, Burnes, departed for the desert, signing a six-year, $210 million deal with his top-choice Arizona Diamondbacks. Without Burnes this year, and with Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish on the shelf, the starting rotation is near the bottom of MLB with an ERA above 5.20.
For his sake, Burnes just underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and is likely out until the end of the 2026 season at best. Thus, the O’s sidestepped that disaster.
Now, with the clock ticking, the Orioles face another trade deadline decision. Of their young hitting core—Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser and Westburg—only Rutschman is earning more than $800K in 2025. Those bills will eventually become due through arbitration and/or potential extensions, so the franchise has more than just the upcoming second half to consider in its roster-building.
Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson has not matched his 2024 production.Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
In the meantime, the Orioles’ player payroll ranks 15th in MLB this year at $184.3 million, up from $126.8 million and a No. 26 ranking in 2024. Eight of the 15 AL teams spend less, but of course their AL East brethren in the Yanks, Jays and Red Sox don’t. Only Tampa Bay is way below them with a $101.5 million payroll, but Kevin Cash’s group is well above Baltimore in the standings and prevented the Orioles from gaining ground in this week’s four-game series.
“If you’re a middle-market team in baseball, just throwing money at your payroll over and over is not a particularly sustainable model,” Elias said. “You have to blend that in with good scouting and player development.”
As far as being a mid-market team, the Orioles are valued by Sportico at $1.82 billion with a 2024 revenue of $339 million, 18th in MLB. They must compete with the Yankees, who lead the sport in value at $8.39 billion, and are second in revenue at $799 million.
Rubenstein, who per Forbes has a net worth of $3.8 billion, and his group paid $1.725 million to buy the O’s from the Angelos family in March 2024. But there is a bright side.
The Orioles have a jewel of a ballpark in Camden Yards, which is about to undergo up to $600 million in improvements courtesy of state funds, including this offseason new outfield video boards, a ribbon advertising board circling the stadium and a new press box to replace the old one behind home plate—which to the chagrin of many writers is being converted into a luxury suite.
The club’s office space in the classic warehouse beyond the right field fence is also being renovated. And that’s just a start, as the entire facility is under evaluation. It all needs work, Catie Griggs, the club’s president of business operations, said in a dugout interview.
“The ballpark is iconic. It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s also largely untouched since it was built in 1992, which in some respects is fantastic, but in other places it’s starting to show its age.”
This offseason as well, the owners are spending $27 million of their own funds to upgrade the player facilities at their Sarasota spring training complex in Florida, much like the $30 million of work the Yankees just completed this year at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
Unlike the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays, the Orioles neither own nor operate their own ballpark, nor do they pay rent to the Maryland Stadium Authority to play there. They have recently signed a lease that commits them to the facility for the next 30 years.
They are a mainstay in the Baltimore area with a huge government subsidy from the state. Elias says ownership has indicated there is “payroll flexibility,” moving forward.
The Orioles may not have the revenue of big-market teams, but they don’t have the expenses, either.
To keep up with the Yankees and Red Sox, they must develop a symbiosis between business and baseball operations under the new ownership.
“I mean, that’s the name of the game,” Elias said. “I wish I could answer that simply. There’s an unevenness between franchises and market sizes in MLB that’s unique relative to other major league sports. Each franchise has to figure out the right formula.”
This season’s formula has not been right at all. The Orioles say they’re working on it.
“I mean, it didn’t take long,” Posey told former Giants pitcher Jake Peavy and former MLB general manager Steve Phillips. “That’s another fascinating part about this job, right, is how quickly stuff leaks out.”
Although the former Giants catcher talked about how quickly the news broke, mentioning he threw on ESPN for their “Sunday Night Baseball” coverage of the Giants-Los Angeles Dodgers game, he followed that up by saying it wasn’t until the agreement was in place that the news broke.
“I am pleased with our group and credit to the Red Sox as well,” Posey said. “We were talking about this for going on a month, so the fact that we were able to get it done before something came out is a credit to both sides.”
It seems good things come to those who wait — and keep quiet — as both teams got what they wanted in the end.
Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...
Mets Notes
Juan Soto is hitting .323/.482/.662 with six homers, four doubles, 19 walks, 12 RBI, and 18 runs scored over his last 19 games
Brandon Nimmo is hitting .302/.368/.523 with five homers, four doubles, 12 RBI, and 15 runs scored over his last 22 games
Blade Tidwell, who is being called up from Triple-A Syracuse, will be making his second career big league start
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Absolutely, and Posey doesn’t need to go digging through the club’s history books all that much.
“I think back in my career when we added a guy by the name of Jake Peavy,” Posey humorously shared with the former Giants pitcher and co-host Steve Phillips on the MLB Network on Friday. “I was pretty excited.”
Is Rafael Devers the biggest Giants trade since Jake Peavy?
Buster Posey makes the comparison and explains his expectations for the slugger in San Francisco.
Peavy and Posey were Giants teammates for three seasons, winning a World Series together in 2014, the same season San Francisco traded for the right-hander.
“In all seriousness, Peavy injected an energy into our clubhouse,” Posey added. “There was a leadership element that he brought that I know that [general manager Brian Sabean] targeted those types of guys. I certainly pay attention to that.”
Posey spent plenty of time together with Peavy from 2014 to 2016. Now, as San Francisco’s lead executive, he is hoping Devers’ arrival has a similar impact in San Francisco.
“Ultimately, I believe a big part of this job is, of course, [that] we want to have great players on the field and a roster that is going to help us win a lot of games,” Posey said.
“To me, Rafael Devers is a star. And our fan base, as you know, has been clamoring to have guys like this that can show up to the park and root for daily.”
As it stands, the 28-year-old slugger is owed roughly $255 million over the next eight and a half seasons, signaling a heavy commitment from Posey and Co.
Posey, however, believes it will all be worth it — both for the Giants’ clubhouse and the fan base.
“I think it was pretty evident from the get-go, knowing our fanbase like I know our fanbase, that they would be extremely excited about Rafael being in our lineup,” Posey concluded.
Russell Martin agreed a three-year contract at Rangers in early June [SNS]
Russell Martin will have shown he is the "right man" for Rangers "within the first six months or so", predicts former team-mate Steven Naismith.
The former Southampton manager, 39, begins his Ibrox reign with a Champions League qualifier against Panathinaikos next month, while his first Scottish Premiership game is a visit to Motherwell on 2 August.
Naismith played alongside Martin for Norwich City and Scotland and believes he will prosper in Glasgow.
"I fully believe that he will come in and be a real success," Naismith told BBC Scotland.
"I think what has been lacking at Rangers over the years, he ticks most of the boxes. His style of play, he knows how to break down a low block that he'll come up against a lot, in terms of dominating possession.
"His communication and leadership skills are probably the highest things for him. He's shown in the three clubs he's managed before that he can produce, he can make teams better.
"Within the first six months or so, I think he will have shown a lot of those doubting him that he is the right man."
Ex-Hearts head coach Naismith also revealed the pair are in contact regularly and, although he has not spoken to him specifically about the Rangers job, he says he will be on hand if Martin needs him.
"We chat a lot because we're friends and we're similar in terms of what we're going through in terms of coaching and management," the 38-year-old continued.
"I'll give him any help I can. He's pretty straightforward and laser focused on his style, his mindset and what he wants.
"His experience of playing at the club (on loan in 2018) is definitely something that will hold him in good stead going into the start of his managerial career at Rangers.
"He wants his players to do certain things on the pitch that in Scotland get challenged from the stands quickly if it's not going well. Finding that balance of having that clear style and working towards that, but also getting results short-term, is going to be key for him."
