Category: Baseball

The 2026 MLB trade deadline is in the books, and it was the most active the San Francisco Giants have been in a very long time. For that matter, I covered the Giants for the entirety of Farhan Zaidi’s churn-driven reign, and I can’t remember a period of activity like what we saw from the Giants on Sunday night and Monday. But being nearly 20 games under .500 at the deadline will do that to a team.

So, in case you missed the action, here’s everything you need to know from a day that left the current Giants gutted … and the future Giants all the more exciting.

What happened?

The Giants made five moves in total, in which they traded six rostered players and one prospect. In return, the Giants received six prospects and two rostered players.

Here are the five moves, in chronological order.

• Giants trade right-hander Tyler Mahle to the Atlanta Braves for right-hander Anthony Molina (rostered, in AAA) — link to story
• Giants trade second baseman Luis Arráez and right-handed reliever Caleb Kilian to the Philadelphia Phillies for right-hander Ramon Marquez (High-A) and right-handed reliever Marty Gair (High-A) — link to story
• Giants trade left-hander Robbie Ray to the San Diego Padres for right-hander Miguel Mendez (AA) and shortstop Joniel Hernandez (Dominican Summer League) — link to story
• Giants trade outfielder Heliot Ramos to the New York Yankees for left-hander Henry LaLane (High-A) and infielder Kaeden Kent (High-A) — link to story
• Giants trade reliever Erik Miller and outfield prospect Carlos Gutierrez (High-A) to the Boston Red Sox for infielder Marcelo Mayer (rostered, on the 10-Day IL) — link to story

That’s a whole lot of action! And if you want a more in-depth breakdown of how the Giants did in each of those trades, our Bryan Murphy has you covered with grades for each deal.

The best move: the Luis Arráez deal

One can certainly make the case that Buster Posey and Zack Minasian did their best work with the Robbie Ray trade, which we’ll get to soon enough. And indeed, it may be that Ray had the best return relative to expectations.

But for me, the star of a fantastic day of wheeling and dealing was flipping Arráez and Kilian for Marquez and Gair. There was talk going into the deadline that not much of a market had materialized for Arráez, despite his stellar year. There was also talk that the Giants were holding out for a huge package.

It didn’t seem likely that the Giants would win that battle. There were limited teams that needed a second baseman, and powerless hitters don’t usually command a lot on the trade market. It seemed a deal similar to what the Giants got for Camilo Doval last year — a quartet of intriguing prospects — was most likely for Arráez.

But the Giants held firm with what they believed he was worth, and in the end emerged with Marquez, one of the best prospects traded at the deadline. The 20-year old was ranked as the No. 67 overall prospect in the latest Fangraphs top 100 and, by most accounts, slots behind only recent fourth overall selection Jackson Flora among pitching prospects in the Giants system. He’s been thoroughly dominant in both Low and High-A this year, sporting a 1.68 ERA and a 2.32 FIP across the two levels, with 93 strikeouts to just 19 walks in 59 innings.

Like his new teammate in Eugene, Luis De La Torre, Marquez was an unconventional international signing who was born in Arizona but grew up in Mexico. Last year was his debut season, so if he’s this good already, one can only imagine how high his ceiling can be. All prospects are, for lack of a less demeaning term, lottery tickets. But Marquez is the rare one where it’s quite easy to see him being a No. 2 or 3 starter in the Majors before long. So getting him and Gair … a triple-digit reliever who has 66 strikeouts in 36 innings this year? Fantastic work by the front office.

The worst move: Tyler Mahle for Anthony Molina

The Giants never figured to get much for Mahle, so you could argue that getting anything at all was a win. Still, Molina amounts more to a waiver claim than a trade return. He was designated for assignment this past offseason, and has a career 6.89 ERA and 5.16 FIP in 99.1 Major League innings (though almost all of those came with the Colorado Rockies, so adjust accordingly). He’s been merely average in AAA this year, and has ever been one to strike a lot of batters out. He’s only 24, but there’s not a lot in his underlying data to suggest that they Giants have an interesting project to work on.

They got off Mahle’s contract, so it wasn’t a bad deal, all things considered. But you would have hoped for a low-level flyer rather than someone who will probably get designated for assignment this winter.

Most exciting prospect received: Joniel Hernandez

Let’s play a quick game. Here are two players competing in the Dominican Summer League. See if you can figure out who they are:

Player A: 17-year old shortstop, .315/.439/.510, 15.7% strikeout rate, $1.4 million signing bonus
Player B: 17-year old shortstop, .275/.393/.517, 16.7% strikeout rate, $1.0 million signing bonus

Player A is Hernandez. Player B is 2024 Jhonny Level.

Now, development is different for every player, and the DSL is to the rest of Minor League Baseball as the San Francisco Giants are to the rest of Major League Baseball. Hernandez’s move to the states next year could be far less Level and far more Rayner Arias. But when you see a 17-year old middle infielder with a seven-figure bonus putting up gaudy stats in the DSL, you can’t help but dream a little bit. Hernandez has tools galore, and instantly becomes one of the fastest players in the Giants system, and one of the fastest swingers. This is the exacty type of lottery ticket that teams should be making sure they get at the trade deadline; once upon a time, Yordan Alvarez and Fernando Tatis Jr. were these types of so-far-from-the-Majors-who-cares-about-trading-them lottery tickets in trades. You never know when you’ll hit.

Most surprising move: Not trading more relievers

It’s hard to say the Giants traded too few players after getting rid of six players from their active roster. But … I think they traded too few players. The bullpen has been awful this year, but it’s not lacking for decent parts. JT Brubaker has had a solid season. Sam Hentges is a lefty. Jason Foley has looked good in his short stint since returning. Adrian Houser is alive. I thought we might see a few of those guys included in a trade the way Kilian was, to enhance the package … or traded on their own to return a flyer in the lower levels of the Minors.

The biggest takeaway: the Giants are looking beyond 2027

While I thought the Mahle trade was objectively the worst, my least favorite trade of the deadline was shipping Ramos to the Yankees. Much of that is my own bias: Ramos has long been one of my favorite Giants, someone I believe in irrationally, and one of the Giants stars of the memory making business, which Posey purports to prioritize. Some of it is due to my ire at the Giants often refusing to prioritize loud tools, a trait that feels very antiquated: with Ramos gone, the Giants are down to just two players (Rafael Devers and Bryce Eldridge) who actually hit the ball hard.

But the other thing I dislike about the trade is that I’m honestly not entirely sure what the Giants are doing. To be clear, that’s not necessarily a bad thing: usually when I do know what the Giants are doing, it’s not good.

As rumors started to pop up that the Giants were shopping Ramos, it seemed likely that they would be targeting some pitching. Ramos and a prospect for Seattle Mariners right-hander Emerson Hancock was floated more than once on social media, and that trade would have made a lot of sense. After all, if the Giants intend to compete in 2027 — and they keep claiming they do — then the team needs to find a whopping three starting pitchers, and a handful of relievers as well.

In a vacuum, the Ramos trade is great work by Posey and Minasian. But they created a hole in left field by trading an everyday player, and what they got back is a lower-minors infielder and a pitcher who got to High-A less than a month ago.

And then you look at the rest of the trades and realize … well, that’s what the Giants did, almost all the way through. The Giants almost exclusively targeted prospects who are still a few years away.

It’s hard to square that with the team’s desire to have a winning season next year. The Giants traded for eight players at the deadline, and there’s only one of those eight that I expect to see in the Majors next year. And that one (Marcelo Mayer), is an infielder who has been one of the worst hitters in the Majors since debuting last year … taking a relatively risk-free gamble on a 23-year old former top prospect is a great move, but it’s one that could take nearly all of next season to materialize.

San Francisco could still compete next year, of course. It’s just that, without patching any of their holes yesterday, they’re likely to enter the offseason needing at least two and probably three starting pitchers, a few relievers, and a pair of outfielders. They did exceedingly well at the deadline, yet their 2027 competitive prospects look worse today than they did on Sunday, and that is not what I expected to transpire on Monday.

Former Giants on the move

Here are all the former Giants who were traded at the deadline:

• Righty starter Kevin Gausman was traded to the Chicago Cubs
• Catcher Joey Bart was traded to the Chicago White Sox
• Righty reliever Camilo Doval was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates

Most of the time, you can’t tell when a new era of Yankees baseball begins. We sure as hell didn’t expect Aaron Judge’s debut 10 years ago this month would perfectly segue from the last remnant of the 2000s Yankees retiring (Alex Rodríguez) to the next Yankee great, but it’s fair to say it was a pleasant surprise.

In a perfect world for Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone, and the Yankees, a new era can unofficially begin tonight, as the prodigal son Yankees’ top prospect George Lombard Jr. will make his MLB debut at Yankee Stadium a day after a rather disappointing deadline opened the door for improvements in the infield.

Looking to get the rotation back on track after Cam Schlittler’s rough outing last night is Ryan Weathers, who will be making a personal-best 22nd start of the season. Already blowing past his career-high in innings, Weathers enters with a 3.99 ERA (105 ERA+) and a 3.77 FIP in 115 innings and is officially in audition mode as the return of Carlos Rodón from injury draws nearer. He’s allowed one run or fewer in three of his last four starts, finding a way to mix his pitches and keep the ball in the park better than his slog before the all-star break.

On the other end is a man you might recognize. Hunter Dobbins gained notoriety for his intense hatred of the Yankees after the disputed treatment of his father and the fact that he debuted with the Red Sox in kind of an inverse Schlittler way. His career took a dive after he tossed six shutout innings against the Yanks in 2025, tearing his ACL and later being sent to the Cardinals in the Willson Contreras trade. In seven appearances this season in St. Louis, the 26-year-old has a 3.74 ERA (107 ERA+) and 3.81 FIP in 33.2 innings.

Dobbins is a unique pitcher, as he’s had pretty violent reverse splits for a right-handed pitcher, allowing an OPS 200 points higher against same-handed hitting. His calling card in Boston was good command and getting the ball on the ground, but that’s faded slightly this season as he struggles to get the opposition to whiff or chase. He has six pitches, but leans on his four-seamer, slider, and splitter against lefties while throwing more sinkers and sweepers to righties.

The new-look Yankees lineup will feature Trent Grisham and Ben Rice at the top, as always, before the pair of deadline acquisitions bat third and fourth, as Luis García Jr. looks for an encore after last night’s debut and Heliot Ramos makes his Yankees debut. Spencer Jones, who survived the axe that swung on Volpe and Domínguez last night, bats fifth in front of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon. Lombard will bat eighth in his big-league debut, just in front of Austin Wells.

Rookie extraordinaire JJ Wetherholt will lead off, followed by sluggers Jordan Walker and Iván Herrera. José Fermín joins the lineup, batting cleanup, followed by platoon bat Nelson Velazquez. Masyn Winn, Blaze Jordan, Nathan Church, and Pedro Pagés round out the order.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY

First pitch: 7:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Cardinals.TV

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), KMOX 1120 AM/104.1 FM (STL)

Online stream: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

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

Tuesday in the Bronx 🗽#RepBXpic.twitter.com/wlCSsUet4g

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 4, 2026

Birds in the Bronx pic.twitter.com/JQ6n5MwCwX

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 4, 2026

It’s game 2 in the Big Apple Tuesday night as the Cardinals do battle with the Yankees. The St. Louis Cardinals have announced Hunter Dobbins will be their starter for Tuesday’s game while the Yankees will give the baseball to Ryan Weathers. First pitch scheduled for 6:05pm central time at Yankee Stadium and the TV broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

Here’s the Cardinals lineup according to MLB.com

1. JJ Wetherholt (L) 2B
2. Jordan Walker (R) RF
3. Iván Herrera (R) DH
4. José Fermín (R) 3B
5. Nelson Velázquez (R) LF
6. Masyn Winn (R) SS
7. Blaze Jordan (R) 1B
8. Nathan Church (L) CF
9. Pedro Pagés (R) C

The Atlanta Braves will be looking to continue their NL East-beating ways coming off the momentum of a four-game sweep of the Nationals… here come the Miami Marlins.

Grant Holmes gets the ball for Atlanta’s first game after the trade deadline versus Ryan Gusto at 7:15 pm ET. Join us to chat about the game (and fine, any other trade deadline-related feelings you may have remaining) in the comments.

Game Info

Pitching preview

Lineups

ICYMI

Matt Olson continues to mash, fly under the radar nationally

Alex Anthopoulos maintains that Braves “got better” despite underwhelming 2026 Trade Deadline

First Pitch: 6:40 PM CDT

TV: Twins.TV

Radio: TIBN, WCCO 830, The Wolf 102.9 FM, Audacy App, LosTwins.com

Know thine enemy:Royals Review

After getting some needed pitching help at the trade deadline, the Twins will face off against the Royals. On the mound this evening will be Joe Ryan and Randy Dobnak. Last time out, Dobnak stymied the Twins lineup, tossing seven scoreless innings. For Joe, he hasn’t looked like himself in his last two starts, allowing 18 hits and 12 earned runs over 10 innings.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Milwaukee Brewers, August 4, 2026, 7:40 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the second contest of a four-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers, where they hope to make up some ground in the NL Wild Card standings.

Jared Jones is drawing the start for the Pirates so far this season. He is 2-2 with a 3.81 ERA in his last start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 29. Jones pitched six innings, giving up four hits and three earned runs in a 3-0 loss at home. Jones has pitched at least six innings in three of his last four starts.

The Brewers are countering with Logan Henderson, who is making his 10th start of the year. The Brewers are 7-2 in games where he pitches, and he has won five of those decisions. In his last start on July 28 on the road against the San Francisco Giants, Henderson pitched 5.2 innings, gave up two hits, and allowed zero earned runs in an 8-2 victory for the Brew Crew.

Henderson’s last loss came on May 3, so this will be a tough matchup for the Pirates. Henderson made five starts last season for the Brewers, including one against the Pirates, where he pitched five innings.

Location: American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Jared Jones (2-2, 3.81 ERA) vs. Logan Henderson (5-1, 2.66 ERA)

BD community, this is your gameday thread for today’s game. Chime off in the comments section below.

It’s the day after the Trade Deadline and the Atlanta Braves are back at it. Again, it has to be mentioned that Atlanta is 22 games over .500 with a healthy-sized lead in the NL East at the moment, so it’s not all doom-and-gloom at the ballpark. With that being said, it’s totally understandable for the fans to have questions about what’s going on with the state of the squad after what turned out to be an underwhelming Trade Deadline day.

Still, manager Walt Weiss feels confident in his squad and also confident in the GM’s vision for the team going forward. He stated as much when he was asked about it in the pregame press conference ahead of their season opener with the Miami Marlins.

“I’m not going to call him and say ‘Hey, I need this…He knows,” stated Weiss. “We talk on a daily basis and over the course of the Trade Deadline […] he was keeping me in the loop of what was going on.” Weiss went on to make it very clear that he’s in favor of the job that AA is doing as GM. “Bottom line: I trust his judgment. I trust who he’s going to bring in the building and that they’ve been very well-vetted if they’re going to come in this building,” affirmed Weiss. “Whether it’s a player or a staff member or support staff. You know it’s going to be [good] people on board with you.”

On the shortstop situation

Ha-Seong Kim has finally returned from rehab assignment and while it’ll surely be nice to have Kim back (and hopefully productive), his return did spark a bit of speculation as to how the shortstop situation would unfold going forward.

Weiss has decided to stay the course with the rookie Jim Jarvis and he confirmed that Jarvis will be staying active with the squad. “Jarvis has earned some playing time. He’s going to get some reps,” said Weiss when he was asked about the shortstop situation. “You’re going to see me use [Mauricio] Dubón at short against some left-handed starters. [Ha-Seong] Kim’s back in the picture so we can see what that looks like.”

Weiss appears to see Kim’s return as a bit of an opportunity. “We got some versatility,” stated Weiss. “For the most part, I’m going to continue to look at that spot like I do everywhere else — who’s playing well, who gives us the best chance to win based on how they’re performing.”

Where does Mauricio Dubón fit in?

With shortstop being a bit crowded, that also opens up questions about where Mauricio Dubón fits into things. The obvious answer is “Wherever there’s a gap” since Dubón’s versatility has proven to be his most valuable asset as a player so far and Weiss confirmed that Dubón is still going to play a big role for the Braves going forward.

“When we first signed Dubón, [the versatility] is what we had in mind,” said Weiss. “I talked about giving these guys days and obviously Dubón was a major piece that allowed me to do that. He’s been one of our best performers. He started out as an infielder and then when [Ronald] Acuña [Jr.] went down, he’s been one of our most consistent performers — one of the guys that’s the heart and soul of our club. He’s going to continue to play a lot. I know he’s not in the lineup tonight but he’s going to continue to play a lot.”

On the catcher situation

Another sign that Weiss is starting to have some good problems to have when it comes to filling out his lineup card on a nightly basis is the return of Sean Murphy into the fold as well. When asked about where Murphy fits into things going forward, Weiss was pretty excited to talk about it.“

“At this position, I’ve caught Drake [Baldwin] against right-handed starters and DH’d him against left-handed starters. That makes the most sense obviously with [Sean Murphy] being a right-handed hitter, he gets to start against left-handed pitching. However, I don’t think he’s going to be exclusive to that,” explained Weiss. “We love what Murph brings to the table, especially on the defensive side. The game-calling, the ability to control the running game and the ability to handle a pitching staff, those are all strengths of his. It’ll look similar to where it’s been in the past with Murph getting the starts against lefties but I don’t think it’ll be that exclusive.

Weiss is clearly keeping his options open when it comes to his primary duo of catchers and again, it’s a good problem to have. “Like everything else, you’ve got to watch how it all plays out and things change every day […] If you try to look to October and what’s going to happen, that’s a million miles away as we sit here today,” proclaimed Weiss.

On Tyler Mahle being added to the pitching staff

I was able to ask about the addition of Tyler Mahle to the squad as well and how important it’ll be for him to eat some innings for the squad going forward. As usual, Weis was very effusive about having a new pitcher to utilize going forward and he made it clear how Mahle is going to fit in going forward.

“Looking [to have Tyler Mahle] protect the bullpen when we can. I think he helps us do that,” stated Weiss. “You’ve heard me talk about the importance of starting pitching as the most valuable commodity in the game […] I think that Mahle has shown that he can get deeper in games and he’s throwing the ball lately so he’s trending in the right way this year. I think he’s a very functional piece to work with.”

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

New faces and new places#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/qgMINJokF6

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 4, 2026

For the Nationals:

ahem

→ https://t.co/M7AONBLYL5pic.twitter.com/ctyLBzIDzU

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 4, 2026

Let’s talk about it.

Here’s the Mets lineup:

New series in Cleveland ⚾️ #LGMpic.twitter.com/TfMmWXEQ1p

— New York Mets (@Mets) August 4, 2026

Here’s the Guardians lineup:

Mets in town.#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/I0TcP6pmKY

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 4, 2026

Let’s go, Guardians!

Both the White and Red Sox were active at Monday’s trade deadline as they chase their respective division titles. A three-game set on the road in Boston will be a good test for the South Siders against high-quality competition in a tough atmosphere away from home, giving a taste of what the playoffs could potentially be like down the line.

To make room for the newly acquired players from the trade deadline, the White Sox made seven corresponding moves to the 40-man and 26-man rosters today, with Edgar Quero and left-handed reliever Tyler Schweitzer optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

Catcher Joey Bart and outfielder Brenton Doyle will make their White Sox debuts tonight, batting sixth and seventh in the lineup as Will Venable leverages a righty-heavy batting order against a left-handed pitcher. The good news is that the Sox have (likely) their three best pitchers tossing throughout the series, with righthander Davis Martin being tapped first. Martin is making his 22nd start of the season, and while he hasn’t been as dominant as the first half, he’s maintained a 3.62 ERA — the 13th-best in the AL — with a 9-5 record on the year. Martin leans on his fastball the most, but his off-speed pitches are producing lower opponent batting averages, with his curveball leading the way with a .163 opponent BA and a 40.4% whiff rate.

Martin will have plenty of power to support him throughout the lineup. However, the bottom half of the order is a bit of a wild card outside of Braden Montgomery, given these will be Bart and Doyle’s first at-bats for Chicago, and Luisangel Acuña is pretty much always a question mark. To be fair, Acuña is batting .352 over his last 54 at-bats, but he’s been cooling down in his last seven, only going two for his last 13 (.154). If we’re lucky, maybe someone will blast a moon shot over the big Green Monster.

Chicago White Sox Lineup

The White Sox offense will go against lefthander Patrick Sandoval, who has only started four games since returning from injury about a month ago. In his 19 innings, he’s posted a 3.32 ERA, but his 1.579 WHIP could definitely use some work. Sandoval hasn’t walked many batters, holding a 7% walk rate, but he’s allowed 24 hits thus far, contributing to his elevated WHIP. The lefty seems to leverage his slider the most, 31.2% of the time, but opponents are batting .300 against it. In contrast, his changeup seems to be the more unhittable pitch, holding just a .130 opponent BA and slugging percentage while drawing a 36% whiff rate.

Thankfully for Sandoval, Ceddanne Rafaela is adding some strength at the top of the order, as he has been one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball these last couple of weeks. In the past 15 days (12 games), Rafaela holds the fourth-best OPS (1.134), the second-best SLG (.788), and has mashed seven homers in his last 12 games, the most in MLB during that time span. Though he’s batting eighth for Boston tonight, Andruw Monasterio has also been hot these past two weeks, boasting a .935 OPS with a .342/.409/.526 slash line. The Red Sox could make Martin work tonight, but ideally, he’s on his game and is up for the challenge.

Boston Red Sox Lineup

Since the Good Guys are on the East Coast, game time is a bit earlier this week, with first pitch taking place at 6:10 p.m. CT. It should be a nice summer evening, with temperatures expected to be in the low-80s to upper-70s throughout the game. Tune into CHSN or ESPN Chicago AM 1000 on the radio, and let’s get a White Sox W.

This has been a painful run of Nats baseball, and things only got worse with James Wood hitting the shelf. However, the grind of the season continues, and these Nats need to get back on track. Beaten up and with many key names gone, the Nats need to trudge on down the stretch.

Without James Wood, this lineup looks very different. With a lefty on the mound, Dylan Crews will be leading off and playing right. Daylen Lile and Jacob Young are the other outfielders. Nasim Nunez plays shortstop as CJ Abrams gets a day off his feet at DH. Brady House is at third, which moves Jorbit Vivas to second. Harry Ford is behind the dish. Carson Palmquist will open for Zack Littell.

Nationals 8/4

D. Crews RF
A. Chaparro 1B
B. House 3B
C. Abrams DH
H. Ford C
J. Young CF
D. Lile LF
N. Nuñez SS
J. Vivas 2B

C. Palmquist SP

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) August 4, 2026

The big news in the Phillies lineup is the arrival of Luis Arraez. This comes with a lot of shuffling around the diamond. Arraez will play second, shifting Bryson Stott to third, Alec Bohm to first and Bryce Harper to right field. Harper has not played right in many years now, so that could be something to watch. Jesus Luzardo is on the mound for the Phillies.

New faces and new places#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/qgMINJokF6

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 4, 2026

Game Info:

Stadium: Citizens Bank Park

Time: 6:40 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

These Nats need to stop the bleeding ASAP. The hitting with RISP has to take a step forward or else the winning simply won’t come. Hopefully the Nats can finally get a curly W tonight. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

San Diego Padres starter Nick Pivetta abruptly walked off the mound three batters into his first rehab appearance with High-A Lake Elsinore on Tuesday afternoon.

The right-hander took the mound for the top of the fourth inning and drew two flyouts to center field before giving up a first-pitch single to Oswaldo Osorio. On the next at-bat against Conner O'Neal, Pivetta wound up, fired a pitch that hooked outside of the plate for a called ball and immediately turned and walked towards the dugout.

The 33-year-old was visibly frustrated as he left the mound after throwing just 14 pitches. Rordy Mejia entered the game in his place.

Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta abruptly walks off the mound after two batters. pic.twitter.com/1A3T8TgFKr

— Marty Caswell (@MartyCaswell) August 4, 2026

But there is optimism, both from the Padres and Pivetta himself, that he avoided any kind of serious setback on his recovery from a right elbow flexor strain that's kept him on the IL since April. Per the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee, Pivetta threw over 20 pitches in the bullpen after his early exit and didn't feel the discomfort he felt on the mound.

Joe Musgrove also pitched in Tuesday's game for Lake Elsinore in his latest rehab start. He allowed one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts and two walks on 39 pitches across 2.2 innings. San Diego's rotation has been decimated by injuries this season, so the impending returns of both Musgrove and Pivetta are crucial as the Friars begin a late season push for a postseason spot.

Pivetta, now in his 10th big league season and second with the Padres, is reportedly targeting a late August return.

This story has been updated with new information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nick Pivetta injury update: Padres pitcher abruptly leaves mound during rehab start

Well, Trade Deadline Monday has come and gone, and ultimately, the Orioles’ “buy and sell” approach meant a really deflating sell-off, especially with Adley Rutschman departing for AL East rival Boston for a passel of prospects (I mean, great prospects haul, but a hard day to lose the face of the franchise, if you feel me). The remaining 50 games of the Orioles’ 2026 season feel to me like the post-credits scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, where Ferris emerges from the bathroom in a robe, looks right at the camera, and says, “You’re still here? It’s over. Go home. Go.”

But technically, it’s not over. So here we are, the rubble having settled, trying to find something to play for. Presumably there are tougher rivals than the Angels, who at 43-69, aren’t pretending to be contenders anymore either. The Halos shipped off a ton of pitchers at the deadline, but not one Grayson Rodriguez, the onetime O’s top prospect. Ah, how innocent we were then. This year, Rodriguez has struggled with bone spurs, but the Angels claim he’s healthy now. Maybe, but he’s still got a 7.98 ERA in 10 games so forgive me if I’m not seeing G-Rod of 2024 quite.

The Orioles initially went into this one with TBD for a starting pitcher, but it’s since been clarified that they meant Cade Povich, called up today from the Minors. The 26-year-old lefty has spent most of the season with Triple-A Norfolk, posting not-great ERA there of 6.30. His WHIP of 1.45 is too high; his .268 opposing average doesn’t make me feel great, either. This season, Povich made four appearances (three starts) with the big club during April and May, allowing eighteen runs in 11 innings. It’s not ideal.

Already some of the newest Orioles are in the lineup: Christian Franklin in the outfield and catcher Carlos Narváez is the backstop. Ain’t it… great. First pitch is 6:35 ET.

Orioles lineup

1. Dylan Beavers LF
2. Pete Alonso 1B
3. Gunnar Henderson SS
4. Christian Encarnación-Strand 3B
5. Jackson Holliday 2B
6. Coby Mayo DH
7. Christian Franklin LF
8. Colton Cowser CF
9. Christian Narváez C
   

Angels lineup

1. Zach Neto SS
2. Mike Trout CF
3. Nolan Schanuel 1B
4. Vaughn Grissom 2B
5. Denzer Guzmán 3B
6. Moisés Ballesteros DH
7. Travis d’Arnaud C
8. José Siri LF
9. Wade Meckler RF

After a bit of a dud on Monday night, the Brewers will, for the third day in a row, go for their 70th win tonight as they attempt to even this four-game series against Pittsburgh at one game apiece. With a 6-1 record, the Pirates have had Milwaukee’s number this season, a stark change over the modern history in this divisional rivalry; over the last 20 years, the Brewers have an overall record of 194-126 against the Buccos.

Tonight’s pitching matchup features two bright young stars, both 24 years old, though not the first two who might come to mind when considering these two teams. For the Brewers, Logan Henderson—still a Brewer after many a speculative fan had linked him to a Tarik Skubal trade before the deadline yesterday—gets the nod, while the Pirates send Jared Jones.

By rate stats, Henderson has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. A back injury has limited his innings, but this will be his fifth start since missing about a month and a half between late May and early July. In the nine starts that Henderson has made, he’s pitched to a 2.66 ERA and 2.80 FIP, a 0.909 WHIP, and 11 strikeouts to just 1.8 walks per nine innings. You’d expect that the league will adjust to Henderson at some point, and he’s averaged less than five innings per start this season, but in his limited sample as a big leaguer he’s been outstanding.

Jones, who is right-handed and a few months older than Henderson, is back on track after missing all of the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery. Jones, who was a top-100 prospect prior to his debut in 2024, has pitched to a 3.81 ERA and 3.48 FIP in 52 innings across 11 starts this season with impressive peripheral numbers of his own (10 K/9, 2.6 BB/9). In contrast to Henderson, and like last night’s starter, Bubba Chandler, Jones is a high velocity guy; his 98.4 average fastball velocity is in the top five percent of the league. Jones relies heavily on that fastball but gets a ton of whiffs with the slider he plays off of it. Jones is primarily a fastball/slider pitcher but mixes in a changeup every now and then and, a few times a game, a curveball.

With yesterday’s trades, the Brewers have made some adjustments to their roster. Garrett Stallings’ heroic outing on Monday night was rewarded with a demotion to Triple-A Nashville (life is tough for fringey pitchers), but the headline—not unexpected—is that Brandon Sproat will join him there.

We've made the following moves pic.twitter.com/ienMlSRxDB

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 4, 2026

NOTE/UPDATE: Jake Bauers was a late scratch with abdominal soreness, which invalidates what I wrote below, because Christian Yelich is, instead of batting seventh, batting fifth instead. But I’m going to leave what I wrote initially, because the intention of batting Yelich seventh does matter.

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There’s also a notable change in the lineup: Christian Yelich has been dropped to seventh, the first time all season he’s hit below the five spot in the batting order; a quick scan of game logs tells me that it’s the first time that Yelich has started a game below the fifth spot in the batting order since 2015, when he was on the Marlins and playing in his second full season. Pat Murphy had some thoughts on the move:

Pat Murphy had a conversation with Christian Yelich about bumping him down to 7th in the lineup. Here’s what he said about the decision: pic.twitter.com/SqEHkOQRcx

— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) August 4, 2026

With the move down in the order from Yelich, lefties Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell move up to third and fifth, respectively. Brice Turang leads off tonight, and the rest of the lineup consists of Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, Luis Lara, Cooper Pratt, and David Hamilton. Note: the updated lineup has Andrew Vaughn in for Bauers, batting sixth.

Of note for the Pirates: the three pitchers they acquired yesterday, Luke Weaver, Lake Bachar, and Kirby Yates, have all been activated and will be available tonight.

First pitch tonight is at 6:40 p.m. on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

Jake Bauers was scratched from tonight’s game with abdominal soreness

Updated lineup:
1. Turang, 2B
2. Chourio, LF
3. Mitchell, CF
4. Conteras, C
5. Yelich, DH
6. Vaughn, 1B
7. Lara, RF
8. Pratt, SS
9. Hamilton, 3B https://t.co/EQxUmfrhue

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 4, 2026

115/162.

📺: @SNPittsburgh
📻: @937TheFanpic.twitter.com/k8t7ZhtMsi

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) August 4, 2026

Tuesday notes…

• UNDER THE LIGHTS: The Cubs are 40-26 in night games this year, for a winning percentage of .606. They finished last year at .563 (49-38). In the second of back-to-back night games this year, they are 26-16, .619. Last year, they were 29-20, .592. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• LOTS OF RUNS ALLOWED, BUT WINNING ANYWAY: The Cubs won last night despite giving up five runs. They are only 12-31 when they have allowed at least five and 52-18 with no more than four. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• WALK WATCH, PART 1: Cubs pitchers walked one batter last night, as they had Sunday afternoon. They have walked no more than three in 13 consecutive games, with a total of just 30, for an average of 2.31. Their season average is down to 2.98, its lowest since it also was 2.98 after a loss at home to the Giants on June 7. They have played 47 games since then. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• WALK WATCH, PART 2: The Cubs walked seven times in Monday’s game. That gives them 491 walks for the season, by far the most in MLB (Brewers are second with 465). That is an average of 4.36 per game. If they maintain that pace they will walk 704 times this year, shattering the franchise record (656 in 2016). NL record: 732, by the 1947 Dodgers.

The Cubs lineup was not available at posting time. Please check BCB social media for the Cubs lineup.

Here’s one thing we do know:

Tyrone Taylor gets the start in left field tonight. He will play predominantly against lefties. He has a .900 OPS this season against LHP.

— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) August 4, 2026

Also:

Cubs are optioning Kevin Alcántara to open a spot on the active roster for Tyrone Taylor, who starts in LF tonight with Skubal on the mound.

— Meghan Montemurro (@MegMontemurro) August 4, 2026

Dodgers lineup:

Tarik Skubal takes the mound.

Tonight's #Dodgers lineup at Cubs: pic.twitter.com/tq2dOVeuXa

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 4, 2026

Javier Assad, RHP vs. Tarik Skubal, LHP

Well, here we go. Tarik Skubal’s first Dodgers start comes at Wrigley Field.

He’ll face Javier Assad, who’s really done everything the Cubs could have asked as a fill-in starter and multi-inning reliever.

In five games (three starts) in July he posted a 1.50 ERA and 1.278 WHIP in 18 innings, with 17 strikeouts.

Assad faced the Dodgers April 25 at Dodger Stadium as a multi-inning reliever. You do not want to look at that boxscore link. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Tarik Skubal missed several weeks earlier this year with an elbow issue on which he had what was termed “NanoScope surgery.” It appears to have been a success, as he’s posted a 2.87 ERA and 0.881 WHIP over nine starts since returning, with a K rate of 34.1 percent and walk rate of 3.8 percent, both of which are outstanding.

Skubal’s last start against the Cubs was June 6, 2025 in Detroit, and he allowed one run in 7.2 innings, with no walks and six strikeouts. He just doesn’t walk guys, so Cubs hitters should look to put the ball in play.

This one won’t be easy, obviously. It will certainly be highly-watched — it’s on national TV, as noted below.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. It’s also on TBS (outside the Cubs and Dodgers market territories).

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Dodgers site True Blue LA. If you do go there to interact with Dodgers fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.