Category: MLB

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Sox fans and fans across the country.

This week, we have a pretty predictable question for you, one that’s already been tackled by one writer on site, as well as in our post-deadline podcast: How did the White Sox do at the trade deadline?

It seems fairly clear that the White Sox at least matched what Minnesota accomplished at the deadline. It is more debatable whether the Guardians’ pickup of starter Foster Griffin not only offsets the White Sox getting Luis Castillo from the Mariners, but the entire Chicago trade deadline package.

But that said, it’s your turn to get out your red marker and give GM Chris Getz and the front office your marks for the trade deadline.

Seeking their third consecutive World Series title, the Los Angeles Dodgers face the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, Aug. 4, the highly-anticipated debut of trade deadline acquisition Tarik Skubal.

Skubal, who won back-to-back Cy Young awards with the Detroit Tigers, is a free agent at the end of the season and joined Los Angeles in a blockbuster deal that further solidifies the club as World Series favorite again.

"They’ve been a pretty good baseball team without me," Skubal told reporters. "So I’m going to show up and kind of be a chameleon in a sense and fit right in with these guys and just gel with them.

"They’ve got the winning recipe. They know what it takes to win. I don’t. I’m going to lean on these guys, let them guide me and lead me."

Follow for the latest updates from Skubal's Dodgers debut on Tuesday:

43 Years Ago Today

On this day at Exhibition Stadium, Dave Winfield accidentally threw a ball that struck and killed a seagull during a game.

At first glance, it sounds like the setup for a joke.

During the bottom of the fifth inning, Winfield tossed his warm-up ball toward the dugout, inadvertently hitting a seagull and killing it.

Anyone who remembers Exhibition Stadium knows how much seagulls flocked to the place.

Debate swirled over whether Winfield acted intentionally. I once thought he might have aimed at the bird, but surely he assumed it would fly away. Hitting it from 80 feet required remarkable—if accidental—precision.

His manager, Billy Martin, quipped, “That’s the first time Winfield’s hit the cutoff man all year.”

Strangely, after the game, Winfield was arrested for causing “unnecessary suffering of an animal.” It’s unclear what the police were thinking—perhaps they disliked the Yankees as much as I do, but I wouldn’t have arrested him. Winfield was taken to the police station, and Pat Gullick paid his $500 bail for his release.

The following day, the charges were dropped. The crown attorney explained, “It is always a key issue to find criminal intent, and I am satisfied there was none here.”

Before the police arrived, Winfield’s teammates teased him about the incident. Afterward, however, the mood changed. As Billy Martin put it:

“I’ll tell you one thing. We will get their four starting pitchers arrested when Toronto comes down to New York next week. We will have somebody call the police and say they were molested in the hotel.”

That comment tells you everything you need to know about Billy Martin.

Paul Godfrey even traveled to New York to apologize to Winfield in person.

An autopsy revealed the seagull was already unwell before being struck, explaining why it didn’t avoid the ball. It was expected to die within the next couple of weeks regardless.

The following winter, Winfield visited Toronto with a painting depicting seagulls flying and a red maple tree, which he auctioned to raise $32,000 for Easter Seals.

The Yankees won 3-1. Dave Stieb went the distance for Toronto, allowing six hits, three runs, three walks, and five strikeouts. Shane Rawley earned the win for New York, also pitching a complete game.

Winfield finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

37 Years Ago Today

Dave Stieb lost a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning. The previous season, he had lost no-hitters in back-to-back starts, each with two outs in the ninth.

The Jays came out on top, winning 2-1 over the Yankees.

The Yankees weren’t yet the powerhouse they’d become a few years later, but their lineup featured some strong hitters.

Here was their starting lineup:

Steve Sax

Luis Polonia

Don Mattingly

Jesse Barfield

Mel Hall

Rob Geren

Randy Velarde

Alvaro Espinoza

Roberto Kelly.

In the ninth, Hal Morris pinch-hit for Velarde, and Ken Phelps—of Seinfeld fame—pinch-hit for Espinoza. But it was Kelly, the ninth hitter, who doubled to break up the perfect game. Sax then singled to end the shutout, but Stieb retired Polonia to close out the win.

The Jays managed just five hits. George Bell had two, while Ernie Whitt and Mookie Wilson each drove in a run.

Stieb finished with a two-hit complete game, striking out 11 and throwing 90 pitches (65 for strikes). The win improved his record to 11-6 with a 3.90 ERA. He’d end the season 17-8 with a 3.35 ERA over 33 starts and 206.2 innings—a low total for him, considering he threw 288.1 innings in 1982—with just three complete games.

As August begins, over three-quarters of MLB teams are still well alive in the playoff race.

Such a competitive field is unusual this late in the MLB season.

USA TODAY compiled the number of teams within different games back brackets for each season through August 3 going back to 2012 and compared this year to the historical average and peak.

With seven teams within one to three games of a playoff spot, 2026 is tied for the most in the dataset, and 24 teams are either in playoff position or within six games — the highest total on record.

The median between 2012 and 2025 was five teams being within one to three games, and 18 total in a playoff spot or within six games.

DIG DEEPER: MLB trade deadline winners and losers: Dodgers, Red Sox and Phillies all in

Of course, it’s worth noting that 12 teams will make the playoffs in 2026, two more than the field size from 2012 to 2021. However, this season is unique, even among recent years.

Notably, no year between 2022 and 2025 had 24 teams either in playoff position or within six games. The closest was 2024, which had 22 such teams.

Plus, seasons prior to 2022 had levels of competitiveness that rivaled the highs of the seasons with bigger playoff fields. The 2015 season had seven teams within one to three games, while 2014 and 2016 had six. And 22 teams in 2015 were in playoff position or within six games.

But 2026 beats them all.

As written by former FiveThirtyEight journalist Neil Paine, this made almost every team in baseball a buyer on August 3’s trade deadline.

All this despite a growing narrative surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers' dominance amid back-to-back World Series wins and a trade for superstar Tarik Skubal. And sure, the Dodgers may be the best of the bunch — but the extreme parity in the 2026 MLB standings cannot be denied.

So as MLB enters its dog days, the playoff race is heating up alongside the weather — and maybe even to historical heights.

Methodology: USA TODAY compiled MLB standings through August 3 for each season dating back to 2012 and counted how many teams were in playoff position or within 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10+ games of a postseason berth. The COVID-shortened 2020 season was excluded from the 2012-25 dataset. Data was sourced from the MLB Stats API.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB is more competitive than ever. The numbers back it up.

The position-by-position look at the 2027 Texas Longhorns team starts with an infield led by star shortstop Adrian Rodriguez.

Catcher

Departures: Carson Tinney (draft), Andrew Ermis (transfer), Presley Courville (transfer)

Additions: Ian Armstrong (transfer), Brady Murrietta (signee), Jax Robinson (signee)

Returning: None

For a second straight year, Texas turned to the portal to land a high-level catcher, missing on Clemson transfer Nate Savoie before landing a commitment from Saint Mary’s transfer Ian Armstrong, who at the time of his pledge was ranked as the No. 22 overall player in the portal and the No. 30 prospect in the 2027 MLB Draft by Over Slot. Baseball America ranks

After slashing .364/.402/.576 with 55 hits, 11 doubles, three triples, five home runs, and 40 RBI in 2024, Armstrong was even better as a sophomore, leading the WCC with 16 home runs and batting .351 with a .416 on-base percentage, a .654 slugging percentage, and a 1.070 OPS. The first-team All-WCC selection notched 80 hits with 17 doubles, two triples, 51 RBI, and 53 runs scored. 

For Schlossnagle, high-level play behind the plate is a prerequisite for the position and Armstrong fits that mold with refined receiving ability, lateral quickness, clean footwork, and a plus arm.

Armstrong’s burgeoning power combined with an all-fields approach to hitting has turned him into a strong all-around batter as he heads to the Forty Acres with high expectations. Good bat speed allows Armstrong to produce an excellent contact rate on pitches in the strike zone, especially fastballs, and driving a breaking ball away out to center against UCLA in the Los Angeles Regional flashed his ability to handle offspeed pitches.

Signees Brady Murrietta and Jax Robinson will battle for the backup job. Perfect Game considers the two players prospects of similar quality, although Murrietta is perhaps ahead of Robinson defensively.

First base

Departures: Ashton Larson (transfer)

Additions: Sawyer Solitaria (transfer), Easton Autrey (signee)

Returning: Casey Borba

After splitting time between third base and first base in 2026, senior Casey Borba returns for his senior season as the projected starter at first base. Because Ashton Larson entered the NCAA transfer portal, the prime competition for Borba at first base will come from Kent State transfer Sawyer Solitaria, who also plays in the outfield and could be the designated hitter for the Longhorns in 2027, and signee Easton Autrey.

Last offseason, Borba opted against playing summer baseball to focus on improving his functional mobility in the field, improving as a third baseman in 2026 while also spending time at first base, but even as his power kept improving — up to 18 home runs — his struggles using the whole field to hit continued to limit his batting average as late-season struggles dropped it to .266 as his walk rate also decreased and his strikeout rate ballooned to 36.5 percent.

So Borba continues to have plenty to work on as a hitter. The swing and miss in his game combined with his reliance on his pull-side power limits his upside and could put his starting job in jeopardy next season.

One possibility is a platoon with Autrey to get the Coricana product’s left-handed bat in the lineup. A 6’4, 233-pounder with better physicality than the 6’1, 210-pound Borba, Autrey possesses prodigious power with elite exit velocities even using a wood bat at the draft combine. Autrey’s power is so elite that it was fully present two years ago, when he was capable of a 544-foot blast in a showcase.

Some projections put Autrey’s future in the outfield, so with Borba’s quality play defensively at first base, Autrey’s best path to playing time in 2027 may be at designated hitter.

Solitaria, a Kent State transfer who hit 16 home runs in 2025, is the projected starter at designated hitter with the portal additions crowding the outfield competitions, but could also be a factor at first base if Borba struggles.

Second base

Departures: Callum Early (transfer)

Additions: Lawson Behan (signee), Reiston Durham (signee)

Returning: Ethan Mendoza

The Horns also boast a returning starter at second base following July’s announcement from senior Ethen Mendoza that he’ll be back for a third season on the Forty Acres. Initially considered a draftable prospect during the season, Mendoza went undrafted after struggling with a shoulder injury for the second consecutive year and opted against signing as a free agent.

Mendoza had spent the offseason bulking up to further improve his power, which helped him hit 10 home runs in 2026, but his batting average dropped to .278 and the increased weight contributed to Mendoza only stealing 11 bases.

According to Schlossnagle, Mendoza will miss fall practice while recovering from his shoulder injury. Texas Tech transfer Linkin Garcia is the projected third baseman for Texas next season, but could play second if Mendoza isn’t available early in the season, although the Texas head coach does expect his starting second baseman to be healthy when the season begins. Long Beach State transfer Trevor Goldenetz also played some second base in high school before playing center field for the Dirtbags as a freshman.

For middle infield depth, the Longhorns also signed Lawson Behan and Reiston Durham, but the rankings for both players suggest they will need some time to develop.

Shortstop

Departures: None

Additions: Behan, Durham

Returning: Adrian Rodriguez

In Adrian Rodriguez, Schlossnagle has one of the nation’s best returning shortstops. After playing second base, third base, and left field in 2025 as a freshman, Rodriguez worked to improve his range at shortstop for his sophomore season, which paid off in an impressive campaign with a .964 fielding campaign.

Forced to undergo a second, midseason surgery on his left hand to remove a staple that was causing an allergic reaction, Rodriguez suffered the consequences as the persistent issue forced him to hit exclusively from the left side and continued to sap his power. Even so, Rodriguez still slashed .327/.417/.514 with 18 doubles, five home runs, 47 RBI, and 14 stolen bases, finishing the season red hot and proving his postseason capabilities.

As with Mendoza, the offseason priority is to finally get his hand healthy and gain as much strength as possible while maintaining his range defensively, a balance that leaned towards getting as lean as possible last year.

Early rankings from Baseball America have Rodriguez slotted as the No. 50 prospect in next year’s draft class.

Third base

Departures: Temo Becerra (graduation)

Additions: Linkin Garcia (portal)

Returning: Borba

Unable to land an elite infielder from the portal last year, Texas settled for Stanford transfer Temo Becerra, who brought a professional approach to the plate in hitting .301, but wasn’t able to sustain his early-season power surge. The Longhorns didn’t settle this offseason, landing Garcia from the Red Raiders.

A top-25 prospect in the portal when he quickly committed to Texas, the 6’5, 218-pounder has immense physical upside that makes him a potential first-round pick next July as a draft-eligible sophomore. Baseball American ranked Garcia as the No. 17 player in the portal.

In Garcia’s single season in Lubbock, he started all 55 games for Texas Tech, including 30 games at shortstop and 25 games at third base, batting .338 with four home runs and 59 RBI while tying for the Big 12 lead with 21 doubles, earning a spot on the All-Big 12 Freshman team. A contact hitter in his first collegiate season, Garcia had low strikeout and walk rates.

Given Garcia’s physicality and gap-to-gap power as a freshman, expect a big power surge for the California product in burnt orange and white similar to the improvement by Aiden Robbins, who went from six home runs for Seton Hall in 2025 to 24 for Texas in 2026. Working deeper into counts is part of the equation, as Garcia’s barrel rate and exit velocities are similar to Robbins.

“A guy like Linkin Garcia contacts the ball, doesn’t walk much, doesn’t strike out much, hits the ball on the ground a little bit too much, right? So, is that something that we can impact? We believe we can,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said last week.

Well at least it’s over. If you like a storm of rumors and a trading frenzy that last a whole weekend, the MLB trade deadline is right up your alley. But for fans of a team that had high hopes, failed, and sold off, you really just want to rip the band-aid off and move on. The Detroit Tigers farm system is now seriously upgraded, but their major league roster, more specifically their starting rotation, is in sketchy shape with the departure of Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize. Let’s consider where the organization stands after a pretty momentous week in Tigers baseball.

As much as it hurts the starting rotation to lose Skubal and Mize, the immediate impact to the team won’t be too terrible. They still have Troy Melton, Framber Valdez, and Keider Montero and plenty of spot starting options. Over the rest of the month, Jack Flaherty, Jackson Jobe, and River Ryan are all slated to return to action off the injured list. The team has no excuses if they just crumble into dust here. Ty Madden, Enmanuel de Jesus, and veteran lefty acquisition Jackson Wolf, who would need a 40-man spot, can help bridge the gap until those starting pitchers are worked into the fold. The Tigers coaching staff has tended to be at their best when confronted with adversity in the rotation, and Melton and Montero’s usual efficiency could moderate the added demands on the bullpen.

The impact of regular season Skubal is in big part his ability to give the Tigers consistent starts and help keep the bullpen in order while putting up really good outings. The other big impact an ace has is in the postseason when pitching staffs get more concentrated by the schedule and teams can get a higher percentage of innings in a playoff series from their top arms against the best competition. Neither of these is a major concern for the Tigers at the moment.

On the plus side, the Tigers position player group has improved markedly in recent weeks. Whatever Max Clark does over the final eight weeks of the season, he’s an upgrade over James Outman’s work and is giving the Tigers a good look at a pretty exciting and evolving core positional group. Eduardo Valencia remains a nice boost to an offense that spent three months trying to squeeze something out of Jahmai Jones. Hao-Yu Lee has been a nice contributor as well, while Ben Malgeri has given the Tigers a decently productive right-handed hitting outfielder with solid defensive chops, exactly what Matt Vierling struggled to provide for most of this season. At the same time, the return of Javier Báez and Gleyber Torres give them some added stability and spark for the rest of the season.

The big problem is the same problem they’ve had for two seasons now, and that’s their struggle to build a good bullpen with a dominant late innings, high leverage reliever or two to put games away late. It’s a lot harder to find any solace on that front, and while the Tigers can hope for another late run to the postseason, their inability to close out games continues to undermine any hopes that there’s some magic left in this season.

The Tigers did the right things at the deadline under the circumstances. They pulled off two good trades that restocked the farm system and the overall pitching staff. They have a talented group of position players under team control for a long time to come, and it wouldn’t be a big surprise if they now turn their attention to locking up Clark on a long-term extension. The Tigers will have Zyhir Hope, Josue Briceño, and Thayron Liranzo all in Triple-A next year, alongside solid secondary prospects like Brett Callahan and John Peck. They’ll also have a lot of payroll space to work with in what will probably be another compressed signing frenzy whenever the next collective bargaining agreement is arranged. Fears will continue that the league may lose part or all of next season, but those fears accompany every CBA and rarely is the game of chicken allowed to impact anyone’s bottom line in the end by costing the league games.

So, there are a lot of good reasons to just sit back and enjoy the Detroit Tigers without expectations for the rest of this season. Maybe they’ll still sneak into the postseason or at least make a run at it that gives the younger players some valuable experience. Others will be too frustrated with the way this season has gone and with the front office to be real keen on spending time and money on the club the rest of the way. The 2026 Tigers have been an exhausting, often entertaining, but ultimately frustrating team to root for, and it’s not a bad time at mid-summer to take a breather.

Scott Harris gave a lengthy question and answer session with the local media on Monday evening. He did a much better job acknowledging his own mistakes and failings and how they contributed to their failure than he did last year. That’s perhaps a sign of growth, but it’s also a sign that he’s getting too much practice at explaining why things didn’t go the Tigers way so far this season.

The fundamental issue in this front office remains the same. The pro scouting side of the front office, both scouts and analysts, have really struggled to identify pitching to acquire. Instead of catching undervalued names on the upswing, both starters and relievers, and targeting them for signings and trades, they’ve again and again signed or otherwise acquired pitchers who gave them very little or nothing at all, while wasting a lot of capital in the process.

At the same time, the Tigers have really struggled to develop the young pitchers acquired under Harris. Their player development process needs a real overhaul, at least in terms of how they condition their young pitchers to hold up to a professional workload. Part of the reason they haven’t been able to put together a good bullpen is simply due to a lack of internal options in the upper minors. As the large crop of pitching Harris inherited from Al Avila started to dry up, they had no answers. If they had a few starting pitching prospects closing in on the major leagues this year to convert to relief roles, or managed to trade and develop some high leverage arms, a lot less would have been required from an always sketchy crop of free agent relievers each season. Of course, another facet of having a good bullpen, is having a strong defensive group. They’ve made some strides with that recently, but this infield group has a ways to go on that front.

Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg presumably will not be fired, but they are going to have to explain themselves to Chris Ilitch, and make a convincing case that they can overhaul their approach and get the pitching side sorted out. The Tigers’ future in 2027 and beyond looks very bright in terms of the young talent in the organization. However, unless they can improve their processes in pitcher evaluation, acquisition, and development, they’re still going to have a hard time getting over the hump and becoming a real postseason threat. A new rotation group of Troy Melton, Framber Valdez, Jackson Jobe, River Ryan, Keider Montero, and potentially Reese Olson, looks pretty good on paper heading into 2027. They’ll have money to spend as well, but again their track record in free agency has been pretty grim so far. Unless they figure out how to consistently put together a good bullpen, and spend their payroll more effectively on the pitching side, it’s all for naught anyway.

Objectively, the Tigers organization is in a really good place. It just doesn’t feel like it because faith in the front office is crumbling after a fast start in 2023-2024. Were a new front office to take over the Tigers right now, they’d be thrilled with the assets they have to work with at every level of the organization. There are no excuses available. Everything is still set up for them to be consistent contenders who, with a few shrewd moves, should be a real threat in October for years to come. The problem is that this has been the situation for three years now, and Harris and Greenberg have been unable to get them over the hump.

The fanbase will have to decide individually how much they want to invest time, money, and emotional energy in this club the rest of the way, but there is no teardown or rebuild coming. At the same time, the Tigers have played very good baseball for two months now, and they aren’t even totally out of the playoff picture this year after several other fringe contenders got worse all around them. There are no more excuses. They should be expected to contend in 2027, and expectations and pressure on this front office should be very high. If the deals they made at the deadline trend badly, and they fail to figure out the bullpen issues, the hot seat should approach unsustainable levels next season for the front office. For many, we’re already there.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country.

The Yankees have secured a couple of assets that have the potential to be crucial factors in the AL pennant race.

Adding Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos to the lineup adds some fuel to the Yankees’ offense, noting García Jr.’s impressive home run in his Bronx debut, but raises concerns about the available relievers going forward. During the series opener against the Cardinals on Monday night, Angel Chivilli struggled in the eighth and gave up six earned runs to ultimately hand St. Louis the 13-7 win. He has been solid for the Yankees since coming up to the majors, but nights like this can leave a lasting impact on how the remainder of the season unfolds. Looking ahead, the Yankees must maintain a confident bullpen to tighten the race for the division.

When reviewing the Yankees’ acquisitions at the deadline, what grade would you give the front office? It seems likely that fans felt there was more to be desired, but we encourage you to share your thoughts!

• A (Optimistic with the Yankees’ new additions and have a positive feeling about how they’ll impact the offense)
• B (Hopeful that the acquisitions will give the Yankees offense an extra boost to fuel the playoff push)
• C (Somewhat dissatisfied with what the Yankees failed to execute, including the addition of a new catcher)
• D (Disappointment in how the Yankees approached the deadline, adding new additions to the offense instead of relievers)
• F (Frustrated about the Yankees’ moves and skeptical of their impact for the remainder of the season)

Cast your votes in the Feed poll below (or on the homepage), and we’ll provide a deeper analysis of the results in a few days.

Bobbing back from the trade deadline, mostly unscathed (positively and negatively), the Mariners take on the Tigers for a three-game, midweek set at home. Think of it as a buffer, a practice round, a get-right, momentum-builder before the Rays arrive.

The practice of declawing a cat has been deemed so cruel that in many countries it’s actually banned. Because cat’s claws develop from tissue in the bones of their toes, it’s not simply a removal of the claws themselves, but a surgical amputation of those end bones. It’s an intensive procedure with a high rate of post-operation complications and, depending on studies, can lead to disruptive behavioral changes likely linked to the corresponding psychological damage of the surgery. I’m not a Tigers fan, so I cannot speak to the pain of the trade deadline, but this was a team looking to contend at the start of the season and they arrive in Seattle distinctly less dangerous than any would have hoped.

Thank goodness for Dillon Dingler, am I right, Detroit?? He and likely Rookie of the Year Kevin McGonigle are almost singlehandedly hoisting this offense into mediocrity. Riley Greene has been fighting his own sky-high K% in pursuit of adding additional value alongside Gleyber Torres who is somehow still not 30 years old, a fact that is actively making it difficult to move on to anything else.

But in my defense,there isn’t honestly much to move on to, when it comes to the Tigers’ offense. Am I still scared of Kerry Carpenter? Of course, some wounds take longer to heal than others. But is it logical? Decidedly not. Spencer Torkelson spent years hearing concerns about his strikeout rate and this season took a flying cannonball into the shallow end of a pool bellowing “Check THIS shit out!!”

Probable Pitchers 

Updated Stuff+ Explainer 

• Stuff+ scores for Mariners starters

After racing through the Tigers farm system, Troy Melton burst onto the scene last year, serving as a spot starter and fireman reliever for them during their playoff run. Elbow inflammation delayed his start to this season but he’s been one of Detroit’s best pitchers since being activated off the IL in late May. He’s allowed more than two runs in a start just once this season, though his peripherals don’t exactly support such gaudy run prevention. With an excellent fastball, a tight gyro slider, and a diving splitter forming a solid foundation for his pitch mix, the development of his cutter has helped him take a big step forward. He’s throwing that pitch a few ticks harder and it has a bit more horizontal break as well. That gives him a fourth above average pitch to deepen his repertoire.

This was supposed to be Tarik Skubal’s spot in the Tigers rotation but he was traded to the Dodgers on Saturday. Instead, Ty Madden will step into the rotation to make his second start of the season. He’s been used as a bulk reliever behind an opener for 10 of his 11 appearances this year so it’s possible Detroit will go with that strategy on Wednesday too. Madden has a deep, six-pitch repertoire that makes up for a pretty mediocre fastball. His slider, cutter, and splitter are all solid secondary offerings, which often means he’s pitching backwards, driving his walk rate up as he works to avoid allowing too much hard contact. 

From a previous series preview:

A familiar foe from his time in Houston, Framber Valdez signed a huge free agent contract with the Tigers this offseason. The idea was that he’d form a formidable one-two punch atop Detroit’s starting rotation with Skubal, though that hasn’t exactly played out as planned. Valdez has struggled a bit this year; his strikeout rate and his groundball rate are the lowest they’ve ever been. Those were his two calling cards during his time with the Astros. For whatever reason, he’s allowing a bunch more contact, and the majority of it is in the air.

The Big Picture:

Honestly, who the heck knows. They’re 2.5 games back of the division, 2 back of a Wild Card spot and the former is definitely where they should be concentrating their energy. The Astros are battling the Blue Jays, the Rangers are scrapping with the Giants and the Guardians (their primary competition for Wild Card #3) are preparing to steamroll over the smoking, hulking whale carcass of the Mets, which sits on the proverbial beach ready to explode at a moment’s notice.

It’s been a rough season for the Rockies, but it’s much better than a year ago. With the MLB Draft, the All-Star Break, and the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, it’s time again to dream about the future. That means a new edition of the Purple Row Prospects (PuRPs) list — Purple Row’s community farm system Top 30 ranking — to rank the new additions to the system as well as the holdovers who have risen and fallen with their production during the 2026 season.

Since the last time we voted earlier this year (here’s the pre-season 2026 list), some prospects lost their eligibility, whether from exceeding their rookie status or leaving the organization. Meanwhile other players have been added via the draft or trades and need to be evaluated. Building a roster is a year-round business, so player churn will no doubt continue during and after voting, but this is a good time to take stock of Colorado’s prospects.

The Colorado Rockies’ farm system is looking up a bit compared to the beginning of the season due to a big draft bonus pool, selling at the deadline, and some steps forward by key players — there are plenty of future Rockies in the system and this is one of my favorite Purple Row threads each year.

Let’s get to it!

The polling rules are simple:

• Your list must be at least 30 players long – partial ballots will not be counted. If you’re having trouble filling out your list, check out great resources like FanGraphs and Baseball Reference to find any stats you might need. Only the top 30 names will be counted on the ballot; if the same player is listed multiple times on the ballot, the player ranked 31st (if applicable) will be moved up to fill the list. The same will happen if one of the players on your ballot leaves the organization between your post and the end of polling. To reiterate: if there aren’t at least 30 distinct players on the list, the ballot will not be counted. For that reason, it is encouraged that you list more than 30 players in case of a duplicate listing or a player move.
• Feel free to give a rationale about the placement of each prospect, but you aren’t required to do so.
• Voting will be open from now until the end ofthis Saturday, August 8th. Once I tabulate the results, I will reveal the list five-at-a-time over the next couple weeks after voting ends.
• Players are eligible for inclusion if they still retain their Rookie of the Year eligibility (fewer than 50 IP, 130 ABs, and/or fewer than 45 days on the active roster. IL service time is not included).
• From the pre-season 2026 PuRPs list, prospects who are no longer eligible are Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP, MLB service time), Carson Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP, no longer in org), Blaine Crim (HM PuRP, no longer in org), Benny Montgomery (received votes, no longer in org), and Garrett Acton (received votes, no longer in org).
• Players who have made their MLB debut and who are still eligible for this list include Sean Sullivan (No. 8 PuRP), Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP), Gabriel Hughes (No. 12 PuRP), Sterlin Thompson (No. 13 PuRP), Welinton Herrera (No. 17 PuRP), McCade Brown (No. 18 PuRP), Evan Justice (no votes), Nick Frasso (wasn’t in org), Blas Castaño (wasn’t in org), Chad Stevens (no votes), Drew Avans (no votes), TJ Shook (no votes), Ryan Miller (no votes), Patrick Weigel (no votes), and Eiberson Castellano (no votes).
• Roster churn is a year-round phenomenon. Any necessary changes will be made to the final version of the list to ensure it contains the top 30 players with the most votes still in the org at that time.
• Scoring will be in done like the AP poll in college football. A first place vote gets a player 30 points, a second place vote 29, and so forth on down to one point for a 30th place vote. It’s important to note that until a player is named on at least 1⁄3 of all ballots cast that their vote totals will only receive partial credit (on a sliding scale which depends on the total number of ballots cast).
• All ballots are weighted equally (as long as the players on them are named on enough ballots to qualify). The PuRPs list is a community ranking of Rockies prospects and we’re proud of the fact that it’s a really good one. As a result, we ask that you put some quality time into compiling your list.
• Everyone has their own PuRPs ranking methodology. Please maintain civil discourse (in accordance with Purple Row’s Community Guidelines) when discussing the posted lists.

Happy voting!

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After making a couple of outsideadditions at the trade deadline, the New York Yankees are now looking internally for what they hope will be another helping (farm) hand in their playoff push.

Infielder George Lombard Jr., the team's top minor league prospect, is getting the call to the majors for Tuesday night's home game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Yankees have gotten disappointing results this season from two former top prospects, outfielder Jasson Dominguez and shortstop Anthony Volpe, so much so that both are expected to be sent to the team's Class Triple-A affiliate in Scranton-Wilkes Barre (Pennsylvania) to open up a roster spot for Lombard and trade deadline acquisition Heliot Ramos.

After a 13-7 loss to the Cardinals on Monday, Aug. 3, the Yanks (63-50) sit 3½ games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East division.

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After falling 13-7 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, in a game that saw 10 home runs, the New York Yankees look to regroup as -186 home favorites tonight.

My Cardinals vs. Yankees predictions and MLB picks think that's too steep a price to pay with Ryan Weathers toeing the rubber on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

Who will win Cardinals vs Yankees today: Cardinals moneyline (+152)

This is a bit of a lean, but the value on the St. Louis Cardinals is too good to pass up.

New York Yankees left-hander Ryan Weathers has been fine. His 3.99 ERA is certainly respectable, but his peripherals do not inspire much confidence, even against a Cardinals lineup that has looked fairly anemic aside from last night's explosion.

Weathers generates a fair amount of swing-and-miss (73rd-percentile strikeout rate), but he always seems to get squared up at some point by opposing offenses, as evidenced by his 25th-percentile barrel rate and 23rd-percentile hard-hit rate.

The Cardinals have been somewhat middling against left-handers, overall, but Jordan Walker and Ivan Herrera have thrived in the split. Even if Walker has cooled a bit lately, he owns a 153 wRC+ vs. lefties, which is not only the best on the team but a Top-15 mark across MLB (min. 100 plate appearances).

St. Louis starter Hunter Dobbins isn't a dominant hurler. However, he keeps the ball on the ground relatively well (45.5% ground-ball rate), and he can navigate a depleted Yankees lineup well enough to give the Cardinals a chance to win at significant plus money.

I'd play this down to +135.

COVERS INTEL: Walker is succeeding due to pure strength. Despite a 13th-percentile squared-up rate and a 50th-percentile sweet-spot launch angle average, he's still hit 22 home runs. He may only be a minor adjustment or two away from really taking off.

Cardinals vs Yankees Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-116)

For as many runs as crossed the plate on Monday night, the Yankees didn't burn closer David Bednar, lefty set-up man Brent Headrick, or long reliever Paul Blackburn. That trio has served as New York's most reliable relief arms this season, so if Weathers exits early, the Yankees are in good shape to stop the bleeding.

And despite the Cardinals' offensive outburst, including three home runs off the bat of Alec Burleson alone, the Cardinals are batting .214 with a 70 wRC+ over the last 30 days. Both are MLB lows over that time.

Weather conditions also favor a lower-scoring output, with wind blowing in toward home plate from right field. This is expected to suppress extra-base hit potential and limit scoring opportunities, per BallparkPal.

This isn't a case of "these teams scored all of their runs last night," but a situation that lends to a more conservative scoring total. I'd play the Under 8.5 to -130 and consider Under 7.5 if it's +130 or longer.

Cardinals vs Yankees Home Run pick: Ivan Herrera (+650)

Herrera is the second-best Cardinals slugger against left-handed pitching. He rarely strikes out in the matchup (13.4%) and has hit five of his 12 home runs off of southpaws. 

The odds for him to clear the fences are among the highest on the board, with Burleson closer to +400 despite much worse numbers in the split.

Make it a half-unit wager because the weather conditions aren't ideal for power, but I like the number we're getting on one of the team's premier lefty-mashers.

Cardinals vs Yankees weather

Sunny with 5-9 mph winds blowing in from right field, which could prevent Yankee Stadium from playing small, as it did last night.

Cardinals vs Yankees odds

• Moneyline: Cardinals +178 | Yankees -186
• Run line: Cardinals +1.5 (-122) | Yankees -1.5 (+117)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+104) | Under 8.5 (-108)

Cardinals vs Yankees trend

The St. Louis Cardinals have hit the Moneyline in 27 of their last 50 away games (+8.80 Units / 17% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Cardinals vs. Yankees.

How to watch Cardinals vs Yankees and game info

Cardinals vs Yankees latest injuries

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The Texas Rangers are massive -186 favorites over the San Francisco Giants tonight at Globe Life Field.

While I like Texas straight up, my Giants vs. Rangers predictions and MLB picks see more value in the run line, especially when considering MacKenzie Gore's success at home on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

Who will win Giants vs Rangers today: Rangers -1.5 (+109)

I like the Texas Rangers to defeat the San Francisco Giants tonight, but I'm not paying the -186 juice to make that happen. Often, in that scenario, I'll pivot to the underdogs on the moneyline as a pure value play (something I did in my Cardinals vs. Yankees predictions today), but I do not like the Giants in this spot at all, so I'll go for Texas on the run line.

MacKenzie Gore is better than his 4.77 ERA suggests. His 3.83 xERA isn't elite, but it tells us he's getting burned by bad luck. Much of this is due to opposing offenses squaring him up, as he owns an unseemly 9.2% barrel rate (23rd percentile) and a 42.4% hard-hit rate (25th percentile).

That shouldn't matter against the Giants. San Francisco has a team wRC+ of 91 (league average being 100) against left-handed pitching. They are now missing their four best hitters against southpaws, with Heliot Ramos and Luis Arraez traded and Casey Schmitt and Matt Chapman injured.

Blade Tidwell has barely pitched at the MLB level this season, but his Triple-A numbers aren't exactly promising, with a walk rate north of 10% over 72 innings.

I'd play the run line to +100.

COVERS INTEL: Tidwell worked primarily as a reliever earlier in the season, and while he's been stretched out in the minors, a long outing can't be expected, and he'll give things over to a depleted Giants bullpen that owns a 4.25 ERA (19th) and just traded away Caleb Killian and Erik Miller.

Giants vs Rangers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (+105)

Globe Life Field plays large, and with the dome closed tonight, the extreme heat won't be in play to help the ball fly.

Gore has been a primary beneficiary of a home-field advantage, posting a 3.61 ERA in Arlington and a 5.79 ERA on the highway. 

Even if I expect the Rangers to win by multiple runs, Gore offers a distinct probability that the final score comes in Under 7.5. 

San Francisco's offense was already putrid before the trade deadline, and it's only gotten worse in the last 24 hours.

I'd play theUnder 7.5 to -105, but I'd prefer Under 8.5 at -122, which is also an option.

Giants vs Rangers weather

Due to summer heat, the Globe Life Field roof is expected to be closed for tonight's game.

Giants vs Rangers odds

• Moneyline: Giants +178 | Rangers -186
• Run line: Giants +1.5 (-122) | Rangers -1.5 (+113)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-117) | Under 7.5 (+113)

Giants vs Rangers trend

The San Francisco Giants have hit the Team Total Under in 23 of their last 40 away games (+4.45 Units / 10% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Giants vs. Rangers.

How to watch Giants vs Rangers and game info

Giants vs Rangers latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Roger Clemens. “The Rocket.” The nickname alone tells you almost everything you need to know. Over 24 major league seasons, Clemens won 354 games, struck out 4,672 batters, captured a record seven Cy Young Awards, won an American League MVP Award, claimed two pitching Triple Crowns, and led his league in ERA six different times.

As of 2026, he ranks third all-time in career strikeouts, ninth in wins, and among the greatest pitchers the game has ever seen by virtually every meaningful measure. Few pitchers in baseball history can match the combination of longevity, dominance, and hardware Clemens accumulated. Even fewer have remained as polarizing.

William Roger Clemens
Born: August 4, 1962 (Dayton, OH)
Yankees Tenure: 1999-2003, 2007

Before he became “The Rocket,” Clemens was simply a kid from Dayton, Ohio. While he was still in high school, his family moved to Texas, the state he would then forever call home. Clemens excelled in baseball, football, and basketball at Spring Woods High School before attending JUCO power San Jacinto College. He eventually transferred to the University of Texas, where he cemented himself as one of the nation’s top collegiate pitchers.

Clemens capped off his collegiate career in storybook fashion in 1983. In his final game, he threw a complete game to lead the Longhorns to the College World Series championship. Just days earlier, the Boston Red Sox had selected him with the 19th overall pick in the MLB Draft.

The Red Sox wasted little time bringing Clemens to the majors, and he debuted in 1984. Over the next 13 seasons, he became the face of Boston’s staff and one of the most feared arms in baseball. His legendary 1986 season remains one of the greatest ever by a starting pitcher, as he captured the American League MVP Award, the Cy Young Award, and All-Star Game MVP honors.

During his time in Boston, Clemens won three Cy Young Awards, earned five All-Star selections, led the American League in ERA four times, and topped the league in both wins and strikeouts three times (fanning a record 20 in a game twice). He established himself as a Red Sox legend and one of the players Yankees fans loved to hate. Truly you can almost guess a Yankees fans age based on their immediate reaction to hearing Clemens name.

After the 1996 season, Boston let Clemens walk, a decision that immediately came back to haunt the franchise. Clemens signed a then-record three-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays and somehow reached an even higher level of production. In both 1997 and 1998, he captured the pitching Triple Crown by leading the American League in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. He won the Cy Young Award in both seasons, made the All-Star team each year, and erased any doubt that he remained the most dominant pitcher in the sport.

Following the 1998 season, Clemens was traded for the first time in his career, landing with the defending World Series champion Yankees. On February 18, 1999, Brian Cashman sent fan favorite David Wells to Toronto in exchange for the game’s biggest pitching prize. The move still provokes an uneasy feeling among some fans today.

Clemens immediately raised expectations for an already dominant club. His first regular season in New York had its bumps, but when October arrived, so did The Rocket. In Game 4 of the 1999 World Series, Clemens threw 7.2 brilliant innings against the Braves to finish off the sweep and finally earn the first World Series championship of career.

The 2000 season only added to his legend, and it wasn’t the cause of the 15-K, one-hit shutout he spun in Seattle in the playoffs. During a regular-season game in July, Clemens struck Mike Piazza in the helmet with a fastball, forcing the Mets star to miss the All-Star Game. The incident set the stage for one of the most memorable moments in Subway Series history. Then in Game 2 of the World Series in a fateful Subway Series matchup against those same Mets, Piazza shattered his bat on an inside pitch. As the barrel spun toward the mound, Clemens picked it up and fired it down the first-base line as Piazza sprinted out of the batter’s box, creating one of the most replayed moments in Yankees history. (Lost in all of it was that Clemens also threw eight shutout innings to help the Yanks get a 2-0 lead.)

If 2000 cemented Clemens as a Yankees legend, 2001 may have been his finest regular season in pinstripes. Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to begin a season 20-1, ultimately finishing 20-3 with a 3.51 ERA while capturing his sixth career Cy Young Award. This season still stands as one of the best individual performances by any Yankees pitcher in terms of wins and losses (even if other metrics favored new teammate Mike Mussina for the Cy that year).

Then in 2001, following the attacks of September 11th, Clemens helped carry the Yankees back to the World Series. In Game 7 against the Diamondbacks, he battled Curt Schilling pitch for pitch, striking out 10 over 6.1 outstanding innings before leaving with the game tied at 1-1 and the Yanks soon to seize the lead on an Alfonso Soraino homer off Schilling. Arizona would ultimately rally against no less than Mariano Rivera, denying Clemens what would have been another championship and one of the best sport stories of all-time.

After a somewhat injury-limited 2002 campaign, Clemens reached two of baseball’s most sacred milestones in 2003. On a Friday night at the original Yankee Stadium, he struck out Edgar Renteria for career strikeout No. 4,000 before securing his 300th career victory later that evening. Fittingly for a pitcher who always seemed to want to be on baseball’s biggest stages and be the headliner, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to reach both milestones in the same game.

Throughout 2003, Clemens said that he would retire at season’s end, and after receiving an ovation in Miami while leaving the mound during the World Series upset loss to the Marlins, the game bid him adieu. It didn’t take. Friend and teammate Andy Pettitte had signed with the Astros in free agency when the Yankees oddly didn’t pursue him with much vigor, and after thinking about it, Clemens decided to make a comeback close to home.

Clemens returned to Houston following the season and immediately added another chapter to his remarkable career. I am not joking when I say I think Lebron took a page out of Clemens book when it came to trying to make his career a storyline fit for a movie.

At age 42, he became the oldest pitcher ever to win a Cy Young Award after posting an 18-4 record with a 2.98 ERA in 2004. The following season, he led all of baseball with a microscopic 1.87 ERA while helping guide the Astros to the first World Series appearance in franchise history, though a hamstring injury in Game 1 paced a White Sox sweep.

Three years after leaving New York, Clemens authored one final memorable Bronx moment. During the seventh-inning stretch of a May 6, 2007, game against Seattle, the stadium video board suddenly came to life as Clemens appeared from George Steinbrenner’s suite and simply told the crowd, “Thank you… I’m back.” A moment I remember being way, way too excited about in hindsight.

His second Yankees stint lasted 17 starts and far less of a fun ride than the first—he was 45 when he threw his final pitch and it showed, leaving with an injury in the 2007 playoffs—but it brought his New York totals to 83 victories, 1,014 strikeouts, six postseason appearances, two World Series championships, one Cy Young Award, and one of the most memorable runs any Yankees pitcher has ever enjoyed.

No discussion of Clemens’ career is complete without acknowledging the cloud that followed him towards the end of his career and after retirement. Allegations of performance-enhancing drug use and the Mitchell Report (not to mention other, worse off-field questions) overshadowed his final years in baseball and have kept him outside the Hall of Fame despite his technical acquittal on federal perjury charges in 2012.

Love him or hate him, believe him or doubt him, Roger Clemens changed baseball. Few pitchers have ever matched his intensity or competitiveness.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.