Category: MLB

We have gotten some time to decompress and get away from Nationals baseball, but now we are back. The Nats head out west to play the Athletics in Sacramento. With two strong lineups and a small ballpark, there could be some fireworks on display this weekend. 

The big news in today’s lineup is that Harry Ford is going to make his Nats debut. The 23 year old will be catching and batting 6th. With a lefty on the mound, Andres Chaparro will get the nod at first over Luis Garcia. James Wood will DH, which means the outfield will consist of Daylen Lile, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews. Cade Cavalli will get the start as the Nats kick off the second half.

back at it

→ https://t.co/iUBDqlACVspic.twitter.com/2PmDDuBh6P

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 17, 2026

Despite super star first baseman Nick Kurtz being out injured, the A’s lineup is still fierce. Jacob Wilson, Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom are a fearsome trio in the middle of the lineup. Former LSU star Tommy White is also making his debut tonight which will be interesting to watch. Another LSU standout, Gage Jump will be on the mound tonight.

Second half starts now. pic.twitter.com/Ccb4YREZ0t

— Athletics (@Athletics) July 17, 2026

Game Info:

Stadium: Sutter Health Park

Time: 9:40 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

The Nats will look to get back to .500 as we start the second half. With the A’s and Rockies to start things off, this could be an opportunity for the Nats. However, there are no easy games in the MLB, especially for a team with the weaknesses that the Nats have. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

The “Second Half” of the 2026 MLB season begins tonight for the Athletics.  They’ll pick up at home in West Sacramento against the Washington Nationals at 6:40 p.m. After finishing the first half on a nine-game losing streak, the team hopes to get off on the right foot against a Nationals team which sits in fourth place in the National League East with a 48-49 record.

There ill be two new faces in the A’s lineup tonight.  Starting at second base is newly acquired infielder Donovan Walton, a seven-year veteran who has made short stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Anaheim. He’ll be batting seventh in Mark Kotsay’s lineup. Tommy White will man first base tonight for the A’s.  He’s making his MLB debut, after being called up from AAA Las Vegas (officially) today.

Taking the mound for the A’s, making his tenth start of the season is 23-year-old lefty Gage Jump. Jump is 3-4 on the season with an ERA of 3.51 in 48.2 innings of work. He’ll face off against 25-year-old righty Cade Cavalli for the Nats. Cavalli is 5-4 with a 3.83 ERA in twenty starts. He’s struck out 110 batters in 98.2 innings. 

Cavalli will face off against this lineup for the A’s who will be without Nick Kurtz and Zack Gelof who went on the Injured List (IL) before the break:

Jump will go up against this lineup for Blake Butera’s Nationals:

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

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The Cincinnati Reds turn to righty Brady Singer for the opener of their 2026 second half. The Reds are on the road in Denver to take on the Colorado Rockies under a muggy high sky.

First pitch is set for 8:40 PM ET, and Rockies righty Gabriel Hughes will be the man firing that pitch.

Here’s how both clubs will line up to start:

Shohei Ohtani was back in the lineup for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, July 17.

He served as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter to open the series on the road against the New York Yankees in a rematch of the 2024 World Series.

Ohtani was pulled from a scheduled start on the mound before the MLB All-Star break due to inflammation and irritation in his left knee. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Ohtani did have lubricant injected into his knee but did not have it drained. The injection is expected to provide Ohtani with relief in his knee.

He was the league's leading vote-getter but withdrew from the MLB All-Star Game due to the discomfort in the knee, which impacted his pitching mechanics.

Roberts said the team will watch how Ohtani does this week before finalizing his next pitching start, tentatively on Wednesday, July 22. The Dodgers are also expected to be cautious with the superstar’s workload in the second half.

He won an ESPY earlier this week for the Best Single-Game Performance. The Dodgers star received the award for a performance against the Milwaukee Brewers, where Ohtani hit three home runs and pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 batters, in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series. 

When will the Dodgers play next?

Ohtani and the Dodgers will play the Yankees on Saturday and Sunday before immediately starting a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani injury update: Dodgers taking cautious approach with star

If you recall, prior to the All-Star break the Orioles had just climbed a hurdle they’d failed to yet surpass: a four-game win streak. Now, they’re a bit battered and bruised, what with late-inning relievers Ryan Helsley and Keegan Akin on the shelf, and hottest-hitter-of-late Blaze Alexander sidelined, sadly, with a fractured hand, thanks to KC’s wayward Lucas Erceg.

Tonight, the Birds fly the coop for three games against the Houston Astros. Game 1 is tonight, with right hander Dean Kremer (1-2, 4.09 ERA) facing off against righty Peter Lambert (8-5, 3.14 ERA)

Lambert is only in the Houston rotation due to a surfeit of starter injuries, but the fifth-year journeyman, who’d owned a career 6.28 ERA to date, has been a nice surprise for the Astros. He’s done a good job of limiting contact, with an excellent .204 opposing average against. The righty has a really extensive eight-pitch mix that is primarily fastball and changeup-driven. Back in April, Lambert threw 4.1 innings and allowed two runs.

As for the Orioles’ Kremer, this will be just his start of the year, due, first to his not making the team out of spring training, and then an injured quad. It’s nice to have him back, under the circumstances. In four starts so far, he’s allowed 12 runs in 22 innings. He’s leaning heavily on a pitch that’s new for him, a splitter. So far, so good: hitters are batting just .176 against it. Against these Astros, Kremer has pitched well, although the fearsome Yordan Alvarez has reached base against him in six of 10 PAs, and Jose Altuve is 9-for-20.

Orioles lineup

1. Gunnar Henderson SS
2. Adley Rutschman C
3. Taylor Ward LF
4. Pete Alonso 1B
5. Samuel Basallo DH
6. Dylan Beavers RF
7. Colton Cowser CF
8. Coby Mayo 3B
9. Jackson Holliday 2B

Astros lineup

1. Jeremy Peña SS
2. Yordan Alvarez DH
3. Isaac Paredes 3B
4. Christian Walker 1B
5. José Altuve 2B
6. LaMonte Wade Jr. LF
7. Cam Smith RF
8. Lucas Spence CF
9. Christian Vázquez C

Two starts ago, Seth Lugo faced off against his original big league team in a wild game that the Royals ultimately won despite him pitching quite poorly. He will look to do better today against his other former club, the one that first gave him a shot to resume starting after what had seemed a permanent shift to the bullpen.

We all know who Lugo is at this point; he throws everything but the kitchen sink. But sometimes he’ll add a faucet in there. When he can avoid the middle of the plate and keep guys guessing, he succeeds, when he gets backed into a corner, he can get pounded. The Padres don’t seem like a team that’s likely to pound him, necessarily, but

The Padres have been a bit up-and-down this season with an elite bullpen, an offense that has struggled to hit home runs, and a starting pitching staff that is extremely suspect after Michael King. Unfortunately for the Royals, King is the one who gets the start tonight.

King throws five pitches. What’s odd about his success from the outside is that, well, it looks like a bit of smoke and mirrors. None of his pitches get chase, none get whiffs, his xwOBACON is awful. His stuff is rated average. His 3.49 ERA is backed by a 4.49 SIERA and 4.01 FIP. His K-BB% of 11.1% is a career low. If the Royals had a good offense, I’d wonder if they could find a way to break him out of his lucky streak. But they’re not.

Lineups

Not much has changed with the Royals’ lineup since last weekend. For some reason, Salvador Perez still has to be in there despite actively making the team worse. But otherwise, this is about as good as it gets with the current group of players. A group that likely won’t be together much longer.

Thank goodness Rockies baseball is back.

The Colorado Rockies (39-59) return to action tonight against the Cincinnati Reds (43-52) at Coors Field after four days away for the All-Star break.

The Rockies have not played since last Sunday, when their 3-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants brought a quiet end to the unofficial first half. Four days without seeing the boys felt considerably longer than they should have.

There was still baseball, of course. It just was not the baseball I wanted to watch.

The Home Run Derby had its moments, and the All-Star Game offered the usual appeal of seeing baseball’s best players up close. But neither did much to fill the Rockies-sized hole in the week. Hunter Goodman barely received a passing mention, which was disappointing but not especially surprising.

After everything this organization has done—and failed to do—the Rockies have not earned national respect. They also have not earned anyone’s confidence that this climb will eventually reach the summit.

But for all the frustration, the Rockies are moving uphill. They reached the break 17 games ahead of last year’s pace, and the product on the field has been considerably more watchable.

And, Rockies fans still get the joy of this team on its own terms.

Anyone who showed up for the climb expecting an easy bandwagon ride has clearly never hiked in the Rockies. There is no wagon to the top. The trip is earned step by step.

Rockies fans learn to enjoy the climb itself: the debuts, the breakouts, the wild Coors Field nights, the heartbreaks, and the evenings spent shouting at the television before tuning in again the next day to watch a young player continue to find his footing.

Meanwhile, the jumpers are still at the trailhead complaining about the breeze.

Tonight, the climb resumes with Gabriel Hughes on the mound.

The 24-year-old right-hander opened his season with three scoreless innings against the Giants, earning a save in his major-league debut. Five days later, he made his first major-league start at Dodger Stadium and struck out seven over six innings, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks.

Through those two appearances, Hughes has a 3.00 ERA with eight strikeouts and three walks over nine innings. He has leaned heavily on a four-seam fastball averaging just over 93 mph. The pitch has accounted for seven of his eight strikeouts while holding opposing hitters to a .130 average.

The sample is small, but the fastball has already shown that it can miss major-league bats.

Cincinnati will counter with right-hander Brady Singer. The 29-year-old enters tonight at 3-9 with a 4.72 ERA and 76 strikeouts over 89.2 innings. He was sharp in his final start before the break, holding the Philadelphia Phillies to one run over 7.1 innings.

The Rockies’ offense went quiet before the break, scoring three runs or fewer in four of its final five games. A few days away may have come at a good time.

Now, the break is over. Hughes is on the mound, the gang is back together, and it is simply good to have Rockies baseball back in front of us.

I, for one, am glad to be back on the trail.

First pitch: 6:40 p.m. MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM and KNRV 1150

Reds SB Nation Site: Red Reporter

Lineups

Second half starts tonight in Colorado

Powered by @PNCBankpic.twitter.com/SEtiP9bWrE

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 17, 2026

Anddddd we are back!

Repost for your chance to win a Rockies City Connect jersey ‼️ pic.twitter.com/98Vha7RyIJ

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 17, 2026

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The Dodgers and Yankees continue their weekend series in The Bronx on Saturday night.

Emmet Sheehan takes the ball for Los Angeles, while left-hander Ryan Weathers starts for the Yankees. The Dodgers are 18-10 in games started by opposing southpaws this season.

The middle game of the series will have Joe Davis on the call, as he was on Friday. Only this time instead of SportsNet LA, he’ll call the exclusive Fox broadcast.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Yankees
• Ballpark: Yankee Stadium, New York
• Start time: 5:08 p.m. PT
• TV: Fox
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Shohei Ohtani was at the top of the Dodgers’ lineup Friday against the New York Yankees, five days after receiving an injection in his left knee. And he’s penciled in to pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

Ohtani received an orthovisc shot in his knee to lubricate the joint and relieve irritation, manager Dave Roberts said, and did not have it drained.

“It gives him some relief in his knee which we were hoping to get,” Roberts said. “Then the four days off with no activity which gives it a chance to settle in.”

Ohtani was expected to be in the lineup for all three games against the Yankees. He planned to play catch and throw off the mound in the coming days, and the team would monitor his response before finalizing pitching plans.

Taking the mound Wednesday would give Ohtani more recovery time heading into the team’s day off. When asked if Ohtani would shoulder two-way duties Wednesday, Roberts said, “We’ll see when we get there.”

When it isn’t possible to have Ohtani pitch before a day off, Roberts would like to rest him the following day.

“It’s all contingent on how his knee is feeling,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s second-half workload. “I think we are certainly more prepared to back off on the workload if it calls for it. But Shohei wants to be out there as much as he possibly can.”

Asked if Ohtani would need offseason surgery, Roberts said: “I would highly doubt that.”

Coming out of the break, the Dodgers shuffled their rotation to have Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Yoshinobu Yamamoto face the Yankees in that order.

That leaves left-handed starters Eric Lauer and Justin Wrobleski (not necessarily in that order), to face the Phillies before Ohtani would take the mound.

Smith shut down

The Dodgers are shutting down catcher Will Smith from all baseball activities for a week as he continues to deal with a lingering neck injury. That pushes his return timeline back to at least August, if not later.

“It was flaring up, wasn’t recovering — however you want to word it,” Roberts said. “He didn’t feel like he was making any improvement.”

Smith has been sidelined since early June because of what he described as an inflamed disk. He initially treated it with rest and then an injection. But it still was bothering him during his latest buildup.

“I talked to the trainer, Thomas [Albert], today and he said that Will doesn’t feel any pain,” Roberts said. “Now with that, I think we’re in a much better spot.”

Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernández (strained left oblique) was set to begin a rehab assignment with triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday. And left-hander Blake Snell was scheduled to take the mound for two innings Saturday in his first minor-league rehab start since undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow.

Air quality concerns

The MLB schedule got off to a smoky start out of the All-Star break. With wildfires in Canada raising air-quality concerns in the Northeast and Midwest on Thursday, the New York Mets’ game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia was moved up an hour.

The smoke cleared over Yankee Stadium on Friday afternoon.

“I know that the players got a players’ union text that says it’s a full go,” Roberts said. “They feel good about it. The league feels good. I haven’t heard anything otherwise.”

2027 schedule

With a lockout widely expected to start Dec. 1 and no guarantee of an agreement in time to preserve the 2027 season, take MLB’s schedule announcement Thursday with a grain of salt.

Should collective bargaining negotiations wrap up in time, however, the Dodgers are set to open the season at Dodger Stadium on March 25 against the Atlanta Braves.

They end the season on the road, facing a pair of division rivals in the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks from Sept. 21-26.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Here's the latest Yankees news and buzz ahead of the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline...

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July 17, 7:12 p.m.

The Yankees are in need of a catcher at the trade deadline and while Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins seems like an obvious target, the Bombers have checked in with the Rockies about their backstop.

According to ESPN's Jorge Castillo, the Yankees have called about catcher Hunter Goodman, although it was not recently. 

Goodman would provide that right-handed production from the catcher's spot that the Yankees have been missing all season. Goodman, 26, is batting .254 with 27 home runs and an .863 OPS in 90 games with the Rockies. 

As Castillo points out, it will likely take a lot for the Yankees to acquire Goodman, who has club control for another three years. 

The Mets "have no desire to pay down contracts" like they did in their 2023 MLB trade deadline deals that sent right-handed pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander for more than $85 million, according to a report Friday by SNY contributor Jim Duquette.

"The Mets have been telling teams that, unlike the '23 deadline where they took on over $85 million to move the Scherzer and Verlander contracts for better prospects, they have no desire to pay down contracts to that extreme at this year’s deadline," Duquette wrote Friday on X.

SNY MLB insider Chelsea Janes reported Thursday that the Mets "informed teams they're open for business" entering this year's trade deadline, which is Aug. 3 at 6 p.m.

"A rival executive said the Mets informed their team that the sale is on, and that everyone but young stars Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Christian Scott, Nolan McLean and the obvious, Juan Soto,isavailable," Janes wrote. "That doesn't mean everyone will go. But it means the Mets will listen on just about everyone, which is in keeping with what people familiar with their thinking have signaled for weeks."

SNY manager of editorial production Danny Abriano opined Thursday which Mets could be on the move, a list led by right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta.

"A pending free agent, Peralta could be the most established and highest-upside starting pitcher available at the deadline if the Tigers don't deal Tarik Skubal," Abriano wrote. "Peralta's poor season to this point shouldn't be a hindrance when it comes to the Mets getting something of serious value back."

San Diego Padres (48-48) at Kansas City Royals (38-59), July 17, 2026, 5:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Kauffman Stadium – Kansas City, MO.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Kansas City for the weekend. pic.twitter.com/b38849xiTx

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 17, 2026

Second half starts tonight. pic.twitter.com/BmrIWE0gC7

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 17, 2026

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Go Rays!

Officially, the second half of the 2026 season begins for the San Diego Padres with a 10-game road trip. The gauntlet includes playing two of the top National League East foes (Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins) after a weekend series against the Kansas City Royals.

This might sound like a daunting task, but the Padres have a chance to put themselves back into the postseason chase. Currently, they trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by a whopping 12-and-a-half games in the NL West standings. But the Friars are only three-and-a-half games behind the Marlins for the final Wild Card berth.

We cannot expect a total collapse from the two-time World Series champs, but chasing down the Fish seems like a reasonable goal.

Here is what to expect from the Padres in the second half:

Get Jake Cronenworth healthy

One of the surprises before the All-Star break was the return of Jake Cronenworth to the starting lineup. Barring any physical setbacks, he will play second base and hit ninth in the batting order. 

The Friars need his left-handed stick, as getting the stagnant offense going is of great importance right now. We have seen throughout the season that the team’s best hitters can go cold for long stretches. 

Even Manny Machado is experiencing the worst hitting slump of his major league career. Adding Cronenworth to the mix should allow the lineup to get back on track and score runs.

But to achieve postseason aspirations, the Padres need Cro sharp at the plate.

Do not play Freddy Fermin until concussion-free

Playing through injuries is expected from those who put on the tools of ignorance. But the number of catchers sustaining a concussion has grown at an alarming rate this season.

Everyone should be worried about the amount of time Freddy Fermin has spent in concussion protocol this season. We need to get him healthy before he begins playing in the second half of the season.

Concussions are lingering injuries that stay with a sufferer for an extended time. Even if Fermin has passed all the protocol testing, a few extra days out of the lineup will not hurt.

The position’s offensive production has been non-existent all season, but Fermin is an outstanding defensive catcher. The Friars will need his experience to call a game if they expect to move up the standings. 

Trust the starting rotation

Let’s stop fooling ourselves; the Padres starting rotation is in shambles. No question, injuries have forced constant change, but the days of juggling starting pitchers in and out of the rotation are over. Team skipper Craig Stammen has to play the cards he was dealt.

Sorry, the Friar Faithful are tired of waiting for Joe Musgrove to make his season debut or the return of Nick Pivetta to the rotation. Their replacements failed to live up to expectations. They struggled with consistency and could not stop opponents from putting runs on the scoreboard. 

The second half will begin with Michael King, Griffin Canning, and German Marquez in the opening series against the Royals. Each pitcher is rested and should be sharp for their first start after the All-Star break. Stammen needs to show confidence and allow each starter to work out of potential jams.

The Friars have a grueling road trip ahead, and the club needs quality starts from their starting rotation. 

The chase is just starting, but do not plan any postseason viewing parties just yet. The Padres will have to put their foot on the accelerator because it is time to gain some ground in the standings.

All the Friar Faithful want is for the team to be in a position to contend.