Category: Baseball

Some things about last night’s game. Justin Martinez threw a pitch in the ninth inning recorded at a velocity of 103.3 mph. That was the fastest ever thrown by a Diamondback, breaking his own record of 103.0 mph, set in September 2024. Before Martinez made his 2023 debut, in the Statcast era (so 2008-2022), only five pitches by an Arizona pitcher had reached 100 mph. They topped out at 100.8 mph, thrown by Rubby De La Rosa in 2015 (it hit Cristhian Adames, ouch!). Since then? 704. The great majority (627) hurled by Martinez, but Juan Morillo (61), Carlos Vargas (11) and Thyago Vieira (5) – anyone remember the last two? – have also hit triple digits.

The big blow, of course, was Ryan Waldschmidt’s walk-0ff home-run. It was the 16th such where the D-backs were trailing at the moment of impact, and the eighth when down to their final out. Among the sixteen, Waldy and Ryan Roberts are the only Arizona players with more than one. Just two of those trailing walkoff homers came when the D-backs were down by more than one – both hit by Roberts! Of course, we all remember his walk-off slam against the Dodgers in 2011. But you might have forgotten the other one. The following year, he came up against Oakland with two outs in the ninth, Arizona trailing 8-6, and also went deep, with a three-run shot.

samath also did some digging. Waldschmidt is the first MLB player to hit two lead-flipping 9th-inning walk-off home runs in the same season since the Orioles’ Manny Machado in 2017. He’s the first player with two such walk-offs in any inning in the same calendar month since the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez in April 2007. Those are the only two in the past forty years, though it might not stay that way for long. The arrival of the Manfred Man has made this kind of walk-off more common. If the away team score the ghost runner in the top half, as is more likely than not, then a home-run in the bottom would very likely qualify.

[Dolly seemed to work her magic from the top of the GDT last night, so let’s see if she can bring us a series win. Maybe she’ll end up being canonized alongside St. Penelope!]

What we learned as adaptable Phillies blast Mariners, back Luzardo's gem originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

SEATTLE — All series long, the Phillies saw a common thread from each opposing Mariners starter.

Fastballs, fastballs and more fastballs.

Logan Gilbert used his 49 percent of the time Monday, up nine percentage points from his season average. George Kirby used his 40 percent Tuesday, up 12 percentage points. Bryan Woo came in averaging 47 percent.

Lots of numbers, lots of heaters.

And before Wednesday’s series finale, Don Mattingly saw the same challenge coming again.

“Their starters are all similar. They remind me of Pittsburgh, where you get four or five guys and they’re all the same,” Mattingly said pregame. “They’re not exactly the same, but they’re all have good stuff, good velocity, they speed you up. They seem to pitch good in this ballpark.”

Woo would actually throw his fastball 57 percent of the time Wednesday.

It became very clear what the Mariners were doing. They were going right after a Phillies lineup that had built a patient, walk-oriented identity in August, leading to a jump in on-base production and a steep drop in chase.

For two nights, the Phillies had no answers. Seattle’s plan on the mound was working.

“The challenges are the same because you still gotta hit it,” Mattingly said. “It’s back to game planning. What can you handle? What can’t you handle? Where do you want to try to take? What are you given?”

On Wednesday, the Phillies handled the heat.

They jumped Woo early, backed Jesús Luzardo’s gem and thumped the Mariners 6-0 to salvage the final game of their three-game set at T-Mobile Park.

SEE IT, HIT IT

Woo entered the start as the best American League starter at home, carrying a 1.96 ERA in 10 starts in Seattle. Over his previous seven home starts, his ERA was 0.79.

But the Phillies looked ready to jump on him early and often.

In the first, Kyle Schwarber battled away a couple of Woo fastballs before getting a slider low in the zone and driving it to right-center for a ground-rule double.

After Trea Turner struck out, Bryce Harper took a big swing at a first-pitch four-seamer at the top of the zone and fouled it back. Woo came right back inside with the same 98 mph fastball.

Harper took the same kind of swing and pounded one the other way to left-center, just over the outstretched glove of Julio Rodríguez for his 27th home run of the season.

The next inning, Philadelphia stayed with the same approach.

Bryson Stott doubled, Brandon Marsh walked and two batters later, Justin Crawford worked a gritty nine-pitch at-bat. He kept fouling balls off, waiting for another fastball, then slapped a run-scoring single through the right side.

Crawford is now hitting .329 with runners in scoring position, showing the kind of pesky, ground-ball-oriented approach that made him so difficult to defend in the minors.

And that brought up the Phillies’ leadoff man.

SCHWARBARIAN’S 40TH

As he did in his first at-bat, Schwarber battled Woo.

This time, he hunted the fastball, got one up in the zone and drove it into the right-field seats for his 40th homer of the season.

He just keeps slugging.

It is Schwarber’s second straight season with 40 or more, after he led the majors last year with 56. It is his fourth 40-homer season in the last five years, all with the Phillies.

That ties Ryan Howard for the most 40-homer seasons in franchise history. Howard had four straight from 2006 to 2009.

Schwarber makes the five-year, $150 million deal he landed in the offseason look like a no-brainer. The Phillies are thrilled.

He encapsulates so much of what Philadelphia values, on and off the field, and can lift the offense in more ways than one.

Sometimes, literally.

It was Schwarber’s 380th career homer.

Getting to 500 could very well be his ticket to Cooperstown one day. And if that happens, it almost certainly will come in a Phillies uniform.

ROAD LUZARDO ROCKS

Interestingly enough, Luzardo entered with a 1.95 road ERA, one point lower than Woo’s home ERA.

Something had to give.

In this case, it was Woo, not Luzardo.

The Mariners did not have a hit until there were two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Luzardo got ahead of hitters, his sweeper generated chase and he located his four-seam fastball. That was especially important against Cal Raleigh, who had homered four times in the first two games of the series.

Luzardo struck him out all three times he faced him.

You could see the confidence Luzardo had on the mound Wednesday. He even tried an ABS challenge, something he has said he would usually try to avoid.

He continues to dominate away from home. After seven scoreless innings, one hit and nine strikeouts, Luzardo now carries a 1.80 ERA on the road, fourth best in MLB.

It also raises an interesting October question.

If the Phillies make the postseason, could they line up their rotation so Luzardo takes the ball away from home?

With the way he has pitched on the road, and with the kind of flexibility the Phillies hope to have, it at least becomes part of the conversation.

BRYCE KEEPS ON KEEPIN’ ON

It was a big day for the Phillies’ right fielder.

Harper homered, extending his on-base streak to 29 games. He doubled, too.

He also took extra bases away from Rodríguez in the first inning, making a leaping catch in front of the right-field wall.

Mattingly noted before the game that Harper is still dealing with some soreness, something the Phillies are managing as he continues playing every day.

“We still watch it physically in general because he’s nicked up,” Mattingly said pregame. “He’s playing every day, but his jumps, to me, we’ve seen a couple plays even in this series where the jumps are good.”

Harper has looked increasingly comfortable since moving back to right field after the Luis Arraez trade. The Phillies have seen him go into the gap, toward the line and make throws from the outfield.

Mattingly does not sound like a manager holding his breath out there.

“I’m comfortable, and he looks comfortable out there,” Mattingly said pregame. “He’s had enough reps over time. It’s just getting him back to being comfortable.”

The soreness, though, is something Harper is expected to deal with.

“Any kind of tendonitis-type scenario, some days you feel good,” Mattingly said. “Every once in a while, you take a misstep, you feel a little swelling, soreness.”

That makes what Harper is doing even more important, and impressive.

He is still producing. He is still getting on base. He is still making plays in right field after spending years away from the outfield.

And he is still helping validate the move that put him back there in the first place.

Harper and the Phillies will stay out west to face the Angels for three games beginning Friday, then head to Arizona to finish a 10-day road trip.

Mets star Juan Soto took live batting practice, ran the bases, and took reps in left field ahead of Wednesday's game as he gets closer to a return from a calf injury.

Soto, who has been out since July 25, has been a regular presence on the field ahead of games at Citi Field in recent weeks as he works his way back. 

As far as when Soto will return, SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes reports that Sept. 1 has been mentioned as a "loose target."

Speaking on Tuesday, interim manager Andy Green said that Soto will get time at DH and in the outfield once he's back.

In Soto's absence, the Mets have been trotting out a regular outfield ofA.J. Ewing,Luis Robert Jr., and Carson Benge.

That means Soto's return could theoretically cut into Robert's playing time. However, the Mets have also been cognizant of the wear-and-tear on Benge and Ewing, who are both in their first season in the majors. 

Soto was in the midst of a tremendous season before getting injured, slashing .283/.408/.539 (.947 OPS) with 21 homers in 84 games. 

Juan Soto is taking live BP today at Citi Field pic.twitter.com/0Ic42XxSrx

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 26, 2026

Heading into this series, it would have been incredibly difficult to believe that the San Diego Padres would be staving off the sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s been a tough turnaround for the Friars, going from scoring a combined 21 runs against the Minnesota Twins to scoring just two against the Buccos.

They’ve wasted some gems from their pitching staff in the process. Michael King outdueled Paul Skenes on Tuesday night, pitching seven scoreless innings of baseball. It was an incredible outing from the right-hander that was rewarded with absolutely nothing from the offense. Unfortunately, it’s nothing new. King ranks fourth in least amount of run support across all starting pitchers.

Taking the mound

Bubba Chandler (PIT) v. Randy Vásquez (SD)

Chandler pitched against the Padres in their first matchup this season. He earned the loss after giving up three runs in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Part of that was a lack of run support (the Pirates were shutout that game), but Chandler has yet to find his groove at the big-league level. He owns a 4.38 ERA and 1.37 WHIP this season.

That said, Chandler has looked better lately. Despite a 4.25 ERA across his last 15 starts, in his last seven he owns a much more respectable 3.28 ERA. That was tainted by his outing in Los Angeles, where the Dodgers tagged him or four runs in four innings. Chandler will seek to turn that around against a recently-cold San Diego lineup.

Vásquez pitched one of the best outings of his career in his last appearance. The righty went seven innings against the Minnesota Twins, surrendering just two runs on two hits. He earned the win in that start and will look to follow it up in tonight’s game. In his last seven games, Vásquez owns a 3.19 ERA. That’s a big improvement from his 4.19 ERA on the season.

Most of Pittsburgh’s lineup has yet to face Vásquez. That should give the right-hander an advantage for a bit, but he’ll need to find creative ways to get outs. If the offense continues to slump, Vásquez will be asked to deliver perfection in order to get the Friars a win.

Batter up!

The offense has been dead this series. There’s really no other way to say it. The biggest culprit has been Jackson Merrill, who has been quite two-faced in this second half. Despite being one of the best players in baseball, he is striking out at an absurd clip. Merrill needs to turn it around soon.

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
2. Jake Cronenworth, 2B
3. Manny Machado, 3B
4. Ty France, 1B
5. Gavin Sheets, DH
6. Jackson Merrill, CF
7. Xander Bogaerts, SS
8. Freddy Fermin, C
9. Dustin Harris, LF

Harris has looked good in his short time with the Friars. He’s gone 2-for-6 in the last two games with a double. The outfield feels a bit crowded in San Diego, so it’s unlikely he stays up long. That said, if he continues raking, it’ll be hard to keep him off of the roster.

Relief corps

Say what you will about the loss, Michael King did exactly what he needed to do. After the 12-inning marathon in Game 1, King saved the bullpen massively by making it through seven frames. The Padres only needed to use Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller to finish the game. Unfortunately, the game ended when Miller surrendered the first homer of his 2026 season to Oneil Cruz. It was the only run of the game.

Regardless, the ‘pen is stacked for the finale. The Padres can turn to Griffin Canning, Jeremiah Estrada, Kyle Hart, Yuki Matsui, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez. All of those options have the capability to go multiple innings if necessary, though Estrada has been wavy lately.

In their quest to find a righthanded-hitting catcher, the New York Yankees signed Mitch Garver to a minor-league deal Aug. 7 after the veteran backstop was released by the Seattle Mariners. Garver, 35, went to Tampa and the Florida Complex League for six days, then joined the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Aug. 14. He has appeared in six games and has three hits, including a double, one RBI and five walks.

“Honestly, it’s been moving really fast,” Garver said. “I flew out of Seattle, went to Tampa for a few days to work on a few things. A couple things the Yankees wanted me to try defensively and with the swing. So we made those adjustments, came up here and was right there in the game the first night. 

“I feel good, the guys are great. It’s really a well-run organization. It certainly fits me, I like being here. It’s been a good experience to come back to Triple-A. It’s humbling, but fun to be on this side of the game.”

Now, however, a decision needs to be made. Garver has an opt-out clause in the contract Aug. 28. Might the Yankees call him up to serve as Austin Wells’ backup?

Seattle released Garver after he batted just .175 in 50 games with four home runs and 15 RBIs. But the Yankees believe he still has something to offer, which is why they signed him. He previously worked with Yankees Director of Catching Tanner Swanson when he was with the Minnesota Twins and Yankees Director of Hitting Jared DeHart while with the Mariners. They feel they can tweak some things to get him back on his game, which is why he went to Tampa.

“A few defensive things that the Yankees wanted me to try,” Garver said. “A lot of it is very specific, small things that the regular naked eye wouldn’t see. Body positioning, glove positioning, the way you catch the ball, the way you accelerate through it. Walking through their gameplan, how they like to call games, the way pitching is taught here. And then from the offensive side, I worked with Jared DeHart when I was in Seattle; he was my hitting coach. He’s the coordinator here. He saw a few things and right when I got designated, he sent me a text in regards with the Yankees and things we can improve on. That was good to see.”

Selected by the Twins in the ninth round of the 2013 draft out of the University of New Mexico, Garver worked his way through their system and made his major-league debut Aug. 19, 2017.

“I improved at every level, whether it was Low-A to High-A to Double-A to Triple-A,” Garver said. “I tried to improve on something each year. Do better and better, my confidence grew. I got the opportunity to make my debut and I never looked back after that.”

He played five seasons and 309 games in Minnesota, batting .256 with 53 home runs and 154 RBIs. In 2019, he won a Silver Slugger Award after batting .273 with 31 home runs and 67 RBIs.

On March 12, 2022, Garver was traded to the Texas Rangers. He played two seasons and 141 games there, batting .246 with 28 home runs and 96 RBIs. He was a member of the Rangers’ championship team in 2023. He hit a home run in Game 2. Then in the decisive Game 5 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, his RBI single in the top of the seventh inning broke a scoreless tie and sent the Rangers on their way to a 5-0 win.

“The World Series run we had in ‘23 was absolutely amazing,” Garver said. “One of the best experiences of my life. We had a great team, we were very tight. It was a fun experience to go through that and then finish it off. 

“The other (highlight) would be last year (with Seattle) when we made it to Game 7 of the ALCS. We were a couple outs away from making it to the World Series. It was crushing, but I will say it was an amazing ride.”  

Signing as a free agent with the Mariners in December 2023, he appeared in 251 games before things went sour this season.

“I knew what my role was with the Mariners,” Garver said. “The past few years, I kind of grew into that backup catcher role. I really enjoyed playing behind Cal (Raleigh), helping him and helping the pitching staff any way I could. It was a little odd the way I was let go. I don’t think anybody was necessarily playing well. I will say it did feel like a relief to be out of there and go to a different team that maybe values me a little bit more and have an opportunity to play a little more.”

How things ended in Seattle has made Garver reflect on his career and appreciate what he has done.

“I was a senior signed out of college. I wasn’t supposed to make it to the major leagues,” Garver said. “I ended up doing that, I ended up winning a Silver Slugger, I’m a World Series champion. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished over my career. My family gives me all the support and that’s everything to me. So super thankful for where I’ve been, the things I’ve done and seen. It’s been an amazing ride.

“I would like to continue playing. My goal is to make it to 10 years and I’m one year away from it. I do think it’s possible. I’ve just got to be able to make the adjustments.”

Whether or not the Yankees — or another team — gives him that chance remains to be seen.

“I would like to say I played my whole career in the major leagues,” Garver said. “I think this is going to be a short stop for me. My goal is to finish strong. I’d really like to make it up to the major leagues again this year and hopefully that propels me forward in the future and just see where it kind of goes from there.”

Here are the lineups for the series finale in Seattle. Let’s discuss.

For the Phillies:

For the Mariners:

It is crazy how one game can boost morale, but that appears to be the case as the Atlanta Braves took down the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers in dramatic fashion where Ozzie Albies hit a go ahead single in the eighth and Raisel Iglesias secured a save after a leadoff triple to Shohei Ohtani.

The Braves now how a 4.5 game lead in the division which seems drastically better than the 2.5 game lead they had just two days ago when the Braves were having a rough patch while the Phillies had just won nine straight games.

As the regular season is drawing close to the final month, today could be a good indicator on whether AJ Smith-Shawver, today’s starter, will be good to go for the playoffs. He has not lasted longer than 4.1 innings in his two starts. He gave up two ERs to the Mets and four to the Twins while struggling with his command. If he has a strong showing against the Dodgers, it could show that he is shaking off some rust and may possibly be a viable option come October.

With only 8.2 innings under his belt this season, it is wise to take expectancy stats with a grain of salt, but he xERA does not paint a much prettier picture thus far with a 5.75, which is largely due to a 17.5 percent strikeout rate and 12.5 percent walk rate. One area that has been good thus far is he is limiting hard contact to only 35.7 percent of the time. So far, he is pitching his fastball 5.0 percent less this year than last and has replaced that with curves. This may be due to easing him back in, but with his fastball velocity being in the top 24.0 percent of MLB pitchers, his lower usage may be part of the reason his effectiveness is down so far this season. Again, extremely small sample size, so more innings will give us a better picture as to the true story.

Smith-Shawver has only faced two players on the Dodgers’ roster in his young career. In that time, he has faced Alex Call in five at-bats. Call has gotten the better of him with a .400 average and 1.500 OPS. Backup catcher Ben Rortvedt has faced Smith-Shawver twice and is hitless.

The Dodgers are scheduled to bring Roki Sasaki to the mound. Sasaki has likely disappointed some Dodgers fans this season. He has started twenty-two games and pitched 116.0 innings, so he is eating innings, but his ERA of 4.42 is not much better than his 4.46 last season. His walk and strikeout rates have gotten much better since last season, but both are still underwhelming. His strikeout rate of 23.1 percent places Sasaki just two percent better than average. His walk rate of 9.3 percent is in the bottom 39.0 percent of qualified pitchers. It is a weird combo because his chase rate and whiff rate are both elite, but they are not resulting in many strikeouts comparatively.

Sasaki has only faced five players on the Braves’ roster before and none of them in more than three at-bats. Ozzie Albies has done well in his three ABs with a .667 average to include a HR. Austin Riley, who happens to be hot right now, is 1-2 against him. Harris, Murphy, and Olson have all been hitless thus far.

On paper, this game seems to hinge on how well AJ Smith-Shawver performs. Of the three SPs the Braves face in this series, tonight is the weakest. The bullpen has been used quite a bit lately and Smith-Shawver does not typically go deep into games, so the Braves need to catch a spark on offense to give the bullpen a cushion.

First pitch is at 7:15 EDT

Game Info

Game Time: Wednesday, August 26th, 7:15 pm EDT

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Watch: BravesVision, MLB Network

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

It’s been a week or so since we’ve highlighted just how flawed and rotten the Cincinnati Reds offense is. In that time, they’ve run off a string of 23 straight innings without scoring a run, and only a Sal Stewart solo homer has pushed a run across the plate so far in two games against the lowly San Francisco Giants – two games in which the Giants starting pitchers have been forced to exit in the 2nd inning due to injuries.

(For the uninitiated, the Reds rank dead last among all 30 MLB clubs in batting average, on-base percentage, and wRC+ on the season. That’s bad.)

So, for the series finale against San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon, manager Terry Francona decided to tinker. Said tinkering? It involves moving rookie Hector Rodriguez up to the leadoff spot in the lineup and bumping the only two players who’ve actually hit the ball for months (Sal and Elly De La Cruz) down a tick, for whatever reason.

We’ll see if it works when first pitch is chucked at 3:45 PM ET by Giants ace Logan Webb.

Here’s the full lineup for the series finale, one that will feature lefty Nick Lodolo on the mound for the Reds:

Let’s start this by going back to what I said about the starting pitching coming into this season — particularly about Bryce Elder:

This is your reminder that Elder led the Braves in innings pitched last season and did so by just over 30 innings over Chris Sale. As I said to start this post, as long as that doesn’t repeat itself then the Braves should be fine and the Braves should be okay with Elder being a fifth starter for however long this may take.

Welp, here we are: It’s August 26 and Bryce Elder is once again leading the Braves in innings pitched. It’s not by as much as last season but he’s once again at the top of the proverbial Kennesaw Mountain when it comes to innings pitched for the Cobb County baseball club. And as we all predicted, the Braves are in the midst of another nightmare season where the Postseason seems out of reach and the Braves are scrambling for answ—

Oh wait, they’re in first place. Oh wait, the rotation has actually been fine, even as everybody (myself included) has suffered some varying level of crash-out about the lack of additions to the rotation. Oh wait, Bryce Elder has actually been perfectly fine this season, even with his now-trademark ups-and-downs that he’s privy to experience in any given season.

We got another example of that in Tuesday night’s season opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is when Elder pitched another six strong innings and held LA to just three runs allowed and played a crucial role in keeping the Braves in it long enough to eventually make a breakthrough that led to a 4-3 victory. In fact, Elder has pitched 11.2 innings against the Dodgers across two starts this season and he’s struck out 13 Dodgers batters with just the nine hits and three runs allowed. That is a very nifty job against a team that Atlanta will likely have to go through (again) if they want to potentially lift the World Series trophy (again) in October and while the Postseason is a completely different beast, it’s surely a bit of a confidence-booster for Elder knowing that he’s capable of keeping this lineup from going wild.

When I asked him after Tuesday’s game about his performances against the Dodgers this season, Elder actually mentioned that he felt like his start against Los Angeles back in April was him at his peak. “I think those two starts against Seattle and the Dodgers [back in April] are the best that my stuff’s ever been,” stated Elder. He didn’t state that there was a common thread between the start he made back in April and the one he made on Tuesday but it’s still encouraging to hear that he felt like his best stuff came against a lineup of Los Angeles’ caliber.

It was also refreshingly candid to hear about Elder’s approach to Shohei Ohtani, who still has yet to pick up a hit againast him across those two starts. Elder was asked about a pitch in particular in the second at-bat, which is when he opened up the AB by throwing a fastball right down the middle. “I just figured that if something’s going to happen, let’s make it quick,” exclaimed Elder, which got a laugh out of the room. “The last thing I wanted to do is fall behind in that situation and give him a better chance. So I thought ‘Well, I’ll take a chance and see what happens’ and luckily he took it because it sure wasn’t supposed to be right down the middle!”

It really is kind of wild to think that Bryce Elder essentially got away with leaving a hanger to Shohei Ohtani because Ohtani probably wasn’t expecting it to come during the first pitch of the AB. That’s baseball for you and that’s an example of the chess match and guessing game that is always going on during any particular AB in any given game. Elder also came up big during his final inning, which is when he managed to avoid seeing Ohtani with the bases loaded by getting Hunter Feduccia to strike out swinging with two men on.

“Great job by Bryce getting through six,” stated Walt Weiss when he was asked about Elder’s performance on Tuesday night. “In that sixth inning, I had [Dylan] Dodd up [in the bullpen] but if bring in Dodd there, you’re going to see some pinch hitters — Teoscar [Hernández] is sitting over there and you got [Miguel] Rojas over there and they can both hit lefties really well, so I chose to let Bryce go after those guys. He did a great job getting those big outs in the sixth inning to put that inning down.”

I know that it’s still going to be pretty tough to trust Elder in the Postseason once he’s eventually called upon. You can also make the argument that the Dodgers are in a bit of a coasting mode at the moment before they turn things up in the Postseason (and their team wRC+ since the break has certainly been underwhelming) but at the same time, that still doesn’t take away from the fact that Elder has consistently gotten the job done against this Dodgers lineup so far in 2026.

It’s the type of effort that gives you hope that both Elder and the rest of the pitching staff could have what it takes to get it done in October. They’ve definitely been doing their best to keep things from going completely sideways over the past couple of weeks and now hopefully they’ll play a big role in helping to push the Braves towards a divisional title and a big run in October. We’ll see what happens.

Roman Anthony is just days away from returning to the Boston Red Sox.

“I’m hopeful to get back up there as fast as I can, so as long as everything goes well and it’s recovering well, I think I’m going to do everything I can to get back as fast as I can,” Anthony said prior to his first rehab game on Aug. 18, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith.

“I think last week was more of just kind of feeling it out, getting back to just playing baseball and getting the body in shape,” Anthony said following his first week back, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. “It’s to a point now where, week two, I’m looking forward to getting back into a big league game as soon as possible.”

Anthony’s most likely return date appears to be Friday, when he could make the short drive down to meet his teammates in The Bronx for a three-game series against the New York Yankees — one in which they could leap ahead in the standings and grab hold of home field advantage in the first round of the postseason against that very same team. If that is the case, he’ll almost certainly become an every day contributor in short order — which means that the organization will need to clear room at either left field or designated hitter.

If that’s the plan, there remains only one spot in the lineup for Jarren Duran or Mickey Gasper…

… and about that!

Chad Tracy has already strongly hinted it that it will be Gasper who gets the short end of the stick, with Duran playing left field and Anthony as the DH against righties and more of a rotation against lefties. This plan essentially leaves Gasper without a job.

But Gasper, as you all know, has been absolutely fantastic since being recalled on Aug. 17. The Red Sox quite literally have ridden his hot stretch to a five-game winning streak and watched him become the hottest hitter (highest OPS and fWAR) in all of baseball.

Mickey Gasper
8 Games – 29 PA
.476/.621/1.333
5 HR
3 2B
12 RBI
393 wRC+
1.0 fWAR

Duran has also been much better since someone forecasted his turnaround last month, becoming not the worst hitter in the sport.

Jarren Duran
30 Games – 118 PA
.273/.316/.464
5 HR
4 2B, 1 3B
14 RBI
110 wRC+
3/4 SB

Who stays? Who goes? Who gets his ass stapled to the bench?

The Red Sox have plenty of difficult decisions to make over the coming weeks. Anthony’s arrival not only brings about questions as to who sticks in the lineup but who sticks on the roster — Anthony, Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Ceddanne Rafaela are locks, but can you also keep Jahmai Jones and Eli White? Trevor Story and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are on their way back, and even though at least one is willing to wait until rosters expand you’ll need to send down one of Nick Sogard, Andruw Monasterio, or Anthony Seigler. Curtis Mead might even be ready by the time the postseason starts, which means another one of those guys is gonzo.

HOW DO YOU MAKE THOSE DECISIONS?

It’s a good thing we don’t have to, that responsibility falls on the shoulders of chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and interim manager Chad Tracy.

As the New York Yankees start the week with a series against the Houston Astros, you probably noticed the continuation of a recent trend. That trend is that of four straight left-handed hitters at the top of the lineup: Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Luis Garcia Jr., and Cody Bellinger. As much as the current numbers and the general lack of right-handed production tend to favor this choice, it is easy to become concerned with the problems such a setup raises.

At the bottom of the order, one might feel more at ease about sequencing several hitters in a row from one side of the plate due to the ability to pinch hit for some—especially true for a Yankee team with a right-handed specialists off the bench —but that opportunity isn’t there among for top hitters. It’s a paradoxical thing since you’d figure that your top hitters wouldn’t need to be pinch-hit for, but that’s not entirely true, at least not for Garcia.

The timing of this article isn’t ideal since it comes a day after Garcia had a big hit off a left-handed reliever in Steven Okert, even if it didn’t decide the game. Still, his season numbers indicate the rarity of that accomplishment, as Garcia entered the last game with a .581 OPS against southpaws in the middle of a career year. You still want and need a right-handed presence to balance the top of the order.

Once you stack the left-handed hitters like that, it becomes easy for an opposing manager to bring on a lefty specialist. As a group, this foursome has a reliable enough track record against southpaws to make this a swallowable pill, and it’s why they’re choosing this route in the first place, but it’s far from the ideal scenario. Rice has 10 homers and a 119 wRC+ against lefties this season, while Bellinger and Grisham sit at 110 and 104, respectively.

The problems with this choice are well-established; the Yankees know it, yet they’re risking it. They’re doing so not only because the track record of their lefty hitters allows for such, but primarily because the right-handed hitters on the active roster are forcing their hand. Deadline acquisition Helliot Ramos has played his way into a more limited role in less than a month, courtesy of not hitting water falling off a boat, and a little over a week ago we talked here about the dangers of asking too much out of George Lombard Jr., who already finds himself steadily higher up in the order, batting fifth in this series opener against the Astros. Beyond those two, you have no healthy choices under consideration to bat high in the lineup.

Sticking to a previously established belief should only make sense as long as the belief makes sense. In other words, if we’re to truly assume that Ramos is going to continue struggling in the way that he has, the Yankees may have to reassess this whole policy of easing in Lombard. In the end, there is what we would like in an ideal world, and there is the reality of adapting to your current situation. If we weren’t so concerned about how Lombard would handle such a task, the alternative would be rather clear.

The lack of a right-handed presence at the top is not only a problem but also a wasted opportunity—that hitter would clearly benefit from facing southpaws late in games as they enter to face the Yankees’ most dangerous hitters. Usually, we’re talking about the top lefties out of a given bullpen, but the matchup advantage might be there against more traditional specialists. It’s something that Lombard could, and Ramos definitely should, take advantage of. He was acquired in large part for this specific reason.

Hopefully, this temporary problem is fixed when Aaron Judge returns to anchor this lineup, but until then, the Yankees could run into some problems without any kind of right-handed presence near the top of the order to balance this lineup.

Detroit Tigers (62-70) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (78-54)

Time/Place: 1:10 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:DRaysBay
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Troy Melton (7-2, 1.60 ERA) vs. RHP Freddy Peralta (5-11, 5.33 ERA)

After four months of underwhelming baseball, the Royals have inexplicably gone on a run, winning nine in a row. They’re just the fourth team in MLB history to be at least 24 games under .500 and go on a nine-game winning streak.

In other words, this is not normal. And tonight, the Royals have a chance to make it even stranger. They can extend the streak to double digits, something that has previously only been done five times in club history. Let’s take a look back at the longest winning streaks in club history.

Nine in a row

• 1989 – The Royals were struggling to keep up with a juggernaut A’s team led by the “Bash Brothers” (Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire). But in August they made things interesting with a nine game winning streak that included six saves from Jeff Montgomery. It was part of a stretch where the team won 20 of 25 games and got within 1.5 games of first place Oakland by September, only to fade in the last few weeks
• 2002 – When people think of a Royals team having a winning streak when they are way out of it, 2002 comes to mind. The Royals were 33-54 a few games after the All-Star break, when they suddenly went on a nine-game winning streak under new manager Tony Pena that included two walk-off wins. The success would be short-lived. They would have two six-game losing streaks over the next few weeks and end up losing 100 games.
• 2003 – This is the famous 9-0 start to begin the year. It started with a crisp 3-0 win on Opening Day over the White Sox, leading to a perfect 5-0 homestand, a sweep of the awful Tigers, then two more wins in Cleveland. The hot start buoyed the team and kept them in first place for much of the summer. !Nosotros Creamos!
• 2013 – The decision to go all-in with a big trade of James Shields looked foolish when the Royals were 45-51 a week before the July trade deadline. But the young core began to gel and the team won nine in a row, part of a hot stretch where they won 17 of 20 and climbed their way back into the Wild Card race, only to fall just short.
• 2016 – The title defense was disappointing through July, with the team six games below .500 at the trade deadline. But the team began to recapture the magic thanks to a praying mantis they found in the dugout. The Royals won nine games in a row, pulling them to within four games of a Wild Card spot, but would end up with a losing record in September.
• 2017 – The Royals of this era were just a streaky bunch. Again, they had a losing record in mid-July, but were only a few games back of first place. They had a walk-off win over the Tigers, kicking off a nine-game winning streak that included two more walk-off wins. By the end of the streak, they were in the second Wild Card spot, and just two games out of first place, but an awful August would doom them.

Ten in a row

• 1977 – The Royals were fresh off their first division title, but started slowly and were under .500 as late as mid-June. A hot July got them to within a few games of first place Chicago by early August. They won two games in Cleveland, then swept the first place Red Sox at home. They followed that up with a walk-off win over the second-place Orioles, and a two-game sweep of Baltimore. They won a 15-inning affair in Milwaukee and eventually got the winning streak to ten games. They took over first place for good, but as hot as they were, they were about to get hotter.
• 1978 – A common theme with Royals winning streaks is they seem to coincide when the weather gets steamy in Kansas City. The 1978 Royals were 44-40 at the All-Star break in mid-July, and dropped their first second-half game. Rookie Rich Gale beat the Brewers for his tenth win, then the team swept the hated Yankees in New York. They had walk-off wins against the Rangers and Red Sox, and eventually extended their winning streak to ten before Ron Guidry shut them out in Kansas City. The streak catapulted the Royals into first place, and they would go on to win their third consecutive division title.
• 2014 – The offense was ice cold to start the year, leading to the reassignment of hitting coach Pedro Grifol in May. The team was 29-32 in early June, leading some to wonder if the Royals would have to end up trading ace James Shields at the deadline. The offense came alive in June with a ten-game winning streak that included a pair of 11-run outbursts against the division-rival Tigers. It vaulted the team into first place, but they immediately slumped again and fell under .500 in July before going on a late run that led to a pennant.

Fourteen in a row

The Royals have won 14 games in a row once in 1994. The franchise had been spinning their wheels for a few years, and a work stoppage loomed over the entire season. The Royals hovered a few games over .500 for most of the year, and by July 22 they were 9.5 games back of the White Sox, and 6.5 games back of the new “Wild Card” spot.

After two wins in Detroit, the Royals came home to face the mighty White Sox, led by “The Big Hurt”, Frank Thomas. Royals ace Kevin Appier coughed up a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning, and the White Sox seemed on their way to victory when they took a lead in the top of the twelfth. But rookie Bob “The Hammer” Hamelin cracked a three-run walk-off homer to win the game. The Royals would win all four games in the series, then sweep the Twins and A’s.

Some ceiling tiles at the Kingdome fell, so a series against the Mariners was moved to Kansas City. The Royals sold all seats at a discount and made the game general admission, and 25,000 raucous fans showed up, including two bikini-clad women that ran onto the field. Tom Gordon shut out the Mariners on August 5 for win #14, pulling the Royals to within one game of first (and the Wild Card – Cleveland had tied Chicago for first place).
“They talk about stadiums and ballparks,” said Royals Manager Hal McRae. “We had a ballpark tonight and they were jammed in and rarin’ to go.”

The streak was finally snapped after 14 games when the Royals lost a nationally-televised game. Six days later, MLB players went on strike. The season would never resume. The season ended with the Royals three games back of a playoff spot.

Sixteen in a row

The longest winning streak in club history is a 16-game stretch by the dominant 1977 club. That’s right, that team had TWO double-digit winning streaks. They were already riding high in late August, when Morganna the Kissing Bandit jumped on the field to give Royals star George Brett a kiss. Perhaps it was good luck, because the Royals won the next night, and wouldn’t lose again for weeks.

Paul Splittorff almost no-hit the Brewers. The Royals slugged five home runs in one game against the Mariners. In the middle of the streak, two games were rained out due to the heavy rains that flooded Brush Creek and cost 25 people their lives. Royals outfielder Amos Otis helped rescue eight children that were caught in the rains.

The rains couldn’t slow the Royals. They had back-to-back walk-off wins over the A’s to run their win streak to 16, the longest winning streak in baseball in 24 years. Their lead in the division had swelled to double digits. After one loss, they went on another eight-game winning streak. This was the peak of the Royals’ first great era, a team built around George Brett, Amos Otis, Hal McRae and a deep pitching staff. Unfortunately, their fate was the same as the 1977 club – an ALCS loss to the Yankees.

Nine straight is already bizarre enough. Can this year’s Royals keep winning and move up this list?

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The Houston Astros and New York Yankees square off at Yankee Stadium tonight with the Bronx Bombers opening as -124 home favorites.

New York hands the ball to Elmer Rodriguez, who makes a spot start with just 17 career big-league innings under his belt, while Houston counters with Peter Lambert, who brings a solid 3.68 ERA and 3.44 xERA across 122.1 frames.

My Astros vs. Yankees predictions back the road underdogs and targets a total that the market has mispriced for a standard starting matchup.

Read on for my full MLB picks for Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Who will win Astros vs Yankees today: Astros (+109)

The New York Yankees offense has become a little more all-or-nothing over the last month, which fits pretty well with their batting profile in the wake of multiple injuries, most notably Aaron Judge.

That looms fairly large here and is why I'm playing the Houston Astros down to +105.

New York has the lowest BaBIP in MLB at .273 and the third-worst contact rate at 72.2%, and Astros arm Peter Lambert takes away the one path they have.

He grades in the 62nd percentile in barrel rate and the 64th percentile in hard-hit rate; metrics that have improved recently.

Give me Houston.

COVERS INTEL:Elmer Rodriguez has not been able to finish anyone off, posting a 12.0% strikeout rate against a 27.0% whiff rate, which means hitters are missing early and still putting the ball in play late.

Astros vs Yankees Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (-120)

Astros vs Yankees home run prediction: Yordan Alvarez (+296)

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Dodgers look to even up the series in Atlanta against the Braves, a series that could be key to which team owns one of the top two spots in the NL, which would give them that ever-so-important bye in the first round.

Currently, the Dodgers are one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers in wins, as the New York Mets came back in extras to also hand the Brewers a loss. Atlanta is three games behind L.A. with 77 wins.

The bottom of the lineup was key in the three runs scored in Tuesday night’s game, and the top of the order needs to join in if the Dodgers wish to unleash more offense. The team will face AJ Smith-Shawver, a young righty who has only appeared in two games so far this season. He just returned after spending 14 months healing from Tommy John surgery and has joined the Braves rotation to give them a six-man staff to save some arm usage for the playoffs. In those two games this season he went 4.1 innings both times, allowing two earned runs in the first outing and four runs in the second outing. He has only seven strikeouts across those 8.2 innings.

Smith-Shawver leans on a curveball that breaks into lefty barrels, and the Dodgers could stack up to seven lefties against him. He lacks a reliable fading changeup that could potentially keep those lefties off balance.

The Dodgers did little to make the Braves bullpen work in Tuesday game and all arms should be available. The Dodgers could work to break the game open and get into the bullpen early, but bullpen usage may not matter as Chris Sale looms on Thursday.

Roki Sasaki will take the mound for the Dodgers. He hasn’t earned the wins in any of his last three games, but he has looked much more solid, allowing only two runs in each of his last three outings, one of which was in Denver. Coming into last night’s game, the Braves had only been averaging 1.3 earned runs against righties in their last 10 started by righties. After getting ahead of Glasnow in the first with three runs, Glasnow was able to shut them down pretty solidly the rest of the way. He ended up striking out seven, and Sasaki could rack up some K’s himself.

Wednesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Braves
• Ballpark: Truist Park, Atlanta
• Start time: 4:15 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)