Category: Sports News

As we continue through the summer months of our illuminating Yankees birthday series, we are taken to every corner of baseball history. In the case of a day like today, we may dive into a career that was solid in one way or another, but only features a brief chapter with the Yankees. Joe Oliver played in over 1,000 big league games over the course of a 13-year career, won a World Series, and of course, made a brief stop with the New York Yankees as it was winding down. Today, the former world champ turns 61.

Joe Oliver
Born: July 24, 1965 (Memphis, TN)
Yankees Tenure: 2001

Born in Tennessee in July of 1965, Joseph Melton Oliver developed his game in Florida, attending Boone High School in Orlando as a standout behind home plate. His time there was convincing enough for the Cincinnati Reds to select him in the second round of the 1983 draft.

Although Oliver first became a professional when he was just 17, it was a longer road through the minors, but he would finally make his big league debut in the 1989 season. Oliver registered a hit in his very first MLB at-bat, and his career was off and running. He’d play in 49 mostly fine games during the ‘89 season, but would begin to make a much bigger mark in the following year.

Oliver played in 121 games in 1990 for the Reds, coming to the plate more than 400 times as their primary catcher during the regular season as Cincinnati went wire-to-wire under new manager Lou Piniella to claim the NL West division title, their first since 1979. Most notably, the young catcher helped propel his club to a World Series upset over a stacked Oakland club led by the likes of Rickey Henderson and the Bash Brothers. In the Fall Classic, Oliver went an impressive 6-for-18, with no hit bigger than his walk-off knock down the left-field line against Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley, securing Game 2 for the Reds. They soon swept away the shocked A’s.

It was the last World Series game ever played at Riverfront Stadium, the home of the “Big Red Machine,” which closed in 2002. To date, the Red have never made it back to host another Fall Classic.

Oliver continued to play a significant role with the Reds through the strike-shortened 1994 season, with perhaps the finest year of his career coming in ‘92, when he posted a 92 OPS+ in 143 games, part of a three-year stretch with double-digit homers as well.

From that point on, the veteran catcher followed a journeyman’s path over the next seven seasons. He made a one-year stop with the Brewers in ‘95 before returning to a fairly prominent role role with the Reds in the next two seasons, playing at roughly the same level the club was likely accustomed to. Oliver then spent the 1998 season splitting time between Detroit and Seattle (reuniting with his old Reds skipper Piniella), before spending ‘99 with the Pirates. Each of those stops were mostly a disappointment relative to the rest of his career, as he had a cumulative 51 OPS+ during the final two seasons of the 20th century.

Piniella brought Oliver back to the Mariners for a second time for the 2000 campaign, and he actually put up solid numbers in 69 games, posting a career-best 105 OPS+ with 10 homers in his limited time — though Piniella gave him a little more down the stretch due to the offensive struggles of longtime starter (and future M’s manager) Dan Wilson. Seattle won a Wild Card spot, and Oliver was finally back in the postseason for the second time in his career. Appearing in his first playoff game in a decade, Oliver celebrated with a homer off Jim Parque in the ALDS opener against the White Sox, the beginning of a sweep over the team that finished 2000 with the American League’s best record.

Oliver and the Mariners fell to the Yankees in a six-game ALCS after the sweep, but that slight renaissance in his age-34 season likely helped to keep him around for a bit longer. In fact, in the early stages of that offseason, Oliver joined those same now-three-time defending champions who had just eliminated his team.

Signed as one of Jorge Posada’s many backups during the 2000s and donning his pal Piniella’s old No. 14, Oliver’s time in pinstripes ended up being largely unremarkable. Posada was in his prime and manager Joe Torre put him behind the plate as much as possible. Oliver mustered only a 62 OPS+ across 12 games and 40 plate appearances with the Yankees. One of those games led to a Yankees loss as well, as Oliver’s passed ball in extra innings on May 10th led to the Twins beating Mariano Rivera.

Posada suffered a minor thumb injury in early June that limited him to DH duty, and the Yankees had to call up another catcher to make sure they had a backup to Oliver in that time. That turned out to be Todd Greene, who was six years younger and hit the ground running with a 4-for-7 series in Baltimore. So when Posada returned to health and the Yankees made a trade to acquire infielder/future Pedro Martinez frenemy Enrique Wilson from Pittsburgh on June 13th, they had a decision to make on Posada’s backup. Although Oliver had hit his first Yankees homer on June 10th (a rare old Yankee Stadium “black seats” homer against Greg Maddux, no less), New York elected to keep Greene and designate Oliver for assignment.

As far as fill-in backup catchers go, teams could have gone far worse than with Oliver, even late in his career. And honestly, Greene didn’t really hit at all for the remainder of 2001. To put it lightly, Torre had good reason to lean on Posada.

Oliver got picked up by the Red Sox but only made it into five MLB games. That split-season would ultimately prove to be his final action on a big league field, but just as he started it, Oliver managed to tally a hit in his final career at-bat.

After a hiatus from the game, Oliver once again became involved in affiliated ball, this time as a manger in the Red Sox minor league system. He served as a manager at various levels in the system from 2014-19.

On his 61st, we wish the former, albeit brief, Yankees backstop a happy birthday.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

After back to back series wins on the road, the Nats set up one of their most important matchups in years. They come home to square off against a Diamondbacks team that currently holds the third Wild Card spot. The Snakes are two games ahead of the Nats, which makes this series a massive one.

For new President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni, this series will probably be the one where he decides his direction for the trade deadline. If the Nats drop this series, selling the likes of Foster Griffin and Luis Garcia Jr. will become inevitable. It could even pave the way for a CJ Abrams trade if the right offer comes. 

However, if the Nats win the series, it could be time to buy. Our guy Paul Cubbage put together a good list of candidates if the Nats were to buy. Controllable pitching will be what the Nats would likely go after. The likes of Jose Soriano, Reid Detmers and Joe Ryan could be on the table.

They still need to go out and perform in this series though. The pitching matchups this weekend point to some potentially high scoring games. Today, Carson Palmquist will open for Zack Littell. Foster Griffin pitches Saturday, which is good for the Nats. However, Miles Mikolas will get the ball on Sunday.

On the other side of things, the D-Backs are calling upon three lefties. The experienced Eduardo Rodriguez will take the ball tonight. He is having a great season with a 2.62 ERA, but is outperforming his underlying numbers by a lot. On Saturday and Sunday, the D-Backs have the rookie duo of Mitch Bratt and Kohl Drake on the mound.

Those guys have made a combined 4 MLB starts in their careers. On paper, this should be a good matchup for the Nats high powered offense. One player we will see a lot of this weekend is Andres Chaparro, who is flying high after a massive road trip. The burly first baseman hit three homers including a 467 foot blast in Sacramento. 

Chaparro staying productive this weekend will be a major key in this series. Other lefty mashers like Curtis Mead and Dylan Crews will also be important players to watch. The Nats have a well rested bullpen that performed well on the road trip, but as we all know, they remain a massive question mark.

The clubhouse knows how important this series will be. Blake Butera talked about the importance of this stretch in a presser the other day. He knows that these players are aware of what the standings look like and that the trade deadline is looming. Now these guys have a chance to force the front office into buying.

There have been a lot of times this season where the vibes are very high after a successful road trip. However, a lot of times the home stand that follows brings those vibes down. The Nats are going to need to perform at home this weekend, and reverse a season long trend.

They are 20-31 at Nationals Park this year. That is the worst home record in all of baseball. This team will have to change that if they want to go on a real playoff push, and it has to start right now. The Washington Nationals are starting their most important series of the 2020’s, and I am fired up!

Worcester: W, 15-1 (BOX SCORE)

Many will love the Franklin Arias move to Triple-A so he can showcase his power and contact tools at the next level, facing guys who have pitched in the Majors before. On Thursday, while their old manager (and current Major League manager) Chad Tracy was inducted into the WooSox Hall of Fame Class of 2026, the team didn’t even need the 20-year-old infielder to pop off against guys who have made their debut in the Show, such as Braxton Garrett and Amos Willingham. Behind Raymond Burgos’ best start of the year (in which he retired eleven batters in a row at one point), all they did was collect 18 hits, 9 with runners in scoring position, and six extra-base hits. Andrew Knizner got on base six times, Allan Castro hit a home run in the seventh that put an exclamation mark on the game, Braiden Ward had three hits at the bottom of the lineup, and simply put, the WooSox dominated the Jumbo Shrimp. (Marlins AAA)

Portland: W, 3-2 (BOX SCORE)

John Holobetz had a fantastic performance along with the rest of the pitching staff; the staff as a whole held Binghamton (Mets AA) scoreless all the way until the ninth, but Holobetz was the clear standout, striking out ten and keeping the Sea Dogs in the contest. Which leads us to the biggest story of the minor league system right now: in Franklin Arias’ final game in Portland, all he did was hit his 19th home run of 2026, which, in a one-run game, made all the difference. The team announced on Thursday night that he’d be joining the Triple-A roster, as the promising prospect will be taking the trip down 95 south… or, since I guess they’re in Binghamton, he’ll be going 88 to the Thruway to the Pike. Anyway! This is big news. Many in the 2025 Mikey Romero camp have departed it for reasons not entirely his fault, so this gives them another infielder to watch until Jack Winnay inevitably tears the cover off the ball next year. I do not see Arias getting promoted again at his young age, and I also don’t see him being any part of a trade to bolster this year’s roster; he seems untouchable and really a piece the team wants to make sure develops correctly (however arbitrary “correctly” is)… but baseball is baseball and we’ll have to see.

Greenville: PPD, Rain (Make-Up Today)

Rain, rain, go away. The Drive play two against Spartanburg (Astros High-A) today. (Rhyme intentional)

Salem: W, 8-7 (BOX SCORE)

The pitching wasn’t exactly at the top of their game in hosting Greensboro (Braves A), but they didn’t have to be. They did strike fourteen out despite allowing seven runs on ten hits and walking nine, and those strikeouts played a part in the Green Jackets stranding a dozen, which Salem took full advantage of. Kleyvar Salazar had his second consecutive home run with a game (I’m still convinced he was about to hit one when Tuesday’s game was rained out) and due to three consecutive innings with runs, the RidgeYaks were able to hold off a ninth inning rally to narrowly escape with a W.

The trade deadline is near and the Phillies have work to do. There are multiple holes that can, and should, be filled by the time to clock ticks to 00:00 on August 3rd, which means there needs to be a scouring of rosters around the game. Several problems are present though, the most glaring is – who are the sellers?

The presence of the third wild card has made this question harder to define than at the deadlines we grew up with. Teams might feel like they’re still in it, thus requiring them to either hold serve or actually acquire pieces to go for a shot at getting into the playoffs and seeing what havoc they can cause. It leads to a shortfall of teams that have accepted their fate and put themselves on the market as sellers with players to move. However, there are some clear teams that have fallen out of contention and have the players that match up with what the Phillies are looking to do.

We can name the needs the Phillies have this trade deadline with relative ease:

• a fifth starter to give them decent starts each time he toes the rubber
• at least one (preferably two) reliever to add to the bullpen, that reliever being someone that can be trusted in the eighth inning
• a bat, preferably right handed, that can help get on base at a reasonable rate that would help raise the team’s current .303 OBP as a team

The tricky part to all of this is payroll. The team, according to Roster Resource, currently sits at a smidge over $321 million in payroll counting towards the luxury tax penalties. Since they have cleared the third threshold of that tax, we can conservatively think that every dollar added to the payroll at this point would be double in terms of the luxury tax they would have to pay at the end of the season. While putting the best team on the field should be the goal of the team, we’d be delusional if if didn’t figure the money part into the trade deadline into the equation. So, if the team is going to be acquiring a player, they had better be getting some bang for their buck.

However, there are still some teams that they can dance with at the deadline that can help them. Here are three.

Colorado Rockies (Fangraphs playoff odds: 0.0%)

The Rockies stink, yet have a direction for the first time in seemingly years. They have accepted they are bad and will move players to finally try and be good in the future. Considering how their past few trade deadlines have gone, that is a radical change for them. Even with how bad they have been, there are several pieces that could fit what the team is looking for.

The most desirable piece the Rockies have is Hunter Goodman, their All-Star catcher who is currently third in the majors with 31 home runs. He would add the much needed power to the lineup that would come from the right side. He’s running a walk rate below 10%, not exactly the remedy to the problem the Phillies have, but that could be overlooked since he hits the ball really hard and really far. Then there is the fact that Goodman is a catcher, which might sound like an issue with a team that has J.T. Realmuto ensconced at the position, but Goodman has played in the outfield before. That move to the outfield full time might not be easy on the defensive eyes, but since when have the Phillies worried about team defense?

The cost of acquiring Goodman would be exorbitant, possibly too high for what the Phillies would be comfortable with doing. It would mean putting Gage Wood on the table at the bare minimum, plus several more names that occupy whatever top ten list you wish to adhere to. He might be exactly what the team needs, but it’s probably pie in the sky thinking.

After Goodman, the team could look at the starters they have. Since the spot in the rotation the Phillies are looking to fill is pretty specific, several players could fit the bill. Michael Lorenzen and Tomoyuki Sugano could at least act like adults in the fifth starter’s spot for the Phillies, not the sexiest names on the planet, but also at least capable of giving them decent outings each time they toe the rubber. Looking into the bullpen, Antonio Senzatela has been much better this season since moving there full time, seeing jumps in all of his peripherals in addition to his fastball velocity. Juan Mejia throws really, really hard, averaging 97 mph with his fastball, but with nary a semblance of where it is actually going (see: 11.2 BB%). Victor Vodnik has always had the velocity the team likes from their bullpen pieces, but if you thought Mejia didn’t know where the strikezone was, Vodnik might be worse. If they wanted to add someone to the outfield mix, someone like Brenton Doyle, though maybe a year or two too late, would fit the bill as a right handed option, but would he be better than what Derek Hill is currently providing? Old friend Mickey Moniak has 16 home runs, but his walk rate is under 6%. He’s also left handed.

There are some decent pieces that might give the Phillies some depth pieces that they could control beyond this season, but as far as needle moving trades, outside of Goodman and maybe Senzatela, there isn’t much that would be added to the team’s potential playoff roster. They match up decently and wouldn’t have to part with much in terms of high level prospects (again, outside of Goodman), so perhaps there is a match to be made.

Kansas City Royals (Fangraphs playoff odds: 0.3%)

Another team that has fallen into the doldrums this year is the Royals. When the season began, they were at least mildly interesting as a potential AL Central pick were they able to continue with their plan of solid rotation, Bobby Witt and lots of hope to win the division. Unfortunately for them, if something could go wrong for them, it has. Witt has been an MVP level player, but everyone else has fallen apart. They still have him to build around, as well as some offensive pieces like Jac Caglianone and Vinnie Pasquantino, but the rest of the roster has struggled or gotten hurt. They are another team that has a few things that could help the Phillies.

Naturally, the easiest player to think of is Lane Thomas. Signed to a one-year deal this offseason, Thomas has hit to a not spectacular, but not horrible .240/.337/.409 line for the season. He would be an option the team could look at to help in the outfield as part of a platoon with someone in right field, whether that someone is Gabriel Rincones, Jr. or if they simply say that he is the starter and move forward from there. Is that a needle mover for the team as far as boosting the outfield as is? Maybe not, but it would be more of a raising the floor than anything else.

On the pitching side, they might be a team that is able to act on Michael Wacha as a starting pitcher. It would fall into the “solid, but not spectacular” type of move that makes those fifth starter issues disappear. Get into a playoff series that require four starters and there is a real conversation that, were they able to acquire Wacha, he would be a better option to start that game over Aaron Nola. He’d also have team control through 2027 and 2028, the latter of which would come in the form of a team option, so this wouldn’t just be a move concerned about this season alone. It would also be setting up the rotation for the next season as well. Is that something the team would want to do, locking in another spot with little flexibility?

For relievers, there are a few that should draw interest. Daniel Lynch is a power left handed reliever having a solid season for the Royals. He handles left handed hitters with ease and has shown an effectiveness against right handers as well, even if they have hit him a bit better. One thing to note is that he keeps the ball on the ground to the tune of a groundball rate at nearly 51%. With the infield defense the way it is right now, would he still be as effective?

And before you ask, no. Matt Strahm is not an option, not with an ERA that begins with a 7 and a groundball rate under 30%.

Baltimore Orioles (Fangraphs playoff odds: 24.6%)

At first blush, there doesn’t seem to be a match between the two teams. Admittedly, there can be a bit of a stretch to see the link between the two.

Technically, with playoff odds around 25% and the American League being quite bad this season, Baltimore could talk itself into actually pushing forward with what they have. They have played better since the break and have some players that could continue to improve as the clock ticks toward the deadline. They only sit three games out of the last wild card spot and remain in striking distance.

Yet if they determine that they aren’t going to make it and indeed start to trade away a few pieces, there are some that could be attractive to the Phillies.

Namely, Taylor Ward.

Having been linked to the Phillies for at least two seasons now, the disappointing season the Orioles are having might finally be the time that a deal is actually consummated. Ward has played in each game on the season for Baltimore and has given them a 120 wRC+ for their troubles. He’s also an outfielder on an expiring contract and could bring them back something fetching in return. Outfielders are things that Baltimore has a few of in reserve, but moving Ward would be a signal that they didn’t think they could overcome the injuries they’re having to make those playoffs.

If Ward was someone they did not want to move, someone like Tyler O’Neill could possibly be pried loose. He’s in a platoon right now with Dylan Beavers and has generally disappointed in his tenure there, but isn’t far removed from a season (2024) in which he had 31 home runs. Were the Orioles willing to pay down some of his remaining deal (he is still under contract for 2027 at $16.5 million, a roll of the dice could be in play to see if he can regain some of his noted power from a few years ago.

For pitching, it’s unlikely any of the starters Baltimore has would be on the table, so focusing on what relievers they have could be in order. Andrew Kittredge is one that they could have interest in as a late inning option. He’s been solid for them this year, running an ERA around 3.5 for most of the season. He’s not going to blow hitters away, but he still induces quite a bit of chase with his stuff and keeps the ball on the ground.

These are but three teams that the Phillies might be able to make a deal with. There are a few others, some of which might be able to actually see a deal through. We’ll have to wait and see what that deadline finally brings.

The FCL Braves season has come to a close. On paper it wasn’t a great year at just 18-39, but we did get to see some players emerge with the Braves lowest level affiliate within the US this season. This article will highlight some of the successes and failures of the team’s season, as well as picking the team’s hitter and pitcher of the year.

FCL Hitter of the Year: Manuel Campos, SS

Manuel Campos pretty easily took this home this year. It looked like it would be Michael Martinez’s award, but considering he was promoted after just 11 games while Campos spent the entire year here, this was an easy choice. The 18-year-old switch hitter from Venezuela hit .310/.408/.429 with eight doubles, three triples, two homers, 30 steals in 35 attempts, 27 walks, and 37 strikeouts over 196 plate appearances.

FCL Pitcher of the Year: Gensi Angeles, RHP

This wasn’t quite as easy as the hitter, as Gensi Angeles had Briggs McKenzie to compete with, but once again the body of work heavily slanted things towards Angeles. Angeles was the ace of the team, pitching to a 2.26 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 45 strikeouts to 27 walks over 55.2 innings. The 18-year-old Dominican continued the success he had last year in the DSL – 3.57 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 24 strikeouts in 35.1 innings. He’s just 6’0” and 165 pounds and sits mostly in the upper 80’s while touching the low 90’s, but he has been quite efficient to start his career. It is worth noting that he saw his K/9 jump by 1.2, his H/9 only increase by 0.3, and his HR/9 drop from 1.0 to 0.3, though his walk rate nearly doubled in going from 2.5 to 4.4 BB/9. Despite his success in the lowest levels, Angeles won’t rank high on prospect lists because with the stuff he’s shown he is the kind of pitcher who will need to keep proving himself every time he moves up a level.

Hitting

Even if you exclude the slew of guys just here for rehab assignments (Ronald Acuna, Owen Carey, Conor Essenburg, Ha-Seong Kim, Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Santana, and Will Verdung), the FCL squad had more bright spots than you might expect from a team with this record. We already got into the season that Manuel Campos had, while Michael Martinez earned a fairly quick promotion to Augusta with his .375/.522/.781 line in 11 games. However other players also had solid showings here. As a team they hit .234/.354/.334 with 21 homers, though three of those homers came from the rehab group and another four came from Martinez’s short stint early in the season. The team average and OBP both ranked 13th out of 15 teams in the league, with the worst slugging percentage – 15 points below the team ahead of them.

Yamvier Carrero emerged a bit in his first season after signing as an undrafted free agent from high school last year, hitting .259/.407/.294 – though his season ended a bit early due to injury, and he cooled off a bit towards the end of his time after a solid start. Caden Merritt was another first year high school undrafted free agent, and he slashed .237/.384/.405 with five doubles, four triples, three homers, and 20 steals in his first full season as he split time between here and Augusta. Diego Tornes also had his season end early due to injury, and although his stat line wasn’t particularly impressive at .196/.274/.304 – the underlying metrics on him do paint a brighter picture than the stat line would indicate. Catcher Manuel Dos Passos (.693 OPS) and catcher/first baseman Johan Rodriguez (.747 OPS) also put up solid seasons. Among the guys who weren’t here long from the DSL team, Jorwin Pulido (1.098 OPS) and Elias Reyno (.763 OPS) each had shown some flashes – though neither played even 10 games. Pulido is especially noteworthy as he is a 17-year-old catcher who only signed at the beginning of 2026, and it’s become very rare for the Braves to promote a younger prospect in his first season beyond the DSL. Each of those players will be talked about more in the DSL recap once that season ends in roughly three more weeks.

Pitching

It was a rough year on the pitching side of things. The team ERA was 6.78 with a 1.81 WHIP, along with an 8.4 K/9 against a 7.8 BB/9. That last sentence tells a story of the reason this team lost so many games, though to be fair the young defense didn’t do the pitching staff many favors. It is also worth noting that the walks and defense aren’t Braves-specific issues as much as a common theme in the league, so this is to be expected.

Gensi Angeles was already talked about above, but Briggs McKenzie gave him a real run for the team’s top pitcher this year posting a 0.79 ERA and 0.71 WHIP with nine strikeouts to two walks over 11.1 innings in three outings. Ultimately he fell short as his body of work paled in comparison to what Angeles did here, due to his fairly quick promotion to Augusta and then Rome. Outside of Angeles and McKenzie the most successful pitchers here to pitch even 10 innings had to be Brody Fowler, Luis Arestigueta, and Daniel Brooks. Fowler pitched to a 4.91 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with 46 strikeouts to 13 walks in his 40.1 innings. Arestigueta was 4.63 ERA and 1.37 WHIP with nine strikeouts in 11.2 innings. Brooks had a 6.17 ERA and 1.46 WHIP, but 11 strikeouts in 11.2 innings. After that group of pitchers, most of the other pitching either really struggled or was not here very long.