Category: Sports News

The All-Star break giving us a four-day reprieve before kicking off the unofficial second half of the season is always a good time for reflection, as many front offices are surely doing with their rosters in the weeks remaining before the trade deadline. A lot can still happen to change up what the Yankees are working with, but until a move is made the team that they’ve got on paper needs to be the one showing up on the field. They finally pulled out of their tailspin in the week before the break, splitting a series with the Rays and sweeping the Nationals to give themselves a platform to hopefully spring off of once they’re back starting on Friday, but they’ve got a tough schedule in front of them.

The Yankees are in the tougher half of the toughest remaining schedules leaguewide with the 12th hardest foes left to face from the rest of July through September, and a few of the biggest ones are right on the horizon. Right out of the gate they’ve got the two-time defending champion Dodgers visiting the Bronx, and following them is a Pirates team that has surprisingly been rather competent surfacing over .500 this season. A road trip to Philadelphia is next up, and the Phillies have completely turned their season around since firing Rob Thomson and installing Yankee legend Don Mattingly as the interim manager putting them just two games behind Atlanta for first place in the NL East. A week in Chicago rounds out the month with both the White Sox and Cubs coming up back-to-back, and the ChiSox are another surprise as they narrowly lead the AL Central with the Cubs remaining a solid postseason threat in the middle of the NL Wild Card.

That’s a lot of contending teams to face in a row, and while the Yankees may have had a good week finally they’ll need to be on their A-game to not continue sliding down the standings with that many strong opponents on the docket. The schedule doesn’t let up from there, but let’s zoom in on this stretch to close out July for a moment. With the expectation that the big clump in the standings is going to force teams to wait around until the last minute before committing to being buyers or sellers, it’s reasonable to assume that the roster as it stands is going to be the ones handling this stretch, and it’s a crucial one. So how can we expect the Yankees to handle it, and how many series can they convert into wins?

Their immediate challenge with Los Angeles would certainly set the tone if they can win it, and they’ll be rolling out the top of their rotation rested and fresh with Cam Schlittler going in the first game to give themselves a chance, but I don’t think anyone would be surprised if they only came away with a win at most from the three-game set. Pittsburgh is a different discussion though, and for all the good they’ve done this year they have to be viewed as a team for the Yankees to beat. The Phillies are the pivotal point in this run, as the second-best team of the bunch and the first stop in a lengthy road trip — winning two out of three here would be a statement that the Yankees are back.

The White Sox got smashed the last time they faced New York, giving up 10+ runs in back-to-back games, and will be looking for vengeance on their home turf, but even though they’re a division leader they’re one of the weaker ones in all of baseball. With a four-game set the even split is the most common outcome, but tilting it in the Bombers’ favor is the kind of result they’ll need to catch the Rays. The Cubs will be a tough task to round things out with, and the prospect of facing them to end a 10-game road trip is daunting — I don’t know if they’ll be able to manage that, but expecting to win every series is impossible and I wouldn’t fault them for stumbling here if they play up to their lofty standards in the thick of this stretch. All in all, I see an 11-6 or 10-7 run to open the second half as a realistic goal if the Yankees are done stumbling all over themselves. Do you think it could be better? Is hoping for .500 with all of these contenders in the way the best they could hope for? Let us know what you think down below.

We’ve got a chill day ahead as we take our last day of rest before starting the dog days of summer. Nick leads off with a look at one of the few names that has been directly linked to the Yankees in trade rumors so far with Ryan Jeffers, and Matt follows with a birthday post for Tom Metcalf and the charming run he had in his lone year in the majors. Peter and Andrés both take Paul Blackburn under the microscope, with the former giving him the Sequence of the Week treatment while the latter looks at his breakout season at large. Then, Josh will preview the pitching matchups we’ll see when the Dodgers arrive tomorrow to kick off the post-break push.

Today’s Matchup

Off-day (Yankees will resume tomorrow at home against the Dodgers at 7:05 p.m. EST)

PHILADELPHIA — Within a 162-game campaign, there are multiple seasons within a season, each segment sowing hope or despair or perhaps just drudgery. Make it to July in decent shape, though, and anything’s possible.

Bryce Harper knows that all too well. His Philadelphia Phillies started out 9-19, cost manager Rob Thomson his job, then welcomed back Zack Wheeler – and exhaled.

A 45-24 tear to end the first half – Wheeler winning 10 of his 11 decisions – nudged the Phillies within two games of first place in the National League East – and firmly in wild card contention.

“Once we got Wheels back,” All-Star first baseman Bryce Harper tells USA TODAY Sports, “everybody took a deep breath and understood he was coming back and was going to do his job and do it well. That helped a lot of our other starting pitching fall into place and understand Wheels was going to do his job and everything was going to be OK.

“Once he got back, things started rolling a little more and kind of took off from there.”

And here we are, poised on the eve of the second half, with a mass of mediocrity huddled in the standings and 20 of 30 teams harboring fairly legitimate playoff hopes. Some are far better off than others, though, and with that in mind, USA TODAY Sports breaks down the tiers of playoff contenders as the season re-starts Friday, July 16:

Tier 1 – Almost certainly getting in: Dodgers, Brewers, Braves, Rays, Yankees

For what it’s worth, this group’s playoff odds, per FanGraphs, land in the 91-100% range, and you can guess which team enjoys the latter projection. Atlanta holds just a two-game lead over Philadelphia, and both teams possess below-average farm systems, which will make the trade deadline upgrade game fascinating. But Atlanta’s big league product features superior depth than the Phillies.

Milwaukee can largely rest on its first-half laurels and cruise to the postseason, but injuries to starting pitchers Kyle Harrison and Brandon Woodruff complicate matters. The Brewers hold a five-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central; the teams will face each other seven times in 10 games as August turns to September, spurring memories of their fairly epic five-game 2025 NLDS matchup won by the Brewers.

“Every game felt like a Game 7,” remembers Brewers ace Jacob  Misiorowski. “It didn’t matter if it was a Game 1 or a Game 3. It was a lot of fun.”

Despite the loss of Aaron Judge, the Yankees and Rays are simply the only teams with a semblance of consistency in the AL. The Rays have a three-game lead over the Yankees and 10 over third-place Boston. The Yankees should face the same scenario last year, a wild card in hand and a battle for the division, with Tampa Bay replacing Toronto. In case you were wondering: The Rays hold a 6-3 head-to-head advantage, so the Yankees best not tie for the division title once again.

Bloomberg | Silas Brown and Randall Williams: The Yankees are reportedly moving closer to raising $3 billion of financing from Apollo Global Management, Inc. The package is mostly comprised of debt and equity. Per the NY Post, the fresh capital is expected to be used ‘to refinance existing obligations and fund future expansion projects.’

ESPN | Kiley McDaniel: The 2026 MLB Draft is now in the books, and you can say that the Yankees added some exciting prospects. McDaniel updated each team’s top 10 prospects list and added the Bombers’ first two picks, left-handers Hunter Dietz and Sean Duncan, in the sixth and seventh spots, respectively. Fellow southpaw Henry Lalane (No. 8) and third baseman Richard Matic (No. 10) also cracked the list.

NY Post | Jon Heyman: A few weeks ago, former Yankees and current Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman suggested that if the Bombers wanted to acquire him before the deadline, he would need an apology from general manager Brian Cashman. That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. “I turned the page a long time ago,” Chapman told the Post. “They asked me a question and I answered it.”

Chapman’s tenure in New York ended on a sour note back in 2022, but the left-hander appears to be over it. A trade, however, is highly unlikely at this point, even though he has been magnificent this year with a 2.20 ERA.

Newsday | Erik Boland: The Yankees enter the second half with a 54-42 record, three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. Per Boland, there are five burning questions surrounding the team at this point. He wonders about Aaron Judge’s return date, Ben Rice’s ability to keep up his torrid run, Gerrit Cole and his ability to return to top form, and more.

Five things to watch as Phillies return from All-Star break originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies return from the All-Star break and host the New York Mets on Thursday night.

Before Aaron Nola takes the mound and the boos start raining down on Juan Soto at Citizens Bank Park, let’s take a look at five storylines that will impact the Phils as the games get bigger and they try to make the postseason for a fifth straight year.

THE TRADE DEADLINE

At various times this season, the Phillies’ top need has appeared to be a right-handed outfield bat or a back-end starting pitcher. The club would still benefit from both, though newcomer Derek Hill’s contributions on both sides of the ball have at least partially addressed some of the outfield deficit.

In recent weeks, bullpen has probably become the team’s No. 1 need, specifically a quality late-game leverage arm that can help deliver the ball to All-Star closer Jhoan Duran. It doesn’t really matter if the Phils get a lefty or a righty, as long as it’s a quality arm that throws strikes. In a perfect world, however, it would be a left-hander because Jose Alvarado has struggled. Aroldis Chapman would be the pie-in-the-sky acquisition, but his Boston Red Sox rallied before the break and are just a half-game out of the last wild-card spot in the American League.

Not only has Alvarado struggled but right-hander Brad Keller, signed in the offseason to pitch in leverage situations in the seventh and eighth innings, recently missed time with forearm inflammation. Keller is back now, but eyebrows were raised over the weekend when he was not used in Detroit. That’s something to keep an eye on.

Since June 1, the Phillies’ bullpen ranks 25^th in the majors with a 5.21 ERA. In July, it ranks 29^th with an 8.05 ERA and has walked 5.45 batters per nine, second-most in the majors over that span.

The trade deadline is August 3. The Phillies are in the midst of their annual search for bullpen help. Baseball boss Dave Dombrowski got a good one in Duran last year. He doesn’t have a deep farm system to entice potential trade partners, but he’ll get something done. With a high-priced, aging, win-now team, the stakes are just too high not to.

Fans aren’t the only ones curious to see what happens.

The players are, too. Especially the guy in the first locker with the colorful spikes.

“I think you know what we need, what we’re good at and what we’re not good at right now,” Bryce Harper said at All-Star media day Monday. “Obviously John (Middleton) wants to win. He’s going to put all his chips in where he needs to, but he’s going to be smart about our future as well. I’ve said this before. Obviously, I like the future of our organization and we need our future, but you’ve got to try to win as well. So whatever that looks like, I think Dave is going to do a great job, or I hope he does, and gets the things we need.”

RACE FOR THE CY

Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler are right in the thick of a crowded NL Cy Young race that could go down to the wire. They rank Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in bWAR for pitchers in the NL – Sanchez at 5.4 and Wheeler at 4.8.

Sanchez, who finished second in the voting last season, ranks second in the NL in innings (127 1/3) and strikeouts (144). He is sixth in ERA at 2.62. He racked up the fifth-longest scoreless innings streak (50 2/3 innings) in MLB history earlier this season.

Since the streak ended, however, Sanchez carries an ERA of 4.50 in eight starts. Makes you wonder if he’s getting a little fatigued. Something to keep an eye on as the second half gets going.

Wheeler missed five starts at the beginning of the season so he does not yet qualify for the league ERA lead. If he did, his mark of 2.13 ERA would be second-best in the NL to Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski. His 0.892 WHIP would also be second in the league. Wheeler projects to have enough innings to qualify for the league lead by mid-August. He has twice finished second in the Cy Young voting and badly wants to win one. His innings total may end up being around 170. Can he win it at that number? Sure, he can. Corbin Burnes won the award with 167 innings in 2021, beating out Wheeler, who led the majors with 213 1/3 that season.

Sanchez and Wheeler face plenty of competition for the Cy Young. Misiorowski, Chris Sale, Chase Burns, Eduardo Rodriguez, Max Meyer and Shohei Ohtani, among others, are all in the mix.

SOME NOTABLE SERIES

The Phillies have a big one next week when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers for three games at Citizens Bank Park. The Dodgers have the best record in the majors and eliminated the Phillies from the postseason last year. Once again, they look to be a team the Phillies must get past if they want to make the World Series. The Phils lost two of three at Dodger Stadium in May. They’ll have another chance to measure themselves against baseball’s best next week.

A week after seeing the Dodgers, the Phils travel to Miami for three against a surging Marlins team that is right on their heels in the NL East and wild-card races. Miami has the best record (26-11) in the majors since June 1 and is 31-20 at home.

The Phils come back from the All-Star break trailing first-place Atlanta by two games. The Marlins are just four back. The Phillies and Braves will square off seven times in 10 days in early September.

HELP FROM THE MINORS?

If the Phils spend their limited trade currency to add bullpen or outfield help, they may not have enough to address the back end of their starting rotation. They would love nothing more than to see enough improvement in Andrew Painter to bring him back from Triple A.

It’s worth keeping an eye on Gage Wood’s progress at Double A. Would Dombrowski bring last year’s first-rounder to the majors down the stretch to help in the bullpen? It probably depends on the hard-throwing right-hander’s ability to throw strikes. It might be a long shot, but Dombrowski has been bold in the past.

Right-handed reliever Alex McFarlane is also at Double A, striking out almost 12 batters per nine innings. However, he’s walking almost five per nine. He throws hard and features a good slider. Maybe he earns a look if he can throw strikes.

Also, veteran Tommy Pham is still in the minors. The right-handed hitting outfielder could be in the mix if he gets hot.

CHASING RECORDS

Kyle Schwarber leads the majors with 32 homers. He’s on pace for 56, which would equal his NL-leading total from last season. Can Schwarber break Ryan Howard’s club record of 58, set in 2006? Can he get to 60?

Schwarber is 28 shy of 400 homers in his career. Bryce Harper is just 17 short of 400. Can they both get there this season?

On the flipside, Schwarber leads the majors with 144 strikeouts and is on pace to break the all-time single-season record of 223, set by Arizona’s Mark Reynolds in 2009.

Harper, who missed time each of the last five seasons with injury, has been remarkably durable this season. He’s played in all 97 games. Manager Don Mattingly knows he must get Harper an occasional day off in the second half to optimize production.