Category: Baseball

There will be plenty of Los Angeles natives testing out their soccer skills ahead of Team USA’s 2026 World Cup opening match against Paraguay on June 12. And just about all of these people will learn they should stick to their day jobs.

One of these people is Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, who is scheduled to pitch against the Chicago White Sox on the road on Friday.

The Dodgers’ social media account posted a video of Sasaki and several other Dodgers testing out their soccer ball juggling skills on June 11.

Sasaki struggled, trying to juggle twice but only being able to tally three kicks (which was generous from whoever decided what made for a successful juggle) before kicking the ball and walking away.

While this wasn’t the best display from Sasaki, several other Dodgers players were impressive with their juggling abilities.

The leader in the clubhouse was outfielder Andy Pages, who juggled the ball a staggering 83 times.

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Sasaki wasn’t the only player who should stick to baseball. Starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto could only tally five juggles before kicking the ball away, and catcher Dalton Rushing only got to six juggles.

Mookie Betts is widely considered one of the most versatile and athletes players in Major League Baseball. But that athleticism doesn’t translate to soccer, as his two juggles were the worst out of any player the Dodgers caught on camera.

Team USA star Christian Pulisic would probably not be too proud of the effort Betts produced. Then again, nobody would expect Pulisic to excel if they told him to step in the batter’s box and try to connect with a 95 mph fastball.

PITTSBURGH –– Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani left the team’s 8-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday with left knee inflammation, but is not believed to have suffered any serious injury and could be back in the lineup as soon as Friday, manager Dave Roberts said.

“Not high,” Roberts said when asked about his concern level with the four-time MVP. “Just wanted to be smart and not push it. So I feel good about him being in there tomorrow.”

While it wasn’t exactly clear when Ohtani got hurt, Roberts said he believed it happened on a stolen base attempt in the fourth inning, when Ohtani broke hard from first on a pitch that wound up being fouled off.

Around the sixth inning, Roberts said he got word from the training staff about Ohtani’s discomfort –– which was in the back of his leg around where the knee meets the hamstring.

At that point, the Dodgers decided to be “proactive,” Roberts said, and remove Ohtani from the game.

When Ohtani’s spot in the batting order came up in the seventh, it was Santiago Espinal who came to the plate as a pinch-hitter.

“We’ll just kind of see how he comes in [tomorrow],” Roberts said, with the Dodgers set to travel to Chicago for the start of a three-game series against the White Sox on Friday. “He’ll get there, do his routine, play catch, push off, land on it, see how it reacts. And then obviously take swings and see how it reacts, too.”

Ohtani’s injury was the second one to force a Dodgers player from Thursday’s game, after starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski exited in the fifth following a comebacker that struck him in the leg.

The team announced that Wrobleski, who was charged with four runs in his 4 ⅔-innings start, had suffered a right hamstring contusion.

However, the left-hander also appeared to avoid anything serious, with Roberts saying he was “very, very confident” that Wrobleski would be able to start in his next turn through the rotation.

“I’ll get some treatment, get the swelling to go down and I’ll be good to go,” Wrobleski echoed. “It’s a little bruise right now, but I’ll be fine.”

Prior to Ohtani’s departure, the two-way star was putting together another banner night.

He led off the game with a walk in the first, then lined a solo home run to right field to open the scoring in the third inning –– giving him his 13th home run of the year, and two in as many nights.

Ohtani then got a two-run rally started in the fourth with a two-out single; beginning the sequence that Roberts believes led to his injury. 

With Andy Pages at the plate, Ohtani attempted his steal of second early in the at-bat. Then, after the foul ball sent him back to first, he raced all the way to third on a single Pages hit to left field.

“I haven’t talked to Shohei yet, but my assumption is it was trying to steal second base,” Roberts said. “Obviously, I think that you just gotta be smart on the bases and not take chances we don’t really need to. But if that was the cause, I don’t really know right now.”

Ohtani later scored in the inning on another base hit from Freddie Freeman, able to jog across the plate without a throw coming home.

He took one more at-bat in the top of the fifth, when he drew a two-out walk and was left stranded at first.

Thursday marked the first time in more than a month that Ohtani was playing the day after a pitching start. On Wednesday, he pitched 6 ⅔ innings in a loss to the Pirates, and also had a home run in the ninth inning as a hitter. Unlike his past four trips to the mound, the Dodgers decided not to rest him the day after, a decision Roberts said earlier this week was based in part on the team having just recently had a day off on Monday.

Ohtani’s left leg is the one he lands on when he pitches, though Roberts noted “you could argue that it’s better [being] the landing leg versus the push off.”

Ohtani also has had an injury to his left knee before, undergoing surgery in September 2019 to repair a bipartite patella.

However, Roberts said Thursday’s issue was in a different spot.

“He’s the best player in the world, [so] hopefully he’s okay,” Freeman said. “I have no idea about anything. I just saw Santiago go up there. Hopefully he’s alright.”

The source of Wrobleski’s injury was much easier to pinpoint, as he took a 96.2 mph comebacker from Bryan Reynolds off his leg in the fifth inning before getting tangled with Reynolds at first while covering the base.

Wrobleski immediately bent down in discomfort, then walked off the field alongside a trainer.

“He’s fine,” Roberts said. “He’s just more frustrated with his performance tonight, and wanted to go deeper in the game.”

Indeed, in the at-bat prior to getting hurt, Wrobleski had allowed a three-run home run to Brandon Lowe. And after Reynolds came around to score later in the inning, what had once been a 5-0 Dodgers lead was trimmed to 5-4.

Alas, the team held on to secure its first series victory at PNC Park since 2021, getting a couple of insurance runs from Miguel Rojas in the seventh (on a run-scoring grounder) and the eighth (on a sacrifice fly) before Tanner Scott locked things down with a four-out save.

“It’s always good to win a series,” Roberts said.

Even better when –– they hope –– they were able to avoid two potential injury concerns to two starting pitchers, one of whom is also their most fearsome bat.

There hasn’t been a better White Sox debut since Wilson Álvarez kicked off his Chicago career by throwing a no-hitter at Baltimore in 1991, so BreakingT broke out the big art guns with their newest bit of Soxwear: Welcome to the Show, Kid!

This design, even by the high BreakingT standards, is outstanding: Braden jogging home after taking in the fact that he just become the only player in MLB history to debut and hit a walk-off homer to win a game in which his team was trailing. Mix in Chase Meidroth with his come-to-papa squat and Mike Vasil ON THE WAND. I mean really, you gotta have this.

And remember, it’s not just this shirt but anything else you buy with our link, whether a Phillies mug or Dodgers sweatshirt, gives South Side Sox a commission and helps us continue to provide the best coverage we can for you.

We have also skipped posts on a number of other White Sox items produced recently by BreakingT, so if you click to buy Braden’s tee make sure to check out the other South Side-inspired items now live at the site.

Welcome to the Show, Kid, from South Side Sox and BreakingT!

In response to the fever that has broken out all over the South Side, our friends at BreakingT have come up with a nifty little design celebrating the awesomeness of slugger Munetaka Murakami:

You gotta admit, it’s a pretty impossibly clever design, with the moon “O” and a bit of a nod to silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune. No doubt it will make a snappy addition to your closet.

And remember, anything else you buy with our link, whether a Pirates mug or Yankees sweatshirt, gives South Side Sox a commission and helps us continue to provide the best coverage we can for you.

So go ahead a book your trip to the Mune, from South Side Sox and BreakingT!

(Every purchase you make with our link drops a few pennies in the jar here at South Side Sox, so a list of all our prior BreakingT collaborations follow, below. Yes, some of the designs are now hilariously outdated collector’s items. But most, if not all of these, should still be available, so click a link and see!)

Over the weekend, Tim Anderson silenced the Yankees boo-birds — and perhaps those who have been doubted the potency of the Chicago White Sox. Now, Breaking T commemorates his power:

This link takes you to this newest T-shirt, plus our entire line of White Sox wear!

While several members of the Chicago White Sox will need your votes for the July All-Star Game, fans are encouraged to punch the Robert/Jiménez ticket for a dominant South Side outfield all season long!

Whether you’re voting offense (what say, 70 homers among them?) or defense (Luis already has a Gold Glove, Eloy is … still alive), there’s no better campaign to get behind.

With everyone now aware that on his 23rd try, Minnie Miñoso was elected to the Hall of Fame. And Breaking T has commemorated the nickname that manager Paul Richards bestowed on Minnie almost immediately after his arrival on the South Side:

Celebrate Minnie’s White Sox immortality with this wonderful creation!

Celebrate the White Sox moments of your life with the entire Chicago W Collection at Breaking T, where you can peruse everything available. Or, if you want to read all my terrific catalog copy for each item, just scroll down and enjoy!

The White Sox indeed did make a free agent acquisition or two before the lockout, so it’s well past time to raise our glasses to the Legend himself: Leury Legend, that is.

He’s the longest-tenured current White Sox player, and when he’s done, he could well crack the list of all-time White Sox. Can you believe it? Welcome back, Leury!

To celebrate the division title for 2021, Breaking T offers two new T-shirt designs commemorating the feat:

Certainly, we hope there will be more than just a division title to enjoy over the next month or so, but we have to start somewhere!

Contrary to the cynics among you, we haven’t featured every Breaking T White Sox design here at South Side Sox, for various reasons. But I’ve never seen one more confounding than the José Abreu and Eloy Jiménez Sugar Skulls designs.

That said, they are sort of insane, and I’m digging them. Definitely different.

If you scroll down far enough, I think you can see the original Yasmani Grandal Breaking T piece, Yaz We Can, which I think was pretty clever and should have pulled a lot of fans in with purchases. It was definitely different, as far as Breaking T fare.

But I don’t remember it doing all that well, which was a shame. Maybe Yaz isn’t sexy. Walks aren’t, as someone on Twitter wants to tell you every day.

Here’s another chance to wear your Yaz fandom, playing off of his casual drops on 400-foot blasts:

Yasmani really is the bad boy of the White Sox. He’ll snark you. He’ll roll his eyes. He’s not out to please anyone. He’s just gonna be a badass catcher who drops the bat after clocking one a mile, thank you very much.

Holy man, that Field of Dreams game win was so big, Breaking T rolled out three shirts to commemorate it!

The middle model even comes with TA’s “it’s all over, baby” gesture, which is fun.

Well, that was a titanic, game-winning home run if ever there was one!

Brian Goodwin told Cleveland to kick rocks, then sent a ball over the fence — and his bat into orbit — with his Sunday heroics, and Breaking T captures it in all its multicolored glory.

In just his second game back after a season-long stint on the IL, Eloy Jiménez announced his presence in the White Sox lineup with authority, hitting a home run and providing whirling dervish defense in Tuesday’s win at K.C.

Natch, Breaking T is here to celebrate the Big Baby’s return:

It’s great to have Eloy back with the club in any capacity, and him starring in just his second game back is extra sweet. Now you can wear that sweetness!

It was a quite a moment on Monday, seizing a win from the jaws of a doubleheader sweep. When you’re running away with a division, tension can seem manufactured, but Len Kasper gave us a classic moment that our own Joe Resis likened to A.J. Pierzynski’s walk-off against the Dodgers during the 2005 season. Listen to Len last night:

So naturally, Breaking T gives us a snapshot of Sheets’ homer, classically titled Holy Sheets!

Way to go, rook. Every player on this roster is stepping up and helping the White Sox win.

The White Sox just keep humming along, with great pick-me-ups from the most unlikely of places. Waiver-wire pickup Billy Hamilton has managed to become a core bench and spot-start piece for the club as it ascending in the AL Central, and the veteran made his defensive presence known, with authority, in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s win at Minnesota:

Breaking T is on the scene, with some Billywear commemorating the catch:

I mean, incorporating that defensive brilliance with the hilarious Go Ham tagline? That’s a winner.

Well, hey there, we are in a moment, so Breaking T is kicking ass to gear up in support of Yermín Mercedes. Next up is a more general statement about the dumbness of unwritten rules, in a classic White Sox road script:

You don’t usually expect to have to persuade your manager to defend his own player, but here we are. And in the Tony La Russa-Yermín Mercedes kerfuffle, we (and all of the White Sox players) are Team Yermín.

So is Breaking T, who’s issuing this “I’m Yermín” wear in solidarity with the rookie sensation:

Simple, classic, and oh-so-83licious.

Peruse all the White Sox offerings at Breaking T, or use this post (and all entries below) to shop your own SSS catalog!

Well, perhaps you’ve been waiting for a more “authentic” Yerminator T-Shirt, something more “as seen on TV.” Well, here you have it!

Terminator vibe? Check. Super cool uniform easter egg in the shades? Check. Money actually going to the players association to benefit minimum-salaried players like Yermín himself? Check.

They may have had to scratch “perfecto” out of the original design after Roberto Pérez’s ninth-inning toe-tap, but Breaking T is delivering big for you after Carlos Rodón’s no-hitter!

It’s a sharp piece, with the clever use of accent mark, complete with high socks! (If only it was a warmer night, we’d have Rodón dressed in his full Grant Park 16´´softballer mode … #JulyGoalsForLos.)

As you well know, you don’t have to go 5-for-5 in your first MLB start or start a season 8-for-8 to merit a cool Breaking T shirt. But it doesn’t hurt!

Celebrate our Yermín Spring with The Yerminator, a delightful play off of everyone’s favorite killer robot-turned-sweet hero. Hoodies, Ts, we’ve got the gear.

Perhaps because he was injured for half of his first season, or he doesn’t have a snappy nickname yet, or he’s such a grinder he doesn’t lend himself to chest-emblazoned graphics, Nick Madrigal has to date missed the cut as a T-shirt subject.

No longer.

Boy howdy, Madrigal is part of Breaking T’s inaugural and collectible Prospects to Pros line. (Image approximating, but not actual Madrigal size.)

Celebrate the start of the season, and one of our most promising young players, with this great Sox-wear.

Peruse the offerings at Breaking T, or take a look at the full line (with links) below!

To welcome our new, colorful closer, Liam Hendriks, Breaking T has gone positively Greek with the Australian, with Hercu-Liam!

Breaking T put together four great purchase options for Hercu-Liam, from petite to husky, winter bundling to summer sunning.

And click here to view everything in Breaking T’s White Sox collection in one spot.

Individual links below should get you to other White Sox products on site, including the Classic Collection that features the Ed Farmer and Mark Buehrle T-shirts.

To welcome our newest (and top WAR) starter into the rotation, Breaking T has drawn up some Lance Lynn-wear sure to please the bearded fan on your holiday shopping list, with Lynnsanity!

The big man is in town and ready to push the rotation toward a World Series!

I first got word of this shirt just as José Abreu was homering and singling in runs during the 2020 season.

And Breaking T’s hunch became reality, as José Abreu became the first White Sox MVP since Frank Thomas and only the fourth player, after Nellie Fox, Dick Allen and Thomas to win the award.

Celebrate a little early by ordering here.

And peruse the rest of the collection below to add to your order and combine shipping.

Clubbing homers and scoring runs like there’s no tomorrow, the Chicago White Sox Murderer’s Row of Eloy Jiménez, José Abreu, Tim Anderson and Luis Robert is the subject of a new BreakingT shirt:

South Side Hit Men

Some real nice details in this one: Each players’ expression, the gangster pinstripes, and the exotic player numbers among them. Grab one at BreakingT.

With Luis Robert not only staking his claim on AL Rookie of the Year but MVP, it makes sense that BreakingT is working overtime to present the best Panterawear out there.

Dig this supercool 1983 nod, which you can order here.

Looking for Luis Robert to assume his La Pantera form? BreakingT has you covered. Order here and celebrate the future MVP!

I’m digging the silhouette.

The 19th no-hitter in White Sox history is in the books, by none other than ace Lucas Giolito. So it’s time to celebrate the Gio No-No! It’s a quick, and slick, commemoration of an incredible, 101-pitch masterpiece, dated and suitable for a Gio auto!

Snag one here, and take a look at numerous other wonderful Breaking T offerings below.

So, it was bound to happen, but BreakingT is first on the scene to promote the latest dance party sweeping Soxdom: DANCING FOR DUBS

Featuring the boogie-down duo of Zack Collins and Danny Mendick, the T-shirt and/or hoodie is available in all sizes, so take a look now.

BreakingT has nominated a very young, boisterous ticket for 2020: Luis Robert and Eloy Jiménez.

Running on speed and power, folded into the Change the Game platform, we’re now making these sweet Ts available so you can elect them to a six-year term lasting until 2026.

He’s only the hottest rookie — nay, the hottest player — in baseball heading into 2020.

La Pantera!

Is there anything left to say? This BreakingT-South Side Sox joint is TIGHT.

Order it up before they’re all gone!

So, BreakingT was watching ESPN on Sunday and said, “hey, that’s right, Tim Anderson speaks the truth: the preeminent sports network in America is sleeping on the White Sox again.”

Thus: Y’all forgot about us:

Order this latest design here.

All shapes and sizes are available, in T-shirt or hoodie.

Stay tuned for some excellent new merch dropping on Friday as well.

How about pairing it with the original classic?

Our best seller, the incomparable Tim Anderson neck-bow of STICK TALK!

BreakingT has a bunch of terrific ideas they’ve collaborated with us on for their newest designs in conjunction with the MLB Players Alumni Association. This one is, simply, Mister Perfect, commemorating Mark Buehrle’s perfect game in 2009:

Order it here, and take a look at the entire Classic Collection as well.

The first White Sox product from BreakingT’s Classic Collection was a beautiful tribute to our Ed Farmer:

Order it here. When you click on our link to buy, we will donate a portion of the proceeds we see from these shirt sales in Farmer’s name to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Research Foundation (support.pkdcure.org).

GM Rick Hahn’s new catch phrase out of SoxFest, Ask Me After the Parade, from BreakingT.

Uh, hello, Eloy and his red gloves vow to clock one off of the scoreboard one day. Until then, we have Pinwheel Power!

Have you heard? We got a catcher, and he’s the best in the biz: Yaz We Can!

With Dallas Keuchel’s beard barely trimmed on the White Sox, this T-shirt not only rocks, it remains anatomically correct: Kid Keuchy!

Just as Shohei Ohtani was rounding into peak form on both sides of the ball, the Los Angeles Dodgers' global superstar was felled by an unforeseen ailment: Left knee inflammation.

Ohtani was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of the Dodgers' Thursday, June 11 game at Pittsburgh, four innings after hitting his fifth home run in 13 games.

The Dodgers held a 6-4 lead and two runners were on when Ohtani was lifted for pinch-hitter Santiago Espinal. After homering in the third, he drew a two-out walk in the fifth, but did not need to run the bases as Andy Pages struck out to end the inning.

Shohei Ohtani clubs his second homer in as many games! pic.twitter.com/EPYEbU8pBF

— MLB (@MLB) June 11, 2026

Ohtani, who turns 32 July 5, had recently returned to two-way duty on nights he pitches after manager Dave Roberts aimed to lighten his load just a bit this season. Ohtani pitched 6⅔ innings, giving up three earned runs, a night earlier and has a 1.06 ERA.

Ohtani has been virtually healthy since injuring his left shoulder in Game 2 of the 2024 World Series. He underwent off-season shoulder surgery and was already prepared to slowly ramp up to pitching duty in 2025 thanks to recovery from a second Tommy John surgery. He took on a full-time starter's load by the second half of the 2025 season while playing in 158 games in the Dodgers' repeat run, starting Game 7 of the World Series on the mound.

This season, he started slowly in the power department but now has 13 homers in 63 games, a .305 batting average and .940 OPS.

The Dodgers couldn’t have asked for better timing, as Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff spot came back around.

In a game the Dodgers would go on to win 8-6 over the Pirates, they were clinging to a two-run lead in the top of the seventh inning against the Pirates on Thursday. With one out and runners on first and second, the Dodgers superstar, who had already reached base four times, was due up.

Instead, Santiago Espinal stepped up to the plate as a pinch-hitter.

Ohtani left the game with inflammation in his left knee, the Dodgers announced.

“Just wanted to be smart and not push it,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So I feel good about him being in there [Friday]. But obviously with the travel [to Chicago Thursday night], we’ll just kind of see how he comes in.”

Roberts described the injury as “discomfort” at the back of Ohtani’s knee, around where the hamstring attaches. Though Ohtani underwent surgery on the same knee in 2019, that was to address bipartite patella, on the other side of the knee.

It was not clear exactly how Ohtani hurt his knee Thursday. Ohtani was not available after the game to provide his account.

Roberts speculated that it likely happened when Ohtani took off to steal second in the fourth inning, before a foul ball sent him back.

“Didn’t hear about it last night,” Roberts said. “Didn’t hear about it today until about the sixth.”

Before leaving, Ohtani hit a solo home run — his second homer in as many games — a single and drew two walks.

It was an impressive performance, coming a day after he took on two-way duties. On the mound Wednesday, he allowed three earned runs in 6⅔ innings.

He’s been on an offensive tear. He entered Thursday with a .400 batting average and 1.207 OPS in his last 25 games — dating back to May 12, the day before manager Dave Roberts gave him two consecutive days off from hitting.

“[Friday], he’ll get there, do his routine, play catch, push off, land on it, see how it reacts,” Roberts said. “And then obviously take swings and see how it reacts too.”

Ohtani was one of two members of the Dodgers starting rotation who left the game injured.

Earlier in the game Thursday, Dodgers starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski exited with a bruised right hamstring. But Roberts and Wroblkeski both said they don’t expect it to impact his next start.

The fifth inning had already begun to spiral on him. After throwing four scoreless innings, he surrendered two solo home runs to Rafael Flores Jr. (the first of his major-league career) and Brandon Lowe.

Read more:How the Dodgers plan to shuffle catchers with Will Smith on the injured list

Then Bryan Reynolds hit a line-drive comebacker off the inside of Wrobleski’s right leg. The ball ricocheted to the edge of the infield grass, where first baseman Freddie Freeman picked it up.

Wrobleski was already racing toward first base. But after turning to catch the throw, he missed the base and stumbled backward into Reynolds, who tripped over Wrobleski’s extended left foot.

“Thankfully he kind of got out of the way enough that we barely touched each other,” Wrobleski said. “He’s okay. I’m okay. So all’s good there.”

Wrobleski limped away, finally able to react to the pain where the ball hit him. An athletic trainer followed him, circling back to the mound. But as he was setting up to throw a warm-up pitch, Roberts came out to make a pitching change.

Wrobleski was charged with four runs in 4 ⅔ innings. He gave up six hits and a pair of walks.

“Just one of those outings where I didn’t feel I threw it that great,” Wrobleski said. “It happens. That’s part of the game. That’s what keeps you coming back. I didn’t feel I had the command I usually have, especially early in counts and I think it cost me.”

The Dodgers bullpen bent but did not break, with the help of late-inning insurance runs from the offense. Right-hander Tanner Scott recorded the final four outs, striking out the side in the ninth.

With the win, the Dodgers secured a series victory at PNC Park for the first time since 2021.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

TORONTO — Welcome back to the Yankees’ house of horrors.

For the first time since Game 2 of the ALDS last October, the Yankees will return to Rogers Centre on Friday night, hoping to exorcise the demons that followed them across nine games there last year and ultimately sunk their season.

The Yankees have already seen the Blue Jays this year, splitting a four-game series with them last month in The Bronx, and lead them by nine games in the division (while remaining in a virtual tie with the Rays for first place).

And while there is nothing the Yankees can do this weekend that would completely erase the stench of what happened to them last year in Canada, they at least have a chance to not give the Blue Jays any life, like they did a season ago.

“Playing in Toronto obviously can be a different animal,” Carlos Rodón said after the Yankees finished off a sweep of the Guardians on Wednesday. “It’s a fun place to play, but they play well there. We’re excited to go in and give it our best go.”

When the Yankees arrived north of the border for the first time last season, on June 30, they led the AL East by 1 1/2 games. By the time they got through customs on their way back to New York, after getting swept in four games, they had lost the division lead and never got it back the rest of the season, with the series proving to be a turning point in the Blue Jays’ season instead.

In seven regular-season games at Rogers Centre last season — two series within just over three weeks during their worst stretch of the season — the Yankees went 1-6. They were outscored 52-33 and committed 11 errors in seven games (compared to 83 in their other 152 games of the regular season).

Then in the ALDS, with the Blue Jays having earned home-field advantage after winning the regular-season series 8-5, they boat-raced the Yankees in Games 1 and 2 at Rogers Centre by a combined score of 23-8, helping make sure there would not be a Game 5 back in Toronto.

“I’m just playing baseball and trying to win and get to the playoffs right now, so I wasn’t really thinking about that,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said Wednesday. “But yeah, after they took us out last year, everybody has a little thing on their mind, just like the Dodgers when we lost in the World Series [in 2024]. We were coming back and that was the main thing: we got to go to the World Series again and beat the Dodgers. Then we lost to the Blue Jays. Now we got to beat the Blue Jays if they’re beating us.”

Both teams are different than the last time they saw each other at Rogers Centre. 

For one, the Yankees are playing without Aaron Judge, though they have shown during their four-game winning streak that they still have plenty of ways to survive without him. One of those is on the back of their strong rotation, with Ryan Weathers, Cam Schlittler and Will Warren scheduled to start the three games this weekend.

The Yankees’ pitching staff had a 6.95 ERA across the seven regular-season games at Rogers Centre last season, with the contact-heavy Blue Jays hitting .291 with a .872 OPS against them on their home turf. 

The Yankees’ defense was not much help, though, playing a key role in the two calamitous series there, including coinciding with Anthony Volpe’s brutal defensive slump (he had three of their 11 errors).

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have been beat up this season and are still trying to find their footing from a World Series hangover.

Yankee killers Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger are among those on the injured list — though Kirk could be activated on Friday, and Ernie Clement remains healthy and capable of giving them nightmares — while their big offseason signing, Dylan Cease, just got off of it on Tuesday, meaning he is not lined up to pitch in this series.

“I don’t know where they’re at in the standings right now [third],” Rodón said, “but barring that, they’re still a great club.”

The monsoons sweeping the Chicagoland area forced the cancellation of Thursday’s finale between Chicago and Atlanta. The storms were foreboding enough — with winds rippling the on-field tarp — to quickly dash hopes of a very late game start, which would have been the most convenient option given Atlanta is not scheduled to return to Comiskey Park until 2028.

However, the timing for the makeup game on August 20 is pretty miraculous. The White Sox return home to host a series with the New York Mets on August 21, making the trek from … the North Side … where they finish up the second Crosstown series on August 19. The Braves are in the area as well, having wrapped a series at Minnesota on August 19 and beginning their next in Milwaukee on the 21st.

The game, as such a one-game series, will be treated as a getaway game and thus will see first pitch thrown at 1:10 p.m.

Who knows, perhaps by the time Atlanta returns in two months, the White Sox will be looking down the standings at them, instead of vice-versa.

Welp! The Atlanta Braves will just have to lick their wounds and move on instead of trying to take a chance at potentially salvaging this series in Chicago against the White Sox. Both teams were fortunate enough to play through a window on Wednesday night but they won’t be so lucky here on Thursday night, as the decision has been made to just call it and move the game to August 20.

Considering what the current injury situation for the Braves is looking like and how the bullpen is currently being handled, it might end up being a good thing that this ended up being a weather-induced off-day. With that being said, this is going to make for a very, very interesting road trip later on.

That road trip through the midwest will certainly be a tricky one, as the Braves will have to play three games in Minnesota, drop down in Chicago to finish this series and then get the wheels up immediately afterwards for a quick flight to Milwaukee for two games before traveling out to Williamsport, PA for the Little League Classic that’ll finish off that Brewers series. Fortunately they’ll have the Monday off after that insane week of travel but they’ll have the Dodgers waiting for them once they’re back in action at Truist Park. Phew!

Atlanta will have to cross that bridge when they get to it. For now, the Braves will now get on a plane to New York to take on the Mets for three games. First pitch on Friday night is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET on Apple TV. Let’s see what happens then!

The Mets bullpen, like it has often been this season, was their brightest spot and savior Thursday afternoon. 

After Christian Scott allowed four runs to the Cardinals in 4 ²/₃ innings, including three home runs, New York’s relievers allowed just one hit the rest of the way, helping secure a 5-4 win to avoid a sweep. 

A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams combined to throw 3 ¹/₃ scoreless innings in relief of Scott. Scott gave a glowing review postgame.

“It seems like any position they’re put in, they’re able to overcome and adapt to it,” he said. “I know [Weaver] is on another level right now. … Yeah, these guys have just been unbelievable out there for us.”

Weaver has been particularly effective of late. He hasn’t given up a run since April 30 after a somewhat up-and-down start to his first season in Queens. 

“We’re hungry to win. … It’s not always perfect, but we rely on each other, we pick each other up when need be and called on and give each other hugs inside the clubhouse and things you don’t see that just say thank you very much, man, for picking me up,” Weaver said.

“Just continue to focus on the positives and then just learn from the negatives.”

The bullpen kept the Mets in a close game and allowed Juan Soto to break the 4-4 tie in the seventh inning with his 14th home run of the season. 

“If I’m playing ‘MLB: The Show’ and creating a player, I don’t waste my time trying to create one. I just pick Juan Soto,” Weaver quipped.

Soto gave the love right back to the relievers.

“They’re nasty. We have one of the best bullpens, if not the best one,” he said. 

Soto’s not wrong. The Mets are still within the top 10 in bullpen ERA, which remains a highlight despite the team’s struggles elsewhere. 

“It’s a little frustrating that we can’t always come through for them,” Soto said, “but they’re always right there backing us up.”

Something for Mets fans to smile about.

While injured Mets star Francisco Lindor has kept his cards close to the vest about his return, he does seem to have a return date in mind. 

Lindor has a secret target date to return to the field of June 20, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported.

The Mets shortstop has been sidelined by a calf strain since late April and recently told The Post’s Dan Martin that his timeline to return was “a goal of getting back as soon as I can.” 

Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza told reporters earlier this week that Lindor was expected to go through full baseball activities in the coming days, and then the Mets will go from there on potential next steps. 

Lindor’s injury occurred on April 22, the same day that star outfielder Juan Soto came back from his own strained calf issue. 

The five-time All-Star told reporters Tuesday that he did not have any discomfort and he seemed to be encouraged by his progress. 

“I can do everything. I feel like I’m getting better. I continue to check all the boxes they have for me,” he said. 

Lindor then added: “Obviously, I want to be playing, but from what they say, everything is going the way it was planned.”

The 32-year-old has played just 24 games this season, posting a modest .226/.314/.355 slash line with 21 hits and five RBIs before his injury. 

The Mets’ inability to have Lindor and Soto on the field at the same time has greatly costed the team so far this season, with both having dealt with injuries at different times.

The Mets currently sit in last place in the NL East and are 15 games back of the Braves for the top spot in the division. 

The Amazin’s did pick up a 5-4 win over the Cardinals on Thursday and begin a weekend series with the Braves at Citi Field on Friday.

Mets pitcher Kodai Senga made his fourth rehab start since being placed on the IL with lumbar spine inflammation on Thursday.

Despite a setback earlier in the week -- Senga was originally scheduled to make this start at Double-A Binghamton on Tuesday, but was scratched due to ulnar nerve irritation -- he was stellar, and there were no signs of any physical discomfort on the mound.

Through six innings of work against the Somerset Patriots, Senga allowed one run on one hit, a solo home run. He struck out five batters, multiple of them coming on whiffs generated by his trademark ghost forkball.

Excluding a hit batter and a lone walk, Senga was in complete command all evening.

While the timetable for Senga's potential return to the Mets active roster remains uncertain, tonight's success on the mound is cause for optimism for the organization.

Once he's fully healthy and back in the majors, Senga will hope to lower his 9.00 ERA and potentially regain his place as a regular fixture in the team's starting rotation.

Kodai Senga dazzles from Somerset! 🪄

➡️6.0 IP
➡️1 H
➡️1 ER
➡️5 K
➡️75 P (51 S)

🎠 x #DefendOurHome x @MetsPlayerDev x @SNY_Metspic.twitter.com/mGvwwDU3Zr

— Binghamton Rumble Ponies (@RumblePoniesBB) June 12, 2026

Late last August, Roman Anthony stormed into Yankee Stadium for the first time in his career and announced his presence in the most unmistakable manner possible:

The bomb, the bat flip, the body language; all there for the world to witness. In the moment, it felt less like a baseball game and more like a Coronation Day, with Anthony set to take his place as the latest in a long line of kings who have patrolled left field at Fenway Park over the generations. He was here, he was awesome, he was signed to an extension, and Yankee fans were going to have to spend the next decade watching highlights like this every time they faced the Red Sox.

But of course, baseball is never that simple. Since that seemingly momentous moment, the Red Sox have played the Yankees for a trio of three game series (including the playoffs), and Roman Anthony has missed eight of the nine games with three different injures, all sustained while simply swinging a bat.

The oblique injury he suffered on a swing that ended his season last September is well known and documented, so there’s really no need to dig further into that one, but given where we are with his latest injury, it’s probably a good time to review his comments after the upper back tweak that cost him the final two games of the Yankee series in April.

“A weird thing that happened on a swing.”

Here’s the problem: These weird things on a swing have now happened in three consecutive baseball months (September, April and May), and the only reason it might not happen in June is because he hasn’t been on the field yet.

So with the background covered, let’s dive deep into the astronomically frustrating timeline of Roman Anthony’s latest injury, starting on May 5th:

Two days later, he went on the IL:

Also on that day, Roman Anthony clarified the injury was to a ligament below his ring finger, and not to his wrist.

Five days later, the first real signs of the healing process progressing slower than everybody would’ve liked became evident:

But even at this point, they still weren’t ruling out the idea of Anthony coming off the IL in the minimum ten days. They just had to wait for his “grip strength” to get back to normal.

Three days after that, the splint/brace finally came off, and it seemed things were improving.

But it still took another week after that before there was any real improvement reported in his grip strength.

And it was another four days after that when he finally was able to take dry swings (swinging without hitting the ball).

Three days later, and something very bad happened when he was hitting off a tee (actually making contact with the ball).

Well, a few days went by, and he still wasn’t even able to dry swing the bat.

Now, here we are another week after that, and there’s still no real update. So my question is, what the hell happened on May 28th when Roman Anthony swung off a tee?

I see two general possibilities here — One concerning, and the other alarming. The first being he might have reinjured it while swinging and making contact with the ball, and we’re just not being told the details. That could result in a return date being pushed back weeks or even months depending on the extent of the damage.

But as bad as that sounds, it’s actually not the scenario that’s keeping me up at night and poisoning my joy. Instead, that honor goes to the possibility that a downright frightening whisper in the back of my brain could be right. Like a demon from the depths of the Earth I can’t outrun, it keeps telling me that Roman Anthony might just be a guy that breaks easily, recovers slowly, and it’s always going to be that way.

In other words, it’s asking the question: “What if Roman Anthony’s body can’t handle Roman Anthony’s elite, robust and violent swing?” That’s the scenario I fear the most, and I really, really don’t want to have to go down that road.

A bit of this fear slipped out in real time when Tim Healey first reported Anthony was going on the IL. Here’s my raw, emotional (over?)reaction.

Here we are a month later, and nothing that’s happened since makes me feel any better about this whole thing. In fact, each day the news doesn’t improve, it reminds me more and more of anther player I followed, covered, cherished, and wrote about for years here on SB Nation’s Rockies sister site, Purple Row: Troy Tulowitzki.

Exactly two years ago, I opened up about why baseball, the Rockies, and Troy Tulowitzki were such important figures in my life, and how I was able to let go of the last two. But now, I’m starting to wonder if time really is a flat circle.

Because you see, in all my years of watching this glorious sport, I have never been more confident that two guys I watched from the moment they began to rise through the minors were going to be all time great players. They of course are Roman Anthony and Troy Tulowitzki, and I’m sure you already see where this is going.

Last winter, there was a part of me that wanted to write around a dozen Roman Anthony articles fawning over how good I thought he was going to become based on the underlying metrics, his rapid rise, his make up, his eye at the plate, the quotes he gave me when he was in Worcester, and the general way stars and power develop in the sport.

I mean, when you look at something like the highest hard-hit percentage in the 2025 season (min. 150 batted balls) and see a 21-year-old atop a leaderboard like this, it’s just astounding:

• 60.3% – Roman Anthony
• 59.6% – Kyle Schwarber
• 58.7% – Shohei Ohtani
• 58.2% – Aaron Judge

But I really, really didn’t want to feel the smite of the baseball gods again (they got me good when I did it with Tulowitzki all those years ago) so I refrained. Instead, I just happily perused Baseball Savant for hours and figured I’d get to write those things this summer when reality reflected it.

Alas, here we are. Roman Anthony is injured and healing slowly again, the Red Sox are having a historically horrendous season, and just like Troy Tulowitzki and the Colorado Rockies, the Red Sox absolutely need Roman Anthony to be healthy and reach his peak.

Every night, we watch this sorry excuse of a lineup get outgunned by the rest of baseball, and all of New England keeps wondering how the club is going to fix it. Well, unfortunately, it’s much, much harder to repair a bad lineup than it was 20 years ago given the way teams understand value and lock up their young stars. This coupled with performance enhancing drugs being legislated out of the game earlier this century, and we’ve (rightfully) also pretty much extinguished most of the production and availability of guys that was once commonplace for guys in their mid to late 30s.

This is all to say, if the Red Sox want to have that absolute stud in their lineup the team can build around and the region can adore, their best chance of getting it is still already in their clubhouse. I’m not just talking about getting a good hitter, I’m talking about getting an outstanding hitter. The kind that makes impacts that ripple through the lineup each trip around.

Because Roman Anthony has that ceiling and the Red Sox have built the roster as if he’s guaranteed to get there, this has to work. If it doesn’t, and the reason it doesn’t is because the injury bug drags Roman Anthony into its lair, I can’t emphasize enough how much that’s going to suck!

Not only is Roman Anthony’s ceiling rare and unique, but he also seems remarkably aware of it. Take a look at this quote from just before his latest injury saga when asked what he thought of his season so far:

“Kind of a letdown, honestly… Short sample size, but I wasn’t where I wanted to be… When I’m at my best, my swing decisions are great… When you’re swinging at good pitches, you have a better chance of hitting the ball in the air, and you have a better chance of doing what you want to do.”

These are the comments of a (at the time) 21-year-old on pace for about 4.0 WAR in 2026. He hadn’t even begun to blossom yet this season, and he was still tracking to be better than about 95 percent of the players in the league (yes, even with the low batting average and throwing yips).

Again, the stratosphere is the limit here; and the good news is, that still hasn’t changed. What has changed is we’re increasingly confronted with the possibility that Roman Anthony might have the foundation of a skyscraper and the building material the first two little pigs used.

No matter how good he is, it doesn’t matter if he can’t consistently get out on the field, because much like a hurricane on your wedding day, brake failure at a stoplight, or a raccoon infestation in your attic, repetitive, nagging injuries will ruin everything great you’ve worked for. They are striaght up poison to a professional athlete, and they’re happening to the most important member of the Boston Red Sox.

So with that, I’ll leave you with one final thought: The best thing that can happen to the 2026 Red Sox for the long-term outlook of the franchise isn’t a miracle playoff run or even more people getting fired. Instead, it’s getting consistent, good news on the Roman Anthony injury front and having him close the season looking like the guy he was about to become when he annihilated that pitch in New York last year.

That certainly won’t solve all this team’s problems, but it will solve a bunch of them.

It’s raining in Chicago, y’all.

The weather has not been conducive to playing baseball most of the afternoon in Chicago. Here’s a forecast.

Looks decent at 10pm and it appears that MLB wants this game to happen and happen in front of 25 people. Stay tuned for updates.