NEW YORK, NY - JULY 17: The New York Yankees talk before the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 17, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers and Yankees continue their weekend series in The Bronx on Saturday night.
Emmet Sheehan takes the ball for Los Angeles, while left-hander Ryan Weathers starts for the Yankees. The Dodgers are 18-10 in games started by opposing southpaws this season.
The middle game of the series will have Joe Davis on the call, as he was on Friday. Only this time instead of SportsNet LA, he’ll call the exclusive Fox broadcast.
It’s unclear whether the Padres will be buyers or sellers at the MLB trade deadline, but there is a general consensus president of baseball operations A.J. Preller will orchestrate a wild deal.
Entering Friday’s game against the Royals, the Padres were 3 ½ games out of an NL wild-card spot. Depending on how the next two weeks unfold for San Diego, the front office will decide which route to go.
Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller will decide what direction the team goes at the trade deadline. The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images
If the Padres choose to sell at the Aug. 3 deadline, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the team is open to trading a number of its stars.
“Multiple sources said the Padres have not ruled out anything, including the possibility of trading closer Mason Miller, high-leverage lefty Adrian Morejón or [Michael] King,” Acee wrote.
Padres closer Mason Miller could be traded at the deadline. AP Photo/Matt Rourke
King was also dealt to San Diego in the trade that sent Juan Soto to the Yankees in 2023. The right-hander is sporting a 3.41 ERA with 92 strikeouts across 108.1 innings pitched. He has a 6-7 record this season.
King’s mark is similar to his 3.44 ERA in 2025, a season that was headlined by injuries for the pitcher.
Morejon is the only hurler of the trio who wasn’t acquired via trade. The Padres signed the reliever as an international free agent from Cuba. The lefty has posted a 3.42 ERA, which is far higher than his 2.08 ERA last season.
Padres ace Michael King could be traded at the deadline if San Diego’s season is lost. Getty Images
Miller is baseball’s best closer, and it would certainly be tough for San Diego to lose such a talented star. However, the Padres have endured a rough season, and things can’t continue as they are.
Preller has largely operated under the element of surprise, so the Padres shouldn’t be underestimated heading into the trade deadline.
Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani is expected to pitch Wednesday against the Phillies. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Shohei Ohtani was at the top of the Dodgers’ lineup Friday against the New York Yankees, five days after receiving an injection in his left knee. And he’s penciled in to pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.
Ohtani received an orthovisc shot in his knee to lubricate the joint and relieve irritation, manager Dave Roberts said, and did not have it drained.
“It gives him some relief in his knee which we were hoping to get,” Roberts said. “Then the four days off with no activity which gives it a chance to settle in.”
Ohtani was expected to be in the lineup for all three games against the Yankees. He planned to play catch and throw off the mound in the coming days, and the team would monitor his response before finalizing pitching plans.
Taking the mound Wednesday would give Ohtani more recovery time heading into the team’s day off. When asked if Ohtani would shoulder two-way duties Wednesday, Roberts said, “We’ll see when we get there.”
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hits his 300th career home run against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on July 7. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
When it isn’t possible to have Ohtani pitch before a day off, Roberts would like to rest him the following day.
“It’s all contingent on how his knee is feeling,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s second-half workload. “I think we are certainly more prepared to back off on the workload if it calls for it. But Shohei wants to be out there as much as he possibly can.”
Asked if Ohtani would need offseason surgery, Roberts said: “I would highly doubt that.”
Coming out of the break, the Dodgers shuffled their rotation to have Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Yoshinobu Yamamoto face the Yankees in that order.
That leaves left-handed starters Eric Lauer and Justin Wrobleski (not necessarily in that order), to face the Phillies before Ohtani would take the mound.
Smith shut down
The Dodgers are shutting down catcher Will Smith from all baseball activities for a week as he continues to deal with a lingering neck injury. That pushes his return timeline back to at least August, if not later.
“It was flaring up, wasn’t recovering — however you want to word it,” Roberts said. “He didn’t feel like he was making any improvement.”
Smith has been sidelined since early June because of what he described as an inflamed disk. He initially treated it with rest and then an injection. But it still was bothering him during his latest buildup.
“I talked to the trainer, Thomas [Albert], today and he said that Will doesn’t feel any pain,” Roberts said. “Now with that, I think we’re in a much better spot.”
Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernández (strained left oblique) was set to begin a rehab assignment with triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday. And left-hander Blake Snell was scheduled to take the mound for two innings Saturday in his first minor-league rehab start since undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow.
Air quality concerns
The MLB schedule got off to a smoky start out of the All-Star break. With wildfires in Canada raising air-quality concerns in the Northeast and Midwest on Thursday, the New York Mets’ game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia was moved up an hour.
The smoke cleared over Yankee Stadium on Friday afternoon.
“I know that the players got a players’ union text that says it’s a full go,” Roberts said. “They feel good about it. The league feels good. I haven’t heard anything otherwise.”
2027 schedule
With a lockout widely expected to start Dec. 1 and no guarantee of an agreement in time to preserve the 2027 season, take MLB’s schedule announcement Thursday with a grain of salt.
Should collective bargaining negotiations wrap up in time, however, the Dodgers are set to open the season at Dodger Stadium on March 25 against the Atlanta Braves.
They end the season on the road, facing a pair of division rivals in the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks from Sept. 21-26.
Here's the latest Yankees news and buzz ahead of the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline...
July 17, 7:12 p.m.
The Yankees are in need of a catcher at the trade deadline and while Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins seems like an obvious target, the Bombers have checked in with the Rockies about their backstop.
According to ESPN's Jorge Castillo, the Yankees have called about catcher Hunter Goodman, although it was not recently.
Goodman would provide that right-handed production from the catcher's spot that the Yankees have been missing all season. Goodman, 26, is batting .254 with 27 home runs and an .863 OPS in 90 games with the Rockies.
As Castillo points out, it will likely take a lot for the Yankees to acquire Goodman, who has club control for another three years.
The Mets "have no desire to pay down contracts" like they did in their 2023 MLB trade deadline deals that sent right-handed pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander for more than $85 million, according to a report Friday by SNY contributor Jim Duquette.
"The Mets have been telling teams that, unlike the '23 deadline where they took on over $85 million to move the Scherzer and Verlander contracts for better prospects, they have no desire to pay down contracts to that extreme at this year’s deadline," Duquette wrote Friday on X.
SNY MLB insider Chelsea Janes reported Thursday that the Mets "informed teams they're open for business" entering this year's trade deadline, which is Aug. 3 at 6 p.m.
"A rival executive said the Mets informed their team that the sale is on, and that everyone but young stars Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Christian Scott, Nolan McLean and the obvious, Juan Soto,isavailable," Janes wrote. "That doesn't mean everyone will go. But it means the Mets will listen on just about everyone, which is in keeping with what people familiar with their thinking have signaled for weeks."
SNY manager of editorial production Danny Abriano opined Thursday which Mets could be on the move, a list led by right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta.
"A pending free agent, Peralta could be the most established and highest-upside starting pitcher available at the deadline if the Tigers don't deal Tarik Skubal," Abriano wrote. "Peralta's poor season to this point shouldn't be a hindrance when it comes to the Mets getting something of serious value back."
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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 14: Junior Caminero #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays is hit by a pitch during the third inning of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park on July 14, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) | Getty Images
San Diego Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Officially, the second half of the 2026 season begins for the San Diego Padres with a 10-game road trip. The gauntlet includes playing two of the top National League East foes (Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins) after a weekend series against the Kansas City Royals.
This might sound like a daunting task, but the Padres have a chance to put themselves back into the postseason chase. Currently, they trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by a whopping 12-and-a-half games in the NL West standings. But the Friars are only three-and-a-half games behind the Marlins for the final Wild Card berth.
We cannot expect a total collapse from the two-time World Series champs, but chasing down the Fish seems like a reasonable goal.
Here is what to expect from the Padres in the second half:
Get Jake Cronenworth healthy
One of the surprises before the All-Star break was the return of Jake Cronenworth to the starting lineup. Barring any physical setbacks, he will play second base and hit ninth in the batting order.
The Friars need his left-handed stick, as getting the stagnant offense going is of great importance right now. We have seen throughout the season that the team’s best hitters can go cold for long stretches.
Even Manny Machado is experiencing the worst hitting slump of his major league career. Adding Cronenworth to the mix should allow the lineup to get back on track and score runs.
But to achieve postseason aspirations, the Padres need Cro sharp at the plate.
Do not play Freddy Fermin until concussion-free
Playing through injuries is expected from those who put on the tools of ignorance. But the number of catchers sustaining a concussion has grown at an alarming rate this season.
Everyone should be worried about the amount of time Freddy Fermin has spent in concussion protocol this season. We need to get him healthy before he begins playing in the second half of the season.
Concussions are lingering injuries that stay with a sufferer for an extended time. Even if Fermin has passed all the protocol testing, a few extra days out of the lineup will not hurt.
The position’s offensive production has been non-existent all season, but Fermin is an outstanding defensive catcher. The Friars will need his experience to call a game if they expect to move up the standings.
Trust the starting rotation
Let’s stop fooling ourselves; the Padres starting rotation is in shambles. No question, injuries have forced constant change, but the days of juggling starting pitchers in and out of the rotation are over. Team skipper Craig Stammen has to play the cards he was dealt.
Sorry, the Friar Faithful are tired of waiting for Joe Musgrove to make his season debut or the return of Nick Pivetta to the rotation. Their replacements failed to live up to expectations. They struggled with consistency and could not stop opponents from putting runs on the scoreboard.
The second half will begin with Michael King, Griffin Canning, and German Marquez in the opening series against the Royals. Each pitcher is rested and should be sharp for their first start after the All-Star break. Stammen needs to show confidence and allow each starter to work out of potential jams.
The Friars have a grueling road trip ahead, and the club needs quality starts from their starting rotation.
The chase is just starting, but do not plan any postseason viewing parties just yet. The Padres will have to put their foot on the accelerator because it is time to gain some ground in the standings.
All the Friar Faithful want is for the team to be in a position to contend.
Jun 26, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) delivers during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
The Dodgers (61-36) open the second half of the season with a three-game series against the Yankees (54-42) in New York.
Roki Sasaki (3-5, 5.33 ERA, 1.66 WHIP) looks to find consistency in the second part of the season.
Gerrit Cole (3-4, 4.04 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) starts for the Yankees.
Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas will have a lot on their shoulders in the second half of the season.
With the All-Star break now behind us, it’s back to the grind of the MLB season. In what can only be described as the shock of the season, the Chicago White Sox enter the second half of the season tied for first atop the AL Central. With 67 games left, the final push for the playoffs starts now.
The first team to be tasked with testing the White Sox is the Toronto Blue Jays. When these two teams met at the beginning of the season, the White Sox made a statement by sweeping Toronto over the three-game series, outscoring the Blue Jays, 14-7. Now, judging by how the two teams have fared since that series, that matchup looks more like an early indication of how the two teams would play out the season.
To say the Blue Jays have been undergoing a World Series appearance hangover would be an understatement. The team that fell just two outs short of a championship now find itself in dead-last in the AL East. To start the second half of the season, they’re throwing out Spencer Miles.
Miles made his MLB debut earlier this season for the Blue Jays after being acquired by the San Francisco Giants in last year’s Rule 5 draft. He’s mostly been used as a long reliever this year, but has started three games so far as an “opener.” On the season, Miles has been on an absolute tear after a difficult start: He comes into this game with an 2.85 ERA and a 4-1 record. Miles is a pitcher who prides himself on limiting damage when he does allow runs, as he has allowed more than two scores in just two of his 26 outings.
Looking more at his “stuff” as a pitcher, Miles leans heavily on a sinker and curveball combo, as he throws one of those two pitches 67% of the time. He doesn’t get batters to chase or whiff very often, but he does limit hard hits and not many batters are able to barrel anything up on his pitches. Due to his low ability to get guys to swing and miss, if Miles isn’t able to locate his pitches as he wants he can open himself up to some damage.
As for the White Sox, they are throwing out none other than Anthony Kay. After a sensational month of May and a bad June, Kay has steadied the ship a bit in July. In his two starts, against the Cleveland Guardians and Boston Red Sox, Kay has allowed just three earned runs in just a shade more than nine innings. It’s also important to remember that Kay was terrific in his start against the Guardians, allowing just one hit over four innings, until the rain delay ended his night early.
With both the White Sox and Guardians having relatively easy schedules to start the second half of the season, it’s crucial for the South Siders to win each and every time out as they no longer have a margin for error. With their team healthy and the Blue Jays still beaten up with some injuries to key players, there is no excuse for the White Sox to not take this series.
Here is the starting lineup for your Chicago White Sox:
Here is the starting lineup for the Toronto Blue Jays:
First pitch is 6:15 p.m. CST. You can watch on Apple TV or listen on ESPN Chicago 1000. Let us know your thoughts and predictions below!
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 12: Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres is congratulated in the dugout after scoring a run during the second inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Petco Park on July 12, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Diego Padres finally managed to win a series, pushing past the Toronto Blue Jays to take their first series in July. After an 8-7 comeback win on Saturday night, the Friars pulled off the same feat with a 5-4 comeback on Sunday afternoon. Those wins gave their offense some much needed momentum heading into the All-Star break.
The Padres desperately need a consistent turnaround. Now is the time to do it. San Diego has a 10-game road trip with no off days before returning to Petco Park on July 28. That’s six days before the Trade Deadline on Aug. 3. There’s an abundance of speculation on how the Friars will approach the deadline this year. The next 10 games will make or break the rest of San Diego’s season.
Taking the mound
Seth Lugo (KC) v. Michael King (SD)
Lugo has been stabilizer in years past for the Kansas City Royals. That has not been the case this season. Lugo has struggled toward a 4.56 ERA alongside a 6.68 ERA across his last 33 2/3 innings. That line is primarily due to the righty’s fall off after a hot start to the year.
The Royals themselves have struggled, mostly regressing after a solid but uninspiring 2025 campaign. The offense looks rough, but the rotation has been worse. Lugo has been part of an overall regression from Kansas City’s starting pitchers. The Padres will look to add to those troubles.
King had been looking for a bounce back and seems to have found it. After surrendering four runs in as many innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers, King has given up just three runs across his last 12 innings pitched. The right-hander’s command has been excellent lately, and he’ll look to follow it up against the Royals.
The majority of Kansas City’s lineup has seen King minimally. The only batter with 10 or more at-bats against the righty is veteran catcher Salvador Perez. The backstop owns a career .200 batting average against King. San Diego’s ace will hope to limit the rest of the Royals similarly on Friday night.
Batter up!
The lineup has looked healthy over the last few games, but the Padres have yet to prove consistency in their offense. Their final two games against Toronto showed that San Diego still has some grit in them, with back-to-back comeback wins against the Jays. If the Friars can show that fight through the second half of the year, they’ll be well on their way to the playoffs.
Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
Jackson Merrill, CF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Manny Machado, 3B
Gavin Sheets, LF
Ty France, 1B
Miguel Andujar, DH
Luis Campusano, C
Jake Cronenworth, 2B
Expect Andujar and Sheets to play a big role on offense tonight. Both have a batting average over .300 and an OPS over 1.000 in their careers versus Lugo. France and Merrill do as well, but the former duo has more experience against Kansas City’s right-hander (18 combined at-bats).
Relief corps
The entire bullpen will be available with the series opener being the first game back from the All-Star break. That said, Wandy Peralta was placed on the bereavement list Wednesday afternoon. The Padres recalled Jhony Brito from Triple-A to fill out their ‘pen.
The rest of the available relievers will be made up of Kyle Hart, Ron Marinaccio, Yuki Matsui, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, Bradgley Rodriguez and Matt Waldron. Brito and Waldron will figure to cover multiple innings as both have worked as starters and bulk relief pitchers.
ATLANTA, GA - JUNE 02: A detailed view of the custom Nike cleats worn by Kazuma Okamoto (7) of the Toronto Blue Jays during the Tuesday evening MLB game between the Atlanta Braves and the Toronto Blue Jays on June 2, 2026 at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
I’m busy all day today, so getting a Game Thread together early in case I can’t get to it later.
Lineups haven’t been announce yet.
Spencer Miles (4-1, 2.85) and former Jay Anthony Kay (6-4, 4.23). I wonder if they can push Miles thru five innings? At least the pen is rested.
Hopefully some time off did the hitters some good too.
Jun 4, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) looks on during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Mady Mertens-Imagn Images | Mady Mertens-Imagn Images
We’re back with Braves baseball. Let’s see if the Braves can take a dub and start off hot. First things first, the offense needs to step up. And consistency has to come through as well.
The Braves aren’t too far off from being great. They’re just missing pieces that need to be combined to get past slumps and find consistent success. Starting with tonight, we’ll see what version of the Braves we’re going to get.
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 03: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium on July 3, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Two World Series contenders coming off sweeps before the All-Star break will meet at Yankee Stadium for a three-game weekend set to begin the second half. There’s just one thing: the Dodgers weren’t the ones doing the sweeping in their last series at home against the Diamondbacks, suffering their first dusting of the season. It’s not the same because of the down period in between these two, but this scenario brings forward the age-old question: Is it actually a good thing to play a strong team coming off a difficult period, or will they only be hungrier because of it? I guess we’ll find out.
Both teams took longer than we would’ve liked to announce their respective starters for this series, and the first of three matchups will pit Gerrit Cole and Roki Sasaki against each other. Acknowledging the differing levels of expectations for each of these starters, one might be right in affirming they’ve both been disappointing this season—Cole not as sharp coming off a lengthy absence as the Yankees would’ve liked and needed him to be, and Sasaki dealing with yet another choppy campaign trying to establish himself as a starter—taking one step forward, two steps back. Things may not always be this simple, but the fact that both of these starters have losing records playing for some of the winningest teams in each league is quite telling.
What has hurt both of these starters, in particular Sasaki, has been his inability to keep the ball in the yard. In his last two starts alone, Sasaki has given up five home runs—music to the ears of hitters for a lineup that leads baseball in home runs (142), the Yankees. Although lefties and righties have both taken him deep often enough, right-handers have given Sasaki far bigger problems overall, with an .886 OPS against him.
This will be the Dodgers’ first trip to the Bronx since embarrassing the Yankees in the Game 5 clincher of the 2024 World Series. Cole was obviously on the mound for that as well, his last start before undergoing Tommy John surgery, but the starting lineup behind him will be quite different than it was back then. Since Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are injured (they had an update on Judge today) and Anthony Volpe is on the bench (as Trent Grisham was back then), the only lineup overlaps are Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second and Austin Wells behind the plate. None of the relievers who follow him today are still on the team, either. So it’s quite a different group, but no doubt one still eager for the challenge of beating LA.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES, SportsNet LA, MLB Network (National)
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, Dodgers Radio AM 570, KTNQ 1020
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 19, 2026: Lucas Spence #46 of the Houston Astros bats during the fifth inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Miami Marlins at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on March 19, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
Today, the Astros announced the following roster moves:
Teng had been sidelined with a right knee sprain, though he also admitted to some arm fatigue as well. He has been on IL retroactive to June 28. Teng will transition to a bullpen role going forward.
In 23 appearances including 10 starts, Teng is 4-6 this season with a 4.36 ERA and 1.36 WHIP.
Spence, 23, has moved through both Double-A and Triple-A this season. He will be making his major league debut tonight in centerfield. In 63 combined minor league games this season, Spence is batting .258 with a .353 OBP and .776 OPS. He has 6 HR and 44 RBI, with 13 doubles and 13 SB. The lefthanded-hitting Spence is the Astros #10 overall prospect according to MLB.com.
Matthews injured his knee July 12 crashing into the outfield wall in Arlington against the Rangers. Matthews has batted .197 this season with a .250 OBP and .582 OPS, with 7 HR and 22 RBI. Matthews numbers have been greatly impacted by his extreme home-road splits.
On the road this season, Matthews is batting .260 with a .328 OBP and .759 OPS in 123 AB. However, his numbers at Daikin Park are incomprehensively poor. At home, Matthews is batting .106 with a .126 OBP and .315 OPS in 85 AB.
