Category: Baseball

It was a night of close games and late comebacks across the Phillies system last night. Some were successful in overcoming deficits and snatching victory while the valiant efforts of others fell short.

Lehigh Valley 5, Buffalo 1

It was a good night for Iron Pigs pitching, as they combined to allow one run on seven hits. Chuck King was most responsible, as the righty went six shutout innings and allowed just three hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Rafael Marchán started at catcher and went 0-4 with a walk and a strikeout as he works his way back to the Phillies on a rehab assignment. Kameron Misner launched a two-run homer in the fifth that put Lehigh Valley up 3-0. It was the 17th long ball of the year for the recent trade acquisition.

Reading 5, Portland 7

The Fightin’ Phils had two late rallies, but neither was enough to fully erase a 5-0 deficit. Luke Rosso started the game and was charged with five runs over five innings, including surrendering a home run to the rehabbing Roman Anthony. Raylin Heredia of Reading went 3-5 with a two-run homer and a two-run single, with the latter coming in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate. But Alex Binelas lined out to center to end the potential comeback.

Clearwater 8, Dunedin 4

A huge five-run eighth inning lifted the Threshers to victory, erasing a 4-3 deficit. The damage primarily came from back-to-back home runs from Nolan Beltran and Will Vierling, with the former giving Clearwater the lead. They totaled six hits in the inning, four of which were for extra bases. One player that wasn’t involved in the offense however was second round pick Caden Bogenpohl, as the big outfielder went 0-5 with a strikeout.

Jersey Shore 5, Hudson Valley 10

The Blue Claws found themselves in a tight, seesaw contest that went into extra innings. However, they came up short after a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice allowed the Renegades to take the lead in the tenth off of Gabe Craig before they exploded for four more runs. Jersey Shore had a golden opportunity in the ninth, as Griffin Burkholder reached second base on an error as the winning run with no outs, but the next two hitters struck out before Robert Phelps lined out to send the game to extras where the Blue Claws went down quietly.

DSL Phillies 6, DSL Tigers 11

A five run fifth inning wasn’t enough for the DSL Phillies to hold off the Tigers, as the latter erased a 6-4 deficit in the sixth with a seven-run inning that included two home runs and a grand slam. Filippo Sabatini was charged with five of those seven runs and was saddled with the loss. Offensively, right fielder Elian Adames had a nice day with two hits including a double and two RBIs. Star prospect Francisco Renteria did not appear in the game, as it was the final on the schedule for the DSL regular season, but the Phillies had already clinched a berth to the playoffs by winning the DSL East title. The playoffs will begin on Thursday.

A recent business trip took me to San Diego for a few days, and I was able to squeeze in several baseball experiences.

First, we got a look at the site of old Lane Field, which is on the waterfront west of downtown. There’s nothing left of the old ballpark, which was home to the Pacific Coast League’s San Diego Padres from 1936 to 1957. There’s a marker where home plate once stood, as well as markings where the batter’s boxes were. The old ballfield is now a city park, and there are some hotels and other business buildings situated in what used to be right field. Lane was an oddly shaped park, 329 to left, 330 to right and 426 to dead center. It’s also the park where Ted Williams got his start, and in October of 1945, Jackie Robinson worked out for scouts from the Brooklyn Dodgers. You must use your imagination to picture the old park wedged into this space, back in a time when San Diego was a much smaller city.

The second baseball item was hearing a motivational talk by Jesse Cole, the founder of the Savannah Bananas. It was an energetic and moving speech as Cole talked about the sacrifices and risks he took to establish the Bananas. To call Cole energetic is a disservice. The guy has enough juice to power a couple of city blocks. Cole knows how to work a crowd as well as any entertainer or politician I’ve ever seen. His story about his relationship with former player Reggie Smith is one of the most heartwarming stories I’ve heard, and just another reason why we love this game so much.

In short, when Cole was a youngster, his parents divorced, which caused the already shy kid to become even more withdrawn. In an effort to pull him out of his shell, Cole’s father arranged for him to try out for a Red Sox bat boy job for a game. A withdrawn Cole sat in the Red Sox dugout, too afraid to move, when Smith noticed the youngster and spent over 20 minutes chatting with him. Cole showed a picture of the two together taken that day, then another taken recently. When Cole received an award from the Baseball Hall of Fame, who introduced him? Reggie Smith, of course. Very heartwarming stuff.

This made me think more about Smith, an outstanding player known as “the other Reggie.” More about Smith in a future story. It was the interaction with Smith that convinced Cole he wanted to become a major league ballplayer. His first stop was T-ball, where he could hear his father shouting, “Swing hard in case you hit it!”

That has become Cole’s business mantra: Swing hard in case you hit it. A few days later, Cardinal rookie Joshua Baez hit home runs in his first three at-bats, including one on the first pitch he saw. That brings up another story I once heard. I may have some of the characters wrong, so forgive me. A rookie’s father said the same thing to his son: “You only see one first pitch in the majors. Swing hard at it.”

The rookie did and also hit a home run.

Cole ended the speech by talking about Bananas Foster, the foundation that provides financial and educational support for foster children. If you’re looking for places to donate this year, take a look at Bananas Foster.

The third leg of this baseball journey was my wife and I taking in an excellent game between the Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers, two teams the Royals would be wise to emulate. I used to be a critic of Padres GM A.J. Preller, but no more. Love him or hate him, he works his tail off to keep the Padres competitive with the Dodgers, no easy task.

Over 40,000 Padres and Brewers fans packed the ballpark for a Monday night game. As I watched it unfold — two playoff teams, downtown stadium, high-energy scene — I thought, “Kansas City could have this if they play their cards right.”

The game gave me a chance to see one future Hall of Famer, Manny Machado, and another who is probably on the outside looking in: Christian Yelich. Both players are showing their age, though Machado is still stroking some home runs and his glove work remains as good as ever. Machado is currently at about 63 WAR and closing in on 400 career home runs. And Padre fans love the guy.

Casey Mize, a trade deadline acquisition, got the start for San Diego and did his job, only giving up two runs in six efficient innings of work.

Those two runs came off the bat of former MVP Yelich, who cranked an opposite-field home run in the second. People have talked about Mize being an offseason target for the Royals. He’d be an excellent addition, but I’d be surprised if San Diego lets him get away.

Down 2-0, the Padres answered back in the bottom of the inning when the Royals’ daddy, Ty France, smoked one into the left-field seats. France’s ball never got more than 15 feet off the ground. There’s something impressive about seeing a line-drive home run that’s absolutely ripped.

The score stayed 2-1 until the bottom of the seventh, when France hit a one-out single. Jackson Merrill, who has been blistering the ball since the All-Star break, blasted one 435 feet to dead center to put the Pads up 3-2 and send the locals into fits of hysteria.

One thing about San Diego fans: They dig their baseball.

Same for Brewer fans. I saw dozens of fans sporting Brewer garb and spoke to a couple that was spending their summer following the Brewers around the country, Grateful Dead groupie style. You gotta love baseball, right?

Once San Diego had the lead, they channeled the 2015 Kansas City Royals blueprint. First out of the pen was Yuki Matsui, a diminutive lefty who retired the side on 15 pitches.

The eighth belonged to Adrian Morejon, and wow, this guy was impressive. He hit 100 on the radar and rolled through the Brewers with just eight pitches.

The ninth, of course, went to Mason Miller. With Korn’s song “Blind” blaring, the stadium lights flashing and “The Reaper” on the scoreboard, Miller walks to the mound. Padre fans are absolutely losing their minds, and Miller didn’t disappoint, hitting 102 on the gun. He struggled a bit with his control, needing 19 pitches to get just two outs. You read that right, a two-out save.

Miller walked William Contreras with two outs, bringing the dangerous Yelich to the plate. Brandon Lockridge ran for Contreras, and with the count 1-1 on Yelich, broke for second.

Former friend Freddie Fermin gunned down Lockridge to end the game.

It was great to see Freddie playing again. He’s had a bit of a tough year, hitting in the .190s for most of the season, but on this night, he had a double and threw out two would-be base stealers. And the locals love him.

The game was clean, with neither team recording an error, and the only miscues were the Brew Crew running themselves out of two innings (and the game) with caught stealing. I had to check my scorecard to make sure it wasn’t the Royals on the field.

Royals brass would be well served by spending a week in San Diego taking notes on how the Padres do it. The concourses were packed prior to the game, but foot traffic before and after the game flowed easily. San Diego’s train system is as good as any in the nation, and that’s one area of concern for the Royals’ new stadium. Will Kansas City’s cutesy tourist rail system be able to handle game traffic without snarling pedestrian or motorist flow? I have my doubts.

Petco opened for business in 2004, and that blew me away. I would have never guessed the park was 22 years old. I spent one morning walking around the construction site in the summer of 2002. The stadium was just a hole in the ground with some beams being erected at the time. There was a chain-link fence surrounding the construction site. That part of town, just south of the Gaslamp Quarter, was kind of rough in those days. It’s since been transformed, with shops, bars, restaurants and multiple condo buildings taking root around the ballpark.

The visit got me excited for downtown baseball in Kansas City. I will miss the K. We all will. The K is a very special place and holds some great memories for most of us.

Downtown baseball is a different animal, and Kansas City needs to do this right. It won’t be an easy job for John Sherman and company. There will be community and political classes to satisfy. They must build a memorable stadium, one that’s better than the one we already have.

The city must get the infrastructure to work. And the biggest thing is the Royals must put a good product on the field. Nothing will kill downtown momentum like watching a rudderless team on its way to 100 losses. It’ll be an interesting few years as this develops.

Worcester: L, 1-5 (BOX SCORE)

The WooSox got just two hits on the first night in Syracuse (Mets AAA) and did not draw a walk, with a rehabbing Trevor Story going hitless. Only Romy Gonzalez and Allan Castro notched base hits, and that happened in back-to-back at bats where Romy would score. It’s tough to win baseball games with that offensive output, but the dreadful part is they probably could have with how serviceable the pitching was. And let’s not put makeup on a pig here: the WooSox staff is suffering from supplementing the Red Sox’s sudden lack of depth (maybe the other way around, too, as the Major League club has used a slew of mop up guys from the Triple-A club as of late…) and any other viable option for a promotion was dealt in the Adley Rutschman trade, as Rutschman starts to emerge as an offensive positive point. But Jedixson Paez going four (solid) innings had the WooSox marching out Patrick Halligan for three innigs in relief and veteran John Brebbia immediately after him. They pitched great, and maybe this just wasn’t a winnable game. But this is still a peculiar place for a team’s pitching depth to be in just a month after the trade deadline, despite Craig Breslow making several good moves for more offense.

Portland: W, 7-5 (BOX SCORE)

The biggest headline of the farm on Tuesday was the Sea Dogs starting a promoted Justin Gonzales, who’s still just 19, and Roman Anthony, who’s back after a lengthy finger injury, and placing them 1-2 in the batting order. This would come back to benefit the Sea Dogs in spades as they beat the Fightin Phils (Phillies AA) by two runs, thanks to Roman Anthony’s absolute mammoth shot that could have ended up in Presque Isle or Old Orchard Beach, whichever locale you prefer. Anthony also got on base in his other three plate appearances via a single and two walks.

Gonzalez looked pretty good too, going 2-for-5. A struggling Henry Godbout even got his first home run since his promotion to Double-A, and Brooks Brannon and Yoelin Cespedes both chipped in doubles (Cespedes’ first since being promoted.) This battering of the Reading pitcher allowed Dalton Rogers the flexibility to pitch into the sixth inning and strike out eight. I know Anthony’s presence on the Portland squad is not going to be long-lived and he’ll be back up at Fenway shortly, but even without him, Portland is about to be an exciting team to watch for the last month of 2026 and starting 2027.

Greenville: L, 4-7 (BOX SCORE)

While Greenville was not afforded particularly good pitching Tuesday facing the Dash (White Sox High-A), the Tar Heel duo from this year’s draft, Jake Schaffner and Owen Hull, reached base six combined times (three a piece) and the team had ten hits. However, it did take until the seventh inning for Greenville to drum up some runs, and by then, they were fighting an uphill battle, a 7-0 battle, to be exact.

Salem: W, 21-4 (BOX SCORE)

No, my keyboard didn’t accidentally hit the 2 instead of the 1 twice. The RidgeYaks put up 21 runs on the Warbirds (Brewers A) on 23 hits and 8 walks on the night where Wilson’s Major League club put up 22 runs of their own. They had all of this offense by the end of the fifth, benefitting from eleven hits with runners in scoring position. The scary part is, this game could have been even more lopsided had Salem not stranded eleven. I’d like to insert cliche saying about saving some runs for the next night here, but you get the point. Franklin Primera drove in seven runs including a home run, and Starlyn Nunez had 5 RBI’s including a home run of his own. The Salem pitching held the ball in the park for the entire game, which is impressive given that from Salem’s side of the box score, you’d think the game was played on the moon.

Dixon Williams recorded an inside-the-park home run for the Emperors in their win, giving his a ridiculous stretch of six home runs in his past three games. However, it was not hitting that carried the weight on the farm. At every level the pitching showed out for Braves prospects, notably with incredible outings from Cam Caminiti and Luke Sinnard.

(60-59) Gwinnett Stripers, (54-65) Durham Bulls PPD

(53-57) Columbus Clingstones 4, (61-54) Montgomery Biscuits 10

Box Score

• John Gil, 2B: 2-5, .320/.407/.440
• Eric Hartman, LF: 1-4, .245/.393/.265
• Alex Lodise, SS: 0-3, BB, .000/.250/.000
• Owen Carey, LF: 1-4, RBI, .220/.304/.420
• Cam Caminiti, SP: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 2.51 ERA

The Double-A debut of Alex Lodise and the dominant start from Cam Caminiti is unfortunately lost to time for those not in attendance due to streaming difficulties from the Clingstones. After a hugely disappointing first half of the season Lodise got himself back on track with a torrid stretch in High-A and deservedly is getting a chance to close the season with Columbus. His first at bat didn’t got well as he was struck out quickly, but he did end up getting on base with a walk in the sixth inning. That up-the-middle combination with John Gil makes a talented team, and Gil may have taken over Lodise’s place as the hottest hitters among the top prospects in the system. Gil netted two more singles in thi game to extend his hitting streak to eight games, and he is far and away the player who has made the quickest adjustments among those that were part of the wave of movement. Gil’s swing decisions have been terrific, even a step above what he was doing in High-A, and he hasn’t yet had any major issue handling the increase in pitch quality at the level.

It’s taken just three starts and already Cam Caminiti has a breakthrough outing at Double-A. It’s unfortunate that there isn’t much to go off of in terms of breaking down exactly what made him click in this game, but even in his first two Double-A appearances Caminiti was showing signs of being ready for the level. Caminiti had some struggles with consistency, which has been somewhat of an issue for him in the early stages of his development, but showed the ability to miss the bats of even the most talented of Double-A hitters and he put together a full outing in this one. Almost all of Caminiti’s trouble came in the second inning when he walked two batters and allowed a hit over a four batter stretch, and from there the Biscuits were unable to muster any sort of success against him. The moment Caminiti left the game Montgomery started putting it on Columbus, scoring four runs in the seventh inning and then five more in the ninth inning.

Swing and Misses

Cam Caminiti – 17

Shay Schanaman – 3

(54-57) Rome Emperors 5, (52-62) Hub City Spartanburgers 4

Box Score

• Carter Beck, CF: 2-4, RBI, .500/.500/.500
• Conor Essenburg, RF: 0-2, 2 BB, .227/.460/.341
• Luis Guanipa, LF: 0-4, .200/.212/.308
• Dixon Williams, 2B: 1-3, HR, BB, 2 RBI, .235/.338/.474
• Luke Sinnard, SP: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 2.73 ERA

Luke Sinnard is regaining his form as he is finally making starts down the stretch, and if he can only stay healthy he should have a ton of fun starts ahead of himself at this level. For the first couple of innings Sinnard was basically untouchable even with a few flaws in his game. His fastball was popping and sat in the low-to-mid 90’s throughout his outing, and he did a good job of elevating the pitch to keep it off of the barrel of Hub City hitters. As the game dragged he had more of a tendency to spray the pitch and miss out of the strike zone which led to a couple of walks late in the game, but even the run he allowed didn’t come on a solidly hit ball. He utilized both the slider and the curveball in this game during strikeout situations, but both had different effects. He had some sliders that slipped out glove side and did not look good at all, but for the most part when he went to that pitch with two strikes he was able to retire the batter. They tried to implement his curveball more earlier in the game, but even though he got some whiffs with the pitch and the shape and change of pace serves his arsenal well he didn’t have the best command of the pitch. Sinnard wasn’t able to consistently bury the curveball and it led to him extending at bats and not getting strikeouts efficiently, which hurt him until they made near full switch to using the slider for strikeout situations. He only had a couple of cutters early in the game that he didn’t really land. This outing was as good as Sinnard looked all season even with the command slips late in the game, but there hasn’t really been a single point at which his quality has been in question. Sinnard is too good for this level, but he really needs to finish the year on a stretch of healthy outings.

Carter Beck had two singles in his High-A debut, and looked solid patrolling center field in the limited action he had out there. Beck has been ultra-aggressive on fastballs in the zone and got both of his hits off of fastballs this game, and that’s not a bad trait at all as long as it’s paired with some discretion on other pitchers. Beck has shown the ability to spit on secondary offerings out of the zone, which is a great sign early on for a player whose profile will be driven by his on-base ability, though in this game he didn’t get many looks at non-fastballs. Beck has been impressive in the early going with his ability to make contact, though he does seem to struggle on pitches that are outside of his natural swing path. Beck is a bit stiff in his swing and with his current mechanics I expect him to only be able to produce consistent pop on the pull side, though he does have the ability to shoot line drives in all directions. He still hasn’t been challenged yet, but High-A will be a step up for him and will be more of a test of his patience once pitchers start feeding him breaking balls. Conor Essenburg looked good at the plate as he has the entire time he has been in Rome, and even the strikeout in this game I wouldn’t pin on him. Essenburg got rung up on a fastball that did not catch the corner despite the call of the umpire, and this has ben an incredible run for him. He has 13 walks in a five game streak with walks, and I’m honestly anxious to see him swing more and actually face more breaking balls. He has been ahead in the count so often he isn’t really being challenged much. We’ll skip over the Luis Guanipa at bats other than to say they were mostly ugly, which is unfortunate because I felt he looked better late last week. He did have a singular at bat when he got a third look at the same pitcher and was able to adjust to and handle his slider, and even if it ended in a fly out I liked the process behind his approach that time up. Dixon Williams had a home run for a third straight game, though this one wasn’t as happy an affair as his recent work. Williams hit the ball hard on the pull side, and the defender made a great play to track the ball down but crashed into the wall. Upon hitting the wall he lost the ball and stayed down on the track, giving Williams time to come around for an inside-the-park home run. You absolutely can’t take away that Williams smoked that ball, and fortunately the right fielder was able to get up and walk off of the field under his own power though he seemed shaky.

Swing and Misses 

Luke Sinnard – 12

Jacob Kroeger – 4

Tanner Bauman – 4

(61-52) Augusta GreenJackets 5, (56-57) Columbia Fireflies 3

Box Score

• Manuel Campos, SS: 2-3, HR, BB, .167/.211/.306
• Parker Brosius, RF: 0-3, .273/.390/.485
• Derek Vartanian, SP: 7 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 4.12 ERA

(62-52) Augusta GreenJackets 3, (56-58) Columbia Fireflies 0

Box Score

• Juan Mateo, SS: 1-3, 2B, .255/.332/.358
• Parker Brosius, RF: 1-2, 3B, BB, RBI, .273/.390/.485
• Daniel Brooks, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, 0.65 ERA

The GreenJackets got Manuel Campos back from the injured list and he immediately had the best game he has had this season at any level. Prior to hitting the injured list Campos was really struggling at the plate, but he looked absolutely terrific in the first game of the double header. He started by slicing a single the other way, then in the third inning mashed a low fly ball out to right field for a home run. He drew a four pitch walk the next time up and ended his day with a solidly hit fly ball to give him three well-hit balls this game. Campos has struggled and the approach is worth questioning, but he is a young player that clearly has enough pop in his bat to be a legit big leaguer and has plenty of room to add strength to his frame without needing to move out of the middle infield. Campos has a good swing, smooth and quick with the athleticism to make adjustments where needed, though he is a low ball hitter and probably always will be without major swing changes. It’s nice to see him finally look good enough at the plate to feel like we’re seeing the best of him. The pitching staff also brought it in both halves of the double header. It’s been awhile since Derek Vartanian really put together a complete outing, and it wasn’t entirely clear he was going to do so early on. He cruised through the first inning but he could not buy an out in the second. Vartanian allowed some solidly hit singles on pitches left a bit too far over the play, but also had a potential inning-ending double play dropped by the third baseman on what should have been a routine turn along with some soft contact that found a gap in the defense. Vartanian has struggled at times this season to avoid runaway innings and he couldn’t keep this inning from getting out of hand, but he was magnificent the whole rest of the way. The game could have spiraled further in the second with two runners on and no outs with three already in, but Vartanian closed out the inning with no further damage. Vartanian kept that momentum rolling and ended his day by retiring 18 straight hitters. In the eighth inning Lewis Sifontes broke the streak by issuing a walk, but got a huge strikeout of the second batter of the inning and was able to prevent Columbia from scoring and close out the comeback win.

Daniel Brooks may just deserve a full time starting role at this point, because even with the increase in workload this month he has only continued to set an already lofty ball even higher. Brooks struck out the first batter he faced in the game and that was a preview of what was to come as he cruised to a career-high 10 strikeouts and never really blinked. The carry on Brooks’s fastball is as explosive as I’ve seen a pitch look even if the velocity is below average, and mixed with a hammer slider hitters at this level just have no chance. Brooks finished the day off with three consecutive swinging strikeouts all on sliders, and it only took him 58 pitches. He pounded the zone all game and the Fireflies had absolutely zero chance against him, but that’s been the story of the entire league this season. Augusta put up a run on a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and given how well Brooks pitched that was all they needed. Parker Brosius added on with his lone hit of the double header in the third inning, though it was a huge swing. Brosius officially has an RBI triple, but that was 100% a two-run home run to the opposite field that hit off of the fence above the wall that counts as a home run at this park. In the end Brosius would score on a sacrifice fly so it all turned out the same, and the GreenJackets need for hitting is really the only thing even driving Brosius being in Single-A. Brosius has had quite a lot of strikeouts so far but he’s not swinging and missing enough to sustain a near 30% K mark, and given his age and how well he has hit the ball he has nothing to really prove at Augusta.

Swing and Misses

Daniel Brooks – 17

Derek Vartanian – 13

Logan Forsythe – 3

Lewis Sifontes – 2

Happy Wednesday A’s Fans!

Yesterday, the Athletics dropped a second straight game against the Kansas City Royals, giving up three runs in the bottom of the ninth to cement their status as the worst team in the league. Left-hander Hogan Harris fits as a late-inning left-handed reliever, but his command issues would prevent him from being a closer on most other teams. At least the A’s fared better than the Seattle Mariners, who lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 22-0.

Injuries have played a big part in the team’s rapid fall from grace. The A’s are currently trotting out lineups without injured designated hitter Brent Rooker, catcher Shea Langeliers, first baseman Nick Kurtz or left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. Meanwhile, Opening Day starter Luis Severino suffered a season-ending shoulder injury at the end of May.

Starting shortstop Jacob Wilson could join them on the season-ending injured list if his shoulder soreness does not subside sooner than later. Then there is rookie infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, who got his MLB career off to a hot start before fouling a ball off his balls and rupturing his testicle.

Entering the season, an extreme number of injuries was the last thing the A’s could afford, given the team’s limited depth. However, injuries are not the only factor contributing to the Green and Gold’s fifth straight losing season.

Even before players began dropping like flies, the A’s pitching staff was struggling, allowing opposing teams to seemingly score runs in bunches every night. As a result, it was not surprising when the losses started piling up in June and July, every defeat dragging the Athletics further away from contending in a wide-open mediocre division.

While Jacob Lopez’s second-half resurgence has been a bright spot, the opposite can be said of right-hander Luis Morales, whose regression has been arguably the team’s biggest disappointment this season, especially after he broke preseason camp with a spot in the rotation.

It will be up to the team’s next general manager to assemble an improved pitching staff capable of keeping the Athletics in more games and preventing the blowout defeats that have happened far too often this season. The bullpen, in particular, should be a priority after its league-worst performance.

Whoever succeeds David Forst will also need more investment from A’s owner John Fisher, particularly in the analytics and strategy departments. The A’s are one of the few MLB teams yet to obtain the Trajekt Sports Arc pitching machine. The Trajekt analyzes extensive data to mimic any pitcher’s delivery and replicate their pitches from the same arm angle. In contrast to the A’s, the Los Angeles Dodgers own multiple Trajekt machines.

Additionally, according to The Athletic reporter Ken Rosenthal, the depth of the A’s analytic and research department pales in comparison to other small-market teams like the Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers. Ultimately, Fisher’s cheapness is holding the team back, something that is nothing new to longtime fans of this historic franchise.

What should the A’s do moving forward to build a consistent contender?

A’s Coverage:

• A’s Blow Late Lead, Fall To Royals 4-3
• A’s Drop Road Trip Opener 9-5
• A’s Take Series Against Rangers, Win 5-2
• A’s place Soderstrom on 10-day IL with left hip impingement; Hernaiz recalled
• Where Each A’s Player’s Contract Stands Entering Offseason
• Red-hot Bolte looking to build on lessons from rookie season
• A’s prospect Winkler thriving in ‘fresh start’ with Aviators
• Late Blast Lifts Rangers Over Athletics
• Why The New GM Needs To “Clean House”
• 111 games, zero errors: Wilson sets MLB record at shortstop
• A Seemingly Rock Bottomless Glass
• MLB Trade Grades: A’s Have Quiet Trade Deadline
• A’s Top Prospect Jamie Arnold Sets Career High in One of His Best Double-A Starts
• Fustercluck 2026: The Real Reasons For A Disappointing Season
• Signs Of Hope And Signs Of Hopeless
• Athletics prospect Ryan Lasko says feeling in his legs returning
• Cuban’s investment group purchases minority stake in Athletics
• Could last-minute buyer purchase rights to Bally’s project around A’s Las Vegas ballpark?
• Chan Ho Park joins A’s group; 1st Korean to buy stake in MLB club
• Blogfather Saves The Day With Pearls Of Most Excellent Advice

MLB News and Interest:

• After two inspirational comebacks, Mancini announces retirement
• Padres minor league catching coordinator detained by ICE
• Why Tommy John’s legacy will forever live on across baseball
• Marte heading for MRI on knee after placement on restricted list (source)
• Dodgers closer Díaz heading back to IL (reports)
• MLB unanimously approves sale of San Diego Padres
• Yankees activate Carlos Rodon, place Max Fried on 15-day IL
• Cubs Place Edward Cabrera, Dansby Swanson On Injured List
• PCA 1st since 2010 with leadoff, walk-off home runs
• AL, NL Cy Young races seem all but decided as Schlittler, Miz dominate latest poll
• Two straight runners tested him at home. He fired 99 mph, 103 mph to nail them both!
• Mariners, Andy Ibáñez Agree To Minor League Deal
• Here are the current top prospects at each position
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

The Athletics’ offense takes another hit. Hopefully, Tyler Soderstrom returns next season fully healthy and with this hip issue behind him.

This podcast is worth a listen:

A’s Opening Day center fielder Denzel Clarke, who has been on the injured list since April, is finally nearing a return to the majors.

Heading into the Toronto Blue Jays series, the Nationals were 54-52 and only one game back of a Wild Card spot. They were coming off a thrilling series win against a fellow playoff hopeful in the D-Backs. However, things have come off the rails since then with trades, injuries and position changes causing the season to spiral. The Nats are 6-15 since the start of that Blue Jays series.

It really feels like the air has come out of this team and the once trademark resilience has vanished. Last night’s 5-0 loss to a mediocre Rangers team was their most lifeless of the season in my opinion. That looked like what we saw towards the end of the Davey Martinez era and for much of Miguel Cairo’s tenure last season. It was a team that was ready for the season to be over.

To come out like that after being swept by a divisional opponent was very alarming to me. The Nats had some bad series and some agonizing losses. However, one thing that you could count on was that they would come back the next game and do whatever it took to win.

That push back has disappeared, and there are a couple potential reasons for this. One that is being discussed a lot right now is the trade deadline. I am seeing a narrative going around that Paul Toboni quit on the team at the deadline and in turn the team has thrown in the towel for the season.

That take is a bit extreme in my view, but it is easy to see where those folks are coming from. With the Nats firmly in the hunt, Toboni traded his best right handed bat for an injured pitcher that has yet to return. Connelly Early is very talented and this could easily look like a great move in a year or two. However, Mead clearly meant a lot to the clubhouse and losing him was a big blow.

At the deadline, two of the team’s leaders got moved in Luis Garcia Jr. and Foster Griffin. With Abimelec Ortiz on the way and the team’s need for pitching depth, the Garcia move made a lot of sense in a vacuum. However, his presence was crucial in keeping the locker room loose and is needed now more than ever. I still like the trade, but it certainly hurt the vibes for this season.

From an on field perspective, the Griffin trade was the most damaging in my opinion. The Nats had a 17-5 record with Griffin on the mound this season. He consistently gave the team quality starts and his wisdom really helped the young pitchers. Now those starts are gone and have been replaced by Jackson Kent, who has not looked ready so far.

This is not meant to necessarily pile on Paul Toboni. The moves make sense, but they essentially stuck a fork in the 2026 Nats in ways that he did not even anticipate. This team was never built to make a deep run so looking to the future is smart. However, it really deflated this clubhouse.

The group had already gone through so much and has had to be so resilient. After all the bullpen meltdowns, the Nats always got off the deck and kept on chugging. With a historically inept bullpen, this team had to be strong, but the deadline sell-off was the one of the dominos that caused this team to fall apart.

Another factor in this team’s collapse has been the loss of their best player James Wood. For a little while, the offense kept humming, but his absence has really been felt lately. Wood’s presence in the lineup makes others around him better. With teams circling CJ Abrams in the lineup, his production has slipped. Dylan Crews has also been unable to step up at all. Lately, the only thing the Nats offense has going for them is that first base platoon.

The offense has been the lifeblood of this team all season. However, with Mead and Wood no longer in the lineup, this team is a lot easier to pitch to. Those two consistently worked counts and did not chase. Now, the Nats have a lot of players with similar chase-happy profiles.

It has put so much pressure on CJ Abrams, who now is suddenly dealing with a position change. With all this going on, it really feels like this was not the right time to move Abrams off shortstop. The move had to happen eventually, but this is just an odd moment to unsettle your best healthy player. It is yet another move that has hurt the vibes of this clubhouse.

The Nats dismal showings against divisional opponents are a final thing that has doomed them. They are 2-16 in their last 18 divisional matchups and 11-27 on the season. Getting owned by your rivals takes a toll. Along with all the other drama, that has helped sink the 2026 Nats.

There is always a chance that this team can emerge from their slumber, but it does not feel likely. I expect a limp to the finish of what was once a promising season. It is a real shame but I do think this is still a successful season. However, it could have been so much more. Nats fans got a taste of competitive baseball. Now it is up to the front office to deliver that on a consistent basis.

Good morning friends. The Mariners dropped a stinker of all stinkers last night, with a 22-0 blowout loss at the hands of the Brewers. If you’re brave enough to watch the next adventure of this runaway train, first pitch is slated for 4:40pm PT.

In Mariners news…

• The Mariners are inviting fans to leave a farewell message for broadcaster Rick Rizzs in what they’re calling the “Holy Smokes” Hotline.
• The Lookout Landing staff discussed the possible ramifications of the Mariners not making the playoffs this year.
• Nathan Graham at Baseball Prospectus led off his weekly “The Heat Check” column by celebrating a scorching-hot week for Lazaro Montes in Tacoma. ($)

Around the league…

• Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte no-showed the team on their road trip to Boston. Apparently, he was in Phoenix getting his knee tested — though nobody (including the coaches) knew about it.
• Veteran infielder Trey Mancini announced his retirement from baseball.
• The Dodgers placed right-hander Edwin Díaz on the injured list with neck inflammation.
• Athletics outfielder Tyler Soderstrom will undergo hip surgery on Friday, taking him out of action for the rest of the season.
• Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet is hoping to be back with the club this year — though it would be in a bullpen role.
• San Diego Padres minor league catching coordinator Oswaldo Pirela was detained by ICE in Texas.
• It turns out Nationals infielder CJ Abrams is not pleased with the team shifting him to second base.
• Jeff Passan and Joey Votto at ESPN broke down lost footage of Ted Williams talking about the art of hitting and discussed how his insights translate to the modern game.
• Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs honored the legacy of Tommy John.

Anders’ picks…

• Your mileage may vary on this one, but I found it amusing (NSFW)

Carlos Rodón looked about as good as you could have expected in his first big league game back from an almost two-month injury absence, limiting the Orioles to a run on two hits and two walks in four innings. Trent Grisham continued his recent red-hot streak with a homer and a two-run single to drive in all three of the Yankees runs as they took the opener in Baltimore, 3-1, to become the second team in the AL to 70 wins.

It was a much-needed win to gain ground on the Rays and maintain their narrow cushion ahead of the Red Sox, so let’s see how those games as well as others around the AL transpired. This roundup does not include the still-departed Mariners, who suffered a 22-0 annihilation at the hands of the Brewers. (Remember when the M’s were a couple innings shy of their first World Series last year? Goodness.)

Toronto Blue Jays (62-65) 10, Tampa Bay Rays (75-50) 5

Nick Martinez has been a revelation for the Rays after signing a one-year deal in the offseason, but the Blue Jays handed him his worst start of the season — six runs on nine hits and two walks in just 3.2 innings. His opposing starter, Trade Deadline acquisition José Soriano, also got tagged for nine hits but managed to bend without breaking as he allowed three runs in 5.2 innings.

All six of the runs against Martinez came before the Rays managed a response, starting with a pair in the first as Alejandro Kirk doubled, George Springer singled him home, and Jesús Sánchez drove in Springer with a double, all with two outs. Kirk struck again with a two run homer in the third after Nathan Lukes drew a leadoff walk. Then in the fourth, Ernie Clement, Brett Bateman, and Kirk all singled, Kirk’s plating Clement for his third RBI before a wild pitch also allowed Bateman to score.

Tampa Bay cut that six-run deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth. Yandy Díaz, Ryan Vilade, and Cedric Mullins all singled to load the bases. A wild pitch brought home their first run and a Taylor Walls single plated a further pair. However, Toronto kept the pressure on in the fifth, Kazuma Okamoto leading off with a booming home run to set a new Blue Jays rookie record with 25 so far on the year. Clement then singled, advanced to second on a sac bunt, and scored on a Bateman single.

The Blue Jays pushed into double-digits in the seventh, Clement reaching on his third single of the game before Josh Smith left the yard with a two-run blast. Now trailing by seven, Tampa managed a pair of consolation runs in the eighth. Díaz, Liam Hicks, and Vilade opened the frame with three straight singles to load the bases, Mullins and Richie Palacios then lifting consecutive sacrifice flies. It certainly wasn’t a good day for the pitchers, the two teams combining for 30 hits. With the loss and the Yankees’ win, Tampa’s lead in the division was reduced to five games.

As for the Jays, they’re half a game back in the ever-bizarre Wild Card mix, which is so packed that the O’s went from holding a playoff spot to trailing three other teams and tied with the also-losing Tigers thanks to just one shaky inning. The Rangers’ Cal Quantrill-aided 5-0 shutout win over the Nationals has them at least temporarily in the pole position.

Other Games

Chicago Cubs (74-53) 4, Chicago White Sox (65-60) 3

Pete Crow-Armstrong left the yard in consecutive ABs, following his walk-off blast Monday night with a leadoff homer tonight, Michael Busch following with a solo shot of his own to spot the Cubs a two-run first inning lead. The White Sox responded with three unanswered, one each in the second, third, and fourth. Drew Romo got the Southsiders on the board with an RBI single, Munetaka Murakami led off the third with an absolute tank, and Tristan Peters gave them the lead with an RBI double the next inning.

Alex Bregman leveled the score at three apiece with an RBI single in the seventh, and that would not be his only clutch hit on the night. After an almost one hour rain delay interrupted the eighth inning, Carson Kelly led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, PCA was issued an intentional walk, and Bregman called game with a line drive single to center as the Cubs walked off their crosstown rivals on consecutive nights. Still, the Pale Hose are four games ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central.

Cleveland Guardians (61-65) 8, San Francisco Giants (51-74) 1

In his third start for Cleveland after joining from the Nationals at the deadline, Foster Griffin held the Giants to a run on five hits in six innings, the only damage a Bryce Eldridge solo shot in the second. However, the story of this game was their other big deadline acquisition, Jo Adell. He demolished a 455-foot, three-run homer in the first, drove another pair in with a single in the second, and plated his sixth run in the fourth with another single. Cleveland scored their final two runs on RBI groundouts by Angel Martínez and Patrick Bailey, both times with the bases loaded.

It should be noted that Cleveland remains a half-game back of the division rival Twins in both the AL Central and Wild Card races, as Minnesota won in Atlanta last night 4-1 behind a two-run Josh Bell homer and a double by Ryan Jeffers that also plated a pair. Neither Cleveland nor Minnesota are currently in a playoff spot, however.

Boston Red Sox (68-58) 9, Arizona Diamondbacks (66-61) 4

This game looked like it could be a wild back and forth affair, but only Boston could sustain pressure throughout the entire contest. Deadline blockbuster addition Adley Rutschman kicked things off with a two-run single with the bases loaded in the first, Caleb Durbin driving in the third run of the frame with a sac fly. However, Arizona responded by loading the bases themselves in the third to set up a monster grand slam by Gabriel Moreno to momentarily grab the lead, 4-3.

From there, the Red Sox scored six unanswered runs. Rutschman clubbed a no-doubter solo home run in the bottom of the third (his first with Boston) and Durbin manufactured the second run of the frame with a single, advance, stolen base, and scamper home on a wild pitch. Andruw Monasterio added an RBI single in the fifth, Mickey Gasper led off the sixth with a home run with Willson Contreras chipping in an RBI single later in the frame, and Gasper drove in Boston’s ninth and final run with an RBI single in the seventh.

Los Angeles Angels (50-76) 8, Houston Astros (63-63) 1

Angels rookie George Klassen authored by far the best start of his young career in just his fifth big league outing, tossing seven scoreless allowing just one hit and three walks against seven strikeouts. Houston managed just three hits on the day, their only run coming via a Cam Smith solo homer in the eighth. Los Angeles meanwhile scored one each in the third, fourth, and fifth. Nolan Schanuel opened the scoring with an RBI single, Josh Lowe hit one into the Crawford Boxes for a solo shot in the fourth, and Zach Neto smacked an RBI double an inning later. The aforementioned Rangers win over the Nats thus pushed the unassuming club to just one game behind the .500 Astros in the AL West.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

After exploding for 15 runs last night, offense will be tough to find in Game 2 as part of my Blue Jays vs. Rays prediction.

Yes, the Toronto Blue Jays, who come into this one as +175 underdogs at BET99, will be in tough against Tampa Bay Rays ace Drew Rasmussen, but they should do enough to keep it close as they continue their tear toward the postseason.

Let’s dive into my MLB picks for Wednesday, Aug. 19, and cash another same-game parlay, shall we?

Blue Jays vs Rays predictions

Blue Jays vs Rays best bet: Under 8 (-120)

We all know Tampa Bay Rays ace Drew Rasmussen, but it's actually Max Scherzer of the Toronto Blue Jays who ultimately led me to hit this button.

After struggling to begin the season, Scherzer has found his footing over his last three starts, allowing just four earned runs in 16 1/3 innings.

He continues to shine while the Jays battle for the final Wild Card, and his chase rate has actually been elite, leaving hitters guessing at a 34% clip. He should do enough to limit the Rays' potent offense and keep us under the number here.

Rasmussen has pitched at a Cy Young level this season and has coughed up just two runs across his last 25 innings. Scary stuff if you're a Blue Jays fan.

Toronto will have to earn it today, as Rasmussen's 4.5% walk rate is the lowest of his career and puts him in the 98th percentile among pitchers. This is shaping up to be a pitcher's duel.

I'd play this up to -130.

COVERS INTEL: Can Alejandro Kirk be stopped? He's registered 12 hits, two homers, and seven RBI during his seven-game hit streak, and has some of the best numbers against Rasmussen in this lineup, owning a .278 xBA.

Blue Jays vs Rays same-game parlay (SGP)

You know my reasoning behind this potential pitcher's duel, but Kirk has been arguably the hottest hitter in baseball over the last couple of weeks — he sees a strong matchup for him tonight, too.

Rasmussen throws his sinker 22% of the time, a pitch Kirk loves to see, owning a .275 xBA and 42% hard-hit rate against it. With a low-scoring game on deck, I'll take the Jays to keep this one close as they aim for their seventh straight series win.

We cashed last night, so let's do it again.

Blue Jays vs Rays SGP

• Under 8
• Alejandro Kirk 2+ hits + runs + RBI
• Blue Jays +1.5

Blue Jays vs Rays home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+550)

Can Kazuma Okamoto stay hot? He's coming off a bomb last night, which set a new Blue Jays rookie home run record with his 25th of the season, breaking a tie with Eric Hinske. He's hit one of those against Rasmussen, against whom he owns a .544 xSLG. If we're looking for edges in this specific matchup, I'll run with Okamoto at this price.

Blue Jays vs Rays odds

• Moneyline: Toronto (+175) | Tampa Bay (-215)
• Run line: Toronto +1.5 (-120) | Tampa Bay -1.5 (+100)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-110)  | Under 7.5 (-110)

Blue Jays vs Rays trend

The Under is 4-1 in the Blue Jays' last five games vs. the American League East. Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Rays.

How to watch Blue Jays vs Rays and game info

Blue Jays vs Rays latest injuries

Blue Jays vs Rays weather

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.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

Hump day means all-day baseball, with action starting just before 1 p.m. ET and the last game kicking off at 8:40 p.m.

Our MLB expert picks for Wednesday, Aug. 19, highlight an Under and three moneyline predictions, including an underdog Los Angeles Angels squad in a prime matchup against a Houston Astros pitcher making his big-league debut.

Dig in with today's MLB picks below.

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Josh Inglis: SEA ML	+113
Jon Metler: NYY ML	-117
Dustin Saracini: TOR/TB u7.5	-113
Joe Osborne: LAA ML	+144

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Josh Inglis' expert pick: Mariners moneyline

Price: 47¢ (+113) at Polymarket

The Seattle Mariners are listed as 47% underdogs today, and that likely isn't pricing in one of the best motivating factors in professional sports: the humiliation factor.

The Mariners are trading at 47 cents after getting crushed 22-0 by the Milwaukee Brewers last night, tying the modern MLB record for the largest shutout margin.

The Mariners had to watch Gary Sanchez, Milwaukee's catcher, finish the game on the mound, which is about as big an insult as you can get in baseball. Professional players have pride, and when that's taken away, you can get the most motivated version of a team.

Seattle also has the pitching edge with Logan Gilbert facing Dustin May. Seattle's "A" bullpen also hasn't been touched since Sunday, giving it a significant late-game advantage.

With the Mariners three games back in the Wild Card and coming off that humiliating defeat, this should be one of the most focused and motivated lineups we've seen from Seattle all year.

That's worth an extra 10-15 points that isn't priced in.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• How to watch: Mariners.TV, Brewers.TV

Jon Metler's expert pick: Yankees moneyline

Price: 54¢ (-117) at Polymarket

Baltimore Orioles right-hander Chris Bassitt throws a deep arsenal, but few pitches are working in his favor this season. 

His sweeper has been the exception, serving as one of his best strikeout and put-away pitches with a +1 run value. Unfortunately for Bassitt, this is a difficult matchup for that pitch against a New York Yankees lineup that could feature as many as seven left-handed hitters.

The sweeper breaks into the barrels of left-handed bats, which could neutralize one of Bassitt's best weapons for putting away hitters.

The matchup gets even tougher at Camden Yards, where the dimensions favor left-handed power to right field more than right-handed power to left.

The Yankees are trading at 54 cents on Polymarket, but I make them closer to a 57-cent favorite. That's enough of an edge for me to hit the button.

Check out Chris Hatfield's Yankees vs. Orioles predictions for a full breakdown.

• Time: 6:35 p.m. ET
• How to watch: Amazon Prime Video, MASN

Dustin Saracini's expert pick: Blue Jays vs. Rays Under 7.5

Price: 53¢ (-113) at Polymarket

After struggling to begin the season, Max Scherzer has found his footing over his last three starts, allowing just four earned runs in 16 1/3 innings.

He continues to shine while the Toronto Blue Jays battle for the final Wild Card, and his chase rate has actually been elite, leaving hitters guessing at a 34% clip. He should do enough to limit the Tampa Bay Rays' potent offense and keep us under the number here.

Drew Rasmussen has pitched at a Cy Young level this season, coughing up just two runs over his last 25 frames. Scary stuff if you're a Blue Jays fan.

Toronto will have to earn it, too, as Rasmussen's 4.5% walk rate is the lowest of his career and puts him in the 98th percentile among pitchers. Runs will be tough to come by in this pitcher's duel.

Check out Dustin's full Blue Jays vs. Rays predictions.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• How to watch: Sportsnet, Rays.TV

Joe Osborne's expert pick: Angels moneyline

Price: 41¢ (+144) at Polymarket

The Los Angeles Angels are worth backing to pull off the upset tonight with Walbert Urena on the mound.

Urena has faced the Houston Astros four times this season and has been fantastic, posting a 0.71 ERA across those appearances.

The Astros will counter with Ethan Pecko, who makes his MLB debut after posting an unimpressive 4.57 ERA in 20 minor-league appearances. Those numbers won’t blow anyone away, and he walked five batters in his most recent Triple-A start.

Los Angeles also has a bullpen capable of protecting a lead, ranking inside the top seven in both ERA and FIP over the past week. That strong relief work has helped the Angels go 5-2 during that stretch.

• Time: 8:10 p.m. ET
• How to watch: ABTV, SCHN

More MLB best bets for today

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.

We have checked in regularly on the woes that plague the Cincinnati Reds, owners of the worst record in the National League Central. Namely, we have checked in regularly on just how absymal their ability to score runs has been all season long, and last night’s shutout loss to the St. Louis Cardinals prompted yet another check in on that status.

To date, the 509 runs they have scored on the season rank – you guessed it – last in the entire National League. Their -89 run differential is worsted in the senior circuit only by the lowly Colorado Rockies, the Savannah Bananas of Major League Baseball.

The Reds own a collective 87 wRC+ on the season. That’s the worst mark among any team in the sport, with the Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, and perennially rebuilding Los Angeles Angels all tied in the next-worst spot at 91 each.

FanGraphs’ collective measure of offensive (Off) takes a particularly dim view of the work of the Reds so far this season. They grade Cincinnati at -72.6, which is not only dead last among the 30 MLB clubs, it’s light years worse than the Rockies (again) in second to last place. They sit at -55.3, which somehow feels like a Uranus-Pluto level gap.

If batting average is still your thing, well, don’t fret – the Reds rank last there, too. They’re hitting just .226 on the season, with the New York Yankees somehow checking in as next-worst at .229. Toronto is being nice by tying the Reds for worst on-base percentage, with the two clubs sharing dead last with a .305 OBP mark.

If you feel as if you’ve seen Cincinnati begin to strike out at a ridiculous rate, well, you aren’t wrong there, either. Their 25.4% K% also ranks as dead last, meaning no team in the sport strikes out with the proclivity that they do.

Running through a few more categories, you can even find the Reds ranking dead last in RE24 on the FanGraphs leaderboard. Their -91.33 mark there is light years behind Toronto’s second-worst mark of -69.71 in terms of ‘Run Above Average based on the 24 Base/Out States,’ and while I don’t actually have any idea of what that particular word salad means, I trust that a) them designing it and b) the Reds ranking dead last in it are two things that are established actionable events.

The Reds also rank last in Park Adjusted Runs Above Average and, perhaps most glaring, rank dead last by a large margin in overall fWAR by their position players. That latter mark of just 6.0 is one of just three that’s in the single digits by teams league-wide, and it’s worth pointing out that the Chicago Cubs lead the game with 28.4. They’ve put up 22.4 more fWAR from their position players than the Reds so far this year, while division mates in Pittsburgh have even found a way to post 16.0 fWAR so far on the season.

The Reds are in last. The Reds are last, they are the physical embodiment of it. That they don’t seem interested in making any tangible changes to the process or those that make the decisions seems to be more and more baffling by the minute.

The San Diego Padres minor league catching coordinator is in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and will remain so “pending removal proceedings,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday in a statement.

Oswaldo Pirela, a former Texas Rangers minor league player, was detained Sunday morning at El Paso (Texas) International Airport.

Pirela, 34, was flying to Phoenix, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. The Padres’ triple-A affiliate is the El Paso Chihuahuas, and Pirela was with the team during its home game Saturday night against the Salt Lake City Bees, an Angels affiliate.

The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Pirela came to the United States from his native Venezuela in September 2014 and that his permission to remain expired Feb. 10, 2018.

Read more:The Sports Report: Edwin Díaz fails Dodgers again

DHS said Pirela was not carrying his work permit at the time he was detained. Pirela’s brother Juan Pirela presented Phoenix multimedia news organization Arizona’s Family with Oswaldo’s work permit, which indicated it was issued in 2024 and is valid until 2029.

“It’s very hard. He’s authorized to work in the United States,” Juan Pirela said. “So, the same department, Homeland Security, issues a work permit but then somehow it’s not enough.”

The DHS statement addressed the issue: “To be clear, work authorization or a pending application do NOT confer legal status in the United States.”

“In violation of our nation’s laws, [Pirela] overstayed his welcome. When approached by law enforcement officers, he was not in possession of legal documentation granting him status in the country. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings and will receive due process.

Read more:Kyle Tucker finally breaks hitless streak in Dodgers' win, searches for light in dark season

As a roving catching instructor, Pirela is based out of the Padres’ spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz., and travels to the organization’s minor league affiliates in San Antonio, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Lake Elsinore in addition to El Paso. He spent the 2024 season as bench coach for the class-A Lake Elsinore Storm and became the organization’s catching coordinator in 2025.

“We recently became aware of the detainment of minor league catching coordinator Oswaldo Pirela in El Paso, Texas,” the Padres club said in a statement. “We are working to gather additional information and will not have any further comment at this time.”

Pirela was signed by the Rangers at age 17 out of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, and played catcher, first base and the outfield from 2009-2011 for the team’s Dominican Republic Summer League affiliate.

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.

With the Atlanta Braves falling into a bit of a recent funk, the attention now turns to the newly-returning AJ Smith-Shawver. After spending nearly a month in Triple-A biding his time and cooking up something serious (to the point where he was named International League Pitcher of the Week for his efforts last week), Smith-Shawver is back in the rotatio nand set to make his second start of 2026.

The first start came back on July 29, which is when he appeared as the 27th man in a doubleheader against the Mets. While his 4.1 innings and four strikeouts may look underwhelming at first glance, anybody who watched that performance could tell that Smith-Shawver certainly has the potential to provide plenty of value and production for Atlanta as they are firmly entrenched in the dog days of Summer at the moment. The obvious hope is that Shawver can at least improve upon the performances of Tyler Mahle and Martín Pérez, who were at least decent in their two starts before this one.

With that being said, the problem hasn’t necessarily been the pitching. Sure, Martín Pérez gave up four runs in the first inning of the series opener and that’s not a trivial hole to climb out for any team in any given game but Atlanta never really looked like they had more than four runs in them in Monday night. The same could be said for Tuesday, which is when they came a Drake Baldwin solo homer away from getting blanked by a Twins pitching staff that hasn’t exactly been lighting the world on fire so far this year.

The offense has clearly entered into another funk, as evidenced by the fact that they’ve scored two or fewer runs in three of their past five games. Five games in the grand scheme of things is a blip and hopefully the offense can come out agains Taj Bradley and make sure that it’s just a blip instead of something that might come to haunt the Braves during this winding road trip that they’re currently on.

Bradley himself has looked a bit vulnerable lately — he gave up five runs in four innings against the Phillies in his last outing and he’s given up at least three runs in each of his past three starts. While Bradley is still a perfectly fine starter (his 3.98 ERA, 95 ERA-, 4.05 FIP and 98 FIP- is proof of that) the Braves are in a situation where they’re going to have to find a way to make sure that Bradley continues to look (and be) vulnerable enough to give up some runs instead of this being a repeat of what we’ve seen for the past couple of nights and for most of the weekend as well.

Hopefully this won’t be another case of a Braves starter delivering a strong performance (or one that’s good enough to keep them in the game) while the offense sputters about in a low-scoring affair. It’s been tough enough sledding for the Braves over their past few games — let’s not exacerbate that with a sweep to start this weird road trip, folks!

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Wednesday, August 19, 1:40 p.m. EDT

Location: Target Field, Minneapolis, MN

TV/Streaming: BravesVision

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

Pete Crow-Armstrong got me to the window again last night for another winning night, and the big day to flip the record is happening this week, hopefully today, with a full slate of all-day MLB player props and dingers. 

The only thing working against Jo Adell tonight is a possible knee injury, but it didn't slow him down last night, and I'm jumping on the slugging right-hander in a good matchup. Adell rounds out our slate, which already includes Griffin Conine against Aaron Nola, and the red-hot Pete Crow-Armstrong.

These are my favorite MLB home run predictions for Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Griffin Conine	+388
Pete Crow-Armstrong	+510
Jo Adell	+575
💲Today's HR parlay	+15239

Home run pick: Griffin Conine (+388)

It’s another Aaron Nola angle, as his 30 home runs allowed pace the league. He’s also coming off a game he had circled on the calendar in the Field of Dreams game, and over his last 12 starts, he’s allowed a dinger in 11 of them. I will bet against him every five days.

Griffin Conine is the bat you want to back today. He’s gone deep five times over his last 16 games and leads the Miami Marlins in several offensive categories this month. His 28% Blast Contact% in August is the fifth-best mark in baseball, behind Wilyer Abreu, Austin Riley, Randal Grichuk, and Jac Caglianone. Conine also homered Tuesday, his fifth of August.

I’ll take almost any hot bat in the best HR matchup at +300 or better.

• Time: 6:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Marlins.TV, NBCSP

Home run pick: Pete Crow-Armstrong (+510)

Remain calm. This is not a drill. After two months of absolute raking, I thought the days of getting Pete Crow-Armstrong for a home run at +500 or better were long gone. I've had a price point of +300 or better to bet him, so when I saw +500 today, I had to do a double-take.

This is setting up like yesterday's game, with PCA facing a lefty opener, which is driving his odds up because of the lefty-lefty matchup. Well, even with a lefty opener last night, the MVP betting favorite opened the bottom of the first with a leadoff homer at +330.

So how is Sean Newcomb making his price almost 200 points longer? The wind is in at Wrigley, but nothing crazy enough to justify the prices we're seeing today.

I will back the MVP at +330 or better in almost any matchup.

• Time: 2:20 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Marquee Sports Network, Chicago Sports Network

Home run pick: Jo Adell (+575)

The San Francisco Giants are rolling out a big lefty in Matt Wilkinson, who is making his MLB debut.

He’s a 2023 10th-round pick who started the season in rookie ball but also allowed seven homers over 43 innings at Triple-A before the promotion. All of those home runs came against right-handed bats, and Jo Adell is one of only two true right-handed hitters in the Cleveland Guardians lineup.

Adell exited last night’s game with knee pain, but there’s reason to be optimistic about his chances of getting into the lineup. He was pulled with Cleveland well ahead, 8-1, after going 3-for-4 with a homer and six RBI. He initially injured his knee fouling a ball off it in the first inning.

Hopefully, it was just precautionary, as he’s heating up for the Guardians, and +575 is too long for our MLB picks to ignore. The fair price is +475 today.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBC Sports Bay Area, Guardians.TV

Today’s HR combo

Griffin Conine	Trade Now +15239
Pete Crow-Armstrong
Jo Adell

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.