Category: MLB

Wheeler opts out of All-Star Game: ‘Wants to do what's right by the club' originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SAN DIEGO – Rob Thomson is all about his players getting their individual accolades. He said last week that he wants all his players to be All-Stars. And he meant it.

But you have to get a feeling with the amount of weight his starting pitching has carried this season for the club that maybe, just maybe, not having some deserving pitchers on the All-Star team is OK with him.

Christopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez deserve to be going to the Midsummer Classic, but they were not chosen. So they’ll get some much-needed rest and relaxation during the break. Zack Wheeler was rightfully selected for the game, but it was announced Friday that Wheeler has decided not to participate in the festivities in Atlanta, instead opting to take a few days off and ready himself for the rest of the season.

Wheeler, who will start Saturday against the San Diego Padres, is 9-3 with a 2.17 ERA. In his 116 innings pitched he has struck out 148 and an incredible 0.84 WHIP. MLB announced that Padres pitcher Adrian Morejon will take Wheeler’s place.

“He came to me the other day and he basically said that he wanted to make sure his body was in good shape coming out of the break and carry on through the rest of the year,” Thomson said. “He wants to do what’s right by the club. After tomorrow’s start he’ll have more innings than last year at the break. He’s being smart. That’s what Zack is and we have a lot of guys like that, to tell you the truth. I’m really happy for him. It was his decision and I think he’s being smart about it.”

Wheeler could very easily have been replaced on the National League roster by one of his teammates, but MLB decided to go another way. Perhaps due to the fact that he’s pitching on Sunday may have been a big strike against Sanchez going. “I am (surprised),” said Thomson. “But it’s one of those things where (pitching) on Sunday you can’t. Both him and Ranger, for me, are certainly deserving to be All-Stars. In my mind they’re All-Stars. (Sanchez) wasn’t voted in so I think it’s easy for them to switch out and get somebody who they know is going to be able to give them an inning or two.”

It’s not just about the actual pitching that could take a toll on any of the Phillies starters at the All-Star game. Thomson knows it’s more than that. “I’ve been through it a couple of times and it’s tiring. It really is. I’m happy that he’s decided to make the best decision for him. Which probably ends up being the best decision for us.”

He’s baaaaack

When asked about Bryce Harper and where he may be offensively after his three doubles and home run against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, Thomson had to suppress a smile, and maybe even an all-out laugh.

“His timing looked really good the other day,” the manager said. “Over time since he’s come back from the injured list, that the timing, the swing, bat-speed have all improved every game. And even before the game the other day he was putting good swings without seeing much production but he was putting good swings on the ball. Looks good right now.”

For the season, the Phillies entered Friday 40-25 with Harper in the lineup, just 14-14 without him. In those 40 wins, Harper is hitting .309 with 23 extra base hits (15 doubles, eight home runs) and 30 RBI. In the 25 losses, those numbers are .181, three extra base hits (two doubles, one homer) and five RBI.

Monday during batting practice in San Francisco, Harper had a couple un-Harper-like swings, it appeared. He took a second and then blasted four screaming shots over the wall in right field, one of which ended up in McCovey’s Cove. It seemed like a moment. Maybe it was. 

Good Abel

Mick Abel took the mound for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs Thursday and came away with good reviews from manager Rob Thomson after his six inning, one hit, one walk and four strikeout performance in which he didn’t allow a run. 

“Really good. Touched 98, 72 percent 3-2 pitch strikes. Just filled up the strike zone. Was confident, poised, landed his breaking ball. I’m really happy for him, really proud of him.  That’s what I’m most proud of. He got back to who he is, kept it really simple and attacked the zone.”

Garrett Crochet explains decision to skip All-Star Game originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet pulled himself out of the 2025 MLB All-Star Game to keep his arm fresh for the second half of the season.

Crochet earned his second straight All-Star nod amid a Cy Young-caliber campaign, but at an MLB-leading 120.1 innings pitched this season, the left-hander is already 25.2 innings away from matching his career-high. The 26-year-old left-hander understandably doesn’t want to add to that hefty workload during an exhibition.

“For me, it’s just looking at my past four years,” Crochet said, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. “In 2022, I threw zero innings. In ‘23, I threw 13. Last year, I threw 146 and this year I’m on pace for 200. From my standpoint, it makes no sense to make that 201 to throw in a game that doesn’t determine my team’s fate throughout the season.

“Especially because we’re looking at the postseason. If I threw 20 innings in the postseason, I’m almost 100 innings over last year which was over 100 innings above the year prior. It just didn’t make sense to me.”

The Red Sox’ schedule also didn’t help Crochet’s cause. Crochet is set to start Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, so he’d head into the All-Star Game on only three days rest.

Crochet pitched a scoreless fourth inning while representing the Chicago White Sox at the 2024 All-Star Game. This time, he’ll watch from the dugout alongside teammates Alex Bregman, who also won’t play as he returned from a quad injury on Friday.

“It’s a huge honor to be there,“ Crochet added. ”I threw last year with it being my first one. If I were to go next year, I would probably throw. But just with the way my continued growth is, and my workload ceiling, I’d rather not add to it.”

With Crochet and Bregman sitting out, veteran closer Aroldis Chapman will be Boston’s lone representative in Atlanta. Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize will replace Crochet on the American League roster.

The 2025 MLB All-Star Game is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 15.

Mets designated hitter Jesse Winker is heading back to the IL just a few days after returning from an extended absence.

Winker, who exited Thursday's game against the Orioles after just one at-bat due to back tightness, was placed on the 10-day IL due to back inflammation, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic.

Jared Young was called up from Triple-A Syracuse to take Winker's spot on the roster.

In addition, the Mets activated Kodai Senga from the IL and recalled Austin Warren from Syracuse.

To make room on the roster, Justin Hagenman was optioned to Syracuse and Rico Garcia was designated for assignment.

With Winker on the IL, the Mets will essentially be without a regular DH until after the All-Star break, which begins for them after Sunday's game in Kansas City.

Starling Marte landed on the IL on Tuesday, retroactive to July 7. The expectation is that he'll be able to return right after the break, with the Mets beginning the second half against the Reds on July 18 at Citi Field.

On the at-bat before he came out, Winker popped out to end the first inning. He was pinch-hit for in the fourth inning by Mark Vientos.

The 31-year-old was playing in just his second game since May 4 after returning from the injured list on Tuesday after working his way back from an oblique injury.

Winker was hitting .239 with a .739 OPS (112 OPS+) prior to his oblique injury, totaling just one home run and 10 RBI.

The lefty hit .286 with two home runs, a double, seven RBI, and five walks over five games in the minor leagues during his rehab assignment.

Shohei Ohtani has the bestselling jersey in baseball.

Again.

He is joined in the top four by Dodgers teammates Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.

Again.

According to rankings released Friday based on sales of Nike jerseys from the Fanatics network, fans have purchased Ohtani's No. 17 Dodgers jersey more than that of any other player during the first half of the 2025 season.

Read more:'Really impressed.' Shohei Ohtani's return to two-way role going (mostly) well a month in

It's not Ohtani's first time at the top of the jersey sales rankings. The two-way superstar from Japan was No. 1 for the 2023 regular season, his last with the Angels, and the 2024 regular season, his first with the Dodgers. His jersey was also the top seller during the most recent offseason, after he was named the 2024 National League MVP and won his first World Series championship.

According to MLB, Ohtani’s jerseys have sold more than any other player in the U.S., Japan and worldwide since 2023.

New York Yankees superstar and reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge is No. 2 on the 2025 list, followed by Freeman at No. 3 and Betts at No. 4. Freeman and Betts also joined Ohtani in the top four in sales during the offseason, with Freeman at No. 2 and Betts at No. 4.

Read more:Dodgers unveil Kobe Bryant bobblehead to be given away Aug. 8 at Chavez Ravine

For the 2024 regular season, Betts ranked at No. 4, while Freeman came in at No. 18. Freeman has been riding a wave of popularity since the World Series, during which he hit a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 and eventually was named the series MVP.

New York Mets star Francisco Lindor has the No. 5 jersey of 2025 so far, followed by Mets teammate Juan Soto, Rafael Devers of the San Francisco Giants, Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros, Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres and Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, in his 18th MLB season, has the No. 20 bestselling jersey.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The 2025 MLB Draft is just around the corner, starting at 6 p.m. EST on Sunday as a kickoff to All-Star week in Atlanta. The Mets are in a different spot with less flexibility than they have had in years past.

Unlike the NFL Draft or the NBA Draft, the MLB Draft is not as simple as taking the best talent available when you are on the clock. It is ultimately a combination of talent and signability, as bonus pool implications come into play.

Each selection inside the top 10 rounds of the draft is assigned a slot value, and those slot values combine for a team’s overall draft bonus pool. The slot values are not hard-slotted; a team can divvy up their pool however they see fit. A team may also exceed its total pool by up to five percent, and the penalty will only be financial. This is something the Mets have done, almost to the dollar, over the last few years.

A recent example where the Mets have utilized bonus pool flexibility is just last year when they went under slot with first-round pick Carson Benge and third-round pick Nate Dohm, among others, which led to them being able to pay high school shortstop Trey Snyder $1,322,500 in the fifth round ($476,200 over his pick’s slot value) to sign him away from a commitment to Tennessee.

The Mets' first pick this year is not until No. 38 overall, as their first selection dropped 10 spots due to exceeding the luxury tax threshold by $40 million or more last season. The Yankees and Dodgers also have the same penalty and will pick No. 39 and No. 40, respectively.

The Mets will not pick again until No. 102 due to signing Juan Soto, who was a free agent who received a qualifying offer. The Mets had to give up their second-and fifth-highest selections, as well as $1 million from their 2026 international bonus pool due to the Soto signing.

While the Mets are obviously making those trades every day, it does quite literally limit their flexibility in the 2025 draft. The Mets have the second-lowest bonus pool in the sport at $5,465,900, which is ahead of only the Yankees.

In evaluating the class and talking to scouts, the near consensus I have received is that the class is a little deeper than it is littered with star talent at the top.

The No. 1 pick is likely to come down to Oklahoma high school infielder Ethan Holliday, the son of former big leaguer Matt Holliday and brother of Orioles infielder Jackson, and LSU left-handed pitcher Kade Anderson.

Without access to talent like that, as MLB.com’s Jim Callis told us on this week’s episode of The Mets Pod, the Mets may need to play it purer on a talent that should go around No. 38 rather than being able to be opportunistic on someone who falls -- which usually would be a high school player with a high asking price to sign.

For example, I don’t think the Mets will be able to essentially "buy" someone like high school left-hander Kruz Schoolcraft down to No. 38. There will definitely be some over slot here and under slot there throughout their class, but they may not be positioned to make that big financial swing that they have done in past drafts.

That doesn’t mean the Mets won’t be able to have a successful draft.

The scouting department, spearheaded by vice president of amateur scouting Kris Gross and scouting director Drew Toussaint, is well-regarded in the industry. They are coming off a 2024 class that has produced some strong first pro season results from prospects like Benge, left-hander Jonathan Santucci, Dohm, outfielder Eli Serrano III, Snyder, and right-handers Will Watson and Ryan Lambert.

The Mets have cast a very wide net on prospects they are interested in, both at the collegiate and high school level, which makes it tough to project. I have heard them mostly connected to hitters, which would check out on both Mets history as well as Gross’ history from his previous time with the Astros.

The last Mets first-round pick who was a pitcher was David Peterson in 2017. I think they’d love if Oregon high school outfielder Slater de Brun were available, but that seems unlikely. Here are a few names to at least keep an eye on:

- Florida high school second baseman/outfielder Sean Gamble

- Nevada high school shortstop/outfielder Tate Southisene

- Wake Forest outfielder Ethan Conrad

- Oregon outfielder Mason Neville

- Arizona State outfielder Brandon Compton

- Texas outfielder Max Belyeu

Regardless of where a team picks, there is always talent to be had throughout the MLB Draft, as evidenced by the Mets producing top 100 prospects in players like Brandon Sproat, Nolan McLean, and Jonah Tong, who were all selected outside of the first round.

Starting this Sunday, the Mets will get the chance to add 19 more prospects to their player development system.

Before Jerry Hairston Jr. became a voice of the Dodgers, that buoyant broadcaster on Spectrum Sports Net LA putting a blue-tinged spin on pregame and postgame analysis, he was a Major League ballplayer for 16 seasons.

The name Hairston is synonymous with baseball, Jerry and his brother Scott the third generation of men whose livings were made on the diamond.

Their father, Jerry Hairston, played 14 big league seasons through the 1970s and '80s. Their uncle John was a ballplayer. And their grandfather, Sam Hairston, was a career .300 hitter in the Negro American League in the 1940s.

The lineage between the lines benefited Hairston Jr., who leaned on his dad for advice whenever he struggled at the plate.

"If things aren't going the right way or if I feel passive or uneasy at the plate, I definitely give him a call," Hairston Jr. said in 2011, shortly before joining the Dodgers for the last two years of his playing career.

Read more:Robots are closing in! MLB to use Automated Ball-Strike challenge system during All-Star Game

Following a father's footsteps into a family business is a tried and true path. And it's become increasingly frequent in baseball. Nearly every fan knows that Ken Griffey Jr.'s father was a cog in the Big Red Machine, that the son of San Francisco Giants star Bobby Bonds is the all-time home run king, that Prince Fielder's dad, Cecil, was an equally prolific slugger.

But the MLB draft — which will be held Sunday and Monday in Atlanta as part of the All-Star Game weekend — will feature a plethora of familiar names. Will any of them blossom as quickly as Bobby Witt Jr., the Kansas City Royals superstar whose father pitched for six MLB teams in 16 seasons?

The No. 1 prospect in this year's draft as ranked by MLB Pipeline is Ethan Holliday, an infielder from Stillwater High in Oklahoma. The name should sound familiar because Ethan's brother, Jackson, was the first overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles and already has secured the starting job at second base.

Oh, and their father, Matt Holliday, was a seven-time All-Star who batted .299 with 316 home runs over a decorated 15-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies.

"My dad’s never put pressure on me, Jackson’s never put pressure on me, nor my mom," Ethan Holliday told Nice Kicks. "Nobody’s ever put pressure on me to play the game. I just fell in love with it and I love playing. I love training. And like the pressure and expectations — those things have kind of always been there since I was really little with my dad playing in St. Louis and playing youth baseball there."

Read more:Shaikin: Dodger Stadium gondola closer to reality? Sacramento might help Team McCourt

The fathers of other highly regarded prospects in this year's draft may not be as much of a household name as Holliday. The No. 5 prospect is Eli Willits, a shortstop from Fort Cobb-Broxton High in Oklahoma whose father, Reggie Willits, was an Angels outfielder from 2006 to 2011.

Two uncles of Quentin Young, the No. 37 prospect from Oaks Christian High in Westlake Village, were first-round picks who grew up in Camarillo: Dmitri and Delmon Young. Cade Obermueller, a left-handed pitcher from the University of Iowa, is the No. 53 prospect. His dad, Wes Obermueller, was a second-round pick out of Iowa in 1999 and pitched in five MLB seasons.

Dodgers coach Dino Ebel made it to triple A as a player and is regarded as one of baseball's best third base coaches. His oldest son, Brady, a shortstop from Corona High, is the No. 64 prospect and should be available to the Dodgers, who have the Nos. 40 and 41 overall picks, the latter from the Gavin Lux trade to the Cincinnati Reds. Brady will play for College World Series champion Louisiana State if he isn't drafted high enough for his liking.

A player who rivals the Hairstons for MLB family ties is Cam Leiter, a right-handed pitcher from Florida State and the No. 114 prospect. His uncles Mark and Al Leiter combined to pitch in more than 750 MLB games and his cousins Jack and Mark Leiter Jr. are current MLB pitchers. Cam's dad, Kurt Leiter, advanced to double A with the Orioles.

Jayden Stroman, the son of 11-year MLB veteran pitcher Marcus Stroman, has taken a different path from his dad, emerging as the No. 130 prospect as an outfielder after playing at three different high schools.

Read more:'We have to do better.' With trade deadline looming, Dodgers' skid raises questions

Draft-eligible players not ranked among the top 200 whose fathers were MLB stars include Kaeden Kent, Brady Counsell, Max McGwire, Manny Ramirez Jr. and Carsten Sabathia.

Kent is a left-handed-hitting infielder from Texas A&M whose dad Jeff Kent was a power-hitting second baseman with the Dodgers and Giants for 17 years. Counsell's dad, Craig, played 16 years and is now manager of the Chicago Cubs. McGwire's dad, Mark, hit 573 home runs and Ramirez's dad hit 555. Sabathia's dad, CC, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in a couple weeks.

That's a lot of familiar names, but hardly an anomaly. Last year nearly 40 draft picks had a close relative with an MLB pedigree.

The first three rounds of the 2025 draft will be broadcast live Sunday, with a pregame show at 3 p.m. PDT on MLB Network and ESPN. Rounds four through 20 will be streamed Monday on MLB.com beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

It is one pitcher in and one pitcher out for the Yankees on the American League roster for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game.

The league announced left-hander Carlos Rodon will replace lefty Max Fried for the game in Atlanta.

Rodon earned his spot on the squad with a 3.30 ERA and 1.030 WHIP (seventh-best in AL) in 111.2 innings (eighth-best) over 19 starts. He has 127 strikeouts (fourth-best) to 40 walks on the year, his third in New York. The lefty's 10.24 strikeouts per nine innings rank fifth-best in the Junior Circuit.

Fried's replacement is due to his pitching schedule for the Yanks and not an injury. He is scheduled to start Saturday and, therefore, wouldn't be available for the Midsummer Classic on two days' rest.

So far this year, the first-year Yank has pitched to a stellar 2.27 ERA (third-best in AL) and 0.958 WHIP (sixth-best) in 119 innings (second-best) over 19 starts with 111 strikeouts (ninth-best) to just 24 walks (4.63 ratio is fifth-best). This was Fried's third All-Star nod.

By that same token, Rodon pitching in the game might not be a slam dunk as he is slated to start Friday night as the Yankees open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs in The Bronx.

This is Rodon's third trip to the All-Star Game, after he was selected in 2022 as a member of the San Francisco Giants and in 2021 with the Chicago White Sox.

Rodon will join All-Star game starter in right field Aaron Judge and reserve Jazz Chisholm Jr., who will also participate in Monday night's Home Run Derby.

The Mets have designated Rico Garcia for assignment in order to make room on the active roster for Kodai Senga, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Senga will be returning from the IL to make Friday's start against the Royals in Kansas City.

Garcia tossed 2.2 perfect innings against the Orioles during Game 2 of Thursday's doubleheader.

In his only other appearance for the Mets this season, he fired 2.0 scoreless innings against the Yankees on July 6, allowing one hit and striking out two.

Garcia, 31, has a 6.47 ERA and 1.68 WHIP in parts of five big league seasons with the Mets, Nationals, Athletics, Orioles, Giants, and Rockies.

Six things Rangers General Manager Chris Drury has done right so far this offseason:

1. Moving on from Chris Kreider. Although tough, it was something that had to be done. 

2. Secured the second half of his top defensive pair. He landed Vladislav Gavrikov in free agency, and signed him to a 7x$7M AAV contract. 

3. Flipped K’Andre Miller for Scott Morrow, a conditional first round pick and second round pick both in 2026. The best trade of his tenure. 

4. “Very Professional.” The words used by Ian Pulver, K’Andre Miller’s agent - who also represents Barclay Goodrow - on how the trade was handled. 

5. Extending Will Cuylle, Matt Rempe, and Adam Edstrom. All two year bridge-deals, that benefit both the top and bottom six. 

6. Selecting Malcolm Spence with the 43th overall pick. Drury drafted a projected first round talent without a first round pick.

The juxtaposition on Thursday was impossible to miss.

As Mets pitching prospect Brandon Sproat was firing seven shutout innings for Triple-A Syracuse -- extending his scoreless streak to 18.0 innings over his last three starts -- the last-place Orioles were polishing off a doubleheader sweep of the Mets in Baltimore.

In addition to Sproat's recent excellence after a bumpy ride earlier this season, Nolan McLean has also been dominant for Syracuse.

McLean fired six shutout innings on Wednesday while striking out 10. The last time he allowed more than two runs in a game was May 15. His season ERA between Double-A Binghamton and Syracuse is 2.17.

But with Sproat and McLean in the minors, the Orioles' task in Game 2 on Thursday was to excel against a cavalry of low-leverage Mets relievers who will all likely be back in the minors or DFA'd in the coming days and weeks.

And excel they did.

Baltimore plated seven runs over the first six innings against Brandon Waddell, Justin Hagenman, and Richard Lovelady, and that was all she wrote.

If Game 2 on Thursday was a one-off, it would've elicited a giant shrug. But it was the third time in their last six games that the Mets employed the bullpen game strategy. In addition to making it harder to win, it's taxing to the relief corps and can create a negative domino effect.

It's also difficult for the offense to have to constantly play from behind.

It didn't cost the Mets last Friday against the Yankees, but it cost them a chance at a series sweep last Sunday, when Zach Pop (who has since been DFA'd) and Waddell put the Mets in an early 5-0 hole they couldn't crawl out of.

That's two losses in the last week that were essentially punts by New York.

In addition to the three bullpen games in the last week, the Mets have also recently chosen to rely on Blade Tidwell for starts/bulk innings (mainly because he's on the 40-man roster), and kept Paul Blackburn in the rotation before his injury despite poor results (a 7.71 ERA, 1.98 WHIP, and failure to provide length).

New York lost Blackburn's last four starts -- on June 13, 18, 23, and 28.

Now, it's important to note that it took a barrage of injuries to put the Mets in this spot. That included recent ones to Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill, an injury to Kodai Senga a month ago, and the season-long absence of Sean Manaea.

They were also put behind the eight ball when a rainout last week forced Clay Holmes out of the Yankees series.

But in each recent instance, the Mets could've turned to McLean or Sproat. Why didn't they?

"My preference is to not bring up a top prospect for a spot start," president of baseball operationsDavid Stearnssaid on July 3 before the Yankees series. "I also understand this is a unique circumstance and I can’t take anything off the table right now, but my preference would be to figure out a way to do it without doing that."

Stearns added:

"The clear downside to giving someone the ball and having them not have a good outing, a short start, whatever it is, is you put your major league team in a hole. So step one is we’d like to avoid that outcome. For the individual player’s development, you never know.

"I’m certain there are pitching prospects and prospects in general who will handle that just fine, and there are others who it probably impacts a little bit more, and trying to figure out which is which can be difficult. It’s also perfectly possible that you call someone up, they give you five good innings, and then go back down and continue their development. I’m certainly aware of all of these outcomes, and we’re sorting through it."

Stearns' position is at least understandable, and there are also other factors at play.

Perhaps the Mets are making sure their top pitching prospects -- all of whom could be involved in trade discussions in the coming weeks -- don't come up and get hit around, which could negatively impact their value.

It should also be noted that McLean and Sproat aren't yet on the 40-man roster. And their service time clocks haven't started yet.

But when it comes to the 40-man roster, the Mets have about a half-dozen fungible spots. So creating one or two really shouldn't be a concern.

And regarding the service time situation, that would be a more valid excuse if this wasn't a year with World Series expectations.

But this is a year where the Mets have World Series expectations, and the tactics they've deployed with their pitching staff over the last month or so have cost them games -- making their task more difficult.

With Senga and Manaea back this weekend, the juggling the Mets have been doing with the rotation should be over for now.

But there will be situations in the second half of the season when they need a sixth starter to give people extra rest, or when they need a starter because of a doubleheader, or when something else unexpected pops up. A long-term injury could create a long-term need.

When those situations arise, they need to employ a different strategy than the one that cost them a bunch of games in the first half.

Will Clark believes Rafael Devers situation has been blown ‘out of proportion' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Giants icon Will Clark believes the drama surrounding the team’s acquisition of star designated hitter Rafael Devers has ballooned into something completely unnecessary.

In talking to KNBR’s Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher on Friday, Clark explained how he is attempting to move past the harsh language he used with Red Sox announcer Will Flemming — who shared a private conversation he had with Clark during the San Francisco-Boston series on June 20-22 about Devers skipping practice at first base with on a radio show — and the situation overall.

“I think that this story has gotten blown way out of proportion,” Clark told Murphy and Boucher. “I said some stuff that I shouldn’t have said. And also … Will Flemming said a few things as well. I have reached out to Will; we talked about it; we hashed it out. 

“It’s going to be water under the bridge.”

"I think that this story has gotten blown way out of proportion. I said some stuff that I shouldn't have said. And also… Will Flemming said a few things as well. I have reached out to Will, we talked about it, we hashed it out. It's going to be water under the bridge."

Will… pic.twitter.com/OeSr8x4kjJ

— KNBR (@KNBR) July 11, 2025

Clark, a retired six-time MLB All-Star, grew irritated after Flemming pushed the negative narrative surrounding Devers — which the former eight-year Giants first baseman already addressed multiple times, detailing how Devers didn’t want to practice at first in front of the Red Sox dugout amid the media frenzy — while making public what was a private conversation.

Here is what Flemming said Monday on WEEI Sports Radio’s “WEEI Afternoons.”

“We were in San Francisco right after that trade happened,” Flemming said. “They don’t yet know what is going to happen with the player. I was there the second day. Will Clark was there to work on ground balls with him at first base, and Rafi didn’t show up.

“So that’s the person that these guys [the Red Sox] have been dealing with for a long time.”

Flemming, brother of Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming, told the public that Devers is against playing first base in San Francisco, as he was in Boston, painting a poor picture of the three-time MLB All-Star. 

That claim appears to be false. Giants manager Bob Melvin said Tuesday that Devers should see time at first after the MLB All-Star break, and Devers told reporters through San Francisco interpreter Erwin Higueros on June 20 that he “can’t wait to start playing [at first base].”

Clark subsequently went off on Flemming in Thursday’s episode of the “Deuces Wild” podcast he co-hosts with retired big-leaguer Eric Byrnes.

“Will Flemming, you can go f—k off, motherf—ker,” Clark said. “You want to f—king take a conversation that we’re having and then blow it out of proportion because you’re a f—king East Coast piece of s—t reporter. F—k off.”

The two quotes set the stage for what Clark said he “hashed out” with Flemming and will become “water under the bridge,” according to the former San Francisco star.

It is probably best for Clark to move on from the feud with Flemming.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast