Baseball News
The Jays traded away Tommy Nance (and $250,000 in international signing bonus money) to the Twins for Catcher/Infielder Ryan Sprock (he’s assigned to Vancouver). FanGraphs had him at #31 on their Top Prospect list.
They must see something in Sprock. He has a .297/.427/.428 in 67 games at A ball.
Also Braydon Fisher has activated from the Bereavement list and will be available tonight.
Today’s lineups:
Go Jays Go
And this is great news:
Talk about opening a series in style as the Tigers beat the Phillies 10-2 to open the last weekend series of the first half.
For the last weekend series before the All-Star Break, the Tigers were squaring off against the club that would be hosting the All-Star Game in the Phillies. They were hoping to ride the high of their series sweep against the A’s and keep it up right into the break. To get there, they’d have Jack Flaherty on the mound up against Aaron Nola for the Phillies. Now to see if the Tigers’ luck versus .500+ teams would be tested as the Phillies have the second-best record in the NL East.
Kyle Schwarber got a one-out single in the top of the first, but Flaherty quickly brought things around to get the final two outs of the inning. In the home half, Riley Greene got a two-out walk, but the Tigers left him stranded.
In the second, the Phillies went 1-2-3, and the Tigers did the same in the home half. Early to tell, yet, but looks like it could be a set-up for a pitchers’ duel.
The Phillies drew first blood in the top of the third with a solo home run from Derek Hill. The next three batters went down in order. In the home half, Jake Rogers took a one-out walk. Then Kevin McGonigle homered, pushing the Tigers nicely into the lead.
With two outs, Riley Greene doubled, but once again the Tigers left him stranded.
Bryce Harper took a leadoff walk in the fourth, then with one out, Flaherty hit Alec Bohm with a pitch. I can safely say any concerns I had about a pitchers’ duel were not founded. Bryson Stott then walked to load the bases. Hill singled into right, driving in a run. Flaherty did manage to get the final out of the inning, avoiding the worst damage, but the game was still tied 2-2. The Tigers went three-up, three-down in the bottom of the inning.
Jack Flaherty needs to send a thank you fruit basket to Riley Greene for nabbing the first two outs of the inning.
It was also pouring buckets at this point. Flaherty got the final out of the inning, thankfully making it very speedy, but with the rain it was hard to say whether things would continue in the bottom half. The game did resume for the bottom half with a slight delay to help absorb some of the rainwater and reset the mound. Jake Rogers got a one-out single, but unfortunately the Tigers weren’t able to bring him home.
The Phillies went 1-2-3 in the sixth and the rain was certainly lighter now. Aaron Nola’s day was done after the fifth and he was replaced by Tim Mayza. Riley Greene worked a walk, despite the Phillies challenging the final pitch call, he made his way to first (and it was quite the epic at-bat). With one out, a pinch-hitting Matt Vierling drew a walk. Eduardo Valencia got to play the hero in back-to-back games as he hit a line drive to left to break up the tie and score Greene.
Zach McKinstry hit a sac bunt to score Vierling, but a throwing error from Mayza left McKinstry safe on first. James Outman then tripled to score two more runs. Then, because this inning is just that unhinged, Mayza got called for a balk, scoring Outman. The next two at-bats were outs, but it was safe to say the Tigers made the most of the inning.
With a nice buffer now on the scoreboard, Jack Flaherty’s day was done with a final line of 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, on 86 pitches. Not his best outing, a little uneven, but the results were pretty solid. Jacob Waguespack came out of the pen to replace him. Derek Hill continued to have himself a night with a one-out single. With two outs, Trea Turner was able to reach on a fielding error by McKinstry. The error gods giveth, and the error gods taketh away. Drew Sommers replaced Waguespack and got the final out of the inning, a big one against the Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber. Max Lazar was the new Phillies pitcher in the home half, and Colt Keith got in on the action with a leadoff home run.
Riley Greene walked, and then right behind him, Spencer Torkelson homered.
With one out, Valencia singled, but two outs followed to end the inning, leaving him on base.
Beau Brieske came in for the top of the eighth. With one out, Brandon Marsh singled. But they got the final outs of the inning with no runs scored. Garrett Stubbs, a position player, came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and got the Tigers out in order. Love it when that happens.
The Tigers worked through the side in the top of the ninth and clinched their win. Great way to open a series.
The Colorado Rockies (38-57) continue their series against the San Francisco Giants (39-54) tonight at Oracle Park, their final series before the All-Star break.
Last night was the kind of game worth forgetting. Colorado managed five hits and lost 8-2.
Bad game. Move on.
The larger stretch has still been encouraging. Colorado is 16-19 with a minus-three run differential since June 1. During that span, the offense has hit .278/.354/.494 with a 117 wRC+, while the bullpen has posted a 4.90 ERA — including a 1.64 mark since July 1.
The rotation has been the clear lag, carrying a 6.23 ERA over the same stretch.
Tanner Gordon gets an opportunity to try to turn that around tonight.
The right-hander enters at 0-2 with a 6.95 ERA, 1.59 WHIP and 46 strikeouts over 45.1 innings. Gordon works with a four-seamer around 93 mph, an upper-80s slider, a mid-80s changeup and a slower curveball.
He threw his four-seamer on half of his 94 pitches against San Francisco five days ago. It produced four strikeouts, but the Giants went 4-for-7 when putting it in play, with a 95.8 mph average exit velocity, and hit four home runs overall. His slider produced more manageable contact and a 32% called-strike-plus-whiff rate.
This will be Gordon’s fifth start on the season and his second road start. He has a 3.32 ERA in 19 total innings away from Coors Field.
Veteran left-hander Robbie Ray starts for San Francisco and enters at 8-6 with a 3.45 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 86 strikeouts over 101.2 innings.
Ray has allowed just three earned runs over his last 28.1 innings. He has deemphasized his four-seam fastball, leaning more on his sinker, slider, changeup, and knuckle curve. Left-handed hitters tend to see more sliders, while right-handers get a broader mix.
Colorado has already seen Ray twice. The Rockies made him grind through 96 pitches over four innings of one-run ball on May 31, then struck early on July 4 when Cole Carrigg launched a first-inning three-run homer before Ray settled in and completed six innings.
Carrigg remains one of Colorado’s hottest hitters, with Jake McCarthy and Kyle Karros also helping carry the recent offensive surge.
The path is still straightforward: Gordon needs to keep the damage contained and hand a close game to an offense and bullpen that have given the Rockies a much better chance lately.
First Pitch: 8:15 p.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
Giants SB Nation Site:McCovey Chronicles
Lineups:
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The 2026 MLB Draft kicks off this weekend, with NBC/Peacock covering the first 10 picks on Saturday starting at 1:00pm, and then coverage switching over the wide assortment of MLB platforms for the remainder of Saturday (starting at 2:30pm) through Sunday (11:30am-7:30pm). NC State has had a player drafted – multiple actually – in each of the last 25 drafts, and that’s a streak that will continue this year with at least six members of this year’s Wolfpack baseball team expected to be drafted.
Of those listed above, Dudan, Head, Johnson, Marohn, McHugh, and Nixon are almost sure to be drafted. Those six recently took part in the MLB Draft Combine, a pretty clear indication that they will be selected. Among them, Head has seemed to fly up boards lately, checking in at #60 from MLB.com, #46 from ESPN, and a huge jump all the way up to #16 at FanGraphs. Kiley McDaniel at ESPN has him mock drafted at 44th to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Dudan is the next highest regarded prospect for this year’s draft, although his stock took a major hit when he went down with an elbow injury midseason that resulted in Tommy John Surgery. While that injury knocked him out of the first round, he won’t drop past the third round this weekend. MLB has Dudan ranked #78, ESPN #89, and FanGraphs #73.
Marohn is the only other Wolfpack player to break the Top 250 prospect lists, checking in at #149 by MLB and #177 by ESPN.
Among college prospects, D1 Baseball has Dudan ranked 50th, Head 53rd, Marohn 107th, Johnson 138th, Nixon 185th, and McHugh 201st.
Aside from those six players, Consiglio has the best chance of being drafted.
It’s unlikely that any of the these three get drafted, although Lax has put together two great starts in the Cape Cod League, sporting a line of 1-0, 2.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 0.0 BB%, 22.2 K%. That coupled with the luxury of being a lefty and he might entice a late selection from a team. Warren is currently hitting .348/.423/.391, 2 2B, 0 HR, 9.6 BB%, 23.1 K%, 0-2 SB in the Cape Cod League. The batting average and OBP are really nice, but the strikeout number is a bit concerning.
Among the committed freshman class for next season, Alm is the highest rated and the biggest threat to be drafted. Alm is a lefty swinging speedster with plenty of athleticism and a projectable 6’ frame. Alm doesn’t appear on any of the aforementioned prospect boards for this year’s draft, but his tools are apparent and he could easily be drafted in the top 5 rounds.
Once you get past Alm, it’s unclear if any of the remaining class will be drafted, but all it takes is one team to fall in love with a prospect and get drafted. There’s talent in the class, but the reduced 20 round nature of the current MLB Draft certainly takes away a lot of the risk of losing high school commits.
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Cardinals catcher Iván Herrera was named Friday to the National League All-Star team as an injury replacement for Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
Tampa Bay pitcher Nick Martinez, Boston outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela and Chicago White Sox rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami were named injury replacements in the American League.
All four players are first-time selections. The All-Star Game is Tuesday night in at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
“It’s a dream,” the 26-year-old Herrera said. “Everybody thinks about going to an All-Star Game. You just can’t describe the feelings. I’m just excited for it and trying to take it all in right now.”
The Panama native entered Friday batting .249 with 11 homers, 40 RBIs and a .780 OPS. He has been hit by pitches a league-leading 24 times this season.
St. Louis signed Herrera as a 16-year-old undrafted free agent in 2016, and he will be joined by two first-time All-Star teammates, Jordan Walker and Riley O’Brien.
Ohtani is having fluid drained from his left knee, forcing him to miss the All-Star Game.
Murakami also will compete in the Home Run Derby. He was a star in Japan before signing with the White Sox and returned to action Friday after missing more than a month with a strained right hamstring. He entered Friday hitting .240 with 20 home runs and 41 RBIs.
Murakami replaces Minnesota center fielder Byron Buxton, who has a right hip impingement.
Martinez replaces Boston pitcher Ranger Suarez, who spent his first nine seasons with Philadelphia before signing with the Red Sox during the offseason. Rafaela will fill in for eight-time All-Star and three-time American League MVP Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.
Suarez went on the injured list with a strained left groin Thursday. Judge has not played since late Mary because of a stress fracture of a rib on his right side.
Rafaela is hitting a career-best .286 with eight homers, 39 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. He becomes the third All-Star from the Red Sox, joining closer Aroldis Chapman and first baseman Willson Contreras.
Martinez entered Friday’s start against Seattle with the league’s ninth-lowest ERA among qualified pitchers at 2.61, He’s allowed three or fewer runs in 16 of 17 starts this season.
Dodgers star right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto made his second straight All-Star team this year, and on Saturday he’ll make his final start before the break, on the mound in the middle game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
Yamamoto has allowed nine runs in his last eight starts, and on the season sports a 2.49 ERA and 3.35 xERA.
Right-hander Brandon Pfaadt starts for Arizona on Saturday.
Toronto Blue Jays (44-49) at San Diego Padres (46-47), July 10, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
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The Dodgers scratched Shohei Ohtani from his scheduled start on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks due to irritation in his left knee, an ailment that has plagued him off and on for the last month. Ohtani will still be the designated hitter this weekend, but won’t travel to Philadelphia to take part in All-Star Game festivities.
Ohtani left a game in which he was the designated hitter on June 10 in Pittsburgh, but made his pitching start the next day on June 11. He has a 4.38 ERA in his four starts since, but has lasted at least six innings each time out with a 3.32 xERA, 26.2-percent strikeout rate, and 7.5-percent walk rate. That’s compared to a 0.74 ERA, 2.45 xERA, 28.8-percent strikeout rate and 7.7-percent walk rate in his first 10 starts.
At the plate Ohtani has homered twice this week but so far through seven July games has just six hits in 27 at-bats, hitting .222/.323/.444.
In a press release the Dodgers said Ohtani will undergo “interventions” in his left knee beginning after Sunday’s game. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Friday at Dodger Stadium Ohtani would get fluid drained from his left knee. Ohtani will also receive a pain-killing injection in his knee, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and others.
“He’s been managing this quite well, the knee,” Roberts told reporters Friday, as shown on SportsNet LA. “If there’s a chance that we could be proactive and get it drained, and do whatever we need to do to try to manage it, along with the rest for the All-Star break, we were gonna do that.”
How the Dodgers manage Ohtani’s rest and playing time while he navigates being a full-time two-way player for the first time since 2023 is one of the keys to the season. He hasn’t been the designated hitter in four of his 10 pitching starts, and has also had full days off — no hitting or pitching — in five other games (May 14 vs. Giants, June 4 at Diamondbacks, June 12 at White Sox, June 19 vs. Orioles for the birth of his second child, and July 4 vs. Padres).
Even with the occasional built-in rest, Ohtani has batted 395 times this season and faced 340 batters as a pitcher. He’s been directly involved in 735 total plate appearances this season, 28.7 percent more than the next-most, Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara. Through 94 Dodgers games this season, that’s roughly 7.82 plate appearances per game on average that Ohtani is a part of. For context, last season Ohtani was stretched out to four innings pitching by August 6. Beginning with that game, he faced 125 batters as a pitcher and batted 210 times over the Dodgers’ final 48 games, averaging 6.98 plate appearances per game.
Ohtani has started each of the last five All-Star Games, and was voted this year to start again at designated hitter after earning the most fan votes in the National League. Cardinals catcher and designated hitter Ivan Herrera was named on Friday to replace Ohtani on the NL All-Star roster. Roberts as manager of the National League gets to set the starting lineup, but it’s a no-brainer that Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber, who received the most All-Star votes at the position by players (554 votes for Schwarber, 536 for Ohtani), will likely start at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
The St. Louis Cardinals begin the last homestand prior to the All-Star Game break with the Atlanta Braves coming to town. You would think that the stadium would be rocking tonight with the news of JJ Wetherholt and the St. Louis Cardinals coming to an agreement on a long-term extension. The Cardinals will hand the ball to Kyle Leahy while the Braves will put the formidable Chris Sale on the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15pm central time at Busch Stadium and the TV broadcast will be handled by Apple TV.
UPDATE: Game in a rain delay. Apple TV says that game will restart around 10:45pm central time.
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This afternoon, the San Francisco Giants announced that they placed Victor Bericoto on the 10-day IL “with an oblique strain” and taking his spot on the roster is 25-year old Grant McCray, in the majors for the first time in 2026.
McCray had surgery back in June to repair his left hamate bone and up to that point he’d been hitting just .237/.360/.370. He made just three starts since being activated, but he’s 4-for-8 with a homer, a double, a strikeout and a walk. He also stole 3 bases and didn’t get caught. McCray’s defense will come in handy. His bat remains the central question.
He’ll be taking Victor Bericoto’s roster spot. An oblique strain is a tough injury for a hitter and it’s a real shame to see such a young player have some quite positive momentum halted by the injury bug. Such is baseball, I suppose. Then again, it’s remarkable to consider how much these two players mirror each other. In 59 plate appearances, the 24-year old Bericoto had 15 strikeouts against just 1 walk but 4 homers and 3 doubles. In McCray’s debut age-23 season, he swatted 5 homers in 130 plate appearances and had 56 strikeouts against just 6 walks. Not exactly the same, but close enough in terms of those three true outcomes. Although, it’s absolutely worth mentioning that Bericoto’s line in a much smaller sample is much, much better than what McCray did in 2024: .293/.305/.552 vs. .202/.238/.379.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the outfield defense aligns late in games because McCray is an outstanding defender in center and right and with Jung Hoo Lee and Drew Gilbert on the roster (at least for now), his playing time seems a little fuzzy.
The bigger surprise is the return of Keaton Winn, who comes off the IL after being seemingly lost to the vagaries of Tony Vitello’s managing. But, nope. After hitting the IL on June 8th, he returned and rehabbed on July 3 and made 3 total appearances across the Giants minor leagues (who were playing home games in Northern California). He struck out 3 in three innings while walking 2 and allowing just a hit. He bumps Carson Whisenhunt back to the minors because, as Alex Pavlovic points out, “With the All-Star break, he wasn’t going to be in line to start for at least a week.”
Before Vitello used him three days in a row for reasons only understood by Tony Vitello, Winn had really settled into the season with a 2.40 ERA (3.21 FIP) in 30 IP. Replacing Ryan Walker’s putridness with Keaton Winn’s potential is the only logical move the team could make. Winn is probably a 20 on the 20-80 scale if they scored injury, but if he can rattle off 4-5 great appearances over the next couple of weeks then the Giants might be able to move the 28-year old for some prospects by the August 3rd MLB trade deadline. And at this point, the draft and the trade deadline are what this terrible, no good, very bad season is all about.
The Yankees are looking to end their first half on a high note this weekend in Washington, DC, when they face the upstart Nationals. Said Nats have been better than expected in their first full year with a new front office and skipper, which hadn’t been changed since their 2019 World Series-winning team fell apart. Ryan Weathers, Cam Schlittler, and Will Warren have a tough lineup facing them this weekend, and Weathers is slated to be the first to get a shot at them tonight. The Nats are sending out lefty Carson Palmquist as an opener with familiar starter Zack Littell likely to follow as the “bulk guy.”
However, we’ll have to wait a bit. The Nationals announced that there is “inclement weather” in the area and that first pitch—which had been scheduled for 6:45pm ET—was delayed. They put the news out there at 6:07pm ET and as of just a few minutes ago, the tarp was still on the field. Bummer.
We’ll keep you all posted with any updates on the first pitch time.
This will up being about a two-hour delay, but the action should start at around 8:45pm ET.
Go Rays!
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The 41-52 Athletics take on the 47-45 Chicago White Sox at Rate Field in Chicago today. The Southsiders are in the midst of the most dramatic turn-around from last season, currently sitting in first place in the American League (AL) Central, while the visiting A’s are mired in a six-game losing streak and open the day in fourth place in the AL West.
Taking the mound this afternoon for the A’s is Jacob Lopez. The 28-year-old lefty is 4-3 in thirteen appearances with a 7.04 ERA. He has had forty-two strikeouts in 53.2 innings this year. He’ll go up against 26-year-old righty Sean Burke for the Pale Hose. Burke is 5-4 with a 3.56 ERA over the course of eighteen appearances this season. The White Sox will be thrilled to see rookie phenom Munetaka Murakami return to their lineup today after more than a month on the Injured List (IL) with a right hamstring strain.
Burke will face off against this lineup for Mark Kotsay’s Athletics:
Lopez will battle this lineup for Will Venable’s White Sox:
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Athletics – NBCSCA
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Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast
I really wish I could find a shirt like the one Luinder Avila is wearing in the photo I’ve attached to this piece in my size. If y’all see anything like that somewhere in a 4XL or 5XL and could let me know, I’d super duper appreciate it.
Oh yeah, we’re here to talk about baseball. The Royals are playing the Orioles in Baltimore tonight. Luinder Avila is going to start for KC. To say that his results have been mixed since he joined the rotation following a variety of pitching injuries would not be an overstatement. He has a 5.04 ERA, thanks in no small part to his wimpy 6.2% K-BB%. He needs to strike more guys out and walk fewer while starting. The curveball that was his bread and butter coming up through the system is now his fourth-most-used pitch out of five. His sinker and slider have been the only pitches he’s been able to throw with much effectiveness, but he still struggles to get them – or any – of his pitches in the strike zone. When a hitter chases a lot, he’s going to be streaky (see: Salvador Perez). When a pitcher struggles to throw strikes, even with stuff as good as Avila’s, he will also be streaky, and that’s what we’re seeing here. He’s going to need to improve if he wants to have a career as long as teammates Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, and the easiest way for that to happen is probably to move him to the bullpen, where he can simplify things. But the Royals are already relying on Randy Dobnak as a bulk reliever, so he’s stuck in the rotation for now.
The Orioles will use Brandon Young and I’ve got to be honest, I’d never heard of the guy before today. Young and Avila are remarkably similar in many respects, though Young’s stuff isn’t quite as good. Young throws a splitter instead of a changeup, and he’s been slightly better at getting it in the strike zone, so he’s generated a fair bit more chase when he leaves the zone. Young leans a lot heavier on his four-seam fastball than Avila. Despite its lower velocity and spin rate, it gets drastically more movement, which has allowed him to keep hitters from squaring it up as well. Oddly enough, they share an identical xwOBA, so Young has probably been on the luckier side. But he walks significantly fewer batters, so that helps too.
As you likely saw earlier today, Vinnie Pasquantino has rejoined the Royals less than a month after suffering a hamate bone injury. That usually keeps guys out for longer, but he’s Vinnie, so he’s back. Inexplicably, he’s not in tonight’s starting lineup. Why is he back if he’s not playing? Salvador Perez is starting at first, and he is a downgrade both defensively and offensively. Nick Loftin is DHing and while he’s been hitting better the past few days, he’s not exactly you would usually see a manager feel like he has to get into the lineup. All in all, this makes pretty much no sense to me. Baseball!
The Orioles and Royals are both bad. Remember when they were both good? Those were the days. Well, until the playoffs came anyway. But let’s talk about something else.
Brandon Young is pitching for the Orioles tonight, AKA the Orioles ace. His last start against the Reds wasn’t great, but everyone’s allowed to have a bump in the road. Hopefully, he’s back on track after that.
Luinder Avila is starting for the Royals. He has a 5.05 ERA and a 1.587 WHIP, which makes me oddly nervous. You know what I mean. Avila started the year in the bullpen but has been in the rotation since June 1st. He doesn’t generally go more than five innings. Again, that makes me nervous. It’s hard being an Orioles fan.
Orioles lineup
Gunnar Henderson (L) SS
Adley Rutschman (S) C
Taylor Ward (R) LF
Pete Alonso (R) 1B
Samuel Basallo (L) DH
Dylan Beavers (L) RF
Colton Cowser (L) CF
Blaze Alexander (R) 3B
Jackson Holliday (L) 2B
Royals lineup
Carter Jensen (L) C
Bobby Witt Jr. (R) SS
Jac Caglianone (L) RF
Lane Thomas (R) CF
Michael Massey (L) 2B
Salvador Perez (R) 1B
Josh Rojas (L) 3B
Nick Loftin (R) DH
Isaac Collins (S) LF
Let’s go O’s!