Category: Baseball

The Field of Dreams game last night was a rousing success for the Phillies, as they were able to beat the Twins by a score of 7-1. First, legends of the game emerged from the signature Dyersville, Iowa cornfield, including some from Phillies history such as Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton. Once the game began, Kyle Schwarber mashed a majestic home run on the third pitch he saw, sending the ball deep into the Iowan cornfield surrounding the diamond. He later added a second corn bomb, in the fourth, this time with Brandon Marsh on base. Speaking of Marsh, he added a two run homer of his own in the seventh that gave the Phillies their comfortable 7-1 lead.

Aaron Nola meanwhile pitched five solid innings and collected nine strikeouts. Three Phillies relievers were able to successfully bridge the gap to Jhoan Duran who retired the side on 16 pitches despite it not being a save situation.

After a week of disheartening and rather frustrating baseball, the Phillies were able to show at least for one night that they can be a good team that’s worthy of playing on a national stage such as this one. Some cinematic scenery certainly didn’t hurt one’s ability to forgot some of the heartache caused earlier in the week.

So, what did you think of the Field of Dreams game?

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees hit the road to take on the Blue Jays in a three-game series starting Friday...

AL East battle

Toronto has had a tough season. After being so close to capturing a World Series title a year ago, the Blue Jays find themselves entering this series below .500 (59-64) and on the outside looking in on the postseason.

However, Toronto has played much better of late. They are 6-4 in their last 10 and just took three of four from Boston. This stretch has allowed Toronto to climb within 2.0 games of the third and final Wild Card spot. 

Can the Yankees put Toronto's playoff hopes on ice, or will they give them life like they did the Red Sox? 

The Yanks need these games just as much as Toronto. Although they are firmly in the first Wild Card spot, they can't allow the Red Sox to get close -- they enter Friday three games up on Boston -- and are 6.5 games behind Tampa for the AL East crown. 

Cy Young battle

The top two AL pitchers vying for the Cy Young are Cam Schlittler and Dylan Cease. 

Schlittler was the favorite for much of this season, but Cease has come on of late, pitching deep into games and piling up the strikeouts. Both will have their next starts in this series. And while they are currently not scheduled to pitch against each other, they will look to boost their Cy Young credentials this weekend.

Schlittler struck out 11 and allowed one run across seven innings in his last start against the Braves, while Cease struck out seven and allowed three runs in five innings against the Red Sox. 

There's also the All-Star starter "controversy" when Blue Jays manager John Schneider -- managing the AL side -- was going to peg Cease to start the game over Schlittler, but the Yankees ace took himself out of the running once he got wind of it. This could be a chance for Schlittler to show the Jays skipper what he can do.

Spencer Jones' continued development

While George Lombard Jr. is getting the headlines for what he's done in his short stint with the club, Jones is quietly becoming a productive player.

Yankees skipper Aaron Boone has slotted Jones into the three-hole the last few games and it's paid off, with Jones coming through with runners on base in the first two games of the Mariners series.

And while he went hitless in the series finale on Thursday, Jones is looking more and more comfortable as he stacks starts. Can he continue to put up quality ABs and play good outfield defense in Toronto?

Can the Yankees offense wake up?

Yankees pitching has done its part, but the offense continues to be inconsistent.

There was some life from the lineup against Seattle, with New York scoring 10 runs in the middle game of the series, but the Yanks were shut out in the finale on Thursday. 

Which version of the Yankees will show up this weekend? 

Deadline bats not doing their part

Luis Garcia Jr. and Heliot Ramos were brought over to infuse some life into the lineup. And while they've been solid, they need to do more. Garcia, especially. 

After having the best OPS in the NL when he was with the Nationals, it has not been the same since he donned the pinstripes. He's slashing .258/.303/.452 with an OPS of .755, one home run, three doubles and two RBI in eight games with the Yankees. Decent, but New York needs more power from the left-hander.

Ramos is simply lost. He's slashing .080/.233/.160 with an OPS of .393 in eight games with the Yanks, and was benched in the series finale against the Mariners. 

Can they turn it around?

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Ben Rice

It's hard to pick any player right now, but Rice needs to shoulder the offensive load until reinforcements arrive.

Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?

Cam Schlittler

Schlittler has his best starts when he's motivated to prove people wrong. He'll do that against Schneider and the Jays.

Which Blue Jays player will be a thorn in the Yankees' side?

Ernie Clement

The infielder always gives the Yankees fits. He has 33 hits with two homers and 17 RBI in 35 games against the Yankees in his career.

There is a lot to be negative about round these parts right now—the O’s have lost three of four series, find themselves last in the AL East, and seem ready to change the channel to 2027. I don’t need to perseverate. But this post is a conscious choice to focus on the positive.

And one undeniable bright spot this season has been Brandon Young, the 6’6” Texan bound for Triple-A this spring and not expected to play a role in the rotation.

Well, now he’s arguably the best starter in a rotation that’s actually been decent this season. Young doesn’t have the stuff or talent of Shane Baz, Trevor Rogers, or Kyle Bradish, but he leads them all in bWAR (1.9), wins (9, a throwback stat, I know), ERA (3.33), and ERA+ (124).

Not bad for a depth arm not expected to play a role with the Major League team.

Especially given how bad Young’s 2025 season was. The righty had one glorious moment, a near-perfect game against his hometown Houston Astros, where he tossed eight shutout innings and allowed just one hit. But besides that, he was bad: he went 1-7 with a 6.24 ERA, a -0.7 WAR, and a 65 ERA+.

Well, year over year, Young has made a drastic change. The arsenal is different, and the individual pitches are better. Easy to say, hard to do.

Arsenal changes first. In 2025, Young threw six pitches, in order of usage: four-seamer, splitter, curveball, cutter, slider, and changeup. Three of those were simply unplayable. The split-finger was ranked one of the worst in the league, in run value. The cutter got hit at a .429 clip and slugged .857, a pitch Young never recorded a strikeout with all year. The changeup was even worse: hitters batted .625 and slugged 1.000 against it. The latter two are gone entirely from his 2026 mix.

In their place, Young added a new pitch, a sinker, has remade his splitter entirely, and has leaned harder on his slider. His 2026 five-pitch mix, by usage, now runs four-seamer (39.8%), splitter (19.8%), slider (15.3%), sinker (13.5%), and curveball (11.7%). Trimming from six pitches to five let him funnel his offerings into fewer shapes, and the results show it.

Start with the fastball. Young is throwing it about 1.7 mph harder on average this year (94.2 mph, up from 92.5), and it now grades as one of the better heaters in baseball: a 95th-percentile pitch by run value, up from the 30th percentile a year ago. That added velocity buys him a lot of margin, looks like.

The slider is another breakout. In 2025 it was a middling, rarely-used fourth or fifth option, generating just a 19.4% whiff rate and a 10.5% strikeout rate on pitches that ended at-bats. In 2026, it’s a weapon: a 41.1% whiff rate and a 40.5% strikeout rate, by far his best swing-and-miss pitch. Young is throwing it nearly twice as often as he did last year, and hitters simply aren’t squaring it up.

Then there’s the splitter, the new one. As the story goes, on May, after a rough start in Washington, Young was approached by several pitching coaches about trying an entirely new grip. Well, it worked, a totally different pitch from the one he threw last season and in his first six starts of 2026: about five miles lower, with very different spin and much more vertical break. Results have been good with the new grip so far.

The brand-new sinker, well, looks like it’s work in progress. Batters are hitting .324 and slugging .486 against it, but he has, interestingly, used it pretty often as a putaway pitch. Might be worth seeing what the fate of the Brandon Young sinker is. The curveball, finally, a true holdover from last season, has is somewhat improved, too.

There’s surely more to say about the Brandon Young renaissance (including that he’s lately shown signs of fatigue that need to be watched), but it’s worth giving credit to the big righty for something so rare: he went from essentially a AAAA option last season to the team’s most reliable starter option this one. He’s not just skating by, either, cheating the data: his fastball is one of the best in the league right now in run value, he’s 81st percentile in chase rate, and the hard contact against him has plummeted. The lesson? By scrapping his two worst pitches, sharpening his best one, and adding a jolt of fastball velocity, Young has turned himself from an emergency call-up into the answer at the top of a taxed Orioles rotation. If nothing else this season, that’s worth appreciating.

The very best stats are mirror images of each other. Last time we looked at offensive efficiency and it only makes perfect sense to turn around and look at defensive efficiency. When we look at both halves we get a much clearer picture as to how good a team really is and whether there are any hidden gems in there that could make noise come playoff time.

So, if you did not catch that particular article, I would strongly suggest going back and taking a look at it. Essentially, efficiency is rated by taking total runs scored or allowed and dividing it into hits, walks, and hit by pitches. We will make the same adjustment with home runs that we made with the offensive numbers to see what happens. As you might imagine, the Astros are near the bottom of this one as their units have served as mirror images for much of the season. Statistics are accurate coming into play on Wednesday.

Let’s start local and move our way out. The Astros pitching staff has been awful overall on the season, but as we saw in an earlier lab, most of that came in March and April. They are 13th in the American League in runs allowed over the full season, so it shouldn’t be any surprise that they are one of the worst teams in terms of efficiency. I’ll just say that the Athletics numbers are staggering on so many levels, but the rest of the league looks normal with one notable exception.

When I looked at the offensive chart, I noticed that the Rays were not nearly as efficient as they could be. We see the same thing here on the pitching end. They rest near the bottom in efficiency even though their overall record in terms of runs scored says they should be much better. I’m not a betting man, but if I were I might put a wager on them come playoff time because that is a baseball team that’s underlying numbers are much better than they are actually performing.

As for the hometown nine, they are 2nd in walks allowed and first in hit batsman. Thank God for the Angels because otherwise it wouldn’t even be close when we combine those two together. Eight AL teams have surrendered more hits than the Astros. So, when you look at raw ability, they should be in the middle of the pack and that is what we have seen from May 1st on.

As we saw with the offensive numbers, home runs dramatically impacts efficiency, so we should expect to see the same thing on the pitching side. So, what we are doing is simply removing home runs from the total base runners column and from the runs scored column (assuming solo shots for now) to see what happens to the efficiency rating.

The Red Sox and Athletics are really mirror images of each other. Neither is historically bad or good compared to the very best and worst seasons on the bump (2018 and 2022 Astros are at the top since the DH). However, since this is an Astros site, we should focus in on the hometown nine. They are slightly better comparatively when we remove the home runs.

One of the things to come out “Moneyball” was the development of something called the “Beane count”. It was a crude metric where you compared the amount of home runs hit and home runs surrendered along with walks drawn and walks surrendered. In most seasons, if you are on the positive end of both of those then you probably have a pretty good baseball team. The opposite is obviously true as well. So, the Beane count for the Astros looks like this:

Home Runs: 162 for, 164 against = -2 HR
Walks: 411 for, 504 against = -93 walks

These numbers predict that the Astros should not be a good team and when you look at the Pythagorean record you can see that the Astros currently sit at 58-64. For those unfamiliar, the Pythagorean record takes the runs scored and runs allowed and spits out an expected record. The Astros have surrendered more runs than they have scored, so they should not be above .500. Of course, there are any number of factors that could credibly explain why teams overperform or underperform. Some of those tend towards the luck end of the spectrum while others are structural with things like bullpen performance and other factors.

The Beane count is crude and it seems easy enough to say hit more dingers and walk more, but turning things around can be that simple. In the Astros case, they probably need to work on the pitching end of that equation. In particular, being 29th in walks allowed is not acceptable. Adding in being 30th in hit batters is also not a good thing. It will be interesting to see what happens at the end of the year when we look at these numbers again.

Hickory starter Evan Siary went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs, striking out six and walking two. Michael Trausch struck out one and walked one in 1.2 scoreless innings.

Yolfran Castillo was 2 for 5 with a sotlen base. Marco Argudin homered and walked. Pablo Guerrero had a double and two walks. Kaden Carpenter had a homer and a walk. Jay McQueen had three hits and a stolen base. Sebastian Baquer had a pair of hits. Curley Martha had a hit.

Hickory box score

Kamdyn Perry went 4.2 innings for Hub City, allowing a solo homer, walking three and striking out three. J’Briell Easley allowed two runs in 1.1 IP, walking one and striking out one.

Gleider Figuereo had a double. Paxton Kling had a pair of walks and a stolen base.

Hub City box score

Frisco starter Dylan MacLean allowed five runs in 1.1 IP, including two homers, walking one and striking out two.

Rafe Perich was 2 for 4 with a double and a homer. Dylan Dreiling was 2 for 5 with a double and a homer. Sebastian Walcott had a pair of doubles. Malcolm Moore had a hit. Arturo Disla had a double and a walk.

Frisco box score

Rehabbing Jack Leiter started for Round Rock, striking out three and walking one while using 48 pitches to throw 2.2 scoreless innings. Marc Church retired the one batter he faced. Dalton Pence allowed two runs in three innings, walking three and striking out two. Emiliano Teodo threw 37 pitches, 22 of them for strikes, while facing seven batters. He walked one of them and struck out the other six.

Rehabbing Danny Jansen was 1 for 3 and caught six innings. Logan O’Hoppe doubled.

Round Rock box score

DSL Rangers Red

DSL Rangers Blue

Meet the Mets

Luis Robert Jr. has kept his hot streak alive post-deadline, showing that maybe he should have garnered more interest than he did.

Jon Heyman presented a blueprint for bringing the Mets back to contention as the Tarik Skubal chase looms large for New York.

Anthony DiComo took to Reddit to answer some Mets-related questions.

Laura Albanese answered some Mets-related questions.

The Mets could look to pursue Hanshin Tigers star 3B Teruaki Sato to fill their glaring void at first base.

Howie Rose reflected on 40 years in the radio booth ahead of his impending retirement.

Joe DeMayo did a deep dive on Mets’ prospect Sammy Stafura.

Around the National League East

The Phillies dominated Twins in the Field of Dreams game, 7-1. Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs in the victory in Iowa.

Bryce Harper dressed the part with his head-to-toe corn-themed apparel.

Schwarber and Harper were excited to see some corn in last night’s Field of Dreams game.

Bryson Stott wore custom Field of Dreams cleats for the game.

The Phillie Phanatic made the most of his field trip to Iowa.

Cade Cavalli carried a no-hitter into the seventh and pitched eight one-hit innings with ten strikeouts to lead the Nationals past the Cubs 7-0.

The Marlins were walloped 13-1 by the Pirates.

Around Major League Baseball

Contenders’ aces filled up the latest Starting Pitcher Power Rankings.

Fangraphs’ Ben Clemens aimed to put Tarik Skubal back on the Tigers.

The Rays signed infielder Jorge Mateo to a major league contract.

The Red Sox placed set-up man Garrett Whitlock on the injured list and recalled Greg Weissert from Triple-A.

Boston got back in the win column with a 7-0 shutout victory against the Blue Jays. Payton Tolle’s gem played a big role in the win, as he struck out 14 batters.

Behind Logan Gilbert’s gem, the Mariners blanked the Yankees 1-0 to halt their losing streak. Max Fried continued rolling for the Yankees despite the loss.

The Tigers blanked the Guardians 3-0 without striking out a single batter, the first time an MLB team has accomplished the feat since the 2014 Tigers.

Yesterday’s Reds vs. White Sox game featured a benches clearing ball and Chicago starter David Martin getting ejected after plunking Sal Stewart. In the end, cooler heads prevailed, and the Reds emerged victorious by a 9-8 score.

The Angels blanked the Rangers 7-0. Mike Trout turned it back to 2018 with another big night.

Edwin Díaz blew his fourth save of the year and his third in one week (his ERA ballooned to 11.57 on the season) as the Dodgers fell 5-4 to the Brewers. On the bright side for LA, Max Muncy passed Eric Karros for home runs at Dodgers stadium with Karros on the call.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Allison McCague, Linda Surovich, and Maggie Wiggin talked about the Mets being a slightly more watchable disaster on the newest episode of A Pod of Their Own.

This Date in Mets History

Stephen Matz carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a 5-1 Mets victory over the Padres on this date in 2016.

Following a dance with the Mariners at home, the Yankees are heading north of the border for a three-game set with a largely struggling Toronto club. Despite looking up at a significant deficit in the AL East standings, the Blue Jays are at least playing some decent ball of late, winning five of their last seven games and on the heels of a four-game set with the Red Sox, of which they won three.

The Yankees have been doing enough to get by of late, and will head into this East matchup with some of their best pitching on tap. They’ll have hope the bats can do enough to support the likes of Gerrit Cole and Cam Schlittler and take a few games from the middling Jays.

Friday: Gerrit Cole vs. Shane Bieber (7:15pm Eastern)

Cole will make his 15th start of the season to kick things off in Toronto, as the 2023 Cy Young Award winner will look to continue a stretch of very solid starts. He is boasting a respectable 3.35 ERA and a 3.36 FIP to match in his 80.2 innings thus far. In his last three outings, the veteran has punched out 21 batters in 18.2 innings, while allowing just three runs in that stretch. Since his late start to the season, Cole has been largely himself outside of a couple of duds, and will hope to keep the good stuff pumping on Friday.

He’ll square off with 2020 Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, who has not quite enjoyed the same fate this season. Once one of the more promising pitchers in baseball, with a world-class ability to rack up Ks, Bieber has suffered multiple lost seasons in a row due to injury, and has reached new lows in 2026. The righty made his season debut in late June, and has a FIP approaching six in just over 40 innings. While he’s had a handful of good outings, plenty of bad ones have been sprinkled in as well. Bieber is coming off of five earned runs and a pair of homers in 5.2 innings against the Phillies.

Saturday: Cam Schlittler vs. TBD (3:07pm Eastern)

The Yankees will follow up their veteran stud with their young one, as Cam Schlittler makes his way to the bump on Saturday. The 25-year-old has been a true force this season, leading the American League in fWAR and posting the lowest ERA across the fourth-most innings in all of baseball. He is a legitimate Cy Young contender, and has been a joy to watch this season. His latest outing saw him go seven strong innings, allowing just one run while striking out 11. Schlittler has allowed three earned runs across 13 innings of work against the Jays this season.

For the Jays on Saturday, things are still up in the air as far as the starter goes. Simeon Woods-Richardson (10 starts this year), and Lazaro Estrada, who’s bounced around different levels in 2026, are possible options for the Jays.

Sunday: Ryan Weathers vs. Dylan Cease (1:37pm Eastern)

In Sunday’s finale, Ryan Weathers will be making his 24th start of the season for the Yankees. On the whole, the lefty has been good for New York, posting solid ERA and FIP marks in the mid-threes, while striking out more than a batter per inning in a fairly full workload. The 26-year-old southpaw has had the good stuff of late, as he’s allowed just a pair of earned runs to cross in 24.1 innings over his last four starts on the mound. While he may not carry the weight of a Cole or Schlittler, Weathers has been a major contributor to this team, and will close things out in Toronto.

The Blue Jays also have a strong Cy Young candidate, Dylan Cease, who projects to take the mound on Sunday afternoon. The righty has always been a very high-ceiling hurler, but we are seeing perhaps the best of him in 2026. His 2.41 FIP is tops in the AL, and he’s striking out a whopping 36.1 percent of batters. A first-year Blue Jay, having signed a nine-figure deal, Cease is proving his worth every fifth day for Toronto, and the Yankee lineup will have their hands full wrapping things up for the series. In his last outing against the Yankees back in May, New York tagged him with five runs and a pair of long balls as the possible Cy Young favorite took the loss.

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The Boston Red Sox head into tonight's series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates as the -127 moneyline favorites behind left-hander Jake Bennett. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET at PNC Park. 

While Bubba Chandler has pitched well, my Red Sox vs Pirates predictions are backing Bennett to outduel the right-hander. 

Find more in my MLB picks for Friday, August 14. 

Who will win Red Sox vs Pirates today: Red Sox (-126)

Jake Bennett has been brilliant for the Boston Red Sox this season, posting a 3.21 xERA over his last five appearances while allowing just 0.62 HR/9 and limiting walks.

He has also held opponents to a 3.2% barrel rate over the last month, which matters against a Pittsburgh Pirates lineup that struggles badly against lefties. Pittsburgh owns an 89 wRC+ versus southpaws compared to an 111 mark vs. righties.

Bubba Chandler is in good form with a 2.65 FIP across his previous two outings, but the hurler's 5.91 xERA and 43.3% hard-hit rate during that span show vulnerability. With Boston carrying a 125 wRC+ over its last 13 games, the Red Sox hold the edge.

Play this pick up to -140.

COVERS INTEL: The Red Sox have been swining better on the road, posting a 105 wRC+ compared to a 93 mark at Fenway Park. That gives Boston another matchup advantage against Chandler tonight. 

Red Sox vs Pirates Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (+109)

The total is too low, and I’m targeting the Over. Boston’s offense has a 106 wRC+ over the last week, and although the power hasn’t been there, the Red Sox have still averaged nearly five runs per game during that span.

Pittsburgh’s lineup is also in decent form, posting a 107 wRC+ over its previous six contests while averaging nearly the same number of runs. Offense may be harder to find against Bennett and a Red Sox bullpen with a 2.78 xERA over its last 60 frames, but the Pirates may not need to do too much if Boston produces.

There’s vulnerability once Chandler exits, with Pittsburgh’s relief corps owning a 4.47 FIP lately.

Play this pick up to -130.

Red Sox vs Pirates home run prediction: Wilyer Abreu (+388)

Wilyer Abreu is smashing baseballs recently. The slugger has logged five home runs in his last 12 games while posting a .415 ISO. Abreu also owns a 56.3% hard-hit rate and 12.1% barrel rate over the last week.

He’s consistently getting lift on the baseball, with a 20-degree launch angle during that span and a 50% fly-ball rate, and that matters here. While Chandler doesn’t give up a ton of fly balls, the Bucs’ bullpen has posted a 42.4% fly-ball rate over the last week while surrendering 1.14 HR/9.

Play this pick down to +300.

Red Sox vs Pirates weather

Weather at PNC Park looks clean tonight, with partly cloudy skies early before clearer conditions around first pitch. Temperatures should fall from 78°F to 74°F, winds are light around 3–5 mph, and rain chances stay low.

Overall, weather should be fairly neutral with no real delay concern or major scoring boost.

Red Sox vs Pirates odds

• Moneyline: Red Sox -127 | Pirates +122
• Run line: Red Sox -1.5 (+133) | Pirates +1.5 (-138)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-108) | Under 7.5 (+104)

Red Sox vs Pirates trend

The Boston Red Sox have cashed the moneyline in 23 of their last 35 away games (+10.25 units for a 24% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Red Sox vs. Pirates.

How to watch Red Sox vs Pirates and game info

Red Sox vs Pirates latest injuries

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Angels 7, Rangers 0

• Well that was pretty terrible.
• Jacob deGrom left the game after two innings with triceps soreness. That’ll ruin your night right there, regardless of whatever else happened.
• deGrom said afterwards he couldn’t get his triceps loose warming up for the second inning, that he hadn’t felt that before but that he hoped it was no big deal and he’d make his next start.
• I hope so, too.
• The alternative to deGrom making his next start would either be Jordan Montgomery, who allowed four runs in two innings of relief in this game, or Jack Leiter, who threw 2.2 scoreless innings in a rehab start on Thursday.
• With Nathan Eovaldi already on the injured list, no deGrom would be, problematic, shall we say.
• To say the least.
• The hope was that the return of Cody Bradford and Jordan Montgomery would give the Rangers starting pitching depth to spare. It was suggested that the Rangers didn’t need to make a move for relief arms at the deadline, what with Bradford and Montgomery and Leiter coming back to provide reinforcements.
• Bradford has looked pretty good in his two starts.
• Jordan Montgomery, on the other hand, has looked like he’s cooked.
• His sinker averaged 89.8 mph in this game, his fastball 89.1 mph. Both pitches were in the low 93s in 2023.
• Losing 3-4 mph on your fastball is going to make it hard for you to succeed.
• So yeah, probably Jack Leiter gets the nod if/when deGrom can’t go, after going 48 pitches for Round Rock, because what else are you going to do? Cal Quantrill is already in the rotation, filling in for Eovaldi. Jordan Montgomery ain’t the answer.
• The Angels’ decision to fire their pitching coaches before Tuesday’s game now looks like a sage move, what with the Rangers’ offense being helpless the past three games.
• I whopping five hits in the game. Jarred Kelenic, pinch hitting for Brandon Nimmo because the game was out of reach, had one. So did Evan Carter, Nicky Lopez and Austin Wynns, and when those three are leading the offensive charge, well…
• And yet somehow, the Rangers are just a half-game back of a playoff spot, trailing the Tigers, who have moved into WC3. And they are just two back in the American League West.
• What a weird year.
• Jacob deGrom hit 99.0 mph with his fastball, averaging 97.8 mph. Peyton Gray’s fastball reached 94.2 mph. Jordan Montgomery topped out at 91.1 mph with his sinker. Ben Peoples’ fastball maxed out at 95.8 mph. Cole Winn’s fastball touched 96.4 mph. Tyler Alexander hit 93.0 mph with his fastball.
• Wyatt Langford had a 109.4 mph single. Joc Pederson had a 104.9 mph groundout and a 100.5 mph fly out. Ezequiel Duran had a 103.8 mph fly out and a 102.1 mph fly out. Justin Foscue had a 103.5 mph fly out. Austin Wynns had a 101.9 mph E6.
• On to Sacramento, where things will hopefully go better.

Coming off a series win against the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves head back to Truist Park for a three-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves enter the series with 73 wins and are 7-3 in their last 10. The D-Backs have a less impressive record with 64 wins and going .500 over their last 10 games.

The Braves have yet to announce their starters for the weekend series, while Arizona is sending out Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Michael Soroka. The series gets underway tonight at 7:15 ET.

More Braves News:

Walt Weiss spoke with the media on Thursday, providing updates on Robert Suarez, Spencer Schwellenbach, and AJ Smith-Shawver.

Herick Hernandez recorded 11 strikeouts in Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday. More in the minor league recap.

MLB News:

The Pittsburgh Pirates placed catcher Endy Rodriguez on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his left hip. The move is retroactive to August 10.

The Boston Red Sox placed righty Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation. The move is backdated to August 10.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2027 season.

From the Feed:

Former Brave Jorge Mateo has inked a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Former Dodger Tony Gonsolin has found a new home, as the right-hander signed with the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, per a team announcement. The financial details have yet to be disclosed, notes Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors, but Gonsolin is signed through the rest of the 2026 season and has a club option for the 2027 season. He has been placed on the 15-day injured list, and his status is unknown.

Gonsolin pitched in parts of six seasons spanning from 2019-2025, helping the Dodgers win the 2020 World Series and making the National League All-Star team in 2022, finishing that season with a 16-1 record. Gonsolin made just seven starts in 2025 once he returned from Tommy John surgery, posting a 3-2 record with a 5.00 ERA over 36 innings before elbow discomfort and an internal brace surgery ended his season. The Dodgers designated him for assignment in November before he elected free agency.

The Dodgers shored up their catching depth, as they signed Chadwick Tromp to a minor league deal on Thursday. Oklahoma City Comets announcer Alex Freedman was the first to report the signing.

Tromp has played in parts of seven seasons with the San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles since debuting in 2020, and he has appeared in 21 big league games with both Atlanta and Baltimore. Tromp has slashed .163/.160/.184 with a double and four RBI across 51 plate appearances in the big leagues this year, while he is slashing .200/.280/.347 with three home runs and 12 RBI across 30 Triple-A games.

Shohei Ohtani continues to trend in the right direction with his throwing program, as he was able to throw from a 200-foot distance. Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports that the next step for Ohtani would be a bullpen session off a mound, although there are no set dates for said sessions yet. Chen notes that while the Dodgers have taken their time with Ohtani’s progression, they are still eager to see him return to his two-way status.

“I still feel just his health is kind of the main thing anyway,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Regardless of having Skubal or not, or having Snell back, you still have to treat him individually as what is best for him. It is additive, given he’s a two-way player, to get those innings, for sure.”

Eric Lauer gave the Dodgers much-needed length on Wednesday against Kansas City, going 6 1/3 innings while tossing 112 pitches in a 4-2 win. Looking ahead to the postseason, his status as a rotation member will be jeopardized once more reinforcements make their returns, and Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times delves into which current starters will be the odd men out of the playoff rotation.

Whether it’s the physical demands on the body of playing at altitude or the grind of adjusting back and forth from a mile high to sea level, attracting talent to join the Colorado Rockies has always been a challenge.

For Sam Hawkins, it’s the exact challenge she was looking for.

The Rockies new performance dietitian, who also happens to be the first woman with that title in MLB, came to Colorado specifically for the obstacles the Rocky Mountains presented.

“I believe that MLB is behind the eight ball when it comes to nutrition,” Hawkins told Purple Row. “My goal as a human is to help as many humans as I can and to be the most well-rounded dietitian I can be.”

She’s off to a great start, revolutionizing the program by looking at everything from bloodwork and performance to rehabilitation from injuries and oxygen flow in order to optimize how each Rockies player’s body functions. For example, if a player’s glycine is low, it’s usually connected to low collagen. The solution? Could be a supplement, bone broth, chicken with the skin on or even an oyster.

“What fascinates me is how nutrients can affect the body. So, there’s some specialty blood work that the guys are able to do, and that I did a lot when I was in the NFL,” said Hawkins, who was the team dietitian for the Washington Commanders before coming to the Rockies. “That can show exactly what’s going on from every amino acid, every fatty acid in your body. … All of that just fascinates me — the nitty-gritty of it. How one small change to your diet can completely change how your body functions.”

Nutrition has always been Hawkins’ passion, but her path to the Rockies is as unique as the trail she is blazing for women in the profession.

Calling her shot

It all started when Hawkins was in high school in Mississippi. One day, she called her shot.

“At the age of 16, I told everybody in my class that I was going to be head of sports nutrition for the Dallas Cowboys,” Hawkins said. “They laughed at me. … I’m very headstrong. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.”

From then on, Hawkins decided to seize every opportunity she could until she landed in the NFL, where she did indeed land. Just trade the Cowboys for the Commanders.

In between, she did her undergraduate at Mississippi State, specifically so she could work in SEC athletics. She helped with baseball, football, men’s and women’s basketball and track and field. She continued to work with a variety of athletes in internships at Louisiana State University, the University of North Carolina and Southeastern Louisiana before getting her first full-time gig at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Earning the credentials and experience to master her craft, Hawkins started to make name for herself in the performance nutrition world. So when the University of Memphis asked if she would build their football nutrition program, she answered the call.

“I built that program from the ground up for two and a half years,” said Hawkins, who also earned a master’s degree in exercise nutrition while she was working at Memphis.

After success with the Tigers, the dream set out by her 16-year-old self came true — if not in location, in title as Hawkins became one of the youngest dietitians in the NFL when she took a job with Washington. She not only achieved her dream, but she also did so with some world-class athletes like linebacker Bobby Wagner, tight end Zach Ertz, and quarterback Jayden Daniels.

“I enjoyed it. Washington called it a recalibration. So I came in with the new regime with the new coaching staff, new front office, new owner, all of those things,” Hawkins said. “I did what I could do there, and I got to a point where I wanted something a little bit different. I got the NFL experience, and it was great, but I wanted something more. And if I kept going down that path at 28 years old of just football, that was going to be my life, and I felt like I was meant for more.”

Recalibrating again

Hawkins always loved baseball and knew taking her talents to MLB could bring something the sport sorely needed.

Enter Keith Dugger, the head athletic trainer and director of medical operations for the Colorado Rockies. When Hawkins talked with Dugger about coming to Colorado, Hawkins felt like she had found her next step.

“We hit it off, and they were also we were in the process of recalibrating, if you will,” Hawkins said. “So, we talked about working on building out a program here. I was really passionate about coming out here specifically because of the altitude.”

One of the items she was most excited to add to the menu in Colorado to help with the elevation is beets.

“I’m a big believer in beets, in beet powder, beet juice, beets. It’s great whether you get it in a supplement or you get it in a juice,“ Hawkins said. ”It’s a dietary nitrate, so it helps the blood flow, and so the more blood flow you get, the more oxygen you can uptake, so you’re gonna feel a little bit better at altitude.“

One thing that has surprised Hawkins is how the altitude has affected her own body. Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, altitude presented a new world for Hawkins. Now, she’s learning she also has to practice what she preaches to combat the elevation changes.

“I’ve learned that I struggle to go back to altitude, probably more than they do. … So I have a habit, and I think all dietitians have this to an extent of like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna educate, educate, educate on this,’ and I’m so focused on making sure that the guys are in the right spot that I forget that I also need to do that as well,” Hawkins said. “I didn’t think I was going to feel much because I’m not an athlete, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

Going through the changes herself, Hawkins is also using her own body as a laboratory to find out what helps her feel better. Understanding what players are going through, and being able to connect with them and build trusting relationships, is the strength she prides herself in even more than her vast nutrition knowledge. She laughingly admits she talks a lot and could talk to a brick wall, so she can work well with outgoing personalities like Troy Johnston or more reserved players like Ezequiel Tovar.

She’s also in a continuous education loop to bring in new information, learn each player’s needs, find innovative ways to deliver that information to the players, stay aware of trendy nutrition fads on TikTok, be prepared to fend off misinformation and to do it all over the grind of a 162-game season.

Hawkins also said she works hand-in-hand with the training staff as well, especially when guys are injured and then rehabbing. When a player might be amping up their physical activity, Hawkins will make sure they up their caloric intake to help their bodies adjust to those changes. With an office that is one door down from the Rockies clubhouse, the location encourages easy access and ongoing communication.

Passion over glamour

For Hawkins, one of her favorite parts of the gig is planning what the fuel will be pre- and post-game for the players. In football, that only happened once a week. In baseball, it’s nearly every day, and Hawkins loves it. Even then, it changes, say for a starting pitcher or one that could be called upon to pitch in long relief like Tanner Gordon. She’s worked with him when he was starting and developing plans for how everything changes out of the bullpen.

“My favorite part of my job is the small wins. We look at what we’re doing, and we kind of critique that,” Hawkins said. “To watch him be as successful as he is, and for that plan that we put in place to be properly executed and working, those are my favorite.“

It can be harder on the road when certain foods, especially when she is trying to cater to the cultural diversity of the Rockies locker room, are hard to find. But she’s making it work.

When asked what she would want fans to know about her job, Hawkins gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her work.

“I think the biggest thing is nutrition is not glamorous. When people think, ‘Oh, I’m working for this professional sports team,’ I’m in the back making shakes. I’m literally asking guys about their bowel movements,” Hawkins said. “You have to love what you do to do this, and if you don’t, you’re not going to be happy. I want the fans to know is that it’s not glamorous, but whatever you’re passionate about, go for it because I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the passion for it.”

On the farm

Triple-A: Oklahoma City Comets 9, Albuquerque Isotopes 3

A four-run third inning was enough to sink the Isotopes on Thursday night in Oklahoma City. Braxton Fulford hit a solo homer, walked and scored another run, Nic Kent doubled, singled and drove in a run, Conner Capel went 2-for-4 and scored a run and Drew Avans added a sac grounder. Keegan Thompson took the loss, giving up five runs on four hits, three of which were homers, with two walks and one strikeout in 2.2 innings.

Double-A: Erie SeaWolves 3, Hartford Yard Goats 1

The Seawolves scored two runs in the second, neither of which was earned due to a fielding error, and that turned out to be enough to beat the Yard Goats. Hartford actually out-hit Erie 9-6, but went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base. The Yard Goats scored their lone run when Jared Thomas hit an RBI single to score Tevin Tucker in the seventh inning, but it was too little, too late. Jack O’Dowd had a big night at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a double, while Thomas added three hits. Stu Flesland III was saddled with the loss, despite giving up no earned runs (two total) on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in five innings.

High-A: Everett AquaSox 7, Spokane Indians 1

Spokane was held to one run on six hits, while the AquaSox posted 10 hits, six of which came with runners in scoring position to put up a win on Thursday night. Tanner Thach singled on a line drive to score Ethan Hedges in the sixth inning for the Indians lone run. Thach and Hedges each recorded two hits on the night. Everett Catlett dropped to 5-8 on the season after surrendering five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks in six innings.

Low-A: San Jose Giants 5, Fresno Grizzlies 0

The Grizzlies actually saw their first two batters reach base when Ashly Andujar led off the game with a single and Landyn Vidourek walked, but a double play ended the threat and Fresno only saw five more base runners for the entire game in Thursday’s loss. The closest the Grizzlies got to scoring was when Sebastian Blanco led off the eighth with a double and advanced to third on a one-out wild pitch, but the Giants were able to escape unscathed. Juan Martinez added two singles for Fresno. The Grizzlies were held to five hits and committed two errors, leading to one unearned San Jose run.

My personal Field of Dreams | Purple Row

While the Rockies were off on Thursday, the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins took the state in MLB’s annual Field of Dreams game. The pregame festivities including honoring a handful of Hall of Famers, including former Rockie Larry Walker. Check it out on Netflix if you didn’t see it. In this article, Purple Row’s Skyler Timmins reflects on the power of baseball and its connection to memories.

Francis Rivera is pitching his way through the Rockies minor league system | Purple Row

Renee Dechert continues Purple Row’s series exploring how Spanish-speaking players learn about English and American culture while working their way through the Colorado Rockies system. In the latest addition, she interviewed Francis Rivera. The 25-year-old ight-handed pitcher for the High-A Spokane Indians signed with the Rockies in 2018 out of the Dominican Republic. Hailing from a baseball family, Rivera has a passion for the game that’s carried him through injuries as he’s climbing through the Rockies farm system.

Renck: Time for Rockies to call up Charlie Condon to big leagues — in September or sooner | Denver Post ($)

Troy Renck explores how the possible lockout next season and timing could complicate callups and long-term rookie statuses for prospects, but especially for slugging outfielder Charlie Condon. Renck argues the Rockies might as well go for it and call him up now.

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

MLB Pipeline updated their top 100 list and there are now 3 Royals on it:

54. Kendry Chourio

70. Josh Hammond

84. Angeibel Gomez

However, in their story about the updates, I can’t help but notice something:

A year ago, we added a dozen members of the Draft Class of 2025 to the Top 100, the same number that was added in 2024. This time around, we’re being a bit more stingy with spots, putting just 10 from the most recent class on the Top 100, though two of them are debuting higher than anyone from last year’s Draft crop did.

10. Grady Emerson, SS, Rays (No. 2 overall pick)
11. Roch Cholowsky, SS, White Sox (No. 1)
19. Vahn Lackey, C, Twins (No. 3)
31. Jackson Flora, RHP, Giants (No. 4)
40. Eric Booth Jr., OF, Orioles (No. 7)
41. Drew Burress, OF, A’s (No. 8)
64. Tyler Bell, SS, Rockies (No. 10)
67. Jacob Lombard, SS, Marlins (No. 14)
91. Derek Curiel, OF, Pirates (No. 5)
97. Gio Rojas, LHP, Rangers (No. 16)

So, if the Royals had picked either of the players who went after them (Booth, Burress), they’d have 4 Top 100 prospects today instead of 3. I get that where they end up is much more important than where they are today. But early returns are less than ideal.

Looking at the new Royals Top 30 list, this is where their picks from this year landed:

• Pick 006 (1st) Zion Rose (6th)
• Pick 030 (CB-A) Taylor Rabe (9th)
• Pick 056 (2nd) Jack Slightom (12th)
• Pick 091 (3rd) Maxx Yehl (22nd)
• Pick 119 (4th) Dominic Battista (27th)
• Pick 269 (9th) Camden Johnson (23rd)

I’m definitely no prospect guy. There are people on this site good at that. I’m not. So maybe this is a really stupid read of it all. But it doesn’t look great, using my non-expert eyes.

Rose was picked under slot and ranked accordingly. It’s not like he’s 101st on the new top 100 either, as David Shields and Blake Mitchell ranked higher than him in the Royals system and I doubt Mitchell, in particular, was close to the top 100. But most of that underslot money went to the #89th ranked guy (Slightom). They picked him at 56th, and gave him more than $1M over slot and he only slides in at 12th. Wait, so you picked a guy well below his ranking /and/ had to give him a bunch over slot? Yikes. They had enough left over to give Camden Johnson over slot and he comes in at 23rd. But because they had to give Slightom so much, they didn’t have enough to sign their other potential overslot, 19th-rounder Hudson DeVaughan.

But, hey, that’s just one ranking system. And rankings are finnicky. Let’s see where Baseball America has the Royals in their newest rankings:

(scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll)

27. Kansas City Royals Royals Top 30 Prospects
    Preseason Ranking: 21
    Midseason Ranking: 19

Current Top 100 Prospects: RHP Kendry Chourio (No. 33), OF Angeibel Gomez (No. 47), SS Josh Hammond (No. 55)

Key 2026 Graduations: C Carter Jensen, RHP Mason Black, RHP Beck Way, RHP Luinder Avila

2026 Prospects Traded Away: None

Key 2026 Additions: Gomez, OF Zion Rose, RHP Taylor Rabe, RHP Jack Slighton, RHP Maxx Yehl, RHP Lucas Braun, LHP Carter Holton

The Skinny: The Royals have a trio of top 60 prospects for the first time in a while, but the group of players right behind them need to take a step forward.

So you’re saying that having a draft that isn’t highly regarded and then holding onto all of your players at the deadline despite being 20-odd games below .500 is not great for your rankings? The most disheartening thing to me was that they had been creeping up the charts over the last year or so. But it feels like they gave a lot of it back.

Anne Rogers profiles the brightest youngster in the org, Kendry Chourio:

This year, he’s been dominant. Chourio has a 2.06 ERA across two levels, first posting a 1.88 ERA in 11 starts for Single-A before a promotion to High-A in June. In Quad Cities, he has a 2.35 ERA, with 35 strikeouts and just five walks in 30 2/3 innings. MLB Pipeline’s No. 65 prospect, he pitched in the Futures Game during All-Star festivities this year. At a career-high 78 2/3 innings, Chourio hasn’t pitched since July 25, but will get back on the mound as early as this week, part of a long-term workload plan.

The only 18-year-old to pitch for a High-A affiliate this year, Chourio is clearly talented, armed with a 94-98 mph fastball and a curveball, changeup and slider. His pitchability is advanced already and something he’s continuously improving.

“The goal is to not throw hard, it’s to have pitchability,” Chourio said. “With all [my] pitches, to have a motive behind every single one of them. Whether it’s a fastball, making sure the location of the pitch is good. Making sure you get the curveball in the zone, and executing the changeup, throwing it in or out of the zone.”

ICYMI: Royals sign former All-Star pitcher Tony Gonsolin

At The Star, Jaylon Thompson profiles Randy Dobnak. Just a reminder that minor league players make next to nothing and have to moonlight as Uber drivers to pay the bills.

Long before Randy Dobnak became a shooting star in a lost galaxy that is the Kansas City Royals 2026 campaign, he was scrolling through available rides on his local Uber app.

It was a source of income. And for Dobnak, a chance to nurture a lifelong dream that hadn’t begun to bear fruit.

“I’d drive around Pittsburgh for a little bit just to see how it was,” Dobnak said. “Make some extra money because we didn’t make much at all in the minor leagues.”

Here’s a couple of stories from The Athletic ($) that aren’t specifically about the Royals but do talk about Royals players.

Eric Hosmer writes about the “3 best leaders” he played with:

Raul Ibanez, Royals outfielder

…In 2014, he gave a speech to us. We were playing against the White Sox, and we were in the crappy clubhouse they have on the visiting side.

He basically talked to us about what opposing teams thought of us: Did we realize how good we were? Did we realize other teams fear us?

For us to hear that was so important. We were all young on that team, and Raul had just gotten done hitting ninth-inning homers for the Yankees a couple of years before.

It just clicked for all of us: This guy’s a legend so if people really do think of us like that, maybe we’re really good and we should play with some confidence.

I’ll never forget that speech.

Rustin Dodd wrote a really interesting story about the yips.

John Buck, a former major-league catcher, told me an even weirder story. Buck played in the big leagues for 11 seasons. But one year he suffered a concussion, and as he tried to recover, he started overthinking. When he returned to the field, he struggled throwing the ball back to the pitcher, a real-life example of Rube Baker, the young catcher with the yips in the film “Major League II.”

When the game was live, Buck could throw a dime to second base to cut down a base stealer. But when it came to softly tossing the ball back to the pitcher, he felt paralyzed.

“If there was a foul ball and the ball was dead, I was very conscious and I would have to whip that s— back at the pitcher like I was throwing it to second,” Buck told me. “How weird is that?”

This is probably where I’d have written about the Field of Dreams game. Like, for instance, it was a giant Hall of Fame festival with 26 members in attendance:

This was the largest such gathering at a ballpark, not including the annual ceremonies at the Hall of Fame in upstate New York, since the All-Star Game in 2008 that feted the final season at old Yankee Stadium.

Of course, I couldn’t see it as it was on Netflix. But, hey, MLB got an extra couple million bucks for it over showing it on Fox where anyone with a TV could see it.

(There’s also a rumor that the Royals will be playing the Red Sox for the Field of Dreams game next season, but it’s not confirmed.)

Speaking of which, NBC now has the rights to the Wild Card round. On the positive side, two games per day will be broadcast on NBC. On the negative, the other two will either be on NBCSN or Peacock.

Since there’s not much Royals news, how about one more story from around the league, concerning another AL Central team, the Tigers. Ben Clemens asks whether the Tigers would have been better off if they had kept Tarik Skubal, et al:

The Detroit Tigers are one of the hottest teams in baseball. Since the calendar flipped to August, they’ve gone 7-3, scoring more than six runs per game in the process. In a muddled American League, that puts them right in the thick of the AL Central and Wild Card races. That, in turn, means they’re back in the hunt for a World Series ring. This burst of activity has them about as likely to make the playoffs (and win a ring) as they’ve been in the last few months, in fact; they’re back above 30% to reach October after dropping as low as 18% the day they traded Tarik Skubal.

That feels weird! Less than two weeks ago, the Tigers traded their best player, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball, for three prospects. They followed that up by trading Casey Mize, who had briefly inherited the title of top Tigers pitcher. It was a classic deadline sale – not a thread-the-needle plan with some additions and some subtractions, but a declaration that the plan was to get ‘em next year, and the years after that…

…Next, I got even more theoretical. I took some distributional studies that got left on the cutting room floor when I updated prospect valuations and worked out, more or less, the odds that prospects of the caliber traded for Skubal and Mize would turn into average regulars or better, plus the average WAR per year delivered in those outcomes. I also looked at the last six years of Tigers teams to figure out how many extra wins adding players like that to replace weak links would be worth (limiting those weak links to the rotation and the outfield, to match the prospects). I worked out that the guys traded to the Tigers project to boost their average projected wins by around 1.2 per year.

At this point, I’ll stop and point out that I’m doing a lot of approximating, so the error bars are large here. But with that caveat, we can do the math. Say that the Tigers bounce around between 78 and 90 projected wins for the next six years, and take the average of those World Series-odds-per-win sensitivities. Multiply that by the 1.2 wins per year I think the extra prospects are “worth.” Multiply that by six years of team control. You get an added 3.3 percentage points of World Series odds, comfortably more than the boost they’d receive from having Skubal and Mize the rest of the way this year. That might understate it, too. If the Tigers didn’t sell, they likely would have bought, but probably only on the margin, considering where they were in the standings and their underperformance over the first four months of the season. The risk of going all-in would have been too high. While we don’t know the counterfactual there, it’s reasonable to think that it would’ve made their future teams even a little worse, for small present benefit, amplifying the effect I’ve already measured here.

It’s weird to think that the high-level prospects only increase their chances by 1.2 wins per year. Then again, new players don’t just take an empty spot on the field, they replace an existing player who might be good or bad. I’m not entirely sure I buy it – as Clemens says, he does “a lot of approximating”. I only gave you the beginning and the end above – go read the rest, if you’re curious. It’s an interesting thought exercise.

But, hey, we’re reached the “Onion is clowning your team” stage of a lost season:

Blog Time!

Craig Brown takes us through Wednesday’s game via his scorecard:

My scorecard of choice when I’m at the ballpark is the Eephus League Halfliner. I use a Blackwing 602 pencil. I told you…I’m deadly serious about keeping score. I never use a pen. My penmanship is terrible, so I’m often dissatisfied with how something goes on the paper so I use the eraser for a re-do quite often. I also make plenty of mistakes.

For tonight’s exercise, I’m scoring on an iPad using a file from Lou Spirito’s THIRTY81 Project. I’m enough of a sicko that I’ll keep score at home sometimes and I use his printed PDFs when I do. This is my first time scoring on an iPad, so we’ll see how it goes! There is a high level of confidence that it will not replace my pencil and paper.

I used to take score at every game I went to. However, once MLB went to its draconian bag policies in most stadiums, I gave it up because it became such a hassle 🙁

At Royals Keep, Cory Moen looks at “Royals Prospects Who Could Make Their Debut In August Or September”. He suggests Lucas Braun, Gavin Cross, and Hunter Patteson, adding “Other MLB debuts that are possible include IF Jacob Berry, catchers Luca Tresh and Elih Marrero, and RHP Ben Sears.” Wait? Gavin Cross is already 25?

Blog Roundup:

• Mike Gillespie at Royals Keep: Three More Questions The Royals Can Answer Down The Stretch
• Darin Watson at U.L.’s Toothpick: This Date In Royals History–1976 Edition: August 13 – Of all the ways to lose a game…
• Caleb Moody at KOK: Royals losing Salvador Perez to injury would be more detrimental than some might want to admit
• Jacob Milham at KOK: Royals Minor League Update: Breaking down KC’s busy week of prospect promotions

Unfortunately, no long, crazy OT today. I’m already over 2500 words. Also, I just can’t quite nail down a couple of OTs that I’ve been working on. They’re each just missing something, so they’ll have to wait a couple of weeks. Also, I’m out next week.

But I do have a couple of updates on old OTs. And we’re also doing an (abbreviated) old-school Song of the Day!

* * * * *

Last week, we fell down an internet rabbit hole, trying to figure out the stats for the water rides at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels. At the end, I wrote: “Not perfect, but not bad. I think I’ll try to email Six Flags and see how I did (if they respond).” I did email them last week, and they have yet to respond. Bummer. I’m sure there’s some crazy old guy who knows all this stuff because he was there when it happened. Sadly, the email never made it to his desk.

* * * * *

I’ve done a coupleof OTs about buying tickets for the LA28 Olympics.

If you’re bored of this (I can believe it), just skip ahead to SotD. I’m an awful judge of what people want to read about. I can see how this is as exciting as reading about someone else’s Fantasy Football league or someone’s weekly sports betting wins and losses. However, for me, personally – it’s been a fun mental exercise and a bit of an emotional ride, so I’ve just been letting it out in Rumblings.

When last we left ticketing, the Visa presale had just wrapped up ahead of the Phase 2 drop (Drop 2? I’m not entirely sure what the official terminology is). In Phase 1, there was a locals presale and then no ticket restock ahead of the proper Phase 1. Conventional wisdom was that Phase 2 would be the same with no restock following the Visa presale.

If you remember (you probably don’t and have long since lost interest), I estimated that 30-40% of the tickets were gone in Phase 1 and another smaller (10-20%) disappeared in the Visa Presale. There was also a small drop for former Olympic athletes, but I have to think that’s a very small number of tickets. That said, I think we’re well past half the tickets gone, and the drops are going to get smaller and smaller with what’s available.

I have been on the LA28 mailing list since January 2023 and have yet to be selected for any lottery. C’mon, guys!

In Phase 1, my wife got the last possible spot. Not much was left, and we only picked one set of tickets. This time, she was selected for the first slot at 10am PT on August 10th. If there was a restock, I’d have a chance at some great and/or cheap tickets. If not, we’d probably just wait until next time.

With that in mind, I went back to work on the spreadsheet. We still have nothing for Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday, and there are a couple of other gaps on the schedule. I made large lists of events to consider, but we already had most of our big anchor events. In retrospect, I didn’t narrow things down enough.

On Monday, I took everything I had learned from the last drops and logged in as fast as I could. I still had to wait 20 minutes in the second queue, but I was in faster than most. Then the big moment: they had restocked!

But things were going fast. I checked Opening Ceremony first as that’s the only real “dream” item left. There were tickets, but they started at over $1000. I just can’t do that. After striking out on the baseball finals last time, I checked those. There were sub-$300 tickets and I tried to add them. No luck. Someone else (many someones?) was quicker and sniped them before I did. The next highest category went fast, while I was still deciding how high I was willing to go. At that point, the cheapest ticket was $500+. I had to let that dream die.

My wife was hoping for women’s gymnastics. Since I spent my first precious moments searching for Opening Ceremonies and the baseball finals, any gymnastics finals seats were “long” gone. Maybe there were $1000+ seats, but that’s as good as “gone” in my book. The prelims were into the $400+ range. If I had to do it over again, I would have gone there first and probably could have snagged some for half that or even less, and it would have been our anchor event on Sunday.

Wednesday the 19th is a wild card in our schedule. I had been holding it open for the baseball finals, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely. Maybe we’ll just fly out a day earlier than planned and save some money. Well, there was one “backup” event that my wife was really wanting and I was also excited for. When I saw reasonable tickets available, I quickly added them to my cart. I guess we’re not flying out early. We’re going to end our Olympic experience at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, watching the Women’s Street Skateboard Finals. That’s going to be awesome!

Once tickets are added to your cart, you have 30 minutes to check out. We’ve had the pre-Opening Ceremony Wednesday (12th) and Thursday (13th) planned for a while and have 3 of the 4 tickets already. The last thing I was missing was Wednesday morning Water Polo in Long Beach. There were some of those elusive $28 tickets. Yes, please.

I started looking at some more $28 tickets. However, I noticed I only had about 3 minutes left in my cart. What? I had added tickets less than 5 minutes before. I should still have 25 minutes. Apparently it glitched – maybe it was when I tried to add the baseball tickets. This meant I had to quickly check out or risk losing the skateboarding and cheap water polo tickets. I put in the payment information just in the nick of time.

Here’s what our schedule looks like now (have bolded; parens are TBD):

• TUE JUL 11 FLY IN – NO EVENTS
• WED JUL 12 Long Beach prelims: AM Water Polo, PM Handball
• THU JUL 13 Carson: AM Field Hockey prelim; PM Rugby quarters
• FRI JUL 14 AM Rest; (Opening Ceremony/Party)
• SAT JUL 15 DTLA: AM Men’s Gymnastics prelim; PM Track medal: w 100, m 10000, w shot put; lots of qualifying PM
• SUN JUL 16 TBD: (Potential Rest Day?)
• MON JUL 17 TBD: (Rest Day/Any other events?)
• TUE JUL 18 (AM ???); PM Baseball Semis at Dodger Stadium
• WED JUL 19 (AM ???); PM Women’s Street Skateboard Finals
• THU JUL 20 FLY OUT

Once I checked out, the system kicked me out, and I had to go back into the queue. That 20 minutes cost me chances at a lot of what I had been considering. There were still a lot of awesome tickets left. But I’m down to just a couple of days’ worth of schedule: Sunday and Monday. However, I was too slow and indecisive and I watched tickets evaporate. If I could go back in time, I know a couple of things I’d jump on, particularly as this is probably the best drop time we’ll get in these ticket sales. But I can’t. Besides, we’ve already had much better luck than I could have hoped for. We’re still under budget and with a lot of events we’re happy with. Even if we don’t add any more tickets before the games begin, I’m more than happy. The efficiency part of my engineering brain is annoyed that I was inefficient. But there’s no way I could possibly be disappointed with what we have.

If you’re curious what the ticket market looked like as each day passed and why lottery slot was really important. Here’s a couple of Reddit threads from Monday night, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You can see how tickets are bought up and sports become unavailable. Or pick a sport with lots of inexpensive tickets to start and how they just become more expensive by the day.

In theory, this is the last ticket Phase of 2026. No one is really sure if there’s going to be one more lottery Phase in 2027. If not, the last large tranche of tickets will probably be part of a first come/first served free-for-all, possibly with dynamic pricing. Also, the resale market opens in 2027.

As I mentioned above, we’re going to do an old school (albeit slightly abbreviated) Song of the Day!

I was never good at skateboarding. I was a tall, lanky, and awkward kid – that is not the body type for skateboarding safely. But today’s SotD game is from a legendary name in the sport and an iconic series in video game history. Today’s featured game is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater for the PlayStation.

As I get older, I absolutely love the “You look like an old ‘Tony Hawk’” phenomenon that follows the skateboarding legend around. Also, I love the fact that his son married Kurt Cobain’s daughter and a kid who can’t possibly live up to that legacy as the coolest human being to ever walk the earth. Then again: who knows? Maybe he’ll be so awesome as to save the entire planet Wyld Stallyns-style. We could use that.

Much like my forays into real-life skateboarding, I was never great at this series. But I could appreciate the novel approach to gameplay that Neversoft built the franchise on. I also feel like it’s been a little lost to time, though it did get a remake a few years ago.

I know I’m featuring a video from the first game, but the second and third are two of the most critically acclaimed games of all time (quotes from Wiki):

• “According to Metacritic, it holds a score of 98/100, making it one of the highest rated video games of all time across all consoles and platforms. Pro Skater 2 along with Soulcalibur, and Grand Theft Auto IV are ranked second behind The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. ”
• “Similarly, the PS2 version of Pro Skater 3 earned a rare perfect 10 score from GameSpot, one of only eleven games to ever receive said score. It was also awarded the best sports game award at E3 2001. IGN rated the game 9.7/10, stating that the game “should go down in history as one of the best twitch-fests on PS2”. The game is currently the top rated PS2 game on the review aggregate website Metacritic, with an average score of 97/100, tying with Grand Theft Auto III.“

Here’s an entire full game playthrough. For those unfamiliar, it’s got that polygonal fifth-generation look that, well, has aged the worst of any generation in the history of video games. But the gameplay underneath was something revolutionary.

Triple-A: Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 3, Norfolk Tides 2 – F/11

Heston Kjerstad hit a game-tying homer in the fifth, but the Tides dropped this one in 11 innings. Enrique Bradfield Jr. was thrown out at the plate in the tenth, and Anthony Nunez allowed the designated runner to score on a two-out single in the top of the 11th.

Norfolk starter Juaron Watts-Brown gave up two earned on seven hits over four innings. Watts-Brown struck out six and did not walk a batter. The bullpen posted six zeros before Nunez let one slip. Yaqui Rivera struck out four over two perfect innings.

Kjerstad began the game on the bench but entered when Reed Trimble exited with an injury. MASN’s Roch Kubatko reported that Trimble left the game with right hamstring discomfort. Trimble doubled in his only at bat. Kjerstad finished 2-for-3 with the long ball and a sacrifice bunt.

Double-A: Reading Fightin Phils 6, Chesapeake Baysox 4

Anderson De Los Santos trimmed the lead to two with a two-run shot in the ninth, but Reading held on to secure the win. Chesapeake out hit the Fightin Phils 9-8, but Reading took control by scoring in five consecutive innings.

Baysox starter Patrick Reilly struck out seven in only four innings but also walked four batters. He surrendered three hits and allowed two runs to score.

Wehiwa Aloy finished 2-for-5 with a double, and Thomas Sosa went 2-for-4 with a two-bagger and a walk. Dom Keegan got the Baysox on the board with a solo shot in the fourth, and Aaron Estrada came off the bench to deliver a base hit and a sacrifice fly. Griff O’Ferrall and Brandon Butterworth both reached base twice with singles and walks.

Butterworth is set to be promoted to Triple-A today.

High-A: Frederick Keys 5, Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays) 4 F/10

Bowling Green scored two in the 10th, but Frederick walked it off with three runs in the bottom half. Randal Diaz tied the game with a two-run double, and Yasmil Bucce worked the count full with the bases loaded before taking a game-winning walk. Bucce finished 2-for-4 with a double.

Vance Honeycutt finished 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. DJ Layton eventually entered for Honeycutt and scored two of Frederick’s five runs.

Evan Yates finished one-out shy of a quality start. Yates allowed two earned runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out five.

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 7, Salem RidgeYaks (Red Sox)

Delmarva took control of this one early with a five-run first. The Shorebirds tacked on two more in the second and coasted to the finish line.

Jaiden Lo Re led the charge with a 3-for-4 day that included a two-run triple. Jhomnardo Reyes added another run-scoring triple in the first, and Miguel Rodríguez drove him in with a two-run homer.

Starter Holden deJong allowed a pair of runs over four innings. Jake Dykhoff earned the win with four innings of bulk relief.

Box scores

Friday’s Schedule

Norfolk: vs Gwinnett, 6:35. Starter: Luis De León (0-0, 6.75 ERA)

Chesapeake: at Reading, 7:00 pm. Starter: Anthony Eyanson (5-0, 1.87 ERA)

Frederick: vs Bowling Green, 7:00 pm. Starter: Kyson Witherspoon (3-5, 4.52 ERA)

Delmarva: vs Salem, 7:05 pm. Starter: Harrison Kreiling (0-1, 9.00 ERA)