Category: Baseball

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We’re within two weeks of the MLB Trade Deadline, and things are pretty unsettled across the league. In the 12-team, three-Wild Card playoff era, it gets harder and harder to discern buyers from sellers, with so many teams within striking distance of a postseason spot. This year, a number teams that many figured would be also-rans, like the Cardinals and Marlins, are contending, while some presumed contenders, like the Mets and Tigers, are fading. Some teams that looked sure to sell not long ago (looking at you, Boston), look like they might buy, while other teams that perpetually seem to go all in (hello, San Diego, might now need to sell.

We have little idea what anyone’s going to do over the next couple of weeks, and that includes the Yankees. The baseline assumption is that they’ll buy, because of course they will, they’re the Yankees. But beyond that, exactly what kind of deadline New York has is an open question.

To my eye, the last decade of Yankees’ trade deadlines gives us a few archetypes. There’s the most flashy one: the full-scale renovation, the deadline that sees the Yankees part with buckets of prospects for several major-league contributors. Seasons like 2025 and 2017 come to mind for this archetype, and 2022 also might fit the standard as well. After that, there’s a deadline of still-impactful but more measured buying, where Brian Cashman makes a few significant moves, without overhauling a third of the roster at once. Years like 2018, 2021, and 2024 are probably the best examples here. And then there are the years where the Yankees mostly stand still, content to make one or two moves without really shaking the boat; think 2019, 2020, and 2023. There’s also, lastly, the Selling Deadline, which the Yankees have pursued just once this century in 2016, though the odds of that kind of deadline are low (but not zero with Aaron Judge still hurt!).

Which type of deadline do you think is most likely in 2026? For my money, the solid deadlines of 2018, and 2021, and 2024 feel like the best analogs. 2018 saw Cashman add a few pitchers (J.A. Happ, Lance Lynn, and Zack Britton), while taking a flyer on a bat in Luke Voit. In 2021, he brought in Anthony Rizzo, Joey Gallo, and Andrew Heaney, while in 2024 it was Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Mark Leiter Jr. That kind of deadline, where the Yankees target a few legitimate big-league contributors but don’t go crazy, generally feels like the median outcome for a Cashman deadline.

But there’s always a chance things go off script, in either direction. Maybe the Yankees see fit to turn over the roster like they did last year, or maybe they’ll make like 2023, the last time they entered the deadline with an injured Judge, when Cashman added an interesting relief arm in Keynan Middleton before calling it a day.

What do you think? Which route is most likely? And which do route do you think would be best for the Yankees with the roster in its current state?

On the site today, our Trade Deadline target series rolls along, with John analyzing Luis Arraez, a player the Yankees were often linked to a couple years ago. John will also profile Carsten Charles Sabathia on the occasion of his 46th birthday, while Matt will hand up the day’s Rivalry Roundup. Later, Michael recaps the last week of action down on the farm, and Peter delivers his At-bat of the Week.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Time: 7:10 p.m. EST

TV: YES Network, SportsNet Pittsburgh

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

CHICAGO — All-Star pitcher Joe Ryan, sitting in front of his locker in the visiting clubhouse at Wrigley Field, figured he’d be gone with everyone else in the infamous Minnesota Twins fire sale a year ago.

He heard the rumors all winter that he’d be traded, again in spring training, yet now that the MLB trade deadline is here, the Ryan trade talks have suddenly stopped.

Funny how a team’s outlook changes when the American League stinks.

The Twins, despite a 49-52 record, are only three games out in the wild-card race and four games back in the AL Central.

And Ryan, who could be the most sought-after starter on the trade market, now believes he’ll be actually staying put.

The Twins, after tearing the hearts out of their fanbase a year ago, certainly don’t have the audacity to do it again.

Entering Monday with a 2.88 ERA, striking out 128 batters in 110 ⅓ innings, Ryan also is under team control for one more year before he can hit free agency after the 2027 season.

“Last year there’s just kind of this unknown and we didn’t know that it was going to go down the way it did," Ryan said. “I don’t even know if the organization knew it was going to go down the same way it did. But at the same time, I think it was probably inflamed publicly with the 'fire sale' because we had a lot of guys on expiring contracts that you’re going to move, regardless.

“Then, all offseason I was kind of like, 'He’s going to get traded. He’s going to be traded.’ In spring training. And the beginning of the year. It was constant. But we’ve just played good baseball, and it’s allowed me to really just hone in on the team and keeps you present.

“It’s just given me peace."

Ryan is one of the 12-most intriguing players on this year’s trade bubble, executives believe, with teams still trying to figure out whether they’ll be traded or kept.

Prediction: He’ll stay.

Here's a look at other players on the bubble:

Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers

Skubal, the defending two-time AL Cy Young winner, realizes his fate depends on how the Tigers fare these next weeks. If they keep winning – and they're 24-15 since June 1 – he’s staying.

If they have a relapse and start losing like they did when they went 6-22 in May, he’s gone. And if he’s gone, why hang onto Casey Mize, who’s also a free agent after the season?

“I mean it's all out of my control,” Skubal said after his last start.

Certainly, he’s doing everything in his power to stay, pitching seven shutout innings Saturday with nine strikeouts against the Angels. It was the first time he went seven innings since April 29, his last start before undergoing elbow surgery, and everyone’s taking notice.

Prediction: STAYING

MLB.com | Mark Feinsand: Although the team’s top two prospects, George Lombard Jr. and Carlos Lagrange, appear to be off-limits at this year’s Trade Deadline, the Yankees still have quite a bit of prospect ammunition to make a deal at this deadline, with former top prospects Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones joining current prospects Dax Kilby and Elmer Rodríguez as players the Bombers could look to move to augment this year’s big league club.

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty: With a series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the rearview mirror and the Trade Deadline looming, the conversation has turned to whether or not the Aaron Judge-less Yankees have the means to compete in the American League. With that in mind, Brendan Kuty makes three proposals to immediately give the Yankees a boost: get rid of Camilo Doval, call up Spencer Jones, and platoon Jazz Chisholm Jr., who has struggled against southpaws this season, with Max Schuemann, who has thrived versus them. While, in a vacuum, none of these suggestions would move the needle, in the aggregate, they might give the team a jolt.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Yankees got a bit of good injury news this weekend, as Clarke Schmidt — out since last summer after undergoing Tommy John surgery — took the mound and threw 15 pitches before Saturday night’s game was postponed due to weather. Facing Anthony Volpe and Ali Sánchez, he threw only four-seam fastballs, following the same rehab schedule that Gerrit Cole did earlier this season; should all go well, he will start incorporating breaking balls in his next session. Schmidt may be able to return to the Bronx in a bullpen role in August, or as a starter in September.

Baseball America: (subscription required) Now that the draft is behind us, Baseball America has updated their Top 30 prospect lists. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lombard took the top spot, while Lagrange — who turned heads with his high velocity during the spring — comes in fourth, behind Rodríguez and Kilby. This year’s top pick, Hunter Dietz, debuts at seventh with second-rounder Sean Duncan hot on his heels, while Jones drops to ninth.

José Caballero claimed “the whole league should know who I am” after he enraged Dennis Santana with his time-wasting in the batter’s box and caused the benches to clear in the eighth inning.

The Yankees infielder has gained a reputation for not engaging with pitchers until the last possible moment, and it set off the Pirates pitcher Monday night — even after he grounded Caballero into a double play.

Caballero hit a tame grounder to the pitcher before being thrown out moments later, but the pair jawed after the play concluded as things quickly escalated.

Caballero said after the game that he didn’t believe he and Santana could actually hear each other’s barbs — but that didn’t stop both benches and bullpens from swarming the field as the game was delayed several minutes.

“The whole league should know who I am, what I do in the box, and they should be aware of it,” Caballero said.

“And for you to be mad at something the league implemented in this league [batters have until eight seconds left in the pitch clock to engage], he shouldn’t be mad at me — he should be mad at someone else.”

For his part, Santana admitted he was aware of Caballero’s strategy “a little bit” before the game, but that it’s “not my problem.”

He admitted that he got “caught up in the game,” and that he didn’t think Caballero should be delaying him on every pitch with the Yankees already leading 8-5.

Aaron Boone, meanwhile, cracked that “sometimes boys will be boys,” but admitted that pitchers can be caught off guard by Caballero’s antics.

“I completely understand, it’s part of his process getting ready mentally to hit. And frankly, I think more guys should,” Boone said.

“If you’re not used to it, you should practice,” Caballero added.

The Mariners kept ‘00s weekend running with a Monday dismantling of the Reds re-enacting Evanescence’s 2003 three debut single “Bring Me To Life.”

This season fans have bemoaned lifeless at-bats and flat outings, begging the team that electrified the city last summer to show some semblance of their former selves. Now that I know what I’m without/You can’t just leave me. And yet so often the 2026 club has left fans in the dark, after offering a tantalizing taste of playoff baseball last season. Now fans know what they’ve been without, making the taste of failure that’s characterized much of 2026 all the more bitter.

In an extra-cruel twist of fate, one of the biggest accountings for that delta in performance has been the sensation of the 2025 season, their All-Star switch-hitting catcher, home run derby champ, iron man-redux Cal Raleigh, who has gone from appointment viewing at-bats to doctor’s appointments followed by “I might rather be at a dentist appointment than watching this at-bat.” It’s been brutal and frustrating both for the fans and for Raleigh himself.

When the Mariners came out of the break with a 0-7 shutout loss in a lifeless showing against the dismal Giants, it felt like the nightmare of 2026 would be continuing. But to their credit, the Mariners perked up and won the last two games of the series, coming into today having won three of their last four games, a talking point repeated by several members of the team after yesterday’s win.

Today the Mariners kept the momentum rolling, again scoring via both small ball and the long ball, the same way they won Sunday’s contest. And what a long ball it was: this grand slam by Cal Raleigh, after Terry Francona and the Reds had intentionally walked Dom Canzone – a seemingly more favorable left-on-left matchup with former Mariner and member of the 2025 playoff team Caleb Ferguson on the mound – to get to Cal Raleigh with the bases loaded with one out. The Reds, as Dan Wilson charitably explained postgame, were likely looking to set up an inning-ending double play.

That did not happen.

But let’s back up a little, because even though this slam put the game out of reach, the Mariners were going to win this game anyway thanks to some small ball manufacturing of runs, taking advantage of miscues by the Reds, and some dominant pitching from starter George Kirby.

George Kirby didn’t have pinpoint command in the first despite throwing four of four first-pitch strikes, walking leadoff man Elly De La Cruz and going to a full count on former Athletic JJ Bleday, who came into this game sporting a 1.56 OPS against Kirby. But Kirby neutralized Bleday on a harmless flyout, just like he’d go on to neutralize the Reds for the rest of the night, even if it wasn’t his most dominant outing.

The Mariners got some traffic in the second because that’s when Cole Young was due up to bat. With two outs, Young worked a very nice seven-pitch walk off the lefty Andrew Abbott, and advanced to second on a little dunk base hit from Victor Robles, who understands his job description right now is 50% “Play Outfield, Don’t Get Hurt” and 50% “Hit Righthandedly.” But Buddy Kennedy, getting the start over Weston Wilson, struck out to end the threat.

It looked like the Reds would punish the Mariners for not taking advantage there in the top of the third. George Kirby threw two pitches and like magic – tonight was Harry Potter Night at the park, so go figure – had two baserunners on with no outs. Things got a little more hot water (or dogwater, as Angie would say) when Josh Naylor threw too high to Colt Emerson on a potential double play, giving Kirby just one out instead of two, but Sal Stewart flew out softly to right field and former Mariners prospect Edwin Arroyo made the head-scratching decision to try to score, instead being easily thrown out at home to end the inning.

The old saying (slash bastardization of a quote attributed to Napoleon) is that you don’t interrupt your enemy when they’re making a mistake, and the Mariners were happy to let the Reds keep on making mistakes. In the fifth inning, Victor Robles led off the inning with a single, his second hit of the game, and then was gifted third base by a bad throw from catcher Tyler Stephenson on a stolen base attempt. Randy Arozarena does get credit here for keeping the inning alive with a two-inning walk, bringing up Julio Rodríguez, who hit into what should have been an inning-ending changeup, chasing after the same pitch he’d struck out on in his first at-bat, only to have Elly De La Cruz mishandle it and allow the run to score (it was ruled an infield hit. It was not.).

Because there is a cost to chaos magic – as those who bought a ticket to Harry Potter Night can attest – the baseball gods ruled that Julio had to pay a price, and that price was getting hit in the Lomas de Cabrera by the errant throw while also maybe pulling something trying to beat out the throw. Dan Wilson was oblique about the nature of the injury postgame, saying only that it was precautionary and that it wasn’t a strain.

With Kirby at 80 pitches to end the sixth but in his first outing since the All-Star Break, and the leverage relievers (Bazardo, Speier, and Muñoz) down after pitching this weekend, the Mariners summoned Nick Davila to protect the one-run lead. It got off to a rough start, with Davila hitting the first batter he faced, Spencer Steer, but then Good Guy Eugenio Suárez offered Davila a reset by grounding into a double play, allowing Davila to finish the inning painlessly after getting Tyler Stephenson to ground out.

With Abbott at 100 pitches, the Reds turned to righty Pierce Johnson in the seventh to face the terror known as Victor Robles and Robles responded by immediately rapping a single into right field. Luke Raley was then summoned to pinch-hit for Buddy Kennedy and once again, Raley produced a big hit, singling to right and allowing Robles to scoot into third. Then it was Colt Emerson’s turn to get to contribute. Emerson was originally out of the game for a scheduled day off on his 21st birthday, but stepped in when J.P. Crawford was a late scratch for wrist soreness (he is day to day). In addition to making some slick plays at shortstop, Emerson brought in an at-the-time crucial second run with a sac fly. Happy birthday, Colt. But the Mariners weren’t done. Randy Arozarena kept the line moving with a beautiful little oppo single, because Randy does that now, and then Weston Wilson – who was in for Julio Rodríguez – tapped a little double into right field, showing that two can play the oppo taco game (an oppo hit that’s not a home run? oppo taquito?).

A three-run lead felt good, but with the A side of the bullpen down or at least heavily taxed, some insurance would have been nice. This is an area where the 2026 Mariners have struggled, and also been punished for it. But what’s even more egregious to the baseball gods than failing to add insurance? The hubris of walking a left-on-left matchup in order to get to a temporarily diminished but by no means fully dimmed Cal Raleigh.

It didn’t matter who was coming out next – although Cole Wilcox and Michael Rucker did continue the shutout, both looking sharp (Wilcox even threw five strikes in an at-bat that somehow still ended in a walk). The die was cast, the park was jumping, the Mariners had been brought to life and brought their fans along with them. Wake them up inside, they can wake up.

Coming off a doubleheader in which every reliever except Kervin Castro pitched, the Yankees could have used more from Ryan Weathers on Monday when he lasted just 4 ²/₃ innings.

But after rough second and third innings, Weathers bore down and managed to record 14 outs, salvaging a night that could have gone much worse.

Weathers gave up one lead but held the next, pitching better as the game wore on and solving a pitch-tipping issue on the fly in what became an 8-5 win over the Pirates in The Bronx.

“I love those outings when it’s a grind, when it’s tough,” manager Aaron Boone said, “and you still give yourself, give your team a chance to win.”

That is what Weathers did in allowing five runs in the second and third innings but settling down afterward.

In the second, the first three Pirates tallied hits, the third of which was an RBI double from Jared Triolo.

From second base, Triolo appeared to be relaying signs to batters concerning when a changeup would be coming.

“I made an adjustment in-game,” Weathers said. “I fired a fastball, and that kind of shut it down.”

The issues were not over, though, with one more RBI single in that inning and a two-run homer from rookie sensation Esmerlyn Valdez in the third.

The homer came off a down-the-middle slider, a pitch Weathers said he struggled with and should have moved away from sooner.

But after Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s second home run of the night keyed a four-run third that gave the Yankees an 8-5 edge, Weathers allowed just a single in the fourth and a walk in the fifth, when he was pulled with two outs and watched Angel Chivilli escape the bit of danger.

“Wasn’t a great one for him, got hit around early on a night we’re up against it pen-wise,” Boone said, “but I love the fact that he hung in there.”

The Yankees still did not have any clarity regarding a timeline for Giancarlo Stanton’s return or rehab assignment or when he will run the bases again.

“I do know he’s continuing the running progression, it’s going pretty well,” Boone said. “But I don’t have a timeline.”

Little is known publicly about the status of Stanton, who Boone said was “moving again with more intensity and hitting against [velocity] again” way back June 29 after his second calf strain.

Since then, the Yankees have said Stanton has continued a running progression but offered little detail otherwise.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

The loss of Aaron Judge for an indefinite period has shone a further light on Stanton because the club has not been able to hit without the pair of sluggers.

Stanton played just 24 games this season before going down and had launched three homers while posting a .724 OPS.

The Yankees signed all 20 of their draft picks.

Their first two selections — Arkansas’ Hunter Dietz and Sean Duncan, out of a high school in Canada — are lefty starters. The other five sole pitchers they selected are righties. They also announced Luke Pettitte as a two-way player, a righty pitcher and first baseman. Andy’s son had been a righty pitcher and slugger at Dallas Baptist.

Otherwise, they selected six infielders, four outfielders, one catcher and one utility player.

The backup catcher for Pittsburgh on Monday was Rafael Flores, whom the Yankees signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022, and who rose through a system that is well-regarded for developing catchers and touched Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season.

Flores was dealt to the Pirates in the trade that brought David Bednar to The Bronx.

He debuted briefly in June and was called up again earlier this month, showing promise (1.167 OPS) in his early days.

“I really enjoyed Rafa,” Boone said. “We had him in camp [in 2025], before we ended up trading him, and I really liked him, liked his upside. He had a joy for the game that was fun to be around. You could tell he loved the game.”

Record: 51-49. Pace: 83-79. Change on 2025: +1.

After the dramatics of yesterday’s game, with a franchise-record comeback to clinch the season series against playoff rivals, tonight’s contest always had the feel of a trap game. And so it proved, as the D-backs suffered the sugar crash to end all sugar crashes. The productive offense consisted in its entirety of Ketel Marte’s two-run home-run in the sixth, briefly tying the game at two. However, the usually reliable Kevin Ginkel chose a bad time to have his worst outing in more than three and a half months, immediately giving the Athletics back those runs, – and one more for good measure. The D-backs consequently dropped the series opener, though did not lose any ground in the wild-card race.

Mitch Bratt got the start for the D-backs, and… Well, I guess you can’t complain about two runs across 4.2 innings, from a man making only his third major-league appearance. That was likely a couple more outs than I was expecting, but given the bullpen situation (as discussed in the GDT), it seems likely he was going to be pushed as far as possible. Suspect Torey Lovullo was looking for five innings, but at 84 pitches – the most Bratt had thrown this year, at any level – I absolutely get why the starter was pulled, with two outs in the fifth inning, and Athletics on the corners. He’d scattered eight hits and a walk, with four strikeouts.

Unfortunately, two of the hits left Chase Field, although each was a solo shot. One came at the start of the second to put the visitors 1-0 up, while the second came leading off the fifth inning. Indeed, both home-runs came on the very first pitch of the inning, which might be something Bratt should think about. He did throw a first-pitch strike to 19 of the 23 batters faced, which is definitely higher than MLB average. But let’s be clear: Bratt only turned 23 years old a couple of weeks ago, and under ideal circumstances i.e. other than multiple starting pitchers on the IL, would still be honing his craft in the minor leagues. No real complaints about tonight’s outing.

I did have a feeling Steve Berthiaume jinxed the offense, when he pre-gamed by telling us how the A’s starter Jeffrey Springs was leading the majors in home-runs allowed, and was exactly the kind of pitcher on which D-backs’ lead-off man Ketel Marte would feast. Naturally, Marte swung at the very first pitch, sending a harmless shallow fly ball to right field. That set the tone for the evening: you certainly wouldn’t know that Springs had allowed most earned runs of any pitcher in the AL. Through five innings, he had faced two batters over the minimum. The D-backs had managed three hits and a walk, but two runners were erased by a caught stealing and double-play.

The former was Geraldo Perdomo in the opening innings, and was one of a number of weird plays tonight. He had previously been called out, picked off first according to umpire Hunter Wendelstedt. Except the replay clearly showed no tag was ever applied. Having dodged that bullet on appeal, Perdomo tried to steal second and was gunned down. The double-play was hit into in the second inning by Nolan Arenado, who came into the game with 1,999 career hits. However, his next time up, he duly doubled down the left-field line to reach the two thousand mark (above). There are only six active members of the 2K Hits club. Can you name the other five? Answers later.

Arizona finally broke through against Springs in the sixth, getting three hits without recording an out. Jorge Barrosa led off with a double, and Marte finally got the pitch for which he was looking. It went 402 feet down the left-field line, for Ketel’s 18th home-run of the year (below). Perdomo then got his second single, and it looked like we’d have runners on the corners with one out, as Gabriel Moreno walked as Perdomo stole second, taking third on a bad throw down by the A’s catcher. However, a perhaps suspiciously delayed ABS appeal turned the ball 4 into strike 3, so it became a man on third and two outs. Ildemaro Vargas lined out, and the game remained 2-2.

Ginkel took over and, as noted, it did not go well. He put two aboard, then retired the next two, and it looked like he would get out of it. A comebacker pinged off him, and Kevin still threw to first in time for the inning ending out. But, wait! Another appeal reversed that decision, instead loading the bases. A bloop single and wild pitch followed, so instead of a zero, it was a very crooked three-spot for the Athletics and a 5-2 lead. That seemed to suck the life out of the Diamondbacks, though they did get the tying run to the plate in the ninth. But Ryan Waldschmidt has now gone 38 games without a homer to start his MLB career. Still some way to go for the team record: Jose Herrera didn’t homer until his 127th game.

Arizona pitchers ended up allowing 15 hits, though out of the bullpen, there were scoreless outings for Juan Burgos (likely going back to Reno tomorrow), Jonathan Loaisiga and Brandyn Garcia. Perdomo had two hits, while Barrosa walked in addition to his double. But the teams nearest to Arizona in the NL Wild-Card race also lost: the Marlins, Cardinals, Pirates and Padres all were beaten. So the D-backs remain one-half game back of the third spot for now. Though this has to be considered a lost opportunity, given the overall record of tonight’s opponent. Let’s hope for better things tomorrow.

Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
Deep Blue Sea: Ketel Marte, +15%
The Legend of Hercules: Kevin Ginkel, -37%
Exorcist: The Beginning: Ildemaro Vargas, -11%

372 comments in the Gameday Thread, which is pretty good for a Monday night. Snake_Bitten takes home Comment of the Night for this observation:

Tomorrow night, we’re back at it with another young pitcher looking likely to start for Arizona, in the shape of Kade Stroud’s MLB debut. 6:40 pm first pitch for that.

The other active members of the 2K Hits club are (in descending order of hits): Freddie Freeman, Jose Altuve, Andrew McCutchen, Paul Goldschmidt and Manny Machado.

MILWAUKEE — Luis Robert Jr. will get an opportunity to play for the Mets, at the expense of their two high-performing rookies.

Monday, that meant Carson Benge was on the bench, with Robert in center field and A.J. Ewing in right, as the Mets began a three-game series against the Brewers and lost 8-3.

Robert was activated from the injured list after being sidelined for 2 ¹/₂ months with a lumbar spine disc herniation.

His goals over the final two months of this season?

“To be healthy and out on that field as much as I possibly can,” he said through an interpreter. “The rest, from a performance standpoint, I think as long as I am on the field I will be OK.”

Robert began the night with a .224/.327/.329 slash line with two homers in 24 games this season.

Interim manager Andy Green said he expects Robert to play two out of every three days in center field — the Mets already have Jorge Polanco as a prime DH candidate and have used Juan Soto in that spot.

It’s possible the Mets will try to showcase Robert before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

The Mets are set for a reunion Tuesday with Brandon Sproat, who was traded to the Brewers (with Jett Williams) in January for Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers.

Sproat has pitched to a 5.16 ERA in 18 appearances (16 as a starter) this season.

He debuted in the major leagues last season with the Mets and pitched to a 4.79 ERA in four starts.

“I think you never want to trade your prospects away when you run a farm system,” said Green, who oversaw the organization’s player development before stepping into the interim manager’s role last month. “Jett and Brandon were two guys we did like a lot … [Sproat] was a guy we drafted in the first round and liked the entire time we had him. Those were tough decisions, but when you are going to get a frontline starter, it always costs you something.”

Eric Wagaman was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to create space on the 26-man roster for Robert.

Also, Zack Short was outrighted to Syracuse.

PHILADELPHIA — There should have been champagne flowing, at least a beer shower, or perhaps a classy toast Monday night in Trea Turner’s historic game.

The Philadelphia Phillies shortstop hits two home runs for the 200^th of his career. He hits a double for the 300^th of his career. He produces three hits and drives in five runs.

He’s the hero in the Phillies’ 10-7 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in perhaps a mid-October preview at Citizen Bank Park.

So, surrounded by a sea of reporters and camera crews in the clubhouse after the game, just what is the second question asked?

“What’s going on defensively?’’

Welcome to Philly, baby.

Turner was heavily booed by the crowd of 40,265 at Citizens Bank Park in the first inning when he booted a potential inning-ending grounder. He botched two more plays that could have easily been ruled errors instead of hits later in the game. And then got a Bronx cheer when he cleanly fielded Teoscar Hernandez’s ground ball and threw to first baseman Bryce Harper for the game’s final out.

What have you done for me lately?

"Obviously, Trey swung the bat really well," Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. "He didn’t catch it as well."

The A’s got back in the win column on Monday evening in Arizona, beating the Diamondbacks 5-2 behind a solid performance from tonight’s starting pitcher, . On offense it was death by 13 singles plus a pair of home runs. Just how we all expected it to go.

It was left-hander Jeffrey Springs on the bump for the road team this evening. His first half wasn’t what he or the team had hoped for but with the All-Star Break comes a chance to reset. Springs certainly looked like he needed it after his great performance tonight.

The lefty was on fire early in Arizona, allowing just two singles, a double, and one walk through the first five innings, relying on weak contact to keep Arizona from getting anything going for much of the game. This was the guy that showed up for the first couple weeks of the season before disappearing for a few months.

He got a little bit of run support early as well. After an uneventful top of the first against D-backs rookie starter Mitch Bratt, rookie infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer led things off in the second with his first career home run, a booming shot to left-center field to give the A’s a 1-0 lead:

Get that man that ball! That’s certainly the first of many for the 23-year-old, who would finish the day 2-for-3 and is now hitting .417/.435/.583 through his first 60 at bats. Unfortunately he would later depart tonight’s game after taking a hit to a… rather sensitive area. He momentarily stayed in but was eventually replaced by Donovan Walton in the top of the sixth. Outfielder Colby Thomas also departed tonight’s game after getting hit by a pitch on the wrist in the third inning. Hopefully they’ll both be back in the starting lineup tomorrow.

After a couple more quiet innings of work from Springs he would get more help a bit later in the form of another solo shot, this one coming off the bat of shortstop Jacob Wilson:

That was just his sixth of the year but his second in the past three games. He’s never going to be a huge power threat but these blasts every now and then are good for keeping pitchers on their toes with him.

Springs would finish the fifth up 2-0 and that probably should have been it for him in this one. Instead manager Mark Kotsay wanted to squeeze one more inning of work out of the veteran left-hander and it backfired. Springs faced three batters in the sixth and it went: double, 2-run home run, single. Only then did Kotsay decide to come get his starter, who would depart this one responsible for the runner on first.

• Jeffrey Springs: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 78 pitches

All of his work undone in the final five minutes, A tough end to an otherwise solid and encouraging start for Springs here in the second half. While the club is nearly out of contention there might be interested suitors for a lefty such as Springs and tonight’s strong outing certainly could have boosted interest in his services. He’ll likely have a few more starts in the Green & Gold and his next start is lined up to be this weekend in Minnesota against the Twins.

Kotsay decided to switch things up on the Diamondbacks and went from the lefty Springs to right-hander Luis Medina. He walked a tightrope thanks to a throwing error by Langeliers on a stolen base but he managed to get himself out of the jam with a lineout to center. This game would be up to the bullpens.

The A’s offense didn’t wait around. With the game now tied the bats rallied. Back-to-back singles started things off but then a bunt pop out and strikeout had the A’s on the verge of wasting those hits. Tommy White stepped to the plate with two outs and (thanks to some hustle and replay assistance) collected the third single on a comebacker to the pitcher. Kotsay decided to pinch-hit Jeff McNeil for Alika Williams in this bases-loaded, two-out situation. It was the right button to press as McNeil rewarded him with a two-run single to retake the lead for the Athletics:

Doesn’t get much more clutch than that! An absolutely massive hit off the veteran infielder’s bat for the squad. The A’s managed to plate one more after that as well thanks to a wild pinch that let White come in to score. 5-2 A’s with nine outs to go.

Medina stayed in the game and handled a second inning of work for the seventh, lefty Jose Suarez had a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth. Hogan Harris came on for the save opportunity and ran into some trouble by letting the tying run come to the plate, but managed to get a strikeout looking to end the game and secure his seventh save of the year.

A quality win all-around for the guys, and a much needed one. The squad has their second win of the second half. A strong start from Springs, paired with the bats waking up for 15 hits (13 of which were singles) was enough to get the job done in this one. A couple of the rookies had big games as Kuroda-Grauer had his first big fly and White went 4-for-5. The club now sits at 43-57 a hundred games into the season. The playoffs may be too far but there’s always fun playing spoiler for a team like Arizona who are fighting and clawing to keep playing in October.

The series continues tomorrow night, same time same place. Right-hander Jack Perkins is set to get the ball for the first time in the second half, hoping for better results post-Break. The former well-regarded prospect has struggled immensely in his time in the rotation this season, posting a 8.10 ERA in his six starts after beginning the year in the bullpen. With the playoffs slipping away though the club can afford to let Perk work through his struggles at the big league level. Who knows, maybe he’ll figure it out in the second half and build himself into a legitimate option for next year’s starting rotation.

Arizona meanwhile has yet to announce their starter for tomorrow evening so we’ll have to keep an eye on how they want to tackle the A’s tomorrow. Stay tuned.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been described as resilient this season. Does that adjective still apply? No better way to find out than to see how the team would compete against the Los Angeles Angels after arguably their worst defeat of the season losing a 7-run lead in Arizona. Monday is a new day and Kyle Leahy led the troops into battle in Anaheim. However, the end of the game would bring back the disappointment from the day prior unfortunately.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead in the top of the 2nd inning when Jordan Walker smoked a double off of the left field wall to leadoff the inning. Lars Nootbaar followed Jordan’s double with a single to left giving the Cardinals runners at first and third with no outs. After Masyn Winn struck out, Nathan Church ripped a single to right scoring Walker and giving St. Louis an early 1-0 lead.

Blaze Jordan then grounded out to third on a ball that Angels third baseman Guzman couldn’t come up with cleanly which allowed Nootbaar to score from third on the fielder’s choice giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

The LA Angels cut the Cardinals lead in half in the bottom of the 3rd inning Jo Adell turned an 86 mph curveball that caught too much of the plate into a no-doubt 389 foot home run into the left field seats making it 2-1 Cardinals after 3 innings.

Potentially key play of the game happened in the top of the 4th inning when Nathan Church hit a 2-out double, but came off the base sliding into second where the safe call on the field was overturned on the Angels challenge.

Neither the Cardinals or Angels scored in the middle innings, but St. Louis had some loud outs including a 96 mph four-seam fastball that Alec Burleson barreled in the top of the 6th inning with an exit velocity of 106 mph that landed in Mike Trout’s glove at the top of the centerfield wall. Jordan Walker followed Burleson’s loud out with one of his own also to center for a line drive out that ended the Cardinals 6th inning.

Kyle Leahy did give the Cardinals a quality start even though he got minimal run support through the first 6 innings. He only allowed 3 hits, struck out 4 and didn’t walk anyone. Very nice.

Ryne Stanek walked the first batter he faced in the bottom of the 7th inning, but for once that didn’t come back to cause issues as he held the Angels scoreless as he got a strikeout, pop-out and line-out to end the Los Angeles 7th.

George Soriano was tasked by manager Oli Marmol to maintain the Cardinals one-run lead in the bottom of the 8th inning. He was greeted by a very loud single by Jo Adell who ripped one of his 89 mph changeups to left leading off the inning. George struck out Guzman looking with a 86 mph sweeper. Meckler then ripped a changeup lineout to Burleson at first on a ball that looked like it hit the dirt, but it was ruled a lineout, but Alec was unable to double up Adell. It fortunately wouldn’t matter after Neto flew out innocently to Walker in right to end the Angels 8th inning.

I can’t speak for Cardinals Nation as a whole, but pretty sure a majority of us would feel better if the team could have added to their one-run lead in the top of the 9th inning. Unfortunately, Iván Herrera struck out (for the 4th time tonight) followed by a whiff from Alec Burleson. Jordan Walker managed a two-out walk and then stole second to get into scoring position. Lars Nootbaar came close to bumping up the lead as he drove a 90 mph slider to the left field wall, but it was tracked down by Angels outfield Josh Lowe for the final out of the Cardinals 9th inning.

Riley O’Brien came in to secure the win for the St. Louis Cardinals, but is that how it would turn out? The TV crew shared the stunning stat the the Los Angeles Angels were 0-48 when trailing after 8 innings. Future Hall-of-Famer Mike Trout led off for the Angels. O’Brien struck him out with a nasty 96 mph sinker. Nolan Schanuel was next up for LA and he ripped a solid single into right-center giving the Angels the tying run on base and the potential winning run at the plate in the form of Jorge Soler. Soler was 0-3 with 2 strikeouts in the game up to that point. After running the count full, Riley plunked Soler giving the Angels runners at first and second with just one out. Vaughan Grissom nearly ended the game with a ball that slammed off of the right field wall scoring pinch-runner Peraza tying the game 2-2. The umpires held a review that confirmed the ball was not a home run, so the Cardinals were given a brief reprieve. The Cardinals intentionally walked Josh Lowe to load the bases in hopes of a double-play to send the game to extras. That left the game in the balance as Jo Adell walked up to the plate having homered earlier in the game. Riley did the unthinkable and threw 4 straight balls with the last one hitting Adell giving the Angels a disastrous walk-off win. This, my fellow Cardinals brothers and sisters, is the low point of the season right here.

The St. Louis Cardinals will try to find a way to crawl out of this hole with a Tuesday night clash versus the Los Angeles Angels. Matthew Liberatore will start for the Cardinals while the Angels will give the ball to Walbert Ureña. First pitch is scheduled for 8:38pm central time at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Game TV broadcast being handled by Cardinals.tv.

Making it to the big leagues is always a special feat, but nothing compares to hitting your first career home run.

That special moment came in the second inning for the Athletics' third baseman Joshua Kuroda-Grauer in his first plate appearance against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, July 20.

Kuroda-Grauer approached the plate in the top of the second inning when he faced a 91-mph four-seam pitch from Mitch Bratt, who made his MLB debut just five days before Kuroda-Grauer.

The A's 23-year-old prospect took it yard, sending it back 416 feet across left-center field for a solo home run, the first in his major-league career.

Kuroda-Grauer was selected by the A's with the 75th overall pick in the third round of the 2024 MLB Draft. He was called up from the Las Vegas Aviators on June 29 and has yet to look back. In his first 15 major-league games, Kuroda-Grauer has shown consistency and signs of a high-level slugger.

He followed up his homer with a gutsy base hit, but not before he could demonstrate his grit and toughness. Kuroda-Grauer was back at the plate at the top of the fifth inning when he swung at a pitch that resulted in a foul ball. The ball ricocheted off his bat and straight down to his midsection, right below the waist. Yes, that tender area that is usually protected in baseball with a cup in the under garments.

Kuroda-Grauer was down for bit but bounced back to deliver a line drive to right-center for a single.

Kuroda-Grauer was replaced defensively at third base by Donovan Walton in the bottom of the seventh inning, finishing with a batting line of 2-for-3 to push his batting average to .417.

The Athletics won the game, 5-2.