MIAMI, FLORIDA - AUGUST 22: Daylen Lile #4 of the Washington Nationals reacts to striking out in the third inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on August 22, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by JC Ruiz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Nats just finished up a brutal 1-8 road trip. Now they are back home and face a beatable opponent in the Rockies. However, with how they have played lately, there is no such thing as an easy win. This four game set will be a good test for the battered and bruised Nats.
CJ Abrams is back, but he is only able to DH today. It is still a huge boost for this team. He is leading off and Daylen Lile will be moved down to the 4 spot. Brady House is back at third and Keibert Ruiz is behind the plate. It is Cade day, as the red hot Nats ace takes the mound.
The Rockies have a lefty heavy lineup with only two true righties in Connor Norby and Ezequiel Tovar. This Rockies team has some firepower at the top of the order with Jake McCarthy, Mickey Moniak and TJ Rumfield having productive years. Ryan Feltner will be on the mound for Colorado.
If there was ever a time to get back on track, it would be tonight. You have Cavalli on the mound against a Rockies team who struggles on the road. Hopefully the Nats can make the end of this season at least somewhat watchable. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
For no particular reason, and definitelynot in light of any recent events involving the Diamondbacks, I thought it might be a good idea to examine a few of the middle infielders in the Arizona farm system, specifically second baseman. In this article I’m going to go into the middle infield prospects that stood out for various reasons.
The Omissions
There are two glaring omissions that are very close to the major leagues that I didn’t include in this writeup, only because each got their own dedicated article that I’ve put out in the last couple months. If not for that fact, Demetrio Crisantes and Danny Serretti would have their own section spotlighting them here in the ‘top prospects’ section. Crisantes is the team’s de facto top prospect overal, and the heir apparent at second base. He’s likely a year away from being ready at the earliest, while Serretti is a AAA Rule 5 guy who’ll need to be put on the 40 man roster at the end of the season if the Dbacks don’t want to see him taken in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft this winter.
Although I’ll still use this as an opportunity to give a quick update on both players, you can read my article on Demetrio Crisantes here, and my article on Danny Serretti here. Crisantes has gotten off to a slow start since his promotion to AAA Reno. He has 29 hits (including 5 doubles, a triple, and HRs) in 110 plate appearances, with 5 walks and 22 strikeouts. That translates to a triple slash line of 264/.299/.355 which works out to just a 52 wRC+ along with a .298 wOBA. His .232 xwOBA shows he’s probably been a bit lucky to even put up those meager numhers.
Meanwhile, Danny Serretti spent a couple months in Reno with an OPS above 1.000 at the end of July. Serretti began slumping over the following three weeks, with his statistics dropping down to a (still good) .934 OPS by August 18th, when he was sent back to AA Amarillo, although not for perfomance related reasons. Serretti currently has a .924 OPS in AA Amarillo.
Drafted in the Competive Balance-A round (35th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2024 draft, JD Dix signed for $2,150,000. Dix was the top prospect out of the state of Wisconsin in that 2024 draft class, attending the same Whitefish Bay HS that Dbacks 2001 World series alumni Craig Counsell attended.
Dix made his debut the following year in the Arizona Complex League. In 39 games for the ACL Dbacks, Dix had 178 plate appearences, hitting .342/.421/.493 with a .427 wOBA and 142 wRC+.Dix would get a promotion to the A ball level Visalia Rawhide, where he’d spend the remaining 50 games of his 2025 season. In 230 plate appearances for the Rawhide, Dix hit .261/.391/.335 with a .368 wOBA and 114 wRC+.
Overall, in the 89 games and 408 plate appearances total between the rookie level Arizona Complex League and the A Ball level California League in 2025, Dix hit .297/.404/.406 with 2 HRs, 29sb .394 wOBA 126 wRC+. 14.2% bb% 20.8% strikeout percentage.
I’ve embedded a video below of an interview that Visalia Rawhide posted to their official channel.
Dix began his season back in the California league to start the 2026 season. In 48 games, Dix received 235 plate appearances, hitting .253/378/.468 with a .382 wOBA and a 116 wRC+. At first glance those numbers don’t look like much of an improvement outside of the better wOBA and wRC+, Dix had a slightly worse walk percentage and strikeout percentage, he had much worse luck with a Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) that was .052 lower.
The real improvement though was reflected in JD’s power: He had the same amount of triples, but hit three more doubles and seven more homers in two fewer games, which resulted in Dix’s isolated slugging percentage (ISO) having a massive surge from .074 to .216. In addition, Dix stole just as many bases (19) but was caught stealing only once, as opposed to four times the year before.
The Dbacks promoted JD to the A+ level Hillsboro Hops in the much less hitter friendly Northwestern League, where he’s had a much tougher time. In 48 games, Dix has recieved 212 plate appearences, hitting .245/.325/.351 .314 wOBA with an 80 wRC+. His power outburst slowed down, with only a pair of homeruns. He’s continued to be a burner on the basepaths, stealing 16 bases so far. However, he hasn’t been quite as successful with Dix getting caught stealing four times. Weirdly Dix has managed six more singles and three more triples than he had in Visalia.
The defensive picture is a lot more opaque compared to the offensive side of his game. Lingering effects from a labrum injury in highschool rendering his right arm strength too weak for him to play shortstop, however, Dix was put on an arm strength program over the last offseason. I have not heard much in the ways of his current arm strength, so someone in the comment section can hopefully chime in, since as far as I can tell, Dix has only played seven innings at shortstop in the complex league last year. This season he’s played all but 10 innings at second base, with those appearances coming at designated hitter.
Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2026 draft with the 53rd overall pick by the Diamondbacks, Kerce essentially went from an afterthought in a potent Georgia Tech lineup his freshman year, to an offensive force as a leadoff hitter by his junior year, his last season going professional.
You can easily see the progress Kerce made year to year just looking at his wOBA and wRC+ statistics. Kerce put up a below average .360 wOBA and a 79 wRC+ his freshman season, improved to a slightly above average .403 wOBA and 103 wRC+ his sophomore season, before breaking out as a hitter with a robust .497 wOBA and 148 wRC+ his junior season. He also cut his strikeout percentage from 22% down to 15.2%, then even further to 13.3% in that same time span. Below I’ve embedded a video featuring highlights from Kerce’s time with Georgia Tech.
Kerce has played in 15 games with the Visalia Rawhide, and has 17 hits in 69 plate appearences, with three doubles, a HR, and 10 walks and two HBP. That works out to a triple slash line of .298/.420/.404, with a .393 wOBA and a 122 wRC+. He’s stolen five bases successfully in six attempts as well.
When I last talked about the Dbacks 2025 first round pick, Cunningham had demolished the California League. In 43 games he hit .381/.471/.506 with a .451 wOBA and 157 wRC+. He showed excellent plate discipline with 30 walks (14.5 bb%) to his 38 strikeouts (18.4 SO%). I’ve embedded a video below with highlights from the first half of season prior to his promotion.
The Dbacks promoted Cunningham to the A+ level Hillsboro Hops on June 9th, and the new level and league has proven to be much more of a challenge. In 53 games with the Hops, Cunningham is hitting .246/.360/.382 with a .344wOBA and a 98 wRC+. While he’s seen a slight uptick in his walk percentage by .01% to 14.6%, he’s also seen his strikeout percentage jump from 18.4% to 22.2%. Some of that decline in numbers may just be the result of his luck changing. In Visalia, Cunningham had an unsustainable .482 BABIP, while in Hillsboro it has swung back in the other direction to a .310 BABIP. He hasn’t been unlucky necessarily, just not as lucky.
Cunningham has an argument for being the best pure hitter in the Diamondbacks farm system, or at least in my opinion, the potential to be the best pure hitter in the system once he develops more as a hitter. (I’d argue right now that the best pure hitter is Demetrio Crisantes, with Cunningham a tic behind, mostly as a result of the former being further along in his development) Cunningham has played shortstop or designated hitter exclusively, and he certainly has the tools to stick at the position. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up at second base, third base, or somewhere in the outfield potentially.
The Underperforming but still young prospects
Not only were Jansel Luis and Cristofer Torin were signed as amateur international free agents signed in January of 2022, but both players have had their prospect stock fall in 2026 thanks to having bad seasons playing in the most hitter friendly ballpark in the already very hitter friendly Texas League. I have seen comments here on the Snakepit and on the Azdiamondbacks sub-reddit writing off both players’ status as prospects, with some even going so far as to label them busts.
Jansel Luis is coming off an impressive season playing for the Hillsboro Hops in the Northwestern League. In 102 games played in a pitcher friendly ballpark, in a pitcher friendly league, he hit .304/.342/.422 with a .346 wOBA and a 106 wRC. Add in the four games played in the ACL, and that bumps his numbers up to .311/.347/.435 with a .353 wOBA and a 110 wRC+.
So with Luis headed to a hitter friendly ballpark, in a hitter friendly league, his underwhelming 2026 season is much more disappointing. Through his first 108 games in 2026, Luis has hit .270/.315/.445 with a .336 wOBA and a 78 wRC+. Though his walk percentage has dipped down from 6.0% to 5.0%, his strikeout percentage has shown a much more signifant increase from 16.3% to 25.1%. That’s right at the edge of still being acceptable, any worse and it’s a major red flag going forward. In general, the lack of walks combined with too many strikeouts are always a recipe for failure, and that combined with an erratic approach at the plate have been noted by other prospect evaluators as major red flags.
I wouldn’t write Jansel Luis off just yet, he’s still below the league average in age, and he’s got impressive tools all around. Jansel’s biggest weakness is his propensity for aggression at the plate, swinging too often at pitches he has no business trying to hit. That said, he’ll need to tone down the aggression and become more selective ar the plate to get back on track down the stretch, and he’ll need put up above average numbers in AA in his next season.
Primarily a shortstop and second baseman in the past, Luis has not played at second base in 2026. Instead, he’s now seen more time at third base instead, though he is still getting starts at short as well as DH on occasion. Some scouts think he’d be better off in outfield position, but the Dbacks have not played him at all in the outfield, at least in-game.
Torin had solid 2024 season in his second go around in A ball level Visalia, hitting .255/.381/.344 with a .360 wOB and a 106 wRC+ in 108 games. He followed that up with a breakout 2025 season for the A+ level Hillsboro Hops, hitting .287/.381/.385 with a .360 wOBA and a 115 wRC+ in 122 games. He then had an impressive cup of coffee with AA Amarillo to end his 2025 season, getting eight hits with four of those being doubles, a stolen base, and three walks in 25 plate appearences. That works out to triple slash of .381/.440/.571 with a .449 wOBA and a 159 wRC+.
Considering all of that, Torin’s 2026 season in AA Amarillo has proven to be extra disappointing, much like Jansel Luis’ 2026 season. In 102 games and 476 plate appearences, Torin is hitting a very meager .270/.335/.418 with a .337 wOBA and a 79 wRC+.
Probably the most interesting fact about his season is that while his walk percentage has dropped from 12.1% to 8%, his strikeout percentage has improved from 14.3% to 11.1%. In addition, he’s hit four triples and twelve homeruns, career highs in both, the latter being more than the previous two seasons combined.
Torin is an impressive defender at shortstop, enough so that he really doesn’t need to hit all that much to be a positive contributor in the major leagues. He’s always had an impressive ability to limit his strikeouts, while also drawing walks at a fairly impressive rate. Prior to this season he had only one season where he walked less than a 12% of the time, 9% in A ball in 2024. Considering Torin has needed a second try at a level in the pasr, it’s not surprising he’s struggled making the second hardest jump in professional baseball. If he struggles in his next try at AA, then I would start writing him off as prospect. As I stated with Jansel Luis, he’s still young for the level, so it’s not that big of deal if he’s back in AA next season.
Sevilla signed for $750,000 on January 15th of 2026. He’s had a solid debut in the Domincan Summer league, hitting .293/.435/.395 with a 106 wRC+ in his first 53 games. Sevilla definitely lives up to that 70 grade speed, as he’s stolen 29 bases, though he has been caught seven times.
There’s not much else to say about Sevilla just yet as he’s likely three to four years away, he’s worth mentioning as a player expected to move through the farm system quickly, and for having all of his tools grade out as above average.
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 18: Ryan Feltner #18 of the Colorado Rockies pitches during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Ray Bahner/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
August hasn’t been kind to the Colorado Rockies.
A dreadful 0-6 homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians pushed their home losing streak up to nine games, tied for the longest home drought since the 1993 club accomplished that feat. It also puts the Rockies at 7-13 for August, on pace for their worst month since May.
They hope to turn the tides with a trip to the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Nationals for a four-game series. The Nats are also slumping, losers of their last four and eight of their last 10.
The Rockies come in with a 50-80 record to the Nationals’ 61-71. The two teams met at Coors Field back in July, with the Nats taking two of three games.
Ryan Feltner is set to take the mound for the Rockies, his 20th start of the season. So far, he is 5-7 with a 5.97 ERA, a 1.533 WHIP, and 64 strikeouts. He got lit up by the Dodgers in his last start, surrendering seven runs on eight hits in five innings of work.
Washington will counter with Cade Cavalli. Cavalli is 11-5 through 27 starts, with a 3.22 ERA, a 1.220 WHIP, and 162 strikeouts (11th most in the majors). His last start was a scoreless quality start, earning the win after six innings pitched with just three hits surrendered along with 11 strikeouts. He’s averaged nearly 10 strikeouts across his last three games. He’s also picked up a win in six of his last seven starts.
The two teams enter today’s matchup sharing a rough stretch recently, but the Nationals bring in a hotter starting pitcher on paper. Both teams’ bats have struggled as of late, so today might come down to who blinks first.
MIAMI, FL - AUGUST 11: The Miami Marlins mascot Billy the Marlin waves a flag after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates at loanDepot park on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Owen Gupta/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Sweep! The best kind of weekend. Didn’t hurt that it was an NL West team. Those Diambondbacks were kinda pesky too. Nice to just finish the week at 5-1.
Ranger Suarez needed a good outing against those Dbacks and he, well, sorta kinda got it. There was a grand slam but the Boston bats carried the team to a 9-4 victory. Suarez and the ‘pen allowed just those four runs. Sandy Alcantara was an ace. Then he got hurt. Last season he was back but a mess and this year has had some rough spots. But the last month he’s been cruising. Seven innings in three of his last five starts. He didn’t even allow a run over three of his last five outings. He’s not back to his 8.0 bWAR form from 2023 but he’s leading the NL in innings and starts and looking healthy.
Payton Tolle was a little bit of a hard luck loser last time out. He wasn’t at his best but a few bad bounces and one thing led to another and it was a less than perfect outing for the team’s most enthusiastic jumper. Is he running out of gas as the innings pile up? Maybe? But his two starts before this were each masterpieces. The Red Sox are seemingly trying to find him extra rest but so far he’s still just having an impressive first full MLB season. His opponent hasn’t been announced, maybe the Sox finally catch a team short handed?
Closing out the series is legitimate Cy Young candidate Sonny Gray. Last time out against the Giants wasn’t his best work but 4 runs in 7.0 innings is enough for the offense to work with. Ryan Gusto has made 12 starts in his 17 appearances this year and has tossed 57.2 innings in total. He strikes out 8.0 per nine innings and has 3.40 times as many Ks as BBs. The righty has two starts longer than 4.2 innings and also rarely (4 times) goes over 68 pitches. This is one to watch if Nick Sogard starts fouling off pitches early.
Remember Otto Lopez? Big time trade candidate? He’s hitting just .215/.273/.241. So, small sample size and all but when you’ve got Sogard on the roster who needs the Otto mobile.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Monday, August 24: Ranger Suarez (3.41 ERA / 2.87 FIP) vs. Sandy Alcantara (3.46 ERA / 3.84 FIP)
Tuesday, August 25: Payton Tolle (3.08 ERA / 3.16 FIP) vs. TBD (— ERA / — FIP)
Wednesday, August 26: Sonny Gray (2.79 ERA / 3.60 FIP) vs. Ryan Gusto (4.37 ERA / 4.00 FIP)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 23: Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres hits a single during the sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Petco Park on August 23, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Mike Nowak/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This was a good weekend to be a San Diego Padres fan. The Friars finished off a sweep of the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t much of a contest. The Padres slugged out eight runs against the Twins, with three homers. Two came from Fernando Tatis Jr., and one from Jackson Merrill. In doing so, Merrill added to the first 20/20 season of his career.
It was a potent weekend for the Padres’ offense. They should be able to continue that against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see some regression in the coming series. Hopefully, San Diego can keep the good vibes rolling as they march toward the postseason. With their win Sunday, the Padres are two games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Wild Card.
Taking the mound
Braxton Ashcraft (PIT) v. Robbie Ray (SD)
Ashcraft has pitched well in what has been a surprisingly stalwart Pittsburgh rotation. The right-hander owns a 3.68 ERA with 13 wins for the Pirates. The strikeout numbers look good as well, with 159 Ks in 149 1/3 innings pitched. He’ll be a tough opponent for the Friars in what should be an interesting matchup.
That said, the righty has regressed a bit since his stellar rookie season in 2025. After posting a 2.71 ERA in 69 2/3 innings working as a swingman, his ERA has bumped up a bit this year. That’s to be expected, as Ashcraft transferred to a full-time starting role with the Pirates, but it’s still noteworthy.
Since joining the Friars, Ray has looked solid in each of his starts. His debut with San Diego wasn’t the best (4 ER, 5.0 IP), but he’s looked stellar since then. The lefty has given up just three runs on five hits in his last 10 innings of work. His bigger problem has been limiting walks, with six free passes in that same time.
Not many of the Pirates have faced Ray before. The only hitter with more than 10 at-bats against the left-hander is veteran Brandon Lowe (14). The second baseman owns an abysmal .143 average against Ray in that time. That should bode well for the Friars, as it’s possible that tonight could turn into a pitching duel in Petco Park.
Batter up!
This is Tatis’ second multi-homer game in the last five games. It’s an incredible turnaround from the same player who didn’t hit his first home run until May 30. Tatis has put the Friars on his back while carrying the club towards the playoffs. He’s been a massive contributor in their second-half surge.
Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
Jake Cronenworth, 2B
Manny Machado, 3B
Ty France, 1B
Jackson Merrill, CF
Gavin Sheets, DH
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Luis Rengifo, LF
Freddy Fermin, C
Not many of the Padres have faced Ashcraft before. They’ll have to be able to adapt to the righty quickly, otherwise it’ll be a quick loss for San Diego. Of the two Friars who have faced him (Jake Cronenworth and Freddy Fermin) the duo is 1-for-2 with a double.
Relief corps
The Padres needed a performance like this from starter Walker Buehler, and they got it. Buehler pitched six pristine innings, giving up a lone run to Brooks Lee on a solo shot. After that, Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui covered the final three innings, each giving up a hit.
That will allow the Friars to be creative if Ray stumbles in his start tonight. San Diego has Griffin Canning, Kyle Hart, Jeremiah Estrada, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Bradgley Rodriguez available out of the ‘pen. Canning just pitched four scoreless innings for the Padres on Saturday so it seems unlikely he pitches. Estrada will likely be the first out of the bullpen given his lack of usage lately.
Sean Newcomb started the week, and closed it, as the team’s opener. | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The White Sox week started by getting walked off on back-to-back nights, there was a midweek goose egg to lose a makeup game to Atlanta, and then the pitching gave up 10 runs to a Mets team that is well worse than .500. Oh, and not to mention, it’s the middle of a 16-game stretch, so Chicago’s pitching staff was extremely taxed.
So much so that when Will Venable was asked this week what the plan was for the North Side portion of the Crosstown Classic, he told reporters there wasn’t one. I am no idiot. I know this was likely a half-truth. There had to be concepts of a plan. That plan was “The Opener.”
Following a loss that was lead off by and ended by Pete Crow-Armstrong home runs, Bryan Hudson was tapped to start Tuesday’s duel against the Cubs. He gave up a pair of homers in his opening inning before he turned it over to Erick Fedde for 4 2/3 innings of scoreless work. In the end, Huascar Brazobán and his one-third of an inning would be enough to lose Fedde the bid for the win and allow Alex Bregman to walk things off in the ninth.
Sean Newcomb opened the last game at Wrigley. He earned one more inning than Hudson did the day prior, keeping the game scoreless before turning things over to the bulk reliever. The strategy worked well for the White Sox, with José Urquidy going six innings and striking out eight Cubbies en route to a 3-0 victory to avoid a sweep. Sometimes veterans still have some of that young stud left in them. It’s nice when they allow it to peak out in-between the past-their-prime outings.
Only the Cubs (15) and the Orioles (11) hit more home runs than the White Sox (10) this week. The first of those teams does not surprise me, because the North Side Chicago club hit five of them on Monday and Tuesday alone. Three of those were hit by Crow-Armstrong. That is the same number of home runs we hit the entire series. Word of advice to pitching coach Zach Bove and Venable, maybe just walk him next time.
Speaking of hitting long balls at Wrigley Field. Munetaka Murakami graced the Friendly Confines with a Mune Bomb. I can only hope that there are many more balls sailing to the bleachers to come in this rivalry for the young Japanese star.
With the Crosstown Classic wrapping up this week, it is apparent that this series finally means something again. For all the trash talk that goes on between these fan bases, these two teams are competitive at the same time for the first time in a while. It is exciting to see fans and players invested in this clash.
The season series ended with a 3-3 draw. Half of these games were decided by one run, and 22 balls left the ballpark over the season series. Should playoff baseball be gracious enough to grant itself to both teams this season, October is going to be an exciting month for the City of Chicago.
In-between a series loss to the Cubs and a series win to the Mets was a lone game with the Atlanta Braves. The game was a reschedule of the June 11 rainout. If you can recall all the way back to June, the Pale Hose already took the first two games of the series from the NL East-leading team. A win on Thursday would have completed the sweep, but instead the squad accumulated just one hit and two walks in the 2-0 loss. Anthony Kay had a stellar outing, going six innings, giving up two runs, and striking out six, but Grant Holmes outdueled him by taking a no-hitter deep into the contest.
Sean Burke was the starter in Friday’s win, not aligning with Will’s opener strategy. The righthander gave up the only four runs of the game in his six-inning outing. He may it have earned himself a quality start or a decision in the outing, but he did stop the bleeding enough to allow the White Sox to catch up on back-to-back-to-back home runs by Miguel Vargas, Randal Grichuk and Colson Montgomery.
Vargas is continuing to rake. The third baseman slashed .381/.581/.619 this week, with two doubles and a home run. He also drew at least one walk in every game of the week except for Tuesday’s. His patience at the plate paid off on Saturday when he went 1-for-1 with four walks. The All-Star actually led MLB this week by being the only player to draw double-digit walks, with 10.
A special thank you to Jake Rogers who sent a dinger over the right field fence to avoid extra innings and walk the game off in style on Elvis Night. For those who have seen the video of the woman who lost the contents of her purse celebrating retrieving Rogers’ ball, she reported from the train that she was able to get all of her items back in her bag. The catcher and excited fan reunited on Sunday for the return of the home run ball.
The Saturday loss to New York’s National Leaguers was the solidification of a rough week for Luis Castillo. The righthander only went 4 2/3 innings at Wrigley during his outing on Monday night, but starter had an even shorter outing against the Mets, going just 2 2/3 innings in the weekend’s 10-5 loss. In his brief time on the mound, he surrendered four earned runs on eight hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. At best, Castillo’s trade deadline acquisition would get the team a few key victories, but the hope was at the worst he would be an innings-eater for the team. So far, Castillo isn’t even holding up the innings-eater end of the bargain. In his four starts with Chicago, Castillo has only made it out of the fifth inning one time: his seven-inning outing against the Reds.
On Sunday, Newcomb once again got the opening two innings before Fedde was asked to complete four innings of scoreless pitching. He did his job, and kept the back-end of the bullpen out of the game until the seventh. A walk-off home run by Tristan Peters proved the opener strategy successful, accounting for two-thirds of the wins for the week.
The South Siders have three games against the Texas Rangers between them and an off-day. Chicago ended Sunday 3 ½ games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians, who went 5-1 this week. The Ohio team’s skid is looking to be only temporary, so the White Sox can’t afford to let up.
Jake Bauers, 30, is a former seventh-round pick who reached as high as baseball’s No. 75 prospect in 2017 while with the Rays. But once he finally broke through to the majors, he never really found success outside of some solid power numbers. Across parts of four seasons with the Rays, Guardians, Mariners, and Yankees, Bauers had -1.5 bWAR with a rough .211/.302/.361 line, though he did slug 39 homers and drive in 140 across 412 games.
Bauers caught on with the Brewers in 2024, and while he continued to struggle that year — .199/.301/.361 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs — he turned a new leaf in the second half of 2025 after returning from injury. From September 5 through the end of the regular season, Bauers appeared in 19 games, hitting .378/.472/.600 with two homers, four doubles, and nine RBIs across 53 plate appearances.
He kept it rolling in six games in the postseason, hitting .308/.357/.615 with a homer, a double, and three RBIs, and he picked up right where he left off in 2026.
This season, Bauers has played in 118 games, with a .273/.382/.503 line, slugging a team-high 23 homers, 19 doubles, 75 RBIs, 76 runs, and nine steals. It’s a welcome development for the veteran first baseman/outfielder.
South Bend Cubs mascot Swoop, right, takes off his jersey with help from mascot Stu D. Baker to reveal a Hawaiian shirt underneath at the end of Swoop's final game on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024, at Four Winds Field in South Bend. Swoop was the primary mascot of the South Bend Silver Hawks from 1997-2015 before the team aligned with the Chicago Cubs. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co
The Diamondbacks took two out of three against the Reds the hard way, including a last minute come from behind win and a loss where they gave up 11 runs, losing two pitchers in the aftermath. But they also got Drey Jameson back, and I for one still believe there’s hope he’ll be a productive big leaguer. And nothing else of any importance happened, once again.
The Cubs at one point looked like they were going to run away with the first Wild Card, and they are still cruising to the post season, no doubt. However, that seeding is suddenly in question given the meteoric rise of the Philadelphia Phillies. At one point they were as up by as much as seven games, but that’s shrunk down to four and the Phillies don’t seem to want to stop winning. A strong series by the Diamondbacks here and their playoff picture could look drastically different.
Game 1 — 8/24, 6:40 PM: Merrill Kelly (-0.4 bWAR, 8-11, 5.37 ERA/79 ERA+, 1.51 WHIP) vs. Kevin Gausman (0.9 bWAR, 6-11, 4.58 ERA/96 ERA+, 1.29 WHIP)
It takes a certain level of skill to be both the best free agent signing a General Manager has had, and also simultaneously be the worst. Merrill Kelly is giving it his best effort, though. He’s got a ways to go before he matches the likes of Madision Bumgarner and Jordan Montgomery, but he’s well on his way. In his last five starts, he has given up five or more runs three times, including giving up six in each of his last two starts. His walks have jumped, his strike outs are down, and innings pitched is also trending down a bit as well. All in all, not a good time for Kelly recently.
Gausman is one of the Cubs deadline acquisitions this year, and it’s been a mixed bag. First time out, he went seven innings, only gave up two runs, it was great. The next two starts… not so much. He didn’t make it out of the fifth inning in either game. That first short start he gave up six runs in route to a 7-0 Cubs loss to the Nationals. The second, he kept the White Sox to three runs, but still couldn’t get past 4.1 inning. The rest of the season, he’s been solid, even if it’s a bit of a down year compared to what he normally throws. The Diamondbacks shouldn’t go into the game expecting a pushover.
Pfaadt was on a killer run leading up to his last start, but definitely hit a road block. A 5.1 inning, five run outing is a hell of a way to end a scoreless streak and that’s exactly what he did. Hopefully it’s not a sign of things to come and Pfaadt will pick back up where he left off.
A what-could-have-been matchup. Of course the Diamondbacks were in on Clay Holmes until the very end until the Mets decided to go a different direction. It’s worked out about as well for the Cubs as we would have hoped it to work out for us. He is sitting at a 2.81 ERA versus the 2.39 he put up with the Mets. Nothing crazy different there. To be noted, his FIP with the Mets was 3.20 and it’s now 4.21 with the Cubs. Looking back at his career, typically his FIP and ERA are decently aligned, so there may be room for the Diamondbacks offense to make some noise and regression.
Game 3 — 8/26, 12:40 PM: Eduardo Rodriguez (4.9 bWAR, 13-4, 2.61 ERA/162 ERA+, 1.20 WHIP) vs. Matthew Boyd (0.3 bWAR, 8-2, 4.15 ERA/98 ERA+, 1.24 WHIP)
Rodriguez continues his Cy Young caliber season. He wasn’t scored upon against the Reds when arguably they needed a stopper more than anything. Before that, he held the Braves and Dodgers, two very potent offenses of course, to just two runs apiece. He continues to be the foundation of the Diamondbacks starting rotation this season, and no reason to assume that won’t continue.
Boyd missed about six weeks earlier this season after he, and I’m not kidding, bent down to pick up his kid’s Legos and tore the meniscus in his left knee. He did clarify later that he believed he had already been dealing with a torn meniscus, but that specific motion is what finished the job, but still, not something to look forward to, as I find myself ten months past my thirtieth birthday. Anyway, he’s been aggressively fine for the Cubs, some good games, some not so good, but overall nothing terrible or spectacular.
Conclusion
Like I said in the last series preview, they’re all must wins until further notice. There are only 32 games left, and to realistically have a shot at the playoffs, they’ll need to get to 88+ wins. That means going no worse than 19-13 the rest of the way. Basically, they need to win every series, with maybe one mulligan mixed in there. The Cubs are another good team, no way around that one, but especially since they have both Pfaadt and E-Rod going for them this series, I think they have a chance. And hey, maybe Kelly remembers how to pitch and they can even sneak in a sweep. But a series win is probably our best outcome.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 23: Cody Freeman #39 of the Texas Rangers runs the bases on his RBI triple during the second inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Field on August 23, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Texas Rangers lineup for August 24, 2026 against the Chicago White Sox: starting pitchers are Kumar Rocker for the Rangers and Jose Urquidy for the ChiSox.
Texas hits the road for a six game road trip, starting tonight with the first of three in Chicago against the White Sox. Former Astro Jose Urquidy, acquired by Chicago from Pittsburgh a month ago, makes his first major league start since he was with Houston in 2023. Urquidy was very good against the Rangers when he was with the Astros…in the regular season, at least.
The lineup:
Pederson — DH
Seager — SS
Langford — LF
Nimmo — RF
Duran — 3B
Carter — CF
Burger — 1B
Diaz — C
Freeman — 2B
6:40 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +117 underdogs.
Former Husky left-handed pitcher Andrew Sears made his MLB debut over the weekend for the Detroit Tigers, and made a bit of history in doing so. Sears joins George Springer, Kyler Fedko, Ben Casparius, PJ Poulin and Anthony Kay as UConn baseball alums who have appeared in a Major League Baseball game in 2026, the most players in an individual season in program history.
Sears, a West Warwick, Rhode Island, native, pitched the 2023 spring in Storrs after transferring over from Division III Rhode Island College. He made 14 starts for the Huskies and had 74 strikeouts in 62 innings pitched with a 6.24 ERA. His best outing as a Husky came on April 21, 2023 when he struck out 11 in seven innings against Georgetown. He was drafted in the 10th round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Tigers.
The left-hander worked his way up through the minor leagues and pitched to a 2.16 ERA in 58.1 innings pitched across four levels in the Detroit system this season, a majority of which with Double-A Erie. In two appearances with Triple-A Toledo, Sears didn’t allow an earned run in 9.2 innings while punching out 14.
In his debut on Sunday, Sears came in in relief and served as the “bulk guy” for the afternoon in a bullpen game against the Kansas City Royals. He pitched four innings and allowed five runs on six hits while striking out three, getting credited with the loss in the 11-7 defeat.
Sears becomes the 22nd UConn player to debut in the majors, the second this season alone along with Fedko. He is also the first player during the new era of NIL and the transfer portal to transfer into UConn and get drafted, perhaps becoming the trailblazer into what will become the norm not just in the program, but what has become the norm in college athletics.
Yankee Stadium. July 19, 2026 | Michael Elizondo / True Blue LA
Once again, the All-Star Break came and went, and MLB schedules have been released with varying fanfare. The Dodgers used to at least try. Not anymore.
Once again, in July, I broke down the entire 2027 schedule in real-time as it slowly populated on the Dodgers’ website.
This year, there is a giant elephant in the room: the pending 2027 lockout of the players by the owners. There are those who think there will be no disruption to the schedule. Some would call them optimists; some would call them naive. I am not in that camp.
I have publicly predicted that, in the best-case scenario, we will get at most half a schedule in 2027. I would like to recant that prediction: we are getting at most 60 games in 2027. As to why, the league is spewing propaganda at an alarming rate, which merits its own essay on a different day.
However, maybe I am wrong. And it is better to hope for the best while planning for the worst.
Some of you may not enjoy traveling and prefer to visit Dodger Stadium. I understand and salute you, as Dodger Stadium needs its regular denizens, unless you want to take a stand due to the organization’s recent actions.
Under the elephant-sized assumption that we get a full 2027, this year will be the first year since going on the payroll that I will largely abstain from road travel. Fun is fun, but I finished the circuit back in Philadelphia. Taking it easy is my own just reward.
In the old days, I started planning for away travel the day the following year’s schedule is released and finalized details such as flights, tickets, and hotels six months before the games. I also set up price alerts to ensure I do not miss a good deal. If I were planning my usual slate of 13-17 away games, I would do the same but opt to purchase travel insurance for flights in case the tickets become moot.
Most U.S. airlines will allow you to cancel a flight for airline credit, but converting it back into cash is preferred because most U.S. airlines do not make it easy to redeem that airline credit, unlike, say, Amazon, which auto-deducts any credit first.
For a home game at Dodger Stadium, you will have 82 chances in 2027. I do not live in Los Angeles, but stadium giveaways would likely guide me, which have not been released yet. To help break down the currently planned schedule for next year, this essay will cover each scheduled series, provide comments, and link to any relevant Guide entries, if applicable.
The Dodgers’ 2027 schedule*
*assuming a full slate of 162 games
We are on the Boston cycle, and the Dodgers will not visit Sacramento, Houston, the Southside of Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, the Bronx, and Minneapolis in the 2027 regular season, as those teams will instead visit Dodger Stadium. If you did not go to these locations in 2026, you must wait until 2028, at the earliest.
All series are three games, unless otherwise noted. No two-game series on the current schedule.
April 1-11 — 4 at Colorado Rockies, at Arizona Diamondbacks, at San Diego Padres: Starting off with a three-city, NL West-only jaunt is one way to start the traveling portion of the schedule. Personally, I would rather have interdivision games to start the year and end the year to spice up the proceedings.
April in Colorado will likely be cold and/or snowy. The other two destinations would likely be fine and/or lively.
In 2023, the Dodgers went to Cleveland before going to Boston. Logistically, the pairing makes sense. It is easy to forget that the last time the Dodgers went to Boston, it was part of a three-city road trip involving Cincinnati and the minor league facilities in Tampa Bay.
May 28-June 6 —at Anaheim Angels, at Milwaukee Brewers, 4 at Chicago Cubs
A de facto home series followed by a week in or near Chicago. Californians tend to forget that Milwaukee is only an hour’s drive from Chicago, with the team likely to return to the “haunted” Pfister Hotel.
I am surprised it has taken this long for an all-Florida road trip to happen. Still, if a Florida-based Dodgers fan were to spend all week bouncing between Tampa and Miami, it would certainly save on travel costs.
June 28-July 4 — vs. Washington, 4 vs. New York Mets(last homestand before All-Star Break)
July 6-11 — at Pittsburgh, at New York Mets (last road trip before All-Star Break)
Unfortunately, if one held romantic notions about taking a train from Pittsburgh to New York, I would remind them it’s likely a 9-hour one-way trip. Flying is the order of the day between these two locales, which is a shame, considering a Philadelphia-to-New York connection would not have the same problem.
An interesting road trip. Baltimore and Cincinnati in August will likely be quite hot and sticky. Still, if I were to pick one road trip to go on in 2027, this set would be the one. Admittedly, Mom has already picked Baltimore for her 2027 trip, so one must turn lemons into lemonade.
It took almost six months, but the Dodgers will play the other half of their Opening Week matchup. One should visit Kansas City at least once in their life; however, Labor Day week is not the ideal choice for weather and sports reasons.
September 10-19 — vs. San Diego, vs. Toronto Blue Jays, 4 vs. Arizona (last homestand of the regular season)
September 21-26 — at Colorado, at Arizona (final road trip of the regular season)
Finishing on the road against the Rockies and Diamondbacks is a choice to be sure. Still, I am sure someone outside of Diamondbacks HQ was clamoring for seven matchups between the Dodgers and D-Backs in the 2027 campaign’s waning moments.
For those optimistic souls, it’s time to start planning travel for the upcoming campaign. Assuming things go to plan, which is a giant assumption at the moment, which 2027 series are you looking forward to? Be sure to point it out in the comments.
BRADENTON, FLORIDA - MARCH 20, 2026: Termarr Johnson #81 of the Pittsburgh Pirates bats during the first inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Detroit Tigers at LECOM Park on March 20, 2026 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
The Pirates hit multiple home runs in the first round of the MLB draft over the past four years, beginning with Paul Skenes in 2023.
Skenes, Konnor Griffin, and Seth Hernandez possess some of the best young talent in all of baseball and were selected in three consecutive drafts from 2023 to 2025.
The Pirates’ first-round pick before Skenes hasn’t panned out nearly as well.
Pittsburgh selected second baseman Termarr Johnson fourth overall in 2022. Johnson was regarded as the best prep bat available and one of the top high school hitters the draft had seen in years.
Fast forward four years and a once bright future looks darker than the Pirates’ current playoff hopes.
Standing at 5-foot-7 and 200 pounds, the young middle infielder hit under .200 at Triple-A Indianapolis before suffering a season-ending left knee injury.
Johnson underwent surgery on Thursday to repair his left ACL and also endured an LCL procedure.
It’s a serious injury that could affect a portion of his 2027 season and was described by Pirates Senior Director of Sports Medicine Todd Tomczyk as “pretty traumatic” when he spoke to the media last week.
In 96 games, Johnson slashed .199/.336/.319 with a career-low .655 OPS, 90 points lower than last year.
He is only a career .239 hitter over five years in the minor leagues over 467 games. Johnson slugged 14 doubles, eight home runs, and drove in 37 runs prior to the injury, but he has always left more to be desired.
A strong contact-first approach was Johnson’s calling card out of high school and was expected to hit for a high average. His best mark came in a full season with the Double-A Altoona Curve last year, hitting .272 in 119 games.
Johnson struck out 101 times this season, over a strikeout per game, and isn’t an elite defender at second.
Will Johnson ever figure it out in the minor leagues before he even gets a crack at the majors?
His home run totals have plummeted every season after a career-best 18 during his first full year of pro baseball in 2023.
It hasn’t clicked. Johnson hasn’t rapidly advanced through the minor leagues like many projected he would.
The former No. 4 overall pick used to be a top 50 prospect in the sport. Now he is the 19th best prospect in the Pirates’ own farm system, according to MLB Pipeline.
The odds of Johnson becoming the Pirates’ second baseman of the future continue to plummet, especially with Nick Gonzales emerging as one of the best contact hitters in baseball and likely moving to second if Brandon Lowe leaves in free agency.
The power isn’t there. The highly-regarded hit tool has taken a hit. Fielding leaves some to be desired.
Johnson is in jeopardy of falling into a category with Tony Sanchez, Travis Swaggerty, Will Craig, and others who never panned out as Pirates first-round picks.
He is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason and will need to be protected by the Pirates and added to the 40-man roster.
The Pirates have a decision on their hands for what could be the worst draft pick of the Ben Cherington era.
Welcome to your fantasy baseball starting pitcher happy place. This is a new column for me this year that will combine a few things I've done in the past. In this article, every Monday, you'll not only get a list of my favorite streaming starting pitchers for the whole week, but underneath that, you'll get a breakdown of a few pitchers who are making interesting changes to their pitch mix. Today I covered Andrew Painter, Kade Anderson, Tyler Mahle, and Grayson Rodriguez.
It's a little bit of rankings and a little bit of analysis, and hopefully a lot of help for your teams.
As far as which pitchers on this list you'll want to stream, your decisions will change based on your league type and settings. Since I'm listing starters for the whole week, I won't be able to provide a detailed analysis for each one; I'll highlight the matchup and offer some quick thoughts. As is usual with my articles, a streaming starter pitcher is rostered in less than 40% of Yahoo formats, so just keep that in mind as we’re going through because I won't be mentioning pitchers who are rostered in more leagues than that. I also won't be mentioning pitchers that I would not start in any format.
George Klassen has had two really good starts in a row because he's thrown strikes for two starts in a row. Can you trust him to do it again? I dunno. Throwing strikes consistently has always been a problem for him. I understand if you want to roll the dice, but it's a risk. Jose Urquidy has a mildly interesting two-start week and looked pretty good in his last appearance for the White Sox. I think that could be a decent gamble.
Tuesday
Strong Preference
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Clay Holmes
41%
at ARI
12s and deeper
Fairly Confident
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Anthony Kay
17%
vs TEX
12s and deeper
Jackson Jobe
21%
vs TB
12s and deeper
Andrew Alvarez
8%
vs COL
15s and deeper
Adrian Houser
3%
vs CIN
15s and deeper
Brady Singer
19%
at SF
15s and deeper
Chris Bassitt
6%
at STL
15s and deeper
Max Scherzer
6%
vs KC
15s and deeper
Some Hesitation
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Seth Lugo
24%
at TOR
15s and deeper
Gage Jump
13%
vs MIN
15s and deeper
Jack Leiter
13%
at CWS
15s and deeper
Ethan Pecko
1%
at NYY
AL-Only
Clay Holmes is just over the threshold, but I just wanted to highlight him briefly here. I also think Anthony Kay has a decent matchup here, and Adrian Houser has been pitching much better since coming out of the bullpen for the Giants. Jackson Jobe is struggling to miss bats, but the raw stuff is still there, so I can see taking a chance, and Brady Singer has a good matchup here. Max Scherzer has a good two-start week on paper, and three of his last four starts have been decent, so I understand taking the gamble in deeper formats. There are very few strikeouts anymore though.
Wednesday
Strong Preference
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Dustin May
33%
at NYM
12s and deeper
Landen Roupp
30%
vs CIN
12s and deeper
Fairly Confident
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Will Dion
0%
vs COL
12s and deeper
J.T. Ginn
32%
vs MIN
15s and deeper
Some Hesitation
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Connor Prielipp
5%
at ATH
15s and deeper
J.T. Ginn
32%
vs MIN
15s and deeper
Grayson Rodriguez
7%
vs CLE
15s and deeper
AJ Smith-Shawver
9%
vs LAD
15s and deeper
Dustin May was awful in his last start, but I believe in a bounceback here in a good matchup, and I think Landen Roupp (and his new lower arm slot) should handle the Reds. Will Dion will serve as a bulk following for the Nationals against the Rockies, and so I really like his chances to steal a win in this one. He has been really good since coming over from the Guardians.
Thursday
Strong Preference
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Sean Manaea
31%
vs MIL
15s and deeper
Some Hesitation
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Hayden Wesneski
14%
at NYY
15s and deeper
Spencer Arrighetti
14%
vs KC
15s and deeper
Not a lot of games here on Thursday, but I think you can trust Sean Manaea and his increased velocity, but I can't trust Spencer Arrighetti or Hayden Wesneski against a Yankees lineup that is gonna throw a lot of lefties at him.
Friday
Strong Preference
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Jacob Lopez
28%
vs BAL
12s and deeper
Andrew Painter
15%
at LAA
All Leagues
Jared Jones
28%
at STL
All Leagues
Fairly Confident
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Christian Scott
30%
vs HOU
12s and deeper
Dean Kremer
11%
vs CWS
15s and deeper
Robert Gasser
8%
vs TEX
15s and deeper
Quinn Mathews
5%
vs PIT
15s and deeper
Some Hesitation
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Brandon Young
27%
at ATH
15s and deeper
Mitch Bratt
9%
at SF
15s and deeper
Patrick Sandoval
9%
at NYY
15s and deeper
David Peterson
19%
vs CIN
15s and deeper
Cody Bradford
11%
at MIL
15s and deeper
Jackson Kent
1%
vs MIA
NL-Only
This is a really good day for streaming. Jacob Lopez has been on a heater that we can't ignore, and Jared Jones is simply too good to fade against a struggling Cardinals offense. I also wrote below about the myriad changes that have been very in on Andrew Painter. I like what Dean Kremer is doing in Minnesota, and this isn't an awful matchup, and Christian Scott is going to face a lot of righties with the Astros, so this could work for him.
Saturday
Strong Preference
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Martin Perez
29%
vs COL
12s and deeper
Fairly Confident
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Cristian Javier
9%
at NYM
15s and deeper
Bryan Bello
10%
at NYY
15s and deeper
Daniel Lynch IV
7%
at CLE
15s and deeper
Jose Urquidy
1%
at MIN
15s and deeper
Janson Junk
7%
at WAS
15s and deeper
Some Hesitation
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Jake Bennett
40%
at NYY
15s and deeper
Cal Quantrill
36%
at MIL
15s and deeper
Carson Whisenhunt
2%
at ARI
15s and deeper
Elmer Rodriguez
2%
vs BOS
AL-Only
Martin Perez feels like a great bet for a win against the Rockies, and Brayan Bello has been good enough in the bulk relief role that I can use him here on a doubleheader day. Daniel Lynch IV was up to 59 pitches in his last outing, so maybe he pushes 70 pitches against the Guardians. That could work out for us. Cristian Javier is making good choices with his new cutter, and I have to believe that the results will eventually come around too. Janson Junk is just a ratios play against a struggling Nationals offense.
Sunday
Strong Preference
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Shane Drohan
26%
vs TEX
12s and deeper
Fairly Confident
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Matthew Liberatore
11%
vs PIT
15s and deeper
Andrew Alvarez
8%
vs MIA
15s and deeper
Max Scherzer
6%
vs SEA
15s and deeper
Some Hesitation
Pitcher
Roster%
Opponent
League Type
Chris Bassitt
6%
at ATH
15s and deeper
Zac Thornton
20%
vs HOU
15s and deeper
Seth Lugo
24%
at CLE
15s and deeper
Will Warren
42%
vs BOS
15s and deeper
Shane Drohan was back in the rotation this weekend, so if that continues, I like this spot for him. This is also the second start in the risky two-start weeks for Andrew Alvarez and Max Scherzer. Matthew Liberatore is also on the radar against a slumping Pirates offense.
Starting Pitcher Pitch Mix/Shape Changes
Andrew Painter - Phillies (Four-seam shape/velocity, New Changeup, Sweeper Shape)
I've talked a lot about Painter's changes recently and even mentioned him as Cade Cavalli 2.0 for a pitcher who completely re-invents himself in the middle of the season. Since rejoining the Phillies rotation on July 31st, Painter has a 3.62 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and 23.4% strikeout rate in 27.1 innings. However, I'm more excited than those results would suggest because he's been making small changes along the way and we're now seeing them all come together.
The first major changes were adding depth to his sweeper and tweaking his splitter into more of a true changeup. When he came back to the Phillies, his sweeper had three more inches of drop and an extra inch of sweep. However, he had also taken an 87.4 mph splitter with 10 inches of arm-side run and 6.8 inches of vertical drop and made it a 90.9 mph changeup with 13.3 inches of arm-side run and just 3.9 inches of drop. This changeup has a 40.2% zone rate and a 99th percentile strike rate of 70.6%. He isn't overly worried about burying it at the bottom of the strike zone, and he will throw it to both righties and lefties. Lefties get more changeups earlier in the count, but righties have seen the changeup most often in two-strike counts over the last five starts, and it's posted an elite 38.5% PutAway Rate as a sneaky whiff offering. It's a legit weapon for him, and he's using it 23% of the time in these last five starts.
However, the biggest change may be the recent change to his four-seam shape. In a recent episode of "On the Corner," Nick Pollack and I referenced Cole Weintraub’s coverage of Painter’s four-seamer in recent starts. Painter told Weintraub that his four-seamer felt the best it has since before he had Tommy John surgery, and we've seen why in his last two outings. He's been up to 18 inches of vertical movement on the pitch and has added velocity, even hitting 100 mph on his final pitch of the game over the weekend. There doesn't appear to be a grip change for Painter, so it's likely connected to mechanical adjustments that have seen him lower his arm angle about five inches since returning to the rotation. It's possible that throwing from a lower slot has allowed him to get on top of the ball a little more. A lower arm slot would usually lead to more horizontal movement, but sometimes it's also just about a pitcher's comfort and unique biomechanics.
What we do know is that Painter has a harder fastball with more vertical movement, which covers a major weakness for him. He also has another secondary offering that he can both zone and miss bats with. When you pair that with a better sweeper, his harder slider, and a sinker and curve as complementary offerings, you have the profile of a young pitcher who could be turning into a legit difference maker.
Mahle was traded to the Braves in an underrated deadline move. In four starts with his new team, he has a 1.52 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and 24.7% strikeout rate in 23.2 innings. Some of this could simply be tied to the fact that his four-seamer has averaged 93.2 mph in those four starts and was up to 93.8 mph in his last outing. That's a nice improvement from the 92.7 mph he has averaged on the entire season. He's also keeping the four-seamer up in the zone 8% more often than he has on the year, which has led to a 12.7% SwStr% over these four starts; that's well up from his 8.2% mark on the season.
He has also leaned into his splitter far more often, throwing it 38% of the time with the Braves, after throwing it a little over 26% of the time with the Giants. He's also been throwing the splitter harder, averaging 87.8 mph in his last outing, which is almost two mph up from his season average. That has cost him some drop, but he has a 72% strike rate on the splitter with the Braves, which is up from 66% before being traded. He's missing slightly fewer bats, but now that he's throwing it more often, getting it in the zone more and getting weak contact is not a bad strategy. Especially when you pair it with a four-seamer that he's elevating up in the zone more often because the pitcher can work more in tandem.
Mahle also appears to be toying with the shape a little bit too, adding a bit more drop and horizontal cut in his last outing. The metrics of his cutter have been changing each start recently, which suggests he and the Braves are working on something, so that's another development we'll need to keep an eye on.
Kade Anderson - Mariners (MLB Debut)
Kade Anderson finally debuted on Saturday, and it wasn't much different than I thought it would be when I recorded a video about him on Friday. He threw 65.4% of his pitches for strikes and was able to locate his four-seamer up in the zone as he had all season in the minors. The issue was that, as Lance Brozdowski's tweet below shows, Anderson had far less spin and vertical movement on his four-seamer with the MLB ball. This isn't to say it will always be like this, but Anderson will need time to adjust to the new ball, which has different seams than the ball he was using in Double-A.
We saw a nice slider from Anderson in this debut too, with five whiffs and a 30% CSW. He kept it on the edges of the zone, and, much like with his changeup, for plenty of swings on pitches that were off the plate or on the edges. He also used his curveball 20% of the time to give him a true four-pitch mix. The fact that he threw 65.4% strikes but had a 33.3% zone rate speaks to just how good his command is. If the four-seam shape can begin to come back to what we saw in the minors, this type of approach will lead to high-end results. If we continue to get a four-seamer with far less vertical movement, that's going to lower Anderson's ceiling, but the command and deep pitch should give him a safe floor.
On August 11th, the Angels fired essentially their entire pitching coach staff because of a desire to shift into more modern technology and analytics. As you can see from the tweet below, in a really small sample size, the results have been good. Similarly, Grayson Rodriguez has been much better since late July, posting a 3.33 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 27.7% strikeout rate in his last 27 innings (five starts). So does his arsenal actually look better? Has anything changed since the firings, or is this just a coincidental good run?
This is wild..
The Angels basically fired their entire pitching coach staff to go full send on analytics, and they lead baseball with a 1.64-ERA since
The first thing I noticed when digging in was that Rodriguez has raised his arm angle. Back in the middle of July, he was throwing from a 36-degree arm angle, and that has continued to rise, with him throwing from a 39-degree angle in his last start last Thursday. As you might expect, that has changed the movement profile on a few of his pitches, namely his slider and curve.
In the middle of July, before raising his arm angle. Rodriguez's curve was 80.7 mph with about eight inches of vertical movement and 7.5 inches of horizontal movement. In his most recent outing, his curve was up to 82 mph with just 5.9 inches of drop and 3.8 inches of horizontal movement. That's a significantly tighter movement profile, which would make sense with the more over-the-top arm angle. He also threw 67 percent of his curves for strikes in this outing, which would be a major improvement from his 55% strike rate on the season. However, it was just three pitches, so we're not working with a large sample here. The curve has been tightening increasingly in recent starts, but this one feels a bit extreme, and he threw just 57% of them for strikes on August 14th, so the command hasn't clearly improved with the new arm angle.
As far as the slider goes, before the arm angle change, his slider averaged 84.6 mph with around zero inches of vertical movement and 5.5 inches of horizontal break. It was up to 87.2 mph in his last outing with 4.8 inches of rise and 3.8 inches of horizontal movement. He also had 3.8 inches of rise in the start before, so this is clearly a slider that is also getting harder and losing any vertical drop that it may have had. It's becoming far more of a cutter. He also threw 78 percent of them for strikes in this last outing, which is well up from his 60% rate on the season, so maybe the more cutter shape of the slider can help him command the pitch better.
The issue is that the harder/tighter shape of his two breaking pitches isn't getting him any more whiffs. Those two pitches combined for zero whiffs in his last start, five in the start before (four from the slider), and three in his start on the 9th. He is still relying primarily on his changeup for whiffs, which is tough for a right-handed pitcher. Especially one with a four-seamer that has below-average vertical movement.
All in all, none of these changes really excites me. I could see the cutter/slider being a decent pitch if he can locate it down and away from righties after elevating some four-seamers, but we're just not seeing that right now.
HARTFORD, CT - APRIL 02: Blake Adams #31 of the Hartford Yard Goats pitches during the game between the Chesapeake Baysox and the Hartford Yard Goats at Dunkin' Park on Thursday, April 2, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Ryan Desantis/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
The Colorado Rockies announced today that they have put Kyle Freeland on the 15-day injured list with cervical radiculopathy, retroactive to August 21st. Freeland left in the fourth inning of his start on August 19th against the Los Angeles Dodgers with the neck injury.
The Rockies announced today the following transactions: – Placed LHP Kyle Freeland on the 15-day IL (retroactive to Aug. 21) with cervical radiculopathy. – Selected the contract of RHP Blake Adams (#57) from Triple-A Albuquerque.
— Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) August 24, 2026
In 23 starts this season, Freeland, 33, is 4-10 with a 6.37 ERA. He is in the final year of his five-year, $64.5 million contract that included a player option for 2027 if he was able to reach 170 innings. Currently, Freeland has recorded 124.1 innings, so the IL stint makes it even less likely that the option will vest.
Additionally, the Rockies have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Blake Adams.
Adams, 25, was drafted by the Rockies in the 13th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Kansas State University. He began 2026 with the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats before being promoted to Triple-A Albuquerque in May.
In 17 appearances (two starts) with the ‘Topes, Adams has gone 2-5 with an 8.10 ERA across 50 innings.
UPDATE:
Thomas Harding is reporting that the Rockies will also select the contract of RHP Mason Adams as well.
The #Rockies are expected to call up RHP Mason Adams — part of the deal that sent CF Brenton Doyle to the #WhiteSox, to make his Major League debut tomorrow vs. the #National. LHP Kyle Freeland (pinched nerve in the neck) is expected to go to the 15-day IL. https://t.co/Tyx7I7Pmxq
According to Harding, Mason Adams (No. 17 PuRP) will make Freeland’s start against the Washington Nationals tomorrow night. Mason Adams came to the Rockies as part of the trade that sent Brenton Doyle to the Chicago White Sox. The 26 year old has a 2.08 ERA in three starts at Triple-A Albuquerque.
Presumably, Blake Adams, a reliever, will start join the Rockies for tonight’s game while Mason Adam’s promotion will be announced tomorrow.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - AUGUST 23: Daylen Lile #4 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with teammates after scoring a run against the Miami Marlins in the fourth inning of the game at loanDepot park on August 23, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Nationals are getting dangerously close to the basement of the National League East, as a 3-game sweep at the hands of Miami now has them 10 games below .500 and just 1.5 games above the last place New York Mets. Their month of August has been simply abysmal, with hopes for a playoff berth having crashed all the way down to attempting to avoid ending the year 5th in the division. Washington is 2-8 across their last 10 games, but luckily, they begin the homestand with the worst team in MLB.
At just 50 wins through 130 games, 2026 has been another hard-to-watch chapter of Rockies baseball. Colorado has lost their last 6 games, and is months removed from being in any type of conversation regarding October baseball. Their pitching, per usual, has been the anchor dragging their team down, so this week’s series could be a good time for the Nationals’ offense to come alive in a big way.
With the season all but over, Cavalli is one of the few reasons to continue tuning in to Nationals’ games, especially against a team like Colorado. He can drop his ERA below the 3.20-mark with another great outing, and Feltner’s struggles this season create a favorable matchup for the Washington hitters.
Freeland and Alvarez have been going in opposite directions this season, with the latter emerging as a potentially crucial piece to Washington’s future. His 2.42 ERA in August has continued his strong season, and a few more starts of similar caliber could earn his spot in the rotation next season.
Game Three – Wednesday, 6:45 PM ET
WSH: TBA COL: RHP Tanner Gordon (0-4, 5.75 ERA)
The Nats have yet to announce a starter for Wednesday night’s game, but whoever they start is likely to have better numbers than Gordon. He’s another part of a rough Colorado rotation, and Washington will likely deploy a handful of relievers with uncertainty at the back end of their staff.
It would certainly be nice to get any semblance of success from the 29-year-old Irvin, whose August ERA has ballooned above the 6.50 mark. Hughes hasn’t fared any better, riding a 6.54 ERA through his first 42.2 innings in the big leagues.
