Category: Sports News

ESPN | Associated Press: Speaking to reporters yesterday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman informed the press that Aaron Judge, out since June 5th with a stress fracture in his rib cage, will undergo more imaging during the All-Star Break. Unfortunately, while the imaging will give the team a better idea on when Judge can start ramping back up, the team knows that the images will not be clean, and that he won’t return to the field until he is fully healed.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: As it turns out, Giancarlo Stanton’s setback from a right calf strain last month was not a setback at all, but rather, another right calf strain — just in a different part of his calf. He has finally been cleared to begin running, although there is currently no timetable for his return. At this point, he’s not expected back until August at the minimum.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: (subscription required) It wasn’t all injury updates, though. Cashman also discussed the current state of the roster, noting, of course, that the team’s catching has been a major black hole in the lineup. Of more interest to Yankees fans, though, might be his report that George Lombard Jr., who is expected to return to action around the All-Star Break after missing some time with sprained fingers, may make his Major League debut later this season: his defense was described as plug-and-play, and his offense as catching up to the level.

The Athletic | Tyler Kepner: This is not, strictly speaking, Yankees news, although it does come with some interesting tidbits from Yankees starter Gerrit Cole. As you probably know by now, Justin Verlander announced this week his intent to retire after the season, prompting some to wonder whether we have seen the last 300-win pitcher (Verlander’s 266 is currently the closest, followed by Max Scherzer’s 222 and Gerrit Cole’s 156). Injuries robbed Verlander, who, as Cole rightly points out, is one of the last pitchers who pitched extensively in both the pre-analytics and post-analytics worlds, and is the last pitcher to throw 250 innings in a season (a feat he accomplished in 2011).

A Giant has finally splashed down into McCovey Cove. The 109th baseball to be baptized in the icy Bay waters was the first by a San Francisco Giant in 2026, and the first of Bryce Eldridge’s career. 

It was a doozy too. Well…a doozy compared to recent Splash Hits. Measured on the Bondsian Scale, Eldridge’s would qualify as roughly a “routine fly.” It didn’t do a fifth or sixth archway flyover, nor burst into flames as it broke through the atmosphere on its descent — but it wasn’t cheap either. The game-tying shot in the 4th took a direct route down the right-field line and cleared the boardwalk railing below by plenty. Considering the pitch he hit, a hung slider off the inside of the plate, didn’t veer off foul is a testament to the quality of Eldridge’s contact. The ball hissed off his bat at 106 MPH, traveling 394 feet before it got soaked. 

Eldridge is the 33rd Giant, and at 21 years of age, the youngest to launch a Splash Hit in their career, and first since Rafael Devers in September of last year. While we’re already on the doorstep of the All-Star Break, this was not the latest fans have had to wait for a ball to go spelunking into the Cove. Stephen Vogt’s off Philly’s Drew Smyly ended the drought in 2019 on August 9th. Brandon Belt hit one on September 25th, 2014, and he hit one again 20 months later, off Boston’s David Price, in June of 2016 — no other ball got wet off a Giants bat in the meantime. 2015 remains the only dry season in the 27 year history of the park at 3rd and King. 

The best part of Eldridge’s Splash Hit: it helped the Giants win. The solo homer evened the score and kicked off a string of seven unanswered runs for the San Francisco offense, culminating in a 4-run outburst in the 8th that secured an 8-2 victory over the Rockies. 

While this was the two teams’ first meeting at sea-level, the park played like its Rocky Mountain high counterpart. The Giants line-up knocked four doubles and three homers, including Casey Schmitt’s 18th in the 1st inning and Willy Adames’s 15th in the 8th.

Drew Cavanaugh, who is still searching for his first extra base hit, nearly had a fourth home run in the 5th when he smoked a first-pitch fastball to right. At 102 MPH off the bat, it sounded like the ball was destined for the water, but with a wicked topspin, it dove into the bricks, hitting the Splash Hit counter instead before ricocheting back into the field of play, holding the back-up catcher to another single. A tough break that worked out in the end when Heliot Ramos and Luis Arraez singled and doubled to score Cavanaugh and break the 2-2 tie. Devers immediately plated the fourth run with a bases-loaded single. 

In the 8th, they’d stretch their two-run lead to six with two-out thunder from the heart of their line-up. Schmitt and Devers doubled-up on doubles, both collecting their second hit and second RBI of the night, before Adames ended the evening with a 2-run tater to deep left. 

It was the offense’s night, all in support of a serviceable Carson Whisenhunt, making his second start of the year. The southpaw, called up to give Landen Roupp an extended rest through the All Star break, pitched into the 6th and picked up the win. He retired the first 8 batters he faced, but things got more dicey on the second go-round. A 2-out double turned into bases-loaded stress after back-to-back walks, with the third out being recorded 390 feet from home plate. Willi Castro’s 2-run homer in the 4th was the biggest blow landed. Whisenhunt weathered it — considering the fact that he walked four batters over 5.2 innings, he may have gotten a little lucky. 

Luck — and definitely some help from key actors. Arraez, Schmitt, Devers, Adames, and Eldridge — the #2 thru #6 hitters — all punched in at least one runner. Arraez, Devers, Schmitt, Eldridge, and Cavanaugh logged multiple hits. Schmitt worked a walk for the first time since May 24th — the longest span by a Giants player since Hal Lanier in 1964. Schmitt and Victor Bericoto, before he left the game after his at-bat in the 5th, made some excellent defensive plays on the left-side of the field. The bullpen got in on the action too, allowing just 2 hits over 3.1 scoreless innings. J.T. Brubaker and Erik Miller retired seven Rockies in a row while Caleb Kilian closed the door in the 9th .

When the Jays dumped Trevor Richards on the Twins at the 2024 deadline, the return was an infielder who’d signed a way under slot deal in the sixth round of the previous year’s draft out of the decided non-baseball hotbed of Penn State University by the name of Jay Harry. Baseball America ranked him 426th among draft eligible prospects that year and promptly never wrote about him again. After the trade, Fangraphs’ rated him the 87th best prospect dealt at the deadline and described his likely peak as “a utility guy for a weak Double-A team.” Which is harsh, perhaps, but looked about right as his OPS last season, split between A+ and AA, started with a five.

I’m writing about him here, so you can guess that things have improved. And indeed they have, to the tune of a .327/.368/.591 line split between New Hampshire and Buffalo that makes Harry one of the best 40 or so hitters in the upper minors this season.

So what’s happened here? Harry was an ultra-contact-oriented hitter in college, with a swing geared just to try to poke line drives through the infield. You can see that approach carry over to his first taste of pro ball after the draft, where he struck out just 6.8% of the time in A ball but failed to generate much impact. His contact rate dropped, though, from 85% that season to 76% during his time with the Twins organization in 2024 and then 71% after his trade to the Blue Jays. At the same time he showed a little bit of game power, going from 1 home run in 129 PA in his draft season to 12 in 448 in ‘24. Last year he seems to have been caught in between, bringing his contact back to 77% but losing almost all of his impact. In 2026, his contact rate remains at 77%, but all of the power production has returned and then some. Normally with a left in New Hampshire, you can write some power jumps off as the product of park factors, but a) he was awful in the same park last season, and b) he’s hit even better since moving up to Buffalo.

On video, you can see his swing change a little over the course of the last three years, going from a very upright setup with almost no hand load and the bat starting upright in 2024 to a bit deeper of a load and more angle in 2025. His 2026 swing is back closer to 2024, very upright and with his hands starting out front to give him a super short path to the ball. These are all subtle differences, though, and I don’t see evidence that he’s reinvented his swing.

There are a couple of other changes to note. First, he’s just swinging a lot. He’s always been aggressive, but his 59.5% rate this season is among the highest in the league and would be in the top five in the majors. That’s resulted in a collapse in his walk rate, although without much change in his strikeouts.

He’s also pulling the ball a lot less often, 39% of the time down from an extreme 55-56% rate the previous two seasons. Normally you’d expect that to come with less power production, as hitters typically do their damage to the pull side. As we’ve seen, though, the effect for Harry has been the opposite. We don’t have comparative StatCast data, because A+ and AA don’t make that info public, but we can see that since the promotion to Buffalo he’s running a 90.0mph average exit velocity and a 41% hard hit rate, both of which are above average. His max exit velocity is 107.2, though, which is well below average. He might best that once he has more than 68 batted ball events in the register, but it seems like the scouting reports that noted a lack of raw power are still correct and that he’s doing this by just maximizing what he does have.

This is all a bit puzzling. Harry’s swing decisions appear worse, but he’s not making any less contact. He’s pulling the ball less, but producing more power. My best guess is that he’s just gone back to what’s comfortable. He’s ultra-aggressive on pitches inside, pulling the ball where he can but not forcing everything to the pull side. He’s using the swing that feels right to him, and trusting his strength to generate enough power.

Lacking a clear change that drive the breakout, I remain skeptical of how real it is. That said, you have to pay attention to the results, especially as players get close to the majors. Jay Harry isn’t likely to take the big leagues by storm, but his performance this year makes it easy to imagine him getting to the big leagues at all, which is a dramatic change in the course of three months. He can play all over (mostly short in the minors, but he’s not an everyday calibre glove there by big league standards), he gets the bat on the ball, and when he does there’s a chance he’ll do something with it. That’s not nothing. At the very least, I don’t think he’d have trouble cracking any AA lineup out there.

With their backs against the wall after 2 very disappointing losses, veteran Merrill Kelly stepped up into the roll this team needed him to so very badly and put this team on his back Thursday night. Kelly was dominant for 7 innings and the offense did just enough to finish the series with the Padres with a split.

As I mentioned, Kelly really looked like the vintage Merrill Kelly we know and love tonight as he gave this team length going 7 innings and needing just 94 pitches while allowing just a single run in the second inning and striking out 6 Padres batters.  As the game went on, Kelly was able to make big pitches and get some key double plays in big spots. He just seemed to get more and more comfortable as the game went on, and if Kelly has indeed regained his vintage form, that would be so huge for this team.

Paul Sewald also did a great job of coming in in the 9^th and slamming the door in dominant fashion striking out Fernando Tatis Jr and Xander Bogarts. He is now 21 for 22 on the season for save opportunities. I definitely didn’t see this level of success coming, but I am so glad to see it. Not only has it been huge for this team to have a stopper at the backend, but you love to see good things happen to good people and Paul is about as good as they come.

On the offensive side, the Dbacks were able to get all 3 of their runs in the middle innings scoring a run in the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th. Geraldo Perdomo scored Tommy Troy in the 5^th with an RBI single. Nolan Arenado inched closer to the 2,000 hit mark golfing a pitch about a foot below the strike zone over the left field fence for his 11^th home run of the season. The offense did just enough tonight.

All in all, you definitely need to see this offense score more runs if they are going to go on the run this team needs to go on. Especially when you head to LA to face the Dodgers tomorrow and you are a game under .500. However, It was really good to see Merrill Kelly regain his form tonight and allow his team to win. The Dbacks need to get hot and get hot quickly heading into LA, and what a better time to do so?

Bryce Eldridge has made a strong impression two months into his rookie season, but on Thursday night, the Giants’ young star really made a splash for the first time.

The 21-year-old first baseman slugged his first of what are sure to be many Splash Hits in the Giants’ 8-2 win over the Rockies to open San Francisco’s final series before the All-Star break.

Eldridge got a letter-high slider off the plate inside and somehow kept the arms on his 6-foot-7 frame short enough to launch the pitch at 106.7 mph on its way into McCovey Cove.

Eldridge’s eighth homer of the year was also the 109th Splash Hit by a Giant since the waterfront ballpark opened in 2000 — and the first this season.

The solo shot tied the score, and the Giants proceeded to add on with two RBIs apiece from Casey Schmitt, Rafael Devers and Willy Adames. A day after being no-hit for eight innings, they pounded out 13, including four during a two-run fifth to take a 4-2 lead.

Schmitt got things started with his 18th homer of the season, tying Rafael Devers for the team lead, and Adames put a bow on the win with a no-doubter to left for his 15th to make it 8-2.

Not to be lost amid the fireworks: Schmitt’s first walk since May 24, snapping a streak of 172 plate appearances that was the longest in the majors.

All the offense served to back up 5 ⅔ strong innings from Carson Whisenhunt, who earned the win in what was a tryout of sorts for a rotation spot in the second half.

What it means

The Giants were at risk of falling into a virtual tie for last place in the NL West with a loss.

They entered the series tied with the Rockies in the win column, only with two fewer losses.

Either way, the outcome of the final three games will determine who enters the break in last.

Who’s hot

With shakeups expected to be coming to the starting rotation by the Aug. 3 trade deadline, Whisenhunt continued to build his case to claim one of the soon-to-be open spots.

The 25-year-old left-hander hasn’t allowed more than two runs in either of his two starts in the big leagues this season while flashing more swing-and-miss stuff this time, generating 15 whiffs, including eight with his changeup, and four strikeouts.

He still has to work on his command, issuing four bases on balls over 5 ⅔ innings, and was punished for a two-run homer by Willi Castro, but yielded only two other hits.

Who’s not

It had to feel good for Adames to connect on his eighth-inning blast, because it hasn’t looked like much fun to be Adames lately. He was left wincing for the second game in a row after getting his cleats tangled up and falling to the ground behind second base.

Manager Tony Vitello acknowledged the 30-year-old shortstop is still feeling the effects of back spasms that caused him to miss three games last week, and it showed at the plate.

Before the home run, Adames was 4-for-his-past-23, including two strikeouts and a pop out with the bases loaded earlier in the game.

Up next

The Giants will attempt to win consecutive games for the first time since the end of their last homestand, June 27 and 28 against the Braves. They have won Robbie Ray’s past eight starts.

Oracle Park continues to be a difficult venue for the Colorado Rockies, as the offense faltered in an 8-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night. The Rockies have now lost seven straight in San Francisco as the Giants put away a close game with a late-game rally.

An inconsistent start for Feltner

The woes of pitching at Oracle Park stung Ryan Feltner once again as he labored through 4.1 innings. From the start of the game, it was apparent that Feltner didn’t have the command he had shown over his last couple of outings. Despite long at-bats and big misses on his pitches, Feltner was able to mitigate trouble early on, however.

After retiring the first two batters he faced in the first inning, breakout star Casey Schmitt hit a solo home run to give the Giants an early 1-0 lead. Feltner then worked around two walks in the second inning and delivered a 1-2-3 third.

After the Rockies took the lead in the top of the fourth, the Giants answered back with another home run, this time courtesy of Bryce Eldridge, to tie the game. Feltner rebounded to escape the inning without further damage, but his luck was starting to run out.

Trouble would finally catch up to Feltner in the fifth inning as the Giants found some lucky swings. Catcher Drew Cavanaugh led off the inning with a towering single that bounced off the right-field wall. Heliot Ramos then chopped a ball on the infield grass for another hit. That set the table for Luis Arraez to reach up and tuck a ball down the right-field line for an RBI double to give the Giants a 3-2 lead.

Feltner would then walk Schmitt to load the bases and Rafael Devers followed up with a single to keep the bases loaded and extend the lead by one run. Feltner then got Willy Adames to pop up on the infield for the first out of the inning but it signaled the end of his night. Victor Vodnik entered and got the next two batters to leave the bases loaded and close the book on Feltner.

The Rockies starter allowed four runs on six hits as he allowed four walks and had just three strikeouts. He threw 92 pitches and had 53 strikes, but found success with five groundouts. The Giants mainly took advantage of missed locations and the lapse in command to drive him from the game.

After the game, manager Warren Schaeffer said, “Felt looked like he didn’t have much feel for the ball early on; the command was a little shaky. But he reeled it in a little bit, battled through it and kind of held them at bay for a little while.”

Can’t fully wise up to Whisenhunt and company

The Rockies, on the other hand, struggled to piece together their offense against Giants starter Carson Whisenhunt.

The first opportunity of the game for the Rockies came in the third inning with two outs. Braxton Fulford narrowly missed a home run to center field as the ball hit off the wall. Jake McCarthy and Kyle Karros each drew walks to load the bases. Cole Carrigg then launched a ball to deep center field but didn’t get enough of it as it was caught on the warning track.

The following inning, Hunter Goodman singled to lead off and was followed by a walk to TJ Rumfield. Unfortunately, Tyler Freeman bounced into a double play that moved Goodman to third base. In danger of spoiling another scoring opportunity, Willi Castro came through with a two-run home run that gave the Rockies a short-lived 2-1 lead at the time.

Through 5.2 innings, the left-hander held Colorado to two runs on three hits with four strikeouts while also allowing four walks. The Rockies made plenty of contact, but he was able to induce enough mis-hit balls to leave with a lead after 87 pitches, 57 of which were strikes.

“I thought [Whisenhunt] attacked the strike zone well today,” said Schaeffer. “He kept us off balance.”

The Giants’ bullpen kept the Rockies in check as well. After the fourth inning, the Rockies only had one baserunner and no hits until Rumfield and Freeman both singled in the ninth inning. Colorado ended up with five total hits but struck out nine times while drawing four walks. They also went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Giants tack on late

The bullpen, which has been excellent of late, picked up some slack after Feltner’s early departure. After Vodnik escaped that fifth inning, he fired a quick sixth, ending his night with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed.

Looking to save some arms, the Rockies turned to rookie TJ Shook for a solid seventh inning. However, things started to unravel for him after he retired the first two batters of the eighth. Arraez singled, Schmitt doubled in the run, and then scored on a double for Devers to give the Giants a 6-2 lead. Adames then hit a two-run home run to break the game open 8-2.

Vodnik and Shook combined for six strikeouts, but Shook’s six hits allowed proved the most detrimental as the Rockies couldn’t close the gap in the ninth, suffering the loss.

Up next

The Rockies and Giants continue the series with the second game on Friday. Tanner Gordon (0-2, 6.95 ERA) takes the mound for the Rockies while the Giants send out Robbie Ray (8-6, 3.45 ERA).

First pitch is scheduled for 8:15 pm MDT.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!