Category: Baseball

Recaps

[AZ Central] Brandon Pfaadt’s latest gem leads Diamondbacks past Braves – In his latest impressive start — and probably his best yet during his recent stretch — Pfaadt fired seven shutout innings of two-hit ball before handing off to the bullpen. Pfaadt struck out seven and did not walk a batter. The Diamondbacks got a run-scoring groundout from Gabriel Moreno in the first inning and a solo homer from Tim Tawa in the top of the ninth. The run in the first was helped along by a misplay in left field by the Braves’ Mauricio Dubon. The Diamondbacks won despite going 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position. Pfaadt has been on an incredible run since rejoining the rotation in late June. In nine starts, he has a 1.15 ERA in 54 2/3 innings.

Team news

[Dbacks.com] Marte day to day after exiting early due to left knee soreness – In the bottom of the first inning at Truist Park, Marte ranged to his right to attempt to field a Drake Baldwin ground ball and twisted awkwardly in the process. Marte stayed in the game for the remainder of the first inning. “It’s been something that’s been bothering him for a couple of days since the Padres series [Aug. 3-6],” said manager Torey Lovullo. “He’s been trying to gut it out, and he moved to his left and it just got to be a little bit too much for him.”

[Arizona Sports] Will Zac Gallen play a role for the 2026 Diamondbacks again? – Manager Torey Lovullo said Gallen is getting close to facing live hitters, after which point he could jump into a Bridge League game and get closer to building up for a return. “I feel good knowing that he’s hungry and he wants to come back,” Lovullo told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo. “What I’ve told Zac and Ryne Nelson is just get healthy, we can’t force a timeline until you’re healthy. Both are now healthy, and they are ramping up so where does it lead us with Zac, it’s unknown. He’s just going to continue this build up. … If you get up to three (innings) and 50 (pitches) at a certain point, then we’ll start to really integrate the idea of getting him back into this situation as a starting pitcher.”

[SI] Diamondbacks Give New Injury Update on Jordan Lawlar, Justin Martinez – Lawlar has been rehabbing a hamstring injury with the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles. After a slow start, the center fielder has crushed home runs in back-to-back games. Lawlar did not play in Thursday’s game, but Lovullo said the plan is for him to get into a bit more minor league action before he can make a return to a major league playing field. “Lawlar’s going to play a couple more games in a row and see how he feels. Stay tuned. It’s looking very positive,” Arizona’s manager said. He did, however, say it could be “within the week” to see both Lawlar and Martinez make their return to the MLB roster.

And, elsewhere…

[ESPN] San Francisco Giants to host 2028 MLB All-Star Game – Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred announced Friday that the 2028 Midsummer Classic will be at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The 2007 game was played in the picturesque waterfront ballpark, featuring now-Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki’s famous inside-the-park home run that bounced off the tricky wall in right-center field. “With its passionate fanbase, world-class ballpark, and rich baseball history, San Francisco will be an outstanding host for All-Star Week, which culminates in one of Major League Baseball’s best traditions, the Midsummer Classic,” Manfred said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing the excitement of All-Star Week and the celebration of baseball to the Bay Area.”

[MLB.com] How baseball’s unorthodox pitchers found their way – These days, pitching sure feels like it’s defined by velocity, which continues to tick up.But there’s a small group of pitchers who don’t rely on velo at all. They play baseball like it was first designed to be played. In 1845, the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club spelled out the first surviving rules of baseball. They noted that “the ball must be pitched, not thrown, for the bat.” That’s right. Everyone threw underhanded, a mandate that required the pitcher to throw with a stiff wrist and elbow. No one does this anymore, unless, well, you squint a bit. Then, you’ll see that some players are still carrying the mantle. While they don’t throw underhanded, they most certainly don’t deliver the ball over the top, either. [Significant section here on Arizona’s Ryan Thompson]

[Reddit] Teams average weight vs speed

It was an interesting day down on the farm, featuring offensive standouts and solid pitching performances. Let’s dive into it all.

(59-58) Gwinnett Stripers 2, (42-74) Norfolk Tides 6

• Maverick Handley, C: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Carlos Santana, 1B: 3-4
• JR Ritchie, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K

Box Score

Gwinnett came up short on Friday, losing by a 6-2 final to Norfolk, moving to just one game above. 500 on the season.

JR Ritchie got the start and had an ok outing, as he spun four innings of two-run ball and striking out three. However, command issues continue to plague him, as he issued four walks on the night, while 49 out of his 87 pitches were out of the zone. There is still time for him to get three or four more starts this season, and hopefully he will be able to make some serious strides with his control.

In terms of offense, the Stripers matched Norfolk hit-for-hit, but couldn’t string together enough extra base hits to produce more than two runs.

Maverick Handley got the scoring started for Gwinnett in the top of the second for his first triple-A homer to initially give the Stripers a 2-0 lead.

The Tides tied things up in the home half of the third at 2-2, and the Stripers managed to hold Norfolk scoreless from that point forward — until the eighth frame.

Norfolk ended up plating four runs off of Hayden Harris in the inning to take a 6-2 lead on the night, which would hold as the final.

On the other hand, deadline acquisition Tyler Uberstine tossed a pair of scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two on the night.

(52-55) Columbus Clingstones 6, (45-67) Birmingham Barons 2

• Jordan Groshans, 3B: 3-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Eric Hartman, LF: 1-4, R
• Owen Carey, RF: 1-5, 3B, RBI, R
• Ambioris Tavarez, 3B: 1-3, 2B, R
• John Gil, SS: 1-4
• Garrett Baumann, SP: 9 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 8 K

Box Score

While he may have been sent down to double-A to get things right, Baumann put up his best start of the season overall on Friday night.

A complete game, two-run performance from Baumann propelled the Clingstones to a win on Friday night. While he did strike out eight, which is pretty on par for him, the biggest stat was one he didn’t register — walks. Hopefully this serves as a complete turn around for Baumann and he can build off of this and finish the season strong.

It’s the second straight start in which Baumann has performed very well. In his last time out, the righty tossed five scoreless innings, striking out nine, but walked three on the night.

Back to Friday’s action, Columbus got on the board first, as Jordan Groshans launched his 22nd homer of the year in the top of the first, scoring Eric Hartman and make it a 2-0 game.

Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. singled home Owen Carey in the top of the fourth to extend the Columbus lead to 3-0.

Groshans once again came through, this time in the top of the fifth with an RBI-single to extend their lead to 4-1. Groshans later came around to score on a Carey RBI-triple.

The Clingstones tacked on another run in the top of the eighth, as Adam Zebrowski laced a ground-rule double on a liner into left center field, making it a 6-2 game, which held as the final.

(52-56) Rome Emperors 5, (38-72) Asheville Tourists 6

• Alex Lodise, SS: 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Conor Essenburg, DH: 1-3, R, 2 BB
• Luis Guanipa, LF: 1-5, R
• Cade Kuehler, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K

Box Score

Rome ended up on the short end of this one, losing a narrow one-run game to Asheville.

Cade Kuehler got the start and didn’t bring his best stuff. On the night, the righty gave up four earned runs in five innings whiles striking out six and walking four.

All told, it’s been a rough season for Kuehler, who now carries a 5.83 ERA on the season. He’s walked 55 batters in 95.2 innings, while also giving up 21 homers during that span.

In terms of offense, the Emperors came out to play.

Trailing 1-0, the Emperors plated two runs in the top of the third, as Colin Burgess scampered home on a wild pitch to tie things at 1-1. Alex Lodise then proceeded to single into left field to make it a 2-1 game.

Dallas Macias later tied things up at 3-3 with an RBI-single in the top of the fourth.

Lodise once again came through in the top of the fifth — this time with an absolute rocket of a two-run home run — to give Rome a 5-3 lead.

Unfortunately Asheville retook the lead, tying things up at 5-5 in the home half and scoring once more in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 6-5 advantage for the Tourists.

While the bullpen would hold from that point forward, the offense failed to catch up, leading to the Emperors’ demise.

(58-51) Augusta GreenJackets, (62-49) Charleston RiverDogs (POSTPONED)

Rain got in the way of this one, so Augusta will take on Charleston in a doubleheader on Saturday.

(15-37) DSL Braves 7, (33-18) DSL Brewers Gold 8

• Elisandro Ramirez, LF: 2-3, 2 3B, RBI, 2 R, BB
• Luis Fortunato, DH: 2-5, 3B, RBI
• Durban Arnedo, 3B: 2-4, 2 RBI, R
• Geowin Gomez, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 4 K

Box Score

The DSL Braves put up a good fight and, despite outhitting the DSL Brewers, ultimately came up short.

Geowin Gomez got the start and had a very solid day on the mound. Across five innings of work, Gomez allowed one unearned run on three hits while striking out four in the process.

While it was only his second start of the season, Gomez has somewhat flown under the radar. In 32 innings pitched, the righty carries an ERA of 3.09, while striking out twice as many batters (28) as he has walked (14).

It will be interesting to see if the Braves keep him making starts or keep him in the bullpen moving forward.

Back to Friday’s action, Elisandro Ramirez led the offensive charge with a pair of triples — his second and third of the season, respectively — with an RBI and two runs scored on the day. Meanwhile Luis Fortunato registered a triple of his own and drove in a run, while Durban Arnedo brought two home en route to going 2-4 with a run scored o his own credit on the day.

The DSL season is scheduled to come to a close on Saturday in which the Braves take on the Royals Fortuna squad to cap off the year.

If you haven’t heard, the Guardians’ number 1 prospect in the farm system, Ralphy Velasquez, has been tearing the cover off the ball all season in the minor leagues, including hitting 8 home runs so far in August. Today we’ll take a look at how the season has gone so far for Ralphy, and look at some possible reasons why the Guardians haven’t given him the call despite hurting for some offense in 2026.

(Data from TJStats)

We can see Ralphy has been putting up some impressive numbers so far this season. The numbers vs LHP are especially impressive. We can see there are some dips when compared to the numbers vs RHP, but viewed on their own the numbers vs LHP are still impressive. So why haven’t the Guardians, who have been incredibly aggressive with calling up young talent so far in 2026, given Ralphy a run at the Major League level yet? The answer might be the potential of a lockout in 2027 if the MLBPA and owners do not sign a new CBA before the start of next season.

As it stands currently players on the 40 man roster are under the MLB CBA, and players not on the 40 man roster are under the MiLB CBA. If a lockout were to happen no player on the 40 man roster would be able to play even in minor league games, but all the players not on the 40 man roster are able to keep playing Minor League Baseball. Ralphy Velasquez is currently not on the 40 man roster. By keeping him off it, the Guardians are preserving the ability for him to continue his development in 2027 by playing baseball games every day.

The decision may ultimately come down to “is the 2026 playoff run worth risking stalling the development of the next potential big hitter coming up to the big leagues?” If the Guardians call him up now, he’d be added to the 40 man roster, and if there is a lockout that lasts through 2027, he may not be able to play professional baseball and continue his development during that time. The alternative is to leave him in AAA for what remains of 2026. If there is no lockout, he can come to spring training and earn a chance to make the team out of camp in 2027. If there is a lockout, however, he could remain in the minors and continue playing through 2027, potentially giving him a full season of development before getting a chance to join the Guardians in 2028.

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You know Toronto is on a heater when I can't stray from riding with them as part of my Blue Jays vs. Yankees prediction - even on a bullpen day.

The Toronto Blue Jays are now just one game back of the Wild Card and are going for their sixth straight series win today as +150 underdogs against the New York Yankees at BET99.

Let’s dive into my MLB picks for Saturday, Aug. 15, and cash a same-game parlay, shall we?

Yankees vs Blue Jays predictions

Yankees vs Blue Jays best bet: Blue Jays +1.5 (-120)

For as good as Cam Schlittler has been for the New York Yankees - he and Dylan Cease are in a battle for AL Cy Young odds - the Toronto Blue Jays have owned him during his young career.

The Jays own a .290 xBA against the young right-hander and are striking out at just a 17% clip, which is incredible considering Schlittler owns a 31.4% K rate this year.

On the other side, Brayden Fisher has made quick work of these Yankees, striking New York out 43% of the time over a smaller sample size (21 at-bats). We're rocking with the rested bullpen to keep this one close.

I'd play this one up to -130 at BET99.

COVERS INTEL:Ernie Clement gets the job done in this matchup, and has gone 5-for-12 with a .390 xBA against Schlittler in his career. If Toronto wins, he'll be at the center of it.

Yankees vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

The Under is a perfect 5-0 in the Blue Jays' last five home games against a righty, and 6-1 in their last seven when they're a home underdog. The way both of these offenses are performing as of late, I would expect another low-scoring, close, gritty game.

Elsewhere, I'm giving Clement the benefit of the doubt - he has yet to strike out against Schlittler and owns a .327 xwOBA in this matchup. Let's cash this one.

Yankees vs Blue Jays SGP

• Blue Jays +1.5
• Ernie Clement 2+ H/R/RBI
• Under 7.5

Yankees vs Blue Jays home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+675)

Kazuma Okamoto is the only guy in this lineup with a homer off Schlittler and has quietly come into his own lately, registering four hits across his last four games. The strikeout numbers are still there, but I'll rock with his 43.8% hard-hit rate to get the job done for us tonight.

Yankees vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: New York (-175) | Toronto (+150)
• Run line: New York -1.5 | Toronto +1.5 (-120)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (+100) | Under 7.5 (-100)

Yankees vs Blue Jays trend

Blue Jays are 4-0 in their last four home games vs. a right-handed starter - that bodes well for us today. Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch Yankees vs Blue Jays and game info

Yankees vs Blue Jays latest injuries

Yankees vs Blue Jays weather

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The San Diego Padres were not perfect in really any facet of their game against the Cleveland Guardians, but they had just enough pitching, just enough offense and made just enough plays to hang on for a 7-5 win to open their three-game series at Progressive Field on Friday.

It did not look good early for the Padres after starter Michael King surrendered two solo home runs and a third run through the first three innings. King would go on to allow four runs, three earned, over his six innings of work. It was not the start the Friar Faithful wanted to see from the ace of their pitching staff. Fortunately for King and the San Diego playoff hopes, the offense came to life and got him off the hook with two runs in the fourth, three runs in the fifth and two runs in the seventh.

The Padres got on the board with a two-run home run off the bat of Xander Bogaerts. There has been a lot of discussion about where the veteran shortstop bats in the San Diego lineup among fans and media members. His contributions to the offense in the first game against Cleveland showed how effective he can be in the bottom third of the order. There is no question Bogaerts extends the lineup and makes it harder on opposing pitchers to get through the lineup unscathed as evidenced by his final line of 1-for-1 with two walks, three RBI and a run scored from the No. 8 position in the order.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a screaming line drive home run to tie the game at 3-3, and Luis Campusano continued to contribute to the offense when he followed later in the fifth inning with a two-run double that put the Padres ahead, 5-3. Campusano added another RBI in the top of the seventh when he recorded another double that allowed Ty France to score from second base. It also put Jackson Merrill on third base. He scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly from Gavin Sheets that put San Diego up, 7-4.

Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller were down for the day, so Jeremiah Estrada and Bradgley Rodriguez were asked to cover the eighth and ninth innings. Estrada allowed a run in the bottom of the eighth, which allowed Cleveland to cut the lead to 7-5, but Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth, despite a leadoff double, to lock down the win and record the first save of his MLB career.

The Padres offense kept pressure on Guardians starter Gavin Williams and the rest of the Cleveland pitching staff throughout the contest with each member of the lineup contributing in some way. Merrill was the only starter not to record a hit but he drew a walk and scored twice on the day.

San Diego has punched its win streak to six games and will look to make it seven when the Padres play the Guardians in the second game of the series today at 4:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• Joe Musgrove took another step in his rehab progression and threw 70 pitches at Triple-A El Paso.

• Kyle Hart did what he needed to so he could become a contributor for the Padres. That included a change in mindset and mechanics.

• Samad Taylor was the spark plug for the San Diego lineup when he arrived, but when he went down with an injury the Padres needed someone else to fill that role, and Luis Rengifo is doing just that.

Baseball News:

• The Chicago White Sox powered past the Detroit Tigers.

• Christian Walker belted a three-run home run to help the Houston Astro’s walk off the Seattle Mariners.

• Brandon Pfaadt stays hot and leads the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 2-0 win over the Atalanta Braves.

• Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Milwaukee Brewers.

• The Chicago Cubs got a shutout win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

I don’t want to be hasty. But I think Clay Holmes might be healthy. I mean it could also be that the Cardinal offense isn’t particularly terrifying. But he handcuffed them all day long. I don’t think I’m engaging in hyperbole to suggest that was one of the best starts this year by a Cub. It’s good too because the Cub offense is potentially in one of those funks that they occasionally have.

For the second straight day, the Cub offense was sluggish. We hat tip when we need to. Matthew Liberatore has now had two strong starts and two rough starts against the Cubs this year. I’m just not sure I’m ready to heap all of the credit on Liberatore after this offense lit him up twice in July and with how hot they’ve been recently. The only one nod I’ll make is that I was listening to the Cub radio broadcast and Ron Coomer noted that he does a lot of thinking through pitch sequencing and that Liberatore had him pretty confused. I guess maybe they went with a different playbook entirely seeing the same team for the fourth time in a year. That doesn’t happen anywhere near as often as it did years ago.

That’s an interesting thing about the modern game. For all of the good in modern pitching, guys have smaller pitch repertoires and they rely more on stuff now than they did in the past. When you don’t usually even finish three times through the order, you often don’t need so many different pitches. And pitchers rely more than effort on max effort fastballs and max spin breaking pitches. In the past there was a lot more playing with sequencing and location and changing speeds. It’s a different game. Often a very effective game. But I’m sure it’s hard when you have to keep facing the same team over and over again. Particularly for a younger pitcher and particularly against a good lineup.

That said, Liberatore was only a hair worse than Holmes. The big difference is that when the Cubs did finally get some runners, Seiya Suzuki hit a ball to the exact right spot at the exact right time. The wind had shifted to be a little bit more right to left and when he lofted one towards the left field line, it pushed just far enough for a three-run homer. It was about as timely as a homer can get.

Holmes eventually gave way to the Cub bullpen and we got to see Ryan Rolison, Ryan Zeferjahn and Jacob Webb in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. The Cubs haven’t had a ton of these hand a ball to the bullpen and protect a lead games. But they handled it. Not without a little breath holding. But they finished what Holmes started and shut the Cardinals out. The Cubs are 10-3 in August. Very much in the fight.

Go Cubs.

Three Positives:

• 6.2 innings of one hit, one walk baseball is just about as positive as it can get. Nice home debut Clay Holmes.
• Seiya Suzuki had the three-run homer and added a double. The Cubs only managed six hits and drew three walks.
• Michael Busch had a single and a walk.

Game 123, August 14: Cubs 3, Cardinals 0 (72-51)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Clay Holmes (.383). 6.2 IP, H, BB, 0 R, 3 K (W 1-1)
• Hero: Seiya Suzuki (.174). 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, R
• Sidekick: Dansby Swanson (.093). 1-3, R, SB

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Pete Crow-Armstrong (-.132). 0-4
• Goat: Ian Happ (-.074). 0-3
• Kid: Michael Busch (-.042). 1-3, BB

WPA Play of the Game: Seiya Suzuki’s three-run homer with one out in the sixth. (.206)

Cubs Play of the Game: With first and third and no outs, just in front of the Suzuki homer, Matthew Liberatore got Pete Crow-Armstrong to pop out, temporarily conserving the shutout.

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 122 Winner: Aaron Civale received 33 of 66 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong +25
• Alex Bregman +20
• Carson Kelly +14.5
• Shōta Imanaga +14
• Trent Thornton +13.5
• Phil Maton -10
• Nico Hoerner -11
• Jameson Taillon -13
• Dansby Swanson -17
• Caleb Thielbar -19.5

Scoreboard Watching: The Phillies had a largely unheard of Friday off day after winning the Field of Dreams game Thursday. The Phillies started the day as the first non playoff team in the NL. The Diamondbacks beat the Braves 2-0, they remain seven back of the Cubs, the Braves two up. The Padres beat the Guardians 7-5. The Cubs are six up on the Padres. The Dodgers held on to beat the Brewers and the Cubs are back to just three games behind in the division. The Dodgers are also two up on the Cubs.

Up Next: Game two of the weekend three-game set. Matthew Boyd (8-1, 3.50) starts for the Cubs. He’s been unbelievable since getting healthy. He’s 5-0 with a 2.35 over his last seven starts (46 innings). He threw seven scoreless against the Cardinals in St. Louis on July 29. 26-year-old righty Michael McGreevy (4-9, 3.64) starts for the Cardinals. McGreevy is heading in the wrong direction (1-3, 4.91) over his last seven. The Cubs were part of that, scoring seven against him (in 1.2 IP) in St. Louis on July 28. You have to love this matchup.

Get another one.

Friday night in the Dodgers minor leagues included a rehabbing Tyler Glasnow getting closer to a major league return with eight strikeouts in 3 2/3 hitless, scoreless innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Dodgers affiliates dropped three of four games on Friday night.

Player of the day

Aidan Foeller was pressed into pitching duty earlier than expected on Friday, and filled in for an injured Luke Fox with aplomb. Foeller struck out six in five scoreless innings in the best of his four Double-A appearances to date.

Foeller on Friday stranded an inherited runner in the first inning, then left his three hits and two walks on base as well, getting through the fifth inning. Between High-A and Double-A this season, the 11th-round draft pick from 2024 has a 3.09 ERA with 82 strikeouts and 26 walks in 67 innings, with a 19.9-percent strikeout-minus-walk-rate.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Christian Romero got the final out of the fourth inning in relieving Glasnow, but then allowed three runs in the fifth in the Comets’ home loss to the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies).

Oklahoma City managed only five hits in the loss, two of them singles by new catcher Chadwick Tromp.

Ryan Ward his his 94th double for Oklahoma City, breaking the team’s record for the current “Bricktown Era,” since 1998.

Double-A Tulsa

Home runs by Jake Gelof, Nelson Quiroz, and Joe Vetrano paced the Drillers office in a win over the Arkansas Travelers (Mariners).

Luke Fox returned last Saturday after nearly four months on the injured list with three strong innings, but he left his start Friday after allowing a double and single to his two batters faced in the first inning. Just nine pitches in, Fox’s night was done, appearing to re-injure his hamstring, per Barry Lewis of Tulsa World, who was on-site in Tulsa.

Mike Sirota was hit by a pitch and scored in the sixth inning, and was later replaced on defense in center field in the eighth.

High-A Great Lakes

Four runs in the third inning spelled doom for the Loons in a loss to the South Bend Cubs.

Will Gagnon, who struck out 34 percent (and walked 17 percent) of his batters faced in 55 2/3 innings for Class-A Ontario before getting promoted to Great Lakes. The right-hander, drafted by the Dodgers in the 14th round in 2024, struck out seven in his High-A debut in four innings, but also allowed five runs on two hits and three walks. Two of the five runs were earned, aided by catcher’s interference and a throwing error by shortstop Emil Morales in the fateful third frame.

The Eduardos had four of the Loons’ six hits as a team. Quintero and Guerrero each singled twice and walked.

Class-A Ontario

The Tower Buzzers had a four-run inning but lost to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Angels), who had two.

Ching-Hsien Ko hit a two-run home run for Ontario, and Kellon Lindsey hit a solo shot among his two hits.

Joel Cruz struck out six in four innings of relief for Ontario, allowing only an unearned run.

Transactions

Class-A: Camden Wimbish, the Dodgers’ 17th-round pick last month out of Campbell, was added to Ontario’s roster, as was catcher Eduardo Rojas and non-drafted free agent pitcher Brady Wembley. Right-hander Josehp Marte was sent back to the Arizona Complex League (whose season has already concluded) after pitching five games for the Tower Buzzers. Same for Angel Cruz, who had a 7.57 ERA, 40 walks, and 42 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings with Ontario.

Friday scores

• Albuquerque 4, Oklahoma City 2
• Tulsa 4, Arkansas 1
• South Bend 6, Great Lakes 2
• Rancho Cucamonga 9, Ontario 6

Saturday schedule

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Brooks Auger) vs South Bend (Pierce Coppola)
• 5 p.m.: Tulsa (Christian Zazueta) vs. Arkansas (Ryan Sloan)
• 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Cole Irvin) vs. Albuquerque (Jake Brooks)
• 6:30 p.m.: Ontario (Marlon Nieves) at Rancho Cucamonga (Yusei Kikuchi)

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The Chicago Cubs are 41-28 against sub .500 teams this season, and they're -175 favorites to tack on another win this afternoon.

With Michael McGreevy coming back to earth, I'm all over the home team in my Cardinals vs. Cubs predictions and MLB picks.

Who will win Cardinals vs Cubs today: Chicago Cubs (-175)

Michael McGreevy ranks in the third percentile in xBA and his 5.68 xERA is more than two runs higher than his actual ERA of 3.64. He’s a guy I want to attack.

The Chicago Cubs are a prime candidate to exploit McGreevy. They own the league’s second ranked offense in runs per game, and they’re in good form. They sit sixth in wOBA vs. righties over the past month.

Matthew Boyd owns strong numbers (2.37 ERA, 0.67 HR/9) excluding Top-10 offenses in OPS vs. lefties, and the St. Louis Cardinals rank 22nd.

Bet to -190.

COVERS INTEL: McGreevy has posted a xERA of 4.65 or worse in five consecutive starts, setting up for Chicago to have a productive day at the plate.

Cardinals vs Cubs Over/Under pick: Over 9.0 (-120)

McGreevy is finally starting to get the results he deserves. He is sporting a 6.29 ERA over his last five starts and has allowed an average well over .300, aligning with his putrid numbers in xBA.

His ERA sits at nearly 5.0 when isolating matchups against Top-10 teams in OPS and xwOBA against right-handed pitching, and the Cubs hammered him for seven runs the last time he started against them.

Boyd has allowed 1.67 HR/9 at home this season, and favorable conditions at Wrigley could cause problems today.

Take the Over to -130.

Cardinals vs Cubs home run prediction: Pete Crow-Armstrong (+335)

McGreevy ranks in the ninth percentile in xSLG vs. left-handed bats. He gives up a ton of quality contact, which sets up well for Pete Crow-Armstrong.

The NL MVP candidate has feasted on righties all season long, and owns a 20% barrel rate against McGreevy’s pitch mix over his last 25 batted balls.

The conditions at Wrigley are expected to provide an 18% boost to home runs. That’ll help PCA get more carry when he’s already hitting the ball hard, and far, on a consistent basis.

I’d bet PCA down to +305.

Cardinals vs Cubs weather

With temperatures in the mid 70s and winds blowing out, the bats will see a boost in this game.

Cardinals vs Cubs odds

• Moneyline: Cardinals +150 | Cubs -175
• Run line: Cardinals +1.5 (-130) | Cubs -1.5 (+110)
• Over/Under: Over 9.0 (-120) | Under 9.0 (+100)

Cardinals vs Cubs trend

Chicago has hit the moneyline in 31 of the last 45 games (+14.70 units, 26% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Cardinals vs. Cubs.

How to watch Cardinals vs Cubs and game info

Cardinals vs Cubs latest injuries

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Imagine joining a team, staying for four seasons, and going to the World Series in each one of them. The circumstances that brought third baseman Scott Brosius to New York were certainly odd — he was, at the time, a modest return in the Kenny Rogers salary dump ahead of the 1998 campaign — and nobody expected much from him given his horrible 1997 campaign in which he was the worst hitter in baseball per wRC+, but he ended up becoming a big part of the late-1990s dynasty and a World Series MVP. Not too shabby, huh?

Scott David Brosius
Born: August 15, 1966 (Hillsboro, OR)
Yankees Tenure: 1998-2001

Brosius took an interest in baseball from a very young age. The Oregon native was a First-Team All-Conference in his senior year at Rex Putnam High School, according to the Oregon Encyclopedia. After that, he attended college at Linfield, where he started impressing scouts in the mid-eighties, achieving all-conference status in 1986 and honorable mention All-America in 1987.

The Oakland Athletics took a chance on him with their 510th pick in the 1987 MLB Draft, in the 20th round. No, Brosius evidently wasn’t a hotshot prospect, but fate would have some exciting things in store for him.

After a few years in the minor leagues, Brosius made his MLB debut in 1991 with the A’s. From that year until 1994, he was seen as a glove-first player who could cover multiple positions around the diamond. Over that span of his career, his wRC+ consistently ranged between 80 and 89.

Scott’s breakout campaign would come in 1995. Even though it would be, by far, his worst defensive campaign, he finally offered something as a hitter: a 109 wRC+, 17 home runs, 19 doubles, and 69 runs scored in 123 games and 443 plate appearances.

Oakland also enjoyed Brosius’ best campaign purely by fWAR, 1996, in which he put up 5.8 fWAR, a 131 wRC+, and 22 long balls, all career highs. He hit .304/.393/.516 and started to make a name for himself. Essentially, since he was 29 when he produced this season, you could say he was a late bloomer.

Then 1997 came, and he slumped badly to a 50 wRC+, a .203 batting average, and -0.3 fWAR. You would read headlines such as “Struggling Brosius is atrocious” in Oakland back then.

The Yankees, however, came calling and effectively changed his career by setting up that trade that saw Rogers go to Oakland and Brosius being sent to New York. He was a player to be named later yes, but they thought that he could at least be a good defender at the hot corner to potentially succeed the departing Wade Boggs and Charlie Hayes. In a lineup as loaded as the team he was joining, few minded him hitting ninth. Skipper Joe Torre was certainly willing to give him some credit run come Opening Day with veteran Dale Sveum the only competition.

The 1998 campaign probably felt like a dream for Brosius, who hadn’t experienced postseason baseball by that point. The A’s made it to the 1992 American League Championship Series, but he didn’t play.

In that 1998 season, Brosius was brilliant. He hit .300/.371/.472 and offered a little bit of everything: contact hitting, power, discipline, on-base ability, defense, and a winning aura that led him to become the World Series MVP. He posted his second 5.0-fWAR season, and his wRC+ was a healthy 123. His 98 RBI helped the Yanks a lot, and he added 11 stolen bases for good measure.

In the postseason, Brosius proceeded to hit a lofty .383 with a 166 wRC+ and 15 RBI in 13 games. He was the MVP of the 1998 Fall Classic after hitting .471 with two homers and six RBI in a four-game sweep of the Padres. When San Diego had life late in Game 3 at Qualcomm Stadium and aimed to make it a 2-1 series, Brosius stomped it out with long balls off Padres playoff hero Sterling Hitchcock and Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman, putting New York in the driver’s seat.

The Yankees won a second consecutive World Series in 1999, this time against the Atlanta Braves, despite Brosius having a down regular season with the bat. His wRC+ was 82, and while he hit 17 homers, he failed to replicate his amazing 1998 — though given the circumstances of playing with a heavy heart as his ailing father passed away from cancer, few would blame him.

Brosius did win his first and only Gold Glove that year, though, and homered twice and put up a .930 OPS in the ALCS win over the Yankees’ archrivals, the Boston Red Sox. He had a good case to be crowned the ALCS MVP, but Orlando “El Duque”’ Hernández was a beast.

2000 rolled around, and it brought in another World Series victory for Brosius and the Bombers. The third baseman, however, had his worst season as a Yankee that year, hitting .230/.299/.374 with 16 homers and a 71 wRC+. He did hit one dinger, drove in three runs, and posted a .927 OPS in the Subway Series to help the Bombers secure the three-peat.

The 2001 campaign would be Brosius’ last as a major leaguer, and it almost resulted in four consecutive World Series trophies for him. Unfortunately, the Arizona Diamondbacks had something to say about that and won the Fall Classic 4-3.

During the regular season, Brosius experienced an offensive renaissance. He hit a solid .287/.343/.446 with 13 home runs, 57 runs scored, and a 109 wRC+. The best would come in October and November, though.

No, Brosius didn’t have a particularly good showing in the 2001 postseason. He hit .140 and didn’t work any walks, posting a 1 wRC+. He did, however, hit an incredibly clutch homer that those who lived through the 2001 World Series will hardly forget.

The World Series was tied at two wins apiece, and the Yankees entered the bottom of the ninth inning at old Yankee Stadium down two runs in Game 5. Down to the last out, Brosius hit a two-out, two-run home run off Byung-Hyun Kim that tied the game and set up an exciting extra-innings win. Alas, the Yankees lost both Games 6 and 7.

Brosius, a free agent after the World Series, chose to retire, prioritizing his family. “I’m just ready to be home,” Brosius said to the AP in 2001, according to this ESPN piece. “I can look back with no regrets and know that everything I wanted to do as a baseball player, every dream I had, has been fulfilled, and there’s nothing else for me to chase as a ballplayer.”

It was a short but heartfelt farewell message from a guy who didn’t need the headlines like some of his teammates back then, but always delivered when it mattered the most. Yankees fans remember him fondly as a key cog of one of the most successful periods of the franchise.

After retiring, Brosius became an assistant coach at Linfield College from 2002 to 2007. In 2008, he became the head coach and went on to have a very successful career at the helm with the Wildcats. In late 2015, the Seattle Mariners made him hitting coach in Triple-A Tacoma. He was the M’s assistant coach in 2017 and the third base coach in 2018. Brosius has returned for several Yankees Old-Timers’ Days, including the 25th anniversary celebration of the legendary ‘98 club in 2023.

Brosius, a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and a solid player at the high school, college, and MLB level, was a Yankee for only four years. What a period that was, though.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

The Atlanta Braves are having their annual Alumni Weekend during this series with the Diamondbacks. Over 60 former players and coaches were in attendance. Here is the listing of those who are in town.

There are some Hall of Famers and World Series Champions on this list. There are some from the dry times of the 70s and early 80s. What would (or did) you ask at Braves Alumni Weekend? I’ve met Dale Murphy, and I would probably be too tongue-tied again to remember what I was going to ask. I’ve always wondered who cracked Sid Bream’s ribs after he famously slid in 1992, but I know David Justice had him in a headlock. You could always ask Brian Snitker why. That’s it, just why. That’s an open-ended question that could apply to bullpen management, lineup, or gaping maw and hat tips. You could ask Kelly Johnson which NL East city had the best clubhouse and nightlife.

I have a question for Leo Mazzone. But I’ll hold onto that one for now.

Good morning, LSB.

The Rangers lost another one last night, 8-3 to the A’s.

Shawn McFarland writes about the Rangers’ no good very bad record against the AL West this season, specifically on the road.

Jake Burger’s clutch homer wasn’t enough to “stop the bleeding.”

Kevin Sherrington writes this latest skid is the final sign that the Rangers have maxed out at “average.”

On the plus side Josh Jung finally appears to be progressing toward a return.

The Rangers’ top 30 prospects list has been shuffled around post-draft.

Corey Seager is among MLB dot com’s list of struggling stars looking to rebound down the stretch.

And Bobby Witt (Senior) is the latest guest on Evan Grant’s Rangers podcast.

That’s all for this morning. The Rangers take on the mighty A’s again tonight at 8:40.

Have a good weekend!

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 6, Gwinnett Stripers (ATL) 2

Weird fact alert: every run in this game scored on a two-run homer.

Luis De León pitched a fine game for Norfolk, allowing two runs in five innings. The damage was done by old friend Maverick Handley, who is playing for Gwinnett. He hit a two-run home run in the second inning. De León allowed six runs and a walk. He struck out seven.

Down 2-0 in the third, Heston Kjerstad connected for his 11th homer of the year. Enrique Bradfield, who had walked, scored on the hit. The scored remained tied until the bottom of the eighth when the Tides scored four more. Kjerstad singled, then Creed Willems homered. Luis Vázquez capped off the scoring with his sixth home run. Ryan Noda (double) scored on the play.

Kjerstad and Jud Fabian both had two-hit games. Bradfield had a double to go along with his walk.

Box Score

Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 5, Reading Fightin’ Phils 2

Anthony Eyanson started for the Baysox and picked up his second win since joining the organization. The good news is that he allowed two runs on four hits over 5.1 innings and he struck out seven. The less good news is that he walked four batters. He kept the Phils scoreless until the fifth, when a walk, a double, and a single drove in both runs.

The offense scored exactly once in five different innings. Three of the runs came via homer from Aron Estrada, Thomas Sosa, and Dom Keegan. Anderson De Los Santos drove in a run on a ground out, and the last run of the game scored on an error. Frederick Bencosme walked, stole second, and scored on a throwing error. Wehiwa Aloy was not involved in any scoring. He went 1-for-5 and struck out four times.

Box Score

High-A: Frederick Keys 5, Bowling Green Hot Rods (TBR) 2

Kyson Witherspoon made his second start for the Keys and impressively struck out nine batters in five innings. Overall he allowed two runs in five innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and walked only two. That’s a nice improvement from his five batters walked in his team debut.

Ethan Anderson, who usually plays for Chesapeake, made his first rehab start after going on the IL on July 7th. He started off with a bang, hitting a two-run home run in the first inning. He finished the game with four hits and three RBI. Maybe just send him back to Double-A. He seems healed.

Braylon Whitaker hit his first home run for Frederick in his eighth game after being promoted from Delmarva. Also recently promoted, DJ Layton had two hits and scored two runs as the leadoff batter.

Box Score

Low-A: Salem RidgeYaks (BOS) 9, Delmarva Shorebirds 3

Harrison Kreiling pitched just 1.2 innings and managed to give up four runs on three hits and four walks. All four runs came in the second inning (as did all four walks). The Taylor Ward trade return has not made a good impression over two games. Connor Gehr allowed the other five runs over four innings of relief.

Ty Head, 2026 second round pick, had two hits at leadoff. First round pick Eric Booth, Jr had one hit and three walks; he scored two of the team’s three runs. Jaiden Lo Re also singled and walked thrice. Jhomnardo Reyes went 1-for-5 but got thrown out on the basepaths on his one hit.

Box Score

Today’s Schedule

• Norfolk vs Gwinnett, 6:35. Starter: Cade Povich
• Chesapeake @ Reading, 6:45. Starter: JT Quinn
• Frederick vs Bowling Green, 6:00. Starter: TBD
• Delmarva vs Salem, 7:05. Starter: Esteban Mejia

Bryan De La Cruz has been the latest member of the Phillies outfield carousel, having now been with the major league club for a little over three weeks since being called up from Lehigh Valley. De La Cruz has only appeared in 12 games, but he has performed admirably, hitting .346 with a 1.021 OPS. Again, we’re talking about an extremely small sample size of 32 plate appearances, but De La Cruz’ production has been a welcome sight for a Phillies lineup that will take production from anywhere it can get it. 

The problem now however is that the recent new defensive alignment has cut down on De La Cruz’ playing time. With Bryce Harper now occupying first base, De La Cruz is left to only platoon with Brandon Marsh in left rather than finding starting time in the other corner outfield spot. Obviously, Harper shouldn’t be the one to suffer to get De La Cruz in the lineup, but the Phillies could opt to put the former back at first base and cut into the playing time of the struggling Alec Bohm.

Bohm has been better in the second half, hitting .276 with a .713 OPS, but his season numbers are still among the worst in the majors for a regular starter. His -1.2 WAR is the worst among all 142 players in baseball who have qualified for the batting title. The Phillies would certainly be justified in cutting down on Bohm’s playing time. Either sending him to the bench full time or putting him in a platoon would allow them to find some more playing time for De La Cruz in order to ride the hot hand. 

De La Cruz will almost certainly not continue this trend of hot hitting, but it’s hard to argue he isn’t a better option than Bohm at this point. So, should the Phillies find more playing time for Bryan De La Cruz? 

Alec Burleson has hit 47 fly balls at Busch Stadium this season with an average expected wOBA of .610 and an actual of only .397. Burly is getting absolutely ripped off by his home ballpark. Baseball Savant’s Park Factors calculation ranks Busch as the fifth most stifling park in baseball. It has been particularly tough for lefties over the last three seasons with only Tampa Bay and Seattle ranking as more difficult places to hit. Lefty power hitters are punished the most with a home run factor of 73, where 100 is average. Add it all up and it is no surprise that the Cardinals offense has been a bit flat at times. Despite an expected wOBA of .323 (4th in baseball), the Cardinals’ actual wOBA ranks 25th and their runs per game ranks 19th. 

This gap in expected vs. actual production led me to investigate which Cardinals are being punished the most by the unfriendly confines of Busch Stadium. As I started getting into the data, the obvious secondary question arose: is the underperformance due only to their home park, or has there been a bit of bad luck too? 

For this investigation, I will focus on wOBA and its various cousins, so I want to provide a few points of reference. The MLB average wOBA is .316 this season. wOBA is not park or league adjusted, but in a neutral environment, .316 would equate to a wRC+ of 100. wOBAcon is simply the wOBA on contact only, so it removes walks, strikeouts, and HBP from the calculation. The MLB average for wOBAcon is .364. The expected versions of these statistics (xwOBA and xwOBAcon) are calculated using exit velocity and launch angle. One of the limitations of the expected statistics is that they do not take into account the direction a ball is hit. More on that when we discuss fly balls.

The Cardinals have the tenth-best road offense in the league by wRC+, checking in at 101. Their home wRC+ of 89 ranks 27th in baseball. Remember, wRC+ is park adjusted. It is relatively unusual for a team to hit this much better on the road. Across MLB, teams hit six points higher at home than on the road (103 vs. 97), and the Cardinals are one of only four teams to have a reverse split of ten or more. I was curious if there were any teams that consistently hit better on the road, so I looked at the splits going back to 2021 and only the Angels have hit better on the road in the aggregate. The Cardinals have a normal 104 to 98 wRC+ home/away split over that time period. These facts alone lead me to believe that some of the Busch struggles can be attributed to bad luck. 

This bad luck would likely be showing up in the Cardinals’ home/away damage on contact (wOBAcon) splits. The below table compares the Cardinals’ expected wOBA on contact to their actual results.

Sure enough, the team’s expected production on contact is similar home vs. away, but the gap on production at home pulls the overall wOBAcon down to .342, the second-worst mark in the majors. Cardinals hitters are underperforming their expected damage on contact at home by .037 points. For the sake of comparison, I pulled the same metrics for Cardinals pitchers at Busch. As a group, they are outperforming their collective xwOBAcon by .022 points. Going back to our park factors reference, Busch has suppressed wOBAcon by 6% over the last three years. Cardinals pitchers are getting that 6% benefit almost exactly, while the hitters have underperformed by 10%. While not conclusive, this does put a point in the “bad luck” column. 

I do want to check in on the fly ball issue. Historically, the Cardinals have had teams that underperformed their underlying data because too many of their fly balls were hit to center and the opposite field. To illustrate the problem with this, I pulled data from Baseball Savant on every fly ball hit in MLB this year, broken out by direction. 

Players or teams that pull the ball more frequently outperform their expected production (.611 expected vs. .858 actual). Opposite-field flies are measured fairly accurately, but fly balls in the middle of the field cause significantly less damage than the xwOBA formula projects due to deeper fences and more skilled defenders. 

Poor directional distribution does not appear to be the driver of the Cardinals’ Busch Stadium woes; their percentage of pulled fly balls at home is in line with the major league average and their center-field percentage is below average. 

Despite this solid distribution of fly ball direction, the majority of the Cardinals’ problems are indeed coming from fly balls. The major league average wOBA on fly balls is .425. The Cardinals’ average wOBA on road flies is a stellar .445. At home, the wOBA on fly balls falls all the way down to .355 (xwOBAcon of .454). 

So, which players are feeling pain?

Not surprisingly, the three players with the biggest splits are all left-handed. As I opened with, Burleson has serious grounds for irritation with his home field. His pulled fly ball rate of 36% is well above average, which makes the lack of production even more frustrating. Wetherholt has had some bad luck as well. Only 21% of his fly balls have been to the pull side, but he is underperforming his expected stats on line drives by over .100 points. 

Interestingly, none of the top right-handed hitters have had as much of an issue with Busch. I cut the chart off at 100 balls in play, but the rest of the righties have had horrible luck in small sample sizes. 

It is easy to identify the players that have paid the highest Busch tax. Burleson in particular has been crushing balls all year without getting full credit for his awesomeness. Wetherholt is more of a mixed bag with his poor pulled fly ball rate, but he has already shown a remarkable ability to make adjustments at the big league level, so I am guessing he will get to even more pull power. Regardless, his luck on line drives is sure to improve and lift his stat line as well. 

Untangling environment from luck is a bit more challenging, but I really do think this is an above-average offense. In the Statcast era, the Cardinals have underperformed their expected wOBA by .006 points. The current gap would be a new low-water mark for the franchise if the trends do not reverse. I focused on the contact side of the offensive equation in this article, but the Cardinals are also one of the best teams in baseball when not making contact. With the seventh-best BB/K rate in baseball and the most HBPs, their “damage” on non-contact outcomes is third in baseball. The fact that opponents at Busch are performing closer to expectations gives me hope that the offense can see some positive regression toward their expected stats.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts loosely mapped out Shohei Ohtani’s return to pitching after an encouraging bullpen session Friday, Aug. 14.

Ohtani threw 35 pitches during the session, according to Roberts.

"He used his entire mix (of pitches)," Roberts told the media. "He felt encouraged."

Ohtani, 32, hasn't pitched in a game since July 3 because of inflammation in his left knee.

Roberts said Ohtani will go through one or two more bullpen sessions, followed by live pitching sessions, during which Ohtani will throw to actual hitters. Roberts said he couldn’t see Ohtani doing any fewer than two live sessions before he returns.

"And then I would see him in a major league game," Roberts said.