Category: Sports News

PHILADELPHIA — Drew Gilbert (acquired from the Astros for Justin Verlander) is now with the Giants. Luisangel Acuña (Max Scherzer) is with the White Sox. Justin Jarvis (Mark Canha) is pitching in independent ball. Jeremiah Jackson (Dominic Leone) is with the Orioles. Marco Vargas is struggling with Double-A Binghamton and Ronald Hernandez is with High-A Brooklyn (David Robertson). Jeremy Rodriguez (Tommy Pham) has not yet made it past Low-A St. Lucie.

There is a chance that the Mets’ best hope at salvaging big league value from their 2023 sell-off rests in Ryan Clifford’s powerful, if flawed, stroke.

The first baseman and outfielder arrived with Gilbert as the return for Verlander and was one of the many newcomers who brought hope for an organization that had given up on the season, just as the Mets are expected to soon give up on this year.

But the haul — while somewhat useful, Acuña and Gilbert included in additional trade packages — has not yet panned out as planned, Clifford included.

The slugger represented the Mets at Sunday’s All-Star Futures Game because a) he has real pop, with 16 home runs in 86 games and b) the Mets farm system has lacked breakouts this season, prompting New York to send a loud bat who owns just a .679 OPS. Clifford himself said he was surprised at the honor.

His presence served as a reminder of what could be and what has not been: The ability is alluring, but the strikeouts are abundant.

With Triple-A Syracuse this year, the 22-year-old has struck out 129 times in 86 games, a 36.4 percent strikeout rate that is higher than every qualified major league hitter. The dearth of contact has contributed to a .196 batting average.

The struggles culminated in a horrid June, hitting .099 with a .355 OPS and 39 strikeouts in 93 plate appearances.

“June was not a good month for me,” acknowledged Clifford, who attributed his down season to swing changes made last season that “just don’t work for me anymore.”

Last season — a good one, Clifford swinging his way out of Binghamton and getting his first taste of Syracuse — he adjusted his posture and tried to stay back more. All his life he had dived his front shoulder in, and he tweaked his approach so he was less aggressive with the lunge. It worked.

“I want to say [Marcus] Semien was the guy who said it,” Clifford said. “He’s like, ‘All feels have an expiration date.’ ”

That approach expired in June, and Clifford is now working on finding a balance between staying back and diving in. Through the tiny sample size of eight July games in which he has posted an .816 OPS with a pair of home runs, he believes he is closer to finding “that middle ground,” he said.

Perhaps a late-season hot streak can translate to a promotion — for a prospect who is eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter, anyway — that he has been craving. Regardless, though, Clifford looms as another instance of poorly timed regression within the Mets system.

Only the Mariners and Diamondbacks have received less value from their first basemen this season, according to Baseball Reference WAR. The Mets’ first basemen entered Sunday with a .648 OPS, which was the second-worst in the game. A hobbled Jorge Polanco, Jared Young, Mark Vientos, Brett Baty and Eric Wagaman have not been the answer in a post-Pete Alonso world.

Clifford could not separate himself and be the answer at first either, just like Jonah Tong and Jack Wenninger were not ready in time to save this Mets season.

There is still time to save some value from the trade-deadline haul.

On Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, Clifford saw six pitches from fellow lefty Jamie Arnold and walked without taking a cut, showing discipline in a showcase spot in which “I was ready to swing,” he said.

He feels better at the plate. It is worth reiterating he is 22.

“Trying to find new things that work [at the plate] took a little bit longer, obviously, than I would have liked,” Clifford said. “But looking to build and continue to have a good July.”

The Mets were three outs away on Sunday from salvaging the finale of their three-game series with the Boston Red Sox and entering the All-Star break on a rare high note.

A win wouldn’t have done much in the standings as New York is well out of contention in what has been a lost season, but the feeling in the clubhouse would’ve been positive after Zach Thornton pitched brilliantly in just his third major league start and in line for his first career win.

But even small wins are hard to come by for the Mets this season as Francisco Lindor and Devin Williams were unable to finish the job in the ninth. 

Lindor, who was responsible for driving in both New York runs with a first inning double and a solo shot in the sixth, couldn’t field a ground ball hit directly at him that could’ve easily been turned for a game-ending double play which allowed the inning to continue.

“The ball ate me up,” Lindor said after the game. “I went after it, it just took a hard hop and hit me on the palm of my hand – the palm and wrist area. I just didn’t make the play. It’s unacceptable.”

Williams went on to walk the next batter to load the bases and then walked another to bring home a run. Jarren Duran singled on a shallow fly ball that tied the game before a lineout double play bailed the Mets out. As it turned out, though, it only delayed what was coming.

New York couldn’t score in the bottom half of the inning which sent the game to extra innings where Boston scored in the 10th to take the lead. When it was their turn to bat, the Mets couldn’t even advance the free runner at second base and were swept in gut-punching fashion which culminated a first half that saw them go 40-57.

“Yeah that’s tough. Everybody in that clubhouse will tell you that right now,” said interim manager Andy Green. “Everybody’s out there wanting to win a baseball game putting everything out there.“

The blown save, while not completely his fault, was Williams’ third of the season and with one of the two runs he allowed being earned, he now has a 4.83 ERA. And after a magnificent month of June where he pitched to a 0.96 ERA across nine appearances, the right-hander has struggled again lately, owning a 10.80 ERA in four games in July.

Despite this, Green has no plans “at this point in time” of removing Williams from the closer role once the Mets resume play in the second half and pointed to the right-hander’s experience as to why.

“Devin’s done it for so long and he’s done it really, really well,” Green said. “We can look at this game scenario and say we got a double play ball, we didn’t defend behind him on that particular play. Got a blooper that fell in.

“This game is usually in our side of the ledger and it’s not and like I said it’s painful and frustrating for everybody in that clubhouse, but he did some positive things on the mound to get a double play ground ball in that situation.”

Even with the vote of confidence from his manager, Williams looked dejected after the game in what has been his second rough season in New York (the first one coming for the Yankees) after flourishing for years in Milwaukee.

“It hasn’t been fun. Not a lot of celebrating going on in this clubhouse right now, but we get to take a couple days off and show up and try to do it again,” he said.

As for Lindor, what could’ve been a great game for him and reason to believe he can turn his injury-riddled season around in the second half was completely erased following his error.

Not only is the shortstop slashing just .216/.298/.373 in 40 games this year, his defense and concentration has been suspect this season even before his injury – certainly odd for a two-time Gold Glove winner still in the prime of his career.

“Comes down to I gotta be better, I gotta execute,” Lindor said. “Pitchers are executing and I just gotta finish the play for them. I gotta be better, that’s what it comes down to.”

He continued: “I wasn’t able to capitalize on the good pitch that Devin made to finish the game. Ultimately that’s what it comes down to and I didn’t finish the play and it’s unacceptable. [I’m] not playing to the standard that I have, not playing to the organization’s standards. It’s just, I gotta get better.”

The Mets now have the difficult task of trying to flip the script of what was a terrible first half in the season’s final 65 games when they return to action on Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Had they won Sunday’s game that task would’ve been slightly less daunting, but now it’s going to take an entire team effort and even that might not be enough.

“It encourages us to fight, at the end of the day that’s the only thing we can do and we’re gonna try to be better,” Lindor said. “We’re gonna play as hard as we can in the second half and hopefully we put ourselves in a much better position because right now it’s not where we want to be.”

Zach Thornton hasn’t found a way to stick in the Mets rotation this season.

That may change after his performance Sunday, perhaps the lone bit of optimism after another disappointing defeat.

The rookie left-hander, who lacks a dominant repertoire, has impressed the organization with his ability to make the most of his arsenal.

He did it again in a 3-2, 10-inning loss to Boston, when he tossed seven shutout innings against a solid lineup.

Interim manager Andy Green said the 24-year-old would make his next start in the majors, which is hardly a surprise considering the state of the rotation.

“He attacked, was aggressive and had tempo,” Green said. “He missed barrels. … For us, that is what we want to see out of him.”

It’s more than they have seen from most of their rotation, which consists of Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and Sean Manaea, as well as Freddy Peralta — who figures to be moved prior to the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Thornton said he relied on throwing all five of his pitches for strikes, which is how he can get by with a four-seamer that typically sits in the low 90s.

“It’s the way I grew up watching the game,’’ Thornton said, noting Jacob deGrom as an example.

“DeGrom would go seven or eight innings every time, through the lineup three or four times,’’ Thornton said.

Thornton’s stuff won’t often be confused with deGrom’s, but his results Sunday were more than the Mets could have asked for.

His previous two outings came with Triple-A Syracuse, but Thornton had already pitched well against the Phillies in his second start in the majors this season.

He allowed just two hits and a pair of walks over his seven innings and needed just 82 pitches to do so.

Thornton hardly broke a sweat through the first four innings. He retired 13 of the first 14 batters he faced, allowing only a leadoff walk in the second to Romy González before Andruw Monasterio doubled with one out in the fifth.

Thornton then struck out Jarren Duran and induced a groundout from Nate Eaton to keep the Mets ahead by a run.

Kodai Senga is out of the rotation, Clay Holmes is still sidelined by a fractured fibula and Tobias Myers was optioned to Syracuse again Sunday, leaving plenty of room for Thornton.

“I’m super excited to be here to contribute to wins,’’ Thornton said.

Asked if he thought he belonged in the majors, Thornton said, “I think I belong anywhere.”

“He’s unafraid,’’ Green said. “We’re seeing who he is. He attacks everybody at every level.”

For a team going nowhere, finding out if Thornton can keep this up might be worth watching in the second half.

On Saturday, Virginia Tech pitcher Brett Renfrow heard his name called in the 2026 MLB Draft, selected No. 74 overall by the Minnesota Twins.

Major League Baseball wrapped up the draft on Sunday, and three more Hokies heard their names called. Here are those Hokies:

• P Luke Craytor: Selected 255th overall (9th round) by the Chicago White Sox
• P Griffin Stieg: Selected 378th overall (13th) round by the Pittsburgh Pirates
• P Madden Clement: Selected 449th overall (15th round) by the Kansas City Royals

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Craytor is a native of Charlottesville (Western Albemarle), and he spent his first two collegiate seasons at Lafayette. He played the last two seasons for the Hokies. In 2026, Craytor appeared in 21 games, going 4-0 with a 3.16 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 25.2 innings pitched. He allowed 22 hits and 13 walks.

Stieg, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-hander from McLean, Virginia (McLean High School), spent four seasons at Virginia Tech, finishing his collegiate career with a 6-7 record and a 6.32 ERA, with 124 strikeouts in 136.2 innings pitched.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Clement is a native of Butler, Pa., and spent three years at Virginia Tech. Clement finishing his career by pitching in 21 games, making 11 starts, finishing with a 2-1 record, a 4.74 ERA, with 41 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched.

Congratulations to all four Hokies who are beginning the next step of their baseball careers.

Devin Williams’ blown save Sunday wasn’t as much on the closer as it was on Francisco Lindor’s ninth-inning error, but Williams was hardly blameless.

After struggling for most of his time with the Yankees last season, Williams has been inconsistent — at best — with the Mets and has allowed runs in three of his past four outings heading into the All-Star break.

Despite that — and that another former Yankee, Luke Weaver, has been excellent — interim manager Andy Green said Williams isn’t going anywhere and will still be the closer in the second half of the season.

Asked if he was considering a change following a 3-2, 10-inning loss to Boston, their third straight defeat, Green said, “Not at this point.”

He struggled early with the Mets and then had a solid 10-appearance stretch, but has fallen on hard times again.

Williams said of his outing Sunday, “I didn’t have my best command by any means. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Weaver, meanwhile, has been outstanding after coming over from The Bronx.

But Green pointed to Williams’ experience as his reason for keeping him in his role.

“Devin has done it so long and done it really well,’’ Green said.

He also noted that Williams — at least Sunday — was the victim of some misfortune.

In addition to Lindor’s error, there was also a bloop single by Jarren Duran that scored a run.

Still, Williams ended up allowing a pair of hits and two walks in the fateful inning.

“He did positive things on the mound,’’ Green said.

Bo Bichette was out of the lineup for a third straight game to close out the first half as he continues to deal with right ankle soreness.

Bichette pinch hit in the bottom of the 10th and hit a soft liner to first to end the game.

Green said before the game Bichette would be limited to pinch hitting as the team looked to use the upcoming break to give him more time off. However, Bichette said after the loss he would be ready to play Thursday in Philadelphia.

Marcus Semien (left hip flexor strain) homered and had a pair of hits in a minor league rehab game with Double-A Binghamton on Sunday. Green said Semien and Luis Robert Jr. (lumbar spine disc herniation) would get some at-bats against Clay Holmes over the All-Star break as all three prepare to return at some point in the second half.

Robert also had two hits with Binghamton on Sunday, with Green saying both he and Semien would likely get more rehab games following the break before they could rejoin the lineup.

Right-hander Tobias Myers was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday to open a spot for Zach Thornton.

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Charlotte Knights 12, Nashville Sounds 4
Completely redeeming themselves from Saturday, the Knights (49-44) popped off for 15 hits and blew out the Sounds (53-40), 12-4, splitting the series with three wins each. Two homers and five RBIs in the game from Nolan Jones and a grand slam from Michael Turner in the fourth accounted for nine of the 12 runs, and Edgar Quero blasted three hits and an RBI. Five of the nine Charlotte batters posted multi-hit days, as both Ryan Galanie and Caden Connor went 2-for-5, with the final RBI attributed to Mario Camilletti. The Knights also walked four times, with Rikuu Nishida accounting for three of them, scoring all three times he reached base, stealing one along the way.

After a pair of rehab starts with the Winston-Salem Dash, Shane Smith was officially reinstated to the Knights roster and tossed four solid frames with one run scoring on three hits and a walk, striking out five in the process.

Righthander Tanner McDougal made his third appearance since being activated from a longer IL stint, and he has yet to surrender a hit in his three innings, adding another scoreless frame today with two walks and two strikeouts. Lucas Sims ended up with his second win of the season after a hitless frame, though Sims hasn’t been consistent at all this season, holding an 8.10 ERA in 14 games and 13 1/3 innings.

Columbus Clingstones 7, Birmingham Barons 4
Neither side of the ball was positive for the Barons (32-55), as they struck out 12 times at the plate, went 2-for-9 (.222) with runners in scoring position, and the pitching allowed six in the first 4 2/3 innings to drop five of six to the Clingstones. Lefthander Lucas Gordon has struggled in 2026 with the Barons, reaching a 5.15 ERA in 18 starts (87 1/3 frames), and he wound up with his fifth loss of the season in Sunday’s series finale. The main issue with Gordon is a high (11.5%) walk rate, and he gives up a home run or two nearly every outing. Only five of his 18 starts have gone without a home run allowed, and his 1.73 HR/9 is nearly double last season’s (0.84 HR/9). Until he makes an adjustment to prevent the long ball, he could have a tough time working his way up to the majors.

Only two players were able to drive runs in, and Alec Briley started the scoring for the Barons with an RBI base hit in the top of the third that had cut the lead in half for Birmingham, 2-1, Columbus. The other three belonged to Brenden Dixon, who smashed a three-run shot in the seventh for his third home run of the year, but the offense left four on base and couldn’t close the gap.

Winston-Salem Dash 10, Asheville Tourists 4
Scoring in every inning except for the sixth, the Dash (50-37) outhit the Tourists (20-56), 11-7, to even out the series at three, 10-4. It also helped that Asheville committed an error that provided an unearned run to Winston-Salem, and thanks to five homers for the Dash, it didn’t matter that they went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position with 10 left on base. Jeral Perez was a triple short of the cycle with three hits on the day, and Arxy Hernández led the team with three RBIs on two hits, including a three-run bomb in the fourth. Both he and James Taussig have homered in back-to-back games, with the other two stemming from Ryan Burrowes and George Wolkow.

Appearing in his sixth rehab appearance with the Dash, lefthander Tommy Vail made his first start since returning from the IL, tossing for 2 1/3 with two runs allowed (just one earned) on three hits and three strikeouts, but he struggled with free base runners with four walks on the day. In his 7 2/3 frames with Winston-Salem, Vail holds an 11.74 ERA with a frightening 2.87 WHIP, on top of walking three more batters (10) than he’s struck out (seven). Working as Sunday’s bulk reliever, righthander Jake Curtis took over for four scoreless, earning his third win of the season.

Delmarva Shorebirds 6, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5
The pitching couldn’t hold the Cannon Ballers (44-43) lead, as Marco Barrios blew the save in the sixth that allowed the Shorebirds (31-56) to take the lead and win the game, 6-5. The Ballers still won the series, but they ultimately lost a four-run lead, and Truman Pauley did not set Kanny up for success with four runs allowed in his 3 2/3-inning start. Barrios was the only rough part of the bullpen, however, as Ryan Schiefer, Jesus Mendez and Jordan Morales all finished with a scoreless outing.

All five runs came from two innings, though the Cannon Ballers couldn’t buy a run after the fourth. A squeeze bunt from Efren Teran and a two-run double from Jaden Fauske scored three for Kannapolis early in the top of the second, while Matthew Boughton recorded the other two RBIs with a two-run single just a couple innings later. Adrian Gil also walked twice, scoring both times, but none of the Ballers put up multi-hit days.

PHILADELPHIA — There is nothing unique about the Yankees developing a hard-throwing and effective reliever, the type the club regularly churns out (and regularly deals at the trade deadline).

There is nothing unique about the Yankees finding a gem later in the draft, a recent organizational strength that is on display this week with first-time All-Stars Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler.

So maybe Ben Grable, an 11th-round pick out of Indiana University last year who has sawed through competition at High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset, making him a late addition to Sunday’s All-Star Futures Game, is not unique.

On the mound, though, there really is no major leaguer like him.

Grable said he is averaging 96.1 mph with his four-seamer and about 20.5 to 21 inches of induced vertical break — essentially the movement generated from how the ball spins. The more vertical break, the more the ball seems to rise (and the more hitters tend to swing under the pitch).

There are three qualified major leaguers (Alex Vesia, Tobias Myers and Dylan Lee) whose four-seamers average 20 inches of vertical break. None has a fastball that buzzes at even 94 mph.

There are plenty of pitchers whose fastball are as fast as Grable’s, but none fight gravity like his four-seamer. The closest comparison might be the Padres’ Jeremiah Estrada, whose heater has averaged 95.8 mph with 19.8 inches of vertical break this year. In the past three years in San Diego, Estrada has often been untouchable with a 3.26 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 154 ²/₃ innings.

That is as close to company as exists for Grable, whose fastball’s combination of velocity and spin makes it like no one else’s.

“When I got to Indiana, they sort of taught us the metrics and all that,” Grable said before throwing two pitches and recording one out in a brief appearance at the Futures Game. “I didn’t really know how good it was until I got into New York.”

The 6-foot-4 right-hander was not the first choice to represent the organization at Citizens Bank Park — George Lombard Jr. and Carlos Lagrange were scratched with injuries — but he was a worthy choice in what has been a quietly incredible season.

His 2.61 ERA is good. His peripheral numbers are better. Among the 1,602 affiliated minor leaguers who have thrown at least 30 innings (Grable has thrown 31 innings in 28 relief appearances), Grable ranks fourth in WHIP (0.77), 16th in strikeout percentage (40.2 percent) and eighth in opponents’ batting average (.127) while walking 2.90 per nine innings.

A Southern California native who pitched two years at Northwestern and one at Indiana, Grable underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024. He returned to start and relieve for the Hoosiers, posting a 4.31 ERA in his final collegiate season before becoming one of 10 pitchers the Yankees drafted last year (and the first to shoot through the system).

He is a different pitcher than he was at college, where he said his fastball averaged 92 mph at Indiana and where he threw a different slider.

He said he “cleaned up my mechanics,” now pitches exclusively from the stretch, worked on a fastball the Yankees believed “can be a whole lot better” and watched his velocity spike.

“It’s a unique profile and shape in comparison to a lot of other fastballs out there,” said Somerset manager James Cooper, who was the AL’s third base coach. “Just when teams were starting to figure that out, that’s when he started landing the secondary stuff, and I think that’s what’s been making him special.”

His tight slider is not unique, but that is kind of the point: Seeking a different grip about a month and a half ago, Grable wound up watching a Pitching Ninja online interview with Reds All-Star Chase Burns. He scrolled through the video feed, found the grip and tried it because, “I figured he’s got a pretty good slider, similar heater shape.”

The next day Grable threw it during a touch-and-feel bullpen session. He then took the mound that night and “punched [out] three,” he said, with what would become his new slider.

“He’s been able to dominate the game with those two pitches,” Cooper said.

The domination brought him to a showcase and a seventh-inning face-off with star Brewers prospect Luis Peña, who flied out on the second pitch and first slider he saw.

Grable’s takeaway?

“It’s pretty fun to pitch in a big league stadium.”

LSU Baseball’s emotional leader since 2023, Gavin Guidry, was taken at #480 over by the New York Mets in the 16th round.

Guidry’s LSU career was full of success, but there were also some speedbumps along the way that tested his resolve.

After getting to Baton Rouge as one of the top-ranked shortstops in 2023, the Barbe product played sparingly behind Jordan Thompson in the infield. Halfway through the season, the Tigers pitching staff suffered two season-ending injuries to Chase Shores and Garrett Edwards, putting them in a tough spot. Guidry transitioned to the mound and hit the ground running. He became one of the most important pieces of that bullpen, even recording the final out of the 2023 National Championship.

He followed that up with a solid sophomore campaign in 2024, but the troubles began in 2025. After being scratched from an early season midweek start, he was said to be week-to-week with a back injury. He attempted to work his way back, but he continued to hit roadblocks and was eventually shut down for the year. The veteran then became an extra coach, often seen mentoring younger players on the team. Even from the dugout, Guidry was instrumental in Jay Johnson’s team winning their second title in three years.

His return on Opening Day of the 2026 was electric. He jogged out from the bullpen to a massive ovation from the Alex Box crowd and picked up right where he left off, striking out hitter after hitter with his “hammer” of a breaking ball. As the season went on, Guidry seemed to wear down and his performance slipped. He still has eligibility, but he said following the season that he was hoping to begin his professional career. He considered 2026 a “bonus year”, as he had hoped to move on after 2025 before he got hurt.

Guidry will go down as one of the most important players of the Jay Johnson era. At least the beginning of it. He stepped up time-and-time again and will almost surely head to the MLB with a lot to be proud of.

In three seasons for the Tigers, Guidry finished with a 10-3 record. He pitched 96.2 innings and had a 4.66 ERA. That number is only inflated by his late season struggles this past year. In his first two seasons, his ERAs were 3.77 and 2.59, respectively. He struck out 137 hitters in three years.

The New York Mets are getting a bulldog, who’s as competitive as they come.

Blaze Alexander suffered a fractured left hand after he was hit by a pitch in the Orioles’ 8-2 win over the Royals, setting off a benches-clearing incident. 

No punches were thrown, but the third baseman ended up with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz told reporters after the game. The Orioles skipper called the injury a “gut punch.” 

Royals reliever Lucas Erceg missed way outside the strike zone with a 1-2 pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning, which resulted in Alexander being hit. 

Alexander was visibly upset and turned to jaw at Erceg, and the Orioles staff quickly came out to restrain him from escalating the situation further. 

The Royals and Orioles benches did empty out, but tensions cooled down shortly after as both teams retreated to their dugouts. 

After the game, Erceg told reporters that he did not hit Alexander intentionally. 

“There’s no ill intent. That’s baseball,” Erceg said. “I mean, guys are going to get hit, and you have to, I guess, kind of understand the situation. I understand why he’s mad. Obviously, you don’t ever want to get hit, especially in the hand. So sorry about that.”

The injury is a tough break for the Orioles with Alexander batting .312 at the moment and Baltimore riding a four-game winning streak into the MLB All-Star break. 

Neither club has been doing particularly well this season, with both the Orioles and Royals sitting near the bottom of the standings in their respective divisions. 

The Orioles are fourth in the AL East and 11.5 games back of the first-place Rays. 

The Royals find themselves in the basement of the AL Central and 13 games back of the first-place White Sox. 

Kansas City is also 21 games under .500 heading into the All-Star break.