Category: Baseball

It’s time for both my favorite and least favorite series of the year — the Crosstown Classic! The White Sox will head a few miles north to face the Cubs at Wrigley Field. With both teams doing well this season and the White Sox winning the first-half series, the rivalry feels more competitive this time around than it has in the last few years. The Cubs have lost three of their last four games, barely escaping a sweep by the Cardinals, and just lost Dansby Swanson to injury. The White Sox, on the other hand, are coming off a sweep of the Tigers in Detroit.

Luis Castillo gets his first taste of the rivalry tonight as he takes the mound for the White Sox. Chase Meidroth, who has been the hottest hitter on the team, leads off. Randal Grichuk will DH tonight against the lefty pitcher, and Jake Rogers will catch and bat last.

Shōta Imanaga (8-9) will pitch for the Cubs, who will be without Swanson, with Pete Crow-Armstrong leading off.

First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. CT. You can watch on CHSN or Marquee Sports Network, depending on what you have, or listen on ESPN Chicago 1000.

Buster Posey affirmed his belief in first-year Giants manager Tony Vitello on Sunday by announcing he will return to the team next season.

With so many questions surrounding Vitello’s ability to manage in the big leagues, legendary Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow said he wasn’t surprised by Posey’s comments.

“He deserves to come back,” Krukow said while appearing as a guest on “The Sports Leader.” “You put a guy in that situation, he deserves to learn, and now let’s see what he does with what he’s learned next year.”

Krukow has been an defender of Vitello, who became the first college coach to make the direct jump to MLB manager.

Krukow said he believes Vitello has some growing to do as a manager and will need to focus on improving his relationships with older players.

“There’s such a thing of just giving those guys too much respect,” Krukow said. “… I don’t care how many years you’ve been there, you have to earn the respect of your manager and your coaching staff.”

Vitello has had his hands full this season. The Giants have been decimated by injuries, and he’s been without top free agent Harrison Bader, who is currently suspended without pay after allegedly aggravating a foot injury in a scooter crash.

In June, the Giants were at the center of controversy after Landen Roupp wrote a bible verse on the team’s Pride Night hat.

The Giants are fourth in the National League West with a 51-73 record.

They have one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball statistically, ranking fifth for most walks allowed (467) and ninth for highest ERA (4.36).

The team ranks in the bottom ten for runs scored (509) and just outside the bottom 10 for home runs (137).

The Dodgers and Rockies continue their series on Tuesday night at Coors Field in Denver.

Eric Lauer is coming off his longest start as a Dodger, throwing 112 pitches in 6 1/3 innings last Wednesday in a win over the Kansas City Royals. The veteran left-hander has struggled in his career at Coors Field, 1-6 with a 10.43 ERA in eight starts and 29 1/3 innings. But last year with Toronto he allowed only one run in six innings for his only win in Denver.

Right-hander Ryan Feltner starts for the Rockies. He allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Dodgers at Coors Field on April 18 in a no-decision in a game Colorado won. Since the All-Star break, Feltner has allowed 22 runs in 23 2/3 innings over his last five starts, with nearly as many walks (12) as strikeouts (14).

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Rockies
• Ballpark: Coors Field, Denver
• Start time: 5:40 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The Yankees' rotation was set to get back to full strength this week, but will now be without Max Fried, who was placed on the 15-day injured list for the second time with a left elbow bone bruise, the team announced on Monday.

Fried previously landed on the IL with the same ailment in mid-May, and the injury kept the lefty out of action for two months before he returned on July 22. He made five starts, covering 24.2 innings before returning to the IL. (The move is retroactive to Aug. 14.)

Since returning, Fried has pitched effectively, but not been totally as sharp at times. Of course, he still pitched to a 1.82 ERA while striking out 29 with eight walks.  

Over 15 starts on the season, the lefty has pitched to a 2.81 ERA and 0.996 WHIP in 86.1 innings over 15 outings. He has 79 strikeouts to 27 walks.

After initially landing on the IL, Fried said he was overall happy that it didn't look to be "anything serious" and the "long-term outlook still looks good."

Fried added that the ligament "looks good," and they are going to let the elbow "calm down," with manager Aaron Boone adding that the initial imaging results were "in some ways good news." 

The injury came after Fried exited an outing in Baltimore due to elbow soreness after allowing three runs on five hits and a walk while throwing just 61 pitches (34 strikes) across 3.0 innings of work. He also wasn’t exactly sharp in his last time before that start against the Orioles, either, giving up five runs on six hits and three walks over six innings in a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. 

The good news is that the Yanks are set to get left-hander Carlos Rodon back in the rotation to start on Tuesday in the series opener in Baltimore.

Having notched 50 wins on Sunday against the Giants, the Colorado Rockies will now take on the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers in search of more with a three-game series at Coors Field starting tonight.

The roster will look a bit different as the Rockies made some moves earlier on Monday, notably designating starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen for assignment and recalling TJ Shook.

Colorado (50-74) will send its winningest pitcher to the mound to face L.A. (74-51). Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智, 12-5, 4.43) has the most wins in a Rockies uniform since Germán Márquez posted 12 in 2021. Like many, Sugano has struggled vs. the Dodgers this season. In two starts, he’s gone 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA, surrendering three homers with six strikeouts in 8.2 innings.

LHP Blake Snell (0-1, 5.00) will be on the mound for the Dodgers, making only his third start of the season. Snell made one start in May before going on the 60-day IL with loose bodies in his left elbow. In his first game back, Snell was outstanding, giving up one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk in six innings on Aug. 11 against Kansas City. 

The Dodgers enter the season having played 10 games in the last 10 days, going 5-5 over the stretch. The Rockies have also gone 5-5 in their last 10 games, having won two series on the road against Arizona and San Francisco. 

Los Angeles leads the season series against the Rockies 7-3, but Colorado took the series at Coors Field in April 2-1.

Originally, Colorado’s All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman was in the lineup, but he was a late scratch with ongoing shoulder inflammation. He’s still day-to-day as the Rockies are hoping he can avoid the IL. Goodman last played Aug. 12 in Arizona. Brett Sullivan, who hit two homers in three games in San Francisco, will be behind the plate.

First Pitch: 6:40 p.m. MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM KOA Rockies Radio Network; KNRV 1150 AM (Spanish)

Dodgers SB Nation Site:TrueBlueLA

Lineups:

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So much for a healthy Yankees rotation.

After announcing that Carlos Rodón would return from the IL and start Tuesday’s series opener against the Orioles in Baltimore, the Yankees placed fellow lefty Max Fried on the 15-day IL with a bone bruise in his left elbow.

It’s the same injury that sidelined Fried for more than two months earlier this year, meaning the 32-year-old’s season is in jeopardy.

Fried last pitched Thursday, when he held Seattle to one run over five innings in a 1-0 loss.

He pitched very well in four of his five outings since his return from the IL, adding another top-tier arm to a rotation that had gotten Gerrit Cole back and seen the emergence of Cy Young candidate Cam Schlittler.

The hope had been that Rodón, who had been out since late June with left elbow inflammation, would come back and join a fearsome rotation that had kept the Yankees in comfortable playoff position despite the offense providing little since Aaron Judge went down with a fractured rib at the end of May.

With Rodón healthy again, the Yankees appeared set to move either another left-hander, Ryan Weathers, or Will Warren to the bullpen.

Now, Rodón instead takes Fried’s spot.

Rodón underwent elbow surgery in the offseason and didn’t make his season debut until May. He was inconsistent in nine starts before hitting the IL again in early July with what was termed “heavy elbow inflammation.”

Rodón is expected to be on a limited pitch count Tuesday, with Warren potentially pushed back to Wednesday against the Orioles, followed by Cole.

The loss of Fried again puts more pressure on the rest of the rotation, which has already been asked to do more than its fair share, as the offense has put up some of the worst numbers in the majors in the wake of injuries to not only Judge, but Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton.

While Fried has been effective when healthy this season — including a career-low WHIP through 15 starts — he has posted his lowest strikeout ratio since 2020.

Fried has also thrown just 86 ⅓ innings this season, a year after posting a career-best 195 ⅓ innings, plus another 9 ⅓ in the playoffs.

Prior to last season — which was interrupted by a blister on Fried’s throwing hand — he’d never thrown 185 ⅓ innings in a regular season.

That 2022 regular season was followed by just one postseason start.

Fried is in the second season of an eight-year, $218 million contract, the richest deal ever signed by a left-handed pitcher.

When he suffered the bone bruise earlier in the season, the Yankees said Fried’s ulnar collateral ligament was undamaged.

He still didn’t return for over 10 weeks. A similar timeline would keep Fried out at least until the start of the World Series.

Craig Stammen, first-year manager of the San Diego Padres, is not sitting on the hottest seat in baseball.

But that also doesn’t rule out the possibility Stammen could lose his job, reports Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports. Nightengale, noting Stammen signed a three-year deal in November, wrote, “Yet, if the Padres miss the playoffs, someone needs to be the fall guy, and Stammen is A.J. Preller’s seventh manager in 12 years since becoming GM and president of baseball operations.’’

Through games on Sunday, Aug. 16, the Padres (67-58) were tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the third wild card berth. The Arizona Diamondbacks (66-59) are a game behind and the Miami Marlins (64-61) and the St. Louis Cardinals (64-61) are both three games back.

The Padres have never won the World Series, and it’s unlikely this team will end the drought.

This season, San Diego ranks 21^st in runs with 535, 19th in on-base percentage (.314) and 23^rd in batting average (.238). The Padres’ pitching has fared better, with San Diego ranking 13^th in ERA (.408) and 18^th in WHIP (1.31).

More: MLB power rankings: Cardinals back in race as Joshua Báez arrives with bang

This is a very generically solid lineup for Martin Perez to deal with. No one below .310 xwOBA-wise until the seventh spot.

The vagabond Athletics will make their annual journey to Kansas City for the home series this week. They stand at 49-75. Heading into July, FanGraphs playoff odds had them about equal to the Astros for making the playoffs. They have had some truly unfortunate injury issues, with Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers both on the injured list right now.

It’s not like the Royals are much better at 51-74, but tonight Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia are returning to the squad and will start.

Hopefully those guys are healthy and rested and can show us what they can do the rest of the season.

The Royals will put Michael Wacha on the hill. Once again, I seem to get him a lot for my Monday games. He’s had a run of pretty good starts over the past few weeks, and with two of the Athletics stars out, no reason to believe that won’t continue.

Mason Barnett starts for the Athletics. The Athletics got him from the Royals in the Lucas Erceg trade in 2024. This year, he’s been stretched into a starter only in the past few weeks and has generally been shelled.

Given the context, it’s *really hard* for the Royals to have a better situation for a win tonight. Of course that probably means I’ll get to witness another bullpen blowup.

Lineups:

Detroit Tigers (60-64) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (61-55)

Time/Place: 7:05 p.m., PNC Park
SB Nation Site:Bucs Dugout
Media: ESPN, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Framber Valdez (7-8, 4.26 ERA) vs. RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (6-5, 3.79 ERA)

First Pitch (CT):6:40 PM
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN/830 WCCO/102.9 The Wolf /Audacy App
Know Yo’ Foe:Battery Power

Fresh off a sweep where the lineup went mostly dormant outside of the 1st inning yesterday, the Twins have finally summoned reinforcements to get the bats rolling: Alex Jackson.

Now, you may be thinking, is this the same Alex Jackson that has been needlessly taking a bench spot as a third catcher since Ryan Jeffers’ return a month ago? The same one who is taking away what could be a useful role player who could do something like hit against righties? Or pinch run or be a late defensive sub? Yes. That one. After being off the 40-man roster for 72 hours, GM Jeremy Zoll got cold feet and brought him back after Austin Martin went on the IL this morning.

While it would be fun to see Walker Jenkins or Emmanuel Rodriguez (or to a lesser extent, Matt Wallner) up with the Twins, I do get the lineup logistics with holding off there. To get one of those lefty bats into the lineup, one of Trevor Larnach, Byron Buxton, Luke Keaschall, Kody Clemens, Josh Bell, or Royce Lewis would likely need to be removed from the lineup, which just isn’t going to happen right now as those are all their best hitters (we can quibble about Clemens who has been pretty terrible for two months, but he’s done enough to keep his spot at this point).

This isn’t even a dig at Jackson, it’s just a fact. In the best case scenario for any ballgame, Twins fans aren’t even aware Jackson is on the team. In the past 3 weeks, Jackson has started 0 games, had 1 plate appearance, and played just four innings in the field. It’s a complete punting of a roster spot from a team whose offense is in the bottom 10 in nearly every offensive category of substance since the All-Star Break.

Maybe this group of players aren’t ready or never will contribute, but it would be a better use of a roster spot than Jackson collecting dust at the end of the bench.

• Aaron Sabato: 1.114 OPS vs LHP this season
• Ben Ross: right-handed utility player with a 1.011 OPS vs lefties in 2026. Think Ryan Kreidler part two (not great, still more useful than Jackson)
• Kala’i Rosario: he’s struggled vs lefties this year, but he put up a .900+ OPS against them each season from 2023-2025.
• Gabriel Gonzalez: honestly not a great season from the young righty, but there’s potential and he can play LF vs LHP
• Kyler Fedko: out for the season with an ACL tear, but probably still faster than Jackson.

And that’s all before we get to the slew of right-handed bats released by bad teams over the past few weeks: Starling Marte, Gabriel Arias, Jorge Soler, Marcel Ozuna, and Joey Wiemer have demonstrated some ability to hit left handed pitching in the recent past and would be worth a flier.

Instead, we get to be one of three teams currently carrying three catchers. The others are the St. Louis Cardinals, who are only here on a technicality since All-Star Ivan Herrera is still technically a catcher despite 80% of his playing time coming at DH. And the last team is the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a team you haven’t wanted to be mentioned with for over a decade.

No time like the present to get things going against a lefty! Twins legend Martin Perez is on the bump for Atlanta, and the book on him is largely the same as it was in 2019 when he was in Minnesota: he walks too many, doesn’t strike enough out, but gets enough weak ground balls to keep his overall numbers palatable.

It feels all doom-and-gloom, but the Twins are somehow still only a 1.5 games out of a playoff spot and have a very easy schedule after this week. From next Monday on, Minnesota has only three series against teams currently with a winning record. One against the Yankees and two against the White Sox (who are still the White Sox despite currently leading this terrible division). Weather the storm and get out of this week at .500 and everything’s looking pretty good from there. Let’s start things out right.

Lineups

In the past two weeks, the Mets have swept two series and only lost one series. They were shut out in two of their three losses in the past 12 games, but other than that, the offense has ironically produced considerably better since losing Juan Soto. Francisco Lindor has been raking, Bo Bichette earned what I think is his first fireball of the year, Luis Torrens has gone on a power surge, and several guys who had been performing poorly are trending upwards.

Player	Last week	This week
Francisco Alvarez, C
Gabriel Arias, INF	—
Brett Baty, UTIL
Carson Benge, OF
Bo Bichette, 3B
A.J. Ewing, OF
Francisco Lindor, SS
Cristian Pache, OF	—
Jorge Polanco, DH
Luis Robert Jr., OF
Marcus Semien, 2B
Luis Torrens, C
Eric Wagaman, 1B/DH
Jared Young, 1B/DH

Let’s start with our raging hot hitters. Despite having half the number of plate appearances as the everyday players, Luis Torrens leads the team with ten runs batted in over the past 12 games (of which he played in 7 of them). Of his eight hits, half of them were home runs—good for a scorching 332 wRC+, which is by far the best mark on the team. Torrens has also walked four times and scored six runs. Francisco Alvarez, by contrast, has not done nearly as well, but has an at least respectable 91 wRC+ in his last 41 plate appearances. Of his 7 hits, three went for extra bases—two doubles and a home run. He also continues to walk at a much higher rate than at any point in his career, drawing five free passes over the past two weeks. Unfortunately he leads the team in strikeouts as well with 18.

Bo Bichette is our other fireball recipient, posting a 197 wRC+ in 53 plate appearances. He leads the team in hits with 18, of course buoyed by his 5-for-5 performance in Pittsburgh in the Mets’ 11-1 victory over the Pirates. Bichette also scored seven runs, drove in nine runs, and walked six times. Since his five-hit day on August 9, Bichette has only gone hitless in one game.

Francisco Lindor has been almost as good and I considered giving him a fireball as well. Lindor’s 11 hits are second only to Bichette for the team lead and he leads the team in runs scored with 11 and walks with seven. He has gone deep three times and driven in seven runs. In Juan Soto’s absence, Lindor has been the engine of the Mets’ offense in the month of August, including collecting the walk-off knock in the Mets’ come from behind victory on Saturday.

Like Lindor, Jared Young marks his second straight meter in the green with a 174 wRC+ in 45 plate appearances, still playing nearly every day. His ten RBIs in the past two weeks match Torrens for the team lead and his eight runs scored are second only to Lindor for the team lead. Of his 15 hits, six went for extra bases, including a home run and two triples.

Carson Benge has rocketed into the green with a blistering 189 wRC+ in 48 plate appearances. He got fireball consideration as well, especially considering how well he continues to play in the field, generating highlight reel worthy catches and outfield assists. Benge is getting it done on both sides of the ball, driving in eight runs and scoring eight runs in the past 12 games. He matches Young’s hit total with 15 and five of those went for extra bases, including a triple and three home runs.

Unfortunately A.J. Ewing’s struggles since the break continue; he put up a 61 wRC+ in 54 plate appearances over the past 12 games. Of Ewing’s 8 hits (good for just a .174 batting average), half went for extra bases, but he hasn’t hit a home run since July 8. Ewing scored six runs and drove in six runs, but he has not driven in any runs in two weeks and he has struck out 14 times over that span.

Jorge Polanco has continued to struggle as well, but it says something about how bad he was before that a 62 wRC+ is an improvement. He amassed five hits in 26 plate appearances, two of which went for extra bases, including a home run on August 5 that helped lift the Mets to an extra-inning win over the Guardians. That represented his only run scored and one of his two RBIs in this two-week span. We’re still a far cry from Polanco being anything resembling a productive hitter, but there have at least been signs of life.

Similarly, though the performances of Marcus Semien and Luis Robert Jr. haven’t been anything to write home about, they are at least trending in the right direction. Robert joins Lindor, Bichette, Benge, and Young among the Mets that have notched double-digit hit totals in the past 12 games. Two of his eight hits went for extra bases—both home runs, one of which came on the same day as Bichette’s five-hit game. Though Bichette stole the spotlight that day, Robert drove in four in that game and he had just one other RBI in all of the other games in the past two weeks combined. Robert posted a 105 wRC+ in these 12 games. Semien, meanwhile, also went deep twice and amassed seven hits in total. He scored five runs, drove in six runs, and walked five times—good for an 84 wRC+.

Brett Baty also went from “bad” to “just kind of mediocre” in this early part of August, putting up an 82 wRC+ in 29 plate appearances, being reduced to a part-time role due in part to Jared Young’s consistent production. Baty went back-to-back with Polanco in that win over the Guardians on August 5 and five days later, he hit the first grand slam of his career in Atlanta, helping power an 8-5 victory over the Braves. That grand slam represented four of his five total RBIs over this 12-game span. He also walked three times and scored four runs. But he had just 4 total hits in those 29 plate appearances.

There are a couple of new faces on the meter this time around. Cristian Pache was called up to the Mets when an outfield spot became available after the Mets traded Tyrone Taylor at the deadline. Pache has gone hitless in his first six plate appearances, but has scored a run. Right after the Mets played the Guardians, Cleveland designated Gabriel Arias for assignment and the Mets picked him up. Eric Wagaman, who went 1-for-2 with a run scored, was optioned to Triple-A when the Mets added Arias to the roster. Arias went 0-for-5 during his brief Mets tenure and it turns out he may be a one-and-done for the meter series and a future Mets Sporcle answer because earlier today, the Mets designated him for assignment just nine days after acquiring him.

A rather poor weekend for the San Francisco Giants, but a tremendously exciting weekend for their Minor League Baseball affiliates. Let’s dive into the 15 games that were played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

News

AAA Sacramento outfielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) was named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week. It was very well earned. You’ll find out why in a moment.

Also very well earned was the promotion of outfielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL), the organization’s home run leader. He moves up from High-A Eugene to AA Richmond.

And, in case you missed the news, Sacramento LHP Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson has been called up for his MLB debut!

AAA Sacramento (68-49)

Friday/Saturday Game 1: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Las Vegas Aviators 10-5 [box score]
Saturday Game 2: Sacramento River Cats beat the Las Vegas Aviators 3-2 (7 innings) [box score]
Sunday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Las Vegas Aviators 15-11 [box score]

A lot of fun storylines going on with the River Cats over the weekend, though it took them awhile to get started … Friday’s game was postponed at the start of the 3rd inning, and resumed on Saturday.

The big story is a very exciting one, though: right fielder/left fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) has taken off. It was an absolutely dreamy weekend for the lefty, who hit 4-7 with a walk and a strikeout across Saturday’s games. But he was just getting started. Oh my goodness was he only just getting started.

On Sunday, Davidson put forth one of the best games that any Giants prospect has had this year.

His 1st at-bat? He drew a walk.

His 2nd at-bat? He ground out, but at 95 mph.

His 3rd at-bat? He went the other way for a double.

His 4th at-bat? Just a casual 440-foot, 109-mph grand slam.

Oh, sorry, did you think we’re done? No, no, no, no.

His 5th at-bat? Another home run.

His 6th at-bat? A 100.6-mph double.

The total damage? 4-5, 2 homers, 2 doubles, a walk, and 8 runs batted in.

And just for good measure, on Saturday, he ended the game with a walk-off catch.

Davidson, like many prospects, really struggles to find his grip when he advances to a new level. But when he takes off, he takes off, and his AAA experience has highlighted that. Just look at his performance since getting promoted in mid-July:

First 22 games: 17-86, 0 home runs, 3 doubles, 10 walks, 21 strikeouts
Next 5 games: 14-22, 4 home runs, 3 doubles, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts

That, my friends, is someone who has figured it out. And who, despite such a slow start, is already up to an .820 OPS and a 114 wRC+, with a sub-20% strikeout rate in AAA. Might we see the recently-turned 24-year old in the Majors before the year ends?

The opposite — albeit it far less dramatically — has happened with third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL), who was promoted at the same time as Davidson. Harber started out red hot but has been cooling down, but over the weekend hit 1-4 with a strikeout … but drew 4 walks (he didn’t play on Sunday). That’s a mighty fine weekend, though Harber hasn’t been doing much damage with the actual bat lately: after hitting 4 homers and 3 doubles in his 1st 14 games with Sacramento, he has just 1 homer and 2 doubles in 12 games since. He’s having a particularly hard time with off-speed pitches, but hey, that’s what AAA is for! In all, it’s a .916 OPS and a 138 wRC+ for the 25-year old, and a wildly successful debut stint at the highest level of the Minors.

Marcelo Mayer continued his rehab over the weekend, as the former top-20 prospect gears up for a Giants debut sometime this week. It was a tale of 3 acts over the weekend for Mayer, who played second and third base: in the 1st game, he went 3-6 with a double and 2 strikeouts; in the 2nd game he didn’t play; and in the 3rd game he hit 1-6 with 4 strikeouts. Mayer giveth, and Mayer taketh away!

Fantastic weekends for center fielder/right fielder Scott Bandura and first baseman/DH Diego Velasquez (No. 31 CPL). Bandura hit a lovely 7-15 with 3 doubles, a stolen base, a walk, and a strikeout, while Velasquez went 3-11 with a triple, 2 doubles, 2 walks, a stolen base, and 3 strikeouts. Bandura, a just-turned 25-year old lefty who has really taken off over the last 2 months, is up to an .850 OPS and a 124 wRC+ through 72 AAA games, with 17 stolen bases. Velasquez, a 22-year old switch-hitter who normally plays the non-first base infield positions, has an .832 OPS and a 119 wRC+ through 11 games at the level. This was his 1st stolen base in AAA, where he’s fitting in beautifully.

Second baseman Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL) and center fielder Grant McCray made their Sacramento returns after getting optioned. Furman hit 3-7 with 2 walks and sacrifice fly, while McCray went 1-5 with a 3-run double, a stolen base, and 3 strikeouts. Left fielder/shortstop Shay Whitcomb made his organizational debut and hit 3-12 with 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and an error.

The best pitching performance belonged to LHP Joe Whitman (No. 26 CPL), who had his best appearance since returning to the rotation following a brief bullpen stint. Whitman was awesome on Sunday, pitching 4 innings and allowing just 5 mild-mannered baserunners (4 singles and a walk) en route to 1 run allowed, with 6 strikeouts. That’s a fantastic game!

Whitman wasn’t as efficient or strike-dependent as those numbers would suggest, though, as he needed 72 pitches to get through those 4 innings, and threw just 45 of them for strikes. There’s a lot for him to work on, but then again, he only just got to the level. Whitman has a 5.09 ERA and a 5.57 FIP in 16 games (8 starts) with the River Cats.

RHP Anthony Molina made his 2nd appearance since the Giants acquired him and moved him to the rotation. It didn’t go well, as he gave up 4 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs in 2 innings, while striking out 2. Better luck next time.

LHP Cesar Perdomo had a decent start, pitching 6.2 innings (a deep start!) while giving up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 2 runs, with just 2 strikeouts. Not the most exciting, but encouraging given the struggles he’s been having since getting recently promoted to AAA. Steps in the right direction!

RHP Joel Peguero (No. 27 CPL) made his 2nd rehab appearance and gave up hits to the 2 batters he faced on Friday before the game was postponed. That was his only appearance of the weekend, and he’s now yet to retire any of the 5 batters he’s faced since starting his rehab.

RHP Braxton Roxby had another strong outing, pitching 1.1 no-hit frames with a walk and a strikeout, lowering his ERA to 3.54 (albeit with a 4.88 FIP).

AA Richmond (66-46)

Friday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Harrisburg Senators 9-7 [box score]
Saturday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Harrisburg Senators 7-2 [box score]

Just 2 games for the Squirrels, who had Sunday’s game rained out.

That pair of games though? Well, they weren’t interesting, so I’m not sure why I had a lead-up like that.

Third baseman Dayson Croes had the best weekend, as he hit 3-8 with a home run, a walk, a sacrifice fly, and 2 strikeouts. Croes was a feel-good story last year, when he signed as a 25-year old and proceeded to hit comfortably above average in the ACL, High-A, AA, and AAA. But his follow-up campaign has been poor, as he’s hit below average in both AA and AAA, as well as in his rehab stint in the ACL. He’s now at over 200 plate appearances in AA this year, with just a .660 OPS and a 78 wRC+. Add in the fact that he turns 27 in October and doesn’t have a lot of defensive value, and it he might need more days like he had this weekend to keep his pro baseball dreams alive.

Catcher Jancel Villarroel (No. 42 CPL) has been a little slow to adapt to AA after an excellent year in High-A, but Friday was a nice game for him, as he hit 2-4 with a double and 3 runs batted in, before not playing on Saturday. Left fielder Jack Payton struck out in both at-bats on Friday, but went 3-4 with 2 doubles on Saturday, albeit with a strikeout an an error. Villarroel, a 21-year old righty, has a .565 OPS and a 53 wRC+ through 16 games with Richmond; Payton, a just-turned 25-year old righty, has a .739 OPS and a 101 wRC+ through 71 games at the level.

Modest, but not altogether bad, weekends for the top prospects in Richmond, as shortstop/DH Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL) hit 1-8 with 2 walks and a strikeout, while center fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL) went 2-10 with a triple and a strikeout. Kilen, last year’s 1st-round pick, has an .863 OPS and a 125 wRC+, while Cohen, last year’s 3rd-rounder, has a .743 OPS and a 97 wRC+.

Not good pitching performances. Kind of some throwback ones, though, as the stat lines look like something from a different decade for the starters: on Friday it was LHP Charlie McDaniel, who gave up 10 hits, 1 walk, and 5 runs in 6.1 innings, with 4 strikeouts; on Saturday it was LHP Tyler Switalski, who allowed 8 hits, 2 walks, and 6 runs in 4.1 innings, though he struck out 8. Both pitchers are having a very difficult time adjusting to life in AA, as McDaniel has a 5.23 ERA and a 4.42 FIP, while Switalski has a 9.00 ERA and a 6.84 FIP.

Switalski’s homer numbers in his short career are one of the more odd things you’ll see. The 2024 16th-rounder debuted last year and, across 96.2 innings in Low-A and High-A gave up just 3 home runs. This year? He’s doubled that figure through 6 AA starts alone, and in 100.2 innings across High-A and AA has ceded 19 big flies.

High-A Eugene (69-44)

Friday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops 6-5 [box score]
Saturday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops 8-4 [box score]
Sunday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops 5-3 [box score]

And with that, the Emeralds are flying high once more, and float into the off-day with a 4-game winning streak. 25 games above .500! Must be nice.

It was all about the long ball for the Emeralds, who used 7 home runs over the weekend, with the big fly accounting for 11 of their 19 runs.

That included one from the organizational leader, as center fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL) stayed juuuust ahead of Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) by bopping his 24th homer of the year, as part of a 3-11 weekend that also featured a double, a walk, an outfield assist, and 2 strikeouts. And with that, Diaz can kiss his splendid time in the Pacific Northwest goodbye, as he’s using the off-day to fly across the country and join AA Richmond. An incredibly well deserved promotion for the recently-turned 21-year old, who has been on an absolute tear this summer. Since the start of July, the right-hander from Cuba has hit a stunning 51-154, with 14 home runs, total 24 extra-base hits, and 6 walks, and 25 strikeouts. He ends his time in High-A with an .843 OPS, a 114 wRC+, and just a 16.7% strikeout rate. He’ll need to learn to be more selective at higher levels — both to keep the power up and add to the paltry 3.6% walk rate — but my goodness there is a very talented player in there!

All-or-nothing weekends for a pair of prospects with big power bats, right fielder Cam Maldonado (No. 34 CPL) and left fielder Walker Martin. Maldonado hit just 2-11 with 2 strikeouts and a stolen base, but smashed a 2-run bomb; Martin went 3-12 with 4 strikeouts and an error, but had a solo blast and a double. Maldonado has shown off the power since a recent promotion, as he has 3 dingers in just 8 games with Eugene, giving last year’s 7th-round pick an .842 OPS and a 112 wRC+. Martin, who is now playing left field after starting his career at shortstop and later moving to third, is up to 18 homers on the year, but still has just a .721 OPS, an 89 wRC+, and a 33.7% strikeout rate.

Also continuing his high-homer season was third baseman Zander Darby, who is getting the bulk of the reps at the hot corner now that Martin is in the outfield. Darby has had a few issues this year, namely with strikeouts, but he’s been a home run machine and has a strong overall line. He had a game that epitomized his season, going 3-11 with a 2-run blast, a double, and a sacrifice fly, but striking out 5 times. The 23-year old, taken in the 12th round in 2024, has 16 homers on the year, along with an .825 OPS and a 116 wRC+ … but a 31.4% strikeout rate. Some adjustments need to be made, but there’s certainly something there!

Catcher Daniel Rogers logged his 1st homer at the level, going 3-5 with a big fly and a double.

But no one could compete with designated hitter Robert Hipwell, who went 3-10 with a pair of home runs, though he struck out 4 times. It’s been a tough year for Hipwell, the team’s 6th-round pick in 2024. He has just a .174 batting average and a 42.5% strikeout rate with Eugene, though a 16.9% walk rate has boosted his .665 OPS up to an 86 wRC+. He’s gonna need a lot more weekends like this to save his prospect status, though, especially since he’s a bat-first corner infielder/DH.

Shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL) didn’t climb the home run leaderboards like that quintet of players, but he continued his excellent season, hitting 3-9 with a double, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 2 stolen bases. The 19-year old switch-hitter just looks unbelievably comfortable against Northwest League pitchers, and through 54 games has an .849 OPS and a 125 wRC+, with 8 stolen bases and just a 16.9% strikeout rate. Even those of us who were extremely bullish on Level didn’t expect him to hit this well this quickly in High-A! He’s setting himself up for a no-question AA assignment to open 2027, when he’ll turn 20 right as the season is kicking off. Don’t pinch yourself, you’re not dreaming!!

RHP Niko Mazza had a stellar start on Friday, throwing 6.1 brilliant innings while allowing just 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run, with 8 strikeouts. The 2024 8th-rounder had an ERA that lived in the 2s for much of the season, but it went from 2.50 to 4.10 with a quartet of ugly starts in late July and early August. But with this outing, he announced that he is back to his old run-suppressing ways!

Mazza, who now has a 3.91 ERA and a 4.22 FIP on the year, still needs to get his walks in check — he’s issued 5.1 per 9 innings — but pretty much everything else in his profile is shining. He’s striking out 10.2 batters per 9 innings, and has only allowed 68 hits in 92 innings. Also, try this on for consistency when it comes to baserunners allowed: he’s pitched 92 innings, with 68 hits and 52 walks. Last year, in 93.1 innings? 68 hits and 52 walks. Wild!

LHP Luis De La Torre (No. 14 CPL) had another rough go of it, giving up 3 hits, 3 walks, and 1 run in just 3 innings, with 2 strikeouts, while only throwing 36 of 62 pitches for strikes. LDLT has really had the exact same story all year long: so many strikeouts (10.9 per 9) and so few hits (65 in 91.2 innings), but so many walks (7.3 per 9), too many homers (10), and way too many runs (5.20 ERA, 5.23 FIP).

RHPs Gerelmi Maldonado (No. 21 CPL) and Marty Gair, who have some of the nastiest stuff in the system but struggle to harbor it, both pitched, with predictable results. Maldonado struck out 2 in a scoreless inning, but allowed a hit and 2 walks, while Gair gave up 2 walks in a no-hit inning, with 1 strikeout. Maldonado has a 3.14 ERA, a 6.30 FIP, and 40 strikeouts to 38 walks in 28.2 innings; Gair has a 4.35 ERA and a 3.82 FIP across 2 levels and 2 organizations, with 71 strikeouts to 25 walks in 39.1 innings.

Low-A San Jose (64-50)

Friday: San Jose Giants beat the Fresno Grizzlies 6-4 [box score]
Saturday: San Jose Giants beat the Fresno Grizzlies 9-2 [box score]
Sunday: San Jose Giants beat the Fresno Grizzlies 10-9 (11 innings) [box score]

The Baby Giants, like the Emeralds, cruise into the off-day on a 4-game winning streak. And they sure did it in style, as Sunday’s game was pure drama. San Jose trailed 8-5 going into the bottom of the 9th inning, but mounted a rally, which resulted in a game-tying single by designated hitter Oliver Tejada.

They trailed 9-8 going into the bottom of the 10th inning, and had 2 unproductive outs, when right fielder Tanner Mally tied things up with a clutch single.

And they walked it off in the bottom of the 11th despite opening the inning with a line drive double play that erased the Manfred Man. And getting the winning knock? None other than the potential superstar in the making, Josuar González (No. 2 CPL), who singled home the winning run.

González was, once again, the star on offense for San Jose. He had a brilliant trio of games, hitting 5-13 with 2 triples, a double, 3 walks, a stolen base, 2 strikeouts, and 2 errors.

The 18-year old switch-hitter is only 77 games into his Low-A experience, but he’s already acing the test: his average (.342), isolated slugging (.211), walk rate (16.6%), OPS (1.067) and wRC+ (162) are among the very best in the league, while his strikeout rate sits at a lovely 18.2%. It’s hard to put to words how impressive he’s been, and I’m holding out hope that he has a brief introduction to High-A at the end of the year.

Interestingly, González played second base in all of these games, while Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) played short. Previously, the pair had been switching off on a day-by-day basis … it’s unclear if the Giants are wanting to now switch series by series (as Jhonny Level and Gavin Kilen did in Eugene), or if they’re temporarily moving González to second base in hopes that it will be less stressful on his body, as he’s pulled his hamstring twice this year.

As for Hernández, he’s been coming along slowly at the level, but hit 6-15 over the weekend, albeit with 6 strikeouts. The numbers are ugly for Hernández, as he has a .634 OPS, a 59 wRC+, and a 30.3% strikeout rate, but that’s to be expected for a 17-year old in his debut season.

It was a balanced offensive weekend, as the Baby Giants scored a lot of runs but, other than González, no one really stood out. Mally, a 17th-rounder who is still the only player from the team’s 2026 class to debut, hit 3-10 with 2 walks, a hit by pitch, a sacrifice fly, and 2 strikeouts, bringing his OPS to 1.020 and his wRC+ to 159 through 9 games. Center fielder Andy Polanco had a nice time out, hitting 6-12 with a double, 2 walks, a stolen base, and 3 strikeouts. Polanco, a 2024 11th-rounder in his 2nd season, has been all about the defense and the swiped bags (he has 36), while his hitting has lagged (.722 OPS, 81 wRC+, 30.9% strikeout rate).

Friday was an exciting game, as RHP Miguel Mendez made his organizational debut. Mendez, who came over in the Robbie Ray trade, had only pitched once since mid-June, so this was a rehab assignment. He wasn’t very sharp, as he gave up 2 hits and a hit batter in 2.1 innings, with just 1 strikeout, which tagged him for a run despite the fact that he didn’t allow any hits. It’ll be interesting to see if the Giants assign Mendez to High-A and or AA when he’s up to speed … or just keep him rehabbing in a low-pressure environment for the rest of the year.

Also rehabbing was RHP R.J. Dabovich, who pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Dabovich has now made 3 rehab appearances and has pitched wonderfully. Great to see him healthy at long last; it had been far too long since he’d pitched regularly.

LHP Leandro Rodriguez had his best start since getting promoted, as he gave up just 3 singles, 0 walks, and 1 run in 4.2 innings, while striking out 5 batters. The 20-year old had an awesome stateside debut in the ACL this year … he only had a 4.18 ERA and a 4.35 FIP, but finished with 11.0 strikeouts to 2.1 walks per 9 innings. He was especially strong late, as he had a 40-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his June and July starts in Arizona. Nice to see that show up in his 4th Cal League appearance.

More struggles for RHP Keyner Martinez (No. 10 CPL), who needed 59 pitches to get through 3 innings, allowing 3 hits, 3 walks, and 2 runs, while striking out 4. After starting to get his walks in check in July — he issued just 4 free passes in 19 innings — Martinez’s pair of August starts have featured a combined 6 walks in 4 innings, with 9 earned runs. He’s up to a 5.42 ERA and a 5.21 FIP, and while the walks (5.1 per 9) remain a concern, the strikeouts (13.2 per 9) give you reason to dream.

Dominican Summer League Black (34-20)

Friday: DSL Giants Black lost to DSL Arizona Red 7-6 (7 innings) [box score]
Saturday: DSL Giants Black lost to DSL Arizona Red 18-6 (7 innings) [box score]

Awesome weekend for the Camacaro brothers. Shorstop/third baseman Keiberg hit 2-7 with a home run, a walk, a stolen base, and a strikeout, while second baseman Alexander went 3-6 with a home run and a walk. Keiberg, who is about to turn 20, has a 1.014 OPS and a 152 wRC+ in his 4th DSL season; Alexander, who is about to turn 19, has an .807 OPS and a 105 wRC+ in his 2nd season.

Shortstop Joniel Hernandez, who continues to look like the steal of the Giants 2026 trade deadline, hit 4-7 with a home run, a walk, and a stolen base, while getting caught stealing once. The 17-year old righty in his debut season has a .966 OPS, a 135 wRC+, 10 stolen bases, and just a 15.5% strikeout rate. He is going to find himself positively flying up prospect boards.

Dominican Summer League Orange (30-23)

Friday: DSL Giants Orange beat the DSL Mariners 7-4 (7 innings) [box score]
Saturday: DSL Giants Orange beat the DSL Tigers 1, 5-3 (7 innings) [box score]

The star in these games was center fielder Jose Valdez, who is quietly putting together a super strong debut season. The 17-year old lefty hit 1-4 in these games, with a 3-run home run, 3 walks, and 2 stolen bases. He has an .860 OPS and a 112 wRC+ on the season, with 6 home runs and 12 stolen bases. That might not be enough to get him a ticket to Papago come 2027, but it should certainly put him on people’s radars.

Home run tracker

24 — Lisbel Diaz — [21 in High-A; 3 in Low-A]
23 — Bo Davidson x2 — [4 in AAA; 19 in AA]
18 — Walker Martin — [High-A]
17 — Cam Maldonado — [3 in High-A; 14 in Low-A]
16 — Zander Darby — [High-A]
7 — Keiberg Camacaro — [DSL]
6 — Robert Hipwell x2 — [High-A]
6 — Joniel Hernandez — [DSL]
6 — Jose Valdez — [DSL]
5 — Daniel Rogers — [1 in High-A; 4 in Low-A]
4 — Dennys Riera — [DSL]
3 — Dayson Croes — [1 in AAA; 2 in AA]
3 — Alexander Camacaro — [DSL]

This past weekend, the Athletics finished the homestand on a positive note, winning two of three games against the Texas Rangers for their first series victory at Sutter Health Park since the end of May.

The A’s will look to carry that momentum into this roadtrip, which begins tonight with the first of a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals. Both teams entered this season with playoff expectations, yet find themselves in last place in their respective mediocre divisions with two of the three worst records in the league.

A major reason behind the A’s success against the Rangers was their starting pitching, as all three starters tossed six solid innings, giving the Green and Gold the chance to win each game. Tonight, A’s right-hander Mason Barnett will start the series opener in Kansas City, looking to deliver his best outing since joining the starting rotation and give the team another quality start.

The 25-year-old enters his 18th appearance and fourth start of the season with a 1-3 record, a 6.16 ERA, a 1.45 WHIP and 36 strikeouts over 38 innings. After lasting five innings in his first start a few weeks ago, Barnett has failed to make it past four innings in his last two outings. Most recently, he took the loss against the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks over four innings pitched.

With the A’s not receiving an off day in between these two series, the team needs Barnett to pitch efficiently and effectively. Today would be as good a day as any for the youngster to earn his first win as a starting pitcher this year. Additionally, a quality start could help him maintain his place in the rotation. Veteran left-hander Jeffrey Springs will return from the injured list soon. He will likely replace either Barnett or tomorrow’s scheduled starter, Jack Perkins.

Here’s the A’s lineup for this evening’s road trip and series opener:

The A’s starting nine features several players who have been swinging the bat well lately. First baseman Jeff McNeil put together a four-hit night, while center fielder Henry Bolte recorded back-to-back three-hit games.

Right fielder Lawrence Butler is on a much-needed hot streak, homering in four of his past five games. Speaking of home runs, third baseman Tommy White finally lived up to his “Tommy Tanks” nickname by hitting his first major league home run yesterday. Zack Gelof, who will serve as the designated hitter, has been one of this season’s pleasant surprises, from his offensive prowess to his newfound defensive versatility.

Those players will need to capitalize on any scoring opportunities the A’s get today. There may not be many, as the A’s will face Royals right-hander and 2026 MLB All-Star Michael Wacha. The 35-year-old enters his 25th start of the season with a 5-8 record, a 3.46 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP and 117 strikeouts over 150 2/3 innings.

Wacha has gone winless over his past seven starts, although he has pitched well, posting a 3.86 ERA during that stretch. He received a no-decision in his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers after allowing three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings.

Wacha will look to fare better after losing to the Athletics earlier this season in Sacramento. In that April outing, the veteran pitcher allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings, yet he was facing a more complete lineup than the A’s current injury-depleted group. Will the A’s offense do damage against Wacha again, or will the Royals right-hander shut them down?

And Kansas City’s’ starting nine looks like this:

The Royals still revolve around shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.,who is one of the best players in the sport. Young slugger Jac Caglianone’s emergence gives Witt protection in the lineup and adds another threat for opposing pitchers. Additionally, Kansas City’s lineup became stronger just in time for this series, as the team activated third baseman Maikel Garcia and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino from the injured list before the game.

If Barnett wants to have success tonight, he must avoid hanging breaking balls and issuing free passes. That’s what Royals hitters will be looking for, as opposing hitters have teed off on his breaking pitches, hitting five home runs and posting roughly a .545 slugging percentage.

Gotta win today and we need some help to get out of last place. Not just in our division, but in all of baseball. Time to make it two wins in a row. Let’s go A’s!

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The Red Sox, currently in a funk after winning All the Games in July, turn to opener Alec Gamboa in tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks at Fenway. After not losing a series in forever, they’ve dropped consecutive three consecutive slates. A win tonight would help avoid a fourth. Gamboa, making his first career start, will be followed by Brayan Bello, but not be backed up neither by Jahmai Jones, who was a late scratch, nor Jarren Duran, who just ain’t playing. Arizona will roll out rookie Mitch “Balthazar” Bratt in his eighth MLB appearance coming off three strong starts. AZ has a nearly identical record with some really neat players in the lineup in addition to Nolan Arenado, who the Sox wooed this offseason, so this one should be fun.

The D-Backs, apparently on Mountain Daylight Time, didn’t rush their lineups, getting them in fairly late. That’s very annoying because I like to post the lineups, relax, then flip on the game. This time I had to stay glued to the computer after a full day of it. I gotta say tho that Alex Cora was, for a time, the worst offender about this. He’d wait until like 20 minutes before the game started. That sucked! This was a flashback to those times and not a welcome one. And I sat and waited until I realized that none of you wise people care about the D-Backs, and you’d see the lineup during the game. And I was Free. To publish. Go Sox.