For the second time this week, the Florida Panthers will look to punch their ticket to a third straight Stanley Cup Final when they face the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday night.
After scoring 16 goals during their first three wins over the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida couldn’t keep up with the Canes in Game 4 and were subsequently shutout 3-0.
That meant the Cats had to travel back to Raleigh for another chance to dissipate the Hurricanes.
Florida will look to recapture the momentum they built during their first visit to Lenovo Center, where they jumped all over Carolina and outscored them 10-2 while taking the first two games of the series.
Despite the loss on Monday, the Panthers remain in a good spot, but as they learned during last year’s Stanley Cup Final, a big series lead can disappear in the blink of an eye.
“We put ourselves in a great position, great situation, going on the road with a 3-1 lead,” said Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov. “We just have to bring our best. We were not at our best (in Game 4), and we'll learn from that and be better next game.”
The Panthers looked a step slow during Game 4.
Breakouts seemed sluggish at times and countless passes just missed, with many being deflected by the Hurricanes’ excellent stickwork.
“They played really well,” said Barkov. “They defended well. They attacked well. It was a great game by them. We were not at our best, so we need to be better.”
One thing that could help Florida improve on their Game 4 performance would be the return of one or more of three players who did not suit up due to injury.
Each of Sam Reinhart, A.J. Greer and Niko Mikkola were on the ice at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday before the team boarded a flight to Raleigh.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice indicated there was a chance all three could play in Game 5, saying that they would all skate in the morning and then see how each was feeling.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 5 in Carolina:
Photo caption: May 22, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov (16) celebrates scoring during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes in game two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
Even when the Mets’ star outfielder drives a ball, it somehow finds its way into an out.
Soto came up with one out in the bottom of the first and smacked an 0-1 changeup from White Sox right-hander Jonathan Cannon into the gap -- and Michael A. Taylor made a diving attempt to catch the liner.
Taylor trapped the ball as it dropped in for an extra-base hit, but Brandon Nimmo -- who had already rounded second on the play-- thought he was able to come up with the catch.
As Nimmo began quickly racing back towards first, Soto danced out of the base path to get out of his way and the White Sox threw the ball back in -- stepping on second to record the second out of the inning.
After the umps had a brief discussion, crew chief Sean Barber told the crowd that Soto was ruled out for passing Nimmo on the basepaths -- and it ended up going down in the books as a 354-foot unassisted lineout to the first baseman.
Juan Soto was called out after Brandon Nimmo passed him on the base paths on a hit that was trapped by Michael A. Taylor pic.twitter.com/SUgy5DuEbU
Nimmo explained postgame that he wasn't looking at the ump for a ruling when he turned around, and has been going off of instinct since the Mets' wrongly called triple play a few weeks ago against the Nationals.
“When Soto hit it, I thought that’s down for sure for a double or better,” he said. “I went to go around the bag and had my back to the play and then I heard the crowd act like the ball was caught, so I turned around and went to get back to first base -- that's what happened.
"I went and looked at the play afterwards -- probably shouldn’t be so aggressive, maybe just watch the play a little bit more, that’s the quick fix to it. But still, I looked at the play and he caught it short hop, so I can see where everyone was confused -- just one of those plays that's unfortunate.”
Luckily for Nimmo, the rest of the Mets’ offense was able to pick him up.
After his blunder, they went on to string together five consecutive two-out knocks against Cannon, including a pair of two-run homers from Pete Alonso and Jared Young to push themselves back in front for good.
“I mean, what a great inning,” Nimmo said. “I think almost the whole lineup had a hit, so that was fantastic. Definitely glad that Pete hit the home run there, but the whole offense did a great job there in the first inning -- it was a great start.”
The Knicks again fell behind by double-digits but could not overcome the deficit and trailed for the entire second half, falling to the Indiana Pacers 130-121 on Tuesday night and are now on the brink of elimination, down 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 31 points on 9-for-19 shooting (11-for-12 from the line) with five assists, two rebounds, and two steals, but he was a minus-16 in 37 minutes. The Knicks guard was no match for Tyrese Haliburton, who had a triple-double with 32 points (20 in the first half) on 11-for-23 shooting (5-for-12 from deep) with 15 rebounds, 12 assists, four steals and zero turnovers for a plus-16 in 33 minutes.
Karl-Anthony Towns shook off early foul trouble to score 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting with 11 rebounds and three assists. He was a plus-3 in 37 minutes. Towns, who was seen holding his left knee throughout the game, knocked knees late in the fourth quarter, adding injury to insult.
The Knicks committed 17 turnovers on the night, leading to 20 points for the Pacers, who had 22 fast-break points to the visitors' nine. After shooting 22 of 42 (52 percent) from the floor in the first half, New York was 16-for-40 (40 percent) after the half.
Here are the takeaways...
- The Knicks couldn't get anything cooking early in the fourth quarter: if they made a shot, they couldn't find a stop. If they got a stop, they couldn't hit a shot, and Indiana had a 15-point lead. New York could argue they got a tough whistle, at one point committing four fouls on one Pacers possession with some questionable 50/50 calls. (The third was another terribly silly one from Towns.)
And then it was Indiana’s turn for fouls, giving the Knicks a chance to further cut into the lead, but they missed 3 of 6 free throws after they started 26-for-29 from the line. Fortunately, the Pacers kept giving them chances after a Mikal Bridges three, OG Anunoby made up for misses with two at the line, and when Towns collected a miss for a lay-in and the 10-2 run cut the deficit to six with just over four minutes left.
With 2:10 to play and the hole seven points, the Knicks won their second challenge of the game, saving Towns his fifth personal. But Bridges missed back-to-back jumpers and Hart committed his sixth foul.
Obi Toppin’s three to put the Pacers up 10 with under a minute to play put the icing on the cake. Brunson and Towns combined to go 2-for-6 from the floor in the fourth quarter.
Bridges made his first basket of the night, but struggled in the first half, finishing just 2-for-7 for six points and was a minus-5 in 14 minutes. He went 4-for-8 in the second period (3-for-6 in the fourth) to finish with 17 points, three rebounds, two assists and a minus-13 in 34 minutes.
Mitchell Robinson, a key in previous games, was a non-factor, as despite his six points and seven rebounds (five offensive), he was a minus-20 in 19 minutes. Anunoby finished with 22 points (7-for-16 shooting, 1-for-7 from three) with four rebounds, three steals, two blocks and was a minus-1 in 40 minutes.
- The pace was all too much to the Pacers’ liking in the game's early goings, and when a miscommunication left Haliburton wide open for a three (completing a 13-4 run), the Knicks called for time down by 16-9 after less than four minutes.
Just four minutes into the game, Towns exited with his second foul on another silly play, and the starting lineup was gone as Josh Hart entered. With Towns on the bench, Brunson started to take over, hitting a jumper in the key before adding back-to-back threes to keep the Knicks in the game against another Pacers barrage from deep, 4-for-5 to start the night after they went 5-for-25 in Game 3. (Hart finished with 12 points and was a minus-1 in 36 minutes.)
Brunson added three the old-fashioned way, but the Pacers closed on a 12-5 run for a 43-35 lead. Indiana had a 12-2 fast-break point edge with seven points from four New York turnovers after 12 minutes.
- Despite the fouls, Towns started perfectly from the floor as he worked to continue being a force on the offensive end. The Knicks capped a 9-2 run when Anunoby found Delon Wright for three before he grabbed a steal and a falling lay-up tied the score and forced a Pacers timeout with 7:19 to play in the first half, and the score tied 51-51. Both teams were 18-for-29 (62 percent) from the floor at that point.
The big issue of the game: Turnovers (five in the second). But when a pair of deep three-point attempts from Haliburton got iron, Anunoby put the Knicks ahead by one with an and-1 with 2:12 left to play their first lead since two minutes into the game. Brunson's and-1 gave him 16 points in the first half (6-for-12 from the floor) to put New York ahead by one again with 1:45 to play. But the Knicks would miss their next three shots, and the Pacers' 6-0 run gave them a 69-64 lead at the intermission.
Haliburton continued to be a thorn in the Knicks' side: 20 points (6-for-12, 4-for-7 from deep) with 10 assists, nine rebounds in 18 minutes, he was a plus-12. Aaron Nesmith, who was a question mark before the game after turning his ankle, was a game-high plus-18 in 16 minutes with 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting.
- The third quarter began with a Pascal Siakiam jumper, the Knicks committing back-to-back turnovers, New York missing four buckets, and Myles Turner hitting a wide-open corner three. Tom Thibodeau called time with his team down 12, the game's biggest margin to that point, after just 2:33 of second-half action. Siakam finished with 30 points (11-for-21) and was a plus-9 in 35 minutes. Turner had 13 points in 33 minutes.
The Knicks held the home side to 5-for-12 to start the third, but were shooting very poorly themselves (4-for-13). Despite some good work on the offensive boards, Robinson sat with his fourth foul midway into the period and the deficit at eight. Brunson scored nine straight (seven from the free-throw line) to give him 25 in the game, but the Pacers kept them at arm's length and had a seven-point edge with 3:04 to play after the Knicks’ 12th and 13th turnovers of the night. He finished with 13 points in the quarter, but the Knicks entered the fourth down 11. New York shot 7-for-18 (39 percent) from the floor in the period to Indiana's 12-for-24.
- Bench Watch: Precious Achiuwa got his first minutes of the game late in the first quarter when Robinson needed a rest and Towns was on the bench. Wright was on the floor to start the second quarter and Landry Shamet got the call early in the second. Along with McBride, Thibs played 10 players in the first half for the first time in the playoffs.
Wright was most impactful of the bunch, with three points (1-for-2) with an assist, steal, block, and turnover and was a plus-8 in seven first-half minutes, giving Brunson an extensive breather. (He finished a plus-11 in nine total minutes.)
Shamet had three points and was a plus-6 in 11 minutes. McBride had just three points (1-for-3 shooting) and was a minus-14 in 15 minutes.
The Mets have signed infielder David Villar to a minor league deal, MLB.com's Anthony DiComo reports.
Villar was designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants last week before electing free agency after clearing waivers. Villar appeared in nine games this season for the Giants, going 4-for-20 with a double, one RBI and four walks.
The 28-year-old infielder does have major league experience beyond this year. For his career, he's slashed .200/.292/.391 with an OPS of .683 in 118 career games all with the Giants from 2022-25. While Villar's primary position has been at first base this season, he has experience at third and second base in his career.
Villar has done well in the minors this season, slashing .368/.439/.439 with an .878 OPS in 15 games in Triple-A.
The Mets pushed their winning streak to four games with a 6-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Here are some takeaways...
- The White Sox jumped out to an early lead on a Miguel Vargas two-run homer in the first, but the Mets responded right back in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, New York put together six straight hits, including two-run homers of their own from Pete Alonso and Jared Young to make it a 4-2 ballgame.
It was Alonso's 11th homer of the season and Young's first MLB hit since October 1, 2023, with the Cubs.
- Prior to the hit parade, there was even more craziness, as the Mets appeared to run themselves out of an inning when Juan Soto was called out after Brandon Nimmo passed him on the bases on a hit that was trapped by a diving Michael A. Taylor in the right-center gap.
Soto scorched the ball, but based on the scorer's ruling, he did not receive credit for a hit.
- Young followed up his homer with a hard-hit double in the bottom of the third. Carlos Mendoza said earlier in the day that the 29-year-old had been putting together some good at-bats; they were just looking for him to start doing damage -- he certainly responded well.
- After being handed the lead, Tylor Megill put together a scoreless inning, working around a double. He was helped out by his defense in the third, as Soto made a nice play to keep Chase Meidroth to a single, and Chicago's leadoff man was gunned down a few pitches later on a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play.
Megill put together his first clean inning with a 1-2-3 fourth, and then worked around a one-out walk in the fifth. He struck out a pair to get to two outs in the sixth, but a single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases and brought his night to an end.
José Butto entered and escaped the jam for the second straight game thanks to a Jeff McNeil running grab in center -- closing Megill's line with just the two runs allowed on four hits while walking four and striking out six across 5.2 innings of work.
- Butto found himself in a jam of his own an inning later, and this time he wasn't able to escape. After the White Sox strung together back-to-back two-out hits, a wild pitch forced in a run and then Vargas crushed an RBI double off the left-field fence -- a mere inches away from a game-tying homer.
José Castillo was called upon, and he quickly put the go-ahead run on base with a hit-by-pitch, but just like he did in the series opener on Monday, he responded to punch out youngster Edgar Quero on three pitches.
- Castillo came back out for the seventh and allowed the leadoff man to reach on an infield single before turning things over to Reed Garrett, who punched out back-to-back batters, including pinch-hitter Luis Robert Jr., to end the inning. He then breezed through the ninth for his second save of the season.
- The Mets' offense was held in check after their early success -- managing just two baserunners after the third, but they were able to break through in the eighth. Three two-out hits from Jeff McNeil, Francisco Alvarez, and Francisco Lindor brought in a big insurance run -- that trio all reached base twice on the night.
- Brett Baty was bumped up to the five spot in the order because Mendoza likes how he's been swinging the bat of late. The youngster responded by getting two more hits and two runs scored -- he's now hitting just under .300 since returning from Syracuse.
- The Mets have now won four games in a row and are an incredible 21-6 at home this season.
Game MVP: Jared Young
Many were questioning why Young received his third straight start at DH, and he silenced them quickly.
Highlights
Juan Soto was called out after Brandon Nimmo passed him on the base paths on a hit that was trapped by Michael A. Taylor pic.twitter.com/SUgy5DuEbU
NEW YORK — The Chicago White Sox traded Matt Thaiss to the Tampa Bay Rays and reinstated fellow catcher Korey Lee from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday.
Chicago received minor league outfielder Dru Baker from Tampa Bay for the 30-year-old Thaiss, who hit .212 with a homer and eight RBIs in 35 games with the White Sox. He had a .382 on-base percentage and .676 OPS.
Thaiss spent his previous six major league seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. He was acquired from the crosstown Chicago Cubs in December.
“Very professional,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Very positive guy that clearly has experience in this league and understands how to help a pitcher navigate tough lineups, understands how to have quality at-bats at the plate. Was just a total pro for us.”
The rebuilding White Sox have a strong catching pipeline, leaving no room for Thaiss. Edgar Quero is off to an encouraging start after making his major league debut on April 17. Kyle Teel, acquired in the Garrett Crochet trade in December, is playing well at Triple-A Charlotte.
“Excited about bringing Dru Baker in here. This opens up development time for some of our catchers," Chicago general manager Chris Getz said at Citi Field before the White Sox played the New York Mets.
"I didn’t love having Korey in Triple-A with Kyle from a development standpoint, playing-time standpoint, so we were able to free that up a little bit. And now Kyle can be the primary focus at Triple-A, where Edgar and Korey can make a solid tandem for us up with our major league club.”
Lee, 26, had been sidelined by a sprained left ankle. He is batting .333 (5 for 15) in nine games with Chicago this year. He was available off the bench Tuesday night against the Mets, with Quero in the starting lineup batting fifth.
Baker, 25, was a fourth-round selection in the 2021 amateur draft out of Texas Tech. He has been on the seven-day injured list since April 22 with a left adductor strain.
Baker batted .245 with a homer and three RBIs in 17 games with Triple-A Durham this season. Now in the White Sox system, he will be assigned to Charlotte.
“Dru Baker offers speed and defense versatility. He’s a plus defender in the outfield, he’s got some history as an infielder. To be able to create some depth in the outfield was something that we found attractive enough to execute the deal,” Getz said. “I would imagine that at some point this year he could help us at the major league level.”
The addition of Thaiss gives Tampa Bay another catching option behind Danny Jansen. Ben Rortvedt has struggled this year, batting just .100 (6 for 60) in 25 games.
“They've been on the hunt to improve their catching for the last couple weeks, and we're in a fortunate position here with the White Sox where we've got some depth,” Getz said. “Matty did a nice job for us as well. You look at his on-base percentage, how he handled games behind the plate - he caught their attention and we were able to match up on a deal.”
Rays outfielder Jonny DeLuca was transferred to the 60-day IL to create an opening for Thaiss on the 40-man roster. DeLuca is coming back from a right shoulder strain.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Bryce Harper took a knee and grasped his right arm -- the Phillies' star slugger's elbow was bruised, more than 40,000 Phillies fans stomachs were in knots - and the worst was feared as he took off for the tunnel.
“Whenever your top hitters, or your best hitter, gets hit like that," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, “there’s always some concern.”
Concern, yes. Just likely not a long-term one for the best team in the major leagues.
Harper left Tuesday night's 2-0 win over Atlanta in the first inning after he was hit near the right elbow by a 95.3 mph fastball from Braves starter Spencer Strider.
Harper sustained a bruise, and an X-ray was negative, the Phillies said.
A two-time NL MVP, Harper took a few steps from home plate, dropped to a knee and gripped his arm in pain. Phillies athletic trainers came out to check on Harper, and the first baseman - who wasn't wearing an elbow guard - headed to the clubhouse.
“I'm not a complete sociopath, so I have some empathy,” Strider said. “I do feel bad for him, to see a person in pain that I caused.”
Thomson said Harper was in a lot of pain after he was hit and will be evaluated again Wednesday morning.
“He's a tough guy, too," Thomson said.
Strider was voraciously booed by Phillies fans when he left the mound as the inning ended and the jeers grew even louder when he trudged off the mound after 4 2/3 innings.
“Certainly not trying to hit him,” Strider said. “I thought in the moment, I just assumed he had a guard on and was just pissed that I hit him. Saw him in pain. That was tough. I'm definitely relieved he's OK. He's one of the best players this century. He needs to be on the field. It's best for the game. It's good for us, good to compete against him.”
Harper is hitting .267 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs. He batted .323 (10 for 31) with three doubles, one homer and seven RBIs in seven games on the Phillies' recent trip.
Edmundo Sosa pinch ran for Harper and stayed in the game at third base. Alec Bohm moved to first base.
“I was anxious, but happy there's no break, for sure,” Thomson said.
Harper was 3 for 16 (.188) lifetime in the regular season against Strider. Strider made just his third start for Atlanta since returning from a strained hamstring strain.
The 32-year-old Harper had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow following the 2022 World Series and returned to the lineup just 160 days after the procedure. Harper, in the seventh season of a $330 million, 13-year contract, recently had his 1,000th career RBI and again played a key role in the Phillies' surge to the top of the MLB standings.
Harper missed 53 games in 2022 after he broke his thumb when he was also hit by a pitch.
With Harper on a hot streak, the Phillies remain atop the NL East with a 35-19 record and they had won nine straight games before dropping the finale of their road trip against the Athletics. They were set to play two more against Atlanta before a weekend home set against Milwaukee.
“These guys have been playing well for a while now,” Thomson said. “We've been doing it in different ways. We really pitched tonight.”
Michael Conforto reacts after hitting a home run in the sixth inning Tuesday. (David Dermer / Associated Press)
For a few weeks now, the Dodgers have been in the “treading water” portion of their season, trying to work through injuries in their pitching staff and inconsistencies in the lineup to remain atop the National League West standings.
On Tuesday, in a 9-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field, two of their coldest hitters finally gave them some comfortable space to breathe.
In a game that was close until the final few innings, Michael Conforto and Max Muncy both showed long-awaited signs of life at the plate, each reaching base three times and each hitting late home runs to help the Dodgers pull away on a cool night in Cleveland.
“It’s big,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It adds the length [to the lineup] that we expected coming into this season.”
For much of this year, that length had been missing, the Dodgers forced to navigate around subpar production from both veteran sluggers — both at the plate and in the field.
Entering the night, Muncy had just three home runs and a .653 OPS. Conforto had only two long balls and a .562 OPS. Their defensive play had been glaring weaknesses, as well, with Muncy’s eight errors ranking second among MLB third basemen and Conforto’s negative-three mark in defensive runs saved 12th out of 15 qualified MLB left fielders.
It had made the pair the weakest links in the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup. And it had invited widespread scrutiny from the fan base, raising speculation about their long-term roles with the team.
“Sometimes this game can be brutal,” Conforto said. “There's a lot of failure.”
Late on Tuesday night, however, both finally enjoyed much-needed success.
After the Dodgers built an early 4-0 lead — they mounted a two-run second-inning rally and got a two-run homer from Shohei Ohtani in the fourth; his MLB leading 20th of the season and third-straight game going deep — the Guardians had gotten back within 4-3 by the time Conforto stepped to the plate in the sixth.
For the last several weeks, Conforto had slowly started turning his season around, hitting the ball harder and posting incrementally better results (not that things could have gotten much worse after he batted .134 in his first 36 games this season). This week, Roberts said the club’s hitting coaches were optimistic about Conforto’s recent cage work, as well, ever convinced the left-handed slugger was close to a more profound breakthrough at the plate.
It all came together in a full-count against Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis, Conforto barreling up an inside fastball for a 406-foot drive to center that marked his first home run since April 5.
“To hit a ball hard and see it leave the park,” Conforto said, “it's kind of everything that we've been working on.”
Conforto also singled in the Dodgers’ two-run second-inning rally, and later drew a walk in the eighth, raising his OPS to .833 over his last 14 games.
When he returned to the dugout after his no-doubt blast, both Teoscar Hernández and Kiké Hernández were waiting at the top step, showering him with fistfuls of sunflower seeds.
“I heard Kiké as soon as I hit the ball, screaming,” Conforto said with a laugh. “He's been awesome and the rest of the guys have been awesome. They've kept it fun while it's been tough."
Muncy, too, continued his own recent turnaround at the plate.
In the second inning, the third baseman drew a walk, got a good jump against Guardians starter Tanner Bibee to steal second without a throw, then got a good read on Andy Pages’ flare single to right to score the night’s opening run. He also added an infield single in the eighth.
In the ninth, though, Muncy finally found an important missing piece in his offensive profile, hitting his first home run in almost two weeks on a three-run shot that had him bat-flipping out of the box.
“My swings have been feeling really good lately, and just haven't gotten the power results necessarily that I wanted,” Muncy said. “I've been getting hits. I'm hitting the ball hard. Just haven't been getting it to go where I wanted to go. So that swing felt really good.”
Mistakes were still in abundance for the Dodgers (34-21).
The team’s second-inning rally was cut short after Dalton Rushing, an at-bat after hitting an RBI single, failed to avoid a tag near second base on what became a double-play grounder from Tommy Edman (another slumping hitter in the bottom half of the lineup lately).
In the fifth, Teoscar Hernández was slow getting out of the box on a line drive off the wall in right-center, and was thrown out by a mile after making an ill-advised decision to still try for a double.
And in between that, starting pitcher Dustin May hit his lone speed bump in a five-inning, three-run, nine-strikeout start: Offering up a down-the-middle sinker with two aboard in the bottom of the fourth that Daniel Schneemann crushed for a three-run homer.
“The swing-and-miss was there, just one bad pitch,” said May, who has three consecutive starts with at least eight strikeouts but has also given up home runs in each of his last five outings. “The long ball has kind of got me the last however many starts. Gotta try and figure out a way to limit that going forward.”
Nonetheless, the Dodgers still held off the Guardians (29-25) to clinch a series victory. Jack Dreyer and Ben Casparius provided three key innings of relief. Conforto and Muncy’s contributions made the two runs Luis García yielded in the ninth irrelevant.
And a club that’s simply been trying to keep its head above water lately was able to avoid any further sinking, ensuring they go no worse than .500 on this tricky Eastern road trip.
“It's definitely been better,” Muncy said. "Offensive side has been great. Pitching has been great … And the bullpen came in and did their job. Not putting too much stress on those guys, that's the key for us on offense, is to kind of give them a little bit of a lead to work with. And we were able to accomplish that.”
For the first time in a long time, thanks to contributions from Muncy and Conforto.
The Mets have officially lost one of their lefty relief arms.
Génesis Cabrera is signing with the Chicago Cubs, according to numerous reports.
Cabrera was designated for assignment this weekend to make room for a fresh arm from Triple-A.
After clearing waivers and being outrighted back to the minors, the southpaw elected to once again hit the open market as a free agent -- and shortly after, he landed a deal with Chicago.
Cabrera signed with the Mets this offseason on a minor league deal, and he was impressive during spring training but didn’t land a spot on the team coming out of camp.
With the big-league club dealing with injuries, though, he was called upon to provide some help out of the bullpen and he threw relatively well -- pitching to a 3.52 ERA and 1.30 WHIP across seven appearances.
New York currently has José Castillo and Brandon Waddell as their only southpaws, with AJ Minter sidelined for the remainder of the season and Brooks Raley still working his way back from Tommy John surgery.
PHILADELPHIA — Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola said his return from the injured list with a sprained right ankle was progressing slower than expected and that he probably needed to make a minor league rehabilitation start.
“Taking a little bit longer than I thought it would,” Nola said ahead of Tuesday’s game against Atlanta. “Since I’m here, I want to get it right to where I don’t really feel anything and to go 100%.”
Nola is 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA in nine starts.
The Phillies chose to put Nola on the 15-day injured list on May 16 to avoid another injury cropping up while he was favoring the ankle. The 31-year-old veteran allowed 12 hits, nine runs and three homers - all career highs - in a 14-7 loss on May 14 against St. Louis.
Nola, who signed a $172 million, seven-year contract ahead of the 2024 season, was injured on May 8 during pregame agility drills when the Phillies played Tampa Bay at Steinbrenner Field.
Nola said he tried to pitch through the injury over his last two starts.
“I thought it would be a good after a couple starts,” Nola said. “It would progress and kind of ease off on its own. But it didn’t really, so I’m on the IL.”
In 11 seasons with Philadelphia, Nola is 105-86 with a 3.78 ERA.
The Phillies led the NL East at 34-19 and had a nine-game winning streak snapped Sunday against the Athletics.
Nola is eligible to be activated on Friday. He will instead throw a bullpen session later this week and, if the ankle feels better, could head out to the minor leagues for a start. Nola did not throw a planned bullpen last Saturday because of soreness.
“Hopefully, Thursday it feels really good and I can get on the mound and throw a decent amount,” Nola said.
Nola was drafted seventh overall by Philadelphia in 2014 and has been one of the most durable pitchers since his 2015 big league debut. Aside from a 10-day stint on the COVID injury list in 2021, Nola hadn't missed a start since 2017.
