The Washington Nationals selected Oklahoma high school shortstop Eli Willits on Sunday night with the No. 1 pick in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft in a selection seen by some as a surprise.
The 17-year-old Willits is the youngest player ever taken No. 1 overall. He’s the son of ex-big leaguer Reggie Willits, who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and also coached with the New York Yankees.
Willits, from Fort Cobb-Broxton High School, is a switch-hitter who is expected to develop a power swing.
“I feel like I have good hitability and I’m going to take that to the next level,” Willits said when asked about his strengths. “And I feel like my power is up and coming, but I needed to get into an organization like the Nationals that can help develop that and take that to the next level.
The draft came one week after the Nationals fired longtime general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez. The timing of the moves added more uncertainty to a draft that might be one of the most unpredictable in recent years, including the choice of the No. 1 pick.
The Los Angeles Angels added another surprise with the No. 2 pick by selecting UC-Santa Barbara right-hander Tyler Bremner. Seattle followed by taking LSU lefty Kade Anderson.
The Colorado Rockies picked shortstop Ethan Holliday at No. 4, landing the son of longtime Rockies star Matt Holliday. Ethan, from Stillwater, Oklahoma, was a candidate to go first overall, just like brother Jackson Holliday with did with Baltimore in 2022. They would have been the first brothers to be drafted with the first overall pick.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred was greeted with boos by fans at the draft held at the Roxy Theater at The Battery, adjacent to the Braves’ Truist Park two days before MLB’s All-Star Game. Manfred noted the Braves chose eventual Hall of Famer Chipper Jones with the No. 1 overall pick and said this draft is “a chance for a team to make a franchise-altering selection like the Braves made in 1990.”
The first three rounds were scheduled for Sunday night, with the remainder of the draft to follow on Monday.
As expected, the left-hander was reinstated from the 60-day injured list prior to Sunday's series finale against the Kansas City Royals where he'll make his season debut after dealing with multiple injuries.
In a corresponding move, RHP Austin Warren was optioned to Triple-A.
Manaea will pitch in New York's final game before the All-Star break, as will Clay Holmes with the Mets' pitching staff at full health for the first time this season.
Edwin Diaz delivered two shutdown innings in a six-out save to put a bow on his All-Star first half
Following his home run, Soto continues to prove why he's one of the biggest All-Star snubs this year with manager Carlos Mendoza saying, "It's hard to understand"
Bobby Witt Jr. was thrown out at second base in the ninth inning after a review and the Royals called it a "joke"
Dodgers two-way standout Shohei Ohtani is among a trio of superstars, along with the Yankees' Aaron Judge and the Phillies' Bryce Harper, who have expressed interest in playing in the L.A. Olympic Games in 2028. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In America, the NFL laps every other sport. Around the world, where its product is labeled “American football,” the NFL has largely failed to export its massive domestic popularity.
When the Olympics called, the NFL said yes. In 2028, the L.A. Summer Games will include flag football — and a selection of NFL players. How better to sell your sport internationally than to attach it to the world’s largest sporting event?
Two years after we first started talking about whether major leaguers would play in the 2028 Olympics, Major League Baseball still has not said yes, and now the NFL and its publicity-gobbling machine is threatening to steal the spotlight.
If MLB withholds its players, the NFL will steamroll whatever collection of minor leaguers and collegians appear on the Olympic diamond. So will the NBA All-Stars competing for basketball gold.
If MLB agrees to let its players participate — and Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper have made clear they want to compete — hardly anyone will care about flag football.
“Wimbledon will end, they’ll come here. The Tour de France will end, they’ll come here and compete. Obviously, men’s and women’s basketball will have the greatest basketball players in the world. So we think that a sport like baseball ought to have the best players in the world playing.”
Here is a statistic the NFL could never match: Of the rosters announced for Tuesday’s All-Star Game, one in three players was born outside the United States. Those players represent eight different countries.
MLB has leveraged that global marketing opportunity into the World Baseball Classic, which has grown over two decades from a curiosity into a must-see event. The WBC returns next spring.
“I think it’s eventually going to get moved to the middle of the season,” Team USA manager Mark DeRosa told me at Saturday’s Futures Game. “I think it’s going to be a monster event moving forward.”
The only difference between a WBC in the middle of the season and the Olympics in the middle of the season: MLB controls the WBC.
Dodger Stadium will host six games during the 2028 Olympics, but will MLB players be on any of the teams participating? (Mike DiGiovanna / Associated Press)
That is not a good enough reason for MLB to skip the Olympics. The best interests of baseball cannot always be measured in today’s dollars.
Should major leaguers participate in the Olympics?
“Oh, yeah,” DeRosa said.
“It’s not that simple a question,” said Tony Clark, executive director of the players’ union, onSaturday.
Clark said the union has had “encouraging informal conversations” with LA28 officials. What Clark would like to see from MLB is an actual plan — all the logistics for all the players, as the NBA and NHL provide when their players participate in the Olympics.
MLB has its own logistics issues too. For instance, if MLB skips the 2028 All-Star Game to accommodate the Olympics, how does the league compensate Fox? The league’s media contracts expire after the 2028 season, so the 2029 All-Star Game might not be available to Fox, and MLB would rather not refund the big bucks.
This much is set, according to Wasserman: The Olympic baseball tournament would cover six days at Dodger Stadium, with a six-team field. The United States would automatically qualify as the host country. The 2026 WBC could serve as a qualifying tournament for other countries, although that is more concept than certainty at this point.
What did Wasserman say in his pitch to major league owners?
“What an incredible opportunity to elevate the sport in a city where you have one of the great cathedrals of the sport,” he said. “There is no better chance to tell the global story of baseball than from the Olympics in Los Angeles.
“They understand that. We could have another Dream Team, or two, depending on the countries. That is a vehicle to tell the story of baseball around the world, and that is really powerful.”
To his credit, commissioner Rob Manfred gets that.
“We do see LA28 as a, you know, real opportunity from a marketing perspective,” Manfred told the Associated Press Sports Editors in April.
Logistics aside, Manfred needs to convince the owners — his bosses — that interrupting the regular season is worth it. If the Games were held halfway around the world, shutting down the season for two weeks might be problematic.
But in Los Angeles, for one week? Kill the All-Star Game for a year, and start the regular season three days early, or finish it three days late.
Wasserman said he has had “pretty consistent dialogue” with the league.
“We hope they get to the right answer, which is Major League Baseball players being eligible to play,” Wasserman said.
“We’ll be as patient as we need to be to get to the right answer.”
The wrong answer: The world is watching the Olympics, and MLB is giving us the Colorado Rockies.
SAN FRANCISCO — Shohei Ohtani pitched three scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday as the Dodgers star continues to work his way back from elbow surgery.
Working as an opener for the fifth time this season after not pitching in all of 2024, Ohtani threw 36 pitches, 25 for strikes while serving as Los Angeles’ opener for the fifth time this season. He allowed one hit and struck out the side on 12 pitches in the first inning when his fastball was twice clocked at 99.9 mph.
“Overall a very efficient outing,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “I was glad that I was able to prevent runs and we were able to keep the lead throughout the game.”
The Giants only two runners against Ohtani came on a four-pitch walk to Jung Hoo Lee in the second inning and Mike Yastrzemski’s single in the third.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted a difference in Ohtani’s mindset when he’s on the mound.
“You can just see it. ... that different demeanor that he carries on days that he pitches,” Roberts said. “He really is very smart as far as being astute and knowing where we’re at and knowing that this is an important win for us, an important day. He brought that intensity today. It’s not overt but you can feel it.”
Ohtani threw 19 pitches that were at least 97 mph.
“Aside from the stuff, I’m more happy with the command of my pitches and being able to attack the zone,” Ohtani said. “Today was one of those days where my fastball felt pretty good, so I leaned on it a little bit more today.”
The two-way Japanese star, who did not pitch in all of 2024, was also the team’s designated hitter and hit in the leadoff. He grounded out in his first two at-bats and then struck out twice.
Ohtani has allowed one run and five hits over nine innings this season.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton admitted to feeling a little added pressure before Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was his bobblehead day, meaning the first 10,000 fans to walk through the gates at Target Field would receive a replica of Buxton doing his “Buck Truck” home run celebration.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous before the game started, just knowing it was bobblehead day,” Buxton said. “Obviously you want to come out and do something good.”
Buxton did more than something good. He became the first player to hit for the cycle at Target Field since the ballpark opened in 2010, helping ignite the Twins to a 12-4 win over the Pirates.
It was the 12th cycle in Twins history and the first since Jorge Polanco had one in 2019.
Buxton had three hits through three innings — a single in the first, a triple in the six-run second and a double in the third. After singling again in the fifth, he had one more opportunity in the bottom of the seventh.
Buxton, who will participate in next week’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta, crushed a 427-foot solo homer off Pirates reliever Andrew Heaney with two outs in the seventh to make it an 11-3 game and complete the cycle. That brought the Target Field crowd to its feet, many of which celebrated with Buxton bobbleheads.
With his team holding a comfortable lead, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli almost took Buxton out of the game before his final at-bat, he admitted afterward. Thankfully for Baldelli — and Buxton — a few coaches reminded the skipper what was at stake.
“He was 4 for 4 at the time. But with everything going on during a game, sometimes I’ll be the one that might miss on a hitting streak or something that’s going on with a particular player,” Baldelli said. “But once they reminded me of that, he was going to stay in the game. He was going to get another at-bat, regardless of the score, and give him a chance to do something great.”
The homer was Buxton’s 21st of the season, tied for fifth most in the American League. With two runs driven in Saturday, Buxton now has 55 RBIs on the season — just one shy of his single-season high. He boasts an OPS of .921 and is 17 for 17 in stolen bases.
“It’s one of the greatest first halves I’ve ever witnessed,” Baldelli said.
Buxton was replaced in center field after the seventh inning, but not before getting a standing ovation curtain call from Twins fans. He also received a Gatorade bath courtesy of teammate Ty France, who was headed to the clubhouse before realizing that nobody had doused Buxton yet after the game.
“It’s special,” Buxton said. “To be able to come out on bobblehead day like this and have a day like this is something I won’t forget.”
NEW YORK — Aaron Judge didn’t just become the fastest player to hit 350 home runs, he did it in 192 fewer games than Mark McGwire.
“I just think he’s playing in a different league,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Judge’s ninth-inning drive in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Judge homered to right-center on a high 0-2 fastball from Brad Keller, a two-run shot a couple of rows into the right-center field seats.
He reached 350 in his 1,088th game. McGwire hit No. 350 in his 1,280th game, against Detroit’s Brian Moehler on June 2, 1997, bettering Harmon Killebrew in his 1,319th game.
“Big Mac did a lot of great things in this game, and he’s definitely a legend,” Judge said.
Judge, who turned 33 in April, debuted with the Yankees at age 24 in 2016. The two-time AL MVP also doubled twice and is hitting a major league-leading .358 with 35 homers and 81 RBIs.
“Would have been great if we got a win today,” Judge said. “I’ve been surrounded by a lot of great teammates, been on some good teams, so they really put me in the best position to go out there and perform at my best.”
McGwire finished in 2001 at age 38 with 583 homers, currently 11th on the career list. He admitted in 2010 he used performance-enhancing drugs and has been denied entry to baseball’s Hall of Fame.
The Yankees captain has spoken with McGwire.
“I think it started with when I broke my first rib,” Judge said. “I think his son was kind of going through the same thing, so he was first asking me how did I heal? What do we do? So I kind of gave him some tips on that. And then we just kind of chit-chatted a little bit and kept in contact.”
ATLANTA (AP) — Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes will start his second straight All-Star Game for the National League and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal will open for the American League on Tuesday night at Truist Park.
Major League Baseball made the announcement Saturday night.
Skenes will become the first pitcher to start consecutive All-Star Games since Washington’s Max Scherzer and Boston’s Chris Sale in 2017 and ’18. Sale started three in a row beginning in 2016.
Skenes and Skubal are 1-2 in average four-seam fastball velocity among those with 1,500 or more pitches this season, Skenes at 98.2 mph and Skubal at 97.6 mph, according to MLB Statcast.
Skenes worked around Juan Soto’s walk in a scoreless first at Arlington, Texas, last year, throwing at up to 100.1 mph. He made the start after just 11 major league appearances, the fewest for an All-Star.
Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, with five appearances, could take over that mark Tuesday if he pitches.
Skubal pitched a perfect second inning in his first All-Star appearance last year, following Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes to the mound.
A 23-year-old right-hander, Skenes is 4-8 despite a major league-best 2.01 ERA for the Pirates, who are last in the NL Central. The 2024 NL Rookie of the Year has 131 strikeouts and 30 walks in 131 innings.
Skubal, a 28-year-old left-hander, is the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. He is 10-3 with a 2.23 ERA, striking out 153 and walking 16 in 121 innings.
Mets prospect Jett Williams continues to shine down in Double-A.
The youngster accounted for most of Binghamton’s offense as they fell to Altona on Saturday.
Williams was called out on strikes during his first at-bat but he was locked in from there, leading off the bottom of the third with a double to deep center.
Two innings later, he led off the fifth with a well struck single to right, and immediately worked his way into scoring position with his 26th stolen base of the season.
He lined another single right back up the middle with one out in the seventh, but then grounded into a force out in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.
Williams put together his second straight three-hit showing, finishing 3-for-5 with two singles and a double.
The speedy first-round pick is now hitting .289 with five triples, eight homers, 24 doubles, 31 RBI, 48 walks, and a .894 OPS on the season.
He also continues to showcase his strong versatility defensively -- logging appearances at shortstop, center, and second thus far this month.
22-year-old outfielder Nick Morabito also stayed hot at the plate, extending his hitting streak to six games with a single in the third.
He also picked up his team-leading 33rd stolen base of the season.
The Mets have won a pair of challenges on Royals stolen base attempts late in the game during each of the first two contests of this weekend’s set.
With Kansas City trailing by a run in the eighth on Friday, pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert appeared to swipe second, but after a Mets challenge the replay revealed that he popped off the bag and was called out.
Saturday’s call was just as close, but much less conclusive.
Again with Kansas City trailing by a run in the eighth inning, All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was called safe after seemingly beating the throw and tag -- setting up the heart of the order with a chance to tie the game.
However, after a lengthy review, it was determined that Witt had popped off the bag at some point during his slide while Francisco Lindor was applying the tag and he was called out -- ultimately ending the threat.
Kansas City’s dugout immediately erupted in frustration.
“I think it was a joke,” second baseman Jonathan Indiatold reports postgame. “I mean, yesterday’s was a joke too, I don’t think that’s right -- I think he was safe, there was not enough evidence to overturn that there.”
“Witt beat the throw there clearly, that part wasn’t in dispute,” manager Matt Quatraro added. “Those guys do a good job keeping the tag on, I can see why they overturned yesterday’s call, but I don’t see why they overturned this one today.”
Whether you agree with it or not, it went down as an out in the books.
It proved to be a big one for the Mets too, as it not only eliminated the eighth inning threat, but it also allowed them to keep All-Star closer Edwin Diaz out for a second inning of work.
Carlos Mendoza was sure to give credit to Harrison Friedland, the team's Replay Analyst.
“Huge one there by Harrison, back-to-back days with it,” the skipper said. “Yesterday was the same thing, I thought yesterday it was a lot clearer -- watching it on replay today I’m just going to rely on him there.
“I thought we were just taking a chance when [John Gibbons] told me to review it, and then I asked him and I was like call back, and Harrison was pretty sure he came off the bag -- that was a big play there, assist to him.”
Francisco Alvarez appears to have found his power stroke in the minors.
The Mets’ young backstop lifted a home run for the second straight game, cutting into Syracuse's late-inning deficit with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth on Saturday night.
He jumped on a first pitch fastball and punched it 412 feet the other way with an exit velocity of 110 mph.
Alvarez would strike again just one inning later, this time crushing a 3-1 fastball down in the zone to dead center for a three-run homer with Syracuse down to their last out.
The 23-year-old finished the night 2-for-4 with two homers and five RBI.
He’s now left the yard seven times and has an .878 OPS in 12 games since being sent back down.
With Luis Torrens and Hayden Senger not offering much offensively, you have to figure Alvarez may be back at the big league level when the second half kicks off next week.
Top prospect Drew Gilbert has also been making a strong case for a potential promotion.
Gilbert left the yard earlier in the game, too -- cutting the lead in half at the time with a no-doubt two-run homer deep over the right-field fence.
He picked up a single a few innings later, and then drove in the scorching hot Pablo Reyes with a double down the right field line in the bottom of the ninth.
The lefty-hitting outfielder came into the night with a .272 average and .880 OPS since the beginning of June, and only saw those numbers go up as he picked up three more knocks.
With the Mets still looking for someone to take hold of the strong side of their center field platoon, perhaps we could see him receive a shot to show what he can do ahead of the trade deadline.
Not much went right for Syracuse on the pitching side, but one of the lone bright spots was Brooks Raley.
The left-hander put together another easy appearance as he draws closer to his big league return.
With another punchout, Raley now has 13 across 9.0 scoreless innings during his minor league rehab stint.
Carlos Mendoza said this week that the next step is for him to pitch in back-to-back games, so we could potentially see him back out there Sunday, and if all goes well, he may return for the start of the second half.
Getting Raley back would be a massive boost for a bullpen that was tremendous on Sunday, but has proven to be extremely leaky as they've dealt with injuries the past few weeks.
The Mets didn't make it easy, but they pulled out the win on Saturday afternoon against the Royals, thanks in large part to Edwin Diaz and their bullpen.
Juan Soto provided the power with his two-run blast, but without Diaz and the rest of the relievers, the Mets may not have been able to hold down their 3-1 win in Kansas City.
After starter Frankie Montas allowed back-to-back doubles to lead off the sixth, manager Carlos Mendoza went to his bullpen to get the final 12 outs. The Mets' pen has been taxed enough in the first half of the season, but they've been very efficient and they've gotten the job done more often than not. But after a hard-fought comeback win on Friday, Mendoza was asking for his bullpen to deliver another win.
First came Reed Garrett. The right-hander pitched a clean inning in Friday's win and was coming in with a runner on second and no outs, nursing a one-run lead. Garrett would get the next three hitters out, including Bobby Witt Jr., to end the sixth. Chris Devenski was next up and although he struggled with his command, the defense behind him allowed for the Mets to escape the seventh still up a run.
Then came the eighth inning, and the decision of the game for Mendoza. The second-year skipper called on closer Edwin Diaz to pitch to the Royals lineup in the eighth.
"That wasn’t the original plan there. Threw him out there in the eighth because of what was coming up for them," Mendoza explained. "I thought that was the game right there and I was going to figure out the ninth."
In the eighth, the Royals were sending Jonathan India, Witt Jr, and Vinnie Pasquantino, the top of Kansas City's order. Diaz would get India to line out to Brandon Nimmo, but after Witt Jr. worked a walk, the Mets defense, and a big of good fortune, lifted Diaz and the Mets out of the inning.
Witt Jr. attempted to steal second and looked to have successfully done so. The Mets dugout challenged the call and the MLB Replay Center saw it in New York's favor.
Diaz would get Pasquantino swinging to end the eighth and a 1-2-3 ninth -- aided by a great Tyrone Taylor catch in right-center field -- ended the game, and Diaz's six-out save.
"Because of the caught stealing and he was pitch efficient," Mendoza said. "We got the All-Star coming up here, he’s going to get a break. If there was a time this time of the year where we need him to go multiple, this is the time."
Mendoza said he checked with Diaz in between innings and there was "no hesitation," and he was good to pitch the ninth. It was Diaz's fourth appearance of one-plus innings this season, the first since July 2.
"I didn’t make many pitches in the first inning so that was a big plus for me," Diaz said of the decision. "I knew I was going to be fresh for the second one."
The Mets bullpen combined to pitch four scoreless innings without allowing a hit and just walking two batters. It also helped the Mets win their series against the Royals and have a chance to sweep the series on Sunday before the All-Star break.
It's a break that Diaz will get to enjoy a bit as he'll head to Atlanta with Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and David Peterson to play in the All-Star Game. And Sunday showed why Diaz was selected for the Midsummer Classic.
Since April 22, Diaz has allowed juse one earned run. In that span, he's pitched 28.1 innings and allowed 13 hits, two runs (one earned) and seven walks while striking out 40 batters. He's also notched 13 saves in that time.
"[The first half was] Great. Didn’t start really good, but I find a way to pitch better," Diaz said of his season so far. "Keep throwing the ball how I’m throwing it the last two months has been great. Being on the mound to help this team win makes me feel happy. Whenever I have a chance to be on the mound, I just want to win. That’s what I’m doing now. I’m really glad about my first half."
Dodgers prospect Josue De Paula celebrates after hitting a home run during the MLB Futures Game at Truist Park in Atlanta on Saturday. (Matt Dirksen / Getty Images)
The center fielder for the Dodgers’ Class A Great Lakes affiliate is a former first-round draft pick. The other two outfielders were selected for the Futures Game.
Who’s the best outfielder on the team?
“We’re all good, brother,” said the left fielder, Josue De Paula. “We’ve all got talent. We all excel somewhere.
“Us together? It’s a dream squad. I don’t feel like you see that much talent that often.”
De Paula flashed his considerable talent Saturday, hitting a three-run homer that decided the National League’s 4-2 victory over the American League and earned him the Futures Game most valuable player award.
The only other Dodgers prospect to win that award: infielder Chin-Lung Hu, in 2007.
“This is definitely motivating for me,” De Paula said. “Mentally, it was a big moment, to prove, especially to myself, who I really am.”
De Paula’s home run traveled 416 feet, triggering a round of fireworks in the sky and a lump in De Paula’s throat as he crossed home plate.
“I was overtaken by emotion,” he said, “especially doing it in front of my dad.”
His father lives in New York City. The Midwest League is far away.
Perhaps the major leagues are not so far away. De Paula is 20, but he is in his fourth pro season. The Dodgers signed him out of the Dominican Republic, but he was born in New York City and he is a second cousin of former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury.
“Baseball called me,” De Paula said. “I fell in love with it at a young age.”
Zyhir Hope, the Great Lakes right fielder, also appeared in the Futures Game. He singled ahead of De Paula and scored on the home run, so he was waiting at home plate to congratulate De Paula.
Hope, also 20, smiled when asked what he liked about De Paula’s game.
“Everything,” he said. “He takes it easily. He’s calm, relaxed and laid back, but he works hard. He’s a great dude.”
Before the season, Baseball Prospectus ranked De Paula and Hope among the top 10 prospects in baseball. Currently, MLB Pipeline ranks both among the top 40.
De Paula offers power, speed, and advanced plate discipline, although scouts wonder whether he can stick in left field or might need to try first base or designated hitter. Hope has advanced from a good-fielding prospect with uncertain hitting skills in the Chicago Cubs' system — the Dodgers got him in the Michael Busch trade — to a gap hitter with speed.
This is the time of year, of course, where contenders trade prospects to fill major league needs. Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, rarely trades his top prospects, and De Paula ranks No. 1 in the Dodgers’ farm system. On the other hand, the Dodgers need pitching help.
“I do want to get to L.A. I hope that’s in God’s plans,” De Paula said. “At the end of the day, we never make the decisions. We’ve just got to focus on what we need to do on the field and whatever happens, happens.
“But I really do hope I become a Dodger and I stay there for a very long time.”
SAN DIEGO — The script had simply been written and followed too often recently for the Phillies and it went something like this: very good starting pitching not supported enough by a lackluster offensive effort. The epilogue has been a disheartening loss followed by statements of what should have been and questions of what could have been.
Saturday at Petco Park, they didn’t get the start they have become accustomed to from ace Zack Wheeler and the offense couldn’t hold leads or take advantage of some run-scoring opportunities as the Phillies lost to the Padres, 5-4.
They are now 1-4 on this west coast trip with the last game before the All-Star break set for Sunday.
Wheeler’s troubles began early when he gave up three runs on four hits while having to use 32 pitches in the second inning. Jackson Merrill had a two-run blast to highlight the inning for the Padres, who wiped out a 2-0 Phillies lead. The Phillies jumped out in front again with two runs in the fifth on a two RBI single by Edmundo Sosa, who replaced Alec Bohm who left after getting hit with a pitch in the ribs earlier in the game. Merrill then tied the game in the sixth with his second home run of the night off Wheeler … and the Giants scratched a run off the Phillies bullpen in the 7th.
“Early on I just didn’t feel right, didn’t feel the same so I had to make some adjustments,” said Wheeler, who now has a 2.36 ERA on the season. “I threw 10 first-pitch strikes today and it was probably just facing these guys so close to each other. Just wanted to be a little bit more careful today because I knew I could be aggressive with the fastball and I know they were probably looking for it. So more just getting into counts that I was comfortable with today.
“Obviously still trusting your stuff, but facing a good lineup almost back to back you kind of don’t try to second-guess yourself but be a little bit more careful, probably.”
Wheeler last faced the Padres on June 30 and went eight scoreless innings. He allowed just six hits and struck out 10 in that 4-0 win.
Before the game, manager Rob Thomson professed his faith in reliever Jordan Romano, who he pointed out had given up zero runs in eight of his last 10 outings. Of course, when you give up a game-winning, inside-the-park three-run homer in the last outing, as Romano did Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants, that may make confidence wane.
It didn’t for the manager as he brought in his lanky righty with men on first and third and one out in the seventh inning to replace Tanner Banks, who started the inning. Romano did give up a sacrifice fly to Manny Machado as the Giants grabbed a 5-4 lead. He then struck out Gavin Sheets to end the frame.
The Phillies got two runners on in the eighth but Brandon Marsh popped out to short to end it. They also finished the fifth and seventh innings with two runners on base.
“I don’t think so,” said Thomson if his team is pressing a little bit to score runs. “About a week ago they were feeling it, but I don’t think right now, not after the 13-run game in San Francisco and we had three hits with runners in scoring position today, so it’s one of those things but I don’t think it’s on their minds.”
Often the case is made that some teams are so ready for the break that comes at All-Star time that they are already halfway out the door to enjoy their vacations. That certainly doesn’t seem to be the case with this group. The vision seems there, though the timely hitting just doesn’t seem to be at times. The starting pitching is almost always a positive presence.
“I’m just assuming it’s the complete game and maybe he’s a little fatigued,” said Thomson of Wheeler, who threw 108 pitches in a complete-game, one-hitter against Cincinnati last Sunday. “His velocity was good, he just left some balls in the middle of the plate. Strike-to-ball ratio was a little bit lower than normal. He gave us six good innings.”
Now it’s time, at least for Wheeler, for some well deserved rest and relaxation after declining his invite to participate in Tuesday’s All-Star game. “Consistency, start in and start out,” Wheeler said of his assessment of himself in the first half. “For the most part I’ve been consistent. It’s always kind of my thing to be the best version of myself every time out. Baseball’s hard and sometimes you’re going to have days like today. It stinks, but it is baseball at the end of the day. It’s part of it.
“Break is always nice no matter when it is. It’s the heat of the summer and things might be catching up to you a little bit. It’s nice to have a few days off and do a little reset and get ready for the second half push. Everything feels good. I feel strong.”
Bohm update
Bohm was hit in the second inning with a 92-mile an hour sinker from Padres starter Yu Darvish. Although he batted once more, his spot at third base was taken by Edmundo Sosa in the fourth inning. The injury was called a left rib contusion and Rob Thomson said his third baseman was pretty sore. They will check on Bohm Sunday but Thomson seemed to think he wouldn’t be in the lineup.
As things stand, Juan Soto still won’t be heading to the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta, but he continues showing exactly why he should be.
The slugger has carried his historic month of June into the first two weeks of July.
Soto helped put things away on Friday night, using the opposite-field to go back-to-back with Francisco Lindor in the top of the ninth as the Mets secured a 8-3 series-opening victory in Kansas City.
He struck again on Saturday afternoon, this time lifting a two-run shot off of Royals right-hander Jonathan Bowlan into the fountain in right-center to get the scoring started in the top of the third.
The blast traveled 431 feet and left the bat at a scalding 106.6 mph.
It proved to be a difference-maker, as the Mets held on for a second straight victory.
“That was pretty impressive,” Carlos Mendoza said. “You don’t see too many people go up there in this ballpark, off the bat it was definitely pretty impressive -- I’ve see a lot of balls hit by Juan and I don’t know that is the hardest one.”
Soto now has 23 long balls on the season, which ties his first-half career-high.
He’s also up to a .266 average with 56 RBI and a .919 OPS over his first 95 games as a Met.
Still, somehow not good enough to be among the NL All-Stars.
“He’s been doing this for the last month and a half or so,” Mendoza said. “It’s hard to understand and believe that he’s going home for the next four days for now as opposed to going to Atlanta, but that’s something that’s out of our hands.
“The good thing is he continues to play the way he’s capable of and as expected -- he’s a guy who is going to just go out there and he’s going to continue to do everything he can to help us win baseball games, he’s an All-Star.”
Though Soto has been particularly locked in of late -- driving in runs in four of his last five games -- he says it has nothing to do with his surprising snub.
“You just forget about that,” the slugger said. “It’s baseball, it’s part of it -- like I said before, it’s a roster of 25 players and there are like 300 players in the league, so it’s really tough to get in, next time I’m just going to try harder and see what I can do.”
