The Yankees enter the 2025 MLB trade deadline with a bullpen problem, and moves could be on the horizon, as evidenced in Friday's 12-5 series-opening loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Takeaways
Will Warren's start gave the Yankees (56-47) a chance. The right-hander allowed two runs on five hits while striking out seven and walking three in 5.2 innings pitched. Manager Aaron Boone pulled Warren (6-5, 4.82 ERA) after 89 pitches (57 strikes) and got the sixth's first two outs for left-handed reliever Tim Hill, who struck out Bryson Stott to end the inning, but the seventh was another story. Ultimately, Hill and those who followed unraveled -- all while New York entered the final three frames with a lead, following designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton's go-ahead sixth-inning home run put the Yankees up 3-2.
While right-hander Luke Weaver's high-leverage relief appearance after Hill was a disaster, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt's costly seventh-inning error should not go unmentioned. With one out and runners at second and third after Weaver relieved Hill, Goldschmidt's airmailed throw home on Nick Castellanos' grounder allowed Trea Turner to score and tie the game at 3-3. J.T. Realmuto's three-run home run on the second pitch of the next at-bat pushed the Phillies ahead, 6-3, and Philadelphia (59-44) never looked back despite New York's two-run bottom half.
To extend the point about the bullpen, after the Yankees' bats chipped away to make it a 6-5 deficit, New York gave that right back. Right-hander Ian Hamilton served up Kyle Schwarber's second home run of the evening, a three-run shot to bury the Yankees at 8-5, and the hole dug deeper in the ninth when right-hander Scott Effross allowed Edmundo Sosa's RBI single, Stott's two-run double and Turner's RBI triple -- all with two outs.
Who's the MVP?
Schwarber, whose two home runs -- tying and putting the game away -- made the biggest impact.
The Yankees and Phillies continue their three-game series with Saturday's 1:05 p.m. matchup. New York RHP Marcus Stroman (2-1, 5.64 ERA) and Philadelphia LHP Ranger Suárez (7-4, 2.66 ERA) are set to start.
The Mets' farm system is filled with talented prospects and outfielder Drew Gilbert's recent play has drawn the attention of the team's front office.
Speaking with the media in San Francisco ahead of Friday's series opener against the Giants, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke about what he hoped to accomplish at the trade deadline after dealing for left-handed reliever Gregory Soto. The Mets' outfield was a subject brought up to Stearns since the centerfield platoon of Tyrone Taylor and Jeff McNeil has, while playing admirably, not produced consistently enough.
There have been rumblings of a deal to address it at the deadline, but while Stearns shared he was comfortable with Taylor/McNeil the rest of the season, he was asked about Gilbert's recent play and whether he's on the team's radar for center field.
"Drew’s doing a tremendous job," Stearns said. "I think to his credit, he’s putting himself on the radar a little bit and deserves a lot of credit for that. Both offensively and defensively, he’s taken a step forward over the next month or two."
Stearns didn't necessarily answer the question, but gave his flowers to the 24-year-old who has turned his offensive game up with Syracuse.
Entering Friday, Gilbert was hitting .310 with a .990 OPS over the last 30 days, and that doesn't include the power performance he put on in Syracuse's game against Omaha.
That offensive outburst raised his batting average to .248, his OBP to .351 and his OPS to .796 in 78 games in Triple-A. Across 17 games in July, Gilbert is hitting .338 with six home runs while driving in 17 RBI a posting an OPS of 1.126.
Entering Friday, Taylor is hitting .209 with two home runs and 17 RBI to go with his .570 OPS across 91 games. McNeil, in 68 games entering Friday, is hitting better. He's averaging .251 with nine home runs and 32 RBI, but splits time between the outfield and infield.
While Jesse Winker continues to recover on the IL, Gilbert could be the left-handed bat the Mets are looking for to pair with Taylor. Stearns made it clear on Friday that upgrading the position with an external option isn't a priority.
"I’m comfortable with the setup we have right now," Stearns said of his centerfielders. "Mendy is doing a great job of finding the right days for Jeff to be out there and for Tyrone to be out there. It’s two skill sets that complement each other, so I‘m comfortable with that. Like with the rest of the team, we’re going to explore areas of upgrades and that’s one of them."
Perhaps that's because he knows who he has waiting in the wings.
But, more needs to be done if the Mets hope to make a deep playoff run, and president of baseball operations David Stearns is well aware of the team's holes and is actively looking to fill them. Speaking with the media in San Francisco ahead of the team's series opener against the Giants, Stearns said talks with the Orioles had been going on for a couple of weeks and this was the time to push the deal through.
Soto will be the Mets' second high-leverage southpaw out of the pen -- along with the returning Brooks Raley -- and Stearns was asked whether getting that second lefty was his first priority.
"It was important, you never know whether you’ll be able to line up," Stearns said. "Not sure how many lefty relievers are going to be traded this deadline. We weren’t certain, but with the injuries we had from that side of the pen over the course of the season, we recognize the importance an arm from the left side can potentially have down the stretch and into October. It was something we definitely wanted to accomplish."
Teams aren't usually content with dealing for just one reliever at this time of the season. The Mets are likely to keep searching for more quality arms for the bullpen and Stearns is keeping the door open for more trades.
"We’re still talking. There’s still the ability to upgrade our bullpen," he said. "We’re certainly not going to close the door on it."
He later added, "Wherever we can upgrade the team, we’re going to try to do that. We’ll continue to have discussions on the bullpen. We’re not going to close the door on other aspects of the team. But as we said all along, the bullpen is the priority and probably remains that way."
But what about the rotation? There have been reports that the Mets have checked in on starters like Dylan Cease and Sandy Alcantara.
While Stearns wouldn't say he's not in the market for an arm for the rotation, he made it clear that it's not high on his list of deals to make.
"I like our starting rotation. Our current five is a very talented set of five," Stearns said. "We’re still in the process of building some of those guys up. And that’s unusual to happen this time of the year, where you’re doing that with multiple starters. That’s the spot we’re in right now. Because of that, it puts a little extra burden on the bullpen…But we know as we go through this over the next two months, we’re going to need to ask more for more out of starters. We’ll get there, we’re not there quite yet."
Currently, the Mets have David Peterson, Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea as the starting five. Senga and Manaea are coming off injuries and have not been built up, while Holmes, a converted reliever, has reached a workload he's never had in his career.
Stearns and the organization are in a tricky spot, but the second-year Mets POBO believes in his starters. But offered the caveat that if there's a difference-maker available, they'll be checking.
"I think if you’re going to add to the team in general, you try to raise the ceiling of the team. That’s how I look at that group," he said. "Again, you don’t know exactly what’s going to be available and what’s ultimately going to be traded. Acquiring starting pitching at this time of year is pretty difficult. I don’t know how many 'raise the ceiling' type of players are going to be traded in that segment. If those guys are available, we’ll be involved."
And what about the lineup? There's been plenty of talk regarding the Mets' pursuit of an outfield bat and whether they should. Like other aspects of the team, Stearns maintains he'll look into all opportunities to improve the team, but is comfortable and complimentary of how Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor have played in center this season.
"I’m comfortable with the setup we have right now," Stearns said of his centerfielders. "Mendy is doing a great job of finding the right days for Jeff to be out there and for Tyrone to be out there. It’s two skill sets that complement each other, so I‘m comfortable with that. Like with the rest of the team, we’re going to explore areas of upgrades and that’s one of them."
Taylor is having a tough year offensively. In 91 games entering Friday, Taylor is hitting .209 with two home runs and 17 RBI to go with his .570 OPS. McNeil, in 68 games entering Friday, is hitting better. He's averaging .251 with nine home runs and 32 RBI, but splits time between the outfield and infield.
When asked if he believes he needs to add a bat of any kind at the deadline, Stearns, again, was complimentary of how his team has played so far.
"I don’t think we need to," he said. "We have the offensive players who can help us score a lot of runs and turn the lineup over. I continue to maintain we are taking good at-bats by and large, I’m growing increasingly comfortable with the length of our lineup and the contributions we’re getting from the bottom half of our lineup. With that said, we have to figure out a way to score more runs. I don’t think anyone would shy away from that."
The 2025 MLB trade deadline is set for Thursday, July 31, at 6 p.m.
NEW YORK – Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker provided the guts for the team Friday night in their series opener against the New York Yankees. The Phillies bats provided the glory.
Walker gave all he had in his, somewhat unknown, pitching tank through 5.2 innings and Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto provided the needed power as the Phillies bulled their way to a 12-5 win over the Yankees. Schwarber belted two more home runs and picked up his 1,00th career hit on the first homer, which was caught by a Phillies fan. After the game, Schwarber met with the three friends and gave them each a baseball and took some pictures with them.
“I’ve said all along I don’t know where we’d be without him,” said Rob Thomson of Schwarber. “Comes up with big hit after big hit after big hit. It’s amazing.”
Famously bounced from starter to reliever and back to starter throughout the season, it’s pretty much anybody’s guess how much the hulking right-hander is asked to give on any given outing. Well, he and Thomson certainly know, though no one knows how the outing may unwind.
To that end, there was a “hold your breath” kind of half inning for the Phillies earlier in the game, before they started bashing the ball all over the Bronx.
Walker loafed out of the visiting team’s dugout at Yankee Stadium Friday night to take the mound for the sixth inning. In the previous five innings, he had only thrown 65 pitches and allowed a pair of solo home runs. It was an outing you had to be more than pleased with up to that point. As Walker strolled (he doesn’t exactly use up much energy when there’s no need and added to that a sore ankle) to the mound, Aaron Judge, he of the .345 average and 37 home runs, was grabbing a bat to get ready to leadoff the inning.
“He was at 65 pitches after the fifth,” Thomson said. “And his limit was probably 85. So we were going hitter to hitter right there. We had (Tanner) Banks ready to go.” Walker got a groundout from Judge on four pitches, and retired Cody Bellinger, who earlier homered, on a flyout with six pitches. After getting Giancarlo Stanton down 0-2, the DH hit the sixth pitch of the at-bat into the Yankees bullpen for a 3-2 lead.
“He was great,” said Thomson. “He gave up three home runs but they’re all solo. He didn’t walk a guy. They got a lot of soft contact. I thought he was really good.”
All this came after Walker tweaked his right ankle on a bouncing ball up the middle in the second inning. After a lengthy meeting on the mound with trainers and Thomson, Walker waved them off and continued.
“I thought it went well,” said Walker of his 5.2 innings in which he allowed six hits and three earned runs. “Got into the sixth and really wanted to get that last out but just left it over the middle. Supposed to be a two-seam in there, try to get some weak contact. I thought overall it was good.”
The Phillies offense didn’t have much weak contact on the night as Trea Turner got on base five times as he and Schwarber combined to go 7-for-10 with six runs scored.
Before the game, Thomson spoke of the recent uptick in the offensive production from Realmuto. Thomson alluded to when Realmuto is at his best, he hits the ball to center and right field.
Maybe the veteran catcher got wind of Thomson’s remarks and wanted to show that’s not all he can do. Realmuto turned perfectly into a Luke Weaver changeup and launched it deep into the left-field seats to give the Phillies a 6-3 lead in the seventh.
“I feel like mechanically I’ve been in a better spot recently, starting to feel good, my timing’s felt better and seeing the ball better,” said Realmuto. “I feel like it’s heading in the right direction. It’s mostly timing with me. I’m more of a line drive and focus on right field hitter, but I’ll catch those mistakes out in front a little more often.”
There is pretty much nothing Schwarber isn’t doing right at the plate as his first home run of the night tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth and his two-run shot in the eighth upped the lead to 8-5.
“We’ve got such a really good group here,” Schwarber said. “It’s been a lot of the same faces for quite a while now. Obviously, you keep adding and new faces every single year. Obviously, we’ve gone through a lot of different things. We also want to create some new experiences as well. We’ve just got to keep going about our business, putting our heads down and keep working and see where we’re at at the end of the year.”
In the meantime, don’t miss what Schwarber is doing now, because it’s pretty special.
Nick Kurtz might have locked up the American League Rookie of the Year Award on Friday night in Houston.
The Athletics rookie crushed four homers, collected six hits and drove in eight runs in a 15-3 win over the Astros at Daikin Park.
Kurtz is the first player in the long, storied history of the Athletics franchise to hit four homers in a game and the first rookie ever to accomplish the feat.
The 2024 first-round draft pick now is the 20th player in MLB history to go deep four times in a game and the youngest by nearly three years.
Moments after his historic performance, Kurtz had trouble finding the words to describe what he had just accomplished.
“It’s hard to think about this day being, you know, kind of real,” Kurtz told Chris Caray and Dallas Braden on “A’s Cast” following the win. “Still feels like a dream. So it’s just, it’s pretty remarkable. I’m kind of speechless. I don’t really know what to say.”
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF WORDS. NICK KURTZ. THREE HOMERS. FIVE HITS. FIVE RBI. 😱 pic.twitter.com/CWb8sm22W4
Kurtz is authoring one of the greatest starts to an MLB career, as he now has 22 homers and 59 RBI in his first 66 big-league games to along with a 1.060 OPS following Friday’s performance.
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay has seen a lot in nearly 30 years in professional baseball, but nothing quite stacks up to what Kurtz did Friday night.
“I don’t really know how to describe that one,” Kotsay told reporters in Houston. “It’s arguably the best game I’ve ever watched from a single player. And I say that because, I watched Barry Bonds and the season he had. I was in center field for it. And what Barry did was hands-down one of the greatest seasons you can have.
“Shawn Green is a memory you have, I think Shawn hit four homers in a game in Dodger Stadium. But tonight was special. This kid continues to have jaw-dropping moments. And to witness that tonight was pretty special for all of us.”
“It’s absolutely crazy,” Kurtz told Caray and Braden. “To think a year ago I was probably in Arizona right now, right after the draft and just getting ready to go out and play in Stockton and now I’m here and today kind of happened, it’s insane. I kinda, I don’t know what to say Dallas. I mean I got no idea.”
Maybe even more remarkable is that Kurtz’s family made it to Houston just in time to watch his otherworldly performance.
“To see Pops and Mom there and the godparents as well, it’s pretty awesome to have them here,” Kurtz told Caray and Braden. “[They] just got in this morning, so going to be here is really cool.”
There are over two months left in the 2025 season, but it might be a safe bet to start inscribing Kurtz’s name on the AL Rookie of the Year award. He has been that good over the last few weeks.
It had been nine months since Walker Buehler struck out Alex Verdugo, stretched his arms on the Yankee Stadium mound, and was dogpiled after recording the final outs of last year’s World Series.
But on Friday afternoon, ahead of Buehler’s first reunion with the Dodgers since departing for the Boston Red Sox in the offseason, the memory remained vividly fresh — for him, his former teammates and coaches, and even a traveling contingent of Dodgers fans in town for this weekend’s series at Fenway Park.
As Buehler chatted with members of his old organization hours before Friday’s series opener, Dodger fans taking a pregame tour of the stadium spotted him on the diamond. Within moments, an otherwise empty ballpark was echoing with cheers and applause, the fans shouting Buehler’s name as he acknowledged them with a wave of his hand.
“That was really cool,” Buehler said later, the moment reminding him of a conversation he had with Dodgers broadcaster Orel Hershiser (a World Series hero of a different generation who became a mentor of Buehler’s during his time with the team).
“Talking to Orel about some of that stuff that he’s gone through and the way people react to him, I think it’s obviously two different situations,” he added. “But for the fans walking around to yell at me, I kind of imagine in L.A. it’ll be like that for a while, I hope.”
Indeed, if there was any doubt about how Buehler’s Dodgers tenure was destined to be remembered, his role in last year’s World Series enshrined it in legendary status.
No, the right-hander didn’t quite reach the Cy Young-winning expectations many had when he first came up as a highly touted prospect with a big fastball and fiery mound presence. For as dominant as he was from 2018-2021, when he went 39-13 with a 2.82 earned-run average and two All-Star selections, the end of his seven-year stint was derailed by a 2022 Tommy John surgery (the second of his career) and a disappointing regular-season performance upon his return in 2024 (when he was 1-6 in the regular season with a 5.38 ERA).
Buehler’s best Dodger moments, though, always came in the postseason: From his division-clinching gem in Game 163 as a rookie in 2018, to his 1.80 ERA in five starts during the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series run, to when he took the ball on short rest twice in a failed title defense in 2021, to his 10 consecutive scoreless innings in the final two rounds of last year’s postseason most of all; an unexpected star turn following his post-Tommy John struggles throughout the summer.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Walker Buehler delivers against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. (Matt Slocum / Associated Press)
“That moment means a lot to all of us, that we were a part of it with the city and the fans that came out every day for us there,” he said, while talking to reporters in the Red Sox’s home dugout. “I think it would have been hard to leave that for anywhere — except for here.”
While Buehler expressed interest in remaining with the Dodgers ahead of his free agency last winter, his eventual departure became clear in the first week of the offseason.
The team didn’t extend him a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer — which ended up being the same amount he signed for with the Red Sox. The Dodgers instead went after Blake Snell with a $182-million contract, and won the January sweepstakes for Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.
“It was an interesting situation. I think there’s obviously two sides to that situation,” Buehler said when reflecting back on his free agency. “We had conversations about it, we talked through it. And they went and signed guys that they wanted to sign. And I signed with a place that I wanted to play. It kind of is what it is.”
In hindsight, it was an outcome neither side seems to regret.
In Buehler’s absence, the Dodgers have managed to work around first-half injuries to several key starters, and are on track to have a potential postseason rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and Snell (who could return from a shoulder injury after one last minor league rehab start with triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday).
Meanwhile, Buehler said he has enjoyed playing for the Red Sox, even though he has regressed with a woeful 5.72 ERA (sixth-worst in the majors among 107 pitchers with at least 80 innings).
“It’s been a really fun year, outside of some of the playing stuff for me,” he said. “But my family and me, we’re loving it here and have felt really very welcomed here, as well, just like we were in L.A.”
Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler, far left, celebrates with teammates after recording the final out of the Dodgers' World Series victory over the New York Yankees on Oct. 30. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Buehler has been better lately, giving up just three earned runs in his last 18 innings to help the Red Sox maintain the final wild-card spot in the American League.
His next start, fittingly, will come in Sunday’s series-finale against the Dodgers.
“It'll be interesting,” Buehler said with a laugh. “Obviously, I was one of the last of the wave coming up there. So I’ve kind of got little bits and pieces of it playing against Joc [Pederson] and [Cody Bellinger] and Corey [Seager]. So it’ll be nine of those for me, I guess.”
Buehler wished he could have squared off against Clayton Kershaw; something he said he and the future Hall of Fame left-hander (who will instead pitch Saturday’s game) joked about while meeting up on Thursday’s off day.
Still, Buehler added, "I think you just try to keep it as normal as you can. Obviously it'll be a little awkward or funny or whatever. But I don't know. At the end of the day, we're all playing a sport for a paycheck. The goal is go and to get one over on them. I don't think the preparation against them is really different."
Friday, on the other hand, was a day for nostalgia, with Buehler receiving his World Series ring from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and most of the remaining players from last year’s team during pregame batting practice.
“I was very fortunate to be drafted and developed and get to spend so much time there,” Buehler said. “Should credit a lot of good success that I've had to them, and how they handled and treated me. Nothing but good things to say there."
As for if his ring — a diamond-studded reminder of what, for now at least, remains the lasting image of his Dodgers career — gave him any closure, Buehler smirked.
"I think you already have it,” he said. “But I think everyone kind of knows I'm on a one-year contract, so you never know what's going to happen down the road.”
Betts absent for Friday
The Dodgers were without shortstop Mookie Betts, who was home in Nashville with his family attending to a personal matter. Roberts said Betts was expected to rejoin the club on Saturday, but was unsure if he’d be back in the starting lineup for that day’s game.
SAN FRANCISCO — When Friday night’s game ended, six Giants relievers walked in a line from the bullpen to the dugout.
That’s not at all unusual in a game started by Logan Webb, who ordinarily gives the team seven innings every time out, but on Friday, it was a sign of just how much has changed for the rotation over the past week.
Webb lasted just four innings in a third consecutive rough start, forcing San Francisco manager Bob Melvin to get five relief innings out of four pitchers. Even then, there was still plenty of depth in the bullpen because of everything else that has gone on this week.
The rotation, which was a strength for much of the first half of the season, is leaking oil, and the staff ace is not immune to this decline.
Webb was charged with six earned in an 8-1 loss to the New York Mets. He has given up 16 earned over his last three starts – the worst such stretch of his career.
What’s going on?
“If I knew, I would have fixed it by now,” he said. “Yeah, it’s just not good.”
If there is something that is bothering Webb physically, he won’t use it as an excuse.
Asked about his workload on Friday, he said he feels fine and pointed out that this is what he gets paid to do. “I’ve got to be better,” he repeated.
The latest disappointing start came a few hours after the Giants announced that Roupp will miss at least two starts with tightness in his right elbow.
Earlier this week, they sent Birdsong back to Triple-A after he failed to record an out in a nightmare start against the Atlanta Braves.
There is a bullpen game on the schedule for Sunday and that likely won’t change, even after Webb tied a season-low for outs recorded. The group that walked in from the bullpen late Friday night included Carson Seymour and Sean Hjelle, both of whom can give Melvin some length.
Barring a disastrous start from Robbie Ray on Saturday, the Giants will go to their deep pen on Sunday and then figure out what to do with Roupp’s turn. Carson Whisenhunt and Kai-Weig Teng seem to be the leading options, with the hope that Roupp will be back in a couple of weeks.
The Giants also could trade for reinforcements over the next six days, although on Friday it was hard to make the argument that this team should push too many additional chips into the center of the table.
In front of a sellout crowd, the lineup repeatedly let Clay Holmes off the hook. The loss was the fifth in seven games since the All-Star break.
In the first half, the slow stretches could be put just about entirely on the offense. But over the past week, question marks have popped up with the rotation, which went seven deep at the start of the season and now has just three healthy starters.
“We’ve got to put the team in a better spot. I’ve got to be better,” Webb added. “It sucks losing Roupp — honestly he’s probably throwing the best out of all of us right now. It sucks losing him and I know he’s upset about it, but we all just have to step up and be better than what I did today.”
SAN FRANCISCO — Between innings on Friday night, the Giants’ stadium operations crew played a game of “Remembering Some Guys.” Russ Ortiz, Tyler Walker and Jean Machi were all at Oracle Park, and they were shown on the scoreboard and remembered as Forever Giants.
The former Giants pitchers were not treated to a good performance.
Logan Webb had a third straight rough start and the lineup couldn’t keep the Atlanta vibes going, losing 8-1 to the New York Mets.
As they kicked off a six-game homestand against the Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates that will lead right into the trade deadline, the Giants fell for the fifth time in seven games since the All-Star break.
Here are three things to know from a disappointing start to the homestand:
Surprise Skid
Webb pitched well in the All-Star Game, but the rest of this month has been surprisingly rocky. He lasted just four innings Friday, tying a season low, and he tied a season high by allowing six earned runs. Webb gave up just 10 earned runs in his first 10 starts at Oracle Park this season, but he has allowed 12 earned runs over his past two home starts against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Mets.
Friday’s trouble started early, after Webb gave up a leadoff double and a single. The Mets scored two in the first, and Francisco Lindor hit a solo homer in the third. Webb gave up three singles and walked one in the fourth before recovering to strike out Lindor and Juan Soto, but the damage had been done. The staff ace had a 2.62 ERA after a quality start in Sacramento at the beginning of July, but it’s now up to 3.38.
Welcome Back
When he walked into Oracle Park this week, it was Matt Gage’s first visit since 2015, when he was a recent Giants draft pick who took part in their January rookie camp — which included a run to the Golden Gate Bridge and another day when prospects ran up and down every set of stairs in the upper deck.
Gage, now 32, never made it to the big leagues in his first go-around with the Giants, but he has pitched well since returning this month. The lefty opened the seventh by blowing a fastball past Lindor and then got a pop-up from Soto and a groundout from Pete Alonso. In four scoreless innings with the Giants, Gage has allowed just one hit.
Second Time Out
Rafael Devers made his second start at first base, and it was uneventful. Devers looked comfortable, and his bothersome back and groin didn’t seem to be impacted by a cold night at Oracle Park.
Devers went 1-for-4 at the plate with an early double that helped get the Giants on the board. After Heliot Ramos led off the first with a single, Devers hooked a changeup from Clay Holmes into the right field corner. Ramos scored on a groundout by Willy Adames.
Hey Jazz Chisholm Jr., did you know that you have the most at-bats of any Yankee against Gregory Soto?
“Yeah,” Chisholm says, standing in the Yankee dugout Friday afternoon. “And probably the least amount of hits.”
Well, tied for the least, with zero. But Chisholm is a very nice person, and is willing to provide a scouting report on the Mets’ newest acquisition.
The Mets acquired Soto on Friday from Baltimore for a pair of minor leaguers. It was the first of what will almost certainly be multiple trades to improve the bullpen.
Soto, 30, has a 3.96 earned run average this season. A hard sinker highlights his repertoire. He is known for both strikeouts and walks. Chisholm knows from firsthand experience how nasty he can be.
“You don’t have to tell me the numbers,” Chisholm said of Soto. “I bet I know. Oh for thirteen?”
Well, 0-for-10 with six strikeouts. So what makes Soto so tough? He’s a sinker/slider guy, right?
“Sinker, slider, cutter, sweeper, all of those,” Chisholm says. “He throws everything. For me, I feel like when he faces me, he doesn’t really miss down the middle.”
Chisholm pauses for a moment. “I thought we were going to trade for him, I don’t know.”
Chisholm is told that the Yankees are likely to add multiple relievers before next weekend’s deadline. He says that he knows.
He concludes: “I like [Soto] as a pitcher a lot. For me, he’s one of the best pitchers.”
Nick Kurtz might have locked up the American League Rookie of the Year Award on Friday night in Houston.
The Athletics rookie crushed four homers, collected six hits and drove in eight runs in a 15-3 win over the Astros at Daikin Park.
Kurtz is the first player in the long, storied history of the Athletics franchise to hit four homers in a game and the first rookie ever to accomplish the feat.
The 2024 first-round draft pick now is the 20th player in MLB history to go deep four times in a game and the youngest by nearly three years.
Moments after his historic performance, Kurtz had trouble finding the words to describe what he had just accomplished.
“It’s hard to think about this day being, you know, kind of real,” Kurtz told Chris Caray and Dallas Braden on “A’s Cast” following the win. “Still feels like a dream. So it’s just, it’s pretty remarkable. I’m kind of speechless. I don’t really know what to say.”
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF WORDS. NICK KURTZ. THREE HOMERS. FIVE HITS. FIVE RBI. 😱 pic.twitter.com/CWb8sm22W4
Kurtz is authoring one of the greatest starts to an MLB career, as he now has 22 homers and 59 RBI in his first 66 big-league games to along with a 1.060 OPS following Friday’s performance.
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay has seen a lot in nearly 30 years in professional baseball, but nothing quite stacks up to what Kurtz did Friday night.
“I don’t really know how to describe that one,” Kotsay told reporters in Houston. “It’s arguably the best game I’ve ever watched from a single player. And I say that because, I watched Barry Bonds and the season he had. I was in center field for it. And what Barry did was hands-down one of the greatest seasons you can have.
“Shawn Green is a memory you have, I think Shawn hit four homers in a game in Dodger Stadium. But tonight was special. This kid continues to have jaw-dropping moments. And to witness that tonight was pretty special for all of us.”
“It’s absolutely crazy,” Kurtz told Caray and Braden. “To think a year ago I was probably in Arizona right now, right after the draft and just getting ready to go out and play in Stockton and now I’m here and today kind of happened, it’s insane. I kinda, I don’t know what to say Dallas. I mean I got no idea.”
Maybe even more remarkable is that Kurtz’s family made it to Houston just in time to watch his otherworldly performance.
“To see Pops and Mom there and the godparents as well, it’s pretty awesome to have them here,” Kurtz told Caray and Braden. “[They] just got in this morning, so going to be here is really cool.”
There are over two months left in the 2025 season, but it might be a safe bet to start inscribing Kurtz’s name on the AL Rookie of the Year award. He has been that good over the last few weeks.
New York selected LHP José Castillo to the roster for their matchup with the San Francisco Giants and optioned RHP Alex Carrillo to Triple-A Syracuse yesterday, the team announced.
Castillo, 29, owns a 2.38 ERA over 11.1 IP and 13 appearances with the Mets this season. He was acquired in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks in May and later DFA'd on June 25. The lefty returned on a minor league deal and has pitched to a 1.69 ERA over 5.1 IP across five outings with Syracuse in July.
Carrillo has pitched in three big league games, most recently on July 18 when he allowed five earned runs on three hits over 1.1 innings against the Cincinnati Reds. He owns a 13.50 ERA and 1.71 WHIP with four strikeouts over 4.2 IP.
Additionally, the Mets transferred RHP Max Kranick to the 60-day IL after losing him for the rest of the season to Tommy John surgery.
We knew that was going to be the Mets’ top priority this trade deadline season.
David Stearns made that clear during his press conference last week at Citi Field, and the president of baseball operations has already stayed true to his word.
In exchange, the Mets sent Baltimore a pair of intriguing right-handed pitching prospects with upside in 26-year-old Cameron Foster and 20-year-old Wellington Arecena.
While it’s a bit of a hit to the depth in the system, Soto is a very strong addition for this group.
The 30-year-old is a power southpaw who has had his share of ups-and-down over his career, but posses big swing-and-miss stuff and has plenty of experience pitching in high-leverage innings.
He struggled his first two years, but finally broke onto the scene during the 2021 campaign -- securing the Tigers closers role as he saved 48 games and logged his lone All-Star appearances the next two seasons.
Soto ended up being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, whom he spent a year and a half with before ultimately being shipped off to the Orioles ahead of the 2023 deadline.
He had a bit of an up-and-down start to his time in Baltimore, but has been relatively effective this season, especially against left-handed hitters -- whom he has held to a .138 batting average and .547 OPS.
Soto isn’t quite as effective against righties, but the Orioles did a good job of limiting his exposure to them, so Carlos Mendoza will just have to be sure to call upon him in the correct spots.
Either way, he gives Mendy a bit of flexibility and a strong second lefty option out of the ‘pen.
With Soto joining the mix, here’s how things will likely stand:
- RHP Edwin Díaz
- RHP Reed Garrett
- LHP Brooks Raley
- LHP Gregory Soto
- RHP Ryne Stanek
- RHP José Buttó
- RHP Huascar Brazobán
** On the Bubble: RHP Rico Garcia, LHP Jose Castillo
It seems like Soto won't be active for Friday's series opener in San Fran, but when he does eventually arrive you have to figure that either Garcia or Castillo will be the corresponding roster move.
Castillo seems like the more likely option of the two being that he is also left-handed, and he was just called up on Friday with hard-throwing righty Alex Carrillo heading down to Triple-A.
With the arms that end up staying, though, this is shaping up to be a very solid group down the stretch and according to numerous reports more help appears to be on the way.
Stearns isn’t stopping with Soto, reports have indicated that he'll continue to look to add more relief help leading right up to the July 31 deadline.
It remains to be see whether that’ll be in the form of a big splash such as David Bednar, Emmanuel Clase, or Jhoan Duran or a bit of cheaper option like Griffin Jax, Dennis Santana, or Andrew Kittredge.
Either way, it’s become obvious that Stearns is ready to add to this club.
According to Martino, the Mets also remain in the market for an upgrade in center field, but adding another third baseman is looking like more of a long shot at this point.
It’ll be interesting to see how things play out in the coming days.
Drake Baldwin (C Braves): Rostered in 20% of Yahoo leagues
Even for those who weren’t fortunate enough to land Cal Raleigh, it’s been pretty easy to get solid production from the catcher spot in one-backstop leagues this year, easy enough that most seem too content to make a change at this point. For that reason, Baldwin remains available in 80 percent of Yahoo leagues, even after the Braves turned him into a full-time player by putting Marcell Ozuna on the bench last weekend. He’s since started seven straight games, four at catcher and three at DH.
With Ozuna seemingly likely to be moved at the deadline, Baldwin should get all of the playing time he can handle the rest of the way, making him the NL Rookie of the Year favorite. He’s certainly looked the part thus far in batting .284/.353/.479 with 11 homers. The league as a whole this year has 27% more hard-hit balls than strikeouts. Baldwin has 123% more (89 hard-hit balls, 40 strikeouts). His 50.9% hard-hit rate places him 31st of the 268 batters with 200 plate appearances. Will Smith and Hunter Goodwin are the only catchers hitting at least .280 with at least 10 homers.
Maybe Baldwin will wear down some, but all of the DH time will help. If the Braves pivot and trade Sean Murphy instead of Ozuna, I would drop Baldwin in my rankings some. Right now, though, I have him eighth among catchers, and I’d be willing to move on from guys like J.T. Realmuto, Alejandro Kirk, Shea Langeliers, Logan O’Hoppe and Agustin Ramírez in order to add him.
Ryan McMahon (3B Yankees): Rostered in 35% of Yahoo leagues
It’s hard to spin being traded out of Coors Field as a good thing, but getting away from the disaster of an organization that is the Colorado Rockies might pay off for McMahon, an eternally disappointing offensive player who nevertheless possesses excellent exit velocity numbers. Those numbers are actually better than usual this season.
McMahon, who was dealt to the Yankees for two pitching prospects on Friday, is currently averaging 94.0 mph off the bat, seventh best in the majors. His top-end numbers aren’t as great -- for instance, he’s just 46th when it comes to 90th percentile exit velocity -- but that’s still a lot of hard contact. He’s also hitting more flyballs and pulling the ball more than usual this year. It seems like a recipe for success, but there have been a lot of shots to the warning track thus far. He’s also probably been unlucky; Statcast has him with a .466 xSLG, compared to .403 in reality. He’s never experienced any sort of gap like that previously.
Obviously, the strikeouts really hold McMahon back. He was leading the NL with 127 this season, which is remarkable for a guy playing in the league’s preeminent strikeout-suppressing ballpark. The Yankees probably have some ideas on how to help him there, but one can’t really expect him to improve much in the near future. If McMahon’s value does come up in the short term, it will be a product of hitting in a far better lineup and sneaking balls over the right field wall in Yankee Stadium. It’s a far worse offensive ballpark, but it’s one that yields more homers to left-handers than Coors does. Unless the Yankees platoon him against southpaws -- they probably ought to, but I’m guessing he’ll be a full-timer initially -- he’s probably a better rest-of-season bet today than he was yesterday.
Kyle Bradish (SP Orioles): Rostered in 10% of Yahoo leagues
Bradish pitched in a game Thursday for the first time since Tommy John surgery, throwing two innings and allowing one run for High-A Aberdeen. The stadium gun had him at 94-96 mph, said MLB.com’s Jake Rill, putting right back where he was before getting hurt. That bodes well for a right-hander who had emerged as one of the AL’s best pitchers at the time of his injury.
A subpar pitcher as a rookie in 2022, Bradish busted out about a month into the 2023 season and wound up posting a 2.42 ERA and a 150/35 K/BB in his final 25 starts that year. Last season, he was just as effective, and his strikeout rate jumped from 25 percent to 33 percent in the eight starts before he got hurt. The league had a hard-hit rate of just 29 percent against his arsenal of two fastballs, a slider and a curve.
That’s not to say Bradish is going to experience the same sort of success right away after returning next month. He might even have a setback before then, and given that the Orioles are out of contention, any sort of setback would probably get him shut down until 2026. However, if his rehab continues to progress smoothly, he could be quite an asset over the final six weeks of the season. Those who look to wait until his rehab is complete to pick him up will probably find they missed out.
Waiver Wire Quick Hits
- I’m not going to write about rotation-bound Joe Boyle again so soon after featuring him recently, but he ought to be picked up everywhere after the Rays’ demotion of Taj Bradley. Instead, he’s only 15 percent rostered now.
- The Astros’ Cristian Javier doesn’t need to be picked up just yet as he works his way back from Tommy John, but it was really encouraging that he averaged 93.6 mph with his fastball in his first Triple-A start. That’s back where he was in 2021 and ’22 before falling off in 2023 (92.8 mph) and 2024 (91.7). I doubt we’ll ever again see the Javier of 2022 (2.54 ERA, 33% K rate in 149 IP), but on a fine Houston team, he doesn’t need to be that good to offer some value.
DENVER — The New York Yankees acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies on Friday for prospects, according to multiple reports.
MLB.com was first to report the trade, which is pending physicals.
McMahon leaves the last-place Rockies for a Yankees team that’s in the thick of a playoff chase. The slick-fielding 30-year-old infielder is hitting .217 with 16 homers and 35 RBIs this season.
McMahon is owed about $36.2 million from the remainder of a $70 million, six-year contract through 2027.
New York is searching for some stability at third after All-Star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. was moved back to second base. He took the place of DJ LeMahieu, who was cut by the team. Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas have recently been spending time at the hot corner.
McMahon was a second-round pick in 2013 by the Rockies out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. An All-Star in 2024, McMahon is a lifetime .240 batter with 140 homers over parts of nine seasons.
He's appeared in four career playoff games - all in 2018.
McMahon is due $4,193,548 for the remaining portion of his $12 million salary this year and $16 million in each of the next two seasons.
“I thought that was ridiculous. You’re going suspend a kid for having fun?” the New York Yankees All-Star infielder said Friday. “Crazy.”
Marco Rocco, a 12-year-old from Haddonfield, New Jersey, tossed his bat in the air on July 16 after his sixth-inning, two-run homer in the final of the sectional tournament for Haddonfield’s under-12 team against Harrison Township on July 16. His father went to court and got the suspension eliminated.
“If it’s a game-changing homer, it’s fine. Even when I’m on the mound, it doesn’t irk me. It’s a human reaction and it’s good for the game, just like a pitcher doing a fist pump after a big strikeout,” said Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner. “I side-eye someone if they hit a solo shot and their team is down 5-0. That doesn’t jive with me. I don’t like it when opponents or teammates do that. I feel the same way about Little Leaguers.”
Rocco was ejected for what his family was told were actions deemed “unsportsmanlike” and “horseplay,” and an ejection results in an automatic one-game suspension.
His father, Joe, is a lawyer and his dad filed suit. Judge Robert G. Malestein of New Jersey Superior Court ruled in favor of the Roccos, and Marco played for Haddonfield against Elmora Little League in a 10-0 loss Thursday in the opener of a four-team, double-elimination tournament at the Deptford Township Little League complex. Marco went 0 for 2 with two strikeouts.
“I wish nobody would do a bat flip. I’m kind of traditional,” Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson said before adding, “But let him play.”
A staid sport for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, baseball has embraced emotion in recent years. José Bautista’s bat flip against Texas in a 2015 AL Division Series was featured in the video game MLB The Show 16.
“It’s a kid’s game, Whether you’re a kid or a major leaguer, we’re in a have-fun era,” Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers said. “If you earn that moment, you earn that moment.”
AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed to this report.
