Category: MLB

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Sunday Night Baseball between the Reds and Cubs should be an exciting matchup.

I'll be highlighting why Sal Stewart is a great look in my Reds vs. Cubs props and MLB picks for Sunday, Aug. 30.

For more on this game, see Chris Hatfield's Reds vs. Cubs predictions.

Reds vs Cubs props for August 30

Reds vs Cubs player prop picks

Pete Crow-Armstrong Over 0.5 home runs (+285)

You might look to fade a guy like Pete Crow-Armstrong following a three-home-run game, but he does find himself with an elite rating on Batters-Box against Cincinnati Reds starter Chase Burns.

The right-hander has faced some speed bumps against left-handed hitters as of late. The last 30 he's faced have produced a 57% hard-hit rate, 19% barrel rate, and 66.7% elevation rate. Not only that, but those left-handed hitters have a .298 xBA, .656 xSLG, and .423 wOBA.

With Crow-Armstrong owning a .762 SLG, .476 ISO, and 14% barrel rate, he should be worthy of our trust after a monster performance on Saturday.

If the home run scares you, take the bases.

Sal Stewart Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-130)

Reds rookie sensation Sal Stewart is easily one of the best bats to back this evening to go over his 1.5 hits + runs + RBI prop.

The price is a bit juicy, but he has surpassed this prop in 66.67% of his 18 elite ratings on the road this season, per Batters-Box. In 45 elite ratings this season, the Reds slugger has gone Over this prop 55.56% of the time.

Across his last 10 games, the young fella has maintained a .634 SLG and .293 ISO while barreling the ball at a 12.5% clip.

Stewart draws Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga, who has a 14.3% ground-ball rate over the last 30 righties faced. During that time, those right-handed hitters own a mouthwatering .453 xBA, .627 xSLG, and .248 ISO. 

Stewart has seen left-handed pitchers very well this season and at $1.30 it is worth paying the juice here. Do not take this prop much higher. Alt to Over 1.5 bases. 

Chase Burns Under 6.5 strikeouts (-165)

It is no news to true baseball die-hards that Burns is a strikeout machine, but tonight against the Cubs, the Under is the play. Yes, at a juicy price, but the Cubs have maintained a strikeout rate under 20% for weeks now. In their last six games, they have posted just a 14% strikeout rate.

This is a number the Reds starter rarely stays Under, but the Cubs have been on a complete tear, and I see them making a ton of contact this evening. Chicago ranks third in contact rate over its last six games while also ranking second-lowest in swinging-strike rate.

Trust the hot bats. Alt this down to 5.5 if you want plus money, but do not pay more for this prop.

How to watch Reds vs Cubs and game info

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The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up their homestand before a long west coast swing as they’ll host the Pirates again on Sunday. Matthew Liberatore will give it a go for the Cardinals while the Pirates will start Braxton Ashcraft. First pitch is set for 1:15pm at Busch Stadium and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Carter Baumler will begin a rehab assignment with Round Rock today, the team has announced. In addition, per Evan Grant, Robert Garcia will also be starting a rehab assignment with Round Rock later this coming week.

Baumler and Garcia were both members of the Opening Day bullpen, both went on the injured list in April, and both are guys who I figured we wouldn’t see again this season. However, it appears both will be pitching in minor league game action in the very near future, and both could end up back in the major league bullpen before too long.

Baumler, a Rule 5 pick of the Rangers, appeared in four games before going on the injured list on April 5 with an intercostal strain. He appeared in three games for Round Rock on a rehab assignment before being pulled off due to a setback. If he isn’t on the major league roster for at least 90 days this year, his Rule 5 restrictions will carry over to the following year until he reaches that 90 day mark, so if he could come back in September, that would help reduce the number of days he’d have to be on the active roster next year.

Garcia threw eight innings over nine appearances before going on the injured list in late April with a shoulder strain. He was expected to be a key part of the Rangers’ late inning mix, and his being on the shelf for four-plus months has been a big blow to the pen.

Both players are on the 60 day injured list, but there are currently two open spots on the 40 man roster, so no move would need to be made there to clear a spot for them, once they are ready.

The White Sox will be going for a series sweep and fifth straight victory this afternoon against a Twins team that has lost four in a row and has been very generous in the first two games.

Jordan Hicks will be playing the role of opener for the Sox for only the second time, his first having been a clean inning against the Rays on August 1. Will Venable has been treating who follows as a state secret, but in the normal rotation course it would be José Urquidy, who in three games since being acquired from the Pirates and brought up from Charlotte has sandwiched a brilliant outing against the Cubs between two horrible ones versus the Tigers and Rangers.

The Twins counter with Zebby Matthews, a righty with a 4.86 ERA that would seem to indicate that someone on the Sox besides Andrew Benintendi should get a hit. Matthews is coming off two good starts, though, giving up just two runs to the A’s and Braves in 12 2/3 innings. He faces a Chicago lineup that has only scored thanks to Benintendi or Twins incompetence since the first inning on Friday.

Hicks et al. take on a Twins lineup that didn’t score after the first two innings in either of the first two games of the series and is a pathetic 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position even including those innings. And, to the White Sox benefit, Sox killer Byron Buxton remains on the bench with a hip injury sustained on Tuesday.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Central with the temp around 80° and wind 10 mph right to left. Usual broadcast suspects.

The Dodgers’ game against the Tigers on Sunday at Comerica Park began in a rain delay.

First pitch was at 11:35 a.m. PDT following a 55-minute delay.

Dodger manager Dave Roberts was anticipating a potential delay a couple hours before the original game time.

“Then it’s supposed to kind of be isolated around 5:30 [2:30 p.m. PDT,]” Roberts said of the storm forecast. “So there is that window 2-5 p.m. [11 a.m.-2 p.m. PDT], that looks promising.”

Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow took the mound opposite Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Astros inability to address their poor offensive outfield production for the past 2 seasons continues to dog them as they come down the stretch, fighting for their playoff lives, clinging to a very narrow 2-game lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West with the Seattle Mariners lurking 4 games back.

There are 2 days remaining to get a player in your organization to make them playoff eligible on your roster. It’s time the Astros strike.

Luis Robert Jr. is not a player I would want to see the Astros sign for a full season. He is oft injured and has underperformed for 3 straight years. Now 29 years old, the odds of his suddenly being fully healthy and returning to his All-Star form are very low.

However, that isn’t the case here. The Astros don’t need him for a whole year. They need him for (hopefully) two months.

That short time period is exactly why the Astros should put in a waiver claim for him, as it has been reported Robert Jr. has been placed on waivers by the New York Mets.

Robert Jr.’s numbers this season are underwhelming. .228 AVG .308 OBP .716 OPS. Still, 10 HR in 189 AB is a very strong HR rate. 51 K in 189 AB is worrisome.

But at this point in the season, it’s not about what his season looks like. It’s about trying to catch lightning in a bottle. You want someone who can be hot and hot now.

In the month of August, Robert Jr. has put up very strong offensive numbers. .282 AVG, .338 OBP, .887 OPS with 6 HR and 11 RBI in 71 AB. He is 20×71 and has walked 7x. The 20K are still ugly, but that is still a production level the Astros have nothing close to in their outfield this season.

Is it possible he could find some rejuvenation being on a team with playoff aspirations? Certainly.

Is it possible he could maintain that level of production through September and October? It’s certainly possible, and there is only one way to know. That’s to place a bet on Robert Jr. for the last month (and hopefully an extra month of postseason) and call. There’s literally nothing to lose.

The Astros should put the claim in and find out.

First Chuck: 1:10 PM (new anthem each week!)

The Tube: Twins.TV

The Dial: Treasure Island Baseball Network

Spies ‘R Us: South Side Sox

Back in July, I looked back at some 1926 Washington Senators 100-years-to-the-day history that happened to match up with a present-day Minnesota Twins afternoon at Wrigley Field. I didn’t expect it to happen again, what with the ‘26 Nats being a rather mediocre bunch.

But as famed poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once scribed: “I shot an arrow into the air—it fell to earth I knew not where”.

Believe it or not, on this day in 1926, the Senators were also tangling with the Chicago White Sox (this contest being at old Comiskey Park) and the adventures of Firpo Marberry & Goose Goslin continued!

With both clubs hovering around .500 and decidedly out of any AL pennant consideration, the ChiSox sent Hollis Thurston to the bump to battle Washington’s Stan Covelski.

The Nats started the scoring in the top of the fourth inning when Buddy Myer singled & Joe Judge walked. An Ossie Bluege knock brought home Myer, and a grounder from Muddy Ruel produced an error from CHI SS Bill Hunnefield, plating Judge. 2-0 WAS.

The Sox got one back in B6 when an Eddie Collins single off Covelski brought in Johnny Mostil. 2-1 WAS.

But in B8, Myer again singled and this time trotted home on a Goose Goslin round-tripper! 4-1 WAS.

Sure, the Sox would scratch two more across on Covelski with RBI from Bibb Falk & Bill Barrett, but the FME (Firpo Marberry Experience) sauntered in and whiffed Willie Kamm to extinguish the threat. 4-3 WAS.

But when Firpo came back out for B9, he was immediately greeted by a Johnny Grabowksi triple—then a Thurston (yes, the opposing SP swinging for himself in the ninth!) single to tie the game. Three batters later with the sacks full of Sox, Collins knocked in Thurston and the South Siders celebrated.

Your final: Chicago White Sox 5, Washington Senators 4.

Our current Twins edition may not have a Goose—but they did at one point have a Roden(t)! Let’s hope they don’t Firpo this series away like 100 years ago.

Click here for Lineups!

Once upon a time, a team ahead of the curve in analytics noticed how undervalued a skill it was “not to make outs”. They made a movie based on the 2002 Athletics and 24 years later the same organization has produced hitters who would be great a cyber crime because they are elite hackers.

The A’s resistance to being more discerning, more attentive to OBP, more committed to “grinding out at bats” is shown in many different ways and has several implications. More broadly, it helps to explain why even when healthy the A’s lineup sputtered in the middle of the pack offensively despite a lineup that looked far more potent on paper.

Opposing Pitchers

Recently we have seen numerous games in which the A’s allowed opposing starting pitchers to throw around 12 pitches/inning and the impact of that is seen in some less direct and obvious ways. The earlier you knock out a SP the more you bat against the “soft underbelly” of a team’s bullpen.

By hacking early and often, the A’s have too often allowed SPs to get through 6-7 innings which in turn enables managers to lean only on their best relievers to get a game to the house. It also means fewer “high stress” innings for SPs, boosting their effectiveness throughout a start.

Walks

Walks are the stat that most directly show levels of patience, discernment, and OBP. On the surface the A’s are just around average with regard to drawing walks, but a look under the hood shows that their ranking of 17th out of 30 teams is deceiving.

Much of their “ok” BB rate comes from one batter, Nick Kurtz, whose 434 PAs produced an 18.2% BB rate. Around 8% is league average and yet here are some BB rates A’s hitters have amassed:

Jacob Wilson: 3.6%

Alika Williams: 3.6%

Colby Thomas: 3.3%

Tommy White: 2.7%

Joshua Kuroda-Grauer 1.6% (1 BB in 62 PA and it was issued by a position player)

Outs

A lack of walks is not the only casualty of a hacktastic approach to hitting. There is also how the at bat becomes so much easier for the opposing pitcher.

In the case of Wilson, it’s not just the few walks that dragged down his 2026 performance. Wilson’s “chase rate” ranked in the 4th percentile leading to far more incidences of “getting himself out”.

In 2025 Fidgety Guy’s chase rate was 22nd percentile and he batted .311/.355/.444, 116 wRC+. Hacking at the 4th percentile level the numbers plummeted to .266/.298/.388, 83 wRC+.

Max Muncy has actually maintained a passable 7.5% BB rate in 2026. Trouble is he swings at so many bad balls that when he’s not walking he’s often striking out, something he has done at a 32.6% clip this season. A good case in point was the bottom of the 5th last night when Muncy saw 5 pitches, all of them out of the strike zone, swung at 4 at them and struck out.

Tommy White is another master at “getting himself out,” with a chase rate also at the bottom of the league. He may have two 4 hit games, but by putting so many “bad balls” in play he has not been able to tap into much power as his average exit velocities are also among the worst in the league. His slash line of .261/.279/.331, 61 wRC+ tells the tale of a batter lacking in discipline or discernment leading to mostly soft singles and a lot of outs.

Pedagogy

Whether A’s coaches and instructors aren’t preaching patience and discernment or the hitters aren’t listening is an open question. However, one answer is found in the basic philosophical shift of the organization. “Moneyball” informed us that one internal rule was a hitter was expected to show a 10.0% or better BB rate before earning a promotion.

Thomas was promoted from A+ after posting a 4.6% BB rate, then from AA after showing a 6.5% BB rate.

Wilson had a 2.2% BB rate at AA, apparently enough to warrant a promotion to AAA, where his BB rate was 7.8%.

Tommy White was called up from AAA where he was walking all of 4.8% of the time. His BB rates prior ranged from 6.2% to 8.5%.

Kuroda-Grauer’s BB rate across AA and AAA this season was 5.8%. JKG is an interesting one in that he came up and took the league by storm so you could argue what he is doing is working for him. Wilson’s 2025 and 2026 seasons, however, tell the cautionary tale of how things can shift if you don’t. My personal prediction is that either Kuroda-Grauer will show more plate discipline in 2027 or his stats will take a dive like Wilson’s did.

No doubt injuries have impacted the A’s offense, more so as the season has progressed. But they were having trouble scoring away from SHP from the git go and if you’re wondering why a good starting point would be to look at the A’s swing decisions.

Exhibit A is the much beleaguered Lawrence Butler, who has put together some of the A’s very best PAs since the All-Star break. His willingness to work deep counts and take close pitches off the plate have led to a .288/.379/.508, 141 wRC+ line in the 2nd half. And it comes with a 13.0% BB rate.

“Swing hard, early and often” is not a winning strategy no matter who you are. It’s one thing to chase a slider down and away because you didn’t pick up the spin. It’s another to approach every at bat with a “swing first, ask questions later” mindset. There are many reasons the A’s offense isn’t meeting its on paper potential, but an excellent starting point would be to address the lack of commitment, across so many hitters, to “hunting hittable strikes” — and spitting on the rest.

Go Rays!

The Dodgers end their road trip from hell with one last chance at a salvage game on a Sunday in Detroit, their final game of a losing August.

Starting lineup

Shohei Ohtani DH
Tommy Edman 2B
Mookie Betts SS
Freddie Freeman 1B
Teoscar Hernández LF
Miguel Rojas 3B
Kyle Tucker RF
Kiké Hernández CF
Ben Rortvedt C

Tyler Glasnow is on the mound.

Sunday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Tigers
• Ballpark: Comerica Park, Detroit
• Start time: 10:40 a.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals, August 30, 2026, 2:15 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are finishing their three-game set and nine-game road trip, they take on the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in the Sunday matinee matchup.

The Pirates are giving the ball to Braxton Ashcraft, who has been remarkable as of late. He last pitched on August 24 against the San Diego Padres, going six innings and giving up four hits and one earned run. He did not factor in the decision as the game went to extra innings, but he has not given up more than one earned run in each of his last three starts.

The Cardinals are turning to Matthew Liberatore, who has struggled in his last four starts. Liberatore has picked up a loss in each of the last four contests, including his last appearance on August 25 against the Baltimore Orioles at home. Liberatore pitched four innings, giving up eight hits and eight earned runs in the team’s 13-1 loss.

This is a good opportunity for the Pirates to take advantage and strike early so that they can force the Cardinals to go to their bullpen, which is taxed after a long series.

Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Braxton Ashcraft (13-5, 3.59 ERA) vs. Matthew Liberatore (5-12, 5.44 ERA)

BD community, this is your gameday thread for today’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Chime off in the comments section below.

Texas Rangers @ Milwaukee Brewers

Sunday, August 30, 2026, 1:10 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

American Family Field

RHP Kumar Rocker vs. RHP Dustin May

Go Rangers!

The Kansas City Royals are unbelievable right now; they have won 13 of their last 15 games and winning a lot of games they typically lose.

For example, the first two games of this series, before Carter Jensen hit the 2-run homer in the 9th on Friday, didn’t it feel like a walk off 2-run homer was coming? Because we have seen the movie so many times in Cleveland before. Or yesterday when they were down 2-0 and didn’t have much going on offensively in the first half of the game? I’m not complaining though! Just pleasantly surprised. Let’s keep this thing going for as long as possible!

Seth Lugo starts today, he’s been shaky lately, but his last start he clawed through 5 innings of 1 run ball in Toronto, stranding plenty of runners. Hopefully we get the 2024 Seth Lugo today.

Here are the Royals starters behind him today.

Round three in Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/wYCZPfv6B7

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) August 30, 2026

The Guardians are still in control of the final wild card spot, 1 game ahead of the Orioles, with their 68-68 record, they are 6.5 games in front of the Royals. The Guardians also sit just 4.5 games behind the White Sox in the division.

The Guardians are starting lefty Parker Messick today. Messick is a 25-year-old, he is in his first full year in the majors, second overall. He has solid numbers, posting a 2.50 ERA in 155 innings this season, with 156 strikeouts. The Royals have never faced him before. Quick scouting report on Messick, 6-pitch mix, fastball, changeup, sinker, curveball, cutter and a slider. Mainly fastball/changeup. Not overpowering stuff, sits at 94 on average. His fastball run value this year is 25, which is really really good, hitters are just hitting .153 against it this season.

Here are the Guardians starters for today.

Guardians 8/30

S. Kwan CF
C. DeLauter RF
J. Ramírez DH
J. Adell LF
N. Lowe 1B
T. Bazzana 2B
A. Genao 3B
A. Hedges C
B. Rocchio SS

P. Messick SP

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) August 30, 2026

The Royals are 16-10 in the month of August, with this being their final game of the month, it is their first winning month of the season. They are 24-16 since the All-Star Break. They are 5-4 versus Cleveland this year, and 3-2 against them on the road. The Royals are 4-1 on this road trip as well.

First pitch today is set for 12:40 p.m. CT. The game can be watched on Royals.TV.

The last game of the three game series with the Mariners. Another win would be nice.

Yesterday’s celebration for Buck Martinez was great and getting a win after didn’t suck either.

I’m busy till game time so getting the thread together early. I don’t have the lineups yet, but it is Max Scherzer vs. Logan Gilbert.

Gilbert is 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA in his last five starts. Max? He’s 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA in his last five starts. So it looks like we are the underdogs. Max only threw 5.2 innings in his last two starts. He’s gotta go deeper into today’s game. Our bullpen has worked hard lately (really all season).

But our offense is looking some better the last couple of games.

This is a pretty good stat:

Dylan Cease, strikeout machine ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/zO7PkuQfUY

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 29, 2026

Are we really sure he can’t start everyday? Has someone asked him? This five man rotation thing might be getting in the way of a terrific season.

Go Jays Go

If nothing else, the Yankees have maintained the status quo after splitting the doubleheader on Saturday. Playing at home, though, the expectation was always to gain ground on the Red Sox, and to do that, they’ll need to win again on Sunday. Perhaps more importantly, the season series is on the line, as is potential home-field advantage in a Wild Card Series matchup. If the Yankees and Red Sox end 2026 with the same record, then head-to-head record will be the tiebreaker, and they are in a dead heat. So this may determine whether it’s a playoff showdown at Fenway or Yankee Stadium.

Winning a baseball game automatically requires you to score runs, but I should correct myself and say run(s)—after all, the Yankees showed us on Friday night that even one can be enough if your pitching is flawless. Speaking of one, that’s how many runs the Yankees scored in their first 20 innings of this series before exploding in the second half of yesterday’s doubleheader.

The common thread for the overwhelming majority of those 20 innings in which the Yankees’ offense’s sole productive action was a Paul Goldschmidt solo shot was their continued struggles against left-handed pitchers as of late—held in check by Patrick Sandoval and Jake Bennett, the former of whom one can’t even claim is having a good season in the first place; he recently returned from a two-year absence due to injury. Sure, we could also point to the scoring they did off the since-demoted Raymond Burgos, but he came in for mop-up duty, well outside the circle of trust for high-leverage spots in the Red Sox bullpen. L

Now, given that the Red Sox have approximately 27 left-handed starters in their five-man rotation, we’ll get to see another one of them this Sunday in Ranger Suárez. The former Phillie has delivered exactly what the Sox thought they were getting when they inked him to a lucrative long-term deal this offseason—of all Boston’s starters having productive campaigns, it was only Suárez who represented them in the All-Star Game this past July.

Even considering Saturday’s blowout win, this has been a series of very little slugging for the Yankees, with three extra-base hits in as many games, including just one in 17 innings of hitting last night. One of the keys to success for Suárez, particularly this season, has been his ability to limit slugging, considering he tends to run a high BABIP, once again over .300. Across 23 starts with the Red Sox, Suárez has allowed a .340 SLG, in line for a career low as a qualified starter. There were some concerns about his move to Fenway Park, the land of doubles, but the veteran lefty has been able to navigate that reasonably well, although we should note his 2.67 ERA is significantly better than at home, over 4.00.

The Yankees will once again try to find success with a righty-heavy lineup against the southpaw, though that has remained hard to come by. Of note, Ben Rice is getting the day off while fellow lefty Luis García Jr. mans the DH spot with Paul Goldschmidt at first. Also, George Lombard Jr. will be on the bench following his injury scare last night; José Caballero will play shortstop.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:35 pm ET

TV/Streaming: YES, NESN

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 – NYY | WEEI 93.7, WCCM 1490 AM (SP), WESX 1230 AM (SP) – BOS

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Closing out the homestand. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/4I9i3U3e3g

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 30, 2026

Last one in the Bronx. pic.twitter.com/Q7Cz0hElPG

— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 30, 2026