Category: Baseball

Phillies notes: RISP problems, Aaron Nola updates and Bryson Stott's struggles originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SAN FRANCISCO – As observers as to the drought the Phillies are going through with runners in scoring position, you can somewhat feel the angst that the players must be feeling as they are now 0-for-24, turning RISP into a legitimate four-letter word, you know, like the swearing kind.

Phillies reserve Otto Kemp has both been in the lineup when it hasn’t delivered and watched from the bench during the struggles. While the situation is known, the approach to fixing it isn’t the rock-solid answer that many would want.

“It’s just a case where you can’t be over aggressive or looking for too much,” said Kemp, who is in the lineup Tuesday in left field and batting sixth against Giants All-Star lefty Robbie Ray.

“If you get something in the zone you have to hit the ball hard. It’s not just all about getting base hits. It’s about having good at-bats, and that could mean moving the runner over when needed. Hitting the ball hard somewhere which may force an error or something like that. It may not be a hit, but it’s getting the job done and that’s what we’re here to do. It’s not something that’s gone on for weeks and that is getting, like, religious to us, so we just go about our at-bats. You can’t think too much about it, but we know it. Good at bats will come. I’m confident in that. We have too many good hitters for it not to.”

When asked his approach to managing this kind of team slump, manager Rob Thomson kept it pretty simple. “I think Kevin (Long, hitting coach) talks as a team and I approach individually at times, sure, depending on who the player is and what they’re going through. It’s just a matter of relaxing them and as we always say – get a good pitch to hit, work counts, use the field.”

Sounds simple enough. We will see what happens.

What’s the update on Aaron Nola?

Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola flew down to Clearwater this past weekend to rehab himself from a rib cage fracture. A sprained ankle and now the newer injury have had Nola sidelined since May 15. Thomson said last week that his rehab time would be equivalent to going through spring training before he’d be ready to come back. As for the most recent update, Thomson said on Tuesday, “He’s going to throw a bullpen again tomorrow and then on Saturday and then we’ll go from there.”

With Nola out and Mick Abel being sent to the minors, Taijuan Walker took the mound for the start on Tuesday. His has been a roller coaster ride from bullpen to starter, and the manager knows that might be something that has to continue for a little bit.

There has been no commitment by anyone that prized prospect Andrew Painter will be coming up after the All-Star break, which begins after Sunday’s game in San Diego. And Abel is going to need to find his command again before he may get the nod. So, for the foreseeable future, it could be Walker?

“Very professional,” Thomson said of Walker. “It is difficult to go back and forth but he’s really handled it well. He’s all about the team and does whatever is needed to help the team. I know he’s going to go out there and compete. You can check that box before he even goes out because he’s going to compete.”

Monday night’s mishaps

Thomson wasn’t about to pin any blame on Monday’s home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, who missed many calls, some coming when Bryce Harper was hitting and a couple others when Orion Kerkering was pitching. Each of them had a major effect on what turned into a 3-1 win by the Giants when they scored two runs in the eighth inning after Kerkering wasn’t given a strikeout, not once, but twice, against Matt Chapman.

“Hey look, I don’t blame losses on umpires,” Thomson said. “I don’t. We had plenty of chances to win that game. Everybody has bad nights. I have bad nights, players have bad nights. Phil’s been around a long time. He’s been a really good umpire for a long time. Just one of those nights. Can’t get it back. We had plenty of chances.”

Bryson Stott’s struggles

As the Phillies were going to face a left handed pitcher on Tuesday, that meant Edmundo Sosa at second base and Bryson Stott to the bench. Asked last week about Sosa in the lineup, Thomson definitively said that he will play against lefties, as Stott has struggled at the plate this season hitting .233 against left handers and just .241 against right handers. 

“Kind of hot and cold,” is how Thomson described his second baseman’s hitting. “I think he’s gotten into a little bit of a habit where right now he’s gotten a little bit long (with his swing). He hit the home run the other day (Sunday, game-winning, two-run shot) which was great. It looked real short. He’s had some good swings but then again he gets a little bit long sometimes. He’s still seeing a lot of pitches, which is good. But, yeah, have the balance between seeing pitches and having the right mild aggressiveness go get some and do some damage. I still have confidence that by the time we’re done here this year he’s gonna find it.”

The Yankees have placed right-handed reliever Mark Leiter Jr. on the IL due to a left fibular head stress fracture.

The fibular head is where the upper end of your fibula meets the tibia and moves with it when you move your knee joint.

Leiter told reporters that he suffered the injury while covering first base against the Reds on June 24.

There is no timetable for Leiter's return.

With Leiter out, right-hander Clayton Beeter has been called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Leiter had been struggling lately, allowing runs in three of his last five appearances -- though he tossed a scoreless frame against the Blue Jays on July 3 and 0.2 innings of scoreless ball against the Mets on Sunday.

Beeter has pitched in one big league game this season, when he allowed three runs on three hits while walking two and striking out none in 1.2 innings.

The Mets signed RHP Junior Fernandez to a minor league contract on Tuesday among a handful of roster moves, the team announced.

Fernandez, 28, will report to Triple-A Syracuse. He owns a 5.17 ERA over 51 MLB games, last pitching in the bigs in 2022 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The right-hander most recently was with the Kansas City Royals organization, throwing in 31 games for Triple-A Omaha this season. He went 2-5 with a 4.93 ERA and 1.54 WHIP over 38.1 IP prior to being released on July 1.

What stands out about Fernandez is that he struck out 53 batters with 26 walks this season in Triple-A, resulting in an impressive 12.44 strikeouts per nine innings.

Fernandez started his professional career with the St. Louis Cardinals, signing as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2016. He made his MLB debut with the club in 2019. The righty was DFA'd in 2022 and claimed off waivers by the Pirates, making three appearances with the team. He then played 42 games for the Toronto Blue Jays' Triple-A team in 2022, followed by nine appearances for the Washington Nationals' Triple-A team in 2023.

He signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball ahead of the 2024 season, but had to get surgery on his clavicle and only made two appearances for the farm team before being released in July of 2024.

On the latest episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo review big series wins for the Mets over the Brewers and Yankees, then preview the road trip before the All-Star break and the MLB Draft with Jim Callis of MLB.com.

First up, Connor and Joe look back at a bounce back week for the Mets, including a full Subway Series recap, a breakdown of a hot-hitting Brandon Nimmo, questions about Juan Soto not being an All-Star, and a look ahead to the games against the Orioles and Royals before the break.

Then, senior writer for MLB Pipeline and MLB.com Jim Callis stops by the show to reveal the top targets in next week’s MLB Draft for the Mets and other teams. The guys also flash back to last year’s top pick for the Mets, Carson Benge, and discuss the potential to trade MLB draft picks in the future.

Later, the show goes all over the farm to check in on Francisco Alvarez and prospect Nick Morabito, and answers Mailbag questions about picking one former Met to magically help the team today, and upcoming MLB Trade Deadline plans.

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Rafael Devers' first base debut with Giants delayed by minor back injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants’ plans to use Rafael Devers at first base have been put on hold, at least temporarily, while the veteran slugger continues to deal with a nagging back injury.

A third baseman throughout his MLB career, Devers has been the Giants’ primary designated hitter since being acquired in a trade from the Boston Red Sox on June 15. The trade resulted from communication issues after Devers balked at being the DH or playing first base.

When the trade went down, the Giants made it clear they envision the three-time MLB All-Star splitting his time at DH and first base. Matt Chapman, who came off the Injured List over the weekend, has third base locked down.

In the first few days after Devers arrived in San Francisco, he went through drills at first base alongside Wilmer Flores. Manager Bob Melvin said the plan was to have Devers get some time at first base during the team’s recently completed road trip, but that idea got delayed because of Devers’ back injury.

Devers was in the Giants’ lineup Tuesday at designated hitter and batting second.

“We were targeting the road trip, he still had some issues,” Melvin said. “He’s still going out there and playing. You see that the running is a little bit of an issue for him at times right now so it’s probably going to be after the (All-Star) break at this point. Hopefully, the break really helps him.”

Devers has been dealing with a minor groin injury too, though it’s the back pain causing the most discomfort. That has affected his running more than hitting.

“The back pain started like two, three days after I arrived in San Francisco,” Devers told a pool reporter through interpreter Erwin Higueros. “Those are things that you go through throughout a baseball season. It’s nothing serious. I never had back problems. At first, it was just the groin. But all of a sudden I started feeling uncomfortable with the back.”

Devers entered Tuesday batting .240 with two home runs and nine RBIs in 20 games wearing the Orange and Black. He doesn’t believe his slow start in San Francisco is related to his injury.

“I know that the back is not affecting my swing,” Devers said. “I know that I’m going to start hitting. I’m going to practice as much as I can, and once I’m real healthy, then I’ll be at first (base).”

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Ray Montgomery is just three weeks into his interim tenure as Angels manager. And as his responsibility grows, he’s well aware that so does the pressure.

“All blame, no credit,” he said Monday as the Angels began a seven-game homestand before the All-Star break. “And I get that. That's just how it goes.”

Since taking over as manager on June 20 for Ron Washington — who will remain on medical leave until the end of the 2025 season — Montgomery has guided the Angels (44-46) to an 8-8 record entering Tuesday.

They’ve had the good: taking two of three from the Braves in Atlanta last week. And they’ve had the bad: getting swept by the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre over the weekend.

Read more:Nolan Schanuel earns walk-off walk to lift Angels past Texas Rangers

Montgomery said he understands the expectations aren’t what they were a few years ago — when the Angels lost 89 or more games from 2022 to 2024 — and that the Angels aren’t so far away from their first postseason berth since 2014 thanks to their young core having a few seasons under its belt.

“We're not here to develop, although that's a piece to what we do,” Montgomery said. “We're here to win. And for the Angels, it's important for us to have an opportunity where we are.”

If anything, there’s a case to be made that the Angels could be over .500 if a few plays had gone their way. Since Montgomery took over as manager, the Angels are 2-5 in one-run ball games, including all three games in the Toronto series.

When asked what the Angels need to do or adjust to end up on the other end of those one-run contests — of which they’d been 17-11 across the full season — Montgomery pointed to big swings and specific plays.

“You can point to the big hits, I get it, but you can also point to the execution on smaller plays, too, that prevent runs,” he said. “We made some mistakes in those games.”

The Angels got one of those big plays on Monday night. Nolan Schanuel drew a walk-off walk for a 6-5 victory over the Rangers, wiping away miscues such as a dropped third strike that led to a score-tying RBI double.

Montgomery, in his fifth year with the Angels — fourth as a member of the coaching staff — turned to a decision he made in Atlanta last week as proof that one moment can change the game.

Against the Braves last week, Yusei Kikuchi had been brilliant. The Japanese left-hander was two-thirds into the sixth inning of his then-scoreless outing. Instead of keeping Kikuchi — at 100 pitches — in to try to finish off the side as he worked through the Braves lineup for the third time, Montgomery pulled the left-hander in favor of right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn with two runners on base.

It backfired. Sean Murphy, who struck out twice against Kikuchi earlier in the game, hit a three-run home run to give the Braves a 3-2 lead, an advantage that would turn into an 8-3 loss.

"If I leave Kikuchi in Atlanta, right, and he gets a guy he handled pretty good during the game, we may sweep that series too,” Montgomery said. "[Games are] magnified now — I get it."

Decisions like those are where Washington and Montgomery’s managerial strategies may differ. Washington, a longtime MLB coach, comes from an era of giving starting pitchers a longer leash (it goes hand in hand with the Angels using just five starting pitchers so far in 2025).

Montgomery, who comes from a scouting background in his post-playing career, may value analytical strategy more — holding pitchers from facing a lineup a third time through the order and playing matchups more.

Angels catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who has played for new-school managers that emphasize analytics such as Kevin Cash, as well as old-school managers such as Terry Collins, says Montgomery toes the line in between both managerial styles.

“He's got a good feel,” d’Arnaud said. “He trusts the staff, which is really good, and also trusts the bullpen, which is also really good. He has really good communication with every player, lets them know when they're playing — which is more of a younger thing — and so it's a mix of both [new- and-old school].”

Read more:Angels can't keep pace during loss to red hot Toronto Blue Jays

Strategy could be the difference between Murphy facing Zeferjahn rather than Kikuchi. Strategy may be the difference between a win and a loss — or staying in contention for an American League wild-card spot.

“It's tough to say,” right-hander Jack Kochanowicz said when asked about the difference between Washington and Montgomery. “You feel like each game is different. It's hard to really put an identity to either one of them, especially since Ray’s so new to it, too. It’s a small sample size.”

For Montgomery, he said he’s not going to dwell on the could-have-beens. Squarely in the chase — and in the zone between the franchise deciding between buying and selling at the trade deadline — he’s just happy the Angels are in the conversation.

“If you told us coming up on the All-Star break, that we were in the mix a couple games above or below .500 — and I'm not ignorant of the fact that we've cost ourselves a few games, we should be a little better than we are — I would be happy with where we sit right now,” Montgomery said.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Logan Webb holds Buster Posey in high regard, says Giants feel his ‘want to win' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Buster Posey does not like to lose.

The three-time World Series champ-turned-president of baseball operations for the Giants has made that clear over the years, especially to his ace pitcher Logan Webb.

Webb joined KNBR’s Greg Papa and Greg Silver on Tuesday and discussed the current state of Giants affairs and gave plenty of praise to the first-year front office executive.

“If there’s one thing that Giants fans, baseball fans and all of us know about Buster Posey, it’s that he’s not OK with losing,” Webb told Papa and Silver. “He doesn’t like to lose, doesn’t want to lose and I think that’s just, kind of, it’s part of his nature.

“He wants to win. He wants to see winning and that’s huge. We feel it, we feel that every time he walks into our clubhouse. I got to feel it when I played with him. He was the guy you just didn’t want to disappoint, you wanted to win for him, right?

“And it’s kind of the same thing and I think him going out and getting a guy like [Rafael Devers] … it shows, you know, going out and getting Willy this year, signing [Matt Chapman] last year, going out and getting [Justin Verlander]. There’s a lot of things that he’s done that just show that he really believes in this, he loves San Francisco, he wants us to win, he wants the Giants to be successful.”

The trade with the Boston Red Sox for Devers shocked the baseball world when it happened last month and while the 28-year-old designated hitter has struggled with the club, it’s still very apparent that the Giants are in win-now mode.

Webb also mentioned the upcoming trade deadline and while he didn’t say anything about more moves being made, with the team sitting at 50-42 and second place in the NL West, it wouldn’t be surprising.

The team currently holds a one-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the third and final National League Wild Card spot.

“It’s very refreshing and obviously, just love being a Giant and I love that he’s the leader of this whole thing,” said Webb.

It’s always a benefit at a job to like your boss and it seems Webb is very happy with Posey at the helm.

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Bryce Harper criticizes umpires for ‘taking over' Phillies' close loss to Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper had some choice words for the home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi after his team’s 3-1 loss against the Giants on Monday at Oracle Park.

“I felt confident today … felt really good where I was,” Harper told reporters postgame Monday. “Thought I was going to be in some good counts, thought I was going to be in some good situations but sometimes that happens. Umpire took over the game.”

"Umpire took over the game."

Vibe check on Bryce Harper = not good. Oh no! pic.twitter.com/ohV7Rkq6OF

— KNBR (@KNBR) July 8, 2025

Cuzzi called multiple pitches that looked to be out of the zone as strikes in Harper’s eighth-inning at-bat. In the bottom half of the inning, Matt Chapman seemed to be given three extra lives at the plate, eventually hitting a single to right field.

The Giants went hit-by-pitch, single, hit-by-pitch, groundout to take the lead. On a related note, it's kind of wild that Phil Cuzzi is still doing his thing in 2025: pic.twitter.com/ndcFttdJmK

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) July 8, 2025

Cuzzi had an 85-percent called strike accuracy Monday night, according to Umpire Scorecards.

Umpire: Phil Cuzzi
Final: Phillies 1, Giants 3#RingTheBell // #SFGiants#PHIvsSF // #SFvsPHI

More stats for this ump 👇https://t.co/uKEpYwV5Nrpic.twitter.com/myv6zobzjl

— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) July 8, 2025

Harper finished Monday’s game 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

In Alex Pavlovic’s new book “The Franchise: San Francisco Giants: A Curated History of the Orange and Black, ” it is revealed that Harper was close to signing with San Francisco during free agency in 2019.

“We had a great meeting. They’re a great organization and they have been for a long time,” Harper said. “The biggest thing for me was asking Bochy if he was going to be here, and he said no, he had just one year left. I think that was the thing that really scared me the most.”

Harper is batting .282 with 161 home runs and 489 runs batted in since joining Philadelphia.

The good news for Harper is that Cuzzi will be the third base umpire in Tuesday’s game.

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The New York Rangers’ defensive core has suddenly become one to be reckoned with. 

During the 2024-25 season, the Rangers’ defensive game was their clear Achilles heel, but it could be a strength this upcoming season. 

Over the past year, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury has restructured the team’s blueline. 

He’s moved on from defensemen Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren, and K’Andre Miller, three long-standing players in New York, while letting Zac Jones walk in free agency. 

Meanwhile, Drury was able to add Urho Vaakanainen and Will Borgen this past season, who both signed contract extensions with the Blueshirts. The Rangers also traded for Carson Soucy ahead of the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.

The Rangers made their big move by signing defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million contract.

Along with Adam Fox, Gavrikov could play a heavy amount of minutes and become a true defensive anchor for the Rangers.

Rangers And Kings Were Reportedly Working On Sign-And-Trade For Vladislav Gavrikov Before Big SigningThe New York Rangers’ Vladislav Gavrikov signing could have gone a slightly different way. 

Either the Rangers could form an elite pairing of Fox and Gavrikov or out the defense by separating the two defensemen. It’s certainly not a bad problem to have. 

If the Rangers’ new head coach Mike Sullivan decides to move Braden Schneider to the left side, which all signs are pointing toward, the Blueshirts will have a lethal top-four consisting of Fox, Gavrikov, Borgen, and Schneider. 

A pairing of Vaakanainen and Soucy could make the Rangers five-six slot with Scott Morrow also potentially fighting for a roster spot, whom Drury acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in the K’Andre Miller sign-and-trade.

There’s no denying that the Rangers are in a much better spot in terms of their defensive core than where they were just one year ago.

The Mets are getting a jolt ahead of Tuesday's game against the Orioles in Baltimore, with Jesse Winker being activated from the IL, reports SNY's Andy Martino.

With Winker being added to the active roster, the Mets will have to make a corresponding move.

Martino reports that it will not be Ronny Mauricio getting sent down to make room for Winker. Mauricio has reached base safely in his last nine games, slashing .370/.452/.556 during that span.

Starling Marte is again dealing with a knee issue, so it's possible the Mets place him on the IL.

If not, Travis Jankowski or even Brett Baty (who has minor league options remaining) could be the move for Winker.

Winker last played on May 4, which is when he suffered an oblique injury that threw New York's designated hitter situation into disarray.

He wasn't crushing it at the plate before he got injured, but he was solidly above average, with an OPS+ of 112.