Category: Sports News

Phillies notes: Bader provides spark, Harper leads off as Phils face Mets originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Harrison Bader has seen this rivalry from both dugouts.

Last October, he was wearing a Mets uniform when New York sent the Phillies home in the NLDS. This September, he’s in red pinstripes, trying to flip the script as Philadelphia pushes for its first World Series trip since 2022.

After arriving from Minnesota at the deadline, Bader ran straight into the Phillies’ crowded outfield picture and felt the effects of inconsistent playing time. Over his first 18 days, he started just 12 games and went 7-for-41 (.171) with two extra-base hits.

Nick Castellanos told reporters on Aug. 20 that Bader had been frustrated with the situation. Bader responded with a two-hit game that day and hasn’t looked back. Since Aug. 20, he’s batting .400 with nine extra-base hits and a 1.114 OPS in 55 at-bats — the best average in the National League over that span (minimum 50 AB).

“I think just really not worrying about trying to fit in and just going out there and playing baseball and just trying to help this team win I think allows you to just fit in naturally,” Bader said. “At the end of the day, I think your game just speaks for itself … so just focusing on that has allowed me to help this team win, which is all I care about every single day.”

From steady defense to timely offense (and being a class act), the ninth-year spark plug has rewarded Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies’ front office for bringing him aboard.

A pivotal six-game homestand is next on the schedule, and with a seven-game division lead, Bader can continue making an impact all over the field.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a cushion,” Bader said of the Phillies’ division lead. “I think there’s a lot of baseball left on all sides for all teams involved, and I think the best way to add to that lead … is just to play one inning at a time and just focus on what we can control on a daily basis.”

Metro-kryptonite

If the Phillies want to turn over a new leaf, there may be no better time than this four-game home series against the rival Mets.

Since last year’s NLDS, the Phils are 3-10 against New York, averaging just 3.77 runs per game with a paltry .315 OBP and .337 SLG (.652 OPS). Against the rest of baseball this season, they’ve been a completely different offense — 4.81 runs per game and a .759 OPS.

The bullpen has been a particular sore spot. In those 13 games against New York, Phillies relievers have a 8.22 ERA, more than double their 4.09 mark against everyone else. The front office has reloaded the ‘pen in consecutive deadlines, but if the Phils want to avoid a similar outcome, this group needs to hold leads against the Mets.

Miller promoted to Triple-A

Hello, Lehigh Valley.

The Phillies’ No. 2 prospect has been on fire at the plate of late. Over his last 30 games at Double-A, Aidan Miller slashed .362/.483/.621 with 20 extra-base hits and 15 stolen bases.

Miller, who got off to a slow start in his third professional season, has shown off all of his tools and now gives the Phillies’ front office another decision to make when Spring Training rolls around.

There are just 12 games left in the Minor League season, giving the Phils’ 2023 first-rounder a late chance to test himself against more advanced pitching.

Monday preview

The task doesn’t get easier with Mets rookie Nolan McLean on the mound. MLB’s No. 36 prospect has a 1.36 ERA through his first four starts. He already stymied the Phillies on Aug. 27 with eight scoreless innings, four hits allowed and six strikeouts.

Aaron Nola gets the ball for Philadelphia. The veteran has a 3.64 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 30 career starts against the Mets, including the postseason. But he’s struggled in 2025 — allowing 52 earned runs in just 13 starts. With Zack Wheeler sidelined, the Phillies badly need one of their back-end arms, whether it’s Nola, Jesús Luzardo or the newly-added Walker Buehler, to steady things.

Monday’s lineup is shaken up with the injury news of Trea Turner and Alec Bohm. Bryce Harper will slide into the leadoff spot for the first time since Oct. 4, 2022. Harper has made 37 career starts hitting first, sporting a strong .932 OPS with 11 homers.

“It’s something we wanted to try and we’ll see how it goes,” Harper said pregame. “Not really anything different about it … I did it in high school, did a little bit in the big leagues for the Nationals, did it here for a second early in my career and I’m excited.”

Asked if he’d change his approach to see more pitches, Harper said: “I think I see enough pitches, right? So, I try to be myself and whatever comes my way, take the ones off and swing at the ones over the plate.”

Edmundo Sosa will start at short and Otto Kemp, recalled today, will be at the hot corner.

First pitch is set for 6:45 p.m. ET at Citizens Bank Park.

It was like Orel Hershiser could hear what Dodger fans were screaming at their TV.

Because, as slumping closer Tanner Scott came trotting into a nightmare ninth inning in Baltimore on Saturday night, the club’s color analyst on SportsNet LA immediately tried to offer a rationalization for his entrance.

“You might be asking, why Tanner Scott tonight?” Hershiser said, moments after the SNLA broadcast showed a clip of the left-hander getting walked off the night before, and moments before he’d get walked off again on a bases-loaded single to end Saturday’s disastrous loss to the Orioles.

Well, Hershiser continued, “If the Dodgers are going to go deep into October, and go back-to-back as world champions, the people Dave Roberts is bringing in have to get it right.”

Read more:Shohei Ohtani homers twice as Dodgers defeat Orioles to end five-game losing streak

An unsatisfying answer, perhaps. But one that reflects the precarious reality of the Dodgers’ bullpen situation — with the team feeling little choice but to rely on the high-profile relievers this year’s team was built around.

Granted, Saturday’s collapse epitomized just how difficult that faith has been to maintain.

It starts with Scott, the $72-million offseason signing who was supposed to cement the back end of the unit — not require an explanation from team broadcasters upon entering games in key situations.

It’s been compounded by inconsistencies elsewhere, from similarly scuffling offseason signing Kirby Yates; to Blake Treinen and the unreliable form he has shown since returning from an elbow injury, including a meltdown earlier in Saturday’s ninth inning that forced Scott into an unforgiving situation.

Injuries have also hampered the continuity of the bullpen time and again this season. Hard-throwing right-hander Michael Kopech has been limited to 10 appearances because of arm and knee troubles. Left-handed stalwart Alex Vesia has missed the last two weeks with an oblique strain (though he was set to be activated for this week’s homestand). The team’s only notable trade deadline reliever acquisition, Brock Stewart, made just four outings before going down with a shoulder injury. Evan Phillips is already out for the year with Tommy John surgery. It’s unclear if Brusdar Graterol will return from a shoulder procedure in time to pitch at all this year.

All of those names were supposed to make up the core of this year’s relief unit — the high-leverage pieces that the front office decided to invest in, and Roberts expected he’d be able to trust.

Instead, they’ve been the biggest culprits behind the bullpen’s 4.21 ERA on the season (which ranks 19th in the majors) and a spate of recent painful late-game losses that have kept the Dodgers mired in a two-month slump.

Moving forward, it has left Roberts and his club facing a difficult decision: Continue to trust that underperforming crop of supposed lockdown arms, or look for alternatives from less proven options elsewhere?

For now, the former appears to remain their preferred choice.

If the bullpen is to turn things around, they’ve decided, it will require their biggest names to simply start pitching better.

“These are the guys we signed off on, we believe in,” Roberts said Sunday. “Not to say that you've got to have blind faith forever. I understand that. But … I'm going to keep giving [opportunities] to them, until I don't."

Pitching coach Mark Prior echoed that same message, reiterating that “those are our guys, and we believe in them,” even as the team searches for late-season improvements.

“The results haven’t been there. It hasn’t been good,” Prior added. “[But we have to] move forward with the three weeks we have left in the season and get on a run. Things happen very fast in this game.”

Prior pointed to last season, when the Dodgers faced other — though much less alarming — bullpen questions leading up to the playoffs. At that time, they didn’t have a set closer in the ninth inning. Several key pieces were either hurt or scuffling in the second half.

Read more:Yoshinobu Yamamoto falls one out short of a no-hitter, then Dodgers lose in Orioles walk-off

Treinen, in particular, was one of the bigger uncertainties, after missing two weeks in August with a hip injury that also doubled as a reset amid a midseason slump. Once he returned, however, the right-hander transformed into the Dodgers’ most trusted late-game option. “Next thing you know, he’s the MVP of our team in the playoffs,” Prior said.

The stability he provided also helped the rest of the bullpen, which effectively carried the Dodgers to their World Series title, flourish around him.

“If they see a guy having some success, things just snowball,” Prior said, describing how successes (and failures) can often feel contagious among a bullpen at large.

That’s the kind of dynamic the Dodgers are trying to rediscover again this year.

It's why Scott (despite his 4.56 ERA and 12 combined blown saves and losing decisions) keeps getting late-game opportunities. And why Treinen (4.26 ERA), Yates (4.71 ERA) and other disappointments in the Dodgers’ beleaguered relief corps have been given continued leash to work to get back to the best version of themselves.

On paper, those are the most veteran, most experienced, and most trustworthy options on this year’s team. They have, as Roberts has repeatedly reiterated of late, the kind of “track record” the club is still willing to bet on. If just a couple of them can figure things out and get on a dominant run, more unit-wide success might follow in their wake.

“When you're talking about winning 11 games in October, getting there [requires] guys that you can trust in that hot box of moments,” Roberts said.

“[This] is who we have, it’s not like that’s changing,” Prior added. “So we just gotta keep getting there.”

That doesn’t mean the team will endure more struggles forever. The clock is ticking on the Dodgers’ expected leverage group to finally find a way to realize their potential.

On Sunday morning, for example, Roberts said Scott could be shifted out of his ninth-inning role as he tries to iron out command problems that have led him to consistently miss down the middle. Later that day, the manager entrusted a late-game lead to three rookies in Edgardo Henriquez (who escaped a jam but had shaky command), Justin Wrobleski (who struck out five over two scoreless innings in one of his best outings this year) and Jack Dreyer (a steady left-hander this season who now has three saves to go along with his sub-3.00 ERA) to close out a skid-snapping win against the Orioles.

Come the playoffs, there could be another wild card. Two-way star Shohei Ohtani will likely be needed in the starting rotation, but Roberts acknowledged there have been “thoughts about” whether he could factor into some kind of potential ninth-inning role as well.

“I can’t answer that question right now,” Roberts said. “But I think that we’re going to do whatever we feel is the best chance to give us a chance to win. And I know Shohei would be open to whatever. We certainly haven’t made that decision yet, though.”

But before they get there, much will depend on the actual relievers they expected to be able to count on this season. For as ugly as the performances have been to this point, the Dodgers haven’t yet abandoned all hope for a turnaround.

“I live in a world of, what's the alternative?” Roberts said. “I just don't feel that Edgardo Henriquez, for example” — who has 17 career major-league innings — “is now the savior.”

“It's not a knock on Edgardo, because he's throwing the heck out of the baseball,” Roberts added. “But you look at our 'pen, there's a confidence thing right now that [other guys have] got to get over.”

Read more:Despite emergency help from Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers lose again: 'Truly have no answers'

Over the final three weeks of the regular season, the Dodgers feel their best bet is banking on them to do just that.

“Look, it can turn really quick,” Prior said. “This game is so much about feeling confident … Getting, and being able to stack good outings or quality at-bats. When you’re able to start stacking those things, you feel good. And like anything, if you feel good, you feel better about your stuff. You have more confidence. You feel that you can get anybody out in any situation.”

The Dodgers’ top relievers, of course, appear to be a long way from that at the moment.

But “at the core of it,” Prior insisted, even after the frustrations of the bullpen’s continued failures, “we believe in who we have.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Monday blues: Phillies lose Turner, Bohm to injured list originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

An IL stint was certainly on the horizon for Trea Turner after he left Sunday’s contest in Miami with a hamstring injury, but losing Alec Bohm to the injured list was unexpected.

Turner, who was as hot as anyone, has a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. The expected recovery time is unclear, but the Phillies are hopeful he will be back for October and potentially before.

“It was better than what we’d expected,” manager Rob Thomson said pregame Monday.

The Phils’ shortstop experienced a hamstring injury last season, too. Turner spent 43 days on the IL and was clearly not the same player when he came back. After returning, he stole just nine bases over 88 games to finish the year.

Hamstrings are tricky and easily re-aggravated, which creates some uncertainty for Turner and the Phillies. This injury comes at the wrong time for Turner, who over his last 30 games was slashing .389/.433/.603 in 131 at-bats.

His defense has also made strides. Among shortstops with at least 500 plate appearances and 50 percent of games played at the position, Turner ranks fourth in MLB with 16 Outs Above Average. He’s been extremely valuable, ranking second in fWAR at 6.6.

Thomson said that he had noticed his veteran was working through something recently.

“I just felt [he was] a little banged up,” Thomson said. “There was nothing specific. It was just so I wanted to give him a day off from the turf. So we did, and then it happened.”

The Phillies skipper will keep his options open at shortstop, listing Edmundo Sosa as the top choice with Bryson Stott, recently promoted Donavan Walton and Weston Wilson also in the mix.

As for Bohm, he landed on the IL with a left shoulder injury.

“With Bohmer, he’s been grinding with this left shoulder for a while now, been fighting through it,” Thomson said. “It’s probably been 10 days. … So we decided to shut this thing down. We expect [him] maybe back in 10 days.”

It marks his second IL stint in the last two months. In July, Bohm suffered a fractured rib and missed nearly a month. Since returning, he has posted a .648 OPS and hit just .243 — down from .278 before the injury.

Otto Kemp was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to help fill the void. The 25-year-old infielder flashed potential earlier this season but also struck out 49 times in 145 at-bats. His versatility allows him to play third, second and left field.

Even with a seven-game lead over the Mets, the Phillies know the challenge ahead.

“Yeah, it’s tough. Anytime you lose one of your premier players, obviously it’s hard,” Bryce Harper said.

“Guys got to step up, keep playing the same ball that we’re playing and continue to play our game … just got to keep going.”

Harper emphasized that replacing All-Star caliber players like Turner and Bohm outright isn’t realistic right now.

“You can’t replace a Turner, it’s just not possible,” Harper said. “You can’t replace Zack Wheeler or anybody else. So everybody’s got to do their job and understand doing their job is the best thing for us.”

The Phillies have weathered injuries before and built themselves a cushion in the division. But with October fast approaching, they’ll need Turner and Bohm back in rhythm — a tall task given the minor-league season winds down soon.

Jun 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; James Hagens is selected as the seventh overall pick to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Theater. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

On Monday, the Boston Bruins announced an extension of their affiliation agreement with the Maine Mariners through the 2027-28 season.

“We are proud to extend our affiliation with the Maine Mariners through the 2027-28 season,” Providence Bruins General Manager Evan Gold, who is also the Assistant General Manager for Boston, said in a statement. “It has been a pleasure getting to know and collaborate with Dexter Paine over the past year-plus of his ownership tenure, and we are confident that his and the entire Mariners staff’s dedication to developing players and competing for championships fully aligns with our organizational development model. “The Bruins are excited to continue working with the Mariners to prepare our prospects for the next levels.”

The Mariners began their partnership with Boston and Providence in 2021, leading into Maine’s third ECHL season. The 2025-26 campaign marks year five of the affiliation and begins the new three-year extension.

“We are excited to extend our affiliation agreement with the Boston Bruins and Providence Bruins,” Mariners Owner & Governor Dexter Paine stated. “It is an important step for our franchise as we align the Mariners with these two historic franchises. Stabilizing and growing the partnership with both Boston and Providence was a priority of mine after purchasing the team last fall. I want to thank Cam Neely, Don Sweeney and Evan Gold, and we look forward to many great years as part of the Bruins development pipeline.”

The Maine/Boston affiliation has a history dating back to late 1980s and early 1990s, when the American Hockey League’s Maine Mariners served as Bruins affiliates for five seasons before the team relocated to Providence in 1992.

Where Giants' core of star players currently ranks among MLB's best, per ESPN originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Giants have won 11 of their last 14 games as one of the hottest teams in baseball, but where does San Francisco rank when it comes to the team’s core talent?

Not in the top 10 according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, who places the team right in the middle of the pack at 15th (third in NL West behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres).

While the team’s season success is not an apparent metric, McDaniel says he “judges teams based on which players they have under contract through the next two full seasons.”

The Giants saw an impressive jump up in the ratings from their 2024 rank (22), largely in part because of what Buster Posey has done in his short time with the team.

“I like what president of baseball operations Buster Posey has done in remaking this big league team,” McDaniel said. “He’s investing in star players (re-signing [Matt] Chapman, signing [Willy] Adames, trading for [Rafael] Devers), and at the deadline, he moved nonessential players or those on expiring deals to beef up the farm system.”

The Giants were just one of two teams in the top-half of the list to be without an “elite” player — “5ish WAR talent, or perennial All-Stars with MVP chances” per McDaniel.

Devers, who was listed as a “solid” tiered player, has batted just .253 since joining the Giants but really has turned it on since the start of August, slashing .289/.389/.602 with 12 home runs in 34 games played.

Another “solid” tier player, Adames, who had a woefully slow start, also has picked up the pace in the second half of the season. Over his last 15 days, he has slashed a respectable .289/.375/.622.

Other notable players in that tier: ace Logan Webb, Chapman and Patrick Bailey.

The list mentioned Giants top prospect Bryce Eldridge, who has continued to tear pitching up in Triple-A Sacramento, as well as Jung Hoo Lee and recently acquired outfielder Drew Gilbert, among others.

At 72-71, the Giants have significantly underperformed on the year, but with the roster they currently have, a hot streak earlier in the year could have made all the difference and made 2025 a completely different season.

McDaniel also states he believes the Giants could be a contender as early as next season. Only time will tell.

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