Texas Rangers @ Chicago White Sox
Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 6:40 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)
Rate Field
LHP MacKenzie Gore vs. RHP Sean Burke
Go Rangers!
Game 134 Game Day Thread – Texas Rangers @ Chicago White Sox
New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros: Elmer Rodríguez vs. Peter Lambert
The Yankees lost in gut-punch fashion last night, the offense continuing to claw their way out of the summer swoon by putting up seven runs, only to see the bullpen blow multiple leads en route to a loss to the Astros, 9-7. The bats face a tougher test today relative to yesterday’s replacement level starter Ethan Pecko, Peter Lambert leading all Astros pitchers with 2.1 fWAR.
Elmer Rodríguez got the call up back to the big leagues as the Yankees weather the injury absences of Max Fried and Ryan Weathers. He last pitched in the majors on June 21st, giving up three runs in four innings against the Reds. He has pitched well in the intervening nine starts at Triple-A, with a 2.13 ERA across 46.1 innings thanks to an uptick in sinker velocity and curveball usage rate. In four starts with the big league club, Rodríguez is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA, 5.14 FIP, and ten strikeouts in 17 innings.
After four seasons with the Rockies and a year with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of NPB, Peter Lambert is finally finding a lane in the majors in his age-29 season. Signed from Japan on a minor league deal over the winter, Lambert manufactures success with the uncertainty generate from his expansive seven-pitch arsenal rather than possessing any one good pitch. He leads with a four-seamer that averages 94 mph before throwing a kitchen sink of changeups, sliders, cutters, sinkers, sweepers, and slurves. In 22 starts, Lambert is 8-7 with a 3.68 ERA (113 ERA+), 3.80 FIP, and 120 strikeouts in 122.1 innings.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Yankees roll out the exact same lineup that broke out for seven runs last night. Luis García Jr. and Cody Bellinger each homered and drove in three, the former as part of a four-hit night. Every member of the starting lineup reached base last night, only Trent Grisham and Austin Wells failing to register a hit.
The Astros meanwhile make a pair of changes to their lineup from last night. Catcher Yainer Diaz went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and three RBIs, so it’s a relief to see him on the bench with Christian Vázquez taking his place behind the plate. Cam Smith collected a triple last night after entering as a pinch-hitter and he gets the start tonight over the man he replaced, LaMonte Wade Jr.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: Amazon Prime Video, Space City Home Network
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, KLTN-TUDN 102.9 FM (HOU)
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video
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Game Discussion: Milwaukee Brewers (81-51) @ New York Mets (60-72)
Following a disappointing loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday night, the Brewers will look to bounce back on Wednesday evening, with right-hander Dustin May on the mound opposite Robert Stock for New York.
May has made three starts since joining the Brewers, with last Wednesday’s outing against the Mariners representing his first real stumble. After allowing just three earned runs with 11 strikeouts over 13 innings in his first two starts, May was tagged for seven runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out one over just two innings in Milwaukee’s 7-5 loss. For the season, he’s 6-8 with a 4.57 ERA, 3.36 FIP, and 118 strikeouts across 124 innings.
Stock, 36, is a former second-round pick who spent time in the Brewers organization in 2023. He debuted with the Padres in 2018 and later had brief stints with the Red Sox, Cubs, and Mets through 2021 before pitching overseas. Stock returned to the majors with two appearances for Boston last season before rejoining the Mets this year. He has made four starts in 2026, posting a 5.40 ERA and 4.10 FIP with 19 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. Those numbers are skewed by one particularly rough outing, when he surrendered eight of his 10 earned runs in a 9-0 loss to the Pirates in early August. The Mets have won in both of his last two starts, as he’s totaled 8 2/3 innings with two runs allowed (one earned) and 11 strikeouts against the Nationals and Padres.
Sal Frelick makes his return to the lineup after being activated from his IL stint yesterday, as he’ll start in left field and bat leadoff. Garrett Mitchell follows, with Brice Turang, Christian Yelich, and William Contreras in the 3-4-5 spots. Luis Lara moves up to bat sixth, with Andrew Vaughn, David Hamilton, and Cooper Pratt rounding things out, meaning Joey Ortiz and Jackson Chourio will start this one on the bench.
First pitch is at 6:10 p.m. on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.
Astros at Yankees Game Discussion: 8/26/2026
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (66-66) and New York Yankees (74-57) play the 2nd game of this 3-game series tonight.
RHP Peter Lambert (8-7, 3.68 ERA) starts for the Astros vs. Yankees RHP Elmer Rodríguez (0-2, 4.76 ERA).
ASTROS-YANKEES: The Astros are 2-2 vs. NYY this season, with the Yankees taking 2 of 3 at Daikin Park, April 24-26. In their last visit to the Bronx, the Astros took 2 of 3 from the Yankees, Aug. 8-10 of 2025.
All-Time: In the regular season, the Astros are 38-54 vs. NYY.
Postseason: The Astros have won all 4 postseason series that they have played vs. the Yankees (2015, ‘17, ‘19, ‘22) and have a combined record of 13-5 (.722) in those games.
NY STATE OF MIND: Tonight is the 2nd game of a 6-game road trip for the Astros, with all 6 games being scheduled in the Big Apple. After this 3-game series vs. the Yankees in the Bronx (Tues.-Thur.), the Astros will take on the Mets for a 3-game series at Citi Field in Queens over the weekend (Fri.-Sun).
Last Time It Happened: The Astros had a similar road series in NYC, June 2329 of 2022, during which they played 4 games at Yankee Stadium (2-2) and 2 games at Citi Field (2-0), respectively.
LAMBO: RHP Peter Lambert, who will make his 1st career start/app. vs. the Yankees tonight, has been the Astros most consistent starter in 2026. He leads the club in wins (8), starts (22), innings (122.1) and strikeouts (120). Lambert is looking to rebound from his last start on Aug. 20 vs. LAA (3.2 IP, 9 ER). Prior to that start, he had allowed 2 ER or less in 8 consecutive starts. He posted a 1.88 ERA (6ER/28.2IP) in his 5 starts in July with 32 K’s in 28.2 IP.
Road Success: Lambert has pitched well on the road, going 3-2 in 8 road starts with a 2.98 ERA (14ER/42.1IP). A minor league signing by Houston this offseason, Lambert pitched last year for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the NPB, posting a 3.98 ERA (55ER/124.1IP) with 111 strikeouts in 23 starts.
Note: The Yankees, Rockies and Royals are the only clubs Lambert has not faced in his career.
RECENT STROS: The Astros are 3-3 in their last 6 games and 5-6 in their last 11 games.
ON THE OFFENSIVE: Among AL teams, the Astros rank 1st in SLG (.412), T-2nd in HR and 3rd in runs scored (605) and OPS (.730).
MEASURING UP: The Astros are 24-13 (.649) vs. teams currently at .500 or above. Some clubs that they have winning records against include BOS (5-1), CHC (3-0), CWS (2-1), CLE (4-2), MIA (3-0), TB (2-1), TEX (9-4).
TRIPLE THREAT: Yordan Alvarez, who is a solid candidate for the AL MVP Award, currently leads the AL in several categories, including all three Triple Crown categories. He enters tonight leading the AL in batting avg. (.323), HR (36) and RBI (91). Additionally, Alvarez also leads the Majors in OPS (1.055), SLG (.618), OBP (.438) and TB (289).
Rare Feat: Since Carl Yastrzemski won the AL Triple Crown in 1967, there has been just one Triple Crown winner in the Majors, Miguel Cabrera in 2012 (AL).
SLOW AND STEADY RECOVERY: Since starting the season with a 20-31 record after 51 games, the Astros are 46-35 (.568) in their last 81 games (since May 22). That is the 2nd-best record in the AL in that span, behind only the Red Sox (51-32)
ROAD WARRIORS: Since posting a 1-9 record on the 1st road trip of the 2026 season, the Astros have been one of the best road teams in the Majors. They are 32-22 (.593) on the road since April 14, which is 3rd-best in the AL in that span. More recently, they are 16-10 (.615) on their last 5 road trips combined (includes current trip). Overall for the season, HOU is 33-31 on the road.
THE HIT MAN: Jose Altuve enters tonight’s game needing just 11 hits to reach 2,500 for his career. Among active players, his 2,489 hits rank 2nd to Freddie Freeman’s 2,576.
IN GOOD COMPANY: In MLB history, Altuve is one of just 3 players with a .300 career batting avg. to reach both 250 HR and 300 SB. The other 2 are HOFers Willie Mays and Derek Jeter.
WALK OF FAME: Yordan Alvarez’s ML-high 28 intentional walks this season are a franchise record. Jeff Bagwell had held the club record with 27 IBB in 1997. Alvarez was intentionally walked 3 times on Sunday vs. ATH (has drawn no walks vs. the Yankees in 4 games this season).
ONE OF THE BEST: LHP Josh Hader reached his 500th career app. recently, making him one of 12 active pitchers to reach that milestone. Hader has been stellar since returning from injury in June, going 4-1 with a 0.81 ERA (3ER/33.1IP), 44 strikeouts, a .115 opponent average (13×113) and a 0.72 WHIP, while converting all 19 of his save chances in 34 appearances.
REHAB START: RHP Mike Burrows is scheduled to make his 3rd rehab start for Triple A Sugar Land tonight…in his 2 previous starts: 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 SO.
TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY:2007 – In a pregame ceremony, the Astros retire Jeff Bagwell’s #5 jersey in recognition of his stellar career, all spent in Houston. Bagwell would later be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017 and into the Astros Hall of Fame when it was established in 2019.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, August 26, 6:05 p.m. CT
Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; KTRH 740 AM; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
Diamondbacks 2, Cubs 0: Matthew Boyd shines, but the offense vanishes
The Cubs outscored the Diamondbacks 11-7 in this three-game series.
Unfortunately, they don’t grant series wins that way. Arizona simply spread their runs out better than the Cubs did. and in Wednesday’s game, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandyn Garcia and Juan Morillo held the Cubs scoreless on just two hits, and the Cubs dropped the series finale 2-0, losing the series and finishing their road trip at 2-4.
It’s even more frustrating because the Cubs got excellent work out of all three of their starting pitchers in this series. Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes and Matthew Boyd held the Diamondbacks to eight hits and one run in 20 total innings of work. That’s just outstanding. Unfortunately, one blown save and one excellent pitching performance by Rodriguez made this a Cubs series loss.
The Cubs were held hitless by Rodriguez for the first four innings until Tyrone Taylor singled leading off the fifth. Taylor eventually stole second, but was stranded.
More on that from BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs went four innings before Tyrone Taylor made their first hit leading off the fifth. They had gone longer without a hit just once this season: 4.1 innings, on Aug. 14 at home vs. the Cardinals. Nico Hoerner delivered a single.
They had gone 4.0 innings twice before, both vs. the Brewers: May 18, at home (Carson Kelly singled), and June 26, at Milwaukee (Seiya Suzuki homered).
In the sixth, Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a double [VIDEO].
PCA advanced to third on a ground out and one out later, an odd play happened.
That’s what the Cubs argued to the umpires, and as the social media post says, it does look like Rodriguez took a step off before he made the pitch, which would have been a run-scoring balk. The umpires conferred and basically said, “Well, we didn’t see it,” and that’s not reviewable. PCA was livid, and third base coach Quintin Berry had to physically restrain him from going at one of the umpires — good thing, contact would have resulted in an ejection and possible suspension.
Anyway, PCA was stranded, and in the bottom of the inning Jordan Lawlar homered off Boyd, the only run Boyd allowed. Homers have been a bit of an issue for Boyd; that makes 13 in 73 innings since his return from his knee injury. But overall this was a very good outing. More from John:
Today’s start was the fifth by a Cub this season of at least 6.0 innings with one run allowed on a homer and no more than three total hits. All have been exactly three hits.
Shōta Imanaga went 6.0 on April 15 at Philadelphia and 7.0 on April 21 at home vs. the Phillies. Ben Brown went 7.0 at St. Louis on May 30 and Matthew Boyd went 6.0 at home vs. the Twins on July 18.
The Cubs won all four of those games by scores, respectively, of 11-, 7-4, 6-1 and 6-2.
Imanaga lost in 6.1 with three hits at home vs. the Reds on Aug. 5 of last year. That was the Cubs’ only loss in their previous 24 games.
And here’s more on Boyd’s afternoon [VIDEO].
PCA’s double was the Cubs’ last hit of the game. The only baserunner they had after that was with two out in the eighth, when Seiya Suzuki walked.
Ryan Zeferjahn gave up a run in the eighth after allowing two singles. That run scored as the Cubs completed this neat double play [VIDEO].
So I suppose it would have been better if Zeferjahn hadn’t allowed that run, but in the end it didn’t matter because the Cubs offense got completely shut down by Diamondbacks pitching.
A couple more game notes from John:
This was the Cubs’ 13th shutout loss of the season. They had 10 all of last year, after having had 16 in 2024. Their record is 22, set in 1915 and matched in 1968.
…
The Cubs finished two previous games this year with two or fewer hits and at least three walks, as they did today: a 5-2 loss at Atlanta on May 12 and their 3-0 loss at home to the White Sox last Wednesday.This was their 56th consecutive loss with those totals, spanning more than half a century. since they beat the Mets at New York, 3-1, on May 8, 1966.
They had two hits and four walks in that game, the same as today. They won two other games with two and four, in 1909 at home vs. the Dodgers and 1964 at home vs. the Mets. They have lost 20.
At this writing it looks like the Phillies are going to defeat the Mariners in Seattle, so that would reduce the Cubs’ lead for the first wild card spot to two games. The Brewers, currently six games ahead of the Cubs, will face the Mets in New York again this evening. The only good news from this series in Arizona is that by winning Monday, the Cubs took the season series from the D-backs. Thus they own the tiebreaker against all three of the teams immediately behind them in the wild card race.
The Cubs have Thursday off and will hope to regroup after what has to have been a frustrating road trip. They will open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. David Peterson will start for the Cubs and Rhett Lowder goes for the Reds. Game time Friday is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
Washington Nationals vs Colorado Rockies Game Thread
After the Nats scored 13 runs on Monday, there was hope that the offense was getting back on track. However, they came thudding back down to earth yesterday with Daylen Lile’s solo homer being the only offense. Now they will look to bounce back and start scoring more frequently again.
This lineup is interesting to say the least. CJ Abrams was supposed to be back at shortstop but after pre-game warmups, it was determined he could only DH. That means the struggling Nasim Nunez is at shortstop. Andres Chaparro will make his first start of the season at third base, which I will be watching closely. Jose Tena will be at second. Knuckleballer Matt Waldron will be making his Nats debut on the mound.
The Rockies have a similar lineup to last night. Ezequiel Tovar is back at shortstop and is in the 9 hole. Troy Johnston is also in at DH which means Mickey Moniak is back in right field. Besides that it is the same personnel. Tanner Gordon gets the start for the Rockies.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Nationals Park
Time: 6:45 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Hopefully the Nats look more like the team we saw Monday because they need to take care of business at home against the Rockies. They have not been playing great baseball this month, but a strong last month can help bring back some optimism. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
Wednesday Jays Notes
29 games to go. I was thinking that going 18-11 would, likely, get the Jays into the playoffs. That’s a pretty high bar to clear. It does mean there can be more losses than we’d like.
The Jays say that Spencer Miles will open tonight’s game. They also say he won’t throw more than 30 pitches. I was surprised that they would go with Miles, since he’s thrown a lot of innings this year. He’s at 80.1 innings now. I didn’t figure they would let him go much past 90. But we are short of pitchers. My mother-in-law used to say ‘needs must’.
SWR is likely to be the bulk guy. He, Miles and Louis Varland are the only relievers who didn’t pitch yesterday. I guess there is Chad Dallas too (unless there is a last minute roster move). It really isn’t a grouping (other than Varland) that warms the cockles of my heart.
Then, no one has thrown two days in a row, since Monday was an off-day.
The team is giving Sean Keys some playing time in the outfield. He’s hitting .375/.475/.679 in August for the Bisons. We could use someone hitting like that.
Tonight’s lineup. We haven’t seen Charles McAdoo for a few days. Well, I guess since the 23rd, not all that long ago.
I’d be ok with a win. Let’s play a, more or less, mistake free game.
Mets vs. Brewers: Lineups, broadcast info, and open thread, 8/26/26
Mets lineup
A.J. Ewing – CF
Francisco Lindor – SS
Bo Bichette – 3B
Carson Benge – RF
Jared Young – 1B
Luis Robert – DH
Brett Baty – LF
Marcus Semien – 2B
Francisco Alvarez – C
SP: Robert Stock (RHP)
Brewers lineup
Sal Frelick – LF
Garrett Mitchell – CF
Brice Turang – 2B
Christian Yelich – DH
William Contreras – C
Luis Lara – RF
Andrew Vaughn – 1B
David Hamilton – 3B
Cooper Pratt – SS
SP: Dustin May (RHP)
Broadcast info
First pitch: 7:10 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
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Royals vs. Blue Jays August 26th game discussion
Game two in Toronto has the lineups set. The Royals will be going for their 10th win in a row while the Blue Jays continue clinging to hope of sneaking into the wildcard. It will be Randy Dobnak on the mound for the Royals. He has thus far put up a sparkling ERA despite mediocre underlying numbers. Can he continue to defy the math? For Toronto, Spencer Miles will open the game. He has gone as many as 4 innings at times this year, but has worked mostly as a bullpen arm.
The lineup has Jac Caglianone back in it after getting scratched on Tuesday. Matthew Lugo is still not in the lineup as he continues to be in the majors without ever debuting.
Colorado Rockies vs. Washington Nationals game discussion: Tanner Gordon vs. Matt Waldron
Last night the Rockies ended their longest losing streak of the season at seven with their 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals. A short but effective Major League debut from starter Mason Adams (No. 17 PuRP), a Hunter Goodman home run in his return from the injured list, and a string of effective relief appearances were enough to stop the Rockies week-long streak.
Tonight they will look to fully put that losing streak to bed by starting a winning streak with a second consecutive win against the Nationals.
On the mound for the Nationals will be knuckleballer Matt Waldron. In time split between the Nationals and the San Diego Padres this year, Waldron has thrown only 37 innings at the Major League level. His ugly 7.54 ERA in that limited sample is possibly due for some regression as his .361 BABIP is much higher than league average and his expected ERA is only 3.75.
His best season came as a member of the Padres in 2024 when he accrued 1.8 fWAR over 146.2 innings pitched. He’ll look to get back to those sorts of results at home against the Rockies tonight.
Taking the ball for the Rockies will be Tanner Gordon in his second start since earning a spot in the rotation when Michael Lorenzen was designated for assignment last week.
In his previous start Gordon pitched through five and a third innings against the Cleveland Guardians and allowed five runs on nine hits and two walks. On the season the 28 year-old sports a 5.75 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP despite a stellar 1.76 BB/9. Gordon will be asked to give the team as much length as possible as they are in the middle of a 13-day stretch with no off days and needed to use five bullpen arms last night.
First Pitch: 4:45 pm MDT
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
SB Nation site:Federal Baseball
Lineups:
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Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!
Buss brothers join Padres' new ownershp group amid Lakers saga
Members of the Buss family, synonymous with the Los Angeles Lakers, will be joining the new ownership group of the San Diego Padres.
But that won’t include Jeanie Buss.
It’s Joey and Jesse, the youngest Buss brothers, whose stake in the baseball team will be about 5%, according to ESPN.
The new Padres owners, José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones, purchased the team for a league-record $3.9 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
ESPN reported that Joey and Jesse will be on the Padres’ ownership group's advisory board.
Then there’s the ongoing struggle with their sister Jeanie. She’s trying to maintain her role as governor and controlling owner of the Lakers while her five siblings are pushing for the family to sell its 17.8% in the Lakers.
The Lakers were sold this month to businessman Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion. Mark Walter bought the team about a year earlier and that sale impacted the youngest of four Buss brothers.
ESPN’s Sham Charania reported in November that Joey and Jesse had been terminated from their front office positions as the Lakers reorganized their basketball operations department.
Their father, the late Jerry Buss, owned the Lakers from 1979 until his death in 2013.
It’s unclear what role Jesse and Joey Buss had with the Lakers. But ESPN reported that as members of the advisory committee they would draw on their experience with “player development, payroll management and roster construction.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Buss brothers join Padres' new ownershp group amid Lakers saga
Texas Rangers lineup for August 26, 2026
Texas Rangers lineup for August 26, 2026 against the Chicago White Sox: starting pitchers are MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers and Sean Burke for the White Sox.
It is Game 3 between the White Sox and the Rangers, and Texas needs to win this game in order to 1) win this series, 2) get back to .500, and 3) split the season series against the White Sox, and thus not immediately lose the first tiebreaker if the teams are tied for a Wild Card spot.
The lineup:
Pederson — 1B
Seager — DH
Langford — LF
Nimmo — RF
Duran — SS
Carter — CF
Foscue — 2B
Diaz — C
Freeman — 3B
6:40 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +107 underdogs.
Sonny Gray chases 17th win, series sweep for Boston
TV: NESN
First Pitch: 6:40 p.m. ET
While it would probably be better to have Sonny Gray facing the Yankees in a pivotal series for playoff implications this weekend, Boston’s Cy Young candidate takes the ball in Miami in hopes of completing a second sweep in a row for the Red Sox. The veteran right-hander is a remarkable 16-3 on the year in a resurgent season in the rotation.
Here’s who the Red Sox will send to the plate behind him Wednesday evening at loanDepot Park.
The Marlins will counter with Ryan Gusto, holding a 4.32 ERA in 17 appearances. Miami is clinging on for dear life in the National League Wild Card race, sitting four games back of the final spot and one game over .500.
Mark Vientos’ role with Mets won’t be a ‘perfectly laid path’ when he returns from IL
As Mark Vientos nears a return from his rehab assignment, the question of how the slugging right-hander fits into this version of the Mets was raised to interim manager Andy Green, and the skipper did not mince words.
"I don't know," Green said prior to Wednesday's game with the Brewers. "I was very forthright with him when he started the rehab assignment that a lot of that will be dictated by how others perform and also by how he performs. Still think there’s a very bright future for him out there if he wants to grab a hold of it. That’s on him."
The current construction of the Mets roster doesn't lend itself to a lot of at-bats for Vientos to start with. Even with the added roster spot on Sept. 1, the team has to use the DH spot to give time to other players, including Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez and Luis Robert Jr., as well as the eventual return of Juan Soto, who could see time as DH.
Vientos, who was placed on the IL back on July 10 with a fractured hand, has played three minor league games between Double-A and Triple-A. In that span, he's 0-for-9 with a walk and five strikeouts.
With no remaining options, Vientos will rejoin the team, but as Green put it Wednesday, it'll be a proving ground for the young slugger.
"When he gets back in the box, take advantage of the at-bats you do get. Prove you deserve more at-bats," Green continued. "I think people get into different phases in their career at different points in time. He has all the talent that he possessed in ‘24 when he was hitting close to 30 home runs and didn’t start the season with the big league club. It’s all right there. It’s on him for that to come out.
"We certainly want to see it come out. It’s not going to be a perfectly laid path for him, though, when he does come back."
Vientos had a breakout season in 2024, smashing 27 homers and driving in 71 runs across 111 games. The following season, Vientos played 121 games but only hit 17 homers and 61 RBI.
In 73 games this year, Vientos is slashing .211/.256/.388 with an OPS of .644 to go along with his 11 home runs and 35 RBI.
Andy Green was asked what role he foresees Mark Vientos having on the Mets when he returns from injury:
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 26, 2026
"I don't know. I was very forthright with him when he started the rehab assignment that a lot of that will be dictated by how others perform and also by how he performs.
I… pic.twitter.com/L6z94bpOMa
Mason Montgomery emerging into closer Pirates desperately need
The Pirates bullpen is one of the main reasons why a once promising season turned on a dime and became the most disappointing in a decade.
It’s improved since the All-Star break and especially the trade deadline, but a combination of relievers sank the Pirates’ ship.
Dennis Santana opened the season as the Pirates’ primary closer, but struggled mightily.
The baton has been passed to lefty Mason Montgomery. He took it and ran.
Montgomery owns six saves in eight opportunities and a 3.19 ERA over 53.2 innings this season.
His .187 opponent batting average is the best of his career and has limited hitters to 22 walks.
Montgomery has become a significantly different pitcher in July and August, depleting a 4.68 ERA down by a run and a half since being entrusted with a more high-leverage role.
In 13 games spanning 12.1 innings in July, the hard-throwing lefty earned a 1.46 ERA. Montgomery struck out 23 and limited opposing hitters to a .073 average.
Montgomery owns a 100-101 mph fastball that has played well at the top of the zone. It’s enhanced his slider (16%), sinker (16%), and curveball (14%) usage and his ability to keep hitters off balance.
Despite being a background character in the Brandon Lowe trade, Montgomery may become the most important addition.
With Lowe set to be a free agent and Jake Mangum profiling best as a fourth outfielder, Montgomery has emerged as the Bucs’ best relief pitcher.
August has been nearly perfect. Through nine games (8.2 innings), Montgomery hasn’t allowed a run and has dominated opponents.
The results speak for themselves with 18 strikeouts compared to four hits and one walk, a 0.58 WHIP.
Montgomery has converted all four saves he’s attempted.
While the bullpen has let the Pirates down on numerous occasions and derailed the season, the brightest star shining on the mound could provide the team with a closer for years to come.
Montgomery is under team control for four more years and has sorted out his control issues that plagued him in Tampa.
In 53.2 innings, Montgomery has struck out a career-high 87 batters compared to 22 walks.
Fans pleaded for the Pirates to acquire Aroldis Chapman leading up to the deadline, but they’ve developed their own flamethrowing left-hander to anchor the bullpen and finally lock down the ninth.