Category: Sports News

The Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Seth Hernandez found himself atop another prospect list as he was named the Florida State League’s top prospect for his body of work as a member of the Bradenton Marauders.

In six starts with Bradenton, Hernandez was nearly unstoppable. He amassed a 3-0 record and an ultra low 0.96 ERA. During his time in Bradenton the first-year pro only gave up three earned runs and had 50 strikeouts as a Marauder. He also had a 0.71 WHIP and held opposing hitters to an abysmal .135 batting average.

Hernandez was drafted sixth overall by the Pirates in 2025 and in his first professional season there were few Minor League pitchers as dynamic as he was. At just 20-years old the Corona High School product finished the season 6-1 with a 2.43 ERA and 118 strikeouts through 74.0 frames.

Over the course of his season, Hernandez’ performance caught the eyes of national attention as he started the year out as the number 26 prospect in baseball and will finish the season as the number seven prospect. While also being the Pirates’ top prospect, Hernandez also took home FSL Pitcher of the Week honor for his April 24 performance against Clearwater. Against the Threshers Hernandez finished the game with a career high nine strikeouts and allowed just one hit and two walks across five scoreless innings. That strong performance helped him earn Pitcher of the Month honors for the month of April as he went 2-0 with, had 17 strikeouts and had a 0.53 ERA through 17 innings.

Hernandez is projected to make his MLB debut by 2028.

MLB Trade Rumors | Charlie Wright: The big news prior to last night’s matchup with the Boston Red Sox was the expected, yet nonetheless somewhat disappointing, news that Aaron Judge would be left off the Wild Card roster. The right fielder, dealing with a “moderate” right calf strain, will not be eligible to return until the ALDS, should the Yankees make it that far. On the flip side, though, Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham were activated, and while neither projects to slot into the starting lineup, they serve as key depth as potential pinch-hitters late in the game. Grisham came in to play late in last night’s game when Heliot Ramos was removed for defense, Spencer Jones sliding over to right and Grisham moving into center.

MLB.com | Sarah Langs: The Yankees got off to a great start in the Wild Card Series opener, blanking the Red Sox 9-0 to move one win away from advancing. For much of the night, the clear-cut star of the show was the same man who slammed the door on Boston in their playoff showdown last year: Massachusetts native Cam Schlittler. (Ben Rice had a heck of a ballgame, too.) We turns it over to Langs, the queen of the fun facts, for seven of her favorite ones from Schlittler’s 6.1 brilliant innings of 10-K ball. Here’s one: Of the 56 pitchers to have ever made at least two playoff starts against Boston, only two have fanned 10 Red Sox twice. One is Cam; the other is the legendary Bob Gibson. Not bad!

Yahoo Sports | Bob Klapisch: On Monday afternoon, Judge made one last attempt to prove he was ready for the postseason, taking batting practice off Elmer Rodríguez (the projected starter for Sunday’s cancelled game) and Ryan Weathers. It was, unsurprisingly, unsuccessful, as the right fielder was only 13 days out from an injury that usually takes 4-6 weeks to heal. And yet, the fact that he can even make an attempt at all is the result of a somewhat-experimental medical procedure, PPP (platelet poor plasma) injections. Early indications suggest that these injections — the inverse of the platelet-rich plasma injections that have been used to treat tendons and ligaments — may help speed the process of soft-tissue injuries.

Also, on the topic of injuries, Red Sox leadoff hitter Roman Anthony had to leave Wild Card Series Game 1 in the sixth inning for a pinch-hitter. The 22-year-old missed nearly four months with various hand and wrist issues, and Boston manager Chad Tracy said they flared up again after an uncomfortable check-swing. There’s no word yet on whether the Red Sox will replace him on their roster or keep him around to see if he bounces back at all.

ESPN: Prior to the start of Wild Card play yesterday, ESPN posted their predictions for this year’s postseason. Perhaps surprisingly, the Yankees were the consensus in the Wild Card round, with 18 voters selecting the Bombers, and only six the Red Sox — tied for the highest margin in the first round matchups. Following rounds, though, went much worse for the Yankees, with the Rays the overwhelming favorite regardless of who they play in the ALDS; those numbers turned out to be identical for the ALCS as well, as none of the Central and West teams got any love.

MLB.com | Anthony Castrovince: We wrap up today’s news with a position-by-position breakdown of the Yankees and Red Sox, courtesy of MLB.com. In Castrovince’s opinion, the Yankees are the clear favorites, both collectively and on a position-by-position basis and collectively — so naturally, he picks the Red Sox in three, because “that’s baseball.” Here’s hoping he’s wrong.

For as often as it is applied with certainty, “Most Valuable Player” can feel uncomfortably inexact. Pitchers are valuable in different ways than hitters. Hitters are more valuable in good times than when they are slumping. Sheer productivity is valuable, but players can help win games in ways statistics obscure. Maybe “Most Valuable” is best explained as “you know it when you see it.”

And in the Yankees’ Game 1 win against the Red Sox on Tuesday night -- as on so many nights during the regular season -- Ben Rice was the player heaving them over a finish line that was not immediately clear they would cross without him. He went 4-for-5 with two home runs, one of which gave the Yankees a second run when the game was close early, the second of which was a grand slam that allowed them to preserve key arms late. He drove in six of the Yankees’ nine runs while becoming the first Yankee to homer twice in a playoff game in half a decade’s worth of Octobers. He left no doubt.

“Count on one hand,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “One of the best hitters in the league.”

Rice’s regular season will earn him plenty of down-ballot MVP votes, though he almost certainly will not beat out Yordan Alvarez’s near-Triple Crown season to win it. But if the award were given for sheer offensive productivity, his numbers alone would solidify him as a top-five finish. 

Rice posted the fourth-best OPS (.897), fifth-highest wRC+ (149), and tied for the fourth-most home runs (41) in the majors. Only eight players had a higher OPS with runners in scoring position than Rice (.975), who became the focal point of the Yankees’ lineup – and was therefore under more pressure to produce while being pitched more carefully – when Judge was on the injured list for three months this summer.

Built into that three-month period was one month (August, mostly) during which Rice struggled to prop up the lineup in Judge’s absence, hurt further by an injury to Cody Bellinger. He endured a .184 average and .641 OPS in August, and the Yankees’ offense sputtered without him.

“It was a great offensive season, and obviously, we needed it,” Boone said, before recalling that second-half swoon.

“That’s the thing you love to see. For as great a year as he had, he had a stretch there for a month where it was really a grind and a struggle, but he kind of got himself out of it.”

As Rice recovered, the Yankees’ offense followed, and it exploded after Judge returned from his rib injury. And when a strained calf pulled Judge out of action again, Rice slid back into the role of offensive anchor.

The 27-year-old is, and has been, the hitter around whom the Yankees built entire lineup plans this year. Even Judge’s injury made his production so crucial, and even with their catchers enduring historic offensive struggles, the Yankees did not put Rice back in his old position, too desperate for his offense to risk injury or overload from catching duties.

And as Judge, a three-time MVP, tries to work his way back from this injury in time for a potential Division Series, Rice represents the lineup lynchpin once again. Judge has said he will have to be healthy enough to play right field when he returns -- not just serve as the designated hitter -- because the Yankees lineup functions better with Rice in that spot. Meanwhile, Boone said before Game 1 that Major League Baseball’s active home run leader, Giancarlo Stanton, is effectively on the roster just to take a pinch-hit at-bat each night because getting him more chances would require maneuvering with Rice.

In fact, Rice is one of the Yankees’ few immovable objects. Luis Garcia Jr., whose .831 regular season OPS was 25th among qualified hitters, did not start Tuesday night because the platoon matchup favored Paul Goldschmidt at first base. Rice has been immune to Boone’s otherwise all-inclusive platoon considerations for quite some time.

“He’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen,” rookie George Lombard Jr. said. “And he shows why all the time.”

Still, Cam Schlittler was the one who heard MVP chants Tuesday night, and for good reason. He was untouchable, almost literally, for a Red Sox lineup that has seen him many times and planned for this. And when he was asked about those chants, he deferred to another Yankee more deserving of the title.

“We already got an MVP in this locker room. He’s won three of them,” Schlittler said of Judge. “If he were in there this whole season, he’d probably have it.”

But Judge was not in there this whole season -- wasn’t even in there for half of it -- and despite his best efforts to heal a strained calf in record time, he was not in the Yankees lineup Tuesday, either. Without him, against the kind of left-handed starter seemingly poised to punish the Yankees for the absence of their right-handed superstar, Rice was the unstoppable weapon.

His first-inning double signaled Payton Tolle was vulnerable. His home run against Erik Miller in the fifth gave the Yankees a two-run lead while signaling to the Red Sox that none of their lefties were safe. His bases-loaded single in the seventh gave the Yankees breathing room as Schlittler tired. And it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that his grand slam in the bottom of the eighth might decide the series. Because of that swing, Boone felt safe using John Schreiber in the ninth instead of David Bednar. Because of the size of the lead late, he did not need Brent Headrick, either.

Headrick and Bednar have been the Yankees’ best relievers all season. They will be fully rested in relief of Max Fried in Game 2. With a series win in reach, there might be nothing more valuable than that.

Anthony Volpe sure looked comfortable in his first playoff start at second base while delivering a key hit and sacrifice bunt in a 9-0 win over Boston in Game 1 of the wild card series at the Stadium.

It was a highlight in a rocky season for the one-time shortstop of the future for the Yankees, who bounced from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to The Bronx and all around the infield in a wild season.

Now he looks like he could be a key piece to a potential playoff run.

“I’m just in the moment and ready to go,’’ Volpe said. “Everything that happened, happened. … It’s all hands on deck.”

His path to Game 1 included offseason surgery to repair his left shoulder a little less than a year ago, followed by a minor league rehab assignment that began in April before he was optioned to the minors when he failed to show enough to merit a trip back to The Bronx at short.

When he finally got back to the majors, it came because José Caballero, who replaced Volpe at short, was hurt.

And after more than one trip back to the minors, Volpe didn’t play his first major league game at second base until this month.

“It was frustrating,’’ Volpe said. “As bad as it was, it was a good opportunity.”

“Credit to him,’’ Aaron Boone said prior to the game. “It was an incredibly difficult situation, but that’s why I always [say], we live in the moment so much. It’s a snapshot in such a long grind of the season. There’s gonna be good times, bad times, twists and turns. A lot of times, the cream usually rises to the top.”

The Yankees went with Volpe over lefty-swinging Jazz Chisholm Jr. against Boston left-hander Payton Tolle, with Volpe having started at second just 11 times in the majors before Tuesday night.

Still, infield coach Dan Fiorito expressed confidence that Volpe would be solid wherever he was asked to play.

“I know he’s ready,’’ Fiorito said before the game. “He’s got some games there going back to the minors.”

And Fiorito said Volpe’s knowledge of the game has helped with the transition.

“He doesn’t have the same experience as he does at shortstop, but he’s a baseball player,’’ Fiorito said. “He knows all his responsibilities. He’s looked good out there so far.”

Prior to this season, Volpe had appeared in just two games as a pro at second base, as the Yankees prepared him throughout his career to be the shortstop for the foreseeable future.

But his offense stalled and his defense regressed and when he played through the shoulder injury last season, it took a toll.

Many scouts have long believed that, despite the Gold Glove he won as a rookie, Volpe was better suited as a second baseman and with George Lombard Jr. so far looking the part, the best chance Volpe has of sticking in The Bronx — and making a difference this postseason — is an ability to play second and perhaps third.

“Anthony is a competitor,” Fiorito said. “He’s dialed in. He knows where everybody’s got to be on the field at all times. And he’s in the right spot at the right time. That makes you feel good about him.”

And Fiorito has been most impressed with Volpe’s consistency at other parts of the infield.

“He’s made some really good plays there, but he’s also made the ones you expect him to and that’s what you need this time of year,’’ Fiorito said.

All September, we watched the Red Sox half-heart their way through the month. Guys got days off, pitchers were pushed back, bullpen arms were saved, and the general intensity of all the games flat out sucked, especially as a late season product where historically there’d be a race to get into or improve playoff positioning.

All of this uninspiring play was only potentially made palatable by one overarching theme: After losing their previous series in New York at the end of August — And with it the tiebreaker over the Yankees — the Red Sox essentially made a deal with the baseball devil in which they (apparently) made their return trip this week their sole priority. In short, they put the results of games in the first four weeks of September on the backburner in favor of getting healthier and being ready to go for September 29th.

Well, September 29th came, and they were woefully unprepared for the very matchup they were supposedly studying up on for the last month. They looked flat, overwhelmed, and like a team who didn’t belong on the stage.

Just as importantly, they looked like the same team they’ve been all month, where they not only rank dead last in runs scored with just 71, but are 18 runs behind the next closest squad.

They also mimicked multiple September games in which they ran out the white flag bullpen squad after falling behind early. When Payton Tolle walked off the mound in the fifth inning, it was still just a 1-0 game, but the next five pitchers through the bullpen door were Erik Miller, Greg Weissert, Alec Gamboa, Wyatt Olds, and Brayan Bello. Chad Tracy did this in a playoff game, in New York, with winter potentially breathing down their neck in 24 hours. That is some September 15th garbage!

Regardless of whether you felt the July and August Sox were legit or all smoke and mirrors, there’s no denying they had a certain fight to them, and it’s a quality that kept them in every single game.

And then all at once, after losing that Yankee serious to close August, they intentionally and strategically stopped pushing for wins every day with the same intensity. On one hand, I can’t even entirely blame them for doing that because it’s largely the box this playoff format puts you in … But wow, if you’re going to do that, you absolutely need to have a way to guarantee you can hit the ground running and be ready to go when Game 1 does come around, because tonight, this Red Sox team proved entirely incapable of flipping the summer switch back on.

Apparently, in their final tune up, they spent all weekend practicing against the Trajekt machine on the Schlittler setting, and despite seeing the difference between his velocity and off-speed pitches simulated, it didn’t make a lick of difference and they still got caught with their pants down for the second year in a row.

Unfortunately, there’s no perfect way to enter the playoffs, and this wretched, bloated postseason format only further complicates the conundrum. For this reason, I’m actually partially sympathetic to the idea there’s just a reality here where the line between getting the plane off the ground and never even getting started in October is razor thin and tough to gauge.

However, at the same time, solving this riddle is exactly what the guys who run this team get paid to figure out. That’s literally the gig. And borrowing a dramatic turnaround, it appears they’ve failed miserably.

Things aren’t quite over yet, but unless Wednesday and Thursday feature a flip of the script that’s as jarring, abrupt and surprising as that performance was hideous on Tuesday, it’s going to be a brutal and bitter winter in Boston. If there’s any bullets left in the gun, they need to find it and start firing now.