Through the early days of training camp, the Philadelphia Flyers are quietly working to decide how the center depth will shake out as the beginning of the regular season approaches.
This is less a question of which players make the NHL roster after final cuts, and more about who plays where.
As far as the first few days of training camp are concerned, there are a few obvious players who will be sticking at center, and a few wildcards who muddy the picture a bit.
During Saturday's scrimmage, Trevor Zegras and Sean Couturier reprised their roles as the first- and fourth-line centers with Zegras playing with Owen Tippett and a rotation of Zach Aston-Reese and Jack Studnicka and Couturier playing with Noel Acciari and Carl Grundstrom.
Surging prospect Denver Barkey was the third center on that Orange team, while the Black team featured Jett Luchanko, Christian Dvorak, and Noah Cates down the middle.
If we include Luchanko as part of the equation and roster battle, the Flyers have six centers vying for four spots, and some players will be sent to the AHL (Luchanko) or be forced to play the wing.
Barkey was that guy who shifted to the wing last season, but that may not necessarily always be the case going forward.
"I think it takes a lot of work to be an established NHL centerman, but I think something I've always taken pride in is being a versatile player, someone that can play up and down a lineup, and someone that can play center or wing," Barkey said after Saturday's scrimmage.
"I haven't played [center] too much since I was younger in junior, but given the opportunity here now, I know the task at hand for what a center needs to do in all three zones throughout a game. So, having that opportunity here to show them that I can maybe play center and hold my own. It's just another opportunity for me, and looking to run away with it."
Barkey, 21, spent much of his time last year with Noah Cates and Sean Couturier as his centers, two players who are defensively sound and can chip in offensively when things are doing well.
Flyers turn to Barkey, linemates for better offensive look?
Denver Barkey (left) played as the center for Alex Bump (right) during Saturday's training camp scrimmage. (Photo: Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images)
On Saturday, Barkey was interestingly slotted in between two fellow youngsters in Alex Bump and Matvei Michkov, which speaks to what Rick Tocchet and the Flyers' coaching staff think of the former third-round pick's discipline and ability to play responsibly in all three zones. His two wingers are in the NHL for their offensive prowess, but no so much for the defense.
After a tentative start, the fascinating trio found some chemistry and eventually cashed in for two of their team's four goals.
Tocchet acknowledged the nature of the scrimmage and how rosters had to be divvied up between two teams, but feels there is real potential for Barkey at the center position regardless.
"There's also something there that we got to look at, because he's a smart guy. I don't think he hurts you defensively," Tocchet said. "What I liked about that, the line started out slow, and then if you watch, they got cooking, and they started having puck possession. There's a lot of factors into that, and we'll see. We have some other centers, too. So that's something that we're going to have to really look into."
The Flyers also used Saturday's scrimmage as an opportunity to work on the power play for the first time this training camp.
Tocchet also spoke about "deception" being the key to a successful unit that scores goals and generates chances; Barkey featured on the first unit alongside Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov, Jamie Drysdale, and Owen Tippett and believes his best attributes can shine with such an opportunity.
"My vision and my IQ has always been something that's separated me for most, and I think on the power play, you have a little more time and space, and you have that extra second to maybe sell a pass and shoot, or make it look like you're passing somewhere that you're not," Barkey assessed. "I think, yeah, as time goes on here, you get more comfortable and continue to grow as a team. I think definitely that'd be something that you look to help this team win games."
The former London Knights captain finished 11th on the Flyers in total power play ice time last season, playing 69:16 in just 43 regular season games, per Natural Stat Trick. His 1:36 of power play time per game ranked 10th among Flyers forwards, trailing the top dogs and veterans like Michkov, Travis Konecny, Zegras, Tippett, Cates, Christian Dvorak, Porter Martone, Tyson Foerster, and the now-departed Bobby Brink.
Of course, the Flyers' usage of Barkey in training camp thus far suggests that they have an expanded role in mind, both in terms of position and 5-on-5 play, as well as offensively with increased power play time.
Throughout the summer, GM Danny Briere and the Flyers have mentioned the growth and maturity of their young players as keys to the upcoming season, especially with the overall lack of offseason additions, and Barkey will be as big a piece in that puzzle as anyone as training camp thunders onward.
MARYLAND
HEIGHTS, Mo. -- It’s go time for the NHL preseason on Saturday, and
the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars will kick things off after
opening respective training camps just two days ago.
The
Blues and Stars will open preseason play at 6 p.m. at Enterprise
Center, and from a Blues perspective, there’s no time to get
extended looks at potential players looking to crack the opening
night lineup or prospects getting a lot of time with the big club.
But
the Blues will do so on Saturday before getting more time in with
those that will make the club.
Headlining
the lineup tonight includes what is projected to be the opening night
fourth line of Ross Johnston, Pius Suter and Alexey Toropchenko.
“(Tonight),
it will probably be the least amount of veterans dressed,” Blues
coach Jim Montgomery said. “We’ll get a look at some of our young
prospects. Then game two (Monday in Dallas), we’re going to have
our first power play unit go, then game three (Thursday at home
against the Chicago Blackhawks), we’re going to have our second
power play unit go and the last game’s going to be both units going
(Sept. 26 at Chicago). That’s going to be our team playing in the
last game.”
There’s
a good sense of what the lineup will look like Oct. 2 in Dallas when
the Blues and Stars open for keeps, but what’s going to be a battle
is the spots for the 13/14 roster spots among the forwards, and it
includes Oskar Sundqvist, Nathan Walker, Dillon Dube, Otto Stenberg and Jack
Finley all vying for two spots.
“I
think it’s always different with what do you have up front,”
Montgomery said. “Do you have enough offense where you’re just
going to look for checkers and grinders? Or are you lacking offense
where maybe you bring in a guy that’s had some skill to go up in
the second line and you have one guy that’s going to be a grinder.
It’s not your typical guys you’re just looking for that are going
to be just physical guys and other attributes would be can they play
center and can they play wing? Can they win draws? Do they penalty
kill or do they power play? It all depends on the makeup of your team
and I just love the fact that we’ve got a lot of different elements
that we can choose from right now. It’s very competitive.
“You
don’t want two guys that look the same. That you don’t want
unless you had a team that your four lines are set and you have a
fourth line that is an identity line like we had two years ago and
then you have a third line that’s a pure checking line that’s a
hard 200-foot line and then you have two scoring lines and then
you’re just looking for certain things, but we need versatility
right now because as we look through our lineup, we think we have a
first line, we think we have a fourth line. The second and third
line, they have to find an identity and that’s [because] we have
new bodies, we have new people, we have other opportunities too with
players that have been coming in.
“I
think everybody that has an opportunity to earn those spots have
shown really well. Whether it’s ‘Walks’ or ‘Sunny,’ Dube
had an excellent day [Friday]. (Dylan) Peterson I thought was
excellent [Friday]. (Aleksanteri) Kaskimaki’s been really good and
Stenberg I thought had a really good day [Friday] after an average
day yesterday.”
It
makes the limited time on ice and practice sessions so important for
all these players.
“I
think with such a short camp, every practice means a lot,”
Montgomery said. “We don’t have a lot of time to make decisions
so they don’t have a lot of time to impress. It’s either you’re
coming here to fight for a job and grab a job, or you’re watching
your job disappear. If you’re not playing with any kind of
intensity and any kind of purpose out there, you’re going to be
left behind.”
-
- -
Maddox
Dagenais, the No. 16 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, will make his Blues
debut and more than likely, get sent back to juniors where he will
play a third and likely final season with the Quebec Remparts of the
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“Pretty
excited,” Dagenais said. “Since I was a little kid, I’ve been
watching those games. You’re going on the ice on an NHL rink, so
it’s pretty nice. I’m just going to give it my all.”
Dagenais's father, former NHLer Pierre Dagenais, was supposed to come in to St. Louis for the game to see his son play but his flight was canceled.
Montgomery
really likes what the 6-foot-4,
186-pound can bring and feels there’s some unique traits there.
“Real
intelligent player,” Montgomery said. “You can tell that he’s a
gifted offensive player because he always knows what he’s going to
do with the puck before he gets it. Incredible release and he’s
really deceptive because he’s a little bit of a 10-to-2 skater on a
clock and his feet are going that way and that makes it hard because
the angles are completely different and he’s going to be very
deceptive, I think.
“It’s
not unique, no, but Ulf Dahlen was the most famous one for it, but it
makes him slippery.”
Will
have more from Dagenais in a separate story.
-
- -
Blues Projected Lineup:
Alexey
Toropchenko-Pius
Suter-Ross Johnston
Aleksanteri
Kaskimaki-Zach Dean-Justin Carbonneau
Maddox
Dagenais-Jack Finley-Otto Stenberg
Juraj
Pekarcik-Jakub Stancl-Dylan Peterson
Arseny
Koromyslov-Tyler Tucker
Colin
Ralph-Theo Lindstein
Quinton
Burns-Lukas Fischer
Jordan
Binnington will start in goal and play the
first two periods;
Georgii Romanov will back up and play the final period.
-
- -
Stars Projected
Lineup:
Matthew
Seminoff-Arttu Hyry-Cameron Hughes
Dylan
Hrychowian-Artem Shlanie-Emil Hemming
Curtis
McKenzie-Jack Becker-Justin Ertel
Michael
Sgarbossa-Christian Fitzgerald-Charlie Paquette
Jack
Anderson-Kyle Capobianco
Trey
Taylor-Kyle Burroughs
Jakub
Vanecek-Ben Gleason
Remi
Poirer is
projected to start in goal; Brandon
Halverson would
be the backup.
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With plenty of eyeballs on Gavin McKenna, the 18-year-old was skating with the second projected power-play unit for the most part.
He was on the left flank, with Emil Andrae at the point, Matthew Knies in the bumper, Bo Groulx on the right flank, and Tinus Luc Koblar as the net-front presence.
Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller explained his reasoning for positioning McKenna on the second unit.
"I just think, you know, probably for him and us, just get out there and play," he said after morning skate at Scotiabank Arena. "We don't want to put extra pressure on. If you asked him, he'd probably say, 'I want to play 22 minutes, I want to run the first power play.' And that's exactly what he should say. But for us, we just want to get him started in the NHL, see what it feels like."
While Toronto will slowly get an assessment of what McKenna looks like in the NHL, he got some opportunity with the big guns on Saturday morning.
"There'll be a chance over time, whether that's one game, two, 10, 20, where his role will increase in different areas," Hiller said. "But yeah, we just have a lot of good players. So fortunately, he doesn't have to start there."
Knies remained in the bumper position, but McKenna was hanging around the net. He wasn't always positioned directly in front of the goaltender, but he received pucks beside and behind the net, exercising his playmaking ability.
"I'm just looking forward to seeing him play his first NHL exhibition game, and then we'll see what that looked like," the Leafs coach added. "He's looked great in practice, but let's just see what it looks like for everybody. And we might say, 'hey, he has less deficiencies than we even thought.' He adjusted right to this. And then the plan can change from there.
"Again, the second point is we have a lot of really good players on the team. A lot of offensive players that have played important roles, have had great careers. So anytime you do one thing, you adjust something else. You just have to take all that into account."
In other circumstances, on the second unit on the left half-boards, McKenna and the rest of the group moved around the zone a lot. Rather than stationary puck movement, the players on the second unit cycled through their positions, which allowed McKenna to see the entire zone with or without the puck.
He often looked for cross-seam passes and made quick touches on the puck. His combination of smooth stickhandling, vision, and confidence should, in itself, make him a considerable threat to the opposition, even without a single professional hockey game under his belt.
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For every team in every sport, hope springs eternal as a new season approaches.
Everyone is tied for first place. Everyone thinks this could be the year. Everyone is tanning themselves on the bright side of things.
But in hockey, unless your best goalie is healthy and on his game, that well of hope can dry up quickly.
Linus Ullmark spoke Friday about his team's growth as an organization over the past few years (Senators YouTube).
In Ottawa, if the Senators are going to succeed this season, it will be because Linus Ullmark has carried his late-season resurgence into a new year.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, on day two of training camp, Ullmark appeared noticeably lighter and more relaxed than he did through much of last year. He looked like a man enjoying the vibe of a fresh start... for everyone.
“Everybody’s very eager, very energetic,” Ullmark said. “Just like every single camp I’ve been to, it’s the same thing. Everybody comes out hot, blazing and excited about what’s to come.”
As Sens fans know very well, that enthusiasm wasn't always evident last season. Ullmark had more than his share of hard moments, on and off the ice, before taking a month-long leave of absence to address his mental health.
Through his final start before that leave on Dec. 27, Ullmark had gone 14-8-5 with a 2.95 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage. The winning record was decent, but there were also too many nights when the boys needed a save that didn’t come.
After returning at the end of January, Ullmark made just two starts before the NHL paused its schedule for the Olympics. That gave him two extended breaks in the middle of the season, which appeared to be just what the doctor ordered.
From the end of the Olympic break through to the end of the regular season, Ullmark went 12-4-3 with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage in 19 starts.
He was even better in the playoffs.
Sure, the Sens were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes and scored only five goals in four games, but Ullmark gave them every opportunity to win. He stopped 124 of the 133 shots he faced, producing a .932 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average.
Combined, Ullmark posted a .908 save percentage and a 2.42 goals-against average over his final 23 regular-season and playoff appearances following the Olympic break. That was much closer to the level GM Steve Staios believed he was getting when he acquired him from Boston in 2024.
And despite his leave, Ullmark still started 49 regular-season games.
Sometimes, there's concern raised about the fact that Ullmark has never appeared in more than 50 games in any NHL season. But this is no longer a league where Martin Brodeur types are powering past the 70-game mark.
Utah’s Karel Vejmelka was the only NHL goalie to reach 60 appearances last season. Most of the league’s busiest starters finished somewhere in the 50s.
In other words, playing approximately 50 games is no longer an unusually light workload for a No. 1 goaltender.
Ullmark’s own history also suggests that less is more.
When he won the Vezina Trophy with Boston three years ago, he appeared in exactly 49 games, with an outrageous record of 40-6-1, a 1.89 goals-against average, and a .938 save percentage.
Based on that history and his performance in last spring’s playoffs, the goal shouldn't be for Ullmark to start more than 60 games, which is what he was on pace for when he stepped away in December. The goal is availability and whatever it takes for him to play at a high level.
That leaves Ullmark's backup to play 30-35 games, which is a huge chunk of the season, so the Senators had better be right about Samuel Ersson.
The Sens signed Ersson to a two-year contract at $2.2 million a year. At 26, Ersson is a younger option than James Reimer, who took over the position here last year but wasn't re-signed.
But just based on the stats from last season, Ersson isn't an obvious upgrade.
He went 14-11-5 with a 3.12 goals-against average and an .870 save percentage in 33 appearances for Philadelphia. Reimer went 7-4-2 with a 2.42 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage in 14 games for the Sens.
Of course, Reimer is due for the hard regression that comes for every 38-year-old goalie. Meanwhile, the Sens' goalie whisperers love the way Ersson plays the position, and naturally, they hope his numbers improve in a new organization.
Ullmark first got to know Ersson when they represented Sweden together at the 4 Nations Face-Off last year.
“He made a good impression on me at that point,” Ullmark said. “Once everything was said and done, and he was going to be a part of this organization, I was very happy. It’s always fun to have a fellow Swede join the ranks, but also for me, as a Swedish goaltender, it’s nice to have that conversation with him on a daily basis.
“Hopefully, I can show the way for him as well, being an older guy, which I feel like I’m more comfortable in now than I used to be.”
Leevi Meriläinen also remains in the mix after signing a one-year, one-way contract worth $1.1 million. The 23-year-old went 8-10-1 with a 3.51 goals-against average and an .860 save percentage in 20 NHL appearances last season.
The question now is whether the Ullmark we saw following the Olympic break and during the playoffs can carry that form into the new season.
He acknowledged that the summer passed too quickly and was filled with family responsibilities, travel and preparations for another season.
“It felt like I said goodbye to the people here in June,” he said. “And then, bam, the next time I woke up, I was back here in Ottawa. So that was both very nice, but also a little bit bittersweet in a way that I didn’t get to enjoy it as much at home as I would like to.”
Last season actually ended in April for the Senators, but no one who deals with Ottawa winters would ever describe their summer as being anything but short, no matter what.
Whether Ullmark is affected by the busy summer that went by too fast remains to be seen, but his outlook was certainly positive on Friday. He appears to be entering this season in a much better place.
And for a fan base that's been starving for a great goaltender, that's encouraging news.
By Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was first published in The Hockey News. For more Sens coverage at The Hockey News, click on one of the latest THN Ottawa headlines below:
Hull always knew that, sooner or later, they would lose a Premier League game but no one can say that Sergej Jakirovic’s team did not do everything in their power to try and delay that inaugural top tier defeat.
After conceding two goals in the opening seven minutes Hull could easily have folded but Jakirovic’s promoted players are made of sterner stuff than that. Tellingly, they also sensed the fragility of a gifted but injury hit and extremely youthful Newcastle.
The Carolina Hurricanes opening night lineup is going to be a very hard one to crack given that the team is returning nearly every single player from their 2026 Stanley Cup Championship roster.
However, there is one spot that is definitely up for grabs, that being the sixth defenseman position.
RFA blueliner Alexander Nikishin and the Canes' front office are seemingly at a standoff, and with the Russian not being present for the opening of training camp, there's no telling what a resolution may look like.
So for now, that spot is wide open and there's a lot of players looking at that as their opportunity.
Up and Comers
The Hurricanes have a pair of blueline prospects in Charles Alexis Legault and Joel Nystrom who are very much in the running to make the team this year, especially given the fact that they were getting in fairly regularly last season.
Legault, 23, presents one of the more unique options for the team.
The 6-foot-4 defender is perhaps the most physical of all of the team's prospects, being both an effective checker and a willing pugilist.
"I prepared a lot this summer," Legault said. "I feel physically ready and hopefully that shows in camp. I feel like I can find my way to contribute. Just keeping it simple and be a reliable guy out there."
But beyond that, Legault has also continued to grow his defensive game and while he doesn't have very much offensive talent, he's got the dependable style you'd look for in a third-pairing guy.
"His physical element has increased drastically," said Chicago Wolves coach Spiros Anastas. "How quick he closes, how hard he hits, he's becoming more of a man. He still needs to continue to get better on his puck touches, which we worked on a lot with him last year, but it's a confidence piece too. He wants to be in the NHL, he knows he can be and we have that belief in him too. Having a real strong camp, led by his confidence, will give him a good shot at a spot up here."
It's that defensive work and physicality that could give Legault an edge over the competition.
"I just want to focus on what I can do and be the best version of myself every day," Legault said. "At the end of the day, that's what I can control."
Nystrom, 24, isn't anything flashy, but the Swedish blueliner is dependable.
He didn't really look out of place in his 38 game stint in the NHL, providing a reliable presence with his strong skating and high hockey sense.
"I did [feel like I belonged] and the guys on the team really helped me," Nystrom said. "My goal is to just play as good as I can and do what I'm good at. Use my feet and my skating a lot and keep playing hard and simple in the D-zone. That's for sure the things I can do."
It was a quick transition for Nystrom last year, going from only a few games of North American experience to quickly having to find his way in the NHL, but he was able to adapt fairly quickly.
"I'm a smaller guy, so I was trying to play tougher and close my gaps and be hard on the sticks in front of the net and everything," Nystrom said. "That's for sure one thing I can keep improving on this year. This is a good place to be and to develop. Just focus on what I can do."
For Nystrom, his game is built on his hockey sense and his ability to read plays quickly, but as he's grown and matured, adding strength and working on his skating has allowed him to take huge strides.
“The hockey sense was always there," said Carolina Hurricanes associate general manager Darren Yorke. "That was really the concurrent thing. But the skating has gotten better as it does with most players when you get a little bit stronger, the body control and body positioning on retrievals has improved to allow him to handle the bigger, faster players in the NHL and that's all really only enhanced his game now that he can go back for the puck, make those reads with his vision and transition the puck into the offensive zone.”
Now, it's going to be about continuing to show that he can be an everyday NHLer and prove that his dependable game is what will help the team the most.
"I'm looking just to be better every day," Nystrom said on his goals entering camp. "As I did last year, just focus on what I can do and try to play as good as I can. I feel I'm in a good place to keep developing."
NHL Veterans
The organization brought in a trio of UFA defensemen this offseason, signing Mike Reilly, Juuso Valimaki and Pierre-Olivier Joseph to one-year deals.
Reilly obviously has a leg up on the competition given his familiarity with the team and having been a part of the championship roster, but Valimaki, who had a strong bounce back season in the AHL coming off of his ACL injury, and Joseph, who had good underlying numbers on a bad Vancouver team, both present interesting options too.
Reilly, 33, it the oldest of competing players, but that also goes hand-in-hand with an extensive history in the league.
A veteran of 11 seasons, Reilly has played in 460 games in his career, with 19 goals and 133 points to his name.
The 6-foot-2, left-hander was a late signing by the team, but the fact that they brought him back and that he's been skating alongside Shayne Gostisbehere to open camp says a lot about his chances.
"Definitely excited to get going," Reilly said. "This is definitely where I wanted to be and obviously when I signed, I knew there was an opportunity and obviously that's all you can ask for. I feel like I'm in good shape here coming into camp — obviously a different preseason this year in terms of the games you can play and whatnot — but I think I was comfortable coming back here having been here last year and them getting to know me and all that. Excited for the opportunity and obviously just trying to take advantage of it."
Reilly's biggest edge in the competition is, again, that fact that he's familiar with and to Carolina.
The blueliner appeared in 44 total games for the Hurricanes (42 regular season and two playoff) and played a steady role.
"I kind of got to the point where I was just staying as ready as I could, which is easier said than done," Reilly said about being the seventh defenseman last season. "But I was in that position and I was fine with it, in a way. Obviously you want to play every night, but I think you learn a lot and you kind of feel comfortable in an uncomfortable situation a little bit."
This year though, he's looking to take on a bigger, more consistent role as an everyday player.
Valimaki, 27, has perhaps the highest ceiling out of the three players.
The Finnish blueliner was a first-round pick, going 16th overall to the Calgary Flames in 2017 and his offensive game is one of his biggest upsides, having posted a 34-point campaign before.
"I like [the system]," Valimaki said. "It's simple and you can just see when you're on the ice with these guys, everyone is just doing the right things. I consider myself a smart player and I think this system, when everyone is doing the right thing and are playing smart, I think it's a great system and obviously it works and can complement my game. I think I can fit into it really good."
The 6-foot-2 lefty joined the organization midway through last season, being traded by the Utah Mammoth shortly after recovering from an earlier ACL tear, and played the rest of the year with the Chicago Wolves.
"Obviously I missed a lot of time over the last year and kind of the year before, so just in general, to be playing games again was the biggest focus for myself," Valimaki said. "We made a big playoff run as well, so got some really good experience there. Lot of good games, the people down were awesome and it was a good year for myself."
Valimaki had a really strong run with the Wolves, putting up six goals and 20 points in 24 regular season games. He then turned things up to another level in the team's run to the Calder Cup Final, producing five goals and 14 points in 21 playoff games.
"It was kind of nice to play a little bit more like myself too," Valimaki said. "I found some offensive rhythm and I'm feeling really good. There's been a lot of ups and downs in my career with injuries and kind of a lot of other things going on, but I think last year was finally where I felt like myself again and I was in a really good head space. Just trying to play hockey, enjoy it. There's been times where you kind of forget the fun part and for me, at least, when you're having fun and enjoying what you're doing, I think that's when you play your best. Just trying to carry the momentum now and ride that wave."
It won't be easy to crack a Stanley Cup winning roster, but Valimaki has belief in himself and his goal is to get back to the NHL, something he hasn't done since January of 2025.
"I'm here to stay here," Valimaki said. "That's the sole focus for me. To do everything I can as good as I can every day. I think the one thing I tell myself now is to just be yourself on and off the ice. Don't try to change who you are, the way you play. That's the way I want to be everyday, but obviously the focus and the goal is to stay up here, be on the roster and get back into the NHL."
Joseph, 27, is another first-round pick, having been selected 23rd overall in 2017, that has bounced around a bit.
After spending a few years in the Pittsburgh Penguins' system, he wound up in St. Louis and spent the past year with the Vancouver Canucks, where he played just 31 games due to injuries and scratches.
Despite that, Joseph had some fairly strong underlying numbers, something that an analytically driven team like Carolina definitely would have taken notice of.
"I've played against these guys for a bit here and it just felt like a great group of guys to join," Joseph said. "It takes a little bit to join a group, but everyone is so welcoming and has been great. The chemistry, you can see it right when you come in. I'm just excited to try and do my part here."
The Laval native has played in parts of six NHL seasons, having played in 225 games, but he's still trying to break his way into a consistent position in the league, having played more than 60 games in a season only once.
"I've definitely learned on both sides, from some good teams and some not so good teams, but [for me, the next step] is just the consistency," Joseph said. "That's where I'm trying to get to. I think I'm a solid skater, I think I can move the puck pretty well and I think that will work well here with playing quick and fast and up north."
And even though he's one of nearly half a dozen players all vying for one spot on a championship roster, Joseph has embraced the challenge before him with a lot of positivity.
"It's a healthy competition," Joseph said. "I think everyone is just trying to jump on this boat and everyone is supporting each other, everyone wants the best for each other. But at the end of the day, it's a training camp and you're trying to show that they made the right decision to call you and to sign you here. Just trying to do my part and show the best that you can."
But what the three have done in the past has little bearing on what they can bring today.
"You want to come in with an open slate," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "A year ago, I was watching those guys and got an idea for how they play, but now, it's how can they play in our system and how well do they pick up stuff that we're throwing at them. That's all part of it."
Practice is one thing, but the biggest thing that is going to determine who's left standing at the end of camp is whether or not they can show their skills in the preseason games.
With only four on the schedule, and veterans capped at playing in only two, it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out and who can showcase enough to impress.
"They just need to know how to play the way we want to play," Brind'Amour said. "I think they all get that, it's just that somebody is going to have to step up. At the end of the day, we have to take the best guys. I think it's good to have a little competition sometimes. Haven't really seen a lot of that over the years, and so it's good to have."
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Talk is cheap when discussing the Rangers. So is optimism.
But that doesn't mean that optimism is bad. In fact it could make your day. Here's how a lucky ten positive things could happen to your Blueshirts and even put them in the playoffs.
REPEAT; EVEN PUT THEM IN THE PLAYOFFS
1. No matter how you shake it, the Rangers – in Igor Shesterkin – have one of the NHL's beststoppers.
2. Adam Fox will be injury-free and a Norris Trophy finalist.
3. Braden Schenider will show his critics that he was worth drafting after all.
4. Mika Zibanejad may not look like a No. 1 center; but, at last, he'll play like one.
5. Alexis Lafrenière will pick up where he left off late last season and prove that he was worth being an overall first draft pick.
6. Miracles Happen: J.T. Miller will recall his halcyon days in Vancouver and play his heart out for Old New York. And Newer Slobbovia. I'll go three steps further – he'll be a captain's captain!
7. Gabe Perreault will emerge as a monster playmaker, power play pivot and penalty-killer all in one. (In fact he'll turn out to be a better player than his Old Man!)
8. Slava (Smiley) Gavrikov will not only be one of the NHL's best shutdown defenders but he'll go neck and neck with his pal Foxy as an offensive force.
9. Tye Kartye will be such a boisterously pleasant surprise that by season's end everyone will know how to spell his name.
10. Rookie owner – ergo boss' son – Quentin Dolan will burst out of the shadows and show both fans and media that he is THE BOSS!.
SAN DIEGO, CA - JUNE 22: Robert Suarez #75 of the Atlanta Braves reacts to the camera during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Monday, June 22, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Ryan Levy/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Fresh off of confirming their spot in this season’s Postseason, the Atlanta Braves got some more good news to put out there for the morning after. Reliever Robert Suarez is finally set to go on rehab assignment, as he’ll more-than-likely be making an appearance for the Gwinnett Stripers in their series finale on Sunday. Walt Weiss informed the media of this following Friday’s win and the Stripers confirmed it with a press release this morning.
Robert Suarez expected to pitch Sunday for Gwinnett, Walt Weiss says today
Suarez has not pitched for the Braves since making an appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers back on June 19 and that ended up being one of many scoreless innings that the right-handed set-up man has tossed this season. He’s currently sitting on an ERA of 0.56 (13 ERA-) and a FIP of 2.44 (59 FIP-) across 32 strong innings. Needless to say, if the Braves can get Suarez back integrated with their bullpen as quickly as possible (and they really have no choice since Sunday is Gwinnett’s final regular season game) then that would be a huge boost to a bullpen that has already spent most of this season finding ways to get the job done on a regular basis.
Either way, this is pretty good news for the Braves and hopefully things go as smooth as possible so that Suarez will be able to help contribute from the bullpen in time for a Postseason run. We’ll see what happens.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 07: George Springer #4 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on during batting practice prior to the start of the game against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on September 07, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Today marks George Springer’s 37th birthday.
Springer is approaching the end of his six-year, $150 million contract.
He continues to climb the Blue Jays’ all-time leaderboards:
22nd in bWAR for position players.
23rd in OPS.
25th in games played.
13th in runs scored.
11th in home runs (tied with Josh Donaldson).
15th in walks.
14th in steals.
And he’s likely first in huge smiles.
Happy birthday, George!
Danny Valencia celebrates his 42nd birthday today.
Valencia spent parts of two seasons with the Jays during his nine-year MLB career. The team acquired him near the 2014 deadline by trading Liam Hendriks and Erik Kratz to the Royals. Down the stretch, he hit .240/.273/.364 for the Jays, primarily at third base.
He started the 2015 season hitting .296/.331/.506 with 7 home runs in 58 games, but the Jays put him on waivers, and the A’s claimed him. That decision came after the team chose to have Ben Revere play every day. Revere went on to hit .319/.354/.381 down the stretch, helping the Jays make the playoffs.
Valencia played through the 2016 season with the A’s before moving on to the Mariners and Orioles. Over nine seasons, he hit .268/.317/.426 with 96 home runs in 864 games.
Happy birthday, Danny!
Robinzon Diaz celebrates his 43rd birthday today.
Diaz was one of several ‘catchers of the future’ who ultimately didn’t fill that role.
But we remember him because we traded him to the Pirates for Jose Bautista, one of the best trades in team history. Jose played ten seasons for the Jays and hit 288 home runs (and six in the playoffs, including the ‘bat flip home run’).
Diaz played 43 games with the Pirates, hitting .289/.315/.363 with 1 home run.
Happy birthday, Robinson!
Randy Myers turns 64 today.
Myers was a big free agent signing in 1998. A few years ago, I wrote:
The Jays signed lefty reliever Randy Myers to a 3-year, $18 million contract—a curious move (a polite way of calling it a mistake). In 1997, the Jays went 76-86, finishing 5th in the AL East, 22 games behind the Orioles. A high-priced reliever wasn’t the piece to lift us over the top.
Randy struggled, posting a 4.46 ERA in 41 games, with 28 saves and 5 blown saves.
This is where the story gets interesting. The Jays suddenly realized they were paying a ton of money for a reliever who wasn’t going to get them to the playoffs, who was 35 years old and who we would be paying for two more seasons. So Gord Ash put him on waivers. His going on waivers wasn’t surprising. Back then, most players ended up on waivers in August.
The Padres claimed him. They didn’t want him, but they didn’t want the Braves to get him. So they figured if they claimed him, the Blue Jays would pull him back and stop him from reaching the Braves.
But Ash fooled them. He let the Padres have him and saved the team roughly $14 million over the next two seasons and two months.
Myers struggled over the final two months of the 1998 season, recording a 6.28 ERA (with no saves) in 21 games. He never pitched in the majors again, and the Padres paid his salary for the next two years.
Randy played 14 years in the MLB, had 347 saves and a 3.19 ERA in 728 games.
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 18: Josiah Gray #40 of the Washington Nationals delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium on September 18, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yesterday was a fantastic day for the Washington Nationals. We got so many fun moments and milestones. The good vibes were flowing and the team was playing some good baseball. I wanted to break down all the good things that happened yesterday and discuss what they mean moving forward.
There were a lot of great things that happened yesterday but the Cade Cavalli extension was the most important. The Nats have had a tough time locking up home grown talent, but they got it done with Cavalli. He signed a 4-year $47 million deal with a club option that could take it to 5-years for $70 million. We got to see our wealthy ace right away and he did not disappoint.
Cavalli tossed 5 shutout innings with 7 strikeouts and no walks. The 7 strikeouts were significant because it got him up to 200 on the season. It was the first 200 strikeout season for a Nationals pitcher since 2019. MacKenzie Gore was a strikeout artist in DC, but he only got up to 185. From start to finish, Cavalli is proving he can be an ace in this league.
Good day to be Cade Cavalli.
Got an extension this afternoon. Reached 200 strikeouts on the season in a scoreless start tonight. pic.twitter.com/h7stZ7qWnG
If the game was closer, Cavalli would have gone deeper into the game. However, with the Nats blowing out the Cardinals, it was a perfect time to manage Cavalli’s workload. He threw 73 low stress pitches and got his 13th win of the season. In his first full big league campaign, Cavalli has a 3.02 ERA with 200 strikeouts in 169.2 innings. He will get a chance to drop that ERA under 3 in his last start of the season.
However, this day was not just about Cade Cavalli. Josiah Gray made his inspirational return to the mound last night. Honestly, Gray can look to Cavalli as a light at the end of the tunnel. Both had very bumpy recoveries from Tommy John Surgery. Cavalli has come all the way back and is better than ever. Hopefully Gray can do the same as he is further removed from his injury troubles.
With the game being 9-1, it was a perfect time to get Gray back on the mound. The right-hander made his first appearance since April of 2024 in the 9th inning. He actually looked sharper than expected. In his rehab outings, Gray’s fastball was in the low-90’s. Last night, he was sitting at 94 and attacking the zone. He threw a scoreless inning and closed out the game.
Josiah Gray — who missed almost three full seasons recovering from injuries — returned to the mound tonight. Faced 4 batters and retired 3. pic.twitter.com/D8qsF6qitz
It was easy to see just how happy Gray was to be back on the mound. After he finished the game, Gray emotionally pointed towards the heavens. So much about this team has changed since the last time Josiah Gray took the mound. He has had plenty of setbacks, but he never gave up.
For now, Gray will be in the bullpen. Who knows what is next for the right hander, but I am really rooting for him. It would be great to see him have an impact on this team moving forward. If he can live in the mid-90’s with his sharp breaking balls, he might be able to carve out a role.
Personal goals were not the only thing the Nats accomplished yesterday though. The Nats 9-1 win gave them 72 wins on the season. That is the club’s high water mark since winning the World Series in 2019. They reached 71 in 2023 and 2024, but that was where the Rizzo rebuild peaked. In Paul Toboni’s first season, the Nats have already surpassed that now.
The Nationals have won the most games in a season since 2019 at 72. With one more win, they can avoid a 90 loss season
Heading into the season, the Nats were expected to win a similar number of games to 2025, where they went 66-96. Some even projected them to be even worse than that due to losing players like MacKenzie Gore, Josh Bell and Jose A. Ferrer. However, the offense has been elite and has made this team much more competitive than expected.
They were above .500 for large chunks of the season. Despite losing steam in August and early September, this group has taken big steps. The Nats only need one more win to avoid a 90 loss season, which I think is a significant milestone. With three more wins, they can get to 75 on the season as well. Obviously we will be looking for bigger goals than that moving forward, but you have to crawl before you walk.
One final individual milestone came in the first inning of this contest. CJ Abrams swiped his 30th base of the season. With 30 homers and 30 steals, Abrams has become the second Nat in franchise history to have a 30/30 season joining Alfonso Soriano, who went 40/40.
CJ Abrams is the 3rd player in Nationals/Expos franchise history to have a 30-HR/30-SB season, joining Alfonso Soriano (2006) and Vladimir Guerrero (2001 & 2002)! pic.twitter.com/RiJ0ieUFsb
Abrams had a rough six week stretch, but he has looked better the past week or so. It really feels like Abrams goes as the team goes. When the vibes are good, Abrams is rolling. However, he can fall into funks when the team around him is crumbling. His season may not have finished as we hoped, but Abrams overall production has still taken a massive step forward.
You can make an argument that this was the best single day for the Nats since 2019. We got a contract extension, several personal milestones, a long awaited return and a big win to reach a new high water mark for the decade. As we enter 2027, I hope to see plenty more days like this in Nats land.
On Friday,
Montreal Canadiens’ former number one goaltender Samuel Montembeault spoke to
the media for the first time since training camp began and, unsurprisingly, said
he has turned the page on last year’s debacle. Being a new dad helped him do
that; it made it easier to think about something besides hockey, but he didn’t
take that big a break because he wanted to keep building on what he had put
together when he wasn’t playing during the playoffs.
For now,
what the goaltender needs is to build up his confidence, and in that sense, it
may be very good for him to be training with Team B. Right now, he’s not facing
the team’s top offensive weapon, and after Friday’s practice he said:
It went
well this summer, so I felt ready when I got to camp. The first two days went
well. Today I gave up just two goals in the whole practice, both to Florian, but I feel good, and as I said, I don’t want to think too much about what’s coming. I want to come to work every day, and we’ll see what happens.
Obviously,
like everyone else, he’s aware that GM Kent Hughes has said he’s ready to start
training camp with three goaltenders but not the season, but he doesn’t want to
discuss whether that increases the pressure on him:
It comes
back to what I said: I don’t want to think ahead to when the season will start.
We still have a couple of weeks before then, so I want to work, try to do things
the right way and give myself the best odds. I’ve got a role to earn; we know that
last year it didn’t go well. So it’s a new start; I want to come to work and do
things the right way.
Put into
context, Hughes’ declaration could mean a couple of different scenarios. It
doesn’t necessarily mean that Montembeault will be traded; it could simply mean
that Jacob Fowler, who doesn’t have to clear waivers, is sent down to Laval.
Would that be ideal? No. Of course Fowler could use more action, but given what
he showed last season, it feels like he'd benefit more from seeing that action
in the NHL, facing NHL players who are more skilled and tougher to stop than AHLers.
That’s one reason Hughes will move Montembeault if he gets an opportunity;
besides, since the Bécancour native is playing a contract year, he certainly
wouldn’t mind a shot at being number one elsewhere to prove his worth.
On Saturday
night, Montembeault and Team B will head to Toronto to take on what is likely
to be the Toronto Maple Leafs’ A Team, based on what we’ve seen of the Leafs’ training
groups. In other words, after facing the Canadiens’ bottom six,
he’ll face Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John
Tavares, new sensation Gavin McKenna, and new defenseman Darren Raddysh. With
all due respect to the Canadiens’ bottom six, that promises to be a bigger
challenge. Thankfully, that game will take place away from the spotlight of the
Bell Centre, which will at least let Montembeault ease back in mentally.
Martin
St-Louis has yet to confirm who will start for the Canadiens in Saturday night's
split-squad games, but logic dictates that Montembeault will get the start. Training
camp is short this season, and the Habs have no time to waste. They need to see
and know whether the netminder can bounce back, wherever he ends up. A strong
performance would also go a long way toward improving his value on the trade
market. On Jason Gregor’s podcast earlier this week, Frank Seravalli said he believes Montembeault will be the first player traded this season, and if he can prove last year was a bump in the road, that wouldn’t be surprising.
(Original Caption) Turley Does it Again. Boston: New York Yankees' Bob Turley mops up in the dressing room after pitching a two-hit shutout in the game with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. It was Turley's second victory over the Red Sox this year, and his fifth win with no defeats. He struck out 13, which gave him 46 strikeouts thus far, the American League top spot. New York won, 6-0.
In the mid-’50s, Major League Baseball introduced a couple of new awards to honor exemplary performance. The Cy Young Award recognized the best pitcher in baseball (later expanded as separate awards for each league). The World Series MVP recognized the player who had the biggest impact on each year’s Fall Classic. Since that time, six players have taken home both in the same season, demonstrating a historic level of dominance as they carried their team to a title. Among them are Hall of Famers like Whitey Ford, Randy Johnson, and Sandy Koufax as well as franchise icons Orel Hershiser and Bret Saberhagen. The sixth? Bob Turley.
Robert Lee Turley Born: September 19, 1930 (Troy, IL) Died: March 30, 2013 (Atlanta, GA) Yankees Tenure: 1955-62
Turley grew up in Illinois. A baseball prodigy from an early age, he was banned from pitching in his youth league at the age of 12. Young Bob drew the attention of the Yankees after attending a tryout camp with his uncle, Ralph. The club was reportedly impressed enough to sign “R. Turley” but offered a contract to the wrong one. While Ralph briefly joined the Yankees organization, his nephew signed with the St. Louis Browns on the night of his high school graduation.
Turley immediately displayed the double-edged sword of his dominant stuff, allowing 71 free passes in 97 innings as a 17-year-old but going 9-3 nonetheless. Over four minor-league seasons, he’d post a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 411:481 in 817 innings, a harbinger of what would come in his big-league career.
Turley got the call in 1951, 10 days after his 21st birthday, starting just one game before season’s end. After that brief cup of coffee, he’d spend nearly two years serving in the Army. Returning in August of ‘53, he made 10 strong appearances for a Browns team on its last legs. When the team moved to Baltimore the following year, Turley was squarely entrenched in their rotation, pitching the home opener for the first MLB game in Baltimore since 1902.
The ‘54 season would prove to be a breakout campaign for Turley. He earned an All-Star berth while leading all of baseball in strikeouts and walks, a feat also accomplished by Hall of Fame fireballers like Bob Feller and Nolan Ryan. His 14 wins were tops on a Baltimore team that lost 100 games (Don Larsen went 3-21 for them that year).
While Turley was going places, it was clear the Orioles were not. And so, before the ‘55 season, they made a historic, 17-player swap with the Yankees, sending Turley alongside Larsen and a cadre of others to the Bronx. “I’d have crawled to New York,” Turley said later of his feelings after the trade, which flipped him from the 100-loss O’s to a Yankees team that had won 103 games the year prior.
The 24-year-old didn’t skip a beat after swapping laundry, earning another All-Star berth while winning 17 games and punching out a career-high 210. Come October, though, he stumbled. In his only World Series start, Turley recorded only four outs, allowing a Roy Campanella home run in the first and walking in a run in the second before getting the hook. It would not be Turley’s last chance to contribute in a Fall Classic.
The ‘56 season was a setback for Turley, who saw his ERA balloon over 5.00. “You had to baby him a little bit,” Yogi Berra said of Turley’s struggles. “You know, he’d get a little wild. You had to go out there and say, ‘C’mon, Bob, you’re better than that.’” The two-time All-Star was bounced from the rotation in September and worked out of the bullpen to start the World Series. But in Game 6, the day after Larsen’s perfecto, manager Casey Stengel handed the ball to his embattled star.
Turley would later call it the best game he ever pitched. Like his former Orioles teammate the day prior, he held a Dodgers lineup stacked with five Hall of Famers off the board through nine innings, recording 11 strikeouts including three at Campanella’s expense. “Man!” said the Dodgers catcher. “When you see me take three swings at three fastballs and not even foul tip one, the fellow throwing ‘em must have something. Maybe he was using a little gun to fire that ball up there.” Unfortunately for the Yankees, Brooklyn’s Clem Labine was just as tough, blanking the Yankees through 10 frames. In the bottom of the 10th, the Dodgers walked off Turley to force a Game 7. Still, after a lost season, the 26-year-old had proven he could perform under the brightest of lights.
Turley regained his mojo in ‘57, posting a 2.71 ERA in 176.1 innings and earning a complete-game victory in Game 6 of the World Series. But it was the following year that would be his pièce de résistance. Turley once again led the AL in walks but, more importantly, he led in wins (21) and complete games (19) too, edging out Milwaukee’s dual aces Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette for the Cy Young Award. He nearly took home MVP honors as well, ending up narrowly bested by Boston’s Jackie Jensen.
Facing Burdette in Game 2 of the World Series, the magical season seemed to implode on Turley. He’d face just five batters, four of whom reached base, before Stengel got the hook. Turley took the loss and wouldn’t pitch again until Game 5, by which point the Braves were up three games to one. On the brink of elimination, the Cy Young Award winner returned to form with a complete-game shutout. Most impressively, he held Hank Aaron out of the hit column, striking him out twice.
The next day, he entered in the 10th with two outs and the tying run on third, retiring Frank Torre to force a Game 7. Larsen drew the start that day but, after he put on two runners in the third, Stengel pulled out his trump card, turning to Turley. He’d allow just one run in 6.2 innings of relief as the Yankees clinched an unlikely World Series comeback. Turley was feted with the fourth-ever World Series MVP, coming just a few votes shy in the regular-season MVP race of being one of two players (alongside Sandy Koufax) to win the Cy Young, MVP, and World Series MVP in one season.
At the age of 28, Bob Turley had just put the finishing touches on one of the greatest pitching seasons in MLB history. He’d never reach those heights again, making no additional All-Star teams and receiving no more Cy Young or MVP votes. He’d have one more hurrah in the Fall Classic in ‘60. After taking home the victory in Game 2, he drew the start in the decisive Game 7 but got only three outs while allowing three runs in what would forever go down as the Bill Mazeroski Game.
Turley spent two more uneven seasons in pinstripes before splitting the ‘63 campaign between the Angels and Red Sox. He then worked as a pitching coach before entering the business world, where he made a fortune in insurance and real estate and staked a second legacy as one of the most financially successful former players in baseball history. He remained a fixture around the Yankees, regularly appearing at Old-Timers’ Day celebrations.
Bob Turley did not sustain his career long enough to end up in the Hall of Fame. At his peak, though, he was that caliber of talent, a fireballing force of nature who played a critical role on five pennant-winning squads and posted a season in 1958 that ranks among the greatest of all-time.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 04: Ryan Weiss #51 of the Houston Astros pitches in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Daikin Park on May 04, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.
AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (73-74) won 4-0 (BOX SCORE)
Sugar Land got on the board in the second inning scoring 4 runs on a Cole RBI single, a run on a fielder’s choice, an Austin RBI double and a Matthews sac fly. Weiss started for Sugar Land and was dominant tossing 8.1 scoreless innings while striking out 7 batters. Santos came on in the 9th and retired the final 2 batters as Sugar Land won 4-0.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 08: Henry Bolte #33 of the Athletics catches a ball hit by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays during the third inning at Sutter Health Park on September 08, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images
What the A’s hoped would be a contending year turned into squarely a “development” year, even though the AL West is currently paced, with 8 games left, by two teams who sit at 77-77. Did the wheat and chaff separate itself for the A’s to properly assess their 2027 options? Quite a bit, actually…
Wheat: Henry Bolte
Bolte came out like a lightning bolte, then suffered through a horrendous July (.164/.243/.224, 27 wRC+), then rebounded big time. In aggregate, Bolte is looking more and more each day like “the real deal,” especially when you consider that his latest exploits are his finest.
While Bolte still has areas in need of refining, such as his reads on pop flies and a K rate still too high at 28.5%, two key patterns have emerged recently.
One is that Bolte’s patience doesn’t just result in too many called third strikes — it also allows him to maintain a high OBP as a lead off hitter by working the count and drawing his fair share of walks. Bolte’s 8.3% BB rate is boosted by his knack for drawing the other kind of freebie: he leads the team far and away with 14 HBP. All this has helped keep Bolte’s OBP robust at .358, impressive for a 23 year old rookie.
Wednesday’s game also featured an important milestone when Bolte took Nick Martinez deep for his 11th HR of the season. At the end of the day Bolte’s slugging percentage sat above .400 for the first time. No one doubts that Bolte has raw power, but the slugging has been slow to come due to a scarcity of balls lifted beyond the infield. That is shifting and with the slugging percentage creeping ever higher.
A stat that has been worth watching throughout is Bolte’s line drive %, which has been steadily well below average since his call up, generally checking in around 12%-15% where league average is around 20%. Progress is also being seen here as the A’s CFer has his LD% now up to 16.9% overall thanks to a solid 22.8% in August, 18.2% so far in September.
And for all the gnashing of teeth each time he gets a slow read on a pop fly and Bledays it into a single, in fact Bolte is putting up excellent defensive numbers in CF thanks to his excellent range from left-center to right-center and on balls over his head. He is at +4 DRS/+3 OAA in CF, more than good enough to warrant every day playing time.
Zack Gelof and Lawrence Butler have taught us not to fall in love too quickly with a terrific partial season and not to give up too fast on a fallen star, and the jury is still out on who Bolte will prove to be long term. But right now he’s looking like an essential core piece with exciting upside, just 110 games into his MLB career.
Chaff: Tommy White
Early in his rookie season White had not one but two 4-hit games, and in Tampa Bay he HRed as part of a 3-hit night. Enjoy the occasional successes because if there’s one thing White has established in his maiden voyage is that he’s bad at everything.
Even with those pleasant 3 games, White’s season slash line stands at .253/.269/.335, good (bad) for a 58 wRC+, result of a terrible hacktastic approach of swinging early and often and getting himself out as often as the opposing pitcher plays a role.
Give White “credit” for consistency. His wRC+s month by month, beginning with his July call up, have been 62, 56, 56. His BB rate, discovered by scientists using a powerful microscope, is 2.3%, and due to swinging at scores of pitches he can’t do anything productive with, “Tommy Tanks”‘s ISO sits at a woeful .082 with among the lowest exit velocity in the league.
Defensively, White is at -3 OAA at 3B in just 173 innings. Over at 1B he’s not much better, with -2 OAA in 196 innings.
None of this is a product of White being rushed due to injuries on the infield necessitating his call up. White is doing exactly what he has been doing throughout his time in the minors and it is playing out just as you would expect.
White was drafted just before the Red Sox selected SP Peyton Tolle. Oops.
Honorable Mention:
Despite the unfortunate HR served up to Jose Ramirez last night on a flat changeup, I like Seth Johnson as a potential plus reliever going forward. He’s no sure thing, as his career 7.34 ERA reflects, but he has a plus fastball and curve with a developing changeup and has shown several flashed of genuine dominance. He’s someone I think the A’s should give a longer look to in 2027.
Alika Williams can’t actually hit, even though he has put up respectable numbers and yet he is an excellent utility infielder to have on the roster. His offensive shortcomings come partly from being too vulnerable to RHP (he doesn’t recognize spin well, helping to produce his .220/.259/.358, 61 wrC+ line), but against LHP he is at .304/.347/.489, 126 wRC+ and might be league average against LHP going forward.
More to the point Alika is a slick fielding SS and 2Bman who provides legitimate value defensively on the infield. He even reminds me just a tad of Mark Ellis in the way he seems to get such a good ‘jump’ on ground balls, seemingly moving in the right direction as the ball is hit. I feel like Williams is what the A’s hoped Nick Allen would be.
Dishonorable Mention:
Chris Roycroft, like Johnson, has a big time arm but I’m not sold on his stuff/control/command playing any better than Joel Kuhnel’s. Kuhnel has had flashes of brilliance with 3 different teams this season including the A’s, but ultimately just isn’t very good. I see Roycroft following the same path — he’s still worth a look in a lost season but I’m not holding my breath.
Carlos Cortes’ April was super fun and it’s odd how mediocre players can have incredible months out of nowhere. But enough about John Mabry. Cortes has come crashing back to earth and with Soderstrom-Bolte-Butler set in the OF with Denzel Clarke profiling as an ideal 4th OFer, Devin Taylor knocking on the door and Drew Burress not far behind, I don’t see a place for Cortes on the future A’s.
For one thing Cortes is unplayably bad in the outfield, a truth that becomes more exposed the more he is put out there. In just 731 innings (the equivalent of half a season), Cortes is at -8 DRS/-8 OAA and to the eyeballs those numbers feel generous.
At the plate, the Cortes who worked the count for 12-14 pitch at bats, sprayed liners to all fields, and could turn on an inside pitch to wallop it 400 feet? That guy hasn’t been around for a loooong time. Cortes hit .106/.160/.170 in June, and is batting all of .207/.258/.314, 50 wRC+ since the All-Star break.
Certainly he’s better than that, but he has to hit a ton to offer any value because his defense is so bad. And don’t get excited about him pinch hitting, because as a pinch hitter he has been especially terrible, going 2 for 22 with 8 K.
Any wheat/chaff additions to suggest? And do you buy, or refute, these assessments? Food for banter until the A’s battle the Guardians again at 3:10pm PDT…
CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 16: José Ramírez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians hits an RBI double during the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field on September 16, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Guardians beat the Athletics last night and the White Sox lost to Detroit, blowing a six-run lead, so Cleveland baseball fans are feeling PRETTY good this morning. Jake had your recap of the game here.
Jose Ramirez got his 1,000th career RBI last night. It came on his 12th home run of the season… hit while batting left-handed… is Jose’s wrist finally feeling better?
Colin Holderman left his rehab appearance with Columbus with a flare-up of his sore wrist. Feels unlikely we will see him again this season, which is sad.
Around MLB:
As mentioned, the White Sox lost, the Rangers beat the Blue Jays (so root for Texas tonight) and the Orioles also lost. The Guardians are 1 game up in the Central and 2 games up in the wildcard. Go Tigers!
