Category: MLB

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. The unofficial first half of the season is officially in the rearview, as the Brewers will kick off their post-All-Star break slate tonight in Milwaukee. At 59-37 this year, the Brewers sit ahead of the Cubs by five games in the NL Central and currently hold the second-best record in baseball behind only the 61-36 Dodgers. The Brewers come out of the break with a nine-game homestand, as they’ll host the Marlins, Mets, and Rockies over the next 10 days.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

Welcome back from the All-Star break, Detroit Tigers fans! AJ Hinch and Co. open up the “second half” of the 2026 campaign on the road against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim starting on Friday night. It will be a late start for those of us in the more easterly time zones — and will be even worse on Saturday night.

Taking the mound in the first game after the All-Star break for the Tigers is right-hander Troy Melton, who will make his ninth start of the season. The 25-year-old is riding a four-game streak that saw him allow one or fewer runs, posting a 0.76 ERA and 2.68 FIP over that 23 2/3 frame stretch while increasing his strikeout totals in each appearance until reaching his career-high of nine in his most recent outing in just 5 2/3 innings.

For the home team, left-hander Reid Detmers will toe the rubber looking to turn things around after a rough couple of games heading into the break. The 27-year-old’s starts were brutal, posting a 10.00 ERA and 7.77 FIP over nine frames of work, allowing 14 hits (four home runs) and four walks while striking out 11 and throwing a pair of wild pitches.

Here is a look at how the two match up on paper as both teams open things back up at Angel Stadium.

Detroit Tigers (44-52) vs. Los Angeles Angels (38-59)

Time (ET): 9:38 p.m.
Place: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, California
SB Nation Site: N/A
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 97: RHP Troy Melton (5-1, 1.82 ERA) vs. LHP Reid Detmers (3-6, 4.39 ERA)

MELTON

DETMERS

Let’s see. What to write about? Jordan Walker and the HR Derby? JJ Wetherholt and his extension or MVP run or ROY run or all three? How about noting that the Cardinals as a team are exactly where they were this time in both 2024 and 2025 (although they got here a different way)? What about that 2026 Amateur Draft? So many topics. But they’ve all been pretty well covered, so as usual, we will zig as everyone zags.

This is an article I’ve been contemplating for a few weeks now but am putting the finishing touches on it as the Cardinals drag into the All Star Break. The end of the Cubs series and the beginning of the Brewers’ series dropped like a thud, with the pitching (particularly the bullpen) badly exposed. Instead of mourning an outcome we could all see coming, I choose to shift my gaze away from the present to a longer view. This is a rebuild year, after all, no?

As usual, the premise of my article is based on following a line of curiosity I have and then putting that into words. Last week, I looked at the Cardinals overall MiLB system. Today, I have narrowed down and parsed through the various starters the Cardinals have throughout their minor league system and taken a look from an organizational depth perspective. Why? I have a few of questions I’m curious about.

1. Assuming the Cardinals sell (at least a little bit), what kind of pitching prospect might they be looking at to add to their system?
2. Where might they fit such an acquisition in?
3. How do they handle all the starters already in the pipeline?
4. Where and when is “reliever risk” realized? Can it be anticipated, or does it just happen organically?

Who is in the pipeline?

The first thing I did was create a table of all the starting pitchers, organization-wide. Without it, it is hard to keep all the pitching prospects in my head at the same time. This is a good thing since it means there are lots of interesting pitchers at all the levels. Since I created a table, you get to read a table.

I laid it out by level-by-level (MLB, AAA, etc.) first, and then placed each pitcher in a column (1 through 6) based my perceived sense of each pitcher’s rank within their respective rotation. Nothing scientific, just based on usage patterns. I should note that this is where the rosters stand on July 6. Things will change a bit between now and when the article publishes. I will do my best to keep this current.

Authors note: True to form, even as I’m drafting this article Cardinals are re-shuffling it with Zimm to MLB (and then to limbo), Aita to AA, Cijntje to AAA. I’m leaving the table unchanged, because I’m not sure how these movements map out. Who drops out of the AAA rotation? Who steps into High-A rotation? All this presages some additional moves TBD.

A couple of notes:

• I didn’t try to engineer the ordinal ranks too much, especially in the 4-6 positions of the rotations. You might disagree with my placement a bit and you might be right, but I don’t see it as crucial to this mental stroll I will euphemistically call analysis.
• The top ranked (1-2) guys at each level is a mix of my perception of them as a prospect (in terms of FV) and my sense of who would be next to be promoted if a need/opportunity arose.
• The #6 guys are not regular starters in all cases, but more guys that get pushed into starter roles as weather or promotions complicate things. I think High-A is really the only team on a true 6-man rotation and even that is inconsistent.
• I don’t know who Palm Beach has as their #5 starter. There have been so many rehab guys run through PB (currently Robberse) that I just put a placeholder there. Don’t be shocked if Clarke is the next name you see here after Robberse and Ixan Henderson after that.
• In general, pitchers would be expected to snake up the development chart. Today’s #1 starter at Low-A could move up and would become tomorrow’s #5 starter at High-A, and so on. In real life, it doesn’t happen in quite this linear fashion (and some people fall away instead of moving up), but I imagine it that way just to have some structure as I look at potential movement in the system. However, one can never tell when an Odle or a Molina will leapfrog the line, until it happens.

Some observations about the depth

In ways, this list appears to have 20-25 guys who could legitimately be viewed as prospects. Meaning that on their current trajectory, MLB is a realistic outcome for most of them. Injuries and performance will undoubtedly complicate this picture, but as of right now, this group might be as deep as back in 2012-2013.

Without quibbling over any one pitcher (is Thompson a legit prospect?), think about it as a group. The Cardinals have excellent depth. As you look at the chart, you realize they don’t really have any gaping holes. In fact, as some of the injured pitchers roll back into action, they are going to displace someone with real talent on this list. Displace doesn’t necessarily mean off the roster, but it will steer some guys to reliever roles (or into trades that re-balance the system).

If they were to sell off Stanek or Nootbaar or May, and seek a pitcher in return, what would they be looking for? Fundamentally, the ask would have to be a pitcher that is better than what is on this list. That is the floor. And it appears that floor has been raised, perhaps quite a bit.

Another depth observation … this list doesn’t even include a few guys that I suspect they’d like to get into starter roles like Dutkanych IV and Findlay. Sometimes, there is just no room at the inn.

Strategically, they really aren’t in rebuild mode anymore. Now it is more about improving on what they have incrementally. It is easier to do this when you have holes in the system where a true prospect represents a significant upgrade. Now, not so easy. For example, if a team offered a High-A or AA pitcher as part of a package for May, who would you willingly displace out of the Springfield or Peoria rotation? Start thinking that through and it might make for some more interesting trades than a straight “sell”.

Let’s talk “reliever opportunity”

You probably notice I didn’t list or rank any MiLB relievers. In my view, there are very few relievers in the system that project to stand on an MLB mound. Gastelum for sure. Hence probably, although his star dims. Maybe Mason Burns before he was injured. That is pretty much it.

It is noticeable the vast gulf of talent (or performance) there is between the starters and the relievers up and down the system. It is enough that it can be tempting to just ignore the relievers. This probably explains why in many circles, people prefer the term “reliever risk” or “failed starter”. In the Cardinals’ case, the abundance of starters is likely to seed their pool of relievers, more from a numbers standpoint that a failure to launch. For some, relief may be a faster path to MLB, which could be good for both player and organization. Given how few MLB rotation spots there are, the bullpen might be their only path to MLB, at least in the Cardinals’ organization. Since these guys are bound to the organization for years, the needs of the MLB staff are important. I’d bet if asked, most of these guys would rather be a reliever on the MLB team than a starter in the minors. Just a guess…

In the modern game, relievers are most valuable if they have lots of whiff in their repertoire, but they do not need a deep pitch mix like a starter does and teams don’t sweat higher walk rates with this style of reliever. Spin is still useful, but no one worries about third time through the order kind of stuff with relievers. A lot are one inning and done, but there is a rising group of MIRP that are basically once through the line-up. 2+ innings (hopefully, a full 3 IP).

Strategically, the Cardinals are probably looking to further the transition from pitch-to-contact (P2C) to spin-and-whiff (SnW) oriented pitchers that are more well suited for these high leverage reliever roles. I don’t think this means abandoning pitch-to-contact, but P2C is more starter oriented and perhaps bulk or MIRP types than high leverage. So, the way I see it…if you are going to get your high leverage relievers out of the starter pool, you need more SnW types in the starter pool. My guess is, we may see this aspect of organizational improvement play out more in the draft than the trade deadline.

With the 2026 draft in the books, we see that the Cardinals indeed focused on guys who might project to high-leverage relievers, looking for live fastballs, spin-and-whiff and not demeriting fringy command. While they seemed to more focus on hitters early, one can wonder where pitchers like Kuhns, Montesa, Randall fit. For fun, study these guys and try and picture inserting them in the table above.

From a deadline and off-season standpoint, it seems possible that other organizations lacking depth in their pipeline might come to view one or more of the Cardinals “reliever risk” guys as potentially having more value to them (as a starter) than they will with the Cardinals (as a reliever). Someone like a Brycen Mautz, who is about to get passed up by 3-4 guys from AA. This may present the Cardinals with opportunities to consolidate or churn in ways they really haven’t had in some time.

Let’s look at timelines

One can never really tell how long it will take an individual pitcher to develop enough to begin a sojourn down MLB lane. One artificial constraint that guides, though, is their spot (or lack thereof) on the 40-man roster, which must be done within 4 years (generally). Do the Cardinals ever pick high school pitchers? They get five years, no?

Mathews and Lin will need to be protected on the 40-man roster this fall, so that effectively starts their clock. Being on the 40-man, either or both could find their way into the 2027 Cardinal bullpen if their command doesn’t improve enough to advance in front of the starters already ahead of them. This outcome would not hurt my feelings a bit.

At AAA, Hansen and Rincon are both Rule V eligible and look the most displaceable. Not necessarily from a talent standpoint (ok, maybe a little), but both require protection to guarantee their spot in the organization. If they aren’t protected, it is arguable that the Cardinals might want to look at acquiring a prospect that does not require 40-man protection and can fit at a lower level, which then would open up 2 slots in the AAA rotation either later this year or next season. Those spots might better be used on guys like Doyle or Lin (or Roby or Fitts or Hjerpe).

So, from a timeline standpoint, those four guys (Mathews, Lin, Rincon, Hansen) will have some transaction in their near future. The rest are either on the 40-man or do not need protection until after the 2027 season, earliest.

Another timeline-oriented decision could be in store for Hjerpe. He counts in the SnW profile. If the Cardinals wish to continue his development as a starter, they will have to burn one of two remaining options next year to do so. Or they could imagine a role for him on the left-side of the bullpen, which will be vacated by Romero and Bruihl this off-season (if not sooner). Decisions. Decisions. Funny how a ticking clock can push a decision towards “reliever opportunity”.

Let’s talk pathways

A couple of years ago, there was frustration among Cardinal fans because established veterans were “blocking” promising young players. Arenado played, while Gorman yo-yo’ed around. Contreras moved to first while Burleson continued to roam the outfield. Fedde started while McGreevy toiled in the Land of Blue Suede Shoes. Etc.

We may see another, similar phenomenon develop with the pitching. Ostensibly, the Cardinals will come to 2027 spring camp with Leahy, Liberatore, Pallante and McGreevy as established starters under contract control. That leaves one spot in the MLB rotation. Behind them will lurk Dobbins, Fitts, Mathews, Mautz and potentially Roby. Depth is good, but if health is good, too, there really won’t be room to move but one of Lin, Doyle and Hjerpe into the AAA rotation, effectively stalling their development. Assuredly, health will equalize some of this, but unlikely enough to eliminate the logjam. Outcomes? Some of these guys may become relievers and some of these guys may get packaged to fill MLB team needs (third base, anyone?) or acquire younger prospects.

Closing

Ok, this is a future look so I’m not closing, I’m just stopping for now. This discussion will recur, particularly as we get a little distance away from the draft.

The need to move players up in a timely fashion, roster rules and the depth in the system may well conspire to make for some interesting deadline and off-season trades. Likely not the traditional rebuild/sell-off model where expiring contracts are dumped for wild card prospects. I am anticipating more strategic trades in the next round. We’ll know more about what that might look like after the draft.

Above I noted how few MiLB relievers have MLB profiles. I believe the MiLB starter pool is really the entirety of the coming MLB pitching pool. In this viewpoint, the depth looks a bit thinner. From this, I begin to suspect the next step in the development of the pitching pipeline is to bring more high-end starters in to push more of the MLB prospects into the reliever pool. Ie. more competition. The floor has been raised, now it is time to raise the ceiling.

In the end, it appears that the Cardinals potentially have a surplus in the pitching area in addition to catching, although it begs the question of can a team really have a surplus of pitching? It is less clear if the surplus starters profile into strong reliever candidates. Can that “surplus” be consolidated into a higher-end starter? or higher-end bullpen help? As other teams lacking depth (but having MLB talent) take stock of their future and recognize their backslide, such as the Astros (Brown), Padres (King), Angels (Soriano, Detmers), Giants (Webb), it seems like some possibilities could materialize somewhere. And the Cardinals just might have the depth these organizations need to improve.

Baseball’s back in action for the second half! But not the Phillies, who are off today. So it goes.

On to the links.

Phillies news

Brad Keller will be out for the season with a UCL tear.

What awaits the Phillies in the second half?

Here’s the story behind the Sandlot tribute during the All-Star Game. ($)

An appreciation of Kyle Schwarber. ($)

MLB news

The 2027 schedule is out. The Phillies will be opening in Washington, and welcoming the Nationals to Citizens Bank Park for the home opener the following week.

The Mets will be sellers at the deadline.

Pitcher power rankings, with a pair of Phillies in the top 5.

Chase Burns has signed an extension that’ll keep him in Cincinnati for the foreseeable future.

The MLB trade deadline is fast approaching, but finding any clarity in the playoff chase before then is highly unlikely.

With roughly two-thirds of all major league teams at least within striking distance of a wild-card spot, it's going to be hard to tell the buyers from the sellers over the next few weeks. Until they start making deals.

Expect a lot of waiting and then a flurry of trades before the deadline as teams look to tweak their rosters for the stretch run. Any players on the 40-man roster acquired before the deadline will be eligible to play for their new clubs in the postseason.

When is the MLB trade deadline?

The MLB trade deadline, traditionally July 31, is a bit later than it's been in the past. With the 31st on a Friday this year, MLB has decided to move the deadline later.

Trade deadline: Monday, August 3

Time: 6 p.m. ET

Welcome back to the show everyone. After a four-day All-Star Break excursion, we now return to our regularly scheduled programming. The second half of the season is here, and the Yankees start off the back end of their calendar with a doozy, a three-game set against the two-time defending-champion Dodgers. It’ll be the first time the Yankees and Dodgers have faced off in the Bronx since that fateful Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, giving the Yankees a chance to exorcise some demons, at least in a small way.

You can get prepped for the series with LA with Josh’s preview of the three games. We’ll also continue our trade deadline coverage with Matt’s look at Twins starter Joe Ryan, and our Yankee Birthday series with Nick’s profile of a quietly important figure in Yankees history. And later, Jonathan reviews how the Yankees’ 2026 draft picks did in the College World Series, and Madison delivers the answers to this week’s mailbag.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Time: 7:05 p.m. EST

TV: YES Network, SportsNet LA, MLB Network

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Questions/Prompts:

1. What do you expect from this interesting Gerrit Cole vs. Roki Sasaki matchup tonight?

2. Did you catch up on anything you’d been meaning to during the All-Star Break?

SNY | Alex Smith: MLB announced full schedules for the 2027 season Thursday. The Yankees will start the campaign at home with three-game sets against the Blue Jays and Athletics before heading to Cleveland and then Pittsburgh on a road trip. The Subway Series will be held in Queens from May 28-30 and in the Bronx from July 16-18. The Yankees close out the year with three consecutive series against division opponents that could prove pivotal to the playoff race.

New York Post | Jack Harris: When the Dodgers take the field this weekend in the Bronx, they’ll be without their best pitcher. After having his knee drained over the All-Star break, Shohei Ohtani will not take the mound against the Yankees. The Dodgers are hopeful he’ll be able to remain in their lineup at DH. Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are scheduled to start during the three-game set. Ohtani is 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA through 14 starts this year.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: ($) Cam Schlittler likes to pitch angry, using slights (real or perceived) to motivate him. The Yankees have been adding fuel to the fire. Ahead of his eight-inning, one-run performance against the Rays last week, Yankees director of organizational performance Chad Bohling played a clip of podcaster Jared Carrabis saying Schlittler was regressing. The motivational tactic is a trend that dates back to college, when the little-heralded prospect would consume media that failed to mention him to keep him hungry. It’s an approach he hopes is well-suited for the Big Apple. “We’ve seen a lot of guys come here and try to play, and they can’t do it,” Schlittler said. “That’s why they leave. They may have had successful careers. It’s my first full year, though. I could be saying all this, and in a few years, it might not work out. I’m confident it will. I feel like I handle that stuff well. There’s added pressure, but I welcome that. I think we need to be held to a high standard.”

Greg Joyce | New York Post: A profile on Hunter Dietz, the Yankees’ first-round pick in last weekend’s MLB Draft. After missing the beginning of his college career almost entirely due to a stress fracture in his elbow, the southpaw made 16 starts this year for Arkansas, striking out 131 in 85 ²/₃ innings. The Yankees have been following Dietz since high school, and were encouraged enough by what he showed this year to make him their top pick. He expressed enthusiasm about his landing spot, saying “there’s a lot of potential that I need to unlock. I just feel like this staff is perfect for me, once I start my buildup, just to get ready for next year and the coming outings that I’m going to have. I feel like it’s just perfect for me as a player.”

Manager Derek McInnes has suggested Rangers could complete more signings before Wednesday's friendly meeting with St-Etienne at Ibrox on Wednesday.

Rangers, third in last season's Scottish Premiership, have already brought in six new recruits, with Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin following McInnes from Tynecastle to Ibrox.

"The club has done brilliant work at this moment in time to try and bring in the additions that we clearly needed," McInnes said in a club media interview from the club's Spanish training camp.

"We want to make sure we are a more rounded squad when it comes to the bit that we're ready, but the work will be ongoing. We're still looking to try and get a couple of things done ahead of the St-Etienne game.

"We're two weeks away from Dundee United [opening day of the league campaign], and I feel that the fitness of the players is a lot better and stronger to where we want it to be, from when we set off a couple of weeks ago."

Rangers ended their camp with a 2-2 draw against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta'zim, with McInnes calling it "a good test against a team who are well up and running in their season".

Devlin, Ivor Pandur and Thelo Aasgaard will join training on Monday after their involvement at the World Cup and McInnes welcomes the "jag of quality" the trio will bring.

McInnes, who steered Hearts to second place last term, also stressed the importance of team building in the early days of his reign.

"I want us to be more together as a squad," he said. "What we have is a lot of good individuals and we saw signs of that last season - Rangers, at times, were really strong. Individually, players were at a good level, but when it came to it, we needed to be more of a team.

"I really want to build that work ethic, that togetherness that gets you through tough times."

The two teams locked in a battle for fourth place in the National League West will renew their rivalry early and late next season. That battle might come down to the bitter end as the San Francisco Giants close the 2027 season with a three-game series at Coors Field.

The season will kick off early, on Thursday, March 25 in San Francisco, before the teams take a well-earned rest day on Friday before continuing the series. The Giants start the season with six games against NL West opponents, then don’t see a division rival for five more weeks, when they travel to UNIQLO Field to face a Los Angeles Dodgers team that will probably have added Robbie Ray, Tarik Skubal, Luis Arraez, and LeBron James in free agency.

They won’t play the San Diego Padres until May 24, to start one of their two 10-game homestands of the season. The second 10-game stretch at Oracle Park will follow the All-Star Break, starting with the A’s, ending with the Padres, and stuffed with a whopping four-game helping of Rockies in the middle. September has a nine-game homestand and jsut two six-game road trips,

Do you like June Swoons? The Giants are set up for one of those next season, with trips to San Diego, Arizona, Philadelphia, and Toronto, and visits from the Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, and the New York Mets, who have to be better next season, right?

The reward for making it through the June gauntlet is a 10-game road trip leading into the break, including a stretch of 16 games in 16 days. It could be brutal for the pitching staff, with a four-game series in the launching pad of Arizona’s ballpark followed by three games at the moon base of Coors Field, which is an even better hitters’ park

But things ease up as the season progresses. August begins with the Dodgers, Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and Dodgers again, but then the Giants get six games with the Miami Marlins, three each with the Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, and the A’s. September has a nine-game homestand and just two six-game road trips, each featuring a strange geographic double: St. Louis-San Diego and Minneapolis-Denver.

After the All-Star Break, the Giants have 34 home games to 30 road games, with 67% of their matchups taking place in California. It’s hard to predict exactly which games will be tough one year out, but it feels safe to say that the Dodgers and Brewers will continue to be difficult opponents, and the Giants play both in separate six-game stretches in early May and early August.

What’s going to be the easiest ticket to buy? The Wednesday, September 1 home game against the Cleveland Guardians, likely to be an afternoon contest. If you really want to catch a foul ball, circle this game on your calendar.

Is it a tough schedule? At a glance, the Giants seem to have easier American League opponents at home and a tougher inter-league road schedule, while the season may vacillate wildly from brutal stretches to easier ones. Generally, this a tougher schedule in the hot parts of summer but starts and ends fairly gently. This team could rack up a lot of wins early, assuming they have a bullpen and not a bunch of weird zealots who don’t believe in evolution or throwing strikes to the leadoff man. And they’re generally less sucky.

But if they don’t get off to a good start, it might be a long, long summer. Specifically from June 14-July 11, hoo boy.

PHILADELPHIA — There have been plenty of nights when people wouldn’t have wanted to see the Mets play.

On Thursday, they nearly got their wish as the smoke from the Canadian wildfires forced MLB to move up the start of the game and it may have paid off.

“I didn’t think it was bad til the last couple innings,” Brett Baty said after the Mets beat the Phillies 4-1 at Citizens Bank Park.

“My eyes were burning and itching a little bit,’’ Baty said. “[Carson] Benge said it felt like you were sitting by a campfire. It was fun … but it didn’t feel great playing ball with it.”

Despite the adverse conditions, the game didn’t appear to be directly impacted.

Phillies manager Don Mattingly said, “It got almost, like, foggier. Guys didn’t seem to be having trouble.”

Home plate umpire and crew chief Dan Iassogna checked with players and the grounds crew throughout the game and play was never stopped.

Francisco Alvarez, who homered twice, said through an interpreter that “by the end of the game, it was a little more difficult to catch and see.”

That didn’t make it pleasant, as Christian Scott said it “got a little thick” on the field.

The smoke undoubtedly increased throughout the course of the game, but no one lost any fly balls.

As interim Mets manager Andy Green said when asked how the conditions may have affected the game, “I don’t think they really did. It felt like they could have at any moment, especially as visibility got tougher.”

PHILADELPHIA — Marcus Semien returned from his rehab assignment and was reinstated from the 10-day injured list in time for Thursday’s 4-1 win over the Phillies to open the second half of the season, but he wasn’t in the lineup.

It’s an indication of just how poor the veteran second baseman has been in his first season with the Mets, as interim manager Andy Green went with the lefty-swinging Brett Baty against Philadelphia right-hander Aaron Nola.

And Baty delivered with a pair of hits, including a homer.

“When my name is called, I’ll be ready,’’ Semien said before the game. “I’m ready to play every single day. That’s what I told Andy.”

Asked if Semien and Baty, who was hitting better before the All-Star break- were in something of a lefty-righty platoon, Green said the team wanted to get Semien a full workout day before he started a game, since he was unable to play in any minor league rehab games during the break.

Green added that Semien was expected to be in the lineup Saturday when the Phillies are scheduled to start lefty Jesús Luzardo.

“He’ll figure prominently in our mix going forward,’’ Green said of Semien.

Semien, a significant part of the offseason overhaul undertaken by president of baseball operations David Stearns, had been sidelined since June 24 with a left hip flexor strain.

Even before the injury, though, the 35-year-old was having the worst season of his 14-year career.

Not only has his offense dropped off for a third straight year, Semien has been a below-average defender at second base.

Baty can play second and third and Green said he might use him at first, where Jared Young — another lefty hitter — has gotten the bulk of the playing time.

“This is who he is as a hitter and what he can do,” Green said of Baty’s recent hot streak. “He presents a lot of defensive versatility … [and] he’s showing the pop in his bat we believe he has.”

Baty acknowledged he’s had a disappointing year up to this point, saying, “I don’t think it’s been good at all. I hold myself to a way higher standard than the way I’ve been playing. I think the last two or so weeks have been the kind of player I am: hitting the ball hard and playing good defense. That’s all I can really control.”

To open a roster spot for Semien, Zack Short was designated for assignment after starting the last three games before the break at second base.

Short had been starting, in part, because Bo Bichette was dealing with right ankle soreness.

Bichette was back in the lineup at third base Thursday — with Baty at second — and Green noted, “We definitely could have used his bat in the last series,” when the Mets were swept at home by Boston.

Last time on the mound, Mets starter Christian Scott threw five scoreless innings in a win over the Kansas City Royals, but interim manager Andy Green wanted to see more from the 27-year-old despite the results.

Scott said he didn't have his best stuff, and Green challenged him to "get better" and reach "another level" that he believes is there in the right-hander.

Thursday night in Philadelphia, Scott answered that challenge.

He threw 5.2 scoreless innings in a 4-1 win over the Phillies, allowing just three hits and striking out seven. After the win, Scott explained how Green's comments motivated him for this next start.

"Yeah, I love when he challenges me," Scott said. "I don't want to hear how good I did; I want to hear what I need to improve on. It's easy to come in here and say I did a great job when me and him both know I didn't really pitch up to my capabilities that day, even though the results showed that. Sometimes the results kind of lie.

"I thought it was a good kick in the ass, little bit. Being able to light that fire under me. I needed that for that day. You know, especially coming off his ear, I know I can pitch better; that was a good time for him to bring that up."

Green was proud of how Scott responded with "outstanding effort" on Thursday, and noted that he would've kept Scott in the game longer if this wasn't their first game back from the All-Star break.

"I thought his mix was really good. His fastball was alive early, he was beating really good hitters with it," Green said. "I think second time through he mixed really well, got to the cutter and the sweeper a little bit more. Outstanding effort from him.

"I think I challenged him last game to really end innings and not let them drag on, and he did a phenomenal job of that. Any other day, he's probably going to be asked to run through the middle of the order again, but with a day off tomorrow coming off the All-Star break, we're about as fresh in the bullpen as we could be. Having Brooks [Raley] available in there to get the couple of lefties was great."

Scott threw his fastball 27 times against the Phillies, topping out at 97.7 mph, and got four strikeouts with the pitch. Overall, he threw 79 pitches for a total of 56 strikes, and like Green noticed, said everything was working well on the mound.

"I thought I did a good job attacking the strike zone early," Scott said. "Just stayed on the attack pretty much the whole game, all my pitches were working in the strike zone today. Thought I did a good job getting ahead, just getting through at-bats pretty quickly today."

Looking ahead, Scott hopes to be able to pitch deeper into the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, but acknowledges it's "part of the learning process." For now, he's happy with putting the Mets in a position to win the game.

"Just giving the team a chance to win, honestly, that was the biggest part of that I took from today," Scott said. "I thought the offense did a good job battling and then finally getting to the bullpen and putting some runs together. Yeah, I just keep my team in it for the most part, that's what my job is, so feel like I did a good job of that."

PHILADELPHIA — Calf injuries have already cost the Mets significantly this season, with both Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor missing time with them.

But interim manager Andy Green said after Thursday’s 4-1 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park that even though Soto was removed before the bottom of the eighth with “a little left calf soreness,” the left fielder is expected to be back on the field “this weekend.”

Soto said after the game he felt it about halfway through the win, a game in which he reached base four times with a base hit and three walks.

And Soto added he intended to be in the lineup Saturday, when the Mets resume their series against the Phillies.

Green noted they pulled Soto, in part, because he didn’t have an All-Star break.

“He just played in the All-Star Game and had a lot of activity the last few days,’’ Green said. “It made sense to get him off his feet.”

Soto will get treatment Friday and they’ll see how he feels Saturday — and Green added Soto could have remained in the game, but “it didn’t make sense.”

Clay Holmes threw to Marcus Semien and Luis Robert Jr. in Brooklyn on Tuesday, as both Holmes and Robert get closer to returning.

Holmes (fractured right fibula) could begin a minor league rehab assignment after his next side session, although Green said there was no specific date set for the start of that assignment.

And Robert (lumbar disc herniation) is set to continue his minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Friday and could be back with the Mets “relatively soon,’’ according to Green.

Francisco Lindor made another uncharacteristic error in Thursday’s win.

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With Bryce Harper at the plate in the bottom of the sixth, the Mets caught Kyle Schwarber off second base.

Francisco Alvarez threw down to Lindor, but as Schwarber headed to third, Lindor bounced a throw to Bo Bichette and Schwarber was safe on Lindor’s error.

It ended up not costing the Mets.

Brooks Raley walked Harper, but then got Brandon Marsh swinging to end the inning.

If the 2027 season starts on time — a big if, considering the distance between MLB and the MLBPA with the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire in December — the Mets would open at Miami on March 25.

Their home opener will be on April 2 against the Giants.

The first round of the Subway Series is scheduled to begin May 28 at Citi Field, with the Mets visiting the Yankees to open the second half on July 16.

The Mets are set to finish the season at home against the Cubs, with the final game on Sept. 26.

Wander Franco wants to return to the baseball diamond.

Franco, who was found guilty in May of sexually abusing a minor in a second trial, was making a push to play for the Dominican Republic during the Central American and Caribbean Games that start later this month, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reported Wednesday.

Nevertheless, Franco’s participation appears unlikely, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Franco, who last played in an MLB game on Aug. 12, 2023, was left off of the Dominican Republic’s “long list” of candidates for its roster, meaning that he is not eligible to play on the team, per the outlet.

The Dominican Baseball Federation (FEDOM) said it is working on getting Franco cleared to play.

“We, as the Dominican Baseball Federation, have been handling the procedures with the Dominican Olympic Committee in order to allow us to register Wander through the platform so that he can play with us,” FEDOM told the Tampa Bay Times in a statement.

“We are hopeful and very confident that we will receive a positive response.”

Despite this, Garibaldy Bautista, president of the Dominican Olympic Committee, insists that Franco remains ineligible for the tournaments.

“Simply put, he is not on the long list and cannot be registered on the Dominican team to participate in the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games,” Bautista said, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Although a court found Franco, 25, guilty of the sexual and psychological exploitation of a minor, he did not face any jail time, with the victim’s mother instead getting a 10-year prison sentence for allegedly profiting from payments made by the ex-Rays infielder to consent to his relationship with the teen.

Franco, who is on MLB’s restricted list, has been unable to play in the major or minor leagues since August 2023, along with the Dominican Winter League, which has arrangements with MLB.

“To my fans, keep supporting me, trust in God and with the faith in God, I’ll soon be back,” Franco said while walking out of the court in May, according to reporter Hector Gomez. “In this process, I learned to never give up and to value family. Value your family because they will always be there.

“I’ve always kept training thanks to my dad.