Category: Baseball

In a tale of two weak divisions, the White Sox will get another look at the Rangers, this time in Chicago. The Rangers are tied with the Astros atop the American League West. Neither team has a winning record (.496) in the AL West, and any meaningful baseball in October will likely be short-lived.

José Urquidy, who saw the Rangers often during his time with the Astros, will face a team he’s not only familiar with but also fairly good against: 5-0 with a 2.82 ERA vs. Texas in his career. The lineup tonight is similar to Sunday’s, just with a new pitcher. Tristan Peters is back and seems to be busting out of his slump after yesterday’s walk-off homer to win the series against the Mets.

Kumar Rocker will take the mound for the visiting team this evening. Rocker, who is 4-10 with a 4.46 ERA, for lack of a better word, avoided getting rocked in his last outing, giving up six hits and two earned runs over five innings. The Rangers, however, went on to lose 6-0in the game. We’ll also see our old friend Jake Burger tonight at first base.

First pitch is at 6:40 p.m., and it will be available on CHSN and ESPN Chicago 1000.

Michael Toglia dove for a ball in left field over the weekend in Arizona while playing a position he really had no business playing. He’s a 1B by trade, albeit one with a bit of right field experience, but his time in the opposite corner of the grass came in part by necessity after option after option on the Cincinnati Reds roster simply couldn’t stick around long enough to perform.

The dive dislocated his shoulder, unfortunately. Yesterday the Reds placed him on the injured list (while recalling Ivan Johnson), and today Charlie Goldsmith relayed words from Terry Francona that Toglia will head for shoulder surgery to repair the problem.

Given how little time there is left in the 2026 season, that almost certainly means his time this season is done. And given that he’s arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter (with all signs pointing towards him being a non-tender candidate), his time as player for the Reds might well be over, too.

The list of corner outfielders/infielders the Reds have cycled through so far this year is borderline ridiculous. Toglia, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Rece Hinds, and Spencer Steer are all done as options for the Reds this year – two due to being DFA’d, two due to season-ending injury. Noelvi Marte failed so spectacularly that he not only got optioned in favor of keeping Toglia, but he wasn’t even the player recalled when Toglia got hurt. TJ Friedl has totally flamed out, Blake Dunn needed elbow surgery, and Will Benson is buried on the depth chart at AAA after being designated for assignment and going unclaimed.

Now, this.

Something’s clearly in the water in north-central Kentucky, and it’s not something that’s letting the Reds get lucky with any AAAA players this season.

Texas Rangers @ Chicago White Sox

Monday, August 24, 2026, 6:40 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Rate Field

RHP Kumar Rocker vs. RHP Jose Urquidy

Go Rangers!

Detroit Tigers (61-69) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (77-53)

Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:DRaysBay
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Framber Valdez (8-8, 4.35 ERA) vs. RHP Drew Rasmussen (13-5, 3.01 ERA)

Go Rays!

The Atlanta Braves are on a much-needed off day after taking a very tough trip across the midwest and getting put through the ringer by a trio of Central Division teams. The showdowns aren’t over, though, as the Braves will have to welcome the Dodgers into town for three games starting on Tuesday night.

For now, it’s time to go a night without Braves baseball before they embark on nine-straight days that’ll take them into September. What does the future hold? Hopefully enough wins to help carry the Braves across the finish line for the Divisional title and into the Postseason but we’ve got to cross that bridge before we get to it. Hopefully the offense can get back going soon, though!

What am I watching?

The Cubs and the Diamondbacks could be a potential Postseason preview, so that’s probably the most interesting game on the schedule tonight as far as October ramifications go. Meanwhile, Phillies games have once again gone past simply being hate-watches and they’ve gone back into the territory of being legitimate scoreboard watching. Philadelphia is on a West Coast swing starting tonight, as they’ll be facing the Mariners for three games before getting the Angels this weekend and then taking on the Diamondbacks this time next week. Maybe they’ll trip up heading out West like the Braves usually do? I don’t care man, someone please beat them.

Anyways, the floor is now yours.

We simply do not know how the Cincinnati Reds are going to manage ace Chase Burns as he nears an arbitrary innings limit this season. What we do know, though, is that they’re almost 100% certain to have one, and that it’s rapidly approaching soon.

Burns is sitting on 136.0 IP so far during this breakout season of his, a good bit out in front of the 109.1 IP he logged across all levels last year. That’s on the back of a 100.0 IP season the year prior with Wake Forest, and as the Reds slip further and further into the standings abyss after dismal losses akin to the one from yesterday in Arizona, the reality is that they aren’t going to run him into the ground in an already-lost season.

Burns gets the ball tonight as the Reds begin their series against the San Francisco Giants on the west coast, so you’ll need to put on a pot of coffee and stay up late to catch him. However, there’s a very real likelihood that he’s on the mound for only two or three more turns this season, so forfeiting the chance to see a true ace at work becomes infinitely more important than a) sleep or b) any serious conversations you plan on having before 10 AM tomorrow morning.

First pitch this evening is set for a cozy 9:45 PM ET.

Here’s how the Reds will line up to start:

Last week at this time, the Diamondbacks hadn’t yet posted their lineup because Ketel Marte was MIA. Today the Red Sox are in MIA, facing former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara and an uncharacteristically competent Marlins team at 6:40 p.m. Ranger Suarez is on the hill for the Sox, with Andruw Monasterio getting the day off as the Sox look to continue rolling after destroying the hapless Giants:

Here are da fish:

Go Sox. Enjoy these quiet days while they last. The real stuff gonna start as soon as that Labor Day grill fires up.

The Nats just finished up a brutal 1-8 road trip. Now they are back home and face a beatable opponent in the Rockies. However, with how they have played lately, there is no such thing as an easy win. This four game set will be a good test for the battered and bruised Nats.

CJ Abrams is back, but he is only able to DH today. It is still a huge boost for this team. He is leading off and Daylen Lile will be moved down to the 4 spot. Brady House is back at third and Keibert Ruiz is behind the plate. It is Cade day, as the red hot Nats ace takes the mound.

The Rockies have a lefty heavy lineup with only two true righties in Connor Norby and Ezequiel Tovar. This Rockies team has some firepower at the top of the order with Jake McCarthy, Mickey Moniak and TJ Rumfield having productive years. Ryan Feltner will be on the mound for Colorado.

Game Info:

Stadium: Nationals Park

Time: 6:45 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

If there was ever a time to get back on track, it would be tonight. You have Cavalli on the mound against a Rockies team who struggles on the road. Hopefully the Nats can make the end of this season at least somewhat watchable. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

Introduction

For no particular reason, and definitelynot in light of any recent events involving the Diamondbacks, I thought it might be a good idea to examine a few of the middle infielders in the Arizona farm system, specifically second baseman. In this article I’m going to go into the middle infield prospects that stood out for various reasons.

The Omissions

There are two glaring omissions that are very close to the major leagues that I didn’t include in this writeup, only because each got their own dedicated article that I’ve put out in the last couple months. If not for that fact, Demetrio Crisantes and Danny Serretti would have their own section spotlighting them here in the ‘top prospects’ section. Crisantes is the team’s de facto top prospect overal, and the heir apparent at second base. He’s likely a year away from being ready at the earliest, while Serretti is a AAA Rule 5 guy who’ll need to be put on the 40 man roster at the end of the season if the Dbacks don’t want to see him taken in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft this winter.

Although I’ll still use this as an opportunity to give a quick update on both players, you can read my article on Demetrio Crisantes here, and my article on Danny Serretti here. Crisantes has gotten off to a slow start since his promotion to AAA Reno. He has 29 hits (including 5 doubles, a triple, and HRs) in 110 plate appearances, with 5 walks and 22 strikeouts. That translates to a triple slash line of 264/.299/.355 which works out to just a 52 wRC+ along with a .298 wOBA. His .232 xwOBA shows he’s probably been a bit lucky to even put up those meager numhers.

Meanwhile, Danny Serretti spent a couple months in Reno with an OPS above 1.000 at the end of July. Serretti began slumping over the following three weeks, with his statistics dropping down to a (still good) .934 OPS by August 18th, when he was sent back to AA Amarillo, although not for perfomance related reasons. Serretti currently has a .924 OPS in AA Amarillo.

The Top Prospects

John Samuel “JD” Dix (FG| B-Ref )

Bats/Throws: Switch/Right Height/Weight 6’2″ / 190 DOB: 10/12/2005 in Chicago, IL

Tools: Hit: 55. Power: 50. Run: 50. Field: 50. Arm: 50

Drafted in the Competive Balance-A round (35th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2024 draft, JD Dix signed for $2,150,000. Dix was the top prospect out of the state of Wisconsin in that 2024 draft class, attending the same Whitefish Bay HS that Dbacks 2001 World series alumni Craig Counsell attended.

Dix made his debut the following year in the Arizona Complex League. In 39 games for the ACL Dbacks, Dix had 178 plate appearences, hitting .342/.421/.493 with a .427 wOBA and 142 wRC+.Dix would get a promotion to the A ball level Visalia Rawhide, where he’d spend the remaining 50 games of his 2025 season. In 230 plate appearances for the Rawhide, Dix hit .261/.391/.335 with a .368 wOBA and 114 wRC+.

Overall, in the 89 games and 408 plate appearances total between the rookie level Arizona Complex League and the A Ball level California League in 2025, Dix hit .297/.404/.406 with 2 HRs, 29sb .394 wOBA 126 wRC+. 14.2% bb% 20.8% strikeout percentage.

I’ve embedded a video below of an interview that Visalia Rawhide posted to their official channel.

Dix began his season back in the California league to start the 2026 season. In 48 games, Dix received 235 plate appearances, hitting .253/378/.468 with a .382 wOBA and a 116 wRC+. At first glance those numbers don’t look like much of an improvement outside of the better wOBA and wRC+, Dix had a slightly worse walk percentage and strikeout percentage, he had much worse luck with a Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) that was .052 lower.

The real improvement though was reflected in JD’s power: He had the same amount of triples, but hit three more doubles and seven more homers in two fewer games, which resulted in Dix’s isolated slugging percentage (ISO) having a massive surge from .074 to .216. In addition, Dix stole just as many bases (19) but was caught stealing only once, as opposed to four times the year before.

The Dbacks promoted JD to the A+ level Hillsboro Hops in the much less hitter friendly Northwestern League, where he’s had a much tougher time. In 48 games, Dix has recieved 212 plate appearences, hitting .245/.325/.351 .314 wOBA with an 80 wRC+. His power outburst slowed down, with only a pair of homeruns. He’s continued to be a burner on the basepaths, stealing 16 bases so far. However, he hasn’t been quite as successful with Dix getting caught stealing four times. Weirdly Dix has managed six more singles and three more triples than he had in Visalia.

The defensive picture is a lot more opaque compared to the offensive side of his game. Lingering effects from a labrum injury in highschool rendering his right arm strength too weak for him to play shortstop, however, Dix was put on an arm strength program over the last offseason. I have not heard much in the ways of his current arm strength, so someone in the comment section can hopefully chime in, since as far as I can tell, Dix has only played seven innings at shortstop in the complex league last year. This season he’s played all but 10 innings at second base, with those appearances coming at designated hitter.

Carson Kerce (FG | B-Ref )

Bats/Throws: Right Height/Weight 5’11 / 200lbs Born: 11/29/2004 in Atlanta, GA

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 40 | Speed: 55 | Field: 45 | Arm: 50

Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2026 draft with the 53rd overall pick by the Diamondbacks, Kerce essentially went from an afterthought in a potent Georgia Tech lineup his freshman year, to an offensive force as a leadoff hitter by his junior year, his last season going professional.

You can easily see the progress Kerce made year to year just looking at his wOBA and wRC+ statistics. Kerce put up a below average .360 wOBA and a 79 wRC+ his freshman season, improved to a slightly above average .403 wOBA and 103 wRC+ his sophomore season, before breaking out as a hitter with a robust .497 wOBA and 148 wRC+ his junior season. He also cut his strikeout percentage from 22% down to 15.2%, then even further to 13.3% in that same time span. Below I’ve embedded a video featuring highlights from Kerce’s time with Georgia Tech.

Kerce has played in 15 games with the Visalia Rawhide, and has 17 hits in 69 plate appearences, with three doubles, a HR, and 10 walks and two HBP. That works out to a triple slash line of .298/.420/.404, with a .393 wOBA and a 122 wRC+. He’s stolen five bases successfully in six attempts as well.

Kayson Cunningham (FG | B-Ref )

Bats/Throws: Left/Right Height/Weight: 5’10/182lbs Born: 6/25/2006 in Tucson, Az

Scouting Grades: Hit: 60+ | Power: 45 | Run: 55 | Field: 50 | Arm: 50

When I last talked about the Dbacks 2025 first round pick, Cunningham had demolished the California League. In 43 games he hit .381/.471/.506 with a .451 wOBA and 157 wRC+. He showed excellent plate discipline with 30 walks (14.5 bb%) to his 38 strikeouts (18.4 SO%). I’ve embedded a video below with highlights from the first half of season prior to his promotion.

The Dbacks promoted Cunningham to the A+ level Hillsboro Hops on June 9th, and the new level and league has proven to be much more of a challenge. In 53 games with the Hops, Cunningham is hitting .246/.360/.382 with a .344wOBA and a 98 wRC+. While he’s seen a slight uptick in his walk percentage by .01% to 14.6%, he’s also seen his strikeout percentage jump from 18.4% to 22.2%. Some of that decline in numbers may just be the result of his luck changing. In Visalia, Cunningham had an unsustainable .482 BABIP, while in Hillsboro it has swung back in the other direction to a .310 BABIP. He hasn’t been unlucky necessarily, just not as lucky.

Cunningham has an argument for being the best pure hitter in the Diamondbacks farm system, or at least in my opinion, the potential to be the best pure hitter in the system once he develops more as a hitter. (I’d argue right now that the best pure hitter is Demetrio Crisantes, with Cunningham a tic behind, mostly as a result of the former being further along in his development) Cunningham has played shortstop or designated hitter exclusively, and he certainly has the tools to stick at the position. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up at second base, third base, or somewhere in the outfield potentially.

The Underperforming but still young prospects

Not only were Jansel Luis and Cristofer Torin were signed as amateur international free agents signed in January of 2022, but both players have had their prospect stock fall in 2026 thanks to having bad seasons playing in the most hitter friendly ballpark in the already very hitter friendly Texas League. I have seen comments here on the Snakepit and on the Azdiamondbacks sub-reddit writing off both players’ status as prospects, with some even going so far as to label them busts.

Jansel Luis (FG| B-Ref )

Bats/Throws: Switch/Right Height/Weight 6’0 / 170lbs Born: 3/6/2005 in San Pedro de Macoris, DR

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 45 | Run: 50 | Field: 50 | Arm: 50

Jansel Luis is coming off an impressive season playing for the Hillsboro Hops in the Northwestern League. In 102 games played in a pitcher friendly ballpark, in a pitcher friendly league, he hit .304/.342/.422 with a .346 wOBA and a 106 wRC. Add in the four games played in the ACL, and that bumps his numbers up to .311/.347/.435 with a .353 wOBA and a 110 wRC+.

So with Luis headed to a hitter friendly ballpark, in a hitter friendly league, his underwhelming 2026 season is much more disappointing. Through his first 108 games in 2026, Luis has hit .270/.315/.445 with a .336 wOBA and a 78 wRC+. Though his walk percentage has dipped down from 6.0% to 5.0%, his strikeout percentage has shown a much more signifant increase from 16.3% to 25.1%. That’s right at the edge of still being acceptable, any worse and it’s a major red flag going forward. In general, the lack of walks combined with too many strikeouts are always a recipe for failure, and that combined with an erratic approach at the plate have been noted by other prospect evaluators as major red flags.

I wouldn’t write Jansel Luis off just yet, he’s still below the league average in age, and he’s got impressive tools all around. Jansel’s biggest weakness is his propensity for aggression at the plate, swinging too often at pitches he has no business trying to hit. That said, he’ll need to tone down the aggression and become more selective ar the plate to get back on track down the stretch, and he’ll need put up above average numbers in AA in his next season.

Primarily a shortstop and second baseman in the past, Luis has not played at second base in 2026. Instead, he’s now seen more time at third base instead, though he is still getting starts at short as well as DH on occasion. Some scouts think he’d be better off in outfield position, but the Dbacks have not played him at all in the outfield, at least in-game.

Cristofer Torin (FG | B-Ref)

Bats/Throws: Right Height/Weight 5’10/155lbs Born: 5/26/2005 in Acarigua, Venezuela

Scouting Grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 30 | Run: 40 | Field: 60 | Arm: 60

Torin had solid 2024 season in his second go around in A ball level Visalia, hitting .255/.381/.344 with a .360 wOB and a 106 wRC+ in 108 games. He followed that up with a breakout 2025 season for the A+ level Hillsboro Hops, hitting .287/.381/.385 with a .360 wOBA and a 115 wRC+ in 122 games. He then had an impressive cup of coffee with AA Amarillo to end his 2025 season, getting eight hits with four of those being doubles, a stolen base, and three walks in 25 plate appearences. That works out to triple slash of .381/.440/.571 with a .449 wOBA and a 159 wRC+.

Considering all of that, Torin’s 2026 season in AA Amarillo has proven to be extra disappointing, much like Jansel Luis’ 2026 season. In 102 games and 476 plate appearences, Torin is hitting a very meager .270/.335/.418 with a .337 wOBA and a 79 wRC+.

Probably the most interesting fact about his season is that while his walk percentage has dropped from 12.1% to 8%, his strikeout percentage has improved from 14.3% to 11.1%. In addition, he’s hit four triples and twelve homeruns, career highs in both, the latter being more than the previous two seasons combined.

Torin is an impressive defender at shortstop, enough so that he really doesn’t need to hit all that much to be a positive contributor in the major leagues. He’s always had an impressive ability to limit his strikeouts, while also drawing walks at a fairly impressive rate. Prior to this season he had only one season where he walked less than a 12% of the time, 9% in A ball in 2024. Considering Torin has needed a second try at a level in the pasr, it’s not surprising he’s struggled making the second hardest jump in professional baseball. If he struggles in his next try at AA, then I would start writing him off as prospect. As I stated with Jansel Luis, he’s still young for the level, so it’s not that big of deal if he’s back in AA next season.

Promising Start, but Too Young to Worry About

Leonardo Sivilla (FG|B-Ref)

Bats/Throws: Switch/Right Height/Weight 5’10/180lbs Born: 12/17/2007 in Santa Clara, Cuba

Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 45 | Run: 70 | Field: 45 | Arm: 50

Sevilla signed for $750,000 on January 15th of 2026. He’s had a solid debut in the Domincan Summer league, hitting .293/.435/.395 with a 106 wRC+ in his first 53 games. Sevilla definitely lives up to that 70 grade speed, as he’s stolen 29 bases, though he has been caught seven times.

There’s not much else to say about Sevilla just yet as he’s likely three to four years away, he’s worth mentioning as a player expected to move through the farm system quickly, and for having all of his tools grade out as above average.

August hasn’t been kind to the Colorado Rockies.

A dreadful 0-6 homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians pushed their home losing streak up to nine games, tied for the longest home drought since the 1993 club accomplished that feat. It also puts the Rockies at 7-13 for August, on pace for their worst month since May.

They hope to turn the tides with a trip to the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Nationals for a four-game series. The Nats are also slumping, losers of their last four and eight of their last 10.

The Rockies come in with a 50-80 record to the Nationals’ 61-71. The two teams met at Coors Field back in July, with the Nats taking two of three games.

Ryan Feltner is set to take the mound for the Rockies, his 20th start of the season. So far, he is 5-7 with a 5.97 ERA, a 1.533 WHIP, and 64 strikeouts. He got lit up by the Dodgers in his last start, surrendering seven runs on eight hits in five innings of work.

Washington will counter with Cade Cavalli. Cavalli is 11-5 through 27 starts, with a 3.22 ERA, a 1.220 WHIP, and 162 strikeouts (11th most in the majors). His last start was a scoreless quality start, earning the win after six innings pitched with just three hits surrendered along with 11 strikeouts. He’s averaged nearly 10 strikeouts across his last three games. He’s also picked up a win in six of his last seven starts.

The two teams enter today’s matchup sharing a rough stretch recently, but the Nationals bring in a hotter starting pitcher on paper. Both teams’ bats have struggled as of late, so today might come down to who blinks first.

First Pitch: 4:45 p.m. MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM and KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Nationals SB Nation Site: Federal Baseball

Lineups:

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks! 

Sweep! The best kind of weekend. Didn’t hurt that it was an NL West team. Those Diambondbacks were kinda pesky too. Nice to just finish the week at 5-1.

Ranger Suarez needed a good outing against those Dbacks and he, well, sorta kinda got it. There was a grand slam but the Boston bats carried the team to a 9-4 victory. Suarez and the ‘pen allowed just those four runs. Sandy Alcantara was an ace. Then he got hurt. Last season he was back but a mess and this year has had some rough spots. But the last month he’s been cruising. Seven innings in three of his last five starts. He didn’t even allow a run over three of his last five outings. He’s not back to his 8.0 bWAR form from 2023 but he’s leading the NL in innings and starts and looking healthy.

Payton Tolle was a little bit of a hard luck loser last time out. He wasn’t at his best but a few bad bounces and one thing led to another and it was a less than perfect outing for the team’s most enthusiastic jumper. Is he running out of gas as the innings pile up? Maybe? But his two starts before this were each masterpieces. The Red Sox are seemingly trying to find him extra rest but so far he’s still just having an impressive first full MLB season. His opponent hasn’t been announced, maybe the Sox finally catch a team short handed?

Closing out the series is legitimate Cy Young candidate Sonny Gray. Last time out against the Giants wasn’t his best work but 4 runs in 7.0 innings is enough for the offense to work with. Ryan Gusto has made 12 starts in his 17 appearances this year and has tossed 57.2 innings in total. He strikes out 8.0 per nine innings and has 3.40 times as many Ks as BBs. The righty has two starts longer than 4.2 innings and also rarely (4 times) goes over 68 pitches. This is one to watch if Nick Sogard starts fouling off pitches early.

Remember Otto Lopez? Big time trade candidate? He’s hitting just .215/.273/.241. So, small sample size and all but when you’ve got Sogard on the roster who needs the Otto mobile.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Monday, August 24: Ranger Suarez (3.41 ERA / 2.87 FIP) vs. Sandy Alcantara (3.46 ERA / 3.84 FIP)

Tuesday, August 25: Payton Tolle (3.08 ERA / 3.16 FIP) vs. TBD (— ERA / — FIP)

Wednesday, August 26: Sonny Gray (2.79 ERA / 3.60 FIP) vs. Ryan Gusto (4.37 ERA / 4.00 FIP)

Thursday, August 27: Merciful day off

When/Where to Watch

Monday, August 24: 6:40 PM ET on NESN

Tuesday, August 25: 6:40 PM ET on NESN

Wednesday, August 26: 6:40 PM ET on NESN

This was a good weekend to be a San Diego Padres fan. The Friars finished off a sweep of the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t much of a contest. The Padres slugged out eight runs against the Twins, with three homers. Two came from Fernando Tatis Jr., and one from Jackson Merrill. In doing so, Merrill added to the first 20/20 season of his career.

It was a potent weekend for the Padres’ offense. They should be able to continue that against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see some regression in the coming series. Hopefully, San Diego can keep the good vibes rolling as they march toward the postseason. With their win Sunday, the Padres are two games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Wild Card.

Taking the mound

Braxton Ashcraft (PIT) v. Robbie Ray (SD)

Ashcraft has pitched well in what has been a surprisingly stalwart Pittsburgh rotation. The right-hander owns a 3.68 ERA with 13 wins for the Pirates. The strikeout numbers look good as well, with 159 Ks in 149 1/3 innings pitched. He’ll be a tough opponent for the Friars in what should be an interesting matchup.

That said, the righty has regressed a bit since his stellar rookie season in 2025. After posting a 2.71 ERA in 69 2/3 innings working as a swingman, his ERA has bumped up a bit this year. That’s to be expected, as Ashcraft transferred to a full-time starting role with the Pirates, but it’s still noteworthy.

Since joining the Friars, Ray has looked solid in each of his starts. His debut with San Diego wasn’t the best (4 ER, 5.0 IP), but he’s looked stellar since then. The lefty has given up just three runs on five hits in his last 10 innings of work. His bigger problem has been limiting walks, with six free passes in that same time.

Not many of the Pirates have faced Ray before. The only hitter with more than 10 at-bats against the left-hander is veteran Brandon Lowe (14). The second baseman owns an abysmal .143 average against Ray in that time. That should bode well for the Friars, as it’s possible that tonight could turn into a pitching duel in Petco Park.

Batter up!

This is Tatis’ second multi-homer game in the last five games. It’s an incredible turnaround from the same player who didn’t hit his first home run until May 30. Tatis has put the Friars on his back while carrying the club towards the playoffs. He’s been a massive contributor in their second-half surge.

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
2. Jake Cronenworth, 2B
3. Manny Machado, 3B
4. Ty France, 1B
5. Jackson Merrill, CF
6. Gavin Sheets, DH
7. Xander Bogaerts, SS
8. Luis Rengifo, LF
9. Freddy Fermin, C

Not many of the Padres have faced Ashcraft before. They’ll have to be able to adapt to the righty quickly, otherwise it’ll be a quick loss for San Diego. Of the two Friars who have faced him (Jake Cronenworth and Freddy Fermin) the duo is 1-for-2 with a double.

Relief corps

The Padres needed a performance like this from starter Walker Buehler, and they got it. Buehler pitched six pristine innings, giving up a lone run to Brooks Lee on a solo shot. After that, Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui covered the final three innings, each giving up a hit.

That will allow the Friars to be creative if Ray stumbles in his start tonight. San Diego has Griffin Canning, Kyle Hart, Jeremiah Estrada, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Bradgley Rodriguez available out of the ‘pen. Canning just pitched four scoreless innings for the Padres on Saturday so it seems unlikely he pitches. Estrada will likely be the first out of the bullpen given his lack of usage lately.

The White Sox week started by getting walked off on back-to-back nights, there was a midweek goose egg to lose a makeup game to Atlanta, and then the pitching gave up 10 runs to a Mets team that is well worse than .500. Oh, and not to mention, it’s the middle of a 16-game stretch, so Chicago’s pitching staff was extremely taxed.

So much so that when Will Venable was asked this week what the plan was for the North Side portion of the Crosstown Classic, he told reporters there wasn’t one. I am no idiot. I know this was likely a half-truth. There had to be concepts of a plan. That plan was “The Opener.”

Following a loss that was lead off by and ended by Pete Crow-Armstrong home runs, Bryan Hudson was tapped to start Tuesday’s duel against the Cubs. He gave up a pair of homers in his opening inning before he turned it over to Erick Fedde for 4 2/3 innings of scoreless work. In the end, Huascar Brazobán and his one-third of an inning would be enough to lose Fedde the bid for the win and allow Alex Bregman to walk things off in the ninth.

Sean Newcomb opened the last game at Wrigley. He earned one more inning than Hudson did the day prior, keeping the game scoreless before turning things over to the bulk reliever. The strategy worked well for the White Sox, with José Urquidy going six innings and striking out eight Cubbies en route to a 3-0 victory to avoid a sweep. Sometimes veterans still have some of that young stud left in them. It’s nice when they allow it to peak out in-between the past-their-prime outings.

Only the Cubs (15) and the Orioles (11) hit more home runs than the White Sox (10) this week. The first of those teams does not surprise me, because the North Side Chicago club hit five of them on Monday and Tuesday alone. Three of those were hit by Crow-Armstrong. That is the same number of home runs we hit the entire series. Word of advice to pitching coach Zach Bove and Venable, maybe just walk him next time.

Speaking of hitting long balls at Wrigley Field. Munetaka Murakami graced the Friendly Confines with a Mune Bomb. I can only hope that there are many more balls sailing to the bleachers to come in this rivalry for the young Japanese star.

With the Crosstown Classic wrapping up this week, it is apparent that this series finally means something again. For all the trash talk that goes on between these fan bases, these two teams are competitive at the same time for the first time in a while. It is exciting to see fans and players invested in this clash.

The season series ended with a 3-3 draw. Half of these games were decided by one run, and 22 balls left the ballpark over the season series. Should playoff baseball be gracious enough to grant itself to both teams this season, October is going to be an exciting month for the City of Chicago.

In-between a series loss to the Cubs and a series win to the Mets was a lone game with the Atlanta Braves. The game was a reschedule of the June 11 rainout. If you can recall all the way back to June, the Pale Hose already took the first two games of the series from the NL East-leading team. A win on Thursday would have completed the sweep, but instead the squad accumulated just one hit and two walks in the 2-0 loss. Anthony Kay had a stellar outing, going six innings, giving up two runs, and striking out six, but Grant Holmes outdueled him by taking a no-hitter deep into the contest.

Sean Burke was the starter in Friday’s win, not aligning with Will’s opener strategy. The righthander gave up the only four runs of the game in his six-inning outing. He may it have earned himself a quality start or a decision in the outing, but he did stop the bleeding enough to allow the White Sox to catch up on back-to-back-to-back home runs by Miguel Vargas, Randal Grichuk and Colson Montgomery.

Vargas is continuing to rake. The third baseman slashed .381/.581/.619 this week, with two doubles and a home run. He also drew at least one walk in every game of the week except for Tuesday’s. His patience at the plate paid off on Saturday when he went 1-for-1 with four walks. The All-Star actually led MLB this week by being the only player to draw double-digit walks, with 10.

A special thank you to Jake Rogers who sent a dinger over the right field fence to avoid extra innings and walk the game off in style on Elvis Night. For those who have seen the video of the woman who lost the contents of her purse celebrating retrieving Rogers’ ball, she reported from the train that she was able to get all of her items back in her bag. The catcher and excited fan reunited on Sunday for the return of the home run ball.

The Saturday loss to New York’s National Leaguers was the solidification of a rough week for Luis Castillo. The righthander only went 4 2/3 innings at Wrigley during his outing on Monday night, but starter had an even shorter outing against the Mets, going just 2 2/3 innings in the weekend’s 10-5 loss. In his brief time on the mound, he surrendered four earned runs on eight hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. At best, Castillo’s trade deadline acquisition would get the team a few key victories, but the hope was at the worst he would be an innings-eater for the team. So far, Castillo isn’t even holding up the innings-eater end of the bargain. In his four starts with Chicago, Castillo has only made it out of the fifth inning one time: his seven-inning outing against the Reds.

On Sunday, Newcomb once again got the opening two innings before Fedde was asked to complete four innings of scoreless pitching. He did his job, and kept the back-end of the bullpen out of the game until the seventh. A walk-off home run by Tristan Peters proved the opener strategy successful, accounting for two-thirds of the wins for the week.

The South Siders have three games against the Texas Rangers between them and an off-day. Chicago ended Sunday 3 ½ games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians, who went 5-1 this week. The Ohio team’s skid is looking to be only temporary, so the White Sox can’t afford to let up.

We’re back with another Breaking T shirt, this time featuring Milwaukee’s first baseman.

Jake Bauers, 30, is a former seventh-round pick who reached as high as baseball’s No. 75 prospect in 2017 while with the Rays. But once he finally broke through to the majors, he never really found success outside of some solid power numbers. Across parts of four seasons with the Rays, Guardians, Mariners, and Yankees, Bauers had -1.5 bWAR with a rough .211/.302/.361 line, though he did slug 39 homers and drive in 140 across 412 games.

Bauers caught on with the Brewers in 2024, and while he continued to struggle that year — .199/.301/.361 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs — he turned a new leaf in the second half of 2025 after returning from injury. From September 5 through the end of the regular season, Bauers appeared in 19 games, hitting .378/.472/.600 with two homers, four doubles, and nine RBIs across 53 plate appearances.

He kept it rolling in six games in the postseason, hitting .308/.357/.615 with a homer, a double, and three RBIs, and he picked up right where he left off in 2026.

This season, Bauers has played in 118 games, with a .273/.382/.503 line, slugging a team-high 23 homers, 19 doubles, 75 RBIs, 76 runs, and nine steals. It’s a welcome development for the veteran first baseman/outfielder.

Now, you can honor Rake Bauers himself with a new shirt from our friends at Breaking T, featuring the Rake Bauers Yard Work Co.

If you need some work done at the yard, Jake Bauers is the man to call in Milwaukee.

• Officially licensed by MLB Players, Inc.
• Super-soft, durable t-shirts and hoodies
• Designed and printed in the USA
• Free returns and exchanges

Click here to get a Rake Bauers Yard Work Co. shirt, and be sure to check out their full line of Brewers’ merchandise here.