Category: Baseball

After a much-needed series win at home against the Minnesota Twins, the White Sox face the Pittsburgh Pirates for the only time this season, a three-game set before the Good Guys head down to St. Louis over the weekend. The White Sox flexed Sunday into a bullpen game, because of course, and shifted righthander Sean Burke’s start back a day, making his 29th appearance of the season tonight — his 25th start.

Despite walking four batters in his previous start on September 1, Burke only allowed one hit in his 5 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out six in the process. In his career-high 154 2/3 frames this season, the righty ace has held steady at a 3.20 ERA and 1.144 WHIP, and has struck out 167 batters so far, at a 26.2% strikeout rate. With the South Siders’ starting rotation fluctuating through the year, Burke has been a constant in his outings, with six runs being the most surrendered in a start this year, at home against Seattle in May.

Thankfully the White Sox offense heated up quite a bit in their last game, demolishing the Twins, 10-1, with 12 hits, seven of which were mashed for extra bases (five doubles, two home runs). Tonight’s lineup is identical to the Sunday Night Baseball game, rolling with the lefty-heavy batting order against Pirates righthander Bubba Chandler. In his last game, Sam Antonacci plated three doubles against the Twins, certainly earning his spot in the leadoff position. I’ve been a fan of Miguel Vargas shifting into the 2-hole, considering he is the best and most consistent hitter on the team.

Over the last 15 days, three Sox players rank in the Top 20 in baseball in on-base percentage: Tristan Peters (eighth), Antonacci (19) and Miguel Vargas (20). Peters has been on fire, and the rookie also is tied for seventh for slugging percentage (.744) over the same time frame, and is batting seventh tonight. If you were to ask me (you weren’t), I’d be shifting Peters up in the lineup, as he has solidified himself as one of the best hitters on the team and one of the stronger players in all of baseball. But it does say a lot that there’s not many ways you can go wrong with this lineup, especially when they are on their A-game.

Chicago White Sox Lineup

For the Pirates, Chandler has been fairly solid, posting a 4.30 ERA in 27 outings this season with a 1.368 WHIP. Chandler’s 4.12 expected ERA (xERA) is slightly lower, along with a 4.16 FIP, indicating that he might have had some bad luck here and there. But he still has accumulated 1.9 WAR. One of the righty’s strengths is that he tends to miss barrels, holding a 5.6% barrel rate, ranking in the 82 percentile in MLB. Chandler’s fastball is his go-to, which makes sense as he throws straight heat, averaging 98.3 mph, using about 48% of the time, and closer to 50% when facing left-handed hitters. Chandler’s off-speed pitches tend to be his most effective, however, as his changeup, sinker, and sweeper all have amassed a .200 or worse opponent batting average.

Because this is the first time these two teams will match up, and most batters haven’t seen these pitchers before, the White Sox will definitely have to be prepared for some strong bats in the Pittsburgh lineup. Brandon Lowe is batting second behind rookie Konnor Griffin, who ranks 24th in the National League with an .803 OPS, though he is just one of five hitters with an .800 or near-.800 OPS, as Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Esmerlyn Valdez, and Rafael Flores Jr. are all right there with him. As a team, the Pirates rank seventh in baseball with a .731 team OPS and fifth in batting average. Ideally, Burke is able to keep their power under control and miss those Pittsburgh bats.

Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup

Be sure to tune in to the action tonight, either on TV at CHSN, or on the radio at ESPN Chicago AM 1000. There should be some beautiful weather on the South Side, with temperatures hanging in the low-80s to upper-70s and partly cloudy skies. Time to snag a W and start up a new win streak.

One of the first games at Kauffman Stadium I attended was when the Arizona Diamondbacks were in town. At the time, we had just moved to Kansas City from the Cleveland area, and as someone who perused the Sunday morning league leaders in the newspaper and watched SportsCenter, one of my favorite players was Randy Johnson. The Big Unit was starting that particular game, and he wrecked the feckless Royals, but it was fun to me.

Tonight, there is no Randy Johnson. Birds everywhere rejoice. But there is one Corbin Burnes and, when healthy, he’s really good. It’ll be a difficult showdown against a Diamondbacks team clinging to one of the Wild Card spots and fighting for their playoff lives.

Diamondbacks 9/8 lineup

Lineup Update:

DH – Nootbaar
2B – Marte
C – Moreno
SS – Perdomo
3B – Arenado
CF – Troy
RF – Tawa
1B – Vargas
LF – Waldschmidt
SP – Burnes

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 8, 2026

Royals 9/8 lineup

Michael takes the mound. pic.twitter.com/qmDQgBOqvB

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) September 8, 2026

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ active roster is at 28 and the 40-man roster is at 39.

• Reinstated from the 60-day injured list: RHP Corbin Burnes (recovery from right ulnar collateral ligament surgery)
• Recalled from Triple-A Reno: RHP Kade Strowd
• Optioned to Triple-A Reno following yesterday’s game: RHP Gerardo Carrillo
• Optioned to Triple-A Reno today: RHP José Cabrera

There we go. After a little over fifteen months, Corbin Burnes has finally returned to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Obviously, we are not expecting much in the way of length from him today. Probably around four innings. I’d expect the team to lean on Blake Walston for a couple, and then cobble together the final three frames from Strowd, Derek Law and Justin Martinez, with Dennis Santana potentially in the mix as well. It’s certainly going to be a case today of very much threading the needle. If, for whatever reason, Burnes is not able to go four, then there’s going to be a most unwelcome domino effect over the rest of the game.

Go Rays!

At long last, the Captain is back.

Aaron Judge has returned to the Yankee lineup, just in time for the lowly Colorado Rockies to come to the Bronx for a three-game series. Better yet, Cam Schlittler will be making the start on the mound to begin this homestand. It’s got all the makings of a joyous night at the Stadium—but you’ve gotta win the games in front of you.

The Rockies enter this series owners of a 55-88 record, dead last in the National League, and second worst in baseball. Their lineup—while below average—is honestly not awful, but their pitching has been characteristically poor: a 5.47 staff ERA and 4.77 FIP. It’s the kind of staff the Yankees, who have been dying to find some offensive consistency, could definitely use as a warm-up for the final push with Judge back in the fold.

Tonight, they’ll be starting Gabriel Hughes, a 25-year-old rookie who has pitched to a 6.19 ERA in his first 11 MLB games. Those numbers are distended by two consecutive seven-run clunkers from a few weeks back—the 4.05 FIP is one of many figures that indicate he’s gotten a bit of a raw deal. Yankee Stadium will be a tough environment for the young man to handle, though.

Schlittler continues to cruise in the second half as he tries to win the Cy Young race with Dylan Cease. His last time out was yet another showstopper: eight innings of one-run ball against the Angels. It’s true that his numbers in Yankee Stadium have been slightly less stellar, but I don’t think he would have preferred to deal with the Coors Field run environment. He’s perfectly content defending home field tonight.

Make sure you’re back home in time for the bottom of the first inning: Aaron Judge will be batting third behind Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger. He’s utterly surrounded by lefties, unsurprisingly: Luis García Jr., Spencer Jones, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. make up the middle of the order after Judge. George Lombard Jr. bats seventh, Ryan McMahon hits eighth, and Austin Wells brings up the caboose.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY

First pitch: 7:05 pm ET

TV/Streaming: YES, Rockies.TV

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 – NYY | KWFN 97.3, XEMO 860 – SD

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Guess who's back? #RepBXpic.twitter.com/DDN0J5yJnw

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 8, 2026

New York State of Mind pic.twitter.com/SsOYknoy8x

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 8, 2026

Reed Garrett has taken another step in his recovery following last year's elbow injury. 

Garrett caught up with the Mets in Miami for their three-game set, and he was able to throw his first bullpen session as scheduled, on Tuesday afternoon. 

“It’s been a long-while," interim manager Andy Green said. "His stuff looked good out there, threw a lot of strikes, and walked off the mound feeling good about himself.”

Garrett was initially diagnosed with elbow inflammation last August. 

He required just a minimum stay on the injured list, but lasted only four appearances before having to shut things down after feeling renewed discomfort.

The 33-year-old underwent UCL reconstruction surgery in October. 

Garrett has been rehabbing at the team facility in Port St. Lucie throughout the season, and he was able to show his progress in front of team officials for the first time. 

"It was fun seeing Reed back out there today," Green said.

The veteran was never expected to be back healthy with the Mets this season, but checking off these boxes certainly bodes well for his status heading into next year. 

Garrett remained a relatively steady piece for New York’s bullpen before being forced to the sidelines, and he is under club control through the 2029 season. 

Detroit Tigers (66-78) vs. Minnesota Twins (68-76)

Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:Twinkie Town
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Drew Anderson (4-5, 3.73 ERA) vs. RHP Dean Kremer (2-5, 5.81 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Anderson	46	91.2	25.7	9.4	48.4	4.14	0.6
Kremer	13	66.2	23.6	8.6	36.7	5.12	0.1

145/162

⚾️ 6:40 PM ET
📺 @WatchDSN
📻 @971theticketxyt
🏟️ Comerica Park pic.twitter.com/yN1HoxGMLA

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 8, 2026

Game 2 from Detroit

📺 https://t.co/sQveEyIirXpic.twitter.com/eBS04BbXq2

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) September 8, 2026

The Braves kick off the second matchup in a streak of five straight series against teams currently in playoff position Tuesday night (7:15 p.m. ET) when the Tampa Bay Rays descend upon Truist Park.

AJ Smith-Shawver gets the start in the opener for Atlanta, looking for better control and a better result after taking his first loss of the season last time out against Washington.

Tampa counters with former Brewers and Mets pitcher Freddy Peralta on the mound.

Follow along and share your thoughts as the Braves get a brief respite from facing the Phillies before Philadelphia heads to Atlanta this weekend for another critical series for playoff seeding.

Game Info

Preview

Lineups

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Tuesday's Guardians lineup:

LF Kwan
2B Bazzana
3B Ramírez
DH Adell
1B Lowe
RF Martínez
C Bailey
CF Halpin
SS Rocchio

SP Bibee

— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) September 8, 2026

Here’s the Orioles’ lineup:

Game 2 vs. the Guardians

📺 @masnOrioles & MASN+
📻 98 Rock 97.9 FM & WBAL 1090 AM pic.twitter.com/s34D4gALma

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 8, 2026

Let’s go, Guardians!

Walt Weiss had some bad news for the Braves starting pitching rotation in this afternoon’s press conference.

#Braves Bryce Elder saw a doctor and had his knee checked yesterday. He had surgery today to repair it – scope cleanup.

It's a 3-4 week recovery and he hopes to pitch in October. Elder has been dealing with an issue for nearly two months.

— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) September 8, 2026

Oy. Per the manager himself, Bryce Elder had a minor knee surgery today. Apparently, he has been dealing with it for some time. He hopes to pitch in the postseason. I do as well, but yeech. Would that mean the Braves made the NLCS or World Series? Because that might be optimistic.

Our man Demetrius Bell is on the scene and have more later.

As the Atlanta Braves begin their series against the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday evening, they’re switching things up in the lineup a bit to again attempt to find an offensive spark.

Michael Harris II will hit in the leadoff spot for the first time since Aug. 23 in the series opener. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson follow, dropping Drake Baldwin, who will DH this game with Sean Murphy back behind the plate, to the fourth spot.

Mauricio Dubón is also back at shortstop and hitting fifth, and Mike Yastrzemski will play left field and hit eighth against a right-handed starter.

The Rays have catcher Liam Hicks back in the cleanup spot after he was out of the lineup in their last game on Sunday.

Also of note, Jorge Mateo, who started the season in Atlanta, is now with Tampa and will start at short and hit ninth for the series opener.

Seeing as he’s made just one career start against the team, only five current Rays have taken a major league at-bat against Braves starter AJ Smith-Shawver.

Mind you, that collective production has been pretty good as this quintet is a combined 5-for-10 against the right-hander. Hicks (2-for-2) leads that charge, which includes a homer, a double, three RBIs, three strikeouts and two walks.

The Braves’ hitters have much more of a track record against Rays starter Freddy Peralta, albeit it’s not nearly as successful. They’re a combined 31-for-140 (.221) against the right-hander with eight doubles, four homers, 12 RBIs, 40 strikeouts and 12 walks.

Michael Harris II (4-for-9) is a standout of the bunch against Peralta, and Matt Olson and Austin Riley are each hitting over .300 against him with a pair of homers apiece and a combined eight RBIs.

Interestingly considering Peralta isn’t a reverse-splits guy, the right-handed platoon outfielder, Lane Thomas, has a much better history against him (3-for-9, two doubles, two RBIs) than the left-handed half of the platoon, Yastrzemski, who is 1-for-13 (.077) lifetime against Peralta.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country.

We’re heading down to the final stretch of the regular season, and the Yankees are preparing to make a deep run into the playoffs.

Judge returns to the lineup on Tuesday to face the Rockies after being reinstated from the injured list on Monday night. He’ll play a crucial role in the Yankees’ offense as they strive to clinch a playoff spot.

The next couple of weeks will determine whether the Pinstripes will rise or fall in the American League East. The pennant race is coming down to the wire as the Yankees remain four games behind the Rays as of Tuesday. They will head to the Bronx to face the Yankees in a critical four-game series beginning with a doubleheader on September 22. The Red Sox are merely two games behind the Yankees, which could mean some trouble if they win their upcoming series against the Rays and the Guardians.

All things considered, Judge is expected to bring a huge boost to this team at all levels. He’ll be playing the field in the Bronx to start the series against Colorado, and there is no doubt that Yankees fans will erupt in applause and give a standing ovation as No. 99 makes his return debut. With his energy back in the lineup, we’ll hopefully see more offensive production that fans have been eagerly awaiting since the end of May.

With the return of the captain, how far will the Yankees go in 2026?

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The Texas Rangers have announced their minor league award winners for the month of August. Dylan Dreiling has been named the Rangers’ Minor League Player of the Month, Moises Morales the Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month, Yolfran Castillo the Minor League Defender of the Month, and Kay Wynyard the Minor League Reliever of the Month.

Dreiling slashed .429/.448/.667 in 95 plate appearances over 20 games for AA Frisco in the month of August, recording at least one hit in all 20 games, hitting four homers, and walking 10 times against 15 Ks. The Rangers’ second round pick in 2024, Dreiling had a middling 2025 season at high-A Hub City, but has impressed in the Texas League this season, slashing .314/.384/.527 on the year. The 23 year old lefthanded hitter has played almost exclusively center field this season, and seems likely to be bumped to AAA for the end of the Pacific Coast League season once the Texas League playoffs are over.

Morales, a 22 year old righthanded pitcher, is someone who has not been on my radar until recently. Signed out of Venezuela in July of 2023 as a 19 year old, Morales pitched in the Dominican Summer League in 2023 and 2024, then came over to the Arizona Complex League in 2025. Making his full season debut this year, Morales got off to a difficult start to the season, allowing 10 runs in 13.1 innings in his first three appearances, and putting up a 5.04 ERA in his first nine games.

Since then, however, Morales has been outstanding, as he has struck out 56 and walked 15 in 56 innings over his last 13 appearances — 12 for Hickory and one for Hub City — while posting a 1.77 ERA. He made four appearances for Hickory in August, earning Carolina League Pitcher of the Month honors, and also made his one appearance for Hub City in August. In those five appearances he struck out 20 and walked four in 25 innings, allowing a .224/.275/.259 slash line and a 1.44 ERA. Morales has also started September strong, allowing one run on one hit and one walk in five innings last Friday, striking out seven.

Castillo is a 19 year old shortstop out of Venezuela who was part of the Rangers’ 2024 J-2 class, signing for $647,500. After a strong debut that year in the Dominican Summer League, Castillo came stateside in 2025, spending most of the year in the Arizona Complex League before moving to low-A Hickory once the complex league season ended. Castillo is described by Baseball America as being the organization’s best defensive infielder, and the Rangers noted in their announcement that he had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in the month. For the season, Castillo is slashing .288/.390/.416 in 542 plate appearances over 119 games with Hickory and one game with Hub City, with 70 walks, 74 Ks and 55 steals in 65 attempts.

Wynyard is a 24 year old righthander signed by the Rangers out of Australia in October, 2020. Other than five starts in the ACL in 2021, Wynyard has worked exclusively in relief as a pro, and has gotten to learn the highways and byways of the Carolinas quite well, having spent most of the past five seasons in either the Carolina League or the South Atlantic League. Wynyard had six scoreless appearances for Hub City in August, striking out 13 and allowing 4 walks in 10.2 IP.

Wynyard’s season line is kind of ugly due to a gruesome start to the season, when he allowed 16 runs in 6.1 innings in his first five appearances. Since then, he has a 3.77 ERA in 45.1 IP in 30 games for Hub City and one game for Frisco, where he is now, with 59 Ks, 23 walks and seven homers allowed. In his last 12 games he has allowed just two runs in 17 innings, striking out 23 and walking 8.

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Let's keep the good vibes rolling with three of my favorite home run props and predictions for today's MLB slate.

Find out why I am backing Junior Caminero, Heriberto Hernandez, and Teoscar Hernandez. 

These are my favorite MLB picks for Tuesday, Sept. 8.

MLB home run props for today

For help understanding Polymarket probabilities, see our odds calculator.

Home run prediction: Junior Caminero (26%)

Despite the small sample size, Atlanta Braves right hander AJ Smith-Shawver has been horrendous against right-handed hitters this season, allowing a .346 BA, .538 SLG, and 1.023 OPS across 33 batters.

Tampa Bay Rays slugger Junior Caminero has the highest matchup rating in this game over at Batters-Box, where he leaves the yard 32.26% of the time with an elite road rating. Caminero also covers nearly 97% of Smith-Shawver’s pitch mix.

Over his last 10 games, Caminero owns a .525 SLG and .250 ISO with a 51.6% hard-hit rate and nearly 13% barrel rate.

Caminero should be just fine against a guy still trying to find his footing against righties. 

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: RAYS, BravesVsn

Home run prediction: Heriberto Hernandez (23%)

Big day to back a Hernandez, as we’re backing Miami Marlins slugger Heriberto Hernandez this evening against New York Mets southpaw Sean Manaea.

The young Marlins slugger has been all over left-handed pitching this season, owning a .543 SLG and .879 OPS. On top of that, Hernandez has been mashing over his last 10 games, posting a .289 ISO and 17.4% ground-ball rate while barreling the ball more than 17% of the time.

Manaea has been progressively getting worse as the games go by. Over his last five outings, he owns a 5.87 ERA while allowing a 15.46% barrel rate. Over his last three starts, he has a 7.79 ERA and a near 18% barrel rate.

The last 60 right-handed hitters the veteran has faced have generated a barrel rate of nearly 20%, along with a .363 xBA and .744 xSLG.

If Manaea is going to continue getting worse as the season progresses, let’s fade the daylights out of him.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MIAM, SNY

Home run prediction: Teoscar Hernandez (26%)

“But bu- he homered last night.”

Cool.

Anywho, tonight we are backing Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Teoscar Hernandez, who has not only been teeing off against southpaws, but has also been on fire over his last 10 games. During that stretch, he owns a .649 SLG, .719 xSLG, and .244 ISO, while generating a 64%+ hard-hit rate and 18% barrel rate.

This evening, Hernandez draws Cincinnati Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo, who's been getting tormented by right-handed hitters lately. The last 60 he's faced sport a .350 xBA, .640 xSLG, and .400 xwOBA, while Lodolo is allowing a 53.5% hard-hit rate, 16.3% barrel rate, and 27.9% ground-ball rate.

Some may shy away from this prop because Hernandez left the yard last night. Has nobody ever gone back-to-back days with a home run?

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNLA, CINR

Best home run combo for September 8

Want more baseball parlays? Check out our MLB parlay picks page!

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