Category: Sports News

Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman's rehab start for Double-A Somerset did not go the way he wanted as the right-hander surrendered five runs on 10 hits and two walks on Tuesday night.

Stroman, in what might be his final tune-up before he returns to the Yanks' starting rotation after spending time on the shelf with left knee inflammation, went just 3.2 innings, throwing 65 pitches (41 strikes). He had just one strikeout, with four ground outs to two fly outs, pitching in terribly hot conditions as the game time temperature was 98 degrees.

Stroman began the first and second innings the same -- allowing the leadoff hitter to reach before getting the second batter to ground into a double play. But in each inning, he allowed traffic, surrendering a two-out run in the first.

Unfortunately, things didn't go his way in the third as the Erie SeaWolves tagged him for single, single, double, double, single to score four runs. He did get his third double play to end the inning.

The righty faced three batters in the fourth, getting a ground out and a strikeout before allowing a ground-rule double -- his fourth extra-base hit allowed -- ending his night.

The 34-year-old fared much better in his previous outing last Wednesday, when he retired the first 10 batters he faced with four strikeouts on his way to allowing two earned runs on two hits in 3.1 innings.

Stroman tossed 3.1 innings in his first rehab outing on June 11, allowing a run on one hit and two walks with four strikeouts.

Stroman made three starts in early April before landing on the IL, and he was not effective before getting injured. He allowed 12 runs on 12 hits and seven walks with just seven strikeouts in 9.1 innings, good for an 11.57 ERA.

In his debut season in The Bronx in 2024, the righty pitched to a 4.31 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in 154.2 innings over 30 outings (29 starts). He had 113 strikeouts to 60 walks

Ranger Suarez dazzles yet again but outdueled by Phillies' nemesis originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

HOUSTON — Two of the best and most battle-tested lefties in baseball hooked up Tuesday night for the sort of pitchers’ duel any fan can enjoy, a tight game between a pair of first-place teams that was scoreless until the bottom of the eighth.

Ranger Suarez’ one and only mistake of the night came on his 98th pitch, an 84 mph full-count cutter to light-hitting Cooper Hummel, who entered the night with a .158 career batting average. Suarez wanted it up-and-in. It was over the middle, slightly away, and Hummel took it to the opposite field for a solo home run. That was the only offense from either side in a 1-0 Phillies loss.

“It’s just baseball,” Suarez said. “You can’t miss pitches at this level and I paid for it. I’m proud of it being a good start but you can’t miss pitches at this level.”

He deserved a better fate after tossing another absolute gem. Suarez allowed just four hits over 7⅔ innings and has a 2.08 ERA on the season. Of his last 61 innings, 54 have been scoreless and he’s gone 47 in a row without allowing multiple runs.

When he’s healthy, so many of Suarez’ starts look just like this one — quick outs, limited baserunners, impeccable defense. He started a double play to end the fourth inning when he caught a Jose Altuve liner back to the mound and tossed to first base. He made an even better snag on a line drive back to the mound the next inning by Cam Smith.

“It just seems like every night, there’s one or two plays that are Ranger Suarez plays,” manager Rob Thomson said.

The lefty snagged both without his own glove. Suarez, a Rawlings guy, used Cristopher Sanchez’ Wilson glove on Tuesday night because he forgot his own back home in Philly.

“Both plays were really tough and I got scared on both,” he said. “First play was coming to the crotch and the next one to the face. It was scary.”

Prior to the Hummel homer, Suarez had outdueled Framber Valdez, who the Phillies never hit. Valdez has faced the Phils five times, including twice in the 2022 World Series, and allowed five runs. These have been the lines:

• 5 IP, 0 R, 10 K
• 7 IP, 3 R
• 6⅓ IP, 1 R, 9 K
• 6 IP, 1 R, 9 K
• 7 IP, 0 R

The Phillies taxed him, particularly early, but couldn’t find the one hit they needed. They put two men on base with two outs in the first inning, had two on with nobody out in the second, a leadoff baserunner in the third, two on with one out in the fourth and again in the sixth.

“I thought our approach was pretty good,” Thomson said. “We weren’t getting out of the zone early and we had opportunities, it just didn’t happen. Valdez made pitches when he needed to.”

So did Suarez, just as he has for seven consecutive weeks. He has a 1.17 ERA in his last nine starts.

Suarez and Valdez will be the top two left-handed starting pitchers on the free-agent market this winter. Suarez turns 30 in August. Valdez turns 32 in November. Valdez has a better track record of durability but Suarez is pitching himself toward a $100 million contract, as well.

It’s been another stellar first half for a pitcher some thought might end up back in the bullpen, where the Phillies have less depth. Suffice it to say, that ain’t happening, but Suarez continues to say all the right things.

“That conversation was never brought up to me and I always wanted to be a starter this year,” Suarez said. “That’s my usual role and what I wanted to do but that being said, what I want is for this team to win. I’m open to do whatever it takes to help, if that’s relieving or whatever. I’m always open and willing to help this team.”

Francisco Alvarez's first game back with Triple-A Syracuse came to a premature end.

The catcher was removed after the top half of the first inning in Syracuse's game at the Rochester Red Wings on Tuesday night due to a heat/dizziness issue, SNY's Andy Martino reported. He was replaced by Jakson Reetz behind the plate for the home half of the first inning.

The game time temperature in Rochester was 90 degrees.

Alvarez saw one pitch in his fist at bat – a 91.2 mph sinker off the outside corner – which he hit rather weakly (72.6 mph off the bat) into a 4-3 double play.

In 35 games with the Mets, Alvarez posted a .236/.319/.333 slashline with three home runs and three doubles in 138 plate appearances. The 23-year-old was sent down to the minors on Sunday.

Francisco Alvarez was removed from the game for Triple-A Syracuse after he grounded into a double play in the first inning: pic.twitter.com/CqcH1rODxI

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 24, 2025

There’s one major reason the New York Rangers decided to send their 2025 12th overall pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins and keep their 2026 first-round pick. 

Part of the thinking for the Rangers in moving this year's pick is to potentially be able to use their 2026 first-rounder for a move at the trade deadline if they are in a position to contend according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

The Rangers had a choice as part of the conditions of a trade with the Vancouver Canucks involving J.T. Miller to either give up their 2025 or 2026 first-round pick. 

Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury has not spoken publicly since making this decision, so it’s unclear exactly where his head is at on this specific choice he made. 

It’s clear that he deemed having their 2026 first-round pick is more valuable than keeping the 12th overall pick whether they are competitive during the 2025-26 season or not. 

The Rangers Made The Right Decision To Give Away Their 2025 12th Overall Pick And Keep 2026 First-Round Pick There’s a lot to sort out when analyzing the New York

It’s a move that may be frustrating for fans in the short term but could pay dividends for the Rangers in the long term.

Over the past 24 hours, both Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and president of baseball operations David Stearns have publicly acknowledged the obvious: the bottom of the Mets order is not producing.

They’re right to identify the problem. But Stearns was also correct on Tuesday in suggesting that internal fixes were coming.

More vexing for the season’s long-term outlook is the state of the Mets’ pitching.

On the hitting side, the current active roster is probably not strong enough to shake off the recent trend of frequently recurring flat games. But a lengthier lineup by mid-summer is easy enough to imagine -- not tonight, not tomorrow, but soon enough to keep the Mets in contention to make the deep playoff run that until recently felt likely.

Mark Vientos should return from the injured list at the end of the week, and Francisco Alvarez is in Syracuse trying to get right. It’s not unreasonable to think that at least one of those dynamic young hitters will find himself over the next few months. Both have already proven that they can slug in the big leagues.

Jesse Winker, on the IL since May 5 with an oblique strain, will begin a rehab assignment next week. His return will help shore up the DH spot and further lengthen the lineup.

Beyond that, I expect the Mets to seek a center fielder at the trade deadline, with Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins and Boston’s Jarren Duran among those who might become available. Tyrone Taylor is a winning player, but another bat could push Jeff McNeil into the bottom third of the lineup, which is where he fits best.

It’s too early to say if the Mets will seek a third baseman. But let’s play fantasy baseball for a moment. If Arizona makes free-agent-to-be Eugenio Suarez available or Boston is willing to move Alex Bregman ($40 million this year, followed by an opt out or two more years at $40 million), the Mets could acquire one as a rental player and use Vientos at DH for the remainder of the year. Brett Baty’s swing would play at Fenway Park.

That is all speculative. Maybe the reality of tweaking the infield mix is more in the Jeimer Candelario category than the Bregman/Suarez lane. But the idea illustrates how many avenues, both internal and external, exist that could improve the offense beyond the continued excellence of Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor.

"We have some players who are getting healthy who I think will help there," Stearns said Tuesday. "I also think the players who have struggled in our lineup over the last month largely are better offensive players than we've seen so far. They themselves have demonstrated that over periods of this season.”

It’s not as easy to see how the Mets address a pitching staff that suddenly seems shaky and tired -- and which still leads baseball in staff earned run average, though likely not for long.

Most nights, the Mets simply aren’t able to match the ace-level opponents they have faced in recent series against Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Philadelphia. That makes it hard to end a losing streak, or kick off a winning one.

Tuesday brought the news that Sean Manaea will pitch for the remainder of the season with a "loose body" or floating bone fragment, in his elbow.

Manaea had a cortisone injection to address the discomfort, and the team still expects him to return shortly from the oblique injury that has delayed the start of his season. But Manaea is more hopeful than certain that the elbow issue will not impede him for the rest of the year.

Clay Holmes, moved into a starting role this year, has lately shown signs of fatigue. Tylor Megill struggled before injuring his elbow. The bullpen, asked to carry a heavy load, has seen its own share of injury and regression.

Looking for hope? David Peterson continues to develop into a top-of-the-rotation starter, and Kodai Senga (hamstring) will return. The Mets continue to employ one of the best pitching coaches in the sport, Jeremy Hefner, and a POBO who has done this before -- including last year.

As the Mets try to find their way back to consistent winning, they are forced to do so with diminished pitching. They have prospects who might contribute in the future, but are not ready now. And just like at every trade deadline, most contending teams will be looking for impact pitchers.

It won’t be easy to find a way back toward enjoying the best pitching staff in the league.

Francisco Alvarez's difficulties behind the plate reached a crescendo in the days before the Mets sent him down to Triple-A Syracuse.

His inability to get in front of a ball in the dirt, and indecisiveness on a rundown play contributed to a loss early last week in Atlanta.

Then, on Saturday in Philadelphia, a passed ball on Alvarez led to a run.

The 23-year-old also mashed a 452-foot homer on Saturday night, showing the immense potential he still has.

Overall, Alvarez is hitting just .236/.319/.333 with three home runs and three doubles in 138 plate appearances over 35 games this season. And his struggles at the plate and behind it simply became too much for the Mets to ignore, resulting in his demotion on Sunday.

"Alvy's a really talented player. He got to the big leagues at such a young age, performed at such a high level immediately that it's difficult to remember sometimes he is still young," President of Baseball Operations David Stearns said on Tuesday at Citi Field. "He's an age that good prospects -- industry-leading prospects -- are still in Double-A. And he's been playing in the big leagues for two-plus years.

"So this is not unusual. And I think getting him a little bit of a chance to reset, to work on both sides of the game -- and we do think there are performance improvements that are needed on both sides of the game. Giving him an opportunity to do that in a less pressurized environment where he's not doing it in front of 45,000 people every night, against really good pitching, catching pitchers with really good stuff. We thought this was the right time to do that, both for him and for the team as a whole."

Alvarez missed the first month of the season after needing surgery for a fractured hamate bone in his left hand.

It was the second time in as many years that he missed significant time due to an injury -- Alvarez missed a chunk of time in 2024 after tearing a ligament in his left thumb.

While it's possible the recovery from the hamate surgery has impacted Alvarez's power a bit, it's not an extra-base hit surge the Mets are seeking from him in the minors before calling him back up.

"There are certainly some goals, and yes, they're not statistical," Stearns explained. "And they're on both sides of the ball. We want to see him get back to the level of player that we know he can be -- that's what he wants to do as well."

Stearns also discussed Alvarez's receiving difficulties, and whether or not he could be carrying his offensive struggles with him behind the dish.

"I think for any player, when you struggle on one side of the ball, sometimes it can impact the other side of the ball," Stearns said. "And I don't know if that is happening, but it would be natural if it would. Alvy's really competitive. He cares a lot, and sometimes that level of emotion -- that competitive spirit -- can be tough to corral.

"There are things I think we can help him with -- on both sides of the ball -- receiving among them, to get him back to the level that we're accustomed to seeing."