Category: MLB

Like everyone else, Paul Blackburn was following the Yankees’ moves at the trade deadline. He heard the noise about them potentially adding arms to the bullpen. 

It didn’t happen. 

“The trade deadline is always a weird time. As players, you do what you need to do. I feel like, as a whole down there, we’ve all thrown the ball really well,” the veteran right-hander, who has emerged as a key piece to the bullpen, told The Post. “We feed off each other, we give each other a lot of confidence down there, just a really tight group. For us, it’s about taking the ball and getting outs.” 

“I think [the front office is] confident in our group and we’re all confident in our group to go out and get the job done.” 

General manager Brian Cashman was active at the deadline, but only added offensive help in Heliot Ramos from the Giants and Luis García Jr. from the Nationals. There were no additions made to the bullpen, although there will be reinforcements of some kind at some point. 

The expectation is that when Clarke Schmidt returns from Tommy John surgery, it will be as a reliever.

And once Carlos Rodón is back from the injured list — he makes his first rehabilitation start Saturday — either Ryan Weathers or Will Warren will be moved to the pen. 

For now, the onus is on the current group. That is led by closer David Bednar and surprising success stories Brent Headrick and Blackburn, along with up-and-down righty Fernando Cruz.

The Yankees pen has the best ERA in the sport at 3.33, and over the last 55 games, that number is down to 2.56. 

Blackburn could turn out to be pretty important, not only because of how well he has pitched — he has a 2.02 ERA in 41 games — but because of his experience making the transition.

He can be a sounding board for the starters making the change.

When he made the move last year, Luke Weaver helped him significantly. 

“There is a little bit of challenge there, just going through it,” he said. “It’s still pitching, but it is different, as far as mentality and your day-to-day, things like that. 

“I feel like in the game now you see a lot of starters going to the pen and pen guys going back to starting. There’s a lot of guys that have gone through it, that can help each other out.” 

Time, once again, for the Most Important Game™ in the Most Important Series of the Year™ – collect the set! Hyperbole aside, last night’s unexpected demolition job of Casey Mize in his Padres debut has made this one more a “nice to win” than a “must win” for the Diamondbacks. Worst case scenario, a loss would split the four-game series and leave us exactly in the same spot against the Padres as we were going in: one game up, and with the season series even. The plus side = four games fewer on the schedule for San Diego to overtake us. The down side = any tiebreaker will be determined at Petco, by the final series of the season from September 25-27.

A win would thus be helpful. It’d leave us three games clear of any team in the wild-card race, and additionally, give us a 6-4 advantage in the season series, with those three left to play. San Diego would therefore need to sweep Arizona at Petco to own the tiebreaker, if that were to come into operation. Oh, it’d also put the D-backs 7.5 games back of the Dodgers. That’s still some way, but considering Los Angeles were 14 games up less than a month ago, on July 8… You have to go back to June 14 to find their lead that small. But I won’t be getting excited until Fangraphs shows odds for them winning the division considerably less than the current 99.4%. Mind you, it was literally 100% a month ago.

A couple of thoughts on Mitch Bratt’s stellar performance last night. As already noted, at 81, it was the highest Game Score by a pitcher his age or younger in franchise history. That broke a record which had stood for over 13 years, being set by Tyler Skaggs in 2013, when he threw eight shutout innings against the Rockies. Asterisk there, of course, with it being the Rockies. Though at the point, they were merely bad, rather than being Teh Suck. Also, Bratt struck out nine of the 24 batters he faced. That equaled his K total for the entire month of July, when he faced 85 batters. It made a strong case for why he should remain in the rotation when Michael Soroka returns. Over to you, Kohl Drake…

The Los Angeles Angels traded five players at Major League Baseball’s trade deadline — Zach Neto wasn’t one of them.

The 25-year-old remains under team control for three more seasons after the conclusion of the 2026 campaign, which is part of the reason the Angels didn’t part ways with Neto this summer.

So, does that mean the Angels intend to build around Neto for the foreseeable future?

Neto wouldn’t answer, according to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger.

“But Neto wouldn’t say if the front office led by interim general manager John Mozeliak gave him any assurances that they plan to build around him going forward and not trade him this offseason,” Bollinger writes.

There’s no telling whether the Angels plan to trade him once the season ends, but Neto’s silence speaks volumes.

However, his name being brought up in trade rumors wasn’t the only thing Neto had to worry about this summer. Since mid-July, the infielder has endured a brutal slump at the plate.

In the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles, Neto hit his first home run since July 5. The three-run dinger powered the Angels to a 4-1 win.

Prior to Thursday’s performance, Neto had struggled the last 10 games. He averaged .125 with no extra-base hits, one RBI, 16 strikeouts and a .330 OPS.

Neto’s future in Los Angeles remains uncertain even with the deadline over, but it’s clear the Angels are in rebuild mode.

For now, Neto appears to be breaking out of his offensive slump after a tough few weeks leading up to Aug. 3.

CLEVELAND — Carson Benge’s bid for a home run in each game of this series fell a few feet short with his shot off the fence in left-center in Thursday’s third inning. 

But it didn’t change the fact the rookie outfielder is on a tear. 

That RBI triple was part of a 3-for-6 day for Benge, who helped lead the 13-6 victory over the Guardians. 

Benge’s three-hit game was his ninth this season, leading the club. Benge homered in victories Tuesday and Wednesday. 

“He’s doing a good job shooting the ball to all parts of the ballpark right now,” interim manager Andy Green said. “Professional at-bats. It’s like he’s been around for a while now instead of just four months, so it’s a good start to a career.” 

Benge’s 112 hits are the third most by a rookie this season, trailing only Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle (118) and Colorado’s T.J. Rumfield (116). 

“See ball, hit ball,” Benge said. “It’s about that simple.” 

A day after he was unavailable due to arm fatigue, Devin Williams was available to pitch, according to Green. But the closer wasn’t needed with the Mets ahead by seven runs in the ninth inning. 

The Mets received a second straight scoreless outing from Nate Lavender to begin the lefty reliever’s major league career. Lavender pitched a scoreless sixth inning with two strikeouts. 

Kodai Senga had a second straight appearance in a one-inning high-leverage role and fired a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts. Senga hit 100 mph with his fastball. 

Luis Torrens homered for the second time in three days and finished the series with seven RBIs. It was the highest RBI total for a Mets player in a three-game series this season and most since Juan Soto had seven against the Tigers in September last year. All four of Torrens’ homers this season have been go-ahead blasts. 

The nine homers the Mets hit were their second most in a three-game series this season. The Mets hit 10 homers against the Cubs over three games in June.

The Mariners played a baseball game Thursday. They lost, 11-0.

Heading into the series with the Detroit Tigers, the Mariners were slightly favored on paper to take two of three games. After all, the Mariners managed to avoid Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize, who were both traded away by the Tigers at this week’s trade deadline. Detroit was also without notorious Mariners killer Kerry Carpenter, who is currently on the injured list. With the series being played at home, and the Mariners boasting a couple of modest deadline additions of their own, an opportunity to get back on track was there for the taking.

In reality, however, the Mariners were running into a team that had been playing (and specifically, hitting) well of late. To make matters worse, they weren’t running out their best squad for an important rubber game. Three of the team’s ideal starters — Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor and Brendan Donovan — were all out of the lineup for either rest or scheduled days off. They were without their everyday manager in Dan Wilson, who was suspended a game after last night’s bench-clearing incident; bench coach Manny Acta was tasked with the managerial duties. On top of all of that, they were facing Framber Valdez, having struggled mightily against lefties all year long.

Not exactly the best set of circumstances to try to win a game! But it’s baseball, and the Mariners would have Bryce Miller on the bump, even if he has cooled off from his late, albeit productive start to the season. There was hope.

That hope was short-lived.

From the get-go, Miller didn’t have his best command. After he surrendered a leadoff walk to rookie sensation Kevin McGonigle and worked from behind to force a Gleyber Torres flyout, Dillon Dingler took a 2-1 cutter to the opposite field for a two-run homer. He homered in every game of the series.

The hits kept coming for the Tigers, with Riley Greene depositing a ground-rule double over the wall in the right field corner. Colt Keith then produced a double of his own to drive in Greene.

Miller, with the help of an ABS challenge by Jhonny Pereda to secure a strikeout of Max Clark, was able to hunker down and get the final two outs and prevent further damage. But when all was said and done, Miller threw 40 pitches in the first inning, the most for any Mariners starter in the first inning all year, and had the 3-0 deficit to accompany.

“Just a really, really frustrating way to start the game,” Miller said. “Just immediately put us in a hole, and we’re on defense for — it felt like 30 minutes. But it felt like we settled in and made a lot of good pitches after that…But I know I can’t start the game like that. We have to be more competitive.”

“Walks are bad — not only him, but the rest of the guys — and it seemed like whenever we ended up walking a guy, a long ball followed,” Acta said.

Randy Arozarena reached with a walk in the bottom half, but the Mariners were unable to do anything with it despite hitting a couple of balls hard.

In the top half of the second, McGonigle was again able to get on base, this time with a one-out single up the middle. And even though Miller was able to get Torres to ground out for the second out of the inning, Dingler haunted the Mariners once again, shooting an RBI single down the right field line to extend the lead to 4-0.

From that point forward, it never felt like the Mariners were really in the game. Even though Miller was able to settle in and get through five innings, Mariners baserunners were frequently erased when they looked to chip away. The Mariners grounded into four double plays over the course of the afternoon.

The floodgates opened later on in the seventh with Cole Wilcox pitching. He allowed a two-run homer to McGonigle to fall behind 6-0. Two additional runs would score as well — one of which coming on a throwing error by Taylor Ward, who missed his cutoff man. Ward was making his first start of the year in right field, but it didn’t stop the boo birds from coming out from an increasingly restless T-Mobile Park.

Wilcox would leave that game in that seventh inning after grabbing at his side. Official word from the team is left oblique tightness.

I will not lie, I did not enjoy having to watch this game by the second inning. It felt like a chore. Even Víctor Robles making his first pitching appearance provided little consolation — three runs came across in his ninth inning to cement an embarrassing 11-0 loss. A short memory will be imperative for the Mariners with the top team in the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays, coming to town Friday.

I don’t need to wax poetic any further. Thursday’s game was a clunker. The Mariners need to find some answers with a quickness.

Acta said it best. “Overall just not a good game.”

San Diego Padres (59-56) at Arizona Diamondbacks (61-54), August 6, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Chase Field – Phoenix, Ariz.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.

• Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
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Apologies for the late Minor League Baseball roundup, but the Mike Krukow news set me back a bit today, both emotionally and in terms of labor. So let’s speed run Wednesday’s games from the San Francisco Giants affiliates … it was a great day for players whose name starts with a J!

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

News

Four pieces of news, all good: LHP Esmerlin Vinicio has been promoted from High-A Eugene to AA Richmond. And Richmond RHP RJ Dabovich, who has had awful injury luck, has been given a rehab assignment with Low-A San Jose.

And finally, AAA Sacramento outfielder Turner Hill was named Player of the Month in the Pacific Coast League, while outfielder Franco Willias earned those honors in the Dominican Summer League.

AAA Sacramento (62-45)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Round Rock Express (Rangers) 13-10(11 innings)
Box score

A fantastic day in the batter’s box for the River Cats, especially for the outfielders. It was a day that ends in “day,” so center fielder Turner Hill put on a show, hitting 3-5 with a home run and a double, though he had the ultra-rare (for him) strikeout as well.

With that, the 27-year old lefty’s hitting streak is up to 21 games, during which time he’s 39-87 with 10 extra-base hits, 8 walks, and just 7 strikeouts. My word, Turner! The undrafted free agent is doing everything in his control to ensure that he’s not just a feel-good story, but someone who could be helping a Major League roster … it’s now a .926 OPS and a 144 wRC+ for Hill, with 23 stolen bases and super solid defense. What a prospect he has become!

He was flanked by some exciting performances in the grass. Right fielder Scott Bandura had another stellar day, hitting 3-5 with 2 doubles, a walk, and a stolen base. After a slow start to his AAA campaign, Bandura has caught absolute fire: since June 26, the just-turned 25-year old lefty, taken in the 7th round of the 2023 draft, has hit 44-119 with 5 home runs, 8 doubles, and 28 walks. 28 walks!

That’s brought him up to an .838 OPS and a 121 wRC+, with 15 stolen bases. He’s now pretty much a slam dunk Rule 5 protection, in my eyes … which might mean he gets added to the roster before then.

And on the other side of Hill, in left field, was Victor Bericoto (No. 35 CPL), who began a rehab assignment! That was great to see, and Bericoto hit 1-3 with a double before getting subbed out. He probably won’t need too many rehab games before he’s manning left field for San Francisco on a near-daily basis.

Jonah Cox doesn’t technically get to join the outfielders for this game, as he was the designated hitter, but he’s always an outfielder in spirit, and he gets clumped with that trio due to his performance: Cox hit 3-5 with a walk, 2 stolen bases, and a strikeout. He’s done nothing but hit since making his AAA debut last week, first as a rehab assignment and now after being optioned. It’s important development for Cox after he looked overmatched in the Majors, but if he keeps hitting like this, he’ll be back soon enough.

Second baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 31 CPL) made his long-awaited AAA debut, and it went quite well, as he hit 2-4 with a hit by pitch, though he also struck out twice. Fantastic seeing him the switch-hitter finally get to test himself in the Majors.

Rough days for the top prospects, though, as left fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) replaced Bericoto and hit 0-2 with a sacrifice fly, while third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL) went 0-4 with 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and an error. Davidson has really struggled since getting promoted, while Harber was red hot but has since cooled down.

In exciting news, LHP Joe Whitman (No. 26 CPL returned to the rotation following a brief and confusing foray in the bullpen. Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends, as Whitman did not follow the theme of the day, and was one of the few J names who struggled: he only made it through 2 innings, while giving up 5 hits, 4 extra-base hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs, with just 1 strikeout. It does seem like the River Cats were going to use him an as actual starter, though, as he threw 43 pitches (only 21 strikes, though).

Whitman’s day was better than RHP Alex Carrillo’s was, though. Carrillo, a 29-year old, made his organizational debut after signing on a Minor League deal a few weeks ago, and it was so rough that catcher Zach Morgan was called in to finish the inning (which he did without allowing a hit!). Carrillo registered just 1 out, while giving up 4 hits, 1 walk, 5 runs, and 4 earned runs.

But RHP Braxton Roxby had another great day, and was more than perfect. He didn’t allow a single baserunner, and needed to face just 8 batters to get 9 outs! Roxby entered in the 3rd after Whitman departed with 2 on and 0 outs, and got out of the inning cleanly, thanks in part to a caught stealing by he and catcher Thomas Gavello.

Roxby, who struck out 1 batter, has overcome his very slow start to the season. He had an 11.00 ERA after his May 1 outing, but since then has pitched 38.2 innings while giving up just 27 hits, 14 walks, and 10 earned runs, lowering his season ERA to 3.97, though his FIP is just 5.08.

AA Richmond (61-40)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies) 6-5
Box score

Well, a pretty awesome performance on the mound from LHP Greg Farone. He had a dominant showing, giving up just 4 hits (all singles), 2 walks, and 1 run in 5.2 innings, while striking out 10 batters. 10!

It’s been a bit of a rough 2nd season for Farone, who has a 5.78 ERA and a 5.54 FIP, but he’s been so much better lately, with excellent outings in 4 of his last 5 starts. He’s slowly starting to get the contact in check: on the year he’s allowed 87 hits in 85.2 innings, with 16 home runs, and those numbers need to keep coming down.

RHP Dale Stanavich had a nice game, giving up just 1 hit in 1.1 scoreless innings, with 2 strikeouts. Stanavich, a 27-year old Minor League free agent, is also giving up too many home runs, and has a 4.23 ERA and a 4.79 FIP … but he sure strikes people out!

A quartet of offensive performances to highlight: catcher Jancel Villarroel (No. 42 CPL) only hit 1-4, but connected for his 1st AA home run. Villarroel has taken a while to adapt to AA — he only has a .495 OPS and a 33 wRC+ through 9 games — but he’s just 21. And he’s a catcher!

Also leaving the yard was third baseman Charlie Szykowny, who hit 1-3 with a walk and a solo blast. Szykowny had a brutal July, posting a .186/.220/.233 slash line with 26 strikeouts in 86 at-bats, but so far in August he’s 5-11 with 2 extra-base hits, 2 walks, and 0 strikeouts. Love to see it!

Center fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL) continues to look so comfortable in AA, as he went 3-5 with a stolen base. Since going 0-10 with a strikeout in his 1st pair of games at the level, last year’s 3rd-rounder has hit 26-61 with just 4 strikeouts. My goodness! That’s brought him up to an .877 OPS and a 134 wRC+ in AA, as he continues to fly up prospect lists.

And finally, second baseman Maui Ahuna (No. 33 CPL) went 1-2 with 2 walks, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Ahuna had a dismal slump over the summer, but has been much better lately, though his season numbers sit at just a .689 OPS and an 89 wRC+.

High-A Eugene (63-41)

Eugene Emeralds beat Spokane (Rockies) 5-1
Box score

Ahh, and now we arrive at the 1st pair of star showings from the quartet of J names who shone on Wednesday: shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL) and LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 11 CPL). The pair entered the year as highly ranked prospects, and have only added to how highly they should be ranked. And my goodness was that the case on Wednesday!

Bresnahan was the starter and tossed 6 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits, 2 walks, and a hit batter, while striking out 5. Just a dominant showing from an increasingly dominant pitcher. Despite the 2 walks, Bresnahan was basically allergic to going outside the zone, as he threw a stunning 61 of 86 pitches for strikes.

What we’re seeing from the recently-turned 21-year old is downright special: over his last 8 starts, the southpaw has throw 47.1 innings and allowed just 25 hits, 12 walks, and 7 earned runs, with 57 strikeouts. He’s thrown at least 5 innings in all 8 of those starts, and at least 6 innings in 6 of them. If I didn’t know better, I would say it’s AA time for the 2023 13th-rounder, who has a 2.72 ERA and a 3.91 FIP on the year, with 10.7 strikeouts per 9 innings.

As for Level, he had one of his best games since getting promoted, hitting 2-3 with a home run, a triple, and 2 walks. The switch-hitter has been extremely hot and cold since getting promoted, which is to be expected given that he’s only 19 years old, competing against players much older than he is. Despite the cold stretches, he has an .820 OPS and a 115 wRC+ with Eugene, which is remarkable … and should earn him a spot inside the top 50 on a lot of offseason lists.

While Level’s day was stunning, it wasn’t the only superstar showing, as third baseman Walker Martin hit 2-5 with 2 home runs and a strikeout. Martin’s season has been a little disappointing, but he’s been heating up a bit lately: in his last 7 games, the lefty is 8-28 with 4 homers and 3 walks, bringing him up to a .746 OPS and a 95 wRC+. The power is finally firmly on display for Martin, though the contact ability remains a big concern.

Center fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL) rounded out the dinger party, hitting 1-4 with his 19th home run of the year … that ties him with Bo Davidson for the organizational lead!

Low-A San Jose (58-46)

San Jose Giants lost to the Stockton Ports (A’s) 11-6 (10 innings)
Box score

If you were hoping that one of the star Js of the day was Josuar González (No. 2 CPL), well … sorry to disappoint. The top prospect in the organization didn’t play in this game.

But you know who did? First baseman Jeremiah Jenkins. And a day after hitting a walk-off home run, Jenkins was back at it with a stunning day, hitting 3-3 with a home run, a double, and 2 hit by pitches. Wowee!

With that, the 14th-round pick in 2024 has a .879 OPS and a 118 wRC+. The power is other-worldly — he has a .253 isolated slugging, with 15 loud home runs — but he continues to have contact troubles, as he’s rocking a 29.6% strikeout rate, and a .245 average.

Also going deep was left fielder Oliver Tejada, who hit 1-5 with a solo bomb. Tejada, a 19-year old righty, has struggled since a recent promotion, as he’s hitting below the Mendoza Line, with a 32.7% strikeout rate. But he’s hitting bombs, as he already has 4 homers in 24 games at the level.

Shortstop phenom Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) had a lovely game, hitting 2-5 with a double and a walk. The 17-year old has poor numbers through 9 San Jose games (.651 OPS, 58 wRC+), but it’s just exciting seeing him at the level.

Nothing good on the mound, really. RHP Argenis Cayama (No. 13 CPL) made his 2nd start since returning from the IL, and didn’t have his trademark command, as he walked 4 batters in 2.2 innings, while also giving up 3 hits. On the bright side, he limited the damage to 1 run, while striking out 4 batters.

Dominican Summer League Black (30-17)

DSL Giants Black lost to the DSL Tigers 1, 6-3 (7 innings)
Box score

And now we arrive at our final “J” of the day: shortstop Joniel Hernandez. The 17-year old phenom, who came over in the Robbie Ray trade, starred in his 1st game with the organization on Tuesday. And on Wednesday? Just a casual 1-2 with a home run and a walk. Between his 2 teams, Hernandez — who had a $1.4 million signing bonus — has a .994 OPS and a 135 wRC+, making him one of the top performers in the DSL … despite being a 17-year old shortstop. He is so exciting.

RHP Delvis Heredia had the best pitching performance, throwing 2 shutout frames with 1 hit and 4 strikeouts. The 21-year old has had a tough 3rd season, so nice to see a good outing.

Home run tracker

19 — Lisbel Diaz — [16 in High-A; 3 in Low-A]
17 — Walker Martin x2 — [High-A]
16 — Jhonny Level — [6 in High-A; 10 in Low-A]
15 — Jeremiah Jenkins — [Low-A]
12 — Charlie Szykowny — [AA]
8 — Turner Hill — [AAA]
8 — Jancel Villarroel — [1 in AA; 7 in High-A]
5 — Oliver Tejada — [4 in Low-A; 1 in ACL]
5 — Joniel Hernandez — [DSL]

Welp! Three innings have been played but the elements have won out for the time being and the tarp is now on the field as the Atlanta Braves are up 2-0 on the Miami Marlins.

Keep it right here for more updates, as we will have more information on a restart as soon as we get it. In the meantime, please check out this wacky home run that Ronald Acuña Jr. just hit at the expense of the Marlins.

[UPDATE (8:55 p.m. ET)]: C.J. Nitkowski just announced during the broadcast that the tarp is off of the field and that they’re expecting to restart at around 9:20 p.m. ET.

[UPDATE (9:22 p.m. ET)]: Tyler Kinley just threw strike one, and we’re back on! Join us in the game thread!

The new-look San Diego Padres revamped their starting rotation at the trade deadline by acquiring multiple pitchers.

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller had another busy trade deadline and succeeded in helping an ailing group.

One of Preller’s deadline acquisitions was Casey Mize of the Detroit Tigers. The right-hander was sporting a 2.70 ERA with 85 strikeouts across 86.2 innings pitched before he was traded to the Padres.

Mize made his Padres debut Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, and it was everything but spectacular as San Diego lost 10-4. It was a complete dud as Mize gave up a career-high eight earned runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings.

The eight runs allowed by Mize are the most by a pitcher in his Padres debut since Jhoulys Chacin allowed nine runs in 2017, which is tied for the franchise record.

Mize acknowledged the poor performance and expressed disappointment in himself.

“Not the first impression I wanted to make for my teammates and for the fans. Pretty tough time to have the worst start of my career. I just put us in a really tough spot, didn’t give us a chance to win. So, frustrated and embarrassed by that,” Mize said.

The Padres have arguably one of the biggest games of the 2026 season Thursday against the Diamondbacks. A loss would mean the Padres are three games behind Arizona, while a win would reduce the deficit to one game.

The matchup is also important because a Padres win would tie the season series with the Diamondbacks. There’s a lot on the line for San Diego today, and the Padres buying at the deadline made their plans for the remainder of the season increasingly clear.

The Padres are going for it in 2026, and they’ll need Mize to regroup as the squad chases a wild-card spot.

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Pete Crow-Armstrong went on a podcast last week and said with a laugh he likes the theory that Babe Ruth never existed. Baseball's internet treated it like a confession.

"This is gonna be crazy," the Cubs center fielder told Kristin Cavallari on her show "Let's Be Honest." Then he brought up the theory that the sport's greatest player may never have existed. He picked up the theory from Tayler Saucedo, a Mariners pitcher at the time, who floated it on a podcast in 2024 because he had barely seen any video of Ruth playing. Saucedo said this was a discussion in the Mariners bullpen and that they also decided that Ted Williams' legendary 500-foot home run never happened either.

Crow-Armstrong piled on Ruth saying the game has changed so much since then that pitchers back then might as well have been throwing underhand.

Then everybody lost it. One site used the quote to worry about American public education. Another brought up the plague of misinformation. A bunch of them criticized the young Cubs outfielder. It raised eyebrows and ruffled feathers! That's a lot of coverage for a 24-year-old answering a question about an unpopular opinion on a podcast hosted by somebody from "Laguna Beach."

San Francisco Giants fans already have enough reason to be sick of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While San Francisco dominated this rivalry with three World Series victories in the 2010s, the Dodgers have already three championships this decade and are odds-on favorites to three-peat this season.

Giants fans’ frustrations amplified when the Dodgers traded for ace Tarik Skubal before this year’s trade deadline, adding to what’s arguably the best pitching staff of all time, while the Giants dealt Robbie Ray, who has been one of their best pitchers, to the Padres.

Thankfully, San Francisco still has Logan Webb, its longtime ace whom the Giants’ front office was not entertaining offers for at the deadline.

The last thing Giants fans want to think about is Webb pitching for the Dodgers. But given their ability to acquire what feels like every elite starter in baseball, Webb donning Dodger blue at some point is never out of the question.

This feels especially true after comments Webb made to NBC Sports.

“This is probably not a fan-favorite answer, but I love playing at Dodger Stadium,” Webb said when asked about his favorite stadium to play in.

“It’s a great energy, obviously it’s a great team. It’s a lot of fun, like, they got the huge speakers in center field. So, it’s just a good atmosphere to play in. We go there [and] they don’t like us. You hear a lot of little smack talk, so it’s fun,” he added.

Granted, Webb is far from the first player to speak highly about Dodger Stadium, as it’s undoubtedly one of baseball’s best environments. But that isn’t going to assuage Giants fans’ fears about whether this indicated Webb would be open to playing for Los Angeles.

Webb is signed with San Francisco through the 2028 season, so fans don’t worry about him jumping ship in free agency. But if the Giants are sellers next season, and the Dodgers come calling about Webb, it doesn’t seem like he would turn down a trade.

The 2026 season hasn't gone how the Mets or Bo Bichette envisioned.

Bichette, who was so close to winning the World Series with the Blue Jays last season, signed with the Mets because he viewed it as an opportunity to win. 

It's been tough sledding for Bichette and the team this season, though. 

Even after signing the All-Star infielder to a lucrative deal this offseason, along with other notable additions, the Mets find themselves 16 games below .500, even after completing their three-game sweep of the Guardians on Thursday.

The team dealt many of their pieces at the deadline, leaving some veterans and kids to finish out the season. 

Bichette, who signed a three-year, $126 million contract, has opt-outs after each of the first two seasons. MLB.com's Anthony DiComo asked Bichette about that option and whether he will use it this offseason, but the converted third baseman said he's focused solely on finishing the season strong.

“The way I look at it is, I think there’s no doubt this team is going to be better next year,” Bichette said. “I really believe that. There’s still a lot of talent in this room, a lot of young talent that’s really hungry, combined with guys that have been around who have done a lot of great things in this game. And then on top of that, typically when you have a season like this, people show up a little bit more motivated. So I think that this group is going to be well prepared to be better next year.”

If Bichette doesn't opt out, he'll make $55.3 million in 2027. After a rollercoaster 2026, Bichette will likely remain in Queens instead of testing free agency. 

To Bichette's credit, he's overcome a terrible start to the season, but hasn't been consistent enough to hit the numbers he's put up in his career. After a successful series in Cleveland, where he went 5-for-14 with a home run and three RBI, he's slashing .257/.301/.370 with an OPS of .671.

The Mets are looking to compete in 2027 and if Bichette stays, he'll be one of the players looked upon to help make the turnaround happen. A strong finish will go a long way towards that. 

“It hasn’t been my best season for sure,” Bichette said. “If I played better, maybe the season would be different for the team. But just focused on trying to finish strong.”

Good evening, Royals fans.

It’s Thursday night, it’s been raining a lot today, but hey, at the time of this writing, there’s baseball to be played between the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins, the finale of a three-game series in which the Royals won the first two.

Tonight’s game is also the last of the season between the Royals and Twins.

On the mound for the Royals: Michael Wacha, still a Royal. Yes, many fans pined for Wacha to be moved at the deadline as he looked like the Royals’ best trade chip. And maybe he was. But he didn’t get moved, and takes the bump tonight looking to help the Royals sweep the Twins out of town.

Opposite Wacha is right-handed pitcher Bailey Ober, who is 7-3 on the year with a 4.45 ERA and 4.63 FIP. Not great numbers, but decent. In his last outing, he faced the Royals and limited them to three runs (two earned) over six innings while walking three, allowing four hits, and striking out three. He would’ve taken the loss had Kody Clemens not hit a walk-off Grand Slam.

Here’s who he’ll face this evening:

Kyle Isbel and Michael Massey drove in the Royals’ two runs in last night’s victory. Isbel tied the game at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the fifth. A few innings later, Massey, facing a lefty, scorched a homer to right to put the Royals up 2-1. The real story of the game was, of course, Noah Cameron, but, as I like to say, you can’t win if you don’t score. Thanks, at least in part, to Isbel and Massey, Kansas City prevailed, and in doing so improved their record to 48-67.

Still grisly, but not “20-games-under-.500” grisly.

And Wacha will face the following:

Last night’s loss pushes the Twins’ losing streak to four games as they currently sit 56-59 but only one game out of a Wild Card spot. Of course, this is the American League in 2026, so it’s a crowded field. Cleveland owns the last Wild Card with Seattle, Minnesota, and Baltimore all a game back, Detroit 1.5 games back, and Toronto three back. The Guardians themselves are only a half-game back of the Rangers for the second Wild Card. No, none of these teams mentioned having winning records.

Think about how much worse things would be for the Twins had Royce Lewis and Clemens not provided walk-off wins last week against the Royals.

First pitch tonight at 6:40. Let’s end the series on a high note, shall we?

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been swept in back-to-back series, resulting in a brutal six-game losing streak, and eight of their last 10.

Should the back-to-back World Series champions be worried?

MLB insider Jeff Passan doesn’t seem to think the Dodgers’ current struggles are a point of concern.

“They are still going to go into the postseason as favorites to win the World Series because of the plethora of talent that they’ve got,” Passan said on First Take.

Last July, the Dodgers went on a seven-game losing streak where the team looked completely lost. But come October 2025, it was the Dodgers who emerged victorious and held the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Even the Dodgers themselves aren’t worried about their recent performance. After the Dodgers’ 7-6 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts spoke on the losing streak.

“I think the fight the players showed was really good. Of course, losing is frustrating and something you truly hate, but the wins will come again,” he said.

The Dodgers faced a five-run deficit in the series finale at Wrigley Field, but made a comeback bid in the eighth inning with a three-run homer from Max Muncy and a two-run drive from Shohei Ohtani.

While the Dodgers’ fell short by a run, Roberts noted the team’s resilience in Chicago.

Freddie Freeman, who exited Wednesday’s game early after getting hit on the hand, also discussed the Dodgers’ struggles, but kept an optimistic perspective on the team turning things around.

“We have a great baseball team. We just haven’t played well the last week,” Freeman said. “We’re going to take our positives. I know the fans probably don’t want to hear it but we’re going to take it. What the last couple innings looked like as an offense, hopefully we can carry that in. Our pitching’s been good. We just need to score more runs.”

For opponents, the unfortunate truth is the regular season for the Dodgers is simply a pretext to what really matters for LA, the postseason.

The Dodgers could continue losing games, which could make their path to the World Series more difficult, but the defending champions shouldn’t be underestimated in the playoffs.

Tigers 11, Mariners 0

Sure, why not, he reached base twice: Randy Arozarena, +0.04 WPA

You can’t lose in the top of the first, but you can dig a large hole: Bryce Miller, -0.26 WPA

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