Category: Baseball

After pitching five innings in last night’s loss to the Marlins, Xzavion Curry was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse ahead of today’s game. In his place the Mets recalled New Jersey native Kevin Herget to take his spot in the bullpen.

In Curry’s five Mets appearances in 2026, he’s been worth 0.2 bWAR, pitching 11 innings to a 3.27 ERA. Last night, he took over for Kodai Senga with no one out in the fifth and allowed two runs on six hits while striking out two and not walking a batter across his five innings of work. Curry saved the bullpen for the last two games of the series and has been rewarded for his hard work by a trip back upstate. He would not have been available for a few days after his performance last night, and with the likely departure of a few additional bullpen pieces over the next few days, this does not appear to be Curry’s last time on the big league roster.

Kevin Herget is making his 2026 MLB debut for the Mets. Last season, he appeared in six games for the Mets and one for the Braves across 13 total innings. Herget has spent most of 2026 on the Injured List, and was just assigned to Syracuse four days ago.

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The Boston Red Sox move on from their most successful month in franchise history as they face the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine tonight. 

The market still isn't giving them much respect (+144 on the moneyline), but my MLB predictions are.

See why I fancy the visitors with my Red Sox vs. Dodgers predictions and MLB picks for Saturday, August 1.

Who will win Red Sox vs Dodgers today: Red Sox (+140)

Substantial plus money available on the hottest team in baseball? I'll bite.

The Boston Red Sox have won four consecutive Payton Tolle starts. The precocious southpaw has a 2.89 ERA and 0.96 WHIP on the road, and he can hold down a Los Angeles Dodgers lineup that has underperformed against left-handed pitchers this month (98 wRC+).

Boston's edge in the bullpen (2.50 FIP since the Break to L.A.'s 5.36) isn't accurately accounted for in the price. I'd play the underdog to +130. 

COVERS INTEL: Tolle finds success in large part due to his 90th percentile chase rate and superb 19.5% K-BB%. That'll play against the Dodgers, who have been prone to swing and miss since the Break (12.7% SwStr%). 

Red Sox vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-107)

It may be a low number, but it's that way for a reason. Sign me up for the Under with two elite starting pitchers on the bump. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been remarkably consistent, allowing no more than two earned runs in nine of his last 11 starts. Here's for yet another strong outing against a lineup with an 81 wRC+ against RHP in the last 14 days.

Boston has cashed the Under in six of Tolle's last nine starts due to his excellence. This team is 2-8 O/U in its last 10, and the low-scoring ways will continue, especially when the relief pitchers are hurling with unprecedented effectiveness (1.61 ERA since the Break). 

Red Sox vs Dodgers weather

It will be a warm and slightly humid evening in La La Land, with slight winds blowing out to centerfield. 

Red Sox vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: Red Sox +144 | Dodgers -150
• Run line: Red Sox +1.5 (-144) | Dodgers -1.5 (+138)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (+100) | Under 7.5 (-104)

Red Sox vs Dodgers trend

The Red Sox have won seven straight games when priced as the underdog. Find more MLB betting trends for Red Sox vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Red Sox vs Dodgers and game info

Red Sox vs Dodgers latest injuries

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It's another busy slate across the big leagues today, and I've found value in my MLB player props.

Today's picks include Drew Rasmussen, Alex Bregman, and Jeremy Pena bringing the heat in H-Town. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Saturday, August 1.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Drew Rasmussen	Under 1.5 earned runs	-109
Alex Bregman	Over 0.5 singles	-110
Jeremy Pena	Over 0.5 runs	+115

Drew Rasmussen Under 1.5 earned runs (-109)

Tampa Bay Rays righty Drew Rasmussen has been in wonderful form. He owns a 1.94 xERA across his last two starts, and Rasmussen hasn't surrendered a single home run during that span. 

Rasmussen will face the Chicago White Sox tonight, who have a pedestrian 98 wRC+ over the last week. The veteran has also cashed the Under in earned runs allowed in two of his previous three appearances.  

The 31-year-old has also pitched well at home, posting a 2.81 FIP this season. He'll keep the White Sox at bay. 

• Time: 4:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN, Rays.TV

Alex Bregman Over 0.5 singles (-110)

Alex Bregman is one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now. He's batting .407 over his last six games, and the Chicago Cubs star is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak. 

During that span, he has smacked 11 hits, and five of them have been singles. I would've targeted total bases for Bregman, but due to limited odds at DraftKings, I'm eyeing him for a base knock tonight against Max Fried. 

Bregman has historically swung it well against Fried as well, going 6-for-16 lifetime with five singles.

I'll play this pick up to -130. 

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FOX

Jeremy Pena Over 0.5 runs (+115)

Jeremy Pena has been a production machine for the Houston Astros lately. He's hitting .393 over his last six games with eight runs. Pena also has a .414 OBP and .507 wOBA during that span. 

The shortstop has reached base safely in 12 straight games, and he's collected at least one run in nine of his last 10 appearances. Pena will face Jacob deGrom tonight, who has a 4.26 xERA over his last two starts. 

For what it's worth, Pena also has a good track record against him, although it's a small sample size. He's 4-for-13 lifetime. 

I'll play this pick down to -120. 

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: RSN, SCHN

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Last week, Ken Rosenthal estimated that the Mets would likely trade ‘around six’ players this trade deadline. This morning, he continued with the same logic, citing six as the over/under for the club.

“I recorded a video last week saying the over-under for the Mets was six trades. They easily could make more than that if they dug deeper into their roster. I don’t anticipate that happening, but imagine if they traded all of their players on expiring contracts, one of their catchers AND Francisco Lindor. Yikes.”

According to Bob Nightengale, never exactly the most reliable source, the Mets are telling teams that Lindor is off-limits “for now.” The hypothetical trade of Lindor has always been more speculative than rooted in any real reporting, and if the Mets are serious about contending in 2027, it seems awfully hard to do that without Lindor.

With A.J. Minter already off the table, there are a number of players on expiring contracts that the Mets seem most likely to trade, starting with left-handed reliever Brooks Raley. Starrer Freddy Peralta and outfielders Luis Robert Jr. and Tyrone Taylor, all on expiring contracts seem poised to be moved as well.

The other players that the Mets may unload depend on a few factors. Do they believe that Huascar Brazobán will ever have as much perceived value as he does right now? Are they willing to risk the stigma for future free agents by trading their newly extended backup catcher in Luis Torrens or their closer under contract for two more seasons in Devin Williams? Will they be blown away by an offer to Luke Weaver? Can they not work out an extension with Clay Holmes, and therefore move him as well?

It figures to be a busy 50 hours before the deadline.

We usually don’t do labs over the weekend, but with the trade deadline looming it seemed like a good time to put the Astros offense under the same microscope that we put the pitching. It is one thing to look at overall numbers and it is something else to break it down further to see exactly what we are looking at. The numbers you will see are up to the minute numbers through Friday night’s schallacking of the Texas Rangers.

We will also put one player under the microscope as well. It isn’t the most pleasant of news, but we have to face some pretty grim things before the deadline when we are deciding whether to add more pitching or whether to add more offense. First, let’s break down the overall offensive numbers the same way that we broke down the pitching.

More than one thing can be true at the same time. The Astros offense can both be better than last season and also not quite as good as it looked early in the season. The team had a collective .802 OPS in March and April. There was no way they were going to keep that up. All of the gains they made in April they nearly gave back in May. That is one of the reasons why they reached their low mark in May 20th. It was a perfect storm of historically bad pitching and then matched with historically bad offense.

The team has stabilized since then to be better than they were in 2025 but not quite as good as they were in March and April. If we agree that the hitting is a mirror image of the pitching then we would also surmise that we could look at March and April and compare it with May on to see what the Astros offense actually is. We could then compare that with the MLB average.

Just like with the pitching, we have to look at the offense in the way it is producing right now. The months of March and April were unique for both the hitters and the pitchers and they don’t accurately reflect who they currently are. Make no mistake, the offense is still okay when you factor in that May was an unusually bad month offensively. As we saw with the pitchers, a .720 OPS is the league average OPS. The Astros offense has been producing at that clip from May 1st forward.

A large part of the offense and the fluctuating numbers are the individual components. We have seen an uptick in July as Jeremy Pena and Isaac Paredes have gotten hot. However, there is one key figure that has fallen off since March and April. In order to soften the blow I will utilize the Player A and B test. However, this one is a trick question.

This is a trick question. Both players are Jose Altuve. The first is Jose Altuve from his disastrous 2020 season. The second is Altuve from May forward this season. Obviously, there are a different number of games involved, so we did most of the numbers projected out to 150 games played. Make no mistake, that 2020 season was a special kind of awful for Altuve and might be the main thing that keeps him from getting to 3000 hits if he does fall short.

However, the 2026 season has been nearly as rough in many ways. In particular, the lack of patience has been glaring and that is especially true considering how the year got started. When one major cog in the system falters then that can explain an overall drop in production for the lineup. Fortunately, Altuve’s play has been covered up by Pena and Paredes resurgence, but if we include what Christian Walker has done the last couple of months then we can see the push and pull factors that impact an offense.

Essentially, Jose Altuve has been the same player as Cam Smith since May 1st. Couple that with the overall production at catcher, left field, and center field since that time and you can see why the Astros offense sometimes sputters. On some days it looks like it did last night when the hitters at the bottom of the order come through. On other nights it can look bleak. The Astros can’t really replace Jose Altuve, but they can cover him up by improving elsewhere. The need for hitting might be more acute than the need for pitching. That especially depends on how everyone feels about Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesnescki.

In the modern era, you can probably recall the exact prospects the Yankees have had that excited you but didn’t pan out. However, thinks like prospect rankings and outlets that cover up-and-coming players are all things that have come about in most of our lifetimes. If you were to open up the history books, you may find a random player who played in just 10 career games and never made it after that. To us, they’re just a name, but at the time, they may very well have been a potential superstar.

Slim Love was one such player.

Edward Haughton “Slim” Love
Born: August 1, 1890 (Love, MS)
Died: November 30, 1942 (Memphis, TN)
Yankees Tenure: 1916-18

Edward Love was born in the aptly-named Love, Mississippi in 1890. The future big leaguer would say that wasn’t a coincidence and the town was named after his grandfather, but that’s a disputed claim. He grew up working on his family’s farm, but played baseball on some local amateur and semi-pro teams, and showed an aptitude for the sport. Helpful to that pursuit was that Love shot up in height, eventually growing to be 6-foot-7. (He was the tallest pitcher in the majors during his career.) His tall, lanky build got him his nickname of “Slim,” but also added a dimension to his pitching prowess.

Love rose pretty quickly from semi-pro player to getting a deal with the minor league Memphis Chickasaws. While his pitching ability impressed Memphis — he even struck out future Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie in an exhibition — he was a bit too raw and didn’t have a great grasp of other fundamentals, such as fielding. He was sent to some lower minor league levels. A good run with the Selma Centralites in 1913 got him noticed by the Southern Association’s Class-A Atlanta Crackers, which at that time was the second-highest level of the minors. His raw talent shone through there and after just a handful of starts, he was signed by the major-league Washington Senators.

Debuting in September 1913, Love made five appearances for the Senators, including one start. He was pretty decent, posting a 1.62 ERA, but was still considered very raw. That plus an injury led to him going back down to the minors and joining the old Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. He spent two years there, and — especially in 1915 — was excellent, having refined some of his offspeed stuff. That got him back on the major league radar and the Yankees swooped in and acquired him ahead of the 1916 season.

Love’s first season in New York was a bit of a weird one. He missed time during spring training after injuring himself tripping over railroad tracks, and then contracted malaria in June. Those issues wouldn’t have helped, but he also wasn’t particularly great on the mound. Love posted a 4.91 ERA (60 ERA+), and walked more batters than he struck out.

However, Love’s potential was too much for the Yankees to ignore. Ahead of the next season, manager Bill Donovan said, “If that big fellow ever acquires control he will be as difficult to hit as Rube Waddell was in his best days. No left-hander since Rube’s time had such a good fast ball. His curve breaks fast and his great height will add to his effectiveness.” In 1917, he showed signs of that being true.

Working mostly in a swingman role for the 1917 Yankees, Love was very solid. He posted a 2.35 ERA (115 ERA+) in 130.1 innings, including nine starts. He also put up one of the more impressive pitching performances you’ll see throwing 14 scoreless innings in a game against the Athletics on May 30th. Besides that, Love also lowered his walk rate a bit, giving some hope for the future.

For 1918, Love became a mainstay in the Yankees’ rotation. However, he couldn’t maintain his improvements from the prior season. In 228.2 innings, Love issued a league-high 116 walks, and also put up a 3.07 ERA, which doesn’t sound bad, but equated to a 91 ERA+ in that Deadball Era season. That ended up being the Yankees’ limit, and that winter they traded him to the Red Sox.

Love wasn’t with Boston for long, as the Red Sox traded him to the Tigers just a month after acquiring him. After initially having a salary dispute with Detroit, he eventually joined them and had a pretty solid 1919. However after one bad game and reported rule violations, the Tigers released him in April 1920. While he continued on in the minor leagues though 1930, he never made it back to the majors. He just never managed to get his control under, well, control.

Following his baseball career, Love returned to the Memphis area, where he lived with his wife and worked as a pipefitter. He was killed in 1942 after being struck by a car while attempting to cross a road.

With all the technology at hand today, Slim Love is the type of player that teams today would love to acquire and try and work through his issues. However in the 1910s, there wasn’t a ton you could do besides just asking him nicely to stop walking people.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

Earlier this week, we asked you a question about Trea Turner and changing positions. Many of you felt it was fait accompli.

Turner’s defense has been a hot topic for some time now, but it seems that after the All-Star break, it has gotten louder. He has not helped things by playing a poor defense in that time, so naturally we wonder if he will be somewhere else on the field in 2027.

Making such a move in-season would probably never happen unless they make some unforeseen trade that no one sees coming, so now we can really only talk about what happens next season. I had written about his going to center field next season, to which many people thought left field would make more sense. I can see that, but I’d really rather see him using his speed to cover more ground in center. Either way, he should not be the shortstop next year.

This post brought to you by FanDuel.

Past summaries:

• So far, so good through mid-April
• Even better in late April
• May-be they’re just really good
• Late May just good, rather than absurdly awesome
• A June swoon so far
• Awful
• Fake it and maybe make it

How did the Braves do recently?

The post All-Star Break portion of July was a fun one for the Braves. You probably recall that June was terrible for this team, and the start of July was… okay, because the team played .500 ball instead of continuing to plunge through a June-esque abyss.

Two weeks ago, I asked whether 6-6 to start July was going to serve as a springboard from recovering from both June’s record and the fact that the team just didn’t actually produce for a whole calendar month. The answer is complicated. Or, maybe it’s simple, because it’s a similar answer to when the Braves faked it to that .500 record.

The Braves went 10-5 in their final 15 games of July. They won three straight series coming out of the All-Star Break, including taking three of four from the Padres at home (they hadn’t taken a home series from San Diego since 2018). They then dropped a series to the Mets in New York, but ended the month winning three straight, including two over the Nationals. That’s the second-best record in baseball in that span. All problems solved, right?

On the position player side, the Braves produced enough. They finished sixth in fWAR and seventh in runs and wRC+. I opined at the end of June that they’d need to find a way to have a top-ten offense going forward to succeed, and that’s what they did. They had the fifth-highest wOBA, the ninth-highest xwOBA, and the league’s fourth-biggest xwOBA overperformance. To be clear:

• Start of the season through June: eighth-biggest xwOBA underperformance
• July: fifth-biggest xwOBA overperformance

Thanks, baseball gods! After so many seasons and months of underperforming, no help will be scoffed at.

On the pitching side, the Braves narrowly escaped a bottom-five performance. However, the FIP was stung by HR/FB, as the staff finishing 21st in xFIP-, but 26th in FIP- (also 21st in ERA-). It was kind of a weird turnaround with a middling rotation performance for two weeks and one of the league’s worst bullpen performances… but the bullpen performance was largely just weighed down by letting Connor Thomas eat a blowout loss, the continued roster existence of Tyler Kinley, and a few homers given up by Raisel Iglesias and JR Ritchie.

Put this together, and the Braves are still doing their weird record-versus-production thing that I noted in the middle of this month. A combined 3.5 fWAR in 15 games suggests an 8-7 record, not the 10-5 the Braves pulled off. But, the Braves continued to win close games and leave their terrible performances for hopeless contests. In theory, a team hitting pretty well but not insanely so, even with some a lot of luck, shouldn’t be able to pull away if it has a dire pitching situation. But, the Braves overcame. The game-by-game odds for these 15 games also suggested 8-7 would’ve been expected, so, again, yay.

How are the Braves doing for the season?

The Braves now have MLB’s third-best record. Their division lead is back up to eight games, meaning that despite playing just 15 games after the All-Star Break and winning ten of them, they somehow gained six games on the Phillies. That’s pretty efficient! As a result, playoff odds are back to about 99 percent, and division odds are up to 90 percent. These numbers don’t really budge even if you consider alternative forecast schemas (i.e., ones where the Braves’ current production governs how they’ll play going forward), because August tends to be the point of standings inertia, and an eight-game lead is pretty inertial as far as things go.

Overall, the Braves are middle of the pack (and close to dead average in MLB) in most position player categories. Their July run has made their wOBA equal their xwOBA. The aggregate is still being weighed down by June, of course. The pitching is also middling in similar fashion, split between a bottom-ten rotation performance and top-five bullpen performance. The rotation has a silly eighth/23rd/14th delineation in ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-, respectively; the bullpen is a much more consistent third/ninth/ninth.

Put all this together, and the Braves’ production without any context suggests a .500 team. Average hitting, average fielding, average pitching. That they’ve been able to pull out one of MLB’s best records amid all this… it’s a little dizzying. This sort of thing is also somewhat starting to catch up to the team in other measures. For example, the Braves are now +4 over BaseRuns, one of the bigger marks in the majors. However, since the Phillies are an absurd +6 over BaseRuns, it’s hard to fret too much about this sort of thing as far as the season standings go.

Still, the Braves do need to make some real improvements if they want the next two months to be as enjoyable as the last two weeks have been — they can’t hope to coast on divine baseball providence. We know as well as anyone just how fickle the presence of that boon can be.

How are the hitters doing?

Maybe the funniest and/or most informative biweekly cut of these data for the season so far.

Drake Baldwin went nuclear after the All-Star Break. He had a rough two games to close out the month, but was batting like a berserker in the ones before that. Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris II, Dominic Smith, Joey Bart, Eli White, and Brewer Hicklen were the main beneficiaries of excellent luck on balls in play in this span. On the flip side, Mauricio Dubon caught the opposite, and for some reason, the universe still has it out for Ronald Acuña Jr. Anyway, if you look at the right-hand side, you’ll see that the aggregate lines for Harris, Dubon, and Smith have converged after some large discrepancies in smaller cuts throughout the season. Baldwin-Acuña and Albies-Olson seem to be occupying some sort of grand balancing across them, with the former still substantially unfortunate through the arc of the season, and the latter getting undeserved rewards to make up for it.

You can see the extent of Baldwin’s dominance since his circle up there is like some sort of sinister descending planet that can’t even be fully captured in-frame. Also, Acuña is quarantined in the “punished for crimes of unclear provenance” zone. On the flip (right-hand) side, you can see the inputs and outputs are kinda-sorta working as intended, with only Albies defying the natural order of the universe.

A special shoutout to Jim Jarvis for: 1) producing a respectable .306 xwOBA while also 2) leading the hitters in WPA over these 15 games. It’s actually really impressive that he managed to get a number of big hits, and avoid big outs, while not actually producing particularly good outputs in this span. Again, that’s pretty efficient.

How are the pitchers doing?

I feel like I type the same thing about the rotation every time, more or less.

• Chris Sale is awesome. Sometimes he is super-awesome, like in this span, and sometimes he’s just his regular level of hard-to-believe amazing. He’s having another elite season, even if it is a little overshadowed by some freaky young arms doing even better.
• The Braves have a few other guys that intermittently pitch like generic middle-of-the-rotation arms with homer problems. These past few weeks, it was Bryce Elder and Reynaldo Lopez; Martin Perez is that kind of guy over the course of the season.
• The remaining rotation guys are worse-than-average and may or may not have homer problems. Grant Holmes continues to be miscast as a starter and would really help the bullpen as a multi-inning option that can be deployed in close games appropriately (instead of Elieser Hernandez, Victor Mederos, and a sacrilegious level of prayer from the dugout), but here we are, approaching August.

On the bullpen end of things, Dylan Dodd had a very nice two weeks or so, and Didier Fuentes didn’t take a hit numbers-wise despite doing stuff like pitching in both games of a doubleheader. Raisel Iglesias gave up a few homers, and Tyler Kinley is a problem — or will be, if he gets any more higher-leverage opportunities.

A special shoutout is warranted to Danny Young, who has the most bizarre line. On the season, he’s at 49/142/137; over the last two weeks, it’s 0/127/147. He appears to be the team’s lucky charm — in seven games in this span, he garnered positive WPA in each (and two shutdowns), despite only actually pitching well twice. I think Young can be useful in theory, but he’s still recovering from Tommy John Surgery and is only about 16 months removed from the operation. The current version, where he’s apparently the luckiest man in baseball, is preferable to him still working his way back to full effectiveness and causing the Braves to lose games as he does so.

So, the Braves head towards Monday’s Trade Deadline in a great place standings-wise, if not production-wise. Will that compel them to make a move? I can see it either way.

The MLB trade deadline (the only one these days, as opposed to the non-waiver deadline days) is Monday. The Diamondbacks are currently five games over .500 and hold the final wild card berth. Furthermore, they have begun the process of picking up some tie-breakers against their competition. When poised to make a playoff push, it is almost always in the best interest of a club to bolster their roster at the trade deadline. However, unlike the offseason, finding available targets is not always possible, at least not at a reasonable cost. That’s a sec0ndary problem though. First, a team must identify what areas could most benefit from improvement. Herein are some of the areas Arizona could most likely address between now and Monday afternoon.

First Base/DH/Left-Handed Platoon Impact Bat

After years of Paul Goldschmidt, followed by a few more years of Christian Walker, Arizona fans became spoiled by just how good they had it at first base. Now, the club is in the midst of a historically abysmal season from the infield corner formerly manned by perennial all-star talent. Recently, last year’s trade deadline acquisition, Tyler Locklear, returned to service at the position. It remains to be seen if the slugging right-handed batter will be able to stick at the MLB level. Due to significant, long-term injury, the team still has not had a chance to examine his ability to make the adjustments necessary to thrive at the highest level. His defense is actually better at first than initial reports, so there is certainly some hope that the bat may still surprise as well. Unfortunately, entering Friday’s action, Locklear only has eight appearances in games, amounting to a total of 28 plate appearances. On top of that, while he is showing some signs of being a decent power bat for the middle of the order, he does bat from the right side. That doesn’t help the team’s retched performance from the left side of the plate.

In order to find a potential quick, temporary fix to that issue, the Diamondbacks turned to PED violator, Max Kepler as he came back from his suspension. The results from that move have been mixed – at best. Moreover, even if Kepler finds his best pre-suspension form again, he is ineligible for the playoff roster. So the team will still need a replacement for him if they expect to play in October.

The team need not focus exclusively on first basemen for this need, that simply is the most straight-forward solution. However, given the injury issues with Jordan Lawlar, Tommy Troy, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. the team could also target a left-handed platoon bat for left field, hoping to get some impact that way, much like when they had Joc Peterson on the roster. Of course, there is also the pure-DH route that could be explored, but such a move is not typical for Mike Hazen, who puts appropriate value on flexibility, maximizing what the mid-market Diamondbacks can do with their roster.

Starting Pitching

Every playoff hopeful wants the best starting pitching they can assemble. Teams with strong October expectations begin to look for ways to turn a season-winning, five-man rotation into a playoff-winning three or four man rotation. Arizona is not so fortunate. Right now, they have a three-man rotation with two more slots being filled by developing prospects. With Zac Gallen and Ryne Nelson unlikely to throw another pitch this year and the questionable return timetable for Corbin Burnes (who may not come back sharp enough to be helpful), the team is left hoping that the injury to Michael Soroka is as minor as can be. Otherwise, the team is short of enough pitching to stay competitive over a long spell. As such, starting pitching may well be the one area in which even a modest acquisition can represent a substantial upgrade to the forecast. But then, pitching always costs a premium at the deadline. Still, this is one area where I would expect much of the attention to be focused.

High Leverage Relief Pitching

Arizona’s bullpen has performed well-above expectations thus far this season. Even the recent demotion of Paul Sewald from the closer’s role is a testament to that. Here we are in August and the Diamondbacks’ bullpen (including Paul Sewald) has been a big part of why they are currently a playoff bound team. However, the recent demotion of Sewald has exposed Arizona’s lack of high leverage relief. The team appears to be flush with arms with the potential for mop-up innings and eating swaths of middle innings. What it appears to lack are shutdown relievers. The team entered the season with hopes that both A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez would be back in time to make meaningful contributions as the team’s back end of the bullpen. Now, at this point, it is wishful thinking to expect any meaningful contribution from either of them in 2026. While Brandyn Garcia and Jonathan Loáisiga have the sorts of arsenals one wants to see in high leverage relievers, neither has spent much time in high leverage situations this year. Expecting them to seamlessly slide into those roles now seems a bit problematic. If nothing else, the team will need more than just two high leverage arms for the sort of action they can expect to see in October.

Relievers tend to be grossly overpriced at the trade deadline. But, at the same time, there are so many of them spread across 30 clubs and 30 AAA rosters, that quality can still tend to be found for reasonable prices. Of course, it doesn’t always work out, even when all the signs point to an amazing deal having been made. Arizona fans need look no further than Mike Hazen’s acquisition of Jake Diekman in the summer of 2018. That summer, the team needed left-handed help in the bullpen. Diekman’s peripherals matched his solid track record of success and his salary was still quite reasonable. He was, quietly, one of the better left-handed relievers in the game. Yet, no sooner did he ride the bullpen cart across Chase Field to join his new team than his performance fell off a cliff. Rather than a change of scenery helping him, the change turned him from one of the better lefty relievers in the game to one of the worst overall relievers in the game. Annoyingly, after Diekman was allowed to walk after his failed stint in Arizona, he promptly returned to being a slightly above league average reliever. It would be four more years before he started to struggle again as his stuff declined. Even his lesser time from 2022-2024 was better than his stint in Arizona though. What this demonstrates is that relief pitchers are simply volatile creatures. Unless one is trading for the likes of a Mason Miller or 2010s Craig Kimbrel, a trade for relief pitching is still a risky venture.

Will Mike Hazen address all of these areas for concern? Will he address any of them? What realistic options are open to Mike Hazen and the Diamondbacks this season? We’ll eamine that tomorrow morning.

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Another eventful slate in the Majors means lots of opportunity for long balls in my MLB player props home run analysis. 

Today's selections include Shohei Ohtani, CJ Abrams, and Dominic Canzone. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Saturday, August 1. 

MLB home run props for today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Dominic Canzone	+388
CJ Abrams	+325
Shohei Ohtani	+250
💲Today's HR parlay	+9428

Home run prediction: Dominic Canzone (+388)

Dominic Canzone has been a consistent outlet for power in the Seattle Mariners lineup lately. The slugger has gone deep three times in his last seven contests, posting a .444 ISO. 

Over the last week, he's squaring up everything, posting a 57.1% hard-hit rate and 19% barrel rate. Tonight's matchup against Connor Prielipp is an intriguing one for his hot bat. The Minnesota Twins starter has allowed 1.69 HR/9 over his last two starts while allowing a 52% hard-hit rate. 

Canzone also has a very respectable .351 ISO against left-handed pitchers. 

I'll play this pick down to +400. 

• Time: 4:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FS1

Home run prediction: CJ Abrams (+325)

CJ Abrams is a regular in my home run props, but there's good reason for it. The Washington Nationals star continues to rake. He owns a .520 ISO over his last seven games, going deep four times during that span. 

Abrams has an average launch angle of 26.1 degrees over his last 31 plate appearances and a 15.8% barrel rate. He'll face Reynaldo Lopez tonight, who has given up 1.80 HR/9 over his previous two starts while allowing a 50% fly ball rate during that span. 

Lopez is prone to loud contact in the air, and Abrams is consistently getting lift under the baseball. 

I'll play this pick down to +300. 

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: BravesVision, Nats.TV

Home run prediction: Shohei Ohtani (+250)

Shohei Ohtani is always a threat to leave the yard when he steps up to the plate, and he is showcasing his power right now. The two-way superstar has a .476 ISO in the last week, with two bombs in his previous five outings. 

It's rare for him to not be squaring up the baseball lately. He has a 62.5% hard-hit rate and 18.8% barrel rate in the last week, and tonight's matchup against Payton Tolle screams value. Ohtani has actually hit lefties well, posting a .291 ISO. 

Tolle is having trouble with the long ball. He's allowed 2.45 HR/9 over his previous two appearances. One mistake could easily be punished by one of the most feared hitters in the Majors. 

I'll play this pick down to +200. 

• Time: 9:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NESN, SportsNet LA

Best home run combo for August 1

CJ Abrams	Trade Now +9428
Dominic Canzone
Shohei Ohtani

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The calendar has turned to August. And the inventory for Major League Baseball’s top 25 potential trade candidates before the Monday, Aug. 3 deadline hasn’t even budged.

A few situations have changed since our last exercise – though probably not enough to ensure significant action before the deadline’s final moments.

Nonetheless, here’s a glance at our top 25 players on the trade market, based on their possible impact, the likelihood of their availability and the fit of their contracts:

1. Luis Arraez, 2B, Giants

Still No. 1 in our hearts, even if he doesn’t light up all the chyrons on your favorite network shoutfest or podcast. He just keeps hitting, leading the majors with a .328 average and highly respectable .810 OPS. That ability to move the baseball takes on significant value in the playoffs.

2. Tarik Skubal, SP, Tigers

It’s looking like a foregone conclusion he’ll be dealt. But we’re reserving just a tad of juice simply because the Tigers are likely to sweep the Athletics out in Yolo County this weekend, and perhaps draw as close as two games within a playoff spot. Probably not enough to convince technocratic GM Scott Harris to hold him, but possibly worth pondering.

3. Luke Weaver, RP, Mets

Simply, the kid is different, giving up one earned run in his last 29 games, with a 36-7 strikeout-walk ratio. He’s signed for next season, has “New York playoff closing experience,” if you give a damn about that, and solves all kind of bullpen problems.

4. Robbie Ray, SP, Giants

Proverbial big veteran innings-inning lefty, but with a dash of quality, too: Ray has given up three or fewer runs in 18 of his 21 starts. Perhaps not a Game 1 playoff starter, but a key stretch drive piece who can fold into the back of a playoff rotation.

5. Michael Wacha, SP, Royals

He has limited no-trade protection and makes a reasonable $15 million in 2027 and is a workhorse veteran of five previous postseason runs.

6. Zach Neto, SS, Angels

Is this the sort of offensive punch the Red Sox seek? Neto is on track for 30 home runs this season, though that comes with a massive strikeout total as well. And his minus-9 outs above average would not dovetail with Boston’s run prevention ethos. Still, a dynamic figure the Angels decide to let John Mozeliak mess around.

7. Foster Griffin, SP, Nationals

A big climber on our list, from seven to 21, in light of the Nationals’ three-game losing streak that threatens their potential playoff push. Yep, the deadline margins are that razor-thin. Griffin is right behind Skubal among most talented lefties possibly available. His club is now 55-56 and 2 1/2 back of a playoff spot. A pending free agent, an extension candidate, a potential Game 1 playoff starter with a seven-pitch mix, Griffin’s plight is fascinating.

8. Clay Holmes, SP, Mets

Yet another fast mover thanks to a solid rehab start and the possibility Holmes can help a contender almost immediately. He should be good for eight starts plus the playoffs. Barring any health hiccups, Holmes will likely opt out of a player option for 2027 that would otherwise add value to a transaction.

The Atlanta Braves have once again activated the DFA Cycle and the latest passenger is none other than Elieser Hernández. Following another one-appearance stint with Atlanta, Hernández has been designated for assignment and reliever James Karinchak will be taking his place on the roster for the time being.

Hernández has actually come up pretty big for the Braves over the past couple of weekends. He tossed three crucial scoreless innings against the Orioles in a situation where Atlanta needed every last one of those outs in order to pull off a dramatic victory. This time, he pitched another three innings but it was clear that he was being used to give the bullpen regulars a spell after they were put into heavy use during the series-opening win over Washington. Either way, the three innings were productive (outside of a homer given up to Andrés Chaparro) and Hernández did his job while he was here.

James Karinchak will be returning to the big league fold for the first time since July 9, which is when he pitched a scoreless inning against the Pirates. Karinchak has pitched 9.2 innings so far and has a 1.86 ERA and a 4.34 FIP so far. I’d imagine that he’ll be in line to get some low-leverage innings on a short-term basis. Pour another one out for Elieser Hernández, though, who appears to be the strongest soldier given the fate of the DFA Cycle so far.

Mason McConnaughey started for the Crawdads, allowing two runs in an inning of work, striking out one, walking one and giving up one homer. Jormy Nivar struck out two and walked one in five shutout innings. Louis Marinaro struck out three and walked one in a shutout inning. Geury Rodriguez struck out three and walked one in two shutout innings.

2026 9th rounder Kaden Carpenter made his professional debut and went 2 for 5 with a walk, a double and a homer. Paulino Santana was 3 for 5 with a triple and a homer. Daniel Flames had a pair of doubles and a walk. Yolfran Castillo had a hit and a walk. Marco Argudin was 3 for 6. Pablo Guerrero had a pair of hits and a walk. Jormy Nivar had a pair of plate appearances despite being a pitcher due to Sebastian Baquera leaving the game after the top of the second, for reasons I’m not clear on, and Noah Franklin moving from DH to catcher. Nivar walked both times. Geury Rodriguez also had a plate appearance and walked.

Hickory box score

Hub City starter Caden Scarborough went four innings, allowing two runs, striking out five, walking two, hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch.

Paxton Kling returned from the injured list and was 1 for 4 with a stolen base. Maxton Martin was 2 for 4 with a double.

Hub City box score

Frisco starter Aidan Curry allowed three runs in 5.1 IP, striking out four and walking three. Bryan Magdaleno threw 1.2 shutout innings, striking out four.

Dylan Dreiling homered.

Frisco box score

Josh Stephan started for Round Rock, allowing four runs, striking out three, walking three, hitting a batter and giving up a pair of homers. Rehabbing Chris Martin struck out two in a scoreless inning. Ryan Lobus struck out one in a scoreless inning. Michel Otanez struck out two in a shutout inning. Wilian Bormie threw a scoreless inning and struck out one.

Jarred Kelenic was 2 for 4 with a triple and a stolen base. Cody Freeman doubled.

Round Rock box score

DSL Rangers Red box score

DSL Rangers Blue were rained out.

Former Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer blasted the Los Angeles Dodgers as “a bunch of snakes,” saying the club abandoned him after he was accused of sexual assault — allegations that never resulted in criminal charges.

“I wish I never played for them because I think the organization treated me like s–t and I am not very happy with that,” Bauer said during an interview with YouTube channel “La casa de los Dodgers.”

The Southern California native joined the Dodgers on a three-year, $102 million deal in 2021.

But his career began to unravel that May when a San Diego woman accused him of sexual assault during two encounters. Bauer denied the allegations.

He told “La casa de los Dodgers” that he was initially backed by the team.

Bauer, who won the National League Cy Young Award in 2020, claimed Dodgers manager Dave Roberts even hugged him and said, “‘Hey, we’re going to get through this together and we’re going to be a family.”

After a five-month review of the case that started with the Pasadena Police Department, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to file criminal charges, citing insufficient evidence.

Bauer was suspended by Major League Baseball for 194 games under its domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy before being released by the Dodgers in January 2023.

He has since wandered from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league to the Mexican League to the independent minor-league Long Island Ducks. He is now back in the Mexican League.

Bauer doesn’t envision a return to MLB because it “will never allow that to happen.”

A league spokesperson referred The Post to a comment from a statement MLB made in 2024: “Trevor Bauer served the entirety of his discipline and is an unrestricted free agent available to sign a contract with any team.”

The Dodgers did not return a request for comment.

“The front office people, I wish them nothing but the worst … I think they’re a bunch of snakes,” Bauer said.

He's a Major League Baseball star who could be in line to represent Team GB at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

And Jazz Chisholm Jr's New York Yankees team-mates tell him regularly just how good he is.

"Sometimes they've seen me dragging a little bit lately," he said in a post-match interview last month. "So they've been saying: 'Let's not forget who you are. You're the greatest in the world... you are Jazz Chisholm.'"

Chisholm exudes a self-confidence that has endeared him to Yankees fans well versed in big personalities and supportive of those who embrace their huge expectations.

Just this week he made headlines for a video in which he was asked to stay silent until he heard the name of a better player than himself.

He didn't say a word - even when the reporter mentioned team-mate Aaron Judge, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Yankees ever.

But behind the sometimes brash front, there is a humble side to Chisholm.

From the Bahamas...

Born in Nassau - the capital city of the Bahamas - Chisholm was raised mainly by his grandparents.

His maternal grandmother - Patricia Coakley - had been the star player of the nation's softball team. She began teaching her grandson how to hit a baseball from the age of two, and encouraged him to play with swagger and flair.

His paternal grandmother - Judy Chisholm - also played a vital role in keeping his baseball ambitions on track.

When Jazz was 12, he moved to Wichita in Kansas to attend boarding school - the best route to give himself a chance of becoming a professional athlete.

He soon became severely homesick and wanted to go home but Judy convinced him to tough it out.

After graduating and returning to the Bahamas, he was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks through the international scouting process.

...to Team GB?

Bahamians are eligible to play for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic - an international competition that is the closest thing the sport has to a World Cup.

Chisholm was part of the squad for this year's tournament in March - just weeks before the MLB season - and did not disappoint, captaining the team and batting in three runs in an 8-1 defeat of Brazil.

He has made no secret of his desire to represent Britain at the Olympics, but there are several hurdles to overcome.

First, the team have to qualify.

Only one European nation can book their spot in LA when qualifying takes place next year. The competition is open, but GB would probably have to go further than Italy, who unexpectedly beat the USA in reaching the semi-finals of the World Baseball Classic.

Then there are the eligibility criteria. Only athletes who are legally British citizens can compete for Team GB at the Olympics, so Chisholm would have to apply for a British passport.

The final sticking point is the Olympics fall right in the middle of the MLB season, so an agreement still needs to be reached to release players.

An 11-day mid-season break is the latest proposal that may suit all sides as the MLB aims to minimise disruption to its season and the International Olympic Committee looks to ensure it is able to showcase the game's best players.

"I think when you see an Olympic competition, you expect to see best on best," IOC sports director Pierre Ducrey told the BBC.

"That's what we delivered, for example, in ice hockey in Milan-Cortina with the return of the National Hockey League, and we hope we can see that materialising in LA.

"Baseball is a sport proposed by LA28, so they are leading those conversations but we, of course, support as much as we can with the hope that come 2028, we're going to see the best of the best going at it in the Dodgers Stadium."

A shorter-term goal

For Chisholm, the Olympics can wait for now - because the immediate goal is to help the Yankees in their quest to secure a 28th World Series title.

The next step on that journey is a three-match series against the Chicago Cubs, with the final game live on the BBC from 19:10 BST on Sunday.

The Yankees haven't won the big prize since 2009, making this their longest run without the title since 1920.

They fell agonisingly short last season - losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deciding game of the seven-game World Series - but are on course to reach the post-season again in 2026.

That gives Chisholm a route to living up to the tag he has been given to his team-mates - help the Yankees secure that long-awaited title.

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