Category: Baseball

Remember the Midshipman’s Log? Good times, everybody.

There is something so satisfying about following the minor league teams and prospects. It makes a Brock Rodden debut more exciting and rewarding than it probably should (if Spencer Packard ever debuts, I can’t wait to reminisce about how he raked for Everett back in 2022), and in a season like this, we’re going to take every piece of succor we can.

Once again, Max is gone celebrating his graduation from graduate school (congrats Max!), so you’re going to have put up with a sub-Max quality write-up for one more week.

Tacoma Rainiers (66-72), 3rd in PCL West

The Rainiers won the first three of the series against the Albuquerque Isotopes, their fifth, sixth and seventh consecutive wins. Wednesday was an exciting win, as a wild pitch in the ninth inning scored Stuart Fairchild to tie the game up before Tacoma put up a 3-spot in the top of the 10th inning. They also won the fifth game of the series to claim a series win over Albuquerque in dramatic fashion – even deprived of Little Laz, they powered their way to victory as Victor Labrada, Ryan Bliss, Andy Ibañez and Nolan Jones all hit home runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

It was a great send-off series for Michael Arroyo, who has since been promoted to the big-league club in the latest jangling-key-maneuver from Seattle’s front office. Arroyo had six RBIs on seven hits with a pair of walks. His final line for the MILB season: .283/.359/.471, 18 HR, 17 SB. So close to a minor-league 20-20!

Top prospect updates:

Who’s even left? Well:

Ryan Bliss update:

Not to be outdone by his old middle-infield partner, Bliss also put up six RBIs on seven hits this series, with a TRIO of walks. As mentioned, he also got involved in the big comeback home run derby on Saturday night. Oh, how I wish Bliss wasn’t a Quad-A player.

Ryan Bliss blasts a go ahead 3-run HR! pic.twitter.com/axfagpWQIs

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) September 5, 2026

Pitching update:

A little more Jekyll and Hyde for Tacoma’s staff – on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, they gave up a combined seven runs. On Thursday, Friday and Sunday, they gave up a combined 29 runs. Nothing new from the depleted Tacoma pitching team.

Arkansas Travelers (69-63), 3rd in the Texas League North

The Travs earned a split for their last home series of the season, though it was marred by a brutal 24-4 loss in the series finale to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. They walked-off the series opener with a three-run ninth, as Jonny Farmelo drove in the first run with a double, before scoring the go-ahead run himself on a Charlie Pagliarini double. Friday’s night game saw an offensive explosion for the Travs, a 13-5 win, with every batter reaching base at least twice except for Josh Hood.

The Travs have one more series left in their season on the road against Springfield.

Top prospect update:

Felnin Celesten: Felnin’s season came to an end on August 27, as he caught the groin bug that has plagued the big-league club this season. It’s unfortunate timing, as the promotion to Double-A was hard-earned and he surely would have loved a chance to excel at the challenge. However, the 20-year old top prospect re-established himself after being dropped from most top-100 lists this offseason, slashing .273/.363/.458 with 16 home runs and 25 stolen bases in almost 500 PAs between Everett and Arkansas.

Jonny Farmelo: 9 hits (including a pair of doubles) and 5 walks against just 3 strikeouts. Is that good? Yes, Farmelo had a good week after struggling since his promotion to Double-A, hitting sub-.200 for Arkansas in 34 games before this week. An encouraging step for him! He also continues to be electric in center field.

Jonny Farmelo runs it down. pic.twitter.com/3L5yJx9Lrx

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) September 3, 2026

Boston Smith: Oh man, I am all the way in on Boston Smith. So, am I pretending I do not see this week where he went 1-for-20 with nine strikeouts.

Ryan Sloan: After an uneven August, Sloan had a forgettable start this week, lasting just 4.2 innings and giving up 4 runs.

Obligatory Teddy McGraw check-in: McGraw made two appearances over this series, going an inning each and giving up just one hit and striking out 3.

Everett AquaSox (67-65, second in Northwest League)

The AquaSox finished their season with a 4-2 series win over Spokane. They fell victim to the inane first-half/second-half playoff structure of the Northwest League, and failed to qualify for the playoffs despite finishing second in the overall standings.

Top prospect update:

Korbyn Dickerson was placed on the inactive list after the series opener.

Luke Stevenson has continued to be a real hot-and-cold hitter, and this was a hot week: 8 hits, 2 home runs, and 5 walks saw him power his team to their series win. A leadoff-hitting catcher? You just gotta love it.

Inland Empire 66ers (59-72, 7th in Cal League [out of 8, ouch]

The 66ers lost 4 of their last 5 games, as the season finale in Lake Elsinore was cancelled amidst a rainstorm that left the field unplayable.

Ace Reese absolutely rakes. Nine hits in four games this series, with as many home runs as strikeouts. Look at that swing! He is going to terrorize the Northwest League next year. He ends his first stint in professional baseball with a line of .440/.530/.667.

Ace Reese crushes a solo HR! pic.twitter.com/0P91UAV7Rb

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) September 3, 2026

Nick Becker has not raked, and will probably need another pass in the Cal League, as he went 2-for-18 this series. There is still plenty of talent and tools in the tank here, and I am still in on Becker.

Here on Labor Day, in the midst of a heat wave, the Arizona Diamondbacks come to a cooler environment than Phoenix for a series. The 76-68 D-Backs are hanging on to the third Wild Card slot in the NL, with a half-game lead over the San Diego Padres. The Royals can play spoiler a little bit, if they like.

The D-Backs will start Derek Law on the hill in today’s game. He will turn 36 in a week, and he’s purely a reliever. He’s one of those guys who has bounced around over the years; he’s on his 7th team since breaking through with the San Francisco Giants 10 years ago. He’s thrown only four innings this year after having missed all of 2025 due to right forearm inflammation. He was last seen as a reliever for the Nationals in 2024 and put together a solid season for them.

In short, it’ll be a bullpen game from the D-Backs.

The Royals will put new staff ace Noah Cameron on the mound. His last start was against Miami, and he gave up four runs in five innings but had excellent K/BB numbers. He gives the Royals as good a chance as any pitcher they have for a win. Unfortunately, Jac Caglianone remains out of the lineup. With John Rave in right field, Matthew Lugo gets the start in left field. The 25-year-old was hitting .271/.320/.531 in Omaha prior to his callup.

The game starts at 1:10pm US Central at Kauffman Stadium. You can watch on Royals.TV OR locally on KCTV5. You can listen on 96.5 The Fan or the Royals Radio Network.

Lineups:

Here’s the Guardians lineup:

We love manatee baseball!#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/FI86FJtwjl

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 7, 2026

Here’s the Orioles lineup:

Monday matinee.

📺 @masnOrioles & MASN+
📻 98 Rock 97.9 FM & WBAL 1090 AM pic.twitter.com/2xhBUJ4xJe

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 7, 2026

Let’s go, Guardians!

The San Diego Padres seem to have started to find their groove. The Friars made franchise history on Sunday afternoon, hitting back-to-back-to-back home runs for the fourth time in club history. It was just the second time of those four that the three homers were to lead off a game. That last happened in 1987, when Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk led off with three long balls.

Instead, it was Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado. Tatis and Cronenworth hit theirs to the opposite field, with that being Cronenworth’s first opposite-field home run of his MLB career. Machado went to dead center field. That, along with Luis Campusano’s solo shot in the seventh inning, was the difference maker after the New York Yankees scratched three runs across in the eighth inning.

Thankfully, closer Mason Miller slammed the door on the Yanks, striking out the side. That gave the Friars their first series win in two weeks, since they swept the Minnesota Twins. They’ll now face the Washington Nationals at Petco Park before going on their penultimate road trip of the 2026 regular season.

Taking the mound

Jake Irvin (WAS) v. Nick Pivetta (SD)

The Nationals right-hander has had a tough go of it this season. Irvin has pitched to a 5.57 ERA through 18 starts (85.1 IP) with an abnormally high 1.40 WHIP. He’s yet to put it all together at the big-league level after four seasons with Washington. That said, he’s surrendered just three runs in his last 8 1/3 innings.

Irvin’s only positive is that he hasn’t faced the Padres much in the past. San Diego batters have a combined eight at-bats against him. In that time, they’ve batted a collective .250, with Ty France having two hits against the righty. Hopefully, it won’t take long for the Friars to solve Irvin in the series opener.

He’s back! After missing the last five months, Nick Pivetta is finally returning to the Padres. He’ll start a major-league game for the first time since April 12 against the Colorado Rockies. It wouldn’t be surprising to only see Pivetta in for the first four innings, or until he reaches a certain number of pitches. The Friars don’t want to jeopardize his arm.

Still, Pivetta coming back is a huge improvement for the San Diego starting rotation. His return boosts the pitching staff in a big way, and takes pressure off of the rest of the group. If Pivetta can look anything close to his 2025 self, it’ll be a massive add for the Friars.

Batter up!

Apart from the first inning, the lineup didn’t do a whole lot in the series finale on Sunday. That said, Campusano has been a force to be reckoned with lately. During the Yankees series, the backstop went 4-for-10 with a walk, two home runs and three RBIs. If that production continues, it would be a major improvement behind the dish.

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

Harris has swung a hot bat in just about every opportunity he’s had with San Diego. The left fielder is now hitting .292 on the season with a .719 OPS. Since joining the Padres, Harris owns a monstrous .409/.435/.455 slash line. That likely won’t continue, but the production they’re getting from him is phenomenal.

Relief corps

Michael King pitched another gem, as always, straining seven Yankees (4 H, 3 BB) across six scoreless innings of work. That saved the bullpen after Robbie Ray’s disastrous start on Saturday. Bradgley Rodriguez, Adrian Morejon and Miller covered the final three frames. Morejon struggled a bit, giving up three runs, though one was due to a throwing error.

With Pivetta’s return today, manager Craig Stammen reported that Randy Vásquez will be working out of the ‘pen. It seems likely that Pivetta pitches about four innings before Vásquez enters in relief. Behind those two, Jhony Brito, Griffin Canning, Kyle Hart, Yuki Matsui, David Morgan and Wandy Peralta are all available for San Diego to call upon.

Happy Labor Day, Camden Chat! I hope the Orioles don’t give you a back-breaking loss that seals their season. I’d understand if you didn’t feel great about their chances: the O’s are 0-6 in September, four games back of the Guardians, and couldn’t even achieve a series win against the Colorado Rockies!! For Pete’s sake.

Well, hope springs eternal. Today, it’s a battle of two lefties—Cleveland’s Joey Cantillo (9-8, 3.91) vs. our own Trevor Rogers (9-9, 4.30)—as these two teams attempt to elbow their way into the postseason.

Cantillo is a swing man turned full-time starter this season. The Honolulu-born lefty has been just average this year—barring his poor control, as attested to by a league-leading 72 walks. He’s good at getting whiffs, particularly with his curveball and changeup. A lefty with offspeed stuff? Sounds like it could be trouble.

The Orioles are actually letting a few lefties hit off of Castillo: Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson, Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers. Also Rece Hinds was called up just yesterday, so you’ll be meeting him. Hope he’ll be a spark of something.

The O’s’ myriad frustrations this year don’t really fall at the feet of the starting rotation, which includes Trevor Rogers. The lefty’s season-long numbers aren’t wow, but they are mitigated by two things: a bad start he’s since transcended, and bad batted-ball luck/bad defense, suggested by a .301 BABIP for opposing hitters. His strikeout and walk numbers are mostly the same as his brilliant 2025. For me, at least, it’s always nice to see Trevor Rogers out on the mound. Last time we did, he racked up a career-high 11 strikeouts in Colorado (the O’s managed to lose that one, anyway, with a bullpen collapse). The future Hall of Famer José Ramírez loves to hit Rogers, though, so watch out for him.

Orioles lineup

1. Blaze Alexander RF
2. Pete Alonso 1B
3. Jackson Holliday 2B
4. Coby Mayo 3B
5. Gunnar Henderson SS
6. Christian Encarnacion-Strand DH
7. Samuel Basallo C
8. Rece Hinds CF
9. Dylan Beavers LF

Guardians lineup

1. Steven Kwan LF
2. Jo Adell DH
3. José Ramírez 3B
4. Angel Martínez RF
5. David Fry 1B
6. Angel Genao 2B
7. Austin Hedges C
8. Petey Halpin CF
9. Brayan Rocchio SS

Devon Toews is accustomed to making an impact on the ice.

On Sunday, the Colorado Avalanche defenseman traded his stick for a baseball and stepped onto the mound at Coors Field, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Colorado Rockies took the field.

The Hockey News was in attendance for the game. 

Toews’ appearance came as the Rockies welcomed fans to the ballpark, with the Avalanche defenseman taking part in the pregame festivities before settling in to watch the game from the stands.

The Rockies appeared to be juiced up at the beginning. They built a 5-1 lead until the bullpen faltered and allowed five runs in the sixth inning. 

From there, the Rockies tried to play catchup, but subsequent runs allowed put them further behind, as they suffered a series 10-8 defeat to the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

For Toews, who is an avid baseball fan, the afternoon provided a chance to represent the Avalanche away from Ball Arena and connect with Colorado’s broader sports community.

The appearance also served as another reminder of the unique relationship between Colorado’s professional sports teams. Avalanche and Rockies fans have plenty of opportunities throughout the year to support both clubs, and Toews’ presence at the ballpark brought those worlds together.

And now with reports coming out in recent days regarding the Walton-Penner group and how it’s expected for the Broncos owners to acquire a larger portion of the team, Rockies fans, who have been tortured for years upon years of bad teams, may have something to smile about around the corner.

And before you know it, Rockies fans may experience what Avalanche fans have enjoyed for the latter part of a decade. Excellent teams, playoff appearances, and plenty of post-game fireworks.

On Sunday, the partnership was evident and together, we can support all Colorado sports teams for the greater good. 

And for the Avalanche, training camp is right around the corner.

When Cal Raleigh steps to the plate at T-Mobile Park for these final few weeks of the 2026 season, Mariners fans might be surprised to hear a different walkup song for their catcher. Raleigh has long favored Washington-born Zach Top’s “Bad Luck”, which he’d been using since last season, but also has a taste for the classics: he’s used Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight,” Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing,” and back in the minors, the original Beef Boy Ballad, “Drift Away.”

Classic heavy metal? Not so much.

Except sharp-eared fans might have recently heard Raleigh walking up to “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden, arguably the second-most famous piece of literary art about the Charge of the Light Brigade. Frustrated with his season and open to changing up anything, Raleigh has been trying out different walk-up songs over the past few months – the less said about the use of Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” over the July Fourth homestand, the better – eventually allowing the Mariners’ clubhouse managers and attendants to take a turn picking out songs for him. Clubhouse attendant Tim Kalal, a devout Iron Maiden fan, selected “The Trooper” prior to a game against the Phillies on August 24th. Cal went on to hit three homers in the game and hasn’t looked back since.

It’s a fitting tune for Raleigh, who has probably felt like he’s been in Tennyson’s Valley of Death during 2026. However, there are signs he’s been starting clambering off the gob pile that has been his season. Cal points to a mid-August series in Milwaukee where he instituted a mechanical change as a turnaround in his season. Small sample size ahoy, but since the beginning of that series, Raleigh has a wRC+ of 259 . He’s hit eight home runs over that span, which is one fewer than the number he hit from the beginning of the season to the fourth of July; more importantly, he’s walking much more (19%) and striking out much less (26%) than he’s been this season. He’s also squaring the ball up better, with a barrel rate of over 30% (MLB average is around 8%) and a hard-hit rate of 64.5% (MLB average is 22%).

Part of Raleigh’s adjustments have been getting his hands into better position; they’re a little higher and a little further back. Per Cal, this allows him to be better on-time to get off his good swing, which would contribute to the uptick in hard-hit numbers.

“It doesn’t take as long to get to my fire position,” said Raleigh, noting the new setup has helped him get to that position earlier. “So I don’t have to worry about getting back on time. There’s less room for error. So just being a little higher, a little more back, I’m a little more in that position where I fire from.”

Here he is in that “fire position” in his second home run against Wheeler on August 24th vs. where he was on May 12 (where he broke an 0-for-38 with a single) in Houston. His hands are higher, but really he’s more upright overall, with those classic high elbows that are an Edgar hallmark. His hips are also slightly more open.

Raleigh describes the change as a collective effort among the hitting group.

“You know, Edgar is a big proponent of it, he always has been. He’s big on getting your hands back and getting that separation beforehand so you don’t have to worry about maybe not getting back or not getting on time.”

Compare again to Raleigh in late June, where he’s much more closed at a similar point – you can see even more of his numbers than in the still from May – and his hands are closer to his body with a more perpendicular angle to his lead elbow. You can also see how much stronger Raleigh is to his back leg in August, with a more balanced weight distribution, as opposed to May-June, when he almost seems tipped forward some.

But the primary thing the new setup has given him is his timing back. While his attack angle hasn’t changed, you can see from Raleigh’s swing tracking data that in 2026, he’s often been later on the fastball, which has resulted in him getting under the pitch more, which has in turn resulted in a lot of flyballs that haven’t left the park. While it would be difficult for Raleigh to have repeated his 25% HR/FB ratio from last year ( at those rates, think Schwarber/Caminero/Alonso), this year that number has fallen to a career-low 14.5% (think Miguel Vargas, JJ Bleday, Zach Neto) – still high average, no longer elite.

“I don’t have to go searching or be on perfect timing every time,” said Raleigh. “I can have more room for error for being on time for the fastball and then a little more back on the off-speed.”

One thing that has been consistent for Raleigh all season is his ability to take a walk; even at his worst points, when he was expanding up or chasing out of the zone and striking out consistently, he still ran an above-average walk rate, managing to wring some value out of his plate appearances. But in this mid-August stretch until now, not only is he walking almost 20% of the time, but he’s getting himself into advantage counts and actually doing damage in those counts. Raleigh said he started to feel things shifting in his favor earlier; the mechanical adjustment just helped him unlock the ability to punish mistakes.

“I felt like I was seeing the ball better. I was laying off pitches, I was doing all that stuff. It was just about the execution of it. Now when I was getting the mistake, I was actually taking advantage of it. So I think that’s the difference. Beforehand, I was seeing the ball a lot better and doing a better job of recognizing and stuff like that, but still not getting the execution part through.”

So the two improvements have gone hand-in-hand: Raleigh is doing more damage on the pitches he’s seeing now thanks to the mechanical tweak, but he’s able to get those pitches to damage because of his improved plate discipline and ability to dictate the at-bat – something that can build throughout the game.

“You always want to be on the attack, and if it’s not [the pitch you want], you’re getting another pitch out of them. It might not show up in that first at-bat but maybe you saw that one pitch one extra time, or he had to use all four pitches on you instead of only two or three, and I think it shows up—maybe not in that at-bat, but it shows up in the next one. You recognize it and you get even more good counts, and you do that more often and you can square something up. So it’s that trickle-down effect, like if it’s not immediate, maybe it’s the next time through. It’s just much better when you’re in the driver’s seat. You have a little more freedom. You have a little more ability to be like, what’s my plan here, what am I going to try to do to get that swing off, instead of trying to play defense up there.”

Cal claims not to be an Iron Maiden fan, but the battle metaphor is appropriate for both baseball and the unnamed protagonist of “The Trooper,”

You’ll take my life, but I’ll take yours too
You’ll fire your musket, but I’ll run you through
So when you’re waiting for the next attack
You’d better stand, there’s no turning back

“To me, a typical season is like, 10% of the time you’re hot, super hot, you can’t get out. 10% of the time, you’re awful. You can’t do anything. Then there’s that 80% where you’re fighting, battling. Maybe not good, maybe not bad. Right in the middle. And that’s when you’re trying to fine tune things a little bit and make sure you’re on top of everything.”

At this point it would take a Herculean effort to push Raleigh’s 2026 campaign even towards “right in the middle” – not that that’s stopping him from fighting, battling. The Light Brigade soldier goes into battle knowing he won’t live to fight another day; fighting anyway, plunging on into certain death. It’s too late to save Cal Raleigh’s 2026 season, just like it’s too late to save the Mariners’ 2026 season. But Raleigh’s determination to fight on and finish as strongly as he can, to make those adjustments, to find a way out of the valley is a testament to the kind of player and person he is: in every sense, a Trooper.

The Atlanta Braves won arguably the most dramatic game of the season last night that resulted in a season tiebreaker against the Philadelphia Phillies and moved the division lead to five games with only four games left between the two team. The Phillies’ destiny is no longer in their own hands to win the NLE.

That being said, there is still enough baseball left that any cushion the Braves can create would be huge in their chances for taking back the NLE crown and potentially earn a first round bye in the playoffs via a two seed.

Grant Holmes did well in his last day game where he gave up zero runs last week, but he also gave up six earned runs in the start before that. Jesús Luzardo has been fantastic this year. The Braves need to tire him out because getting to the bullpen seems to be the key to the game.

Follow along in the comments. First pitch is at 1:05 EDT.

Lineup

Preview

For the fifth time in a week, the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs will face off against each other. After splitting a four game series at Wrigley Field, the two NL Central rivals return to American Family Field for their final series of the regular season.

The Brewers hold a comfortable seven game lead over the Cubs for the top spot in the division. Every single win the Crew gets in this series, drops their magic number to clinch down by two. The magic number currently sits at 12, which means it could drop all the way down to six by the end of this series. The magic number to clinch a playoff berth is five.

Milwaukee made a roster move prior to this Labor Day game, placing reliever Grant Anderson on the 15 day IL with right biceps inflammation. Right-hander Brandon Sproat was recalled from Triple-A to take his spot. Sproat will pitch out of the bullpen for now and will give the Crew some much needed length as they’ve had a string of short starts lately and are wrapping up a stretch of 16 consecutive days with a game.

Sproat talked with reporters prior to the game, saying, “I think the most important thing for me when I was down there (in Nashville) was just getting back to the person and player the Brewers traded for. Just get back to moving my body intentionally, working on the pitches, anywhere from the four seam to the cutter to the sweeper, whatever it might be.”

It was tough news for Grant Anderson, who has been a key piece of this bullpen, and was stretched out to 2.2 IP of work on Sunday on the second day of a back-to-back. Pat Murphy said pregame that there was no structural damage and they hope it’ll be minimum stint on the IL.

It’s also a needed day off for Jake Bauers as he continues to battle through bumps and bruises. Murphy would love to have him out there, but he’ll get Labor Day off. That means Andrew Vaughn gets the start at first base today and is batting cleanup. Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, and William Contreras will be the trio atop the order aiming to get on base ahead of Vaughn. Christian Yelich and Luis Lara will follow. Then Cooper Pratt, Garrett Mitchell, and Joey Ortiz will round out the bottom of the order. Mitchell will be starting in the 8th spot in the lineup for just the fourth time this season.

That is the lineup that will go against Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd, who has an 8-3 record and 4.05 ERA on the season. Boyd pitched against the Brewers on Tuesday last week and went 5.1 IP, allowing seven hits and three runs in the Crew’s 9-4 victory. On the Crew’s side, Robert Gasser gets the start. Gasser also started Tuesday’s game last week and went 4.1 IP, allowing three hits and two earned runs. Even though he was pulled in the middle of the 5th inning, Pat Murphy gave Gasser some words of encouragement and told him he pitched well. The Brewers played some rough defense behind him in that game.

Gasser will face a potent Cubs lineup once again, starting with the leadoff hitter Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is the leading NL MVP candidate. He’ll be followed by Seiya Suzuki and Alex Bregman atop the order. Old friend Tyrone Taylor is batting cleanup, followed by Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw. Carson Kelly, BJ Murray, and Pedro Ramirez round out the bottom of the order for Chicago.

This is the Cubs’ last best chance to make a dent in this division race. They’ll be hungry. The Brewers need to be equally hungry to keep them at bay and win a fourth consecutive division title.

Got your Labor Day entertainment right here

📺: https://t.co/vfk4xUdTIA
📻: WTMJ

→ https://t.co/bxFoZpT8Cfpic.twitter.com/WafGS4gQta

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 7, 2026

Labor Day matinee.

Watch the game live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/3TTtJCKW3N

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 7, 2026

Slugging Cincinnati Reds 3B Eugenio Suárez is known to be one of baseball’s most streaky hitters, one who jumps up to provide weeks at a time of prodigious power that can carry a single lineup. That’s why the Reds brought him back to their roster for 2026 on a $15 million deal, after all – their mostly punchless lineup needed a big bat to bolster their chances at a second straight postseason run.

Problem is, Geno got hurt early on. An oblique strain sent him to the shelf for longer than anything else in his career has been able to pull off, and that paired with an absent spring training (while on duty with Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic) has made for an overall dismal season for their long-time star.

All of that paired with slipping defense at 3B meant Geno went nowhere at the August 3rd trade deadline this summer. Cincinnati held on to him, presumably because there simply were not enough offers (if any), and they even chose to place him on waivers at the end of August as the deadline for teams to add players who’d be eligible for their postseason rosters came, and went.

Nobody claimed Geno. The roughly $3 million left on his contract was simply too much for the gamble.

Geno sat idle on August 3rd as the deadline came, went, and he still had a Cincinnati Reds uniform in his locker. He suited up in said uni on August 4th, and he’s been precisely the kind of Geno the Reds hoped they’d get all year ever since.

In 30 games (119 PA) since the Reds couldn’t find a suitor for him at the deadline, Geno has hit a robust .234/.378/.511 (.889 OPS) with 7 homers, 23 ribbies, and a 19/33 K/BB. Yeah, he’s still striking out like the guy who swings and misses more often than anyone in the sport, but that’s just who he’s become over the last decade while socking dingers at a rate not seen across the sport (non-Judge edition). He’s even added an eye, though, as those walks and OBP demonstrate.

Sadly, it hasn’t been enough to help the ol’ Reds enough, however. The Reds went into their August 3rd day off 5 games under the .500 mark, and they woke up today, September 7th, at 5 games under the .500 mark, too. That’s not on Geno this time around, though, as his bat woke up just like everyone knew it eventually would.

I do think it’s likely annoying enough to at least a handful of MLB execs across the league who thought picking up Geno on the cheap would be a bargain down the stretch and, for whatever reasons, got out-voted in the final decision-making process.

It won’t be enough to carry the Reds to a miracle finish like the 2021 St. Louis Cardinals, surely, but it would make for an entertaining end to an otherwise moribund Reds campaign in 2026 if Geno found a way to go nuclear for the final three weeks, too.

It being Labor Day, I’m going to do these lineups with the minimum amount of work in support of the comrades who got us here. How this differs from my normal lineups routine is unknown at this time. We will not be doing the work to investigate as such for reasons already explained. To the grilled meats we go.

1901
With a three-game lead in the race for the pennant, the White Sox hosted the second place Boston Americans at South Side Park in the start of a four-game set. A three-run rally in the fourth, fueled by one of Herm McFarland’s two doubles on the day, led to a 4-1 win. Nixey Callahan went the distance on the mound for the winners, tossing a five-hitter and doubling in the effort.

The White Sox would go on to sweep the Americans, extending their lead in the pennant race to seven games and pushing their magic number into single digits.

---

1954
One of the linchpins of the famed White Sox pitching staff of the late 1950’s, Dick Donovan, was purchased from Double-A Atlanta in the Milwaukee Braves organization. Dickwould win 73 games in six seasons on the South Side, including a pair of one-hitters and an All-Star appearance in 1955.

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1960
In a game at Comiskey Park, infielder Sammy Esposito booted a cinch double-play ball hit by future Sox infielder Bill Skowron with the Sox leading in the eighth inning, 4-2. The lead quickly evaporated, as the Yankees rallied for four runs and a 6-4 win. 

Fans Willie Harris and his friend, Jesse James (I swear, I’m not making the names up), had a wager on the game. When Esposito blew the ground ball, Harris took matters into his own hands. He jumped over the box seat railing, ran on to the field, and had words with Esposito. Then the two started throwing punches! It took several uniformed police officers and ushers to pull Harris off of Esposito. Harris left the field shouting that he was “A real Sox fan.”

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1970
The White Sox were swept by the A’s in a Monday doubleheader at Comiskey Park, in front of 6,115 fans. As the losses dropped Chicago to 49-92 on the season, the sweep was not remarkable. But what was? That with September’s expanded rosters, the Pale Hose used 13 players and five pitchers in the 7-4 opening loss, and 16 players and seven pitchers in the 7-5 nightcap loss. The 41 total players in a doubleheader set a major league record.

Coincidentally, the White Sox played 20 doubleheaders in the 106-loss 1970 season, losing 13 of them and splitting seven — a 7-33 record in twinbills alone! The team’s doubleheader winning percentage of .175 was roughly twice as bad as its overall .346 winning percentage. Or put another way, remove doubleheaders in 1970, and the White Sox played at a much-improved, 65-win pace.

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1974
In one of the earliest deployments of a radar gun during an MLB game, White Sox reliever Terry Forster was recorded as throwing 94.9 mph from the Anaheim Stadium press box. In the same contest, Angels starter Nolan Ryan was clocked at 100.8 mph marking the second-ever triple digit reading (Ryan had hit 100.9 mph on August 20 at Anaheim Stadium.) White Sox rookie Jack Kucek, the opposing starter in the game, was twice recorded at 90.4 mph.

Forster’s fastball, tame by today’s standards, stood as the seventh-fastest pitch ever recorded. Kucek’s ranked 16th.

The White Sox lost the game, 3-1.

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2008
Don Gutteridge, who had the misfortune of timing his only MLB manager stint with the downfall of the White Sox in the late 1960s, died in the town he was born, Pittsburg, Kan. He was such a hero in Pittsburg that, similar to the treatment that Easton, Pa. gives to Hall-of-Famer Harold Baines, the town declared Gutteridge’s birthday on June 19 to be Don Gutteridge Day every year.

Gutteridge was an 12-year MLB infielder, playing for both the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns. After his playing career, Gutteridge spent almost 20 years in the White Sox organization as a minor league manager and first-base coach under manager Al Lopez.

Gutteridge took over in 1968, when Lopez resigned due to poor health. In managing the bulk of 1968-69, he led the White Sox to a 109-172 record. That mark is the eighth-worst of 44 managers in White Sox history, and the fifth-worst among those to have skippered at least one season’s worth of games.

Among the 10 oldest living players when he passed, Gutteridge died exactly 72 years from his major league debut with the Cardinals in 1936.

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2017
With an 11-2 win at the White Sox, Cleveland sets a new franchise record of 15 consecutive wins. Starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey gave up three of the visitors’ five longballs.

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Big slate Monday! There is so much to get into with the MLB player propsmarket today.

Join me as I break down three of my favorite MLB picks for Monday, Sept. 7, including why Rafael Devers is going to light up Michael McGreevy.

Our best MLB player props today

Emmet Sheehan Over 1.5 earned runs (-150)

For those moaning and groaning about the $1.50 price tag, we’re simply asking the Cincinnati Reds to do what they’ve done all season long, and that's score two runs in the first five innings. The Reds are averaging 2.51 runs in the first five frames this season.

Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan has faced some turbulence over his last three outings, posting an 8.31 ERA while allowing a 15% barrel rate to opposing hitters. He enters Monday with the sixth-worst pitcher rating, drawing three elite-rated hitters and three with strong ratings, per Batters-Box.

The Reds have been on a tear over their last six games, posting a 132 wRC+, .366 wOBA, and .833 OPS while generating plenty of hard-hit balls.

We’re simply asking this red-hot team to sneak past two runs before Sheehan is pulled. 

• Time: 9:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CIN, SNLA

Rafael Devers Over 1.5 total bases (+110)

I'm going back to Rafael Devers after he failed to come through on his hits + runs + RBI prop on Sunday. He did rip a single that came off the bat at over 107 mph, though. Hopefully, the San Francisco Giants slugger can elevate that ball over the wall this evening, or at least into the gap, as we take his total bases prop.

Devers owns the second-highest matchup rating on the day, covering over 87% of St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Michael McGreevy's pitch mix. The last 30 left-handed hitters McGreevy has faced are generating a 13% barrel rate and 30.4% ground-ball rate while owning a .282 xBA and .473 SLG.

The big fella has maintained a .923 SLG and .538 ISO while producing a near-70% hard-hit rate and 27% barrel rate over his last 10 games.

Take this down to +100, or take his Over 1.5 HRR prop if you find a price below -130.

• Time: 8:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBC/Peacock

Jo Adell Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-102)

Lefty killer and Cleveland Guardians slugger Jo Adell finds himself in a mouthwatering spot against Baltimore Orioles southpaw Trevor Rogers. Over his last 30 at-bats against left-handed pitching, Adell has a .560 SLG and .280 ISO while posting a 47% hard-hit rate and nearly 12% barrel rate.

Over Rogers' last 60 plate appearances against right-handed hitters, he is allowing 1.80 HR/9 with just a 35% ground-ball rate, while those hitters have posted a .363 xBA and .596 xSLG.

Adell is the highest-rated Guardian in both of Batters-Box's datasets, where he covers more than 67% of Rogers' arsenal and goes Over this prop nearly 54% of the time. On the road, he's cashed this prop 57.14% of the time across 21 elite ratings.

Take this down to -110.

• Time: 1:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CLEG, MASN

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Mets are turning to Jonah Tong to start today’s game against the Miami Marlins, recalling him from Triple-A Syracuse. In a corresponding move, Justin Hagenman was optioned to Triple-A following yesterday’s win over the Giants.

Today will be Tong’s fourth appearance of the season for the big league club, after making a bullpen appearance against the Marlins back in May, and then making two appearances behind an opener before being demoted back to Syracuse.

The first two of those appearances were fairly well, going six and two-thirds innings without allowing an earned run while striking out three and walking five. The walks and lack of length are obvious red flags, but both appearances kept the Mets in their respective games. His third appearance, where he last just three and a third innings while giving up five runs, was decidedly not good.

After a mostly rough year, Tong has looked much, much better in his last two starts, going 12 and 2/3rds innings, allowing four hits, no earned runs, four walks, and nine strikeouts.

Hagenman made two appearances for the Mets after being called up last week, opening the September 2nd game against the Rays and going three innings, walking one, striking out two, and allowing one earned run, and then pitching an inning of relief against the Giants on Saturday, where he was tagged for a solo home run.

It’s not just the A’s. Following his historic 60 HR season in 2025, who in their right mind would have predicted that Cal Raleigh would spend the first half of the 2026 batting .169/.271/.310? That same Raleigh appears to have shaken off the demons and is back to homering at his 2025 pace lately, with a .490 slugging percentage since the All-Star break. What do you make of that in terms of projecting what to expect in 2027?

The A’s have been there twice very recently. Lawrence Butler was so good in the second half of 2024, batting .300/.345/.553, 155 wRC+, that the A’s rewarded this “breakout star” with a 7 year, $65.5M extension. Butler proceeded to stumble to a .234 BA and 91 wRC+ in 2025 in a season that, perhaps not coincidentally, ended early due to knee surgery.

But 2026 started out even worse than the year before. For the first half of the season Butler was literally the worst player in MLB by some measures as his average languished around .160 and his defensive stats cratered. There were some signs of life mid-season when Butler hit into some bad luck, lining into more than his fair share of outs, but nothing predicted he would revert back to his 2024 form.

Since the All-Star break, Butler is hitting .284/.366/.488 and consistently grinding out some of the best plate appearances on the team, spitting on close pitches off the plate even with 2 strikes and enjoying a career best 11.9% BB rate for the season.

What Butler is doing is known as “pulling a Gelof”. A rising star when he took the league by storm for a half season in 2023, Gelof then started a downward spiral that produced a disappointing 2024 followed by a disastrous 2025. Just when you wrote him off … like Lazarus he rose, only unlike Lazarus he can play above average defense at 2B, 3B, LF, CF, and RF. The super-utility man has 2.0 fWAR in just 93 games in 2026 and suddenly he looks like a core piece again.

Baseball is, as we know, that most unpredictable of games and nowhere is this seen more than in the bizarre highs and lows that often describe the same player in the same stretch of his career. How do you shrewdly plan your depth chart when the range of outcomes for a player so reasonably appears to be “somewhere between All-Star and DFA candidate”?

Case in point: Henry Bolte. Here are Bolte’s wRC+ stats month by month in his maiden voyage:

May: 99 wRC+
June: 111 wRC+
July: 27 wRC+
August: 124 wRC+
Sept: 200 wRC+

Now in Bolte’s case, those extremes are a bit more expected since it’s his first go-around and he’s only 23. But projecting “what you have” in Bolte, in terms of being an every day CFer on a contending team, is only as easy as figuring out what you will probably get from Butler and Gelof yesterday and tomorrow.

With Tyler Soderstrom, Bolte, and soon Devin Taylor in the mix, the A’s need to assess who “the real Lawrence Butler” is. With Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, Jacob Wilson, and soon Leo De Vries joining, the A’s need to assess who the “real Zack Gelof” is.

Just like the Mariners wonder who Cal Raleigh truly is, and many other teams have similar conundrums trying to make sense of their own bi-polar players. Good luck figuring it out in that most unpredictable game of baseball.