Category: MLB

It seems that Clay Holmes' tenure with the Mets is about to come to an end.

With four days until the Aug. 3 trade deadline, there are no talks ongoing between Holmes' camp and the Mets on a potential extension, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

This doesn't come as a surprise, since Holmes said last week that there hadn't been "a ton" of progress there.

SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes reported recently that there had been mutual interest between the two sides about an extension.

If an extension isn't agreed to, the expectation is that Holmes will be traded. That's because he has a $12 million player option for the 2027 season that he will almost certainly decline.

Holmes, 33, is one of the most sought-after starting pitchers on the trade market, with Tarik Skubal alone at the top.

The right-hander has been out since May 15 due to a broken fibula he suffered when he was struck by a line drive.

Holmes is set to throw a bullpen session on Friday, after which he and the team will determine next steps.

On Wednesday, interim manager Andy Green seemed to suggest that Holmes' next start could come elsewhere.

"We'll continue to evaluate that as we get closer to the deadline," Green said. "Obviously, anybody can count out and figure out what five days is from now, and it's Sunday before the deadline. So acknowledge that there's a decision to be made around that.

"We'll partner with him in making that decision. We'll have to wait until he gets past his bullpen, regardless, to make a declaration of what's next. So I think we've got a few days here to kind of let things play out."

If the Mets trade Holmes instead of extending him, it of course remains possible that they will sign him as a free agent after the season.

As of now, starting pitching options the Mets have under team control for next season include Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, Zac Thornton, and Sean Manaea. Kodai Senga is also under contract through 2027, but it's hard to envision him being in the mix for a role in the rotation going forward.

Other rotation options for New York next season could include Jonah Tong, Jack Wenninger, and Jonathan Santucci, who are all with Triple-A Syracuse.

Speaking recently, president of baseball operations David Stearns suggested the Mets are highly likely to supplement the rotation externally this offseason via free agency and/or the trade market.

Tuesday night’s win over the Seattle Mariners was the Dodgers’ 108th game of the season. That means the 2026 campaign is officially two-thirds complete. Let’s look how the team has done comparing the first 54 games of the season to the middle 54 games

Split	W-L	Run diff.	BA/OBP/SLG	wRC+	ERA	ERA-
1st 54	34-20	+108	.258/.344/.427	113	3.10	74
2nd 54	34-20	+48	.265/.338/.438	113	4.08	97

The Dodgers had the same record in both 54-game stretches, even though they outscored opponents by two runs per game in the first 54 games and less than half that in the middle 54. The offense as a whole was mostly the same, scoring 279 runs in the first third of the season and 277 runs in the second third, with the same wRC+ in both sets.

Let’s delve into the offense first, beginning with the catchers.

Player	Starts	PA	2B-HR	R-RBI	BA/OBP/SLG	wRC+
Smith 1st	38	170	3-4	18-20	.242/.318/.342	85
Smith 2nd	7	31	10-2	5-3	.292/.452/.625	193
Rushing 1st	22	91	2-7	14-17	.263/.352/.550	146
Rushing 2nd	35	147	2-4	22-16	.254/.333/.423	109
Robinson 2nd	6	26	0-0	1-1	.087/.087/.087	-61
Alfonzo 2nd	6	16	2-0	2-2	.188/.188/.313	30
Totals 1st		261	5-11	32-37	.249/.330/.415	107
Totals 2nd		220	14-6	30-22	.233/.313/.399	95

Will Smith hasn’t played since June 5, so the bulk of the time behind the plate has been claimed by Dalton Rushing, in his first real extended run of consistent catching as a professional. The dropoff, especially offensively, is palpable, with 12 starts from Chuckie Robinson and Eliezer Alfonzo instead of Smith or Rushing.

Player	Starts	PA	2B-HR	R-RBI	SB	wRC+
Ohtani 1st	49	234	12-8	34-29	6	140
Ohtani 2nd	49	222	9-15	34-36	0	158
Freeman 1st	51	222	15-6	24-24	2	123
Freeman 2nd	54	233	12-9	32-29	3	155
Pages 1st	53	219	10-11	30-46	6	118
Pages 2nd	52	242	12-7	33-25	4	107
Betts 1st	19	87	2-4	11-10	0	55
Betts 2nd	51	218	8-9	31-24	2	101
Muncy 1st	47	190	6-12	36-19	0	140
Muncy 2nd	44	186	10-9	23-30	2	126
Tucker 1st	51	224	14-4	35-26	4	110
Tucker 2nd	48	197	4-5	21-25	2	84
T.Hernández 1st	48	200	8-7	29-31	2	118
T.Hernández 2nd	23	90	4-1	13-6	0	42
Freeland 1st	31	112	4-2	11-8	0	81
Freeland 2nd	28	111	3-1	13-11	2	71
Edman 2nd	27	121	6-2	18-18	3	147
Rojas 1st	19	89	3-1	7-8	0	79
Rojas 2nd	18	79	6-2	9-10	0	121
Call 1st	10	58	4-0	11-9	0	137
Call 2nd	17	83	1-1	8-7	1	64
Ward 1st	1	6	0-0	0-1	0	85
Ward 2nd	16	54	4-3	8-11	0	102
K.Hernández 1st	1	2	1-0	0-1	0	605
K.Hernández 2nd	1	2	1-1	2-1	0	990
Kim 1st	36	127	3-1	15-10	5	84
Kim 2nd	0	4	0-0	1-1	0	36
Espinal 1st	9	44	3-1	3-3	0	62
Espinal 2nd	3	16	0-0	1-3	4	110
Totals 1st		1,812	75-57	247-226	25	.260/.347/.422
Totals 2nd		1,857	80-65	247-237	18	.269/.341/443

Shohei Ohtani (.306/.385/.596) and Freddie Freeman (.340/.399/.529) paced the offense in the middle third of the season, with Ohtani finding his power after a relative down period in that regard over the first 54 games.

Corner outfield production was abysmal in the middle third from Kyle Tucker (.227/.315/.337) and Teoscar Hernández (.183/.244/.268), with Hernández missing a month with a hamstring strain. Max Muncy and Andy Pages stayed productive, and Tommy Edman’s return (.330/.403/.481) added another dimension to the offense.

Now, the pitching.

Pitcher	G-QS	W-L	IP	BB-K	ERA	WHIP	xERA
Yamamoto 1st	10-8	4-4	64	13-59	3.09	0.984	4.02
Yamamoto 2nd	9-7	7-2	61.7	15-59	2.34	0.809	2.47
Wrobleski 1st	9-5	6-2	55.7	14-31	3.07	1.114	4.31
Wrobleski 2nd	9-7	5-0	57	7-56	2.68	0.930	4.35
Ohtani 1st	8-7	4-2	49	13-54	0.73	0.837	2.52
Ohtani 2nd	6-5	4-0	36.7	13-41	3.19	1.091	2.97
Sasaki 1st	9-2	3-3	45.7	18-43	4.93	1.423	5.21
Sasaki 2nd	9-3	1-2	48	18-51	4.50	1.167	3.60
Sheehan 1st	10-4	3-1	51.7	14-59	4.70	1.239	4.08
Sheehan 2nd	9-1	1-6	41	15-45	5.27	1.268	3.45
Glasnow 1st	7-4	3-0	39.7	13-49	2.72	0.832	2.61
Snell 1st	1-0	0-1	3	2-5	12.00	2.667	3.91
Lauer 2nd	9-6	5-0	51.7	13-30	2.96	0.987	4.06
Totals 1st	53-30	23-13	308.7	87-300	3.29	1.089
Totals 2nd	51-29	23-10	296	81-282	3.38	1.020

The Dodgers were without Tyler Glasnow after his productive first third of the season, and didn’t have Blake Snell at all. But Eric Lauer filled in quite nicely, making for a surprisingly stable six-man rotation, even with Shohei Ohtani’s knee inflammation keeping him off the mound since July 3.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was excellent in the middle portion of the season, averaging 6.85 innings per start.

The Dodgers used one true bullpen game in the first third of the season, and three such contests in the middle third. Lauer followed an opener on June 22 with six scoreless innings, so I counted that among the Dodgers’ quality starts total. On the season, they have 58 real quality starts (plus one relief appearance by Lauer), nine more than the next-best team.

Pitcher	W-L, Sv	IP	BB-K	ERA	WHIP	xERA
Díaz 1st	1-0, 4	6	5-10	10.50	2.333	4.65
Díaz 2nd	0-0, 1	1	0-0	9.00	2.000	—
Scott 1st	1-1, 4	21.7	3-25	1.25	0.600	2.92
Scott 2nd	0-2, 12	22	3-31	3.68	1.045	2.65
Vesia 1st	1-1. 2	18.7	9-25	2.41	0.964	2.55
Vesia 2nd	0-0, 1	18.3	16-27	2.95	1.418	3.26
Dreyer 1st	2-1	21.7	6-24	2.08	0.969	2.88
Dreyer 2nd	2-0	21	6-25	4.29	1.095	4.25
Henriquez 1st	2-0	19.3	8-18	3.26	1.034	2.68
Henriquez 2nd	2-1. 1	22.3	10-24	2.42	0.985	2.57
Treinen 1st	1-1, 1	16.7	6-16	3.24	1.320	6.62
Treinen 2nd	3-0	6.3	4-9	4.26	1.421	2.65
Klein 1st	1-2, 1	22.3	6-25	2.01	1.075	2.63
Klein 2nd	2-2, 1	18	14-21	5.50	2.056	4.34
Hurt 1st	1-0	16	4-19	1.13	0.875	2.45
Hurt 2nd	2-1, 1	17.3	14-20	7.79	1.846	4.99
Stewart 1st	0-0	2	1-3	0.00	0.500	1.62
Stewart 2nd	0-1, 1	12.7	4-11	2.84	0.789	2.16
Phillips 2nd	0-2	6.7	1-9	6.75	1.351	6.80
Casparius 1st	0-1	4.7	4-4	9.64	2.143	6.60
Gervase 1st	0-0	5	1-1	1.80	1.400	3.95
Gervase 2nd	0-0	2.7	3-3	3.38	1.875	3.89
Mills 1st	0-0	3.3	7-1	8.10	3.000	8.20
Mills 2nd	0-0	1	0-3	0.00	0.000	0.00
Barnes 1st	0-0	2	1-1	0.00	1.000	4.06
Barnes 2nd	0-1	8	3-4	7.88	1.875	8.70
McDermott 1st	0-0	1	0-1	0.00	1.000	2.01
McDermott 2nd	0-0	1.3	0-0	13.50	1.500	3.54
Hernández 1st	0-0	2	0-1	0.00	0.000	1.29
Hernández 2nd	0-0	15.7	12-14	9.19	1.979	6.65
Knack 2nd	0-0	5	2-4	9.00	1.600	8.47
Eder 1st	1-0	4	1-1	2.25	1.000	10.47
Rojas 1st	0-0	1	1-0	9.00	2.000	6.45
Rojas 2nd	0-0	3	0-0	15.00	2.667	10.42
Totals 1st	11-7, 12	167.3	64-179	2.74	1.094
Totals 2nd	11-10, 18	182.3	92-205	5.23	1.437

Relief pitching is the biggest difference in the first third and second third of the season, with a walk rate over 40 percent higher in the middle 54 games compared to the first 54.

Will Klein and Kyle Hurt were load-bearing members of the bullpen in the first third of the season, combining for a 1.64 ERA with 10 walks in 38 1/3 innings. But in the middle third of the season they had a combined 6.62 ERA and a stunning 28 walks in 35 1/3 innings. Walks ate into Alex Vesia’s middle third as well though his overall numbers were otherwise mostly fine.

Brock Stewart has been a stabilizing force since returning from the injured list. Evan Phillips is back too after Tommy John surgery, but has allowed four home runs in his seven appearances.

The bullpen in the middle third also allowed a combined 28 runs and 11 home runs in 28 2/3 mop-up innings from Jonathan Hernández, Charlie Barnes, and Landon Knack.

Two thirds of the season are complete. The final 54 games start Thursday night against the Mariners.

The 2026 MLB trade deadline is set for Monday, Aug. 3, at 6 p.m. ET.

For the Detroit Tigers, the deadline has been an item of contention, as the team just cannot seem to position itself for a legitimate run toward the playoffs. After a brutal May that saw the Olde English D win just six of its 28 games, it has been a struggle to gain significant ground in the wild card race.

Coming into Thursday, the Tigers are 4.5 games out of the final American League wild card slot, with four teams (Houston, Minnesota, Seattle and Baltimore, respectively) ahead of them and Toronto just one game behind.

Most of the discussion surrounding Detroit’s deadline has focused on two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, whose services amount to a two-month rental (plus the postseason) if traded to another team. With Scott Boras representing him as well as some bad blood arising from the arbitration process, the Tigers seem extremely unlikely to resign him as a free agent, giving a sense of urgency in getting something of value before he departs the D.

Other names that have been tossed around include Casey Mize, Gleyber Torres and Jack Flaherty. The franchise has not given any solid indication of whether it plans to buy or sell, but some tough decisions are rapidly approaching for the top brass.

While there has not been much activity as of yet, there should be plenty of action as the final hour approaches. Share your thoughts with the rest of the community in the comments section below.

The Atlanta Braves are back home to face the Washington Nationals after a series with the Mets that they likely wish to forget. The Braves are finishing up the month of July as one of the top offenses in MLB for the month, but it did not seem that way last series.

The Nationals have not slowed down offensively all season. For the season they lead all teams in runs scored. They have scored thirty-one more runs than the second highest scoring team. For the month of July, they are also in first in runs scored. Side note, it is a bit bizarre that this late into the season the two top offenses in terms of runs scored are the Nationals and Pirates.

The Braves are not far behind. Even after their low scoring series against the Mets, they have only scored three fewer runs than the Nationals this month. For the season they have scored the sixth most.

The Braves will have Grant Holmes taking the mound today. By now, it is well documented that the first time through the order he is elite, but the second time through the order he is one of the worst SPs in the league. Against a high-powered offense like the Nationals, that means the Braves are going to have to score some runs today.

Holmes faced the Nationals this season back in May. He went 5.0 innings and had one of his better performances of the year with ten strikeouts and surrendering two earned runs on six hits and two walks. Interestingly enough, in a game that looked like it should be a shootout on paper, the Braves lost 0-2. In this game Keibert Ruiz hit a double off Holmes, Daylen Lile had a triple off him, and Dylan Crews had a HR off of him.

For their careers, no Nationals player has faced Holmes in more than seven at-bats. The players to keep an eye on based on their past performance are the aforementioned Crews with a 1.833 OPS, James Wood with a 1.500 OPS, and Jorbit Vivas with a 1.850 OPS.

Jake Irvin is scheduled to pitch for the Nationals today. As odds would have it, he pitched in the same game Holmes did the last time he faced the Braves, and it was also the last game he pitched in at the MLB level. In that game he held the Braves to only one hit while striking out seven in 5.0 innings.

If there is a silver lining for the Braves having to face Irvin again it is that he may be a little rusty having not pitched since May. He also has not pitched more than 5.2 innings in any appearance this season. With the Nationals bullpen having the third worst ERA in MLB with a 5.03, the Braves have a shot to score some runs late in the game if Irvin has their number again.

A few of the Braves have relatively extensive histories of facing Irving. Michael Harris has faced him the most with twenty-two at-bats with a .318 average. Matt Olson has also seen success in his nineteen at-bats with an OPS of .812. Ozzie Albies has fifteen at-bats against Irvin but has struggled to an OPS of .435.

It should be noted that although Irvin had an excellent outing against the Braves the last time he faced the Braves, he has a 5.23 ERA on the season. The Braves still look good on paper to win this game, but they will need to score some runs considering the offense they are facing and Holmes being on the mound.

First pitch is at 7:15 EDT.

Game Info

Game Time: Thursday, July 30th, 7:15 pm EDT

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Watch: ESPN

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

The dog days of summer are in full effect here, with temperatures up to 110 F or more, almost every day. There may be occasional brief respites when a thunderstorm rolls through, but apart from a hint of ozone in the air, it just feels like you’re standing beside a shower. Mrs. SnakePit has already had her “We need to get out of this hellhole” rant – another marker on the journey through summer!

July results

When we checked in at the start of July, it was at the end of a fairly rough month. The team had gone 12-15 in June, and with a run differential of -32 for the month – the worst since May 2024 – they were probably lucky to have got a dozen wins out of it. The ERA wasn’t quite as bad as it was in the first month of the season: 4.90, compared to 5.09, but the offense lost its clutch completely. Arizona hit just .162 with runners in scoring position for June: that and the .259 SLG with RISP, were both the worst figures in the majors, and led to a sharp downturn in offensive production.

Throw in the bad news about the pitchers we hoped to have returning, and fans were definitely not happy about it…

You have to look back a long way to find the last time there was nobody above a “5”. There’s usually some renegade who feels willfully optimistic. In fact, this is the first time we had nobody in that category. The closest was August 2021, and even then we had one person vote “8”. For comparison, the average rating that point was 1.87, which is perilously close to an all-time low. The average confidence figure this month wasn’t nearly as bad, but still represents a sharp down-turn from the general optimism found at the start of June. From an average of 5.71, it dropped by more than two points to start July at 3.40. It’s the lowest figure in almost four years, since August 2022.

Below, you can see the breakdown for the past 12 polls’ results, followed by the line graph showing the trends over this and previous seasons.

August poll

The malaise rolled over into July, with the team dropping five of seven to start the month. But, wait! They then won four straight heading into the break, including their first sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles since late in the 2017 campaign. Series wins over the Cardinals and Athletics opened the second half, propelling the D-backs back into a wild-card spot. They then dropped the series against fellow playoff contenders in Washington, but bounced back to take two of three in Pittsburgh. The trade deadline is looming, but with so many teams still in contention, do you think Mike Hazen will be able to strengthen the team for the stretch run?

That may be a factor which affects your overall fan confidence as we enter August, and that’s what the poll below is for. And, of course, tell us in the comments why you feel that way, especially if your opinion has changed from last month. Here’s a link, for those on mobile.

The Colorado Rockies are likely fielding plenty of calls leading up to the MLB Trade Deadline on Monday, with a fair share presumably focusing on All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman. The Rockies have made no indication that Goodman is going to get moved, and the asking price is reportedly high, but it’s still wise to let the process play out until Monday afternoon and see if there is an offer they can’t refuse.

However, opposing clubs are already trying to find a way to reduce Goodman’s trade value by focusing on his defensive abilities behind the dish. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported that interest in Goodman among potential suitors is “muted” because of concerns about his receiving abilities.

Sure, Goodman is a bat-first type of catcher, but is his defense truly a cause for concern, or is it just opposing clubs blowing smoke to save a prospect?

Framing

Defensively, Goodman has regressed in 2026, particularly in framing. After ranking 19th out of 57 qualified catchers in catcher framing runs, Goodman ranks 44th out of 61 catchers. However, this metric doesn’t seem quite as big a deal as MLB executives make it out to be in Rosenthal and Sammon’s article.

The fact of the matter is that with the advent of the ABS challenge system, pitch framing was a logical casualty. Catcher framing runs are down across the league as the skill is just a bit harder to utilize than in years past. Framing is still an important skill for catchers, but the opportunities to steal strikes have diminished. In 2025, four catchers had at least 10 catcher framing runs, with Patrick Bailey leading the league at 25. At this point in the 2026 season, the league leader is Toronto’s Brandon Valenzuela with 8 CFR.

Goodman’s -2 CFR isn’t all that bad at the end of the season, considering the league average is 0. There is also the fact that the Rockies have thrown the 10th highest percentage of pitches in the zone, and there isn’t much need for him to frame. If a team is letting framing be a factor in diminishing his perceived value, the argument doesn’t necessarily hold a lot of water.

Challenge King

The framing may be down, but Goodman has proven how well he knows the strike zone when he’s behind the plate thanks to the ABS challenge system.

His 56 ABS challenge wins rank third in all of baseball while his win rate of 67% is 13th. The most impactful challenge for a catcher comes with two strikes, and Goodman has overturned 17 pitches to get a strikeout, which ranks fourth.

As for his Net Overall For rating, which shows how much better a player is at successfully overturning ball/strike calls via the ABS challenge system than an average baseline, Goodman ranks second in all of baseball with 23.9. That ranks just behind Detroit’s Dillon Dingler (24.9) and ahead of Cincinnati’s Tyler Stephenson (15.6).

Since this system is in place, it puts less weight on the framing abilities and more emphasis on strike zone awareness. Walks are up across the league because catchers aren’t stealing as many strikes with framing, but the ABS challenges have been beneficial for both sides of the baseball. Goodman has proven to be one of the best in that department.

Blocking, pop time, and caught stealing

As for the other aspects of his catching game, Goodman has been perfectly adequate in most categories.

When it comes to blocking, his 0 blocks above average ranks slightly above the league average. He’s had the seventh-most block opportunities in the league, showing that he can hold his own just fine behind the plate. There is more to catching than just receiving and framing. It’s working behind the plate and having the spatial awareness to be athletic and get in front of a ball. He has only allowed four passed balls, which may be on the higher end among big league catchers, but in the grand scheme of things isn’t all that big of a deal.

As for pop time, Goodman’s 1.94 seconds to second base is right in line with the rest of the league, while his 1.71 seconds pop time to third base is near the bottom of catchers that have registered a throw to third. These factors put him around the middle of the pack in caught stealings above average. He has a fairly average arm strength but also a slower exchange time than most, which has resulted in a median 19% caught stealing rate.

The running game has been one of Goodman’s shortcomings as a catcher, but should it be all that worrisome that a team balks at the idea of acquiring him for a high-level pitching prospect?

The shortcomings and the fix

Teams are understandably hesitant to acquire a catcher mid-season because of the uncertainty of learning a pitching staff. There is obviously concern about how well Goodman can actually handle a pitching staff because Colorado is such an extreme venue. Can you accurately assess Goodman’s abilities to handle a pitching staff when the Rockies have sent out some of the worst statistical pitchers in baseball? Add in Coors Field and it’s hard to gauge his true abilities.

I’d argue that the onus of helping a new catcher learn a pitching staff is on the new team’s coaching staff. Goodman is a player eager to learn and develop and take on new challenges. There is no question that he could figure out how to work with new pitchers on the fly. Add in a good catching instructor and pitching coach and you’ve got an easy path to get over that concern.

Like most players at the big league level, it would only take a few minor adjustments to overcome any shortcomings Goodman has. Rosenthal and Sammon reported that a catching instructor indicated that fixing up any of Goodman’s receiving flaws would be relatively quick. He has the athleticism and arm strength, so that means technique is what would be addressed.

Cleaning up his technique could remedy his league-leading nine errors as a catcher, eight of which have come from trying to throw out runners stealing a base.

Conclusion

Goodman isn’t going to win a Gold Glove behind the dish any time soon. But it’s funny to see rival teams trying to diminish his value as if his defense is the reason they want to acquire him.

If a team wants a purely defensive catcher, then there are plenty of other options out there. But if they seek a premier power bat that is adequate behind the plate and won’t be a detriment, then Goodman is the player you want.

It’s simply smoke and mirrors to try and reduce the price to pay to obtain his services. The Rockies have all the trade leverage, so rather than make excuses to lower the price, teams have to see how willing they are to meet the demand at the midnight hour.

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I will forgive you if you are feeling a bit testy about the A’s fortunes, current and future, at the moment. A season that was publicly billed as an expected contending year has seen the A’s fall off a cliff again despite being in an AL West whose standard is being set by the 55-53 Rangers.

The reality is as the season shifts, out of necessity, from “trying to compete” to the dreaded “let’s see what we have,” there are some glimmers you can seize on and be optimistic — as well as some continuing trends that are worrisome. Some examples to get the conversation rolling…

Hope: Starting pitchers with the stuff to dominate, regardless of how they have shown up in the big leagues so far, include Gage Jump, Luis Morales, and Jack Perkins. And just in past week or so we have seen a glimpse of what “could be” if, for a change, things roll right for the green and gold instead of “worst case scenario”.

Perkins’ Monday start was electric as he blanked the Red Sox through 5.2 IP on just 1 hit and 69 pitches. His changeup was filthy, and his assortment of fastballs, cutters, sweepers, and change baffled Boston’s hitters something fierce. Jump was similarly unhittable in his 6 shutout innings Tuesday and even Morales showed strong flashes of his old self pressed into “bulk” duty when Jeffrey Springs had to depart his last start after 1.1 IP.

Yes a lot has to go right with these 4, who may be joined by Jamie Arnold as soon as mid-2027, but the framework is there for a rotation with legitimate upside and actual FOTR arms. Jacob Lopez has pitched well twice in a row and Mason Barnett has looked improved as well.

Hopeless: The A’s continue to play like a team that repeats basic mistakes in process without intervention. It has been the hallmark of a Mark Kotsay led team since he took over in 2022 to become one of the losingest managers in MLB history to date.

Somehow, no one can convince Jacob Wilson to hunt only strikes and so he continues to bail pitchers out on a regular basis. It may not have made a difference in the result, but in a critical spot leading off the 9th Lawrence Butler hit what he thought was a walk-off HR, stood and admired it instead of busting out of the box, and watched it bang off the top of the wall.

Every team’s players make these kinds of mistakes or poor approaches — but they don’t all repeat them again and again without any successful intervention. It’s a 5 year pattern that is cause for legitimate concern.

Hope: The A’s offense may have underwhelmed this season but there is plenty of reason still to believe this is a solid position player core going forward. They just need to all get on the field at the same time. Sometime in 2027 you would figure Leo De Vries will join the fold, and it’s significant that this year the A’s have seen two players emerge that were not necessarily expected to be key contributors.

Those two are Zack Gelof and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, both excellent (and versatile) defensive players who have shown strong work at the plate in 2026. They join Tyler Soderstrom, whose bat has been as good as ever since a slow April, Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Jacob Wilson, hopefully a healthy and rejuvenated Brent Rooker and the talented-but-unproven Henry Bolte. Along with Lawrence Butler who should be hearing footsteps from MiLB breakout Devin Taylor.

Hopeless: The injuries have not only come fast and furious, some threaten to leave players reduced upon their return. You hate to see a catcher undergo knee surgery, the speed-reliant Denzel Clarke seems highly prone to hamstring injuries, Wilson’s different injuries keep piling up, and Kuroda-Grauer walks infrequently enough does he really need one less ball? (OK sorry.)

Your Hope/Hopeless additions? And analysis? Do tell…

The Milwaukee Brewers might’ve only incurred some psychic damage in losing 2 out of 3 to one of the worst teams to ever wear “San Francisco” (they’re still 6 games up in the NL Central), but the Giants did expose how soft their rotation is after Jacob Misiorowski, which might compel them to go all in and acquire Tarik Skubal. The Padres have won five in a row and are now just 1.5 games out of a Wild Card, but from May 1st through six games ago, they were 31-42 and looked to be sellers. With the trade deadline set for Monday afternoon, could the Giants knock their division rivals back into disarray?

The Giants will likely be sellers all their own, but you can imagine them holding out through most of this series to get the best deal, by which time they might’ve already sent San Diego back to .500 by winning the first two games of this series. Or, this is the Padres’ time now and they’re just going to roll through the Bay Area with no problem.

This quick turnaround has been led by Ty France (211 wRC+ in last 12 games), Fernando Tatis Jr. (196), Jackson Merrill (195), and Luis Rengifo (190) — who I rather stupidly misread as having been traded from the Padres to the Brewers and not t’other way around. Manny Machado has also done well (164 wRC+) with 4 homers and a line of .306/.375/.592. Even Jake Cronenworth has come around (115). So, the Padres’ lineup has finally showed up this season rather than aged out.

Their pitching has held the line, too, which is remarkable considering what’s holding together the rotation. Their bullpen is absolutely dominant. Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, Bradgley Rodriguez, and Wandy Peralta have all been exceptional and the corps leads the sport in value (+5.6 fWAR); but, after Michael King, they’ve got Walker Buehler, Randy Vasquez, Griffin Canning, and German Marquez in their rotation. It’s the #25 rotation in baseball (4.2 fWAR) with an ERA (4.66) that’s down around some non-playoff teams (the Royals — 4.51, Angels — 4.67, Athletics — 5.14, Astros — 5.17, and Rockies — 6.03). So, in theory, the Giants’ lineup should be able to feast a bit and hope to build up enough of a lead to outlast their own bullpen ahead of facing the Padres’ outs-getters.

These post-All-Star break Giants have been a little quiet. Willy Adames, Bryce Eldridge, and Rafael Devers have each hit 3 home runs, but only Adames has managed to produce above the league average (113). Their 58 runs scored is 8th-best in the sport, but… you know… they scored 16 runs yesterday. Have they really had the 8th-best lineup in the sport since the break? No.

But this is the part of the season where defying expectations can really pack a wallop. The Padres are feeling themselves right now, and splitting a 4-gamer or outright losing a series to a team that might not even be good against minor league teams might send a fragile team like San Diego spiraling. Or not. It’s baseball, after all. The Giants are somehow 3-3 against the Padres so far this season, but San Diego has won 5 of the 6 season series this decade (2021 being the exception). Because “It’s baseball!” there’s always the chance the Giants win the season series against the Padres but the Padres still manage to make it to the postseason. But there hasn’t been a lot of “It’s baseball!” luck for the Giants this season, except for maybe that Milwaukee series. You can bet on a repeat of that happening this weekend, but it seems like a shakier proposition.

The Giants have made the Padres doubt everything many times before. Ending their winning streak and splitting or taking the series would almost certainly get in their heads. The Giants are a really bad team that has no business being on the same field with most of the league. If the Padres don’t sweep, they’d have to wonder whether or not they belong on the field, too.

This is likely the final series for some players on the current roster. It feels like we’ve been preparing to say goodbye to Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray for six weeks or so. Indeed, Ray’s spot in the rotation should be first up in the series, but the Giants have four TBDs listed as their pitching probables. Susan Slusser suggests that Heliot Ramos could be following them out the door, too. The only true shocker would be if any team takes a flyer on one of the radioactive relievers Buster and Zack foisted on the team.

Series Overview

Who: San Francisco Giants (46-62) vs. San Diego Padres (55-53)
Where: Oracle Park | San Francisco, California
When: Thursday at 6:40pm PT, Friday at 6:45pm PT, Saturday at 5:40pm PT, Sunday at 1:10pm PT
National broadcasts: Apple TV (Friday)

Projected starters
Thursday: TBD vs. JP Sears (LHP 3-3, 3.86 ERA)
Friday: TBD vs. TBD
Saturday: TBD vs. Walker Buehler (RHP 6-5, 5.13 ERA)
Sunday: TBD vs. Michael King (RHP 6-7, 3.38 ERA)

Players to watch

JP Sears: He was a Giants killer first with the A’s and then with the Padres, who acquired him in the Mason Miller trade. The Giants have gotten to him exactly once, when he was with the A’s — a 4-run job back in May 2025. Otherwise, he’s 3-1 with a 1.76 ERA in 5 starts against them. 30.2 IP 28 K 7 BB 6 runs. The Giants have just a .696 OPS against LHP this season (.738 vs. RHP).

Jung Hoo Lee: He’s 12-for-40 out of the break with a homer, 2 doubles, and a triple and just 1 walk against strikeouts. He’s just 4-for-23 (.174) against the Padres this season.

Prediction time

The Giants will split this series… somehow. I guess the real “going out on a limb” is predicting whether or not Robbie Ray pitches in this series. I have felt that the Giants have been an impossibly stupid team all season long, so if he were to pitch, it wouldn’t be a surprise. But even in this case, I will predict that he’s already thrown his last pitch for the orange and black.

After an emotional walk-off victory Wednesday night, it’s the final game of a 4-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs Thursday afternoon at Busch Stadium. Andre Pallante gets the ball for the Cardinals while the Cubs will start Javier Assad. First pitch scheduled for 1:15pm with the TV broadcast available through Cardinals.tv.

The initial goal on this series finale in the South Side of Chicago before heading over to Wrigley Field for the weekend is to play more than just the first inning, offensively. There are many reasons why the Yankees should lament their 6-5 loss on Wednesday, but none bigger than going nine full innings without scoring a run after putting up a four-spot in the first — though the Ali Sánchez definitely hurt.

Blowing a late lead after yet another dominant Cam Schlittler outing, the bullpen stuck around there until the 12th inning. Right in the middle of a 13-game stretch without an offday, the Yankees require a lengthy outing from Ryan Weathers, who hasn’t pitched six full innings in his last five starts. That being said, the left-hander is coming off a productive outing at Citizens Bank Park, holding the Phillies to just one run in five-plus frames.

One loss shouldn’t derail what’s been a great handling of potentially this team’s most challenging moment of the season; the Yankees have every reason to feel confident about their chances of securing a third straight series win against a team currently above .500. If any of the previous three games against the White Sox are to be trusted, expect the unexpected, as the trailing team has refused to go down quietly in each of them, guaranteeing late drama.

For a Yankees offense that failed to show up after the first, they’ll meet the co-ace of this White Sox staff in 2026, Sean Burke. The right-hander has allowed no more than two earned runs in each of his previous seven starts, throwing at least six innings in all but one of them. Of course, you don’t need to tell the Yankees a whole lot about his dominance. After all, this outstanding stretch began at Yankee Stadium, when he held them to one run in 7.1 innings, leading a 4-1 White Sox win.

How to watch

Location: Rate Field — Chicago, IL

First pitch: 2:10 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Chicago Sports Network

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM, 107.9 La Ley

Online stream: MLB.tv

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Thursday Matinee. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/vSkmSvbLhR

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 30, 2026

Burke on the bump! pic.twitter.com/ZFtLOMQ6wi

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 30, 2026

With the adrenaline still flowing from last night’s extra-inning comeback win (sure, it was only possible because of some odd managerial decisions and a completely brain-dead defensive play by the Yankees — their catcher tried to pick Munetaka Murakami off third with two outs in the 11th and threw the ball away), the White Sox will try to even the series this afternoon behind what appears on paper to be their best pitching matchup.

That’s because the Sox will start Sean Burke, who has been solid all season and absolutely outstanding in July, allowing just four earned runs in 25 2/3 innings while striking out 35. He faced the Yankees in New York in June and overwhelmed them — 7 1/3 innings, five hits, one run, no walks, eight strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the Yankees are at the back end of their rotation with lefty Ryan Weathers, who has a 4.25 ERA, including 19 2/3 innings in July in which he gave up 11 runs, though K’ing 24. That would make for a very nice matchup were it not for the fact that the Sox have struggled against mediocre lefties lately, including against Weathers, who held them to one run in 6 1/3 innings in June.

Weathers will face a White Sox lineup with only Murakami and Colson Montgomery batting from the left side, and Colson has big reverse splits. That puts Everson Pereira, who has three strikeouts in three trips to the plate since coming off the IL, in center.

Burke will face basically the same Yankees as last night, but with Austin Wells behind the plate instead of Ali Sanchez, who made the brain-dead throw yesterday.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Central on a beautiful day for baseball — mostly sunny, low 80s, very light wind toward left. Usual broadcast suspects.

 

Shane McClanahan, the Tampa Bay Rays' two-time All-Star left-hander, left his start against the Texas Rangers Thursday, July 30 with lower mid-back tightness, a development that could affect the first-place Rays' approach as the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaches.

McClanahan, 29, issued a walk to Brandon Nimmo in the top of the fourth inning and then bent over as if to stretch and touch his toes. Rays manager Kevin Cash and a trainer came to the mound and McClanahan abruptly exited. The club later announced he is day-to-day with the back tightness.

Cash said after the Rays' 3-2 victory that McClanahan complained his back was tight but could pitch through it. Once his velocity began to dip, it was an easy decision to remove him. Six relievers combined to cover the final three innings.

"Any time it’s a back and not an arm, I think we feel better about it," Cash told reporters in his postgame press conference. "But we’ll check him out and go from there."

McClanahan missed the 2024 and 2025 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery and a triceps injury he suffered just before the '25 season that kept him sidelined all year. He's come back strongly this season, posting a 3.09 ERA in 19 starts as the Rays have taken control of the American League East, building a lead over the second place New York Yankees.

Tampa Bay was already considered a strong candidate to enter the sweepstakes for Tarik Skubal, the Detroit Tigers ace expected to land on the trading block. The Rays enjoy significant payroll flexibility and have as clear a path to their third World Series berth as possible.

The extent of McClanahan's injury could frame how vigorous efforts to acquire Skubal - or any other starting pitcher - will be come deadline time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shane McClanahan injury update: Rays ace leaves start abruptly

Shohei Ohtani's balky knee isn't the Los Angeles Dodgers' only concern.

The FBI seized a phone from Dodgers owner Mark Walter last year, according to Bloomberg, and this week attorney Robbin Itkin read with unique perspective about a financial investigation targeting Walter.

Itkin represented Dodger season-ticket holders in 2011 after Frank McCourt, the team's former owner, took the franchise into bankruptcy.

“I love the Dodgers," Itkin told USA TODAY Sports this week. “My husband and I are huge Dodgers fans. We're season-ticket holders, and I want nothing more than the Dodgers to succeed.

“I don't know what, if any, effect this may have on the team at this point."

By this, Itkin was referring to the investigation being led by U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan into potential financial improprieties at two insurance companies controlled by Walter and at Guggenheim Partners. Guggenheim Partners bought the Dodgers in 2012 out of bankruptcy for a then-record $2.15 billion.

Last year, Walter bought a controlling stake in the Los Angeles Lakers. He also owns Chelsea in the English Premier League, as well as the Professional Women's Hockey League.

But now the focus is on the Dodgers and, as the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline approaches, their pursuit of a third straight World Series.

“Well, there's always concern when you see an investigation going on with an owner of a business that you care about,’’ Itkin said. “And the Dodgers are a business. So it's unclear at this point what it is, but I'm certainly following it and hope that it's not going to be something that adversely affects the team.’’

Los Angeles has endured sports owner sagas

Major League Baseball accused McCourt of “looting" $190 million from the Dodgers and using the money to pay personal debts and for personal distributions, the Los Angeles Times reported.

That sports owner saga was not the first for Los Angeles.

In 1988, Bruce McNall gained full control of the Los Angeles Kings, then a long-underachieving NHL team. That same year, the Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers. The city grew enamored with the team, and Gretzky delivered.

In 1993, the Kings reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history.

The next year, McNall admitted to having defrauded banks, the Kings and other entities out of more than $230 million. He served 13 months in prison and had to sell the hockey team that hit hard times.

Attorney Richard Wynne, who represented McNall when McNall filed for bankruptcy in 1995, said he is not involved in Walter's situation but has insight into what can go wrong financially for sports owners.

"Broadly in sports, liquidity is often the constraining factor," Wynne told USA TODAY Sports. "When you look at when people have gotten into financial troubles, it's been more liquidity than asset value."

McCourt, for example, fell behind on payroll demands.

'At this point, I'm not concerned'

John Eiden, secretary of the Dodgers booster club, was preparing to head out to Dodger Stadium for the game Wednesday night. He said he attends almost 30 regular-season games a year and that the booster club has about 100 members, down from approximately 300 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“But the spirit and the camaraderie and all of that has never flagged, at least among the loyal ones..." he said. “Plus the prices have gotten so expensive."

During Walter’s tenure as owner, the Dodgers have extracted more money from team's fans and invested heavily in the team. They’ve had one of the highest payrolls in baseball and spared no expense while acquiring the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and other stars, while signing a $7 blllion local TV deal.

Walter, who helps oversee and manage more than $300 billion through Guggenheim Partners, is a visible public figure. During the team’s recent visit to the White House, where the Dodgers celebrated winning the 2025 World Series, Walter presented a World Series ring to President Donald Trump.

Eiden, the longtime Dodgers fan, said he is focused on the team’s quest to win a third straight World Series title, not the investigation into Walter.

“I'm not terribly concerned with what has been put into the public record at this point," Eiden said.

David M. Carter, founder of The Sports Business Group and former USC sports business professor, said for the vast majority of L.A. sports fans it's about "unfurling championship banners and attending championship parades."

"Fans want to know that ownership is doing everything it can to remain competitive on a consistent basis – and they have come to expect this of both their local college and pro teams throughout Southern California," Carter told USA TODAY Sports in an email. "So, whether due to financial malfeasance or just an owner’s decision not to invest in payroll, anything leading to being a basement dweller in the standings will not be tolerated for long.

"Fortunately, the extent of goodwill enjoyed by the Dodgers given their avid fans and quest for a threepeat will buy them additional time if needed, and this will be bolstered by the massive amounts of revenue the team has on the books as far as the eye can see.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Should Los Angeles Dodgers be worried about investigation into owner?

The Royals have a chance to win their first road series since they beat the Twins in their last visit to Minnesota in early June.

Noah Cameron will start today with no opener, even though he had a pretty good outing as the “bulk” guy last time. He spun seven shutout innings, but the Royals couldn’t get him the win because Beck Way gave up two runs as the opener and the offense managed just one run. Cameron has never lost to the Twins – he is 3-0 with a 0.77 ERA in four career starts.

Going for the series! pic.twitter.com/Jsyw4VX538

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 30, 2026

The Twins start Bailey Ober, who lasted just four innings in his last start, with a fastball sitting in the upper 80s. He has a 4.74 ERA in 14 career starts against the Royals.

Time to wrap up the homestand

📺 https://t.co/7owDbqKlDapic.twitter.com/pi46uWtbLu

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 30, 2026

The game airs on Royals.TV and you can list on 96.5 The Fan in Kansas City.

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I stacked another winning day last night with +2.72 units and am looking to make it three in a row today on a short Thursday slate that still has tons of MLB player prop potential.

Esmerlyn Valdez is the best rookie hitter in baseball and will see plenty of Rhett Lowder and Cincinnati's lefty relievers today at GABP. He joins our card that already includes fellow unsung names like Chase Meidroth and Andruw Monasterio.  

These are my favorite MLB home run props for Thursday, July 30.

MLB home run props for today

Home run prediction: Chase Meidroth (+1100)

This matinee might have the best home run matchup on the board. New York Yankees starter Ryan Weathers is one of the hardest-hit pitchers on today's slate, and his home run luck could finally run out against Chase Meidroth at a massive price.

Weathers has been especially vulnerable to right-handed hitters, with 29 of the 35 home runs he has allowed coming in righty-on-righty matchups. That's where I'm finding value today.

Meidroth is slugging .564 over the last two weeks, just 17 points behind Chicago White Sox leader Munetaka Murakami. His 44% hard-hit rate is the real deal, and his .398 xwOBA ranks second on the club over that stretch, suggesting this isn't just a hot streak.

The middle-of-the-order bat already has three hits in this series, all of them for extra bases. The Yankees' bullpen has also shown some cracks, allowing seven runs and three home runs over the first two games.

On a short slate, this is the type of long shot I'm willing to back. I'd play it down to +750.

• Time: 2:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: YES, Chicago Sports Network

Home run prediction: Andruw Monasterio (+546)

Let's take another big swing, this time at Sutter Health Park, where the ball flies, and the Athletics' pitching staff is hanging on by a thread. Mason Barnett is making his first start of the season after working in a bulk relief role.

The rotation injuries continue to pile up with Luis Severino, JT Ginn, Jeffrey Springs, and Gunnar Hoglund all sidelined. Barnett is a home-run-prone arm with just a 33% ground-ball rate and will eventually hand things over to a bullpen that owns an MLB-worst 8.14 ERA over the last two weeks.

Andruw Monasterio crushes left-handed pitching and more than holds his own against righties. With three left-handed relievers available in the Athletics' bullpen, he should see favorable matchups throughout the game. He already took Jose Suarez deep in extra innings last night.

Monasterio also leads the Boston Red Sox with a .714 slugging percentage over the last two weeks, while his .511 wOBA ranks sixth in baseball during that span.

There should be plenty of balls leaving the yard at Sutter Health Park today, and Monasterio's hot bat is a play down to +450.

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSCA, NESN

Home run prediction: Esmerlyn Valdez (+356)

This price could easily be closer to +250, and it already is at some books. That's what happens when you combine the home-run boost of Great American Ballpark with a matchup against Rhett Lowder.

Rookie Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Esmerlyn Valdez is a human weapon who can handle both sides of the plate and launch baseballs 110 mph. He leads MLB in barrel rate at 26.9% (min. 50 PA) and owns a higher slugging percentage than Yordan Alvarez. His 34% HR/FB rate ranks second in baseball.

He is still available around 10/1 for NL Rookie of the Year, but has played half as many games as St. Louis' JJ Wetherholt, so there is still value in the market.

The Reds could be down to just four bullpen arms today, with two of them being left-handed. That creates plenty of opportunities for the man missile against Lowder and the Cincinnati bullpen.

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Reds.TV

Best home run combo for July 30

Want more baseball parlays? Check out our MLB parlay picks page!

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