Category: MLB

Roughly four hours before first pitch Monday night, Shohei Ohtani sat at his locker in the Dodger Stadium clubhouse and prepared for his biggest game of the season.

First, the reigning MVP unwrapped the black compression sleeve he wears when pitching, and pulled it over his prized right arm. Then, he grabbed his bat and a pair of hitting gloves and headed toward the cages.

On this day, each piece of equipment was needed.

For the first time in almost two years, the two-way star would be playing both ways again.

In the Dodgers’ 6-3 win against the San Diego Padres on Monday, Ohtani made his long-awaited return as a pitcher from a September 2023 Tommy John operation, taking the mound in a Dodgers uniform for the first time as the club’s starter while also continuing to serve as their leadoff hitter in the lineup.

Ohtani’s pitching outing was brief, lasting just one inning and 28 pitches. He yielded one run on two hits (a pair of flare singles from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez) and a sacrifice fly from Manny Machado. And while he touched 100 mph with his fastball, his form was far from flawless.

Ohtani’s command looked rusty, the right-hander missing the zone 12 times including one wild pitch. While he got three swing-and-misses, he failed to finish any of his five two-strike counts with a strikeout (though Machado nearly went around on a two-strike sweeper, needing a generous check-swing call from an umpire before lifting his sac fly).

When Ohtani finally retired the side, it felt more like a sigh of relief, with his climbing pitch count already leading to action in the bullpen.

Yet, the occasion was momentous nonetheless; marking the first time since August 2023 that Ohtani had pitched in a major-league game, and showing that even after a second career Tommy John surgery there’s still plenty of life left in his arm.

“To take this on — the physical [toll], talent-wise, the psychology of it — this is a big undertaking,” manager Dave Roberts said. “As people say, he’s a unicorn.”

Read more:Hernández: Cowardly Dodgers remain silent as ICE raids terrorize their fans

Initially, it appeared the Dodgers would have to wait at least another month before seeing Ohtani pitch in a game. Despite some optimism before spring training that Ohtani could resume pitching in April or May, the team had been slow-playing his pitching program ever since the start of the regular season, long ago targeting some time after the All-Star break to add him into their rotation.

“This is such a unique scenario,” general manager Brandon Gomes said. “[We were] making sure we're not doing anything to put the offensive side in jeopardy.”

In the last couple weeks, however, that calculus started to change.

First, Ohtani impressed coaches and executives in three different live batting practice sessions, working his way up to three innings and 44 pitches in his most recent one in San Diego last week.

Then, in meetings with team officials, Ohtani expressed some concern with continuing to build up in more simulated pregame sessions, relaying the toll it took on his body to pitch several innings in an afternoon before ramping up to DH later the same night.

“The getting hot, throwing a live at 1:30, 2:00, cooling down, coming back, getting ready to lead off the game — I can't even imagine how taxing that is,” said Gomes, a former big league reliever. “There is no playbook for this. So it had to be an ongoing conversation, and making sure that Shohei is the one driving this conversation."

In recent days, Ohtani began to direct such conversations in a different direction; especially after the Dodgers indicated that, thanks to his status as a two-way player who wouldn’t take up a pitching roster spot, they were open to bringing him back as a pitcher even if he would initially only throw one or two innings.

“It [was] more of like, ‘Well, I don’t think there’s anything else to do. I’m ready to go. What else do I need to do to get back on a major-league mound?’” Roberts recalled of Ohtani’s message to the team. “You try to treat him like a normal pitcher and a normal ramp-up or buildup. But if [he only needs to be built up for] an inning or two, it’s, ‘Well, I’ve already done that.’”

Thus came the pivotal question.

“‘Can I pitch now?’” Roberts recalled Ohtani asking.

The answer, the Dodgers decided over the last two days, was yes, slotting Ohtani in as an opener in front of bulkman Ben Casparius for Monday’s visit from the Padres.

“It got to the point where [it was], ‘Hey, feels like we should take that next step,’” Gomes said, “and almost look to finish the rehab at the major league level, because of the taxing nature of what he was doing.”

Ohtani’s return to pitching caused a stir around Chavez Ravine. Fans flocked down the left-field line when he emerged around 6:30 p.m. to begin warming up in the outfield. As he threw his pregame bullpen session, more spectators leaned over the railing to watch him. Behind the mound, teammates Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tony Gonsolin gazed on, as well.

In pregame introductions, Ohtani was announced twice: Both as the starting pitcher and designated hitter (MLB’s rules for two-way players, which were adopted a few years ago in the wake of Ohtani’s rise to stardom, allow for such a distinction in order to let Ohtani keep hitting once he leaves the mound).

And after Ohtani completed the top of the first, he never even stepped foot in the dugout, instead receiving his batting equipment from a ball boy at the top step before going to the plate to lead off the bottom half of the frame.

As a hitter, Ohtani struck out in his first at-bat, but then tied the score with an RBI double in the third before contributing to a five-run rally against Padres starter Dylan Cease in the fourth with an RBI single.

Moving forward, Ohtani will likely continue to serve as an opener roughly once per week; building up to two innings, then three, and so on until he’s able to handle a normal starter’s workload.

The exact plan will depend on how he responds to his return to two-way duties, with the Dodgers remaining wary of pushing him too hard on the mound before the stretch run of the season.

“As we said before, this is a unique situation, and making sure that he's in a good place and we're just taking it small bites along the way as far as what comes next is incredibly important,” Gomes said. “At each step, we'll have those discussions and make sure that that is the guiding light, to make sure that he's feeling as good as possible come October."

Still, for one night, one inning of watching Ohtani pitch was more than enough.

“We saw it from the other side, from afar, when he was with the Angels,” Roberts said. “So now, I think I got the best seat in the house to watch this guy start and then take an at-bat. This is bananas. So I’m thrilled.”

Read more:Hernández: How Japan media track down Ohtani's home-run balls

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees’ offensive funk continues as they are shut out for the second-straight game, wasting a brilliant start from Clarke Schmidt, falling to the Los Angeles Angels 1-0 in 11 innings on Monday night in The Bronx.

The numbers are brutal for Yankee batters: 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position (the lone knock an infield hit), left 12 men on base, and have now been kept scoreless for the last 20 innings. Over a five-game stretch, New York has scored just five runs over their last 49 innings.

With a fourth straight defeat amid a brutal stretch at the plate, the Yanks are now 42-29 and 21-13 at home. The Angels improved to 34-37 on the year.

Here are the takeaways...

- Schmidt allowed a pair of singles right up the middle, the second by Mike Trout, to give the visitors a scoring chance with one out in the first. After a 3-2 pop-out to first, Zach Neto caught the Yanks napping and swiped third with Schmidt standing on the rubber. But the righty blew a 96 mph fastball on the outside corner past Jorge Soler to end the threat.

Schmidt took advantage of the weak Angels batters and had a streak of 16-straight retired (starting with those two down in the first) before Nolan Schanuel blooped a two-out single to left in the sixth. Trout put a charge into one, but Trent Grisham ranged to the right-center gap to make the grab just before the warning track.

The righty got his fifth 1-2-3 inning to close the seventh on just 87 pitches, and he got the ball in the eighth. He needed nine offerings for the first two outs, but Aaron Judge came up empty with a dive on a sinking line drive for a two-out triple by the Angels’ Christian Moore, a Brooklyn native in his fourth big league game.

Moore’s first career hit ended Schmidt’s night after 7.2 innings, the first time he went more than six innings since he had eight scoreless frames in April 2024. Fernando Cruz hung a splitter, but Neto swung through it to end the inning.

- After Cruz out of the bullpen, Devin Williams got the top half of the ninth in a scoreless game, allowed a one-out infield single to Trout and a two-out single to Soler to make the Yankee Stadium faithful sweat before retiring Logan O'Hoppe with a nice play by Volpe up the middle.

In the 10th, Jonathan Loaisiga needed just 12 pitches for a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts, leaving the ghost runners stranded. Loaisiga needed one pitch to get Neto out on a bad bunt, but Schanuel hooked a soft liner down the third base line for an RBI double. Aaron Boone walked Trout intentionally, and Taylor Ward worked a walk on a full count. But Loaisiga knuckled down to get two soft liners to leave 'em loaded.

- Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 11th with the ghost runner at second, LA manager Ron Washington walked Judge intentionally for the second time of the game to put the winning run on first. Cody Bellinger’s flyout to the warning track in right got the tying run to third, but against the drawn-in infield, Jasson Dominguez's broken bat looper to second saw Paul Goldschmidt cut down at the plate. Down to their final out, Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached on an infield single to second to load the bases.

The Angels brought in Hunter Strickland to face Anthony Volpe, but on the first pitch, he bounced out to third, rolling over on a slider away, to end the game.

- The Yanks had a chance in the first when Ben Rice lofted a single off the end of the bat into center with one down and Judge, coming off a horrendous series in Boston, followed with a rocketed single (109.7 mph) to left. But Bellinger tapped out to second and Giancarlo Stanton, in his first at-bat of the season, hit it hard (101.5 mph), but for an easy 5-3 putout. The three first-inning groundouts were expected, as Angels starter Jose Soriano entered the night with a 67.4 ground ball rate (99th percentile in MLB). 

In seven innings against Soriano, the Yanks hit nine balls with exit velocities of 100 mph or higher, but couldn’t break through as they went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left six on base. He finished with six hits and a walk allowed and six strikeouts.

- The big coring chances after the first: Chisholm roped a line drive (110.4 mph) on the ground that got into the right-center gap for a leadoff double in the second, but advanced no further. He also bounced into a 4-6-3 double play to end the fourth after Stanton notched his first hit of the year, smoking a 3-2 pitch 111.1 mph through the left side of the infield.

Chisholm cracked a single to start the seventh, going with a Soriano pitch on the outside corner. He moved to second on a Volpe sacrifice bunt, but Austin Wells went down swinging on a high 99 mph fastball and DJ LeMahieu grounded out to second.

With two down in the fifth, LeMahieu worked a walk and Grisham singled up the middle, but Rice waved at a knuckle-curve to end the inning. Making the start at first base, Rice was 1-for-3 with two strikeouts.

- Stanton led off the home half of the ninth and rocketed a double (102.9 mph) off Kenley Jansen into the left field corner on a ball that was smashed past the third baseman. With one out and pinch-runner Jasson Dominguez running on the pitch, Volpe's grounder to third saw Luis Rengifo get the ball and tag out Dominguez in one motion. Volpe would steal second on the first pitch to Wells, but he went down swinging on an eye-level 96 mph sinker to send the game to extra innings.

- The Yanks had tough luck in the 10th, after LeMahieu struck out, Grisham drove one to center (101.7 mph) for an out and Goldschmidt (in his second at-bat after pinch-hitting for Rice) just missed ending the game with a 396-foot drive (104.3 mph). It would have been gone in four parks.

-  Judge walloped the first pitch he saw his second time up (110.7 mph, 401 feet), but LA center fielder Jo Adell ranged back and caught the ball on the warning track. The 24-degree launch angle meant the slugger had just a loud, laser beam out despite the .990 xBA. He finished the day 1-for-3 with two intentional walks.

The reigning MVP is now 3-for-20 in his last six games with two solo home runs. His average has gone from .396 to .377. His base hit did give him 100 on the season, the first player to the century mark.

- Bellinger went hitless in five at-bats, and he is now mired in a 4-for-29 funk over his last seven games.

Game MVP: Clarke Schmidt

Schmidt did enough to be a winner, delivering 7.2 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and no walks with three strikeouts on 97 pitches (64 strikes). He has now pitched 18.1 straight innings of scoreless baseball, lowering his ERA to 3.16.

Highlights

Aaron Judge is the first player in MLB to reach 100 hits this season pic.twitter.com/XoJlDgROak

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 16, 2025

Giancarlo Stanton with his first hit of the season pic.twitter.com/juABbdQuZD

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 17, 2025

What's next

The Yanks and Angels are right back in action on Tuesday night with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch.

Right-hander Will Warren (4.84 ERA, 1.365 WHIP in 63 innings) will make his 15th start of the season. He will look to carry over from his last outing against Kansas City, no runs on four hits over 5.2 innings.

The visitors hand the ball to veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks (5.20 ERA, 1.324 WHIP in 71 innings) for his 14th start of the season.

Shohei Ohtani makes Dodgers pitching debut. Here's how he did vs. Padres originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

When Shohei Ohtani stepped onto the mound at Dodger Stadium on Monday night, it was more than just a moment, more than just an average opener, it was history, and the return of the unicorn whose only comparison in MLB history is Babe Ruth.

The ballpark buzzed with electricity and nearly every fan was in their seat ahead of first pitch. That’s something that hadn’t been seen since Game 1 of the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees.

Cameras clicked, hearts thumped, and 56,000 sellout fans packed the Chavez Ravine stands, holding their breath as baseball’s unicorn took the mound for the first time since August 23, 2023, a span of 663 days.

Ohtani’s debut wasn’t perfect, but it also could have gone a lot worse. After not pitching in nearly two years, the Japanese right-hander clearly showed signs of rust and lack of command in his first big league action of the season. 

Ohtani threw 28 pitches in the first inning, with 16 strikes and 12 balls. 

The first batter he faced was Fernando Tatis Jr., and after working the count full, the Padres’ leadoff man hit a bloop single to centerfield on a 99 MPH fastball from Ohtani. 

One throw later, Ohtani’s pitch went to the backstop allowing Tatis Jr. to advance to second. Luis Arraez would eventually hit a single to centerfield putting runers on the corners with no outs. 

But Ohtani worked his way out of the jam. He got Machado to hit a sac fly to center that scored Tatis Jr. on a bang-bang play at the plate. 

He got a groundout from Gavin Sheets thanks to a nice diving play at second base by Tommy Edman, and then got Xander Bogaerts to ground out to third base to end the inning. 

Ohtani’s final line was one inning pitched, with two hits allowed, one earned run, no walks and no strikeouts. His fastest pitch of the night reached triple-digits, a whopping 100 MPH, a good sign that Ohtani is fully recovered from his second Tommy John surgery.

Just one inning. But this wasn’t about numbers. This was about a man doing something no one else alive can do. A two-way superstar, surgically rebuilt, returning from his second Tommy John surgery with the weight of a city—and arguably the entire baseball world—on his shoulders.

He led off the bottom of the first inning and struck out against Padres’ ace Dylan Cease, much to the chagrin of the sold out crowd, but they already witnessed what they came to see: Ohtani back on the mound, pitching for the first time in Dodger blue.

It had been less than 24 hours since the Dodgers dropped the bombshell: Ohtani would pitch Monday. In minutes, ticket prices exploded on the secondary market. A $30 bleacher seat became a $300 golden ticket. Parking lots filled early. Batting practice was a full-house affair. Even the Padres paused to watch him warm up.

The results weren’t perfect, but if there were doubts—about his health, his command, his readiness—they were silenced like a mic drop at center stage. This wasn’t just a warm-up inning. It was a statement. The Dodgers’ $700 million man showed that even after two Tommy Johns, even after nearly two years off the mound, he still has the stuff that turns All-Stars into punchlines.

Ohtani’s return marks a new chapter—not just for him, but for the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and fans across the globe. His presence on the mound, and at the plate, brings a different gravity to the game. A sense that you’re witnessing something that shouldn’t be possible. Like watching Da Vinci paint with both hands at once.

He’s not back to full form yet. Patience will be needed as he builds back up to full strength. One inning at a time, one start at a time. But what he gave us Monday night was a glimpse of the magic. A reminder. A promise.

Shohei Ohtani is a pitcher again.

And the world just got a little more fun.

Kurtz proclaims A's have ‘a lot of season left' after walk-off homer originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Athletics aren’t ruling out a turnaround just yet.

After Nick Kurtz blasted a two-run, walk-off homer to defeat the first-place Houston Astros 3-1 on Monday at Sutter Health Park, the A’s rookie first baseman was ecstatic to have extended their win streak to four games.

“Oh, absolutely,” Kurtz said on “A’s Cast” after the win when Chris Townsend asked if the A’s, with their slew of young stars, have discussed their ability to right the ship this season.

“A lot of season left. A lot of baseball to go. This season is nowhere near over, so we’re just looking to win every single day.”

NICK KURTZ SAYS GOODNIGHT pic.twitter.com/dSlN9kLwVc

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) June 17, 2025

Kurtz returned to the A’s lineup last Monday after a stint on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hip flexor, and since has recorded five hits, two home runs, four RBI and two runs scored. His two homers came in the ninth inning of back-to-back wins, first in the A’s 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday and then to end Monday night’s game.

Nick Kurtz crushes a go-ahead BOMB 💣 pic.twitter.com/DR0cuLH94s

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) June 15, 2025

Kurtz became the fifth-youngest player in A’s franchise history to hit a walk-off homer, per MLB’s Sarah Langs, making the feat all the more extraordinary.

At 22 years & 96 days, Nick Kurtz is the 5th-youngest player in A’s history with a walk-off home run, older than only:

5/14/1928 Jimmie Foxx: 20y, 205d
7/4/2017 Franklin Barreto: 21y, 127d
7/2/1929 Jimmie Foxx: 21y, 253d
8/19/1936 Frankie Hayes: 21y, 311d

h/t @EliasSportshttps://t.co/0P7V3paZEY

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 17, 2025

“I mean, that’s unbelievable,” Kurtz told Townsend and “A’s Cast” co-host Tony Kemp of his two-day offensive onslaught. “I can’t really even put it into words, but glad to get it done for the guys tonight and try to keep that winning streak going. That’s all that matters.”

The A’s top prospect is up to six home runs on the 2025 MLB season since being called up on April 21 and is beginning to find his confidence at the plate — something manager Mark Kotsay certainly is noticing.

“We knew that [Kurtz] can have an impact and be a middle-of-the-order bat,” Kotsay told reporters after the game. “… Everyone wants to put these guys that have success in Triple-A right in the middle of the order and test it out. And I think the progression for him has been slowly moving up in the order — you saw tonight, he was in the five hole. And I think he’s getting a lot more comfortable.

“The at-bats are looking better, and the results are obviously showing up, and tonight was a big, big swing. It felt great for him. You can see there’s more confidence. You can see him kind of, in some form, starting to be a leader in the clubhouse.”

Kurtz is just one of many talented young players who have stepped up this season for the A’s, and with every win, it’s clear they believe they can overcome the recent bout of losing that stifled their hot start to the year. Though they sit 12 games out of first place in the AL West and eight games back from a wild-card spot at 30-44, Kurtz is right — there is plenty of season left.

WATCH: Red Sox' top prospect Roman Anthony records first MLB homer originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Roman Anthony has officially arrived.

Anthony, the Boston Red Sox’ No. 1 prospect and the top-ranked prospect in MLB, recorded his first career home run during Monday’s game against the Seattle Mariners. He took Logan Gilbert deep to right-center field for a solo shot in the first inning:

Someone go get that ball!

Roman Anthony's first Big League dinger! pic.twitter.com/jXNYv7M6BN

— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 17, 2025

Anthony’s first career homer came in the Red Sox’ first game without Rafael Devers, who was traded to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. Ironically, Devers also hit his first MLB homer in Seattle.

With Devers out of the picture, Anthony will be counted on to carry a heavy load in the Red Sox’ lineup. While the 21-year-old has experienced some growing pains so far in his big-league career, all signs point toward him being a player who can help Red Sox fans get the bitter taste of the Devers deal out of their mouths.

The Red Sox entered Monday’s series opener against the Mariners riding a five-game win streak, which included a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees. Boston will look to maintain its momentum in Seattle, especially with a must-watch series against Devers and the Giants starting on Friday.

Kepler, Marsh and sizzling Phillies stay hot in Miami originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh are hotter than they’ve been all season for a Phillies team that has, at times, been desperate for offense from both positions.

Kepler hit a go-ahead solo home run off Sandy Alcantara in the fourth inning Monday night in Miami to extend his hitting streak to six games and the Phillies’ win streak to five. They beat the Marlins, 5-2, and picked up more ground on the idle Mets. The Phils (42-29) were 5½ games back of the Mets as recently as Thursday but now trail by just two with three meetings at Citizens Bank Park this weekend.

Marsh has hit in a seven straight. He tripled with one out in the seventh inning and scored an important third run on a Trea Turner RBI single. He also walked and scored one of the Phillies’ two insurance runs in the top of the ninth. This past week is by far the best Marsh has looked in 2025. He’s 10-for-20 with three extra-base hits and has been squaring up the ball hard, lining singles up the middle and into holes. It’s a promising sign and a reminder of what he can contribute against right-handed pitching.

This is also the sort of production the Phillies hoped they’d receive a bit more consistently from Kepler, who has three homers and two doubles in his last six games. He’s hitting .221/.310/.413 through 213 plate appearances.

“That was my first thought, the at-bats by everyone were really good turning the lineup over,” Turner said over the weekend when the Phillies swept the Blue Jays. “It makes a big difference.””

Turner set the tone again, leading the game off with a homer and piling up three more hits. He leads the National League with 88, four more than Manny Machado and five more than Shohei Ohtani.

It made a winner out of Mick Abel, who is 2-0 with a 2.21 ERA through four starts. After three homers and three walks his last time out against the Cubs, Abel bounced back with five innings of one-run ball against one of baseball’s three worst offenses.

Abel’s only difficult inning was the bottom of the second, when he walked Liam Hicks on a borderline full-count pitch with two outs and a man on third base. The next batter, Connor Norby, also ran a deep count and singled in the Marlins’ only run.

Manager Rob Thomson lifted Abel after five innings and 77 pitches, perhaps cognizant of how much the Phillies will need to rely on the rookie this summer without Aaron Nola.

Taijuan Walker, Jordan Romano, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering finished off the win. Kerkering is the seventh different Phillie to earn a save this season and it was the first of his big-league career. He went 1-2-3 and has been close to lights-out for a month.

The streaking Phillies look to make it six in a row on Tuesday behind Jesus Luzardo, who is coming off a 10-strikeout gem after making adjustments to his glove positioning to limit pitch-tipping.

How Craig Breslow and Sam Kennedy addressed Rafael Devers trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and president/CEO Sam Kennedy addressed the media on Monday, more than 24 hours after trading veteran slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in a widely criticized move.

“Alignment” was the word of the night. Breslow and Kennedy used the word numerous times to describe Devers and the front office being on different pages since the team asked him to move from third base to designated hitter in spring training. The relationship worsened when Devers was asked to play first base in the wake of Triston Casas’ season-ending injury.

Devers was traded after the Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees at Fenway Park, giving them eight wins in their last 10 games. The timing of the move was questionable, as it killed the good vibes surrounding the club and potentially resulted in Boston getting a worse return than it would have received had it waited until next month’s trade deadline.

So, how did Breslow and Kennedy explain the controversial decision to trade Devers? Here were the highlights from Monday night’s press conference:

How does the trade help the Red Sox for 2025?

Breslow made the bold claim that the Red Sox may finish with a better record as a result of trading Devers.

“I understand why the initial reaction would be that it would be tough to sit here and say, when you move a player of Raffy’s caliber, how could I sit here and say that we’re a better team? I acknowledge that on paper, we’re not gonna have the same lineup that we did, but this isn’t about the game that is played on paper. This is about the game that is played on the field and ultimately about winning the most games that we can,” Breslow said.

“I think when you consider the flexibility, the ability to give some of the young players some run … I do think there’s a real chance that at the end of the season, we’re looking back and we’ve won more games than we otherwise would have.”

Was there a mandate to offload Devers’ entire contract?

The Giants took on the remaining $254 million on Devers’ contract. Was Breslow required to dump all of Devers’ contract to facilitate a deal?

“There was no mandate,” Breslow said. “The mandate is to assemble the best team that we possibly could. In order to do that, we needed to create a more functional roster and give certain guys more playing time, be able to rotate through the DH spot, potentially match up there. … Additionally, I do think it gives us some resources as we head toward the deadline.”

What led to Devers being traded in the second season of his 10-year contract?

“In the end, I think it’s pretty clear that we couldn’t find alignment with Raffy, is the truth,” Kennedy said. “We all worked at it over the last several months, going back to the offseason. … We worked at it, we had a different vision for him going forward than he had, and we couldn’t get there. We couldn’t find alignment, and we reached that inflection point and made the decision to make a big move.”

Why was the move made now and not closer to the trade deadline or in the offseason?

The timing of the Devers deal was questionable, especially with the trade deadline just over a month away. Boston likely could have gotten a better return if it waited for a bidding war around the deadline or in the offseason, so why make the trade now?

“I think we rightfully set a really high bar to execute a trade of this magnitude,” Breslow said. We did have conversations with other clubs, we got a sense for the way they might behave, whether it was today or a few weeks from now.

“It’s not that this was the best deal that we could get, because the best deal that we could get may not necessarily be good enough to trade a player like Raffy Devers. But when you consider all of the factors here, this is the one that made sense, this is the path that we went down, and so we ended up where we did.”

What happened during Devers’ meeting with John Henry?

Breslow, Kennedy, and team owner John Henry flew to Kansas City for a face-to-face meeting with Devers last month after the three-time All-Star declined to move to first base.

“That meeting was full of candor, openness, honesty between both John and Raffy,” Kennedy said. “Bres has had many discussions with Raffy, I’ve had discussions with Raffy, AC’s (Alex Cora) had discussions with Raffy that have been candid, honest, direct. We just weren’t able to get there on a shared vision for his role going forward. It’s OK. This sometimes happens in a long-term relationship, and we hopefully did the absolute best thing in the best interest of the Boston Red Sox and in this case in Raffy Devers.”

Did Devers ask to be traded?

“There were times during the course of conversations with Raffy’s camp where they had indicated perhaps a fresh start would be best for both sides,” Breslow said.

Why do the Red Sox keep trading generational talents? (Mookie Betts and now Devers)

“Each and every player decision is its own individual decision,” Kennedy said. “I’ll put our record up against anybody else’s in Major League Baseball over the last 24 years. We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built here. We’ve got more trophies and banners to show for it than any other organization in Major League Baseball. We are so proud of that.”

Is this an admission that extending Devers was a mistake?

The Red Sox signed Devers to a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension before the 2023 season.

“We thought we had alignment back when we made the contract a couple years ago when we did the deal. Ultimately, we did not. We’re responsible for that. … We had certain expectations that went with that contract, and when we came to the conclusion that we did not have a full alignment, we moved on.”

You can watch the full press conference below:

LIVE with Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow: https://t.co/7emUEm421p

— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 17, 2025

Ron Taylor, a reliever on the Mets' 1969 World Series championship team, died on Monday at the age of 87 after a lengthy illness, the club announced.

Taylor, who pitched for the Mets from 1967-71, appeared in 269 regular-season games, posting a 3.04 ERA and a 1.144 WHIP with 50 saves in a New York uniform.

He led the Mets with 59 appearances and 13 saves in 1969, pitching to a 2.72 ERA. He also earned a save in Game 2 of the 1969 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles.

The right-hander pitched for five teams – Cleveland, St. Louis, Houston, New York, and San Diego – during his 11-year career in the majors, posting a career 3.93 ERA.

After his playing days ended, Taylor went on to become the team physician for the Toronto Blue Jays, a role he served for more than 30 years.

Jake Cousins’ 2025 season is over before it ever began, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Monday that the right-hander is set to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Cousins, who had been on a rehab assignment while recovering from a right elbow flexor strain and then later battling pectoral discomfort, will have the procedure performed on Wednesday, finishing his season and likely keeping him off the mound for a good chunk of the 2026 season as well.

It’s been a nightmare year for the right-hander, who came into spring training with a forearm strain that landed him on the 60-Day IL to start the regular season. Then, his rehab assignment was recently paused after he "felt some stuff in his elbow," according to Boone.

While the 30-year-old Cousins did not pitch in the big leagues this season, he proved to be a valuable bullpen arm in 2024 after being acquired in a March 31 trade with the White Sox for cash considerations. In 37 appearances last season, Cousins pitched to a 2.37 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP.

The 2025 MLB All-Star Game is just under a month away, and for the first time in his time with the Mets, Francisco Lindor appears primed to make the National League's starting lineup.

With the first update on the initial phase of voting now public, Lindor has received 1,019,273 votes, nearly double the number of the next closest shortstop, Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts (597,188).

Lindor – with 13 doubles, 14 home runs, and a .279/.353/.475 slashline for an .828 OPS – is the lone Mets position player to be in first for their position.

Juan Soto is closest to grabbing a starting spot, as he is fourth among outfielders with 625,618 votes, behind the Chicago Cubs' duo of Pete Crow-Armstrong (1,126,119) and Kyle Tucker (704,740) and Los Angeles's Teoscar Hernández (685,553).

Pete Alonso (895,900) is also close on the heels of the Dodgers' Freddie Freeman (1,136,389) to be the NL's starter at first base.

While the fan voting is a popularity contest and not always necessarily about statistics, it is tough to find much distance between Alonso and Freeman.

Entering Monday night New York's slugger has 22 doubles, 17 home runs, and 63 RBI with a .293/.390/.579 slashline for a .960 OPS (174 OPS+ and 169 wRC+). LA's man has 21 doubles, nine home runs, and 41 RBI with a .336/.409/.558 slash line for a .967 OPS (173 OPS+ and a 168 wRC+).

What about the Yankees?

No surprise for the team from the Bronx: Aaron Judge received the most votes for any player in the majors and has more than double the votes for any AL outfielder with 1,568,527 (He is 169,756 votes ahead of Shohei Ohtani for the most votes overall).

Even after a rough series in Boston, the reigning MVP has done nothing but prove to be one of the most feared hitters in the game as he has 17 doubles, 26 home runs, and 60 RBI, with a .378/.473/.756 slashline for a 1.228 OPS (238 OPS+ and 236 wRC+).

The Yanks also have Paul Goldschmidt (667,258) in first place at first base, just ahead of Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (615, 726).

Ben Rice (232,331) is in second place for DH behind Baltimore's Ryan O'Hearn (353,029). (Rafael Devers led American League DHs with 796,382 votes, but those votes are moot after the Red Sox shipped him off to the Giants on Sunday.)

First-year Yank Cody Bellinger (416,858) is in sixth place among outfielders, but just under 60,000 votes behind the Angels' Mike Trout (475,265), who occupies the third and final outfield slot.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. (250,416) is fourth for AL second baseman, which is currently led by ex-Yank and current Detroit Tiger Gleyber Torres (535,079).

***

The player who winds up as the top vote-getter at each position before phase 1 of voting ends on June 26 will receive an automatic spot on the All-Star team, while the second-highest vote-getter at each position advances to phase 2 of voting (June 30-July 2).

The reserves and pitchers on the team will be determined by the player ballot, which means deserving Mets and Yankees can get in that way if they aren't voted in by the fans.

Each team will have 32 players (20 position players and 12 pitchers, which includes at least three relievers).

The game will take place at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 15.

Bombshell report sheds light on Breslow's dysfunctional front office originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Was the Boston Red Sox’ stunning Rafael Devers trade the result of dysfunction within Craig Breslow’s front office?

Breslow, Boston’s chief baseball officer since Oct. 2023, traded Devers to the San Francisco Giants amid a strained relationship with the veteran slugger. Devers called out Breslow after being asked to play first base earlier this season, when he had already reluctantly moved from third base to designated hitter.

Apparently, Devers wasn’t the only member of the organization miffed by Breslow’s approach to baseball operations. On Monday, a revealing Yahoo Sports report from Joon Lee detailed how the Red Sox front office has “lost cohesion” under Breslow’s leadership. One example cited in Lee’s report was Breslow’s firing of a longtime scouting supervisor for insulting him during a team Zoom meeting.

Read the excerpt from Lee’s piece below:

“Meanwhile, Breslow has grown increasingly insulated. Multiple sources within the organization describe a front office losing cohesion. Staffers who helped build four championship teams — veterans of the Theo Epstein, Ben Cherington, Dave Dombrowski and Bloom regimes — now feel shut out of the operation. The collaborative spirit that once defined Red Sox baseball operations has frayed.

“The discontent intensified in May 2024, when Breslow brought in sports consulting firm Sportsology to conduct an organizational audit. The stated purpose was to streamline baseball operations. In practice, it triggered a wave of firings and accelerated the marginalization of some of the longest-tenured voices in the building, “characterizing the cultural shift to align more with Wall Street efficiency.

“One of the clearest signals came during an internal team Zoom meeting earlier this season. Toward the end, Carl Moesche — the Red Sox’s scouting supervisor and a team employee since 2017 — thought the call had ended. It hadn’t. As the meeting wrapped, his voice cut through a quiet moment.

‘”Thanks, Bres, you f***ing stiff,’ Moesche said, according to two team sources.“

Lee’s report also states that Breslow and manager Alex Cora “have not seen eye-to-eye on the direction of the team.” The coaching staff has “grown frustrated with the state of player development, specifically how much emphasis is placed on swing mechanics and hitting data, often at the expense of fundamentals.”

You can read the full report here.

Breslow, a former MLB relief pitcher, played for the Red Sox in 2006 and 2012-15. He joined the Chicago Cubs front office in 2019 and was promoted to assistant general manager in 2020. After the 2023 season, he replaced Chaim Bloom as the Red Sox’ front-office leader.

So far, Breslow hasn’t done much to convince the Fenway Faithful that he’s an improvement over Bloom. The Red Sox stayed mediocre at 81-81 last season and are an uninspiring 37-36 this year. Now, like his predecessor, Breslow’s tenure will likely be remembered for trading a face of the franchise.

Without Devers, the Red Sox will begin a three-game series in Seattle on Monday night. They will start a three-game series in San Francisco against Devers and the Giants starting on Friday.