Former Australia batter has worked at Durham since 2018
New selector expected to have final say on squads
Marcus North, the former Australia middle order batter, has emerged as the leading candidate to become the new England men’s selector, with an official announcement expected in the coming days.
The 46-year-old has worked as director of cricket at Durham since 2018 and was among those interviewed for the equivalent role with England four years ago – only to miss out to Rob Key in the final stages of the process.
The answer, if the headline and picture haven’t given the game away, is a certain Ollie Robinson. Yep, the same seamer who has been overlooked by England since February 2024 on account of not being fit enough for the demands of the job.
Who will win Guardians vs Royals today: Royals moneyline (-135)
Seth Lugo has been one of the best starters in the American League this season.
He’s recorded five quality starts in seven outings with a 2.68 ERA and a 99th-percentile breaking ball that the Cleveland Guardians' below-average offense is ill-equipped to handle.
Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Kansas City Royals with a .387 xwOBA and 50.4% hard-hit rate, while Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi has allowed hard contact all season, resulting in a 6.56 ERA.
With the pitching advantage firmly in Kansas City's favor, the Royals are worth backing on the moneyline and run line.
Guardians vs Royals Over/Under pick: Under 9 (+102)
The Guardians and Royals rank 21st and 22nd in wRC+, respectively, and Cleveland's lineup has been even worse against right-handed pitching, posting a 91 wRC+ on the season.
Neither offense has shown the ability to generate consistent run support, with both clubs sitting below the league average in OBP, SLG, and ISO.
These two offenses have combined to go Under in seven of their last 10 head-to-head matchups, and a total of nine runs is simply too generous for two of the more anemic lineups in the American League.
Phil Naessens' 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 5-10, -4.05 units
Over/Under bets: 6-7, -2.30 units
Guardians vs Royals odds
Moneyline: Guardians +127 | Royals -133
Run line: Guardians +1.5 (-156) | Royals -1.5 (+150)
Over/Under: Over 9.5 (+104) | Under 9.5 (-108)
Guardians vs Royals trend
The Kansas City Royals have hit the Game Total Under in 24 of their last 40 games (+6.65 Units / 15% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Guardians vs. Royals.
How to watch Guardians vs Royals and game info
Location
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Date
Thursday, May 7, 2026
First pitch
2:10 p.m. ET
TV
Guardians.TV, Royals.TV
Guardians starting pitcher
Slade Cecconi (1-4, 6.56 ERA)
Royals starting pitcher
Seth Lugo (1-1, 2.68 ERA)
Guardians vs Royals latest injuries
Guardians vs Royals weather
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After what seemed like a very long wait for everyone in town, well, in both towns, the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres finally kicked off in the state of New York on Wednesday night. As expected, there was plenty of speed, plenty of skills, and plenty of attacking play.
Martin St-Louis wasted no time in showing that he wanted to get his top line back together, having Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky take the series’ opening faceoff. It didn’t exactly start the way the coach would have hoped, but throughout the first period, it was easy to see that the line felt more at ease than it did against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Canadiens’ sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson didn’t have the kind of start he would have liked to this series. After just 30 seconds of play, he found himself heading to the penalty box after he was unable to spot a puck that had taken a weird bounce and ended up having to trip Zach Benson.
Four minutes later, he lost his footing at the red line, allowing the same Benson to take off with the puck and create a three-on-one, which led to the first goal of the series. The winger fed Josh Doan on the doorstep of Jakub Dobes’ net, and it was an easy tap-in.
A little over nine minutes later, Hutson had a front row view of the Sabres’ second goal scored on the power play as he was part of the penalty killing unit that was beaten.
In the second period, as the Canadiens were trapped in their own zone, Hutson was caught on the ice for two consecutive shifts of over two minutes. As energetic as he is, even he has his limits, and he was lucky not to be called for holding at the end of his second long shift, as he was holding on to his man for dear life.
Still, Hutson finished the game with five shots on goal, more than anyone else on the team, and three blocked shots.
Can’t Forget About The Backcheck
St-Louis likes his team to play hard on the forecheck, but with an opponent as speedy as the Sabres are, you have to be careful. Get caught with too many players too deep, and they will make you pay. Pinch at the wrong time? They will make you pay as well.
Buffalo goes from defence to attack in a matter of seconds, and they won’t wait for you. St-Louis has often spoken about the need to play the game that’s in front of you, and that’s going to be even more important in this series. Unnecessary risks should be avoided when playing against a side that feeds on odd-man rush opportunities.
Dach Attack
With the Canadiens down 4-1 late in the second frame, Kirby Down came up clutch to give the Canadiens a bit of hope after Zach Bolduc put him through on a Tage Thompson turnover. He took the first shot, which Alex Lyon stopped, but, as he fell on the ice, Dach took his own rebound and backhanded it past the Sabres' goalie.
At a time when the Canadiens were struggling to create much of anything, the big forward really came through to allow the Habs to go back to the dressing room with a bit of optimism.
It set up Montreal for a good third period, which they dominated in shots 11-1, but they were unable to solve Lyon. The Sabres took a 2-1 series lead despite being outshot 28-16. After their Game 7 win over Tampa, though, the Canadiens can hardly complain about that. The two teams will be back at it on Friday at 7:00 PM for Game 2.
Yeah, the Philadelphia Flyers may still be alive and well in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the NHL draft is still important for them taking a rebuilder and making it a well-oiled machine in the long run.
When we talk about the Flyers, the center position is the one that comes up most often, due to the team's lack of overall talent at the position.
With Jett Luchanko, Jack Berglund, Heikki Ruohonen, Jack Nesbitt, and Cole Knuble in the fold, depth isn't an issue. But it's unclear if any of those names will develop into a top-six pivot that can match or exceed the impact and offensive production of Trevor Zegras.
One position in the Flyers organization that lacks both depth and talent, though, is left defense.
The Flyers do currently boast a capable NHL top-four with Travis Sanheim and Cam York leading the way, but they don't have a premium offensive defenseman like many of the Stanley Cup contenders do.
York, Jamie Drysdale, and Emil Andrae were all drafted to be those types of players, but have settled in at the NHL level as analytics darlings who are positives in transition.
And behind York and Andrae on the left, the Flyers don't have much youth coming their way.
Hunter McDonald is a pending restricted free agent, and Ty Murchison may be capable of becoming a bottom-pair guy to replace the aging Nick Seeler. These prospects are solid for their playstyles, but not inspiring or exciting.
Fortunately, we are here to solve that with our first Flyers mock draft, getting ahead of the offseason early, as we are used to this time of year.
At the time of this writing, Tankathon has the Flyers drafting defenseman Xavier Villeneuve with the 21st overall pick; I concur with this selection.
With the 21st overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers select...
Xavier Villeneuve, left-shot defenseman, 5-foot-11, 157 pounds, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)
The Flyers have missed out on undersized dynamo defenders before. Everyone passed on Lane Hutson in 2022, and the Flyers went with Luchanko ahead of Zeev Buium in 2024.
Now that they won't be in a position to select any of the top centers (or forwards in general), they should feel comfortable again going with the best talent available.
Villeneuve, 18, has been regarded as a top-10 talent, but his size, of course, is a major detractor. It also doesn't help that the Canadian blueliner was limited to just 37 QMJHL games this season, missing nearly three months due to injury.
At the end of the day, though, Villeneuve has 18 goals and 100 points in his last 98 regular season games, and he added 14 points in 17 playoff games for the Armada upon his return.
The Flyers should already be familiar with this player, given that 2024 second-round pick Spencer Gill played with Villeneuve this season, although he dealt with a significant injury of his own.
Gill, 19, is a 6-foot-4 right-shot who added 10 points in 17 playoff contests, and I think these two could be an interesting pairing down the road.
Villeneuve is a bit on the older side for this class, too, as he turns 19 in September, so it won't be long before he's in the pro ranks with Gill.
And if the Flyers can land him in the 20s this summer? They are going to be a scary team to play against in the coming years in many different ways.
May 6, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) in the first half during game two of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
Game 1 went down to the wire, the Spurs lost on a missed Champagnie buzzer beater. Afterwards, there was no heads hung, no self deprication, just an urgency to watch film and make the necessary adjustments before heading into Game 2.
Matthew Tynan of Corporate Knowledge reported that Spurs legend Gregg Popovich sat in on the film sessions. Victor Wembanyama referenced Pop in his post game presser, mentioning “you’re never as good as you think when you win and you’re never as bad as you think when you lose.”
Whatever was deciphered from the analysis of Game 1, the Spurs know that had to come out swinging. And that’s exactly what they did.
The Spurs defense stiffled the Timberwolves, limiting them to 17 first quarter points and just 35 at the half, giving the Silver & Black a 24 point advantage.
Two minutes into the second half, the Spurs expanded their lead to 29 points. By then, Wembanyama, Castle, and Fox each had scored 14 points. The balanced distribution shaped the team’s attack as they continued to dominate Minnesota.
Anthony Edwards, coming off the bench for the second game in a row, was limited to 12 points in his twenty-four minutes.
Julian Champagnie, who went scoreless in the first half, hit four three-pointers in the third quarter as the Spurs shut down Minnesota.
Early in the fourth quarter the Spurs lead grew to 40 and both teams emptied their benches. Jordan McLaughlin and Kelly Olynyk played the final 10 minutes of regulation. Lindy Waters III joined them with 8:23 left in the game. Even Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee got in on the action relieving Carter Bryant anfd Harrison Barnes for the final 3:12.
Afterwards, head coach Mitch Johnson praised the team’s defensive “consistency, physicality, and contact” adding that the team was ready for tonight’s game despite losing home court advantage.
The team now heads to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday night. They will need to carry the win without resting on their laurels. As visitors, they’ll have an arena against them. Although they faced the Trail Blazers in Portland, the Minnesota crowd will be even more vocal and uninviting. They now need to prepare for the challenge ahead.
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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Lakers punched first, but the Thunder punched harder in their Game 1 victory on Tuesday to kick off the best-of-seven second-round playoff series.
Now, it’s on the Lakers to respond with a better counterpunch in Thursday’s Game 2 at Paycom Center to avoid falling behind by two games before the series shifts to LA for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday.
The Lakers need to do a better job closing out on the Thunder’s best shooters, including Chet Holmgren (7). NBAE via Getty Images
“Obviously, it’s playoffs at the end of the day, so, I mean, even though it’s not necessarily win or go home, it leads to win or going home,” Jaxson Hayes said. “So, I mean, we gotta just come in as the more desperate team and with more urgency and just locked in and just ready to go.”
Here are three adjustments the Lakers need to make for Game 2:
Attack OKC’s defense better
It goes without saying that the Thunder are deploying different defensive strategies with Luka Doncic not available for the Lakers.
The Lakers are seeing less hedging/aggressive pick-and-roll defenses from the Thunder, who used more drop coverages and switching in Game 1 compared to the regular-season games Doncic played in.
And they have to be better at attacking the Thunder’s strategies.
They struggled against the Thunder’s drop coverage for most of Game 1 — which has been a season-long Lakers’ weakness regardless of opponent.
And the things that worked — post-ups and inverted pick and rolls — weren’t used frequently enough as the game progressed.
The Lakers’ defense wasn’t perfect against the Thunder, but it was good enough to keep the game competitive and potentially win.
Better shotmaking will help.
But the process needs to be much better, too.
“Offensively, we’ve got to be a lot better,” coach JJ Redick said. “That obviously falls on me to make sure we’re organized. Some stuff falls on the guys. Like, we had too many possessions without getting our corners filled. That just requires you jogging across the floor. But, we certainly can be more intentional about what we’re trying to do and who we’re trying to involve. A lot of the stuff that we kind of identified prior to Game 1 was there for us. We just got to keep emphasizing those points.”
The Lakers’ Austin Reaves might need shorter playing-time shifts after recently returning from an oblique injury. NBAE via Getty Images
Alter Austin Reaves’ rotation
Austin Reaves was among the key Lakers players who struggled with their shotmaking in Game 1.
He shot 3-for-16 from the field, including missing all five of his 3-pointers, for just eight points to go with six assists, five rebounds and four turnovers.
It goes without saying that the Lakers need Reaves to be better to have a shot against the Thunder.
And he will be.
“We need Austin to be Austin,” Redick said. “The reality is, ideally when you get to this time of year, your body is kind of in peak shape from a conditioning standpoint, from a fitness standpoint. When you’re out, it doesn’t matter what you do — echo bike, treadmill, running on the court, whatever — nothing can simulate playing in an NBA game, much less an NBA playoff game. So, there’s a little bit of a catch-up there for him, and then as a staff, we got to help … put him in positions to be successful.”
One way the Lakers could help Reaves, who’s just three games back from a monthlong absence because of his left oblique injury, is shortening his playing-time shifts to help preserve his legs instead of having him play the longer stints to start the first and third quarters and close the halves.
Reaves has shot 2-for-17 on 3-pointers since returning in the Game 5 loss to the Rockets on April 29.
He’s still getting his legs back after a long layoff.
“We’ve looked at that,” Redick said about shortening Reaves’ shifts. “We’re looking at ways to help him. Being undermanned, it’s hard to. We’re trying our best with the rotation.”
Defensive details
One of the defensive details the Lakers could clean up is being tighter with their rotations after double-teaming or sending help toward NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
And knowing who to close out hard against and who isn’t as much of a priority to leave open.
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BOSTON, MA - MARCH 24: Anthony Stolarz #41 of the Toronto Maple Leafs makes a save on the penalty kill during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 24, 2024, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Welcome to Thursday/Friday, folks!
As we move into the offseason, we’ll try to cover any relevant news and put up new threads every couple of days for open discussion, then eventually start with the player reviews, recaps, and all that fun stuff.
For now, we’re still in the immediate aftermath of the Bruins’ playoff elimination, but there’s plenty going on around the team.
The mysterious Toronto draft pick
The most intriguing point of conversation right now is the fate of the first-round pick the Bruins received from Toronto in the Brandon Carlo trade, which was thrown into chaos when Toronto won the draft lottery on Tuesday.
Top 5 protected, slides to 2027. The 2027 pick goes to Philadelphia (as part of Laughton trade) if it is outside the top 10, which converts this pick to Boston to a 2028 unprotected 1st Round Pick. If this Pick slides to 2027 and is in the top 10, TOR can either transfer it to BOS to satisfy this trade and then give PHI the 2028 unprotected, or transfer it to PHI and give BOS the 2028 unprotected 1st Round Pick.
However, Chris Johnston had an article in The Athletic on Wednesday that made things appear considerably more murky, saying that the league still hasn’t settled on a formal interpretation of the trade.
He suggests that the league may allow next season to play out before determining the fate of the pick, which seems pretty unfair to both the Bruins and the Flyers — if you’re considering moving that asset this summer for more immediate help, you’re not going to get top dollar if the year of the pick is just listed as “TBD.”
Johnston eventually settles on there being thought around the league that the Flyers will get the 2027 pick, even if it falls in the top ten, with the Bruins getting an unprotected 2028 pick.
Then there’s this caveat around the “Toronto picks who gets the 2027 pick,” which seems completely ridiculous:
That would create a potentially fascinating dynamic next offseason, if Toronto was left with the choice of determining whether Boston or Philadelphia ended up with a prized pick. In theory, the Leafs might be able to use that power as a way to coax a favorable return in a subsequent trade from one of those teams.
I have no idea how the league would allow Toronto to extract capital from a team with whom they’ve already completed a trade just to get them a more favorable outcome, but nothing with the NHL shocks me at this point.
Anyways, it’s best for all of our sanity if the league issues some kind of edict on this soon, as it will end the speculation and let each team know what kind of asset they have on their hands.
Providence is on the brink
After a historic regular season the AHL Bruins are on the verge of crashing out of the playoffs in the first round.
The P-Bruins trail their best-of-five series with Springfield two games to one, with Game 4 in Springfield on Thursday night.
The AHL said it was “taking responsibility” for that gaffe after the game, which…does absolutely nothing for Providence, so here we are.
It reminds me of the Billy Madison scene with “well sorry doesn’t put the delicious Triscuit crackers in my stomach, now does it, Carl?”
If the P-Bruins win Thursday night and extend the series to a deciding Game 5, that will be in Providence on Saturday night.
Money talks
The NHL confirmed the salary cap for the 2026-2027 season on Wednesday, with an upper limit set at $104 million.
Per BruinsCapSpace, the B’s will head into the offseason with a little more than $16 million in space, which isn’t a bad spot to be in when you consider there are no glaringly obvious “re-sign him right now” UFAs to deal with.
(They have decisions to make on guys like Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke, but I guess my point is it’s not like they have a million empty roster spots to fill with that space.)
We heard about the desire to add talent and speed at yesterday’s leadership press conference, so we’ll see how that goes.
Among the teams still playing, Buffalo won its series-opener against Montreal on Wednesday night, while the Ducks evened their series against the Golden Knights.
Thursday night will feature Game 3 of Hurricanes-Flyers, followed by Games 2 and 3 of Buffalo-Montreal and Anaheim-Vegas, respectively, on Friday night.
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 04: Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Florida Panthers makes a save in front of Tommy Novak #18 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG PAINTS Arena on April 4, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Before the season started, I wrote about five players I was most curious to see. Now that the dust has settled, let’s check in on how that all went.
Owen Pickering
It was nice to see Pickering earn some NHL time (to the tune of 25 games) in his rookie season, but his NHL stint ended in January getting some tough love in a hard practice from Sidney Crosby working him over and then struggling in his last handful of games. That was in January, now nine months and ago Pickering hasn’t been seen since on this level. How much has the 21-year old used that to grow and improve? The vaunted leap from Year 1 to Year 2 is a big deal and it will be critical for Pickering to show some development based off of where he was previously. And, besides, the Penguins need someone to play on the left side of their defense. It would be a great development if Pickering can raise his level.
Pickering only played four NHL games early in the season from October 28th through November 3rd. It didn’t go well, especially towards the end and he’s been back in Wilkes-Barre for the rest of the season with the team choosing to use other options to fill out their defense, most notably picking up Ilya Solovyov in a trade with Colorado for depth.
By all accounts, Pickering has settled into being a quality AHL player. He scored a key power play goal in Game 1 of the playoffs against Hershey and set AHL-highs in goals, assists and points. While only being 22-years old, Pickering has completed four seasons since his draft and is far from established in the NHL. The list of mid-round first round picks to not have made an NHL impact by draft+4 is not a good indicator for the future. By this point, you know if you have a K’Andre Miller/Jakub Chychrun/Travis Sanheim or a prospect trending towards P.O. Joseph/Tobias Bjornfot/Jacob Bernard-Docker, Who knows what that might hold, but at this point it’s getting late in the development curve for a first round pick. Pickering is under contract for 2026-27, but at this point there won’t be too much curiosity around him unless he takes a big step forward.
Arturs Silovs
Silovs’ last work was being great in the AHL playoffs, helping Abbotsford win the Calder Cup and being named the AHL’s playoff MVP. The AHL isn’t the NHL, but that’s a pretty good launching point for the future. Silovs needs waivers to be sent to the AHL, the whole reason Vancouver went in the direction to trade him for a draft pick to get something out of him, therefore we can probably expect him to make Pittsburgh’s NHL team out of camp as the backup goalie. It hasn’t been smooth sailing in the NHL level for Silovs, so we might not really want to see him for that long if it doesn’t go well, but right off the bat he will be a very interesting character to track.
It was an up and down season for Silovs, who played well at times and struggled for other stretches. One such tough stretch in March may have had something to do with a knee injury suffered at that point and revealed during breakdown day. Silovs led the Penguins in starts (40) this season and was excellent in the playoffs. His personal stats aren’t a lot to write home about (19-12-8 record, 3.02 GAA, .888 save%) but he weathered the storm and gained a lot of experience to put together his first full season as an NHL netminder.
Not sure I’d say the future is extremely bright, but there is some sort of future there. It says something that Silovs has been at his best in the most important moments (playing for Team Latvia, the AHL playoffs last year, the NHL playoffs this year), he has that admirable quality to perform when it matters.
Tommy Novak
Many have mostly forgotten about Novak, and there’s not much fault in that considering he only played two games with the Penguins last season before getting injured. Novak will draw attention once he gets back out there, though. He can do things like this:
And he’s also a very busy player with a great analytical profile. Novak sets up teammates for chances with frequency, he is great at forechecking.
Yet, Novak’s former GM had a less than glowing review about Novak’s recent play:
“When (Novak) was a fourth-line, league-minimum guy and scoring while getting some sheltered minutes, that fit him just fine. When you move up the lineup, it’s harder to find your space and be productive. If you want to move up the lineup, and get paid more, there’s more responsibility.”
“There’s a reason that guys get the higher salaries, because most nights, they’re getting the harder matchups and they’re expected to produce,” Trotz explained.
Trotz, of course, hasn’t been the most savvy manager but his words can’t be totally dismissed. Novak still has to prove himself and bring an added level of consistency. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes in Pittsburgh, is he playing on the second line with Evgeni Malkin? Centering a third line of his own, perhaps with good friend and longtime teammate Phil Tomasino?
Novak was indeed a curious case. There were times where he was invisible, starting the season with no goals and one assist in six games then going through a zero goal, two assists stretch over the last 13 games of March. There were teams when he turned hot, like an 11 point in 14 game effort in December. He found a niche with Malkin and Egor Chinakhov in a high-flying line that was generating rush chances like no other in the second half of the season.
Below the point line, Novak was one of the team’s best players in terms of zone entries, puck carries and neutral zone efficiency. He has enough skill to be a perfect player in a complimentary role to support skilled linemates. Useful player and a nice season.
Ville Koivunen
Koivunen was great in Finland in 2023-24, scoring 56 points in 59 games. He followed that up with his first full season in North America by putting up 56 points in 63 games in the AHL and then getting a little taste of the NHL at the end of the season, which also went well with seven points in eight games.
It’s one thing to play out the string at the end of a season, it’s another thing to go through the full grind. By this time about six months from now, we’ll know a lot more about Koivunen and how big a piece of the puzzle he could be moving forward. His vision and passing ability are legit, it’s already apparent this is a special player in terms of how he sees the game and thinks the game. The curiosity will come in how he handles long stretches of play, can he get to the net? Can he keep up with his feet? Will he be effective and fit in longterm? So far there’s a lot to feel confident about and be impressed with, but Koivunen might not be a top-6 player for the next 5-10 years for the Penguins, there’s still a lot to prove and see out of him.
Koivunen’s seven points in the last eight games of the season looks now to be the product of teams not playing extremely hard against a non-playoff Penguin team and Koivunen getting an 18 minute per night role to put up points down the stretch. As mentioned in the writeup, the grind of the full season proved to be deeper water than the young player could swim, only generating 0.40 points per 60 minute – a figure that ranked just 464th out of 468 forwards across the league that played 200+ minutes this season.
Optimism for Koivunen has turned for concern, his skating stats and speed bursts are among the lowest in the league. Though listed at 184 pounds, he was easily knocked off pucks constantly in battles. Koivunen has mastered the AHL level (41 points in 34 games this season in Wilkes) but was rendered completely ineffective in the show. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s able to add any tangible gains to his skating and strength this summer, the clock is going to start ticking loudly on his future for anything beyond AHL/Europe quality player.
Avery Hayes / Tristan Broz
I’m going to stick these two together, because very strangely enough both of these players were born on the exact same day — October 10, 2002. What are the odds of that? (Also in states that border each other, though their listed hometowns of Westland, MI [Hayes] and River Falls, WI [Broz]) are about 650 miles away via automobile). Despite that common bday, they’ve taken very different paths to get here: Broz was heralded as a top player in his age range and made a second round pick in 2021, Hayes went undrafted and had to earn an NHL contract the hard way. They have some similarities too, Hayes won two OHL championships (in 2022 with Hamilton, in 2023 with Peterborough), Broz was a national champion at the University of Denver. Both are on the upswing and have a sort of knack for coming through and winning observers over.
So it’s only fitting to combine them as they look to make their NHL debuts in the same season. This might be better subtitled “players I’m curious to see in training camp” because that is more applicable or accurate for the time being. Still, it will be interesting to see what kind of opportunities players like Broz and Hayes get this season. Do the Pens continue to call-up players from Wilkes that are only warm body space fillers (Boko Imama, Joona Koppanen, Valtteri Puustinen, Emil Bemstrom, etc). Bemstrom is out of the organization now, but it would be nice to see players in the Broz/Hayes mold push up the organizational rankings beyond the type of vanilla and exceedingly limited type of forwards that tend to get recalled that aren’t going to provide a lot of contribution to the NHL on their best day. Of course, the Broz/Hayes level guys have to hold up their end of the bargain by impressing and performing well themselves, which will be another area to watch.
Both players had excellent camps and made run at NHL roster spots, only to have the suddenly flush forward depth chart bump them back to the AHL. Broz continued to have some rotten injury luck, being unavailable at points where he would have gotten called up. Hayes made the most of his NHL debut by scoring two goals in the first period of his first game against Buffalo on February 5th. He played a total of 16 NHL games and scored five goals, setting himself up nicely for what could be a full-time graduation to the NHL as soon as next training camp.
Broz’s path forward appears much less certain. He is under contract next season but the Pens signed Blake Lizotte to a contract extension. Broz has been working mostly as a center, the number of center spots that Pittsburgh will have available for an AHL player look extremely limited.
—
In the end, the Penguins had no shortage of players to be curious about this year. Midseason pickups that we didn’t even know about at the time like Chinakhov, Elmer Soderblom, Brett Kulak, Sam Girard and Stuart Skinner provided no shortage of intriguing players to watch over the course of the year as they came (and sometimes went almost as quickly). You always have to stay on your toes when it comes to this team.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 06: Rico Garcia #50 and Adley Rutschman #35 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrate after defeating the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on May 06, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello, friends.
Here’s a hot take: It’s a lot more fun when the Orioles win than when they lose. We thankfully got another reminder of the fun of winning last night as the team kept piling on runs against the Marlins, eventually winning 7-4 to guarantee a win in the three-game set. Check out Alex Church’s recap of the game for more of the lovely totals. The team has a chance to sweep as the series concludes at 6:40 tonight. No getaway day afternoon game? Weird.
The Orioles wins against the Marlins in these first two games is a reminder of the occasionally-invoked baseball saying that you’re never as good as you look when you’re winning and you’re never as bad as you look when you’re losing. In fairness to anyone who was primed to believe that the O’s are as bad as they looked against the Yankees, we experienced several consecutive years of Orioles baseball from 2018-2021 where the team was, in fact, as bad as they looked.
We may still hope these Orioles were not as bad as they have recently looked. There’s no question that there’s stuff that’s going to need to go better. A lot of ifs are involved in the story of durable 2026 Orioles improvement. If Rogers, Bradish, and Baz can be the 1-2-3 that Mike Elias apparently thought they were going to be. If the defense can stabilize at merely mediocre rather than outright bad. If Coby Mayo and/or Colton Cowser start playing better or are sent to the minors to give someone else a chance.
None of these lingering uncertainties are things that can be answered in a day or a week. They are just going to have to start going better until one day you wake up and something that “everyone” was complaining about and you were worrying about is going better. Some players have already managed this. Samuel Basallo had a rough first three weeks. His batting numbers look fine now. Pete Alonso is on the path towards being the guy the Orioles wanted him to be when they signed him. Yennier Cano, who probably no one was counting on for good things this year, has re-emerged as a possible back-end bullpen stalwart.
Can the Orioles pull off a sweep and keep people feeling good? Sure, maybe. They have the potential to be good enough to do it. It’s just that a lot of the time so far this season, they haven’t met that potential, so here we are. Cade Povich and Max Meyer are the scheduled starting pitchers for this series finale.
Orioles path to success is possible, but it won’t be easy (Baltimore Baseball) The season isn’t over! It only felt like it was on the path to being over after getting thoroughly outclassed in that Yankees series. If the Orioles can keep making good things happen as they finish with the Marlins and move on to the Athletics, that will help people feel better.
Five Orioles prospects who may be promoted soon (Orioles On The Verge) Subscription required for the full article. The photo being Joseph Dzierwa is a strong clue about one of the five prospects on the list.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
In their 37th game one year ago, the Orioles beat the Angels, 4-1, to raise their season record to 14-23. Tomoyuki Sugano pitched 7.1 innings with just one run allowed and Gunnar Henderson drove in two runs with a triple and a home run. This year’s Orioles have three wins more than that team.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2019 outfielder Keon Broxton, 1994-96 outfielder Mark Smith, 2000-03 catcher Brook Fordyce, and 1956-58/61-62 utility man Dick Williams. Williams, who passed away in 2011 at age 82, is in the Hall of Fame as a manager.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: philosopher David Hume (1711), poet Robert Browning (1812), composer Johannes Brahms (1833), composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840), Baltimore Colts legend Johnny Unitas (1933), and YouTuber MrBeast (1998).
On this day in history…
In 1664, the Palace of Versailles was inaugurated. The opulent royal residence constructed by France’s Louis XIV stayed in the family until the 1789 French Revolution, and has been a public museum area since 1837.
In 1718, the city of New Orleans was founded. Its founder, Montreal-born Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, served multiple stints as the colonial governor of France’s North American claims.
In 1824, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony had its premiere performance in Vienna. Due to Beethoven’s loss of hearing, a different conductor, Michael Umlauf, directed the orchestra, though Beethoven did supervise the process.
In 1915, the RMS Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, killing 1,199 people. Among the dead were 128 Americans. This is one of the developments credited with turning sentiment in the US against the German side of what we now call World War I.
In 1992, the state of Michigan ratified a constitutional amendment that had been in limbo for 203 years, putting the 27th amendment into effect. The amendment prevents any mid-term increases to Congressional pay. Maryland was the first state to ratify this amendment, approving it on December 19, 1789.
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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on May 7. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA - MARCH 19, 2026: Jack Wenninger #92 of the New York Mets throws a pitch during the third inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Clover Park on March 19, 2026 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
A rather ho-hum win, the Mets scored a run in each of the first three innings to put them out in front quickly. Ryan Clifford hit a monster of a solo home run in the first, registering at 112.6 mph and 404 ft., Hayden Senger doubled a run home in the second, and Christian Arroyo singled their third and final run home in the third inning.
On the other side, Jack Wenninger threw another gem, going six scoreless, surrendering just two hits. He did not strike out many (five), and walked a few (three), but overall he was great. The bullpen surrendered a single run, but held firm after that.
RF A.J. Ewing: 0-3, BB
CF Nick Morabito: 1-4, R, K
1B Ryan Clifford: 2-4, R, HR (6), RBI
2B Christian Arroyo: 1-4, RBI, SB (4)
DH Ji Hwan Bae: 0-3, BB, 2 K, SB (7)
LF Cristian Pache: 0-4, 3 K
3B Yonny Hernández: 1-3, R
C Hayden Senger: 1-2, 2B, RBI, BB, K
SS Jackson Cluff: 0-2, BB, K
RHP Jack Wenninger: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 WP, 1 HBP, W (3-1)
RHP Dan Hammer: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 WP, 1 HBP, H (2)
RHP Alex Carrillo: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, H (2)
LHP Anderson Severino: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, S (4)
Chris Suero’s fifth home run of the year came in the first inning, giving the Ponies 1-0 lead. That lead did not hold long, as two Hartford runs in the second and one in the fifth put Binghamton down 3-1 going into the latter half of the game.
Binghamton would inch their way back, starting with a Wyatt Young RBI single in the seventh, and a Jose Ramos solo home run in the eighth, which tied the game. Binghamton would go home happy, with Eli Serrano walking the Yard Goats off with a sacrifice fly in the tenth.
Joel Díaz put the Cyclones behind the eight ball, giving up six runs in the first three innings of the game. The Cyclones. to their credit, battled back and made it a game, as they scored four in the first four innings, including tying the game at three apiece on a John Bay single. However, Hoss Brewer would surrender two in the eighth, which put the nail in the coffin for Brooklyn.
SS Antonio Jimenez: 0-3, R, BB, K
2B Yonatan Henriquez: 1-5, 2B
1B Ronald Hernandez: 2-4, R, K
DH Corey Collins: 0-3, 2 K
C Daiverson Gutierrez: 0-4, K
CF John Bay: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K
3B Colin Houck: 1-4, 2 K
LF Vincent Perozo: 1-4, R, HR (1), RBI
RF Yohairo Cuevas: 0-4, 3 K
RHP Joel Díaz: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (0-5)
LHP Gregori Louis: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
RHP Parker Carlson: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
RHP Hoss Brewer: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Lakeland got off to a fast start in this one, scoring in the first inning on an error by starting pitcher Joel Lara. They added three more in the third, one on a triple and one on a two run home run, putting the Mets behind 4-0.
They battled back to tie it, first breaking the shutout on a wild pitch. Randy Guzman hit his seventh home run of the year, a two run home run, to make it 4-3, all in the sixth inning. Branny De Oleo singled in the seventh to tie the game. However, the comeback would not be seen to the end, as a sacrifice fly in the seventh made it 5-4 Lakeland, the eventual final score.
SS Elian Peña: 1-5, R, 2 K, SB (11)
CF Edward Lantigua: 0-4, 2 K
1B Randy Guzman: 1-2, R, HR (7), 2 RBI, 2 BB, K
DH AJ Salgado: 0-3, BB, 2 K, SB (5)
LF JT Benson: 0-4, 3 K
C Chase Meggers: 0-3, BB, K
RF Simon Juan: 1-4, R, SB (3)
2B Sam Robertson: 1-4, K
3B Branny De Oleo: 2-3, R, RBI, BB, SB (3)
RHP Joel Lara: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, E (1)
RHP Miguel Mejias: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
LHP Conner Ware: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, L (1-4)
May 6, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Adolis García (53) celebrates his home run with second baseman Edmundo Sosa (33) against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Edmundo Sosa is such a fascinating ballplayer. He was in swing at everything mode in the eighth inning, but he managed to foul off enough pitches well outside of the zone until he got one to hit and delivered the go ahead, two-run single. And because of it, the Phillies are now 1-10 in games started by a left handed starting pitcher.
A massive blow was dealt to the Astros yesterday, as they lost shortstop Carlos Correa for the rest of the season due to a torn tendon in his ankle that requires surgery.
Both Parker and Sabathia are worthy inductees for the Brewers Wall of Honor despite having only short stints in Milwaukee. Parker played one season in Milwaukee in 1990, where he was named to the All-Star team, earned MVP votes, and won the Silver Slugger award. The 1990 season was a fairly forgettable one in Brewers history, but how can you not have a Hall of Famer who was an All-Star for you in your Wall of Honor?
Sabathia had even less than a full season with Milwaukee, just three months, but it was arguably the greatest three-month stretch for any pitcher we have ever seen. Sabathia lifted the Brewers on his back and carried them into the playoffs, ending the franchise’s 26-year postseason drought. No one had more of an impact on this team and this city in such a short amount of time. Of his 17 starts, seven of them were complete games. Despite being in a contract year, Sabathia selflessly put his body on the line to get this franchise to the playoffs, and this city is forever grateful to him for that.
That offseason after 2008, Sabathia left and signed a massive contract with the New York Yankees.
He will be inducted on Friday night before the Brewers play against…the New York Yankees.
It is the absolute perfect night for the Brewers to bring Sabathia back to Milwaukee and honor him. The Yankees and their fans will have to watch one of their favorite players, one of their Hall of Famers, don Brewers gear, throw out a ceremonial first pitch, be inducted into the Brewers Wall of Honor, and be cheered and adored by Brewers fans, not Yankees fans.
It works out great for Sabathia as well to see two of his old clubs at the same time, but it’ll be on the Brewers home turf.
Sabathia’s contributions were so critical to Brewers culture, one could even argue he’d be worthy of induction into the Walk of Fame as well. Generally, the criteria for the Walk of Fame is a higher bar to clear, and since he didn’t have multiple years in Milwaukee, it would be difficult in the eyes of some voters to get there. But in terms of impact, no one did more for this franchise in a shorter amount of time.
Mike Trout has 11 home runs and 23 RBIs so far this season, but the Angels enter Thursday with one of the worst records in the majors. (Luke Hales / Getty Images)
I walked around a street fair in Irvine over the weekend, checking out the crowd while waiting for my daughter’s dance team to perform. We were a few short miles from Angel Stadium, but you wouldn’t have known it: lots of people wearing Dodgers caps, someone wearing a Shohei Ohtani cap, someone else wearing an Ohtani jersey, someone else wearing a Clayton Kershaw jersey, a dog wearing a Dodgers bandana, and people repping the Padres, Giants, Athletics and Yankees.
After 25 minutes, someone walked by in an Angels cap.
If the passion wanes, apathy can set in. I wondered if that is where the Angels might find themselves now, with a slice of their fan base finding a more enjoyable way to spend its summers than watching one losing season after another, and with the shadow of baseball’s best team extending ever more securely into Orange County.
Something else happened over the weekend that made me wonder. On the heels of a winless road trip, and on the day before the Angels would claim the worst record in the major leagues, Angels general manager Perry Minasian said this to reporters: “Our best baseball is in front of us. There’s no doubt about that.”
No doubt?
Angels general manager Perry Minasian declined to predict in the team would make the playoffs this season. (Elsa Garrison / Getty Images)
On the Angels’ broadcast the previous night, reporter Erica Weston presented play-by-play announcer Wayne Randazzo with a birthday gift: a figurine of Grogu, a character in the Star Wars family. Randazzo said he would keep Grogu in the broadcast booth, as a good luck charm for the Angels.
“We certainly could use one,” Randazzo said.
Minasian, the sixth-year general manager, has yet to deliver a team that finished better than 17 games out of first place. On Wednesday, I asked him to explain why he was so confident in saying he had “no doubt” the team’s best days were ahead.
“We’ve been very competitive,” Minasian said. “Our wins and losses aren’t where we want them to be, but we have lost a lot of one-run games, a lot of tough games.”
The Angels have lost six one-run games. So have the Yankees, the team with the best record in the American League.
The Angels’ run differential is minus-14. They are four games behind in the AL West, where the first-place Athletics have a .500 record and a minus-21 run differential. You never know.
So far, however, the Angels’ offense is all about the three true outcomes: They strike out the most of any major league team and rank among the top six in walks and home runs, but they do not rank among the top 10 in runs. Only five teams have given up more runs.
“Going to the bullpen has been a harbinger of danger for the Angels,” Randazzo told viewers. The Angels’ bullpen entered Wednesday with a 5.35 earned-run average, the highest in the AL.
Owner Arte Moreno cut payroll this year, amid the implosion of the FanDuel regional sports networks. Edwin Díaz was not walking through the bullpen door.
Angels owner Arte Moreno. (Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
But the Dodgers find solid bullpen arms in ways beyond buying them: Evan Phillips was cast off by the Baltimore Orioles during a 110-loss season; Alex Vesia was acquired from the Miami Marlins after putting up an 18.69 ERA in his first five major league games.
“We’ve had guys like that,” Minasian said.
He cited Brock Burke, a waiver claim who gave the Angels two solid seasons in middle relief. Minasian traded him last winter for outfielder Josh Lowe, and any general manager would trade a middle reliever for a middle-of-the-order bat. To this point, Lowe has a .198 on-base percentage and a .287 slugging percentage.
Lowe is but a data point in illustrating this primary point: Minasian’s margin for error is smaller than it otherwise would have been if Moreno had not withdrawn from the market for top-tier free agents or had approved trading Ohtani for elite prospects that would have accelerated rebuilding. Smaller, but other teams do more with less.
“We’ve got to be able to develop our own players,” Minasian said.
On the day Minasian said he had “no doubt” better days were ahead for his team, the Angels, their triple-A affiliate and their double-A affiliate all were in last place.
Analysts perennially rank the Angels’ farm system among baseball’s worst. Minasian said he’ll put his faith in four homegrown starters: José Soriano, Reid Detmers, Jack Kochanowicz and Walbert Ureña. Their combined ERA so far: 2.99.
“When you look at good teams and sustainable winners, they build rotations, whether that’s through trades or free agency or your own,” Minasian said. “We’re doing it with our own. You can’t microwave that overnight.”
You can’t make fans wait forever for October either. Angels fans have heard enough about building a competitive team and needing patience.
They have not seen their team in a playoff game in 12 years. When are they going to see that?
Angels pitcher Walbert Ureña delivers against the New York Mets at Angel Stadium on May 1. (Luke Hales / Getty Images)
“I’m not in the prediction business,” said Minasian, whose contract expires after this season. “They’re going to see a team that plays hard every day. They’re going to see young, talented players day in and day out.”
That’s fine, but when are they going to see a winning team?
“The proof will be in the pudding,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what I say. I could say all these things. At the end of the day, we’re going to go play 162 games. We’ll see where we end up and who’s done what, and we’ll go from there.”
On Wednesday, the Angels won a series for the first time since April 13. They’re 3-2 with Grogu in the broadcast booth.
The schedule gets more challenging: a trip to Toronto and Cleveland, then back to the Big A to play the Dodgers. The same distant Angel Stadium seat available on the resale market for Wednesday's game for $5 (fees included) is available for $103 for the opener of the Dodgers series.
Orange County loves a winner. There was a long line at that Irvine street fair to collect souvenirs from one booth — the one for the Anaheim Ducks.
(Original Caption) Tom Zachary of the Yankees. (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images) | Corbis via Getty Images
A two-time World Series champion, “Old Tom” Zachary spent parts of three seasons in New York. In addition to playing for the Yankees, Zachary is tied to Yankees lore as the pitcher who gave up No. 60 to George Herman Ruth back in 1927.
Being tied to the Babe is usually enough to keep you relevant for generations. However, in Zachary’s case, in addition to that moment, he was able to make a 19-year run in the pros, appearing for seven organizations. That run resulted in 3,126.1 innings pitched, 185 complete games, and an ERA of 3.73.
Jonathan Thompson Walton Zachary Born: May 7, 1896 (Graham, NC) Died: January 24, 1969 (Burlington, NC) Yankees Tenures: 1928-30
Zachary was born into a family of Scotch-Irish Quakers in 1896 near Graham, North Carolina. Both of his parents were from families deeply rooted in the area. After graduating high school, Zachary went to Guilford College, where he played baseball from 1916 through 1918. As a lanky left-handed pitcher, Zachary was not known for overpowering any batters, but excelled with excellent control and a deliberately slow delivery.
In 1918, Zachary used the alias Zach Walton to attempt to play pro ball and not lose his college eligibility. Zach Walton impressed Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics and made two starts for the team, going 2-0, albeit with a 5.63 ERA. After the season, he signed up with the Red Cross for service during the war.
Zachary saw service in France before being released in June of 1919. Philadelphia had not placed him on their reserve list or ever officially signed him, making him free to sign with any team. That freedom led to him being signed by Clark Griffith and the Washington Senators. He debuted, under his real name, Jonathan Thompson Walton Zachary, with an inning of scoreless relief in Chicago on July 18, 1919.
That would start a seven-year run with the club that included making the 1924 and 1925 World Series, the former of which the Senators won in a seven-game classic over the New York Giants. Zachary played a key role for Washington, winning Game 2 with 8.2 innings of work, and then forcing a Game 7 with a one-run, complete-game effoty against John McGraw’s club. In the February after Washington’s ’25 World Series loss to Pittsburgh,, the Senators traded Zachary and Win Ballou to the St. Louis Browns for Bullet Joe Bush and Jack Tobin.
Zachary spent the 1926 season and part of the 1927 season in St. Louis before he was traded again, this time midseason. This trade sent him back to the Senators for Alvin “General” Crowder. The timing of this trade would later allow for history to be made at Zachary’s expense.
In the eighth inning on September 30th, Ruth would connect with a low fastball from Zachary for his 60th home run of the season, sailing into the right field bleachers. In total, Ruth hit nine home runs off Zachary in his career, but that one, the last, would be the most memorable.
After spending most of the 1928 season in Washington, Zachary was placed on waivers in August. The Yankees would claim him and start his three-season run with the club. The Yankees needed Zachary, as Herb Pennock was injured and the club was in the middle of a pennant run. Zachary rose to the occasion, tossing three complete-game victories in six starts.
The Yankees would meet the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Zachary drew the nod for Game 3. After a rocky first inning, Zachary settled in and delivered seven strikeouts in a complete-game 7-3 victory. The Yankees swept the series 4-0.
The 1929 season found Zachary still in pinstripes, and he posted one of his best seasons as a professional. That year, he appeared in 26 games, making 11 starts. Zachary posted a 12-0 record with a 2.48 ERA. That 12-0 mark still stands as the best record for a season without a loss.
The record was threatened in 1941 by Howie Krist, who finished 10-0, in 1985 by Dennis Lamp, who finished 11-0, and by Yankee cult hero Aaron Small in 2005, who also went 10-0 from July 20th until the end of the season. Zachary would start the 1930 season with the Yankees but would be placed on waivers in early May. Zachary’s career as a Yankee saw him post a 16-4 record with a 3.21 ERA, his second World Series ring, and a spot in the record books.
The Boston Braves would scoop him up off waivers in 1930, and that would start a five-season run there. In Boston, Zachary appeared mostly as a starting pitcher. He made 98 starts and went 42-42 overall. The Braves tenure came to an end after he was placed on waivers on May 28, 1934.
Zachary would go unclaimed but signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers on June 7th. He would spend the rest of that season, all of 1935, and part of the 1936 season in Brooklyn before he was placed on waivers again. This time, Zachary was claimed by the Philadelphia Phillies.
In case you lost count, this was his seventh and final team. He would appear in seven games but was released at 40 years old after posting a 7.79 ERA. So, in 1936, after 19 seasons that started at age 22, Tom Zachary was done playing professional baseball. He settled into life as a farmer, though he did notably return to the Bronx in June 1948, when an ailing Ruth’s No. 3 was retired. Zachary was one of several former teammates on hand for the event, and he of course had his own special tie to Ruth from that 1927 season. The Great Bambino passed away two months later; it was would be another two decades before Zachary joined Ruth in the great ballpark in the sky, passing away from a stroke in 1969.
Happy birthday, Old Tom!
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
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