Category: Baseball

The Mets started their second half of the 2026 season Thursday against the Phillies in less-than-ideal conditions.

Baseball teams are used to rain, heat and even the occasional snow, but the wildfires in Canada have produced conditions in the northeast that are tough to play in. Large swaths of smoke have covered the New York City and Philadelphia areas, bringing with them poor air quality and increased heat. That's why MLB pushed up Thursday's series opener an hour to avoid the harsher conditions later in the evening.

And, as it turns out, it was the right move.

"I didn’t think it was bad until the last couple of innings. Eyes itching, burning a little bit," Brett Baty said of the conditions after the game. "[Carson] Benge said it felt like you were sitting at a campfire, just close to a campfire, which was pretty good. It's fun, but it didn't feel great playing ball with it, though."

"At the end of the game, it was a little bit more difficult, especially catching," Francisco Alvarez said through an interpreter. "It became more difficult to see at the end."

Despite the visibility issues, Baty and Alvarez hit three bombs combined in the Mets' 4-1 win over the division rival Phillies. 

But issues seeing the ball could be seen throughout the game. Fielders had trouble picking up flyballs, and even Mets interim manager Andy Green couldn't see some of them from the dugout. But while Green didn't believe the conditions affected play, he could tell it was teetering a bit at the end.

"It felt like it could have [affected the game] at any moment, especially as visibility got tougher," Green said. "Guys managed to see baseballs that I couldn’t when they went up in the air as pop-ups. Good thing we have good athletes on the field that can see things. Don’t think it ultimately did, from my perspective." 

What the smoke did affect was how long Mets starter Christian Scott felt on the mound. 

The young right-hander was breezing through five innings when Kyle Schwarber hit a two-out double -- that nearly was a home run -- that chased Scott. Scott finished his night throwing just 79 pitches through 5.2 innings. 

"Not gonna lie, towards the end of it, it was a little thick. I felt like I was breathing some metal in there," Scott said. "At the end of the day, a little spoonful of adversity never hurt anybody. Part of the game. It was fun playing out there, the stadium was packed, good atmosphere. Yea, it was fun."

The Mets have an off day Friday before they're back at it on Saturday afternoon. And while the smoke from the wildfires is hopefully out of the area by then, the weather forecast shows the Mets could be dealing with thunderstorms in the area. 

Whatever the weather brings, the Mets will face it head-on.

"In the last week, we've had a game pushed back and a game pushed up, that's fairly unique," Green said. "You just have to roll with it."

Christian Scott was asked about his thoughts on the air quality in Philadelphia tonight

"Not gonna lie, towards the end of it, it was a little thick. I felt like I was breathing some metal in there. A little spoonful of adversity never hurt anybody" pic.twitter.com/PKhJEJwKQL

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 17, 2026

Juan Soto left the New York Mets' game against the Philadelphia Phillies in the eighth inning on Thursday, July 16 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Mets interim manager Andy Green spoke to the media after the game, which New York won 4-1, to explain what happened to the five-time All-Star. He said Soto "had a little bit of left calf soreness."

In April, Soto was placed on the 10-day IL after aggravating his right calf and missed 15 games. He also left a Mets' outing against the Chicago Cubs in June with back soreness. The 27-year-old sat out one game.

Green noted that Soto played in the All-Star Game earlier this week and "came through a lot of activity the last few days."

"It made sense just to get him off his feet," Green said, adding, "I think we're in a spot where he felt he could keep going, but it didn't make sense."

The Milwaukee Brewers are, for better or worse, a hard team to predict when it comes to trades and the trade deadline. President of Baseball Operations Matt Arnold can get very creative at times with his deals and pull some names that almost no one was expecting.

Enter Lance McCullers Jr. and Colton Gordon.

McCullers is currently on the injured list. Gordon is a depth rotation arm still trying to find his footing in the major leagues.

Typically, buying teams — like the Brewers — target players who are established, playing well, and healthy at the deadline. Neither of these players checks all three of those boxes.

So why did the Brewers do this?

The Brewers boast the best farm system in all of baseball, so they have the prospects to go out and get any player they want. Why get someone who doesn’t check all the boxes, let alone two players who don’t?

Quite simply, the Brewers are prospect huggers. They didn’t get the best farm system in baseball by trading their prospects away; they prefer to keep them whenever possible. So if there’s a way to work a deal where they don’t have to give up a ton of prospect capital, they’ll explore that route.

As soon as I saw this trade being reported, it instantly reminded me of last year’s Shelby Miller/Jordan Montgomery trade. The Brewers wanted Miller to fortify the bullpen but didn’t want to give up any prospect capital. So they took on a salary dump in Montgomery, who was injured, to help Arizona clear some money and make them happy enough that they didn’t need a prospect in return.

In this deal, the real target for the Brewers seems to be the young left-hander Gordon. He has an option year remaining and five years of team control. That team control is of great value to the Brewers, even with their enviable pitching depth. But he’s also healthy, and he has an intriguing pitch mix and delivery that the Brewers have had success in developing before.

Gordon throws in the low-to-mid 90s with his fastball, but also possesses a high-spin slider and curveball. The Brewers and the pitching lab love high spin rates.

McCullers is the name that grabs the attention, though. McCullers, had he been acquired five years ago, would’ve been a massive get. But injuries have derailed his career, and he has not been the same since. The Brewers, in all likelihood, are hoping to get him to help eat up innings while Brandon Woodruff is on the shelf, and maybe they can make some tweaks to help him be effective enough while doing it.

The Brewers have seen their starting pitching depth take some recent hits. Woodruff recently went on the 60-day IL, Kyle Harrison was placed on the IL with forearm tightness last weekend, and Jacob Misiorowski, who has carried a heavy workload as the ace, got pushed from his last start due to fatigue and is getting extra rest coming out of the All-Star break. The team needs help to get this rotation through the final stretch. Keep in mind this is still Misiorowski’s first full season in the majors.

So the Brewers needed rotation depth and quickly. With this deal, they acquired two arms who have the ability to fill that depth and bridge the gap the rest of the way. And all it took to acquire them was taking on a little bit of cash and giving up Jadyn Fielder. Fielder holds sentimental value as the son of Brewers legend Prince Fielder. But as a prospect, he’s essentially been a DH-only in Low-A; he’s hitting .233 without a ton of pop, just three homers on the year. Fielder draws a lot of walks, yes, but it is Low-A; the pitchers will have better command as he moves up in the minors.

To get two pitchers who could potentially shore up your rotation depth in the near future, that’s a deal you make every time if you’re Matt Arnold. McCullers is on the verge of returning from a rehab assignment. That does give me pause and flashbacks to 2022 when the Brewers traded for an injured Trevor Rosenthal — who was allegedly close to returning from an injury and then got hurt and never pitched again — and gave up future All-Star Tristan Peters. But McCullers is at least already making rehab starts and could join the rotation as soon as the Mets series, potentially.

While some teams may trade away several of their top prospects to get starting pitching depth at the trade deadline, the Brewers were able to acquire two starters, with profiles they have a strong history of working well with, all for the price of a prospect that wasn’t even sniffing their top 50 list in the organization.

Is there extra risk with that? Absolutely. The likelihood that McCullers or Gordon will perform as well as someone like Tarik Skubal down the stretch is pretty slim. However, there’s also no guarantee someone like Skubal will get you to a World Series anyway.

The Brewers saw last year how quickly rotation depth can be depleted heading into the playoffs. They know how important it is to have it if they’re going to get past the Dodgers. Adding two more arms will help ensure as much as possible that they have enough depth for it. Now the question becomes, how much more will they acquire before the deadline is up?

The 96th Midsummer Classic has officially come and gone with the second half of the 2026 MLB season resuming in full swing tomorrow. With all the pomp and circumstance of the star-spangled festivities in Philadelphia, it felt like the Colorado Rockies’ sole representative was swept into the background. In fact, if you only followed the national coverage, you’d be forgiven if you didn’t know he was there at all.

Hunter Goodman was mentioned just once on the Fox broadcast with John Smoltz and Joe Davis. In the bottom of the eighth inning he was introduced by last name only as he laced a sharp broken-bat line drive to shortstop (after they called him by someone else’s name first). However, Hunter Goodman had entered behind the plate in the top of the seventh inning to catch for Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski.

Donning his catcher’s gear, he officially cemented himself as the Rockies’ All-Star while also joining a very exclusive list that features many of a Rockies fans’ favorite names: the multiple-time All-Star.

The 34-season history of the Rockies is strewn with single-season All-Star representatives. All-Star MVP Elias Díaz in 2023. Jeffrey Hammonds and Jeff Cirillo in 2000. Ellis Burks in 1996. (A whole different story is that somehow the oft-forgotten Blake Street Bomber was only a two-time All-Star despite putting up nearly 50 wins above replacement in his career).

Goodman–with his back-to-back All-Star seasons–completes a full infield of players who represented the Rockies twice in the All-Star game.

• 1B Andrés Galarraga: 1993, 1997
• 2B DJ LeMahieu: 2015, 2017
• SS Trevor Story: 2018, 2019
• 3B Vinny Castilla: 1995, 1998

Interestingly, exactly three Rockies players have been to the All-Star game three times in Rockies purple: outfielders Matt Holliday (2006-2008) and Carlos González (2012, 2013, 2016), and closer Brian Fuentes (2005-2007).

Above them all is the four-or-more-time All-Star club. This group is a veritable who’s who of Rockies history made up of the heads on the team’s Mount Rushmore, members of the Blake Street Bombers, two Hall of Famers, and another who is likely destined to join Cooperstown.

• OF Charlie Blackmon: 2014, 2017-2019 (4x)
• OF Dante Bichette: 1994-1996, 1998 (4x)
• OF Larry Walker 1997-1999, 2001 (4x)
• SS Troy Tulowitzki: 2010, 2011, 2013-2015 (5x)
• 3B Nolan Arenado: 2015-2019 (5x)
• 1B Todd Helton: 2000-2004 (5x)

If the Rockies retain the services of Hunter Goodman–and he continues to perform like he has over his first two seasons as a starter–how far up the ladder do you think he will climb? What other Rockies, current or future, do you think have what it takes to be multiple-time All-Stars? Let us know in the comments!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

The Mets, fresh off the All Star break and playing a game shrouded in an orangey haze thanks to the horrific wildfires in Canada, played a rather complete game to win their first game of the second half.

The sole game on Major League Baseball’s docket, Christian Scott toed the rubber against Aaron Nola, and the recently announced as untouchable Scott out dueled the veteran. Scott was excellent, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings, striking out seven and surrendering just three hits, all without walking a batter. He got into trouble in the sixth inning, hence why he did not end up with a quality start, as he surrendered a two out double to Kyle Schwarber (that was very close to being a home run). He was relieved by Brooks Raley, who got Bryce Harper to end the threat.

The Mets offense was largely predicated on the long ball. Francisco Alvarez opened the scoring in the third with a solo homer, Brett Baty hit a solo homer in the seventh to make it 2-0, and Alvarez hit his second solo shot of the game to go back to back, and make it 3-0. Overall, they got to Aaron Nola that way, as all three runs he surrendered were solo shots.

The Mets bullpen was mostly flawless, with Raley and Huascar Brazobán putting up zeros in their outings. The only run of the game came on an eighth inning solo home run by Trea Turner off of Luke Weaver, of all people. That run snapped a rather impressive streak for Weaver, who went the previous 27 2/3 innings without allowing a run. Weaver will likely be one of the best relievers on the trade market as we inch towards the deadline, and the Mets season is as over as a season can possibly be by July 16th.

The Mets got that run back in the top of the ninth, when A.J. Ewing hit an opposite field double that chased home Jared Young. Ewing continues to be one of the bright spots for the 2026 Mets, as the young center fielder is hitting .274/.347/.438 (121 wRC+) across his first 58 games as a Major Leaguer. If we do not get much out of the 2026 Mets, we get a long term outfield solution of Juan Soto, A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge, which is a strong foundation to build on.

Speaking of Soto, he had a whirlwind game. On one hand, he went 1-1 with three walks, as his MVP level season continues (.292/.412/.563, 166 wRC+). However, he left the game in the eighth inning with what was described as left calf soreness, though the Mets still expect him to play this weekend.

While the Mets are mostly playing out the string for the rest of the season, seeing quality performances from foundational players such as Scott, Ewing and Soto is still something to enjoy for the rest of the campaign.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Christian Scott, +33% WPA
Big Mets loser: Bo Bichette, -17% WPA
Mets pitchers: +51% WPA
Mets hitters: -1% WPA (I was surprised by this but they did leave seven men on base and go 0-6 with RISP)
Teh aw3s0mest play: Brett Baty’s solo home run, +12.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Bryce Harper’s double, -5.4% WPA

Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey has recently been featured in headlines for the team’s poor performance as well as the organization’s Pride Night scandal.

But as buzz surrounding both has seemingly died down lately, Posey has taken another hit.

On the “Murph & Markus” show on KNBR, Posey conducted what was seemingly a routine 25-minute interview — until it wasn’t.

The following segment of the morning show featured KNBR’s Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher discussing Posey’s responses regarding the MLB draft and the Giants’ selections.

Then, a KNBR producer could be heard testing the microphone.

He said “talk” several times before adding: “Yeah, I hear ya, I gotcha. I gotcha 100%.”

The producer then unknowingly gave his honest opinion on Posey.

“Posey sucks, man,” he said.

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Neither Murphy nor Markus visibly reacted to the hot mic moment, but a caller on the next segment of the show referred to the incident. The show’s hosts attempted to glaze over it but concluded by saying they would investigate behind the scenes.

The YouTube broadcast of the show has since been deleted.

The Giants’ disastrous season has been a frequent topic of conversation as the team stood at 41-55 before the All-Star break, ranking 24th in runs per game and 22nd in ERA.

While the nightmarish year doesn’t boil down to one person, Posey has been the face of much criticism. The latest incident doesn’t bode well for the public perception of the Giants executive, but it’s evidently a reflection of the fan base’s feelings toward the team’s performance in 2026.

The St. Louis Cardinals released their 2027 schedule today and it starts with a long road trip, but ends with opportunities.

The first 6 games for the 2026 MLB campaign starts with the Cardinals on the road to play the Reds for the first game of a 3-game series in Cincinnati on Thursday, March 25, 2027 followed by 3 games at Wrigley Field against the dastardly Cubs. The first homestand at Busch Stadium is April 1 as the cross-state rivals the Royals come to town.

There are two separate nine-game homestands. The first starts in the second half of April starting on the 19th through the 28th against the Twins followed by the Blue Jays and Braves. The other nine-game homestand is in September from the 3rd through the 12th as the Giants, Padres and Rangers.

Interleague matchups in 2027 will see the Cardinals doing battle with the Royals, Twins, Blue Jays, Athletics, Tigers, Yankees, Angels and the Astros. The Yankees series will be at Busch Stadium the weekend of July 9 through July 11.

The end of next season could have some interesting storylines assuming that the Cardinals are competitive next year as there’s a big road series in Milwaukee at the end of August. The Brewers will then come to St. Louis September 20-22 for what could be a division-deciding series. St. Louis also has NL Central matchups against the Reds in September and 6 games against the Pirates the last two weeks of next season.

The elephant in the room when looking at any MLB schedule for 2027 is the question of how the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations will impact it. Let’s hope for the sake of the sport that both sides can figure out the best way to move forward without delaying or eliminating what looks to be a compelling 2027 season.

It’s important to remember who is playing who and what these games always mean. It’s the Phillies and Mets, so clean baseball, good decision-making, and even normal weather conditions are not guaranteed.

The air quality was so bad they moved the game up an hour, and probably should’ve just delayed it to tomorrow with both teams having the off day. Trea Turner botched a routine groundball, Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette botched Kyle Schwarber’s bad baserunning blunder, and Don Mattingly left multiple pitchers in for way too long. Even if there wasn’t a prototypical Mets’ing on display, this is what to expect when these two teams play each other.

While the Phillies offense was struggling to figure out Christian Scott the first time through the order, Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez was able to capitalize on one of Aaron Nola’s few mistakes, smoking a hanging slider to dead-center field to break the scoreless tie.

The fifth inning rolled around with Nola displaying new adjustments to his pitch mix, he is emphasizing the changeup more, throwing 21 of them over his 97 pitch effort. He worked plenty of curveballs for called strikes early in counts and chase on strikeouts and the changeup kept the seven left-handed or switch-hitting Mets off the fastball.

When Nola has the feel for both, there is still a good pitcher in there, even when he runs into trouble.

The fifth inning against the bottom of the Mets order looked like a mess, Jared Young walked on six pitches followed by a Brett Baty single to center field. After two straight pitches out of the zone to Alvarez, he threw a pretty good sinker that was on the strike-zone line but JT Realmuto didn’t challenge, Alvarez walked to load the bases.

With the top of the order coming up for New York, it looked like the time Nola hits a disaster that spirals the outing. AJ Ewing took a breaking ball down and got a changeup to hit but fortunately, it was off the end of his bat and a routine lineout double play to keep anyone from scoring.

After an intentional walk to Juan Soto, Nola is able to handle Bo Bichette with a weak flyball on a down-and-away curveball to end the threat.

But Christian Scott spoils the potential Phillies momentum by retiring the side in order with a pair of strikeouts in the bottom half of the fifth and cruised until Kyle Schwarber stepped up in the sixth.

Schwarber launched a hanging curveball right off the metal railing, back into play that was reviewed and ruled a double based on the rules of the ballpark. Weirdly, this is the second time that exact thing has happened on an ESPN broadcast between the Phillies and Mets, if anyone remembers when Rhys Hoskins did the exact same thing back in 2021.

That was it for Scott as interim manager Andy Green went to his bullpen for Brooks Raley. After a four-pitch walk to Bryce Harper, Raley got Brandon Marsh looking silly on a down-and-away sweeper to keep the score at 1-0.

With Green pulling his pitcher at the proper time, maybe a batter too late, Mattingly kept Aaron Nola in the ball game after six innings of one-run ball against the bottom of the Mets order, even though they had three days off, and an off-day tomorrow.

It backfired in the worst possible way. Brett Baty took a high fastball to the seats in right field and then Alvarez took a sinker barely over the fence in left that made the game 3-0. After a really encouraging six innings with six strikeouts, he gave up back-to-back home runs to leave on.

Skipping to the eighth, Trea Turner turned on a Luke Weaver fastball to make it 3-1 and the Phillies might still be in it with Devin Williams closing the ninth.

After pitching a clean top of the eighth, Seth Johnson is sent back out for the ninth despite there being a full bullpen. He walked Jared Young, who later scored on an AJ Ewing double to make it 4-1. Williams then retired the Phillies for a weird 4-1 loss.

Citizens Bank Park has been through a lot with the Futures Game, the home run derby, the All-Star Game (that took way too long), and the other All-Star Game events. But nothing is more exhausting than a Phillies-Mets series. The Bank could use a day off too.

The Detroit Tigers have reportedly come to terms with their first five draft picks in the 2026 amateur draft, as well as few select other picks so far. We’ve been waiting for numbers to be announced so we can begin to get an idea how many of their prep and JUCO picks they might actually be able to land. On Thursday evening, Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline announced the first and biggest number on their board. First round selection, right-handed starting pitcher Cameron Flukey has signed with the Tigers for a reported $3.8 million, which is roughly $282,000 under slot for the 22nd overall pick.

The big right-hander out of Coastal Carolina has an overpowering mid to high 90’s fourseam fastball that misses bats, as does his sharp 12-6 curveball in the high 70’s. He also has a good track record of locating both pitches for strikes. Development of his slider and offspeed pitch, along with refining his command a little further, will be keys to turning Flukey into the frontline starter he has the potential to become.

So the Tigers saved $282,000 here, and this is the plan. Hopefully they can trim a hundred thousand here and there from college draft picks’ slot bonuses, while landing a lot of their later college picks further on in the draft for around the league minimum. The savings would then be used to lock up their prep and JUCO picks, who have the option to honor their four-year college commitments should they not get an offer they’ll accept from the Tigers.

The strategy usually results in a few players going back to school, but by locking up as much teenaged talent as possible the Tigers hope to get future first round talents before they get that far and become much more expensive to sign. So far, leaning into that strategy hasn’t done a whole lot for the farm system, but it takes a lot more time to really know how prep players will play out. At the same time, this strategy continues to become tougher as colleges can now offer NIL dollars to their recruits to try and convince them to pass on their draft offers and hope to improve and raise their draft stock signficantly in time for their junior seasons of college, when most top college talent is drafted and signed.

The Tigers entered this draft with $9,165,100 in total bonus pool. Prior to round 11, all money paid as a bonus to draftees counts against that total bonus pool. Beyond the 10th round, teams can pay a player up to $150,000 without it counting against their bonus pools. That $150,000 threshold is often referred to as the minimum bonus, although teams can pay less. The Tigers have done pretty well finding athletic, undervalued college players later in the draft for close to that minimum number in recent years.

The Tigers do have a number of prep and JUCO picks they’ll have to try and find enough money to sign. 8th rounder, 3rd baseman Robert Omidi, a left-handed hitter out of St. Martin Secondary School in Ontario, Canada is the first example. 11th rounder, left-handed hitting first baseman Will Adams, a high schooler out of Hoover HS in Alabama is another one, and Adams has reportedly signed as well, though no number has been reported. He has one of the more raved about swings and overall hit tools in the prep ranks, with developing power that should get to plus or better as he fills out. Those two will be priorites and command well above slot bonuses.

Other picks who have reportedly signed, but not had their bonus number reported include competitive balance round B selection RHP Evan Dempsey, RHP Declan Dahl, the Tigers fifth rounder, and 9th round pick RHP Kenneth “KJ” Ward. Fourth round pick, prep SS Dominic Pellegrin and eight round prep selection 3B Robert Omidi have reportedly agreed to sign, but those haven’t been made official.

JUCO center fielder Tyler West, who has a commitment to transfer to Texas A&M, will be a crucial one to watch. Prep right-hander Dustin Dunwoody, selected in the 15th round out of Royal HS in California, is another big one to land, and he holds a commitment to USC. RHP Jack Byers, from Artesia HS in New Mexico, has a commitment to the University of Arizona. 20th round selection, right-hander Will Zielinksi from Vauxhall HS in Alberta, Canada, rounds out the list of players that will be the trickest for the Tigers to land.

One more relevant rule is that the Tigers could go 5% over their bonus pool, about $450,000, and the penalty would be a 75% tax on the overage. That’s pretty minor, as the Tigers have previously had significantly higher bonus pools the past three drafts and thus spent more money overall anyway. If they go any further, the penalities could included forfeiting future draft picks. No one has tested that limit before, and the Tigers won’t be the first, but spending the extra $450,000 makes plenty of sense and should help them to get most of their tougher signings locked up. Presumably one or two will slip through the cracks as usual.

PHILADELPHIA — Maybe it’s a sign of the apocalypse. 

No, not the smoke-filled swath covering much of the East Coast on Thursday; that was expected. 

Instead, it was the Mets opening the second half of their season with a 4-1 win over the Phillies. 

Powered by solo homers from Francisco Alvarez — who had two — and Brett Baty, as well as a strong start by Christian Scott, the reeling Mets avoided falling 18 games under .500 for the first time this year. 

After the start of the game was moved up an hour due to air quality concerns caused by Canadian wildfires — which forced both teams to shorten their pregame routines after their truncated All-Star break — the Mets played an unusually solid game. 

“I’m not gonna lie: Towards the end, it got a little thick,” Scott said of playing through the smoke. “It felt like breathing in some metal. … A little spoonful of adversity never hurt anybody.” 

The Mets have downed plenty of adversity this season, and there’s little chance of a turnaround, especially as they’re expected to sell at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. 

They also have the toughest schedule the rest of the season and start the second half visiting second-place division rival Philadelphia and NL Central leader Milwaukee before hosting the NL West-leading Dodgers and NL East-topping Braves. 

But they can try to avoid being blown away by what’s ahead of them over the final two-plus months of the season. 

“We’re well aware we’re staring down one of the hardest schedules in baseball for the second half,’’ interim manager Andy Green said. “We should relish that, like that and rise up and meet that. I don’t think there’s another attitude to take.” 

It’s performances like what they got from Alvarez and Baty at the bottom of the lineup and a promising young starting pitcher like Scott that could boost them. 

On Thursday, as the Philadelphia skyline slowly disappeared in the distance due to the worsening conditions, the Mets took the lead in the top of the third on Alvarez’s first homer of the night, a one-out shot to dead center. 

Baty added his fifth of the year, leading off against Aaron Nola in the seventh. 

Alvarez followed in the next at-bat with his second of the game to end Nola’s night. 

On the other side, Scott retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced before Bryce Harper doubled down the right field line with one out in the bottom of the fourth. 

Brooks Raley replaced Scott after just 79 pitches to face Harper. 

Harper reached on a four-pitch walk, but Raley got Marsh swinging to end the threat. 

The Phillies got to Luke Weaver with two outs in the eighth as Trea Turner took him deep to make it 3-1. It snapped Weaver’s 27-inning streak without allowing a home run. 

The Mets got the run back when A.J. Ewing doubled in Jared Young in the ninth to finish off a strange afternoon and evening. 

“I didn’t think it was bad till the last couple innings,” Baty said. “My eyes were burning and itching a little bit. [Carson] Benge said it felt like you were sitting by a campfire. … It was fun … but it didn’t feel great playing ball with it.” 

The results, though, were pretty good for a change.

It did not take long for the Cincinnati Reds to come to terms with their 1st round pick from last weekend’s MLB Draft. Justin Lebron, a shortstop out of the University of Alabama, fell to the Reds at pick #18, and Cincinnati was ecstatic that the college player with perhaps the single most upside in the entire draft fell right into their laps.

The Reds have signed Lebron to a reported $5 million bonus, per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, going slightly over the slot value of $4.6955 million to do so.

Lebron entered the 2026 season with some folks suggesting he’d be the #1 overall pick in this summer’s draft, but despite all the tools in the world his play slumped a bit against Southeastern Conference pitching after a hot start to the year. Still, his elite combo of light-tower power, 70+ grade speed on the bases, and ability to play plus defense at the infield’s most premium position made those brief struggles an afterthought for Nick Krall & Co. at pick #18, and Lebron’s future became tied to that of the sporting future of the state of Ohio.

Lebron. Contract talks. The state of Ohio. It’s all truly coming together.

Welcome to the Reds, Justin!

Here’s a list of other players with whom the Reds have already reached agreements so far:

The Mets hit three solo home runs against veteran Aaron Nola to beat the Phillies, 4-1, and win their first game after the All-Star break.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Francisco Alvarez stepped up with his seventh career multi-HR game, hitting two solo home runs to lead the offense.

He gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning with a solo HR to dead center off of Nola. The homer traveled 416 feet through the smog and was his 10th of the season. The 24-year-old shook off getting hit by a backswing in the third inning and helped deliver clutch insurance runs, hitting back-to-back homers with Brett Baty off Nola in the seventh. The two solo blasts pushed the Mets' lead to 3-0. 

-- Christian Scott gave the Citizens Bank Park crowd another show following the All-Star festivities earlier in the week, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.

The right-hander retired the first six Phillies he faced, including two strikeouts. He let up his first hit to J.T. Realmuto to lead off the bottom of the third inning before settling back in to get the next three outs, including two more strikeouts. Scott got beat by Bryce Harper with a one-out double in the fourth, but was able to escape the inning with two quick outs.

Scott nearly ruined his impressive performance in the sixth inning. He allowed a double to Kyle Schwarber that was initially thought to be a home run, but it hit the railing in RF and stayed in play. His night then ended before facing more left-handed hitters, throwing 79 pitches (56 strikes) and allowing just three hits.

-- Juan Soto opened his second half of the 2026 season with a first-inning single that bounced off Trea Turner's glove, but New York's hitting struggles with runners on base continued as Bo Bichette grounded into an inning-ending 3-6-3 double play.

Soto walked with two outs in the third inning, although Bichette couldn't come through again and struck out to end the frame.

-- Despite loading the bases with no outs against Nola in the fifth inning, the Mets weren't able to add to their lead. Jared Young lined out to Harper, who was able to touch first base in time for the double play. Bichette got his third big opportunity after Philadelphia intentionally walked Soto, but flied out to right field to end the scoring chance.

-- Brooks Raley was able to get the third out of the sixth inning after Schwarber's near homer, striking out first-time All-Star Brandon Marsh with two on base. Huascar Brazoban kept the Philly bats quiet with a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Luke Weaver's scoreless streak of 25 straight appearances ended in the eighth, letting up a solo home run to Turner as the Phillies trailed, 3-1.

-- A.J. Ewing put the Mets back up three runs in the top of the ninth with a two-out RBI double to left field that ricocheted off the wall in foul territory, driving in Young from first base to go up 4-1. Devin Williams closed things down with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Game MVP: Francisco Alvarez

On a weird night with the poor air quality, Alvarez found a way to lift two home runs and give the offense some life.

Highlights

Francisco Alvarez goes deep to open the scoring!

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/V5d0tKRacu

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 16, 2026

Christian Scott comes in to catch the popup after Justin Crawford's backswing hits Francisco Alvarez on the head

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/RSv9K5HtFo

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 16, 2026

Brett Baty gets one above the zone and launches the Mets' second homer of the night!

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/czzaHojF0o

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 17, 2026

Francisco Alvarez's second of the night and he goes back-to-back with Brett Baty!

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/Idsq8a50zb

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 17, 2026

A.J. Ewing increases the Mets' lead to 4-1 with an RBI double!

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/NlyO8x9Fbb

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 17, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Phillies will have off on Friday and then resume their three-game series on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 4:05 p.m. on SNY.

Sean Manaea (2-4, 4.56 ERA) will face fellow left-hander Jesus Luzardo (8-4, 3.51 ERA).

Entering his redshirt sophomore season at Arkansas, Hunter Dietz had thrown just 1 ²/₃ innings in his college career because of a stress fracture in his left elbow.

But across 16 starts this spring, the left-hander gave the Yankees plenty of reasons to be excited about drafting him with their first-round pick (No. 35 overall) last weekend and betting on his upside as they try to inject more talent into their system.

“There’s a lot of gears that I can hit in my game going forward,” Dietz said Thursday on a video conference call after signing for a reported below-slot value of $2,497,500. “There’s a lot of potential that I need to unlock. I just feel like this staff is perfect for me, once I start my buildup, just to get ready for next year and the coming outings that I’m going to have. I feel like it’s just perfect for me as a player.”

Unbeknownst to Dietz, the Yankees have actually been following him since he was in high school at Calvary Christian — not far from their player development complex in Tampa — but then this spring saw him become “what we thought he would be out of high school,” vice president of domestic amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer said this week.

The 6-foot-6, 235-pound Dietz pitched to a 3.57 ERA for the Razorbacks while striking out 131 in 85 ²/₃ innings.

“I feel like it just shows who I am as a pitcher, finally getting healthy after the one injury at the end of my freshman year and struggling mechanically my sophomore year,” Dietz said. “Piecing it all together and having a great year, I feel like this year was just kind of the floor for me. I’m just going to keep getting better and better, especially with the Yankees staff by my side.”

Dietz said he has gotten comparisons to current Yankees lefty Carlos Rodón, who he recently got some advice from after meeting him in the club’s Tampa facility a few days ago.

Since 2020, most of the pitchers the Yankees have drafted have spent the rest of that year working out at the player development complex before being sent to an affiliate the following year, which is likely the path Dietz will take.

“Big, powerful left-handed pitcher,” Oppenheimer said. “He’s big, strong, fits our mold. He’s got a big fastball that’s up to 98, it’s got movement. He’s got a slider that’s basically a wipeout strikeout pitch. And a curveball that we think can be developed. … The control just keeps getting better. Ecstatic that we were able to get this where we picked and have this top end of the rotation ceiling.”

The Yankees will begin the second half with Gerrit Cole starting on Friday (against Roki Sasaki), Ryan Weathers on Saturday (Emmett Sheehan) and Cam Schlittler on Sunday (Yoshinobu Yamamoto) in their showdown with the Dodgers.

If there is actually a 2027 season and it starts on time — with a labor war and likely lockout threatening to disrupt that — the Yankees are scheduled to open the season at home against the Blue Jays on March 25.

The schedule also includes home games on Memorial Day (Royals) and Independence Day (Astros), hosting the Mets on July 16-18 and playing them at Citi Field on May 28-30.

Major League Baseball has reached the ceremonial halfway point of the 2026 season with the San Diego Padres firmly entrenched as the worst offensive team in baseball with a .500 record.

The record portrays them as a mediocre team, losing and winning the same number of games. The stats tell a story of a team that started strong, with lots of late-game heroics, and then struggled to score runs and pitch effectively since.

With a series win over the Toronto Blue Jays before the All-Star break, the Friars salvaged that record after slipping below .500 with a dismal June and beginning of July. Padres fans don’t need a rehash of everything the team has dealt with over the past two months. Poor performance is the leading culprit, but injuries have also significantly contributed to a team underperforming its expectations.

Offensive doldrums

Of the current active roster, only Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Campusano are close to what should be expected from them, with Campusano on the injured list for the better part of two months.

Infielder Ty France is performing very close to his career norms and is on track to finish on par with his best season in 2022. He has been a welcome bright spot for the Friars.

Third baseman Manny Machado is having his worst season as a hitter but is trending toward matching his season norms for both home runs and RBI. Remarkably, he just achieved a batting average over .200 while hitting 19 homers with 55 RBI.

Worse than expected pitching

The pitching is a whole other level of miserable for the Padres. After having the best bullpen in baseball in 2025, the Padres have leaned heavily on their ‘pen with the starting rotation struggling to get into the fifth inning in many of their starts. The bullpen ERA is 3.68, fifth in baseball. That is still very good considering what has been asked of them.

The starting rotation, which is mostly pieced together by reclamation projects acquired by general manager A.J. Preller during the offseason, has a 4.78 ERA and sits at No. 27 out of 30 teams. Inconsistency has been the downfall of this group. Injuries have also taken a big toll, losing Nick Pivetta early on.

While they have all had encouraging and effective starts, Michael King is the only one with an ERA below 4.71. His 3.41 makes him the ace of the staff while averaging 5.7 innings per start.

Sprinting to the finish

A team must have more than 80 wins to get to any level of the playoffs, 83 wins has been the lowest in recent years. The Padres sit at 48-48 with 66 games left in the season. Assuming 83-87 wins will get to the wild card spot, the Padres must win a minimum of 35 of their next 66 games to hope to get there. Eight games over .500 would be a safer bet and that would be 40 wins out of 66 games . 

The current starting rotation does not appear likely to achieve that level of success. With the trade deadline on Aug. 3, the next two-and-a-half weeks will determine the fate of the 2026 season.

Mason Miller gets a batter

Padres closer Mason Miller got a one-batter appearance in the All-Star Game on Tuesday in Philadelphia. National League manager Dave Roberts brought him in at the top of the ninth inning to face AL hitter Munetaka Murakami and Miller struck him out on four pitches. Roberts then removed him and gave the ball to Phillies closer Jhoan Duran for the final two outs. 

Injury updates and roster moves

LHP Wandy Peralta was placed on the bereavement list on July 15. He will be replaced on the roster by RHP Jhony Brito, recalled from Triple-A.

RHP Matt Waldron was recalled after Brito made his one appearance on July 7. He covered three innings with no earned runs and two hits after relieving Walker Buehler’s two-inning start against the Blue Jays.

David Morgan was placed on the injured list on June 29 with left knee inflammation. He was sent for a rehab assignment on July 15 (ACL Padres).

RHP Randy Vásquez was placed on the injured list on July 3 with a right ankle contusion after being hit by a batted ball during his start. He was assigned to the ACL team for a rehab stint on July 14.

Outfielder Samad Taylor was placed on the injured list on July 8 with a right oblique strain. There have been no updates on his status. Infielder Luis Rengifo was called up from El Paso to take his roster spot.

Catcher Freddy Fermin is with the El Paso Chihuahuas on a rehab assignment after being placed on the injured list on July 3 with a head contusion.

RHP Nick Pivetta has been throwing bullpens in his effort to return from the right flexor tendon strain that put him on the injured list on April 14. On Aug. 22, Pivetta will hit the 130-day deadline for the injury clause on his contract. The Padres could void the player option of his deal if he is not back with the team by that date.

RHP Joe Musgrove is also advancing in his throwing program and has at least two bullpen sessions under his belt. The latest update, per Kevin Acee’s daily newsletter on July 12, reports that both Musgrove and Pivetta could be throwing to hitters by next week. He reports Musgrove is pain-free with his throwing and hopes to accelerate his throwing progression.

There has been no update on RHP Jason Adam, who was placed on the injured list with a right shoulder strain on July 2.

RHP Jeremiah Estrada is close to a rehab assignment per Kevin Acee’s newsletter. He could be throwing with a minor league team before the end of July. He has been on the injured list since June 5 with right knee inflammation.

RHP Lucas Giolito, placed on the injured list on June 23 with right elbow inflammation, has been working with the training staff to build his strength and stamina while progressing on a throwing program. It was recently reported (Kevin Acee, July 13 newsletter) that he has built up strength and his fastball now sits at 94 mph. He should begin a rehab assignment by the end of July.

Minor league baseball entered the All-Star break with multiple members of the San Diego Padres’ prospect list struggling through the 2026 season. The two players from the system named to the All-Star Futures Game, catcher Ethan Salas and LHP Kash Mayfield, are arguably the only two to have a consistently good first half of the season. 

There have been some excellent performances by certain individuals, but the overall problem with the season so far is the lack of consistency. Salas and Mayfield have been the only players to be somewhat consistent.

To be fair, RHP Miguel Mendez was very good before injury disrupted his flow, and he hasn’t been the same since his return off the injured list. He is the No. 4 ranked player in the system and was a breakout last year. 

Several members of the Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm had tremendous starts to their first full professional seasons. So much success that they were promoted to High-A Fort Wayne at the end of the first half of the season. Since those promotions, the players have all battled to find their footing at the next level. This is not necessarily a concerning development; adjustment to new levels can sometimes take a few weeks. 

A couple of members of the top ten list, No. 8 OF Kale Fountain and No. 6 C Ty Harvey, have lost all or most of their season to injury as well. Both were off to tremendous starts before those injuries occurred.

Last year’s first-round draft pick, LHP Kruz Schoolcraft, has struggled with command in his first professional season. He has recently gone into the fifth inning in a start for the first time and has had some good performances, which are usually followed by a short start with command issues. It is too soon to determine how the 6-foot-8, 245-pound teenager will develop as he matures.

With the lack of good performances and consistency from the minor league prospects, the Padres farm system remains the lowest-ranked system in MLB. Projection doesn’t count when the players in question don’t perform to confirm those expectations. The organization is approaching the August trade deadline with a decision regarding buying or selling for the major league team. The farm system provides little help beyond Salas and Mayfield if they decide to try to improve the Padres.

Ethan Salas and Kash Mayfield in the Futures Game

Salas started the game as the designated hitter. He was hitting seventh in the lineup and singled in his first at-bat in the second inning. His second appearance, in the fourth inning, resulted in a walk.

LHP Mayfield entered the game in the fifth inning with Salas switching to catcher for his inning of work. Things did not go well for Mayfield or Salas in the inning. Mayfield’s pitches were consistent with his performance with Fort Wayne in that he featured his low to mid-90’s four-seam fastball, a low to mid-90’s sinker, and a slider. Things started fine with a groundout to the first hitter, and then he walked the next batter. After that, it got a little wonky. The defense behind him failed to make some plays, a stolen base got a runner to second, and a single allowed the go-ahead run, which proved to be the winning run.

Both players were out of the game after that, and Mayfield was the losing pitcher in the game.

El Paso Chihuahuas (41-51 record, 4th in the PCL East)

The Chihuahuas have struggled with the constant shuttling of players between Triple-A and the Padres. They lost their best hitters when the injury bug struck the major league team and have lost a good portion of their pitching staff to the Padres. Relievers and starters go back and forth, so there is no consistency for El Paso. Their record and poor performance can’t really be held against them this season.

The latest in that revolving door scenario are RHP Matt Waldron and infielder Luis Rengifo. Both were playing well for El Paso when the parent team again suffered injuries and poor performance, which prompted the Padres to promote both.

Reliever Miguel Cienfuegos, 29, was pressed into service as a starter this past week after fellow reliever Sean Boyle, 29, began serving in the role last month. 

The Padres have very little left in Triple-A that can be called up to help the major league team for the rest of this season.

San Antonio Missions (40-47 record, last in Texas League South)

The Missions split their six-game series in the week leading up to the break. Infielder Carson Tucker and catcher Ethan Salas lead the team offensively. Outfielder Tirso Ornelas, who struggled with the Chihuahuas last year and was placed with the Missions this season, leads the team with 12 home runs and 38 RBI.

Outfielder Kai Roberts isn’t hitting for average and doesn’t possess a power stroke but leads the team in stolen bases with 29 out of 31 attempts.

Outfielder Braedon Karpathios, who broke out last season after being signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023, has struggled at this level. He is hitting .234/.333/.375 with eight homers and 33 RBI but has 104 strikeouts in 336 plate appearances while walking 44 times.

Outfielder Jake Cunningham, promoted at midseason from High-A, is hitting .300/.320/.486 with two homers and 13 RBI in 17 games and 75 plate appearances. He has 21 strikeouts and two walks.

LHP Jagger Haynes is their best starter with a 3-3 record and 4.57 ERA in 88.2 innings pitched. He leads the team with 77 strikeouts and has walked 41 hitters. RHP Ian Koenig has a 4.81 ERA in 78.2 innings with 63 strikeouts to 28 walks. 

Reliever Johan Moreno has a 3.93 ERA in 36.2 innings of relief with 41 strikeouts to 14 walks.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (36-51 record, 5th in Midwest League East)

Outfielder Kasen Wells, 22, leads the TinCaps in both average and OBP at .287/.384, but is a speed, contact, and defense-first outfielder. He has one home run and 22 RBI. First baseman Luke Cantwell, promoted from Single-A at the break, has struggled with his average in his first nine games and 37 plate appearances. He is hitting .194 but has a .496 slugging percentage with three home runs and seven RBI.

Outfielder Kavares Tears leads the team with 15 home runs and outfielder Alex McCoy has 44 RBI.

RHP Kannon Kemp, who had a three-game rehab assignment in the desert, has had two games and one start for the TinCaps. Rated in the top 20 in the Padres’ prospect rankings, Kemp had an oblique injury in Spring Training. 

LHP Kash Mayfield, given a one-start break at midseason, is having his innings managed in his second professional season. The 21-year-old has 13 starts and a 3.33 ERA in 48.2 innings pitched this season after only having 60.2 innings pitched in his first season as a Padres prospect. He missed significant time with a shoulder injury and is being closely monitored. Mayfield has 58 strikeouts and 19 walks using his sinker/slider combo.

RHP Abraham Parra, 20, is unranked among the top prospects in the system. Signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2023, Parra came to domestic baseball in 2024 for the rookie league Arizona team and began there again in 2025. A strike-thrower who has occasional command issues, Parra has 61 strikeouts and 40 walks in his 62.1 innings pitched for the TinCaps. His ERA sits at 5.92, but he bears watching as the season goes along.

Lake Elsinore Storm (45-42 record, 2nd in Cal League South)

After losing many of their best players to promotion at the end of the first half, the Storm has struggled to win games since then. They dropped out of first in their division this past week with a 2-4 record. 

Catcher Alcides Hernandez leads the team with a .333 average and .463 OBP since he became the primary backstop with the injury to Ty Harvey. Outfielder Qrey Lott, 21, an undrafted free agent signed in 2025, is their best all-around player since the mass promotion that occurred in June. He is hitting .280/.396/.427 with five homers and 24 RBI in 197 plate appearances. Lott plays all outfield positions but has been primarily a corner outfielder for the Storm.

RHP Jesus Castro, 19, an international signee out of Mexico in 2025, played for the DSL Gold team last season and is in his first domestic season as a professional. In 15 games started and 59.2 innings pitched, Castrol has a 3.92 ERA with 65 strikeouts to 20 walks. He has a sinker, changeup, and sweeper combination that induces lots of ground balls and limits home runs. Currently unranked in the system, Castro and Winyer Churio (promoted at the midpoint) contributed significantly to the first-half success for the Storm.

Former two-way player Sean Barnet did not succeed in his attempt to be both a hitter and a pitcher and has since focused just on pitching. He has quietly put together a bounce-back season as a reliever. In 28 games and 31.1 innings pitched, Barnett has a 6.32 ERA but has improved significantly over the past six weeks. In 14.1 innings pitched, he has allowed six earned runs with nine hits for a 3.83 ERA and 21 strikeouts with 13 walks.

ACL Padres (29-24 record, 3rd in ACL West)

The ACL season ends on July 23.

Both RHP Randy Vásquez and David Morgan began their rehab assignments in the desert with the ACL team on July 15. Vasquez went 2.2 innings with a hit and three strikeouts, allowing no runs. Morgan went 0.1 innings with a hit, no runs, and two walks to one strikeout.

The ACL team has benefited from the promotion of outfielder Eddson Martinez from the DSL. He has played in 16 games and leads the team with a .396/.485/.547 batting line with eight RBI. The 18-year-old hasn’t shown any power, with no home runs in his pro career over 107 games. He has 16 strikeouts to 12 walks in 70 plate appearances.

Outfielder Jesmaylin Arias, 19, in his second season with the ACL team, leads the team with seven home runs and has the most RBI with 30.

LHP Adler Cecil, 21, returning from 2025 Tommy John surgery, has made seven starts for the Arizona team. He has 32.2 innings pitched with a 5.23 ERA. His strikeouts sit at 56 for those 32.2 innings with 17 walks. Not considered a high-level prospect, Cecil was drafted by the Padres in 2023 out of Temecula High School and had his surgery at the end of the 2025 Spring Training camp. He could be sent to Lake Elsinore after the ACL season ends.

DSL Padres

The Brown team sits with a 6-25 record, last in the West division)

The Brown squad continues to scuffle with the DSL season at almost the halfway point. Infielder Gabriel Teran was brought over from the Gold team and is hitting .357/.591/.571 after 22 plate appearances. No one on the team has more than one home run and infielder Yonaiker Hernandez leads with 16 RBI. 

Of their starters, Yolansky Perez has five games and 19.1 innings pitched with a 4.66 ERA to lead the team. Reliever Aneury Sosa has a 2.79 ERA in 9.2 innings pitched.

DSL Gold

The Gold team has a 24-8 record, 1st in the Northwest division. They have eight hitters with an average of .300 or better. The best slugger is infielder Abraham Bastides with a .667 slug, and he leads the team with three home runs. Shortstop Joniel Hernandez, the Padres’ No. 15 prospect, has the team lead with 35 RBI. Hernandez is hitting .328/.433/.526 and leads the team with 13 doubles, two triples, and he also has two home runs.

None of their starters has an ERA under 5.26, but multiple relievers are having good appearances. RHP Albert Perez has a 3.68 ERA in 22 innings pitched. RHP Albieris Polanco has a 3.15 ERA in 20 innings pitched. Starter Michel Cervantes has a 5.63 ERA in 24 innings, leads the team with 29 strikeouts, and has 25 walks.

The majority of players in the DSL are between 17 and 19 years old.