Category: Sports News

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Brewers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked fans to grade the Brewers at the unofficial midpoint. The results were about what you’d expect:

The Brewers, who currently sit at 59-37 with a five-game lead in the NL Central and the second-best record in baseball, overwhelmingly received positive grades in the poll, with 86% of votes coming at A- or higher. The “A” grade finished at the top with 41% because, after all, there’s always room for improvement.

Rather than rehashing how well the Brewers have done this season, I decided to take a look at the grades and expectations of others around the league at this point.

To begin, you can take a look at our staff midseason awards and grades, where you’ll see that five of our six contributors gave Milwaukee an A (with only Jackson putting them at an A-).

The Athletic also released their latest poll results this morning, as 21/22 voters picked Milwaukee to win the NL Central (the lone other vote went to Chicago), all 22 voters said Milwaukee will make the postseason, 3/22 picked Milwaukee to win the NL pennant, and 2/22 picked the Brewers to win the World Series. Also of note: 3/22 voters picked the Brewers to finish the season with the most wins, 4/22 picked the Brewers to win at least 100 games (a threshold the franchise has never achieved), and 13/22 picked Milwaukee as their “dark horse” World Series contender. Lastly, 15/22 picked Jacob Misiorowski to win NL Cy Young, with Cristopher Sánchez picking up six votes and Shohei Ohtani receiving one vote.

ESPN’s second-half preview includes the Brewers as one of “The Big Four,” alongside the Dodgers, Rays, and Braves. They give Milwaukee a projected final record of 98-64, with 16.5% odds to win the World Series, second to only the Dodgers’ 27.5%.

Bleacher Report released a list of bold predictions for each team, and they picked Jacob Misiorowski to set the franchise strikeout record, which currently sits at 264 by Ben Sheets back in 2004.

Lastly, I’ll just mention that FanDuel Sportsbook currently gives the Brewers -600 odds to win the NL Central (bet $600 to win $100), +270 odds to win 100-plus games (bet $100 to win $270), and +1100 odds to win the World Series (bet $100 to win $1100), tied with the Mariners for the fourth-best odds in baseball, behind only the Dodgers, Yankees, and Braves.

Brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

The real test begins. This is the true start of the second half of the season and this is where the Red Sox either prove they’re worth their mettle or show us they are who we thought they were. Let’s get it.

Game 1

⚾️Time: 1:35pm – Fenway Park, Boston, MA

📺 TV: NESN

📻 Radio: WEEI

Pitching Matchup: Jake Bennett vs. Griffin Jax

Game 2

⚾️Time: 7:10pm – Fenway Park, Boston, MA

📺 TV: NESN

📻 Radio: WEEI

Pitching Matchup: Eduardo Rivera vs. TBD

MLB’s Texas Rangers announced Wednesday that the team would be switching its direct-to-consumer streaming partner, moving midseason from Victory+ to Bzzr effective immediately. According to the team’s past trademark request filings, it has been preparing to work with Bzzr for more than a year. 

“It is unfortunate that this switch in direct-to-consumer distributors was necessary, but the decision was made in the best interest of both the Rangers and our fans,” Rangers Sports Media and Entertainment Company chairman Neil Leibman said in the team’s statement, adding that Rangers Sports Network “is committed to continued delivery of the highest-quality game broadcast possible, and we feel Bzzr is well-positioned to manage a seamless transition.”

More from Sportico.com

• Fox Draws Largest MLB All-Star Game Audience Since 2018
• Adam Silver Projects 2027 Launch Date for NBA's Local Streaming Hub
• Japan Video-Game Publisher Goes Global With Nippon Baseball Game

The press release does not mention that Leibman, who is also a minority investor in the MLB team, is a director of Bzzr, as was reported by The Dallas Morning News. The paper also reported that the Rangers “had grown increasingly concerned about (Victory+’s) ability to meet financial and delivery obligations.”

A Rangers representative declined to comment on Leibman’s connection to Bzzr. 

In June and July of last year, months after Bzzr’s incorporation, the Rangers filed three Bzzr-related trademarks—Bzzr Sidecar, Bzzr Sideshow and Bzzr Sidecast—all related to the creation of an “on-line community for sports fans.” In March, the U.S. Patent and Trade Office issued a “notice of allowance” on Bzzr Sidecast, essentially informing the Rangers that in one of the final steps before being awarded the trademark, the team had six months to show that it was using the marks for commercial purposes. That deadline, which can be extended, is currently Sept. 10.

The other two trademarks, Bzzr Sidecar and Bzzr Sideshow, have both been refused due to the “likelihood of confusion” with existing trademarks. In each case, the potentially conflicting trademarks were ones held by Buzzer Technologies, the sports streaming app that raised more than $40 million from a number of prominent backers before ultimately shuttering in May 2023. The final notice from both of those rulings were issued earlier this month; a rep for the Rangers declined to comment on whether the team would appeal. Rangers Sports Network has posts on Bzzr dating back to late 2025.

Those connections help explain why Texas chose a lesser known streaming partner that had not previously claimed significant live game rights, and—if the Rangers had felt a need to pivot quickly—how Bzzr could theoretically have presented a preferred online home on short notice. Other potential new partners might have needed longer to set up a subscription offering or adjust their business plans. It’s unclear how long the Rangers were preparing to make the move, or for how long Bzzr will stream the team’s games beyond this season. Financial terms were not announced.

Victory+ said in a statement it will continue to air Dallas Stars games as well as “a growing portfolio of professional and amateur sports.” The Stars hold equity in the streaming business, which also has distribution deals with the NWSL, League One Volleyball and the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and Minnesota Lynx. The Anaheim Ducks are reportedly ending their relationship with Victory+, which has missed rights payments to partners, according to Sports Business Journal. 

Fans who bought a season pass for Rangers games on Victory+ are able to transfer their membership to the new platform. On X, the Rangers said they “have requested that V+ make refunds to subscribers as requested and appropriate.” Texas games will also continue to air on Rangers Sports Network across TV distributors. 

The live chat forum on RSN’s Bzzr page turned into a venting session for some Texas fans Wednesday as an admin account responded to certain user issues.

“Can we just get a refund?” a commenter named Tex Ranger wrote. 

“Do the Rangers not want fans any more?” Joy Pierce asked. 

By Thursday afternoon, live chat functionality was turned off on the Rangers Sports Network’s Bzzr stream. 

MLB teams have taken myriad approaches to maximizing their local media rights in recent years, particularly following FanDuel Sports Networks’ demise. Numerous franchises, such as the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees, have helped launch new services or partnered with digital distributors while maintaining a presence on traditional TV. Others have turned to the league for support, and MLB now produces and distributes half of its clubs’ games online.

Bzzr officially launched in April, promising to bring together live games, creator-generated videos and fan conversations touching on the biggest U.S. leagues. In June, Bzzr announced former X executive Brett Weitz as its CEO as it looks to build a multipurpose destination for sports fans. It recently launched apps for Amazon, Apple, and Google-owned TV platforms, in addition to pre-existing mobile and web touchpoints. A company spokesperson said Bzzr is planning to launch on Samsung, LG and Roku TVs by September. 

Texas’ second half—and its Bzzr era—begins Friday evening with a game against the Braves. 

—Additional reporting by Michael McCann

Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The Dodgers finally enjoy some good scheduling on the East Coast. Last season Dodger fans will remember that the team was in New York on back-to-back weekends but flying home for a series in between. This time, the All-Star Game was in Philly, with the team then starting a nine-game stretch of New York, Philly, and New York.

The Dodgers are starting their second half in the Bronx, where they will start with a three-game set against the Yankees. The team has not been back to Yankee Stadium since they closed out their 2024 World Series there, winning Game 5 to take the championship.

The Bronx Bombers started out hot to start the season, but now find themselves second in their division, sitting at 54-42, 3.0 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays.

The two teams went into the All-Star break in different fashions. The Dodgers lost five of their final seven games, and the Yankees pulled themselves out of a June swoon to win their final four games.

Roki Sasaki finds himself kicking off the second half on the mound, looking to get back to his form at the beginning of the season. Sasaki has been worse on the road this season, with his strikeout rate falling and his walk rate increasing along with his ERA. The Yankees have a very lefty heavy lineup that will not include Aaron Judge.

The Yankees will counter with Garrit Cole who is 3-4 on the season with a 4.04 ERA. Cole was also involved in the last games these two teams played in Yankee Stadium, so he will be looking to prove something – revenge against the Dodgers, showing he’s better than this season has shown thus far. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman have seen him relatively well, but not so much for the rest of the team.

Old friend Cody Bellinger was the starting centerfielder for the AL squad, as was first baseman Ben Rice who was hot to end the first half.

The biggest thing to watch for perhaps is the air quality at the time of these games. Wildfire smoke from Canada has worked its way into the U.S. and is causing issues all through the Midwest and East Coast. It could affect how long pitchers are able to last on the mound in addition to other issues with players.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Yankees
• Ballpark: Yankee Stadium, New York
• Start time: 4:05 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

I sincerely believe the Braves seriously want to win. I think they know how to win. I think they have the institutional knowledge as a franchise to be successful at winning division titles. I know they don’t have a lackadaisical or careless approach toward putting together a successful team and winning games. You won’t see them disinterested in the results as long as people keep buying tickets. You know they won’t think “what are they going to do, drive to Baltimore for baseball? And even if they do, who cares?” Even in the mini-rebuild of the mid-2010s (and to the frustration of some observers), the Braves were interested in presenting some form of a non-comatose ballclub.

However, since the red-hot-for-two-months Braves reached 45-21 in early June, the Braves have preferred to kick it into low gear in regards to the bullpen. It’s perplexing to see them make some of the near-end-of-game decisions in the last month. Specifically:

• June 9, 2026 – Allowing Carlos Carrasco to pitch the sixth and some of the seventh in a one-run game. Carrasco and company allowed the White Sox to tie the game. The Braves were avoiding pitching the winning side of the bullpen options such as Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias. They used both anyway in a loss.
• June 23, 2026 – Allowing Carlos Carrasco to pitch the sixth and some of the seventh in a one-run game. Carrasco allowed the Padres to tie the game. The Braves were avoiding pitching the winning side of the bullpen options such as Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias. They used Iglesias anyway in a loss.
• July 5, 2026 – Allowing Carlos Carrasco to pitch the eighth and the ninth in a two-run game. The Mets’ lead swelled to seven, before the Braves scored six in the bottom of the ninth.
• July 10, 2026– Allowing Danny Young to pitch the eighth in a tie game, with higher-leverage options available (or at least rested). The Cardinals took the lead with a home run off Young, and rode BABIP luck to the win.

It’s a departure from April 29, when a ninth-inning Matt Olson home run pulled a win away from the Detroit Tigers. When Walt Weiss talked after the game, he dropped this nugget to the media.

Down one, you gotta be careful doing this too often, especially down one… been chasing those games with our bullpen, you know trying to keep it there. Because I feel like our offense is in a really good place. And I feel like if we keep it to one, we got a really good chance of winning those games late.

And the reaction from Braves Country was one of appreciation and relief. It was a fan base that had tired of the inning-and-lead tiered and structured approach of years past. But that’s a much different approach than the last five weeks or so. Victories stopped being appreciated in the standings and were more defined by the absence of the higher-leverage options. But let’s examine that walkoff win a little closer. Was it that much different than the last five weeks? Do you know who pitched the ninth inning while down one run on April 29th? Raisel Iglesias? Robert Suarez? No, Reynaldo Lopez. And not somewhat/fully recovered Lopez from July. It was the Lopez that was recently removed from the rotation, and hadn’t pitched in eight days. That night, Reynaldo’s four-seam topped out at 93 mph. Seven days ago, he hit 97 mph with it.

Regardless, they pushed a recently called-up JR Ritchie to the sixth. Then Dylan Lee threw 28 pitches and picked up four strikeouts. Then they handed to the seventh or eighth guy in the bullpen for two innings. So, it was a mix of asking the higher-leverage option to push for five outs, and whatever you would consider Reynaldo Lopez at that point (last or next-to-last guy?) for two innings. They were giving themselves a chance, but still they were relying (or maybe forced to rely) on a poor option.

The Braves’ bullpen overall has been excellent this season. They’re second in ERA, first in FIP, and fourth in xFIP. They’re first in fWAR too, even though I’m not crazy about WAR for relievers for reasons I will probably lay out later this season. But very good overall, clearly. But are they, though? When you remove Dylan Lee, Didier Fuentes, Raisel Iglesias, and Robert Suarez, the remainder has collected 0.0 WAR. Now, some of that total has been pushed down by players that are no longer on the roster: Aaron Bummer, Carlos Carrasco, Osvaldo Bido and Joel Payamps. But still the remainder is merely okayish and very league-replacement-like.

Here are the Braves’ run differential totals for this season. These are 1-run, 2-run, etc. games thrown into buckets. 55 of the Braves 95 games have been decided by 3 runs or less. So if these numbers hold, they will play 39 more over the next ten weeks. When you factor in Average Leverage Index for relievers, the Braves are solidly middle of the pack at 18th. Average Leverage Index for relievers is again square in the middle at 15th. So on paper, these are pretty normal bullpen usage numbers. However, the Braves are delivering a first place performance in reliever WPA, and doing it with 4 pitchers doing the heavy lifting. So it’s like many workplaces, it’s average workload with the vast majority of work throughput being produced by four people.

But does 35-45 games in conflict sound about right going forward? And will each of those 35-45 games require one to four higher-leverage options to pitch? If the answer to those questions is both yes, then you have more questions to answer. How do you make up the gap in the sixth through ninth innings with four good options? Do you add another starting pitcher that you are willing to allow to pitch 3 times through the order? Do you add more relievers? Stands to the side for Ivan and Omar to scream RELIEVEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRSSSS!!! In any case, the Braves will likely need to add something. They just don’t have the requisite personnel to service four plus innings a night. And Dylan Dodd can only chip in so much.

Oh well, moar pitching plz. Or home runs, lots of home runs.

Your 2026 New York Mets: 暑い真夏の空 アスファルト溶かし The hot midsummer sky melts the asphalt [Song: Daydream by Judy and Mary]

“I’m not gonna lie: Towards the end, it got a little thick. It felt like breathing in some metal. … A little spoonful of adversity never hurt anybody.” -Christian Scott [New York Post]

しゃがみこんだあたしは

“We’re well aware we’re staring down one of the hardest schedules in baseball for the second half. We should relish that, like that and rise up and meet that. I don’t think there’s another attitude to take.” -Andy Green [New York Post]

白く 消えていく

“I didn’t think it was bad till the last couple innings. My eyes were burning and itching a little bit. [Carson] Benge said it felt like you were sitting by a campfire. … It was fun … but it didn’t feel great playing ball with it.” -Brett Baty [New York Post]

しんきろうの 真ん中で

いつか汗ばむ体を包んで

暑い風が 1人きりの あたしをおいてく

清らかなままで いられない都会に

夢のように さけびは届かないままで

しんきろうの 真ん中で

いつか汗ばむ体を包んで

暑い風が 1人きりの あたしをおいてく

背中の汗 かわきはじめて

暗闇に 灯がともる頃は

暑い風が 1人きりの あたしをおいてく

“Ya Gotta Believe” -Tug McGraw [Wikipedia]

One of my favorite times of the year is the NCAA Baseball Tournament. The Road to Omaha and the Greatest Show on Dirt is one of the best fan experiences in baseball. If you have never been, add it to your bucket list. Go when your school makes it, or better yet, adopt a few mid-majors each year and bandwagon your way into some of the best memories the sport has to offer. I’m not a paid spokesperson for the College World Series, though, so let’s move on.

The Yankees selected six players in the 2026 MLB Draft who appeared in this year’s NCAA Tournament. As a fun fact to drop on your friends later, that’s actually two more tournament participants than high school players the Yankees drafted. So, how did those six future Yankees perform when the lights were brightest?

We’ll go alphabetically, which means we start with the national champion. Brendan Brock logged 29 starts behind the dish and 37 starts in the outfield or at designated hitter for Oklahoma over the season. He was selected 99th overall after helping guide the Sooners to the College World Series title. Before hearing his name called, Brock tore through the NCAA Tournament, batting .457 with a .576 on-base percentage, 21 hits, 10 walks, 13 RBIs, and three home runs.

Once the Sooners reached Omaha, he continued to produce, hitting .400 with eight hits and a .520 on-base percentage. Brock’s biggest postseason moment came in the Atlanta Regional when he went 3-for-5 with two home runs, four RBIs, and three runs scored against Georgia Tech. He also delivered a key home run against Georgia in the College World Series semifinals.

Next up is Blake Cyr, a shortstop/outfielder from Florida whom the Yankees selected in the 18th round with the 548th overall pick. A middle-of-the-order bat, Cyr hit .286 during regional play with four hits, one home run, and three RBIs. His signature moment came in Florida’s tournament opener when he launched a game-tying three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Gators hosted a regional and advanced to the regional championship game before falling one win short of the Super Regionals.

Diego Castellanos spent the spring wearing the #5 jersey and patrolling the outfield for Saint Mary’s before becoming the Yankees’ 14th-round selection. Castellanos caught fire in the Los Angeles Regional, batting .417 (5-for-12) with two doubles and two RBIs. He recorded back-to-back multi-hit games, including a perfect 3-for-3 performance against the host school UCLA. Saint Mary’s was eliminated before reaching the regional final.

The Yankees’ first selection of the draft, left-hander Hunter Dietz out of Arkansas, made one postseason start. Although he was charged with the loss, Dietz struck out a career-high 14 Kansas hitters in the Lawrence Regional. It was a fitting finish to a breakout season in which Arkansas’ Friday-night ace went 7-4 with a 3.57 ERA and 131 strikeouts over 85.2 innings. The Razorbacks failed to advance to the Super Regional round falling a second time to the hosting Jayhawks.

Bear Harrison, selected in the fifth round, was the starting catcher for Texas A&M. During NCAA Tournament play, Harrison slashed .250/.444/.500 with three hits, four walks, and a home run. His postseason was really an extension of the consistency he displayed throughout the year. Harrison set a Texas A&M program record after being hit by a pitch 23 times and finished the season with a 32-game on-base streak both of which he added to in the postseason. The Aggies were eliminated during regional play.

That brings us to Dean Toigo, the Yankees’ final selection of the draft. Before being chosen 608th overall, Toigo roamed the outfield in the desert for Arizona State. He turned in a solid postseason, highlighted by a multi-hit performance in the Sun Devils’ elimination-game victory over South Dakota State in the Lincoln Regional. Arizona State earned an at-large bid as the No. 3 seed but saw its season come to an end before advancing beyond the opening weekend.

A national champion, a handful of standout performances, and several players who already proved they can perform on college baseball’s biggest stages. College success guarantees nothing in professional baseball, but the Yankees will certainly hope a few of these postseason performers eventually help create October memories in the Bronx.