Category: Sports News

The Blue Jays had a deep post-season run, coming so close to winning a championship. But they stumbled out of the gate in their attempt to run it back, losing 12 of 15 in April, a hole that they struggled to emerge from. They have suffered some injuries, but most of their decline has come from a lackluster offense. They are second-from-last in baseball in home runs, third-from last in on-base percentage, and dead last in runs scored. Only eight qualified hitters have fewer home runs than Vladimir Guerrero. Kazuma Okamoto is third among all rookies in home runs with 26.

Kansas City Royals (58-74) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (64-68) at Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON

Royals: 4.24 runs scored/game (22nd in MLB), 4.93 runs allowed/game (26th)

Blue Jays: 3.95 runs scored/game (30th), 4.36 runs allowed/game (13th)

Who’s hot:

• Alejandro Kirk got off to an awful start, but is hitting .366/.440/.548 with five home runs in his last 26 games.
• Vinnie Pasquantino is hitting .385/.448/.769 in his seven games since returning from the Injured List.

Who’s not:

• Nathan Lukes is hitting just .184/.234/.287 in his last 26 games.
• Carter Jensen is batting .122/.280/.220 in his last 12 games.

Notable matchups:

• Salvador Perez is a career .371/.389/.771 hitter against Max Scherzer with four home runs in 36 plate appearances.
• Andrés Giménez is just 1-for-7 (.143) in his career against Seth Lugo.

Shane Bieber was supposed to pitch on Wednesday, but he was placed on the Injured List and the Jays currently do not list a starter for Wednesday or Thursday. They could start Simeon Woods Richardson, who has been pitching in relief since the Jays acquired him. He has a 1.04 ERA in 17.1 innings with them, but with 10 walks. Royals hitters are batting .366/.422/.439 against Spencer Arrighetti in his two career starts.

The Jays have a 3.78 bullpen ERA, and they have two pitchers – Louis Varland and Tyler Rogers – who are among the eight lowest reliever ERAs in baseball. Spencer Miles has a 1.76 ERA in 36 relief appearances. The Jays picked up Paul Sewald, who was let go by the Diamondbacks last week.

The Jays won’t be back in the World Series, but they are far from a bad team. The Royals have been hot, but the reigning AL champs could be a good test whether this run is fluky or the sign of a team that has figured things out in the second half.

Texas Rangers lineup for August 25, 2026 against the Chicago White Sox: starting pitchers are Jacob deGrom for the Rangers and Anthony Kay for the White Sox.

Texas looks to keep things rolling in Chicago. Skip Schumaker is going with the righty-swinging crew.

The lineup:

Foscue — 2B

Seager — SS

Langford — LF

Nimmo — RF

Duran — CF

Burger — 1B

O’Hoppe — C

Freeman — 3B

Jansen — C

6:40 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -117 favorites.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country.

The race is tight.

The New York Yankees are only 3.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the lead in the American League East. However, they’re also working to stave off the Boston Red Sox, who broke down the door and entered the conversation over the past couple months. Every swing decision, every pitch, and every fielding choice matters more with every game played, and for some players this season, those have come easier than to others.

The Yankees need all hands on deck and a return to form from one or multiple players to make their case for an AL East title and World Series championship all the more believable, and there are cases for each one. Jazz Chisholm Jr., while he does sit in third place on the Yankees in fWAR, didn’t get there because of his ability to get on base this season. Rather, he’s there because of what he can do both in the field and when he does get on base. He’s 11th in MLB in strikeout rate, his OBP is below .300, and his wRC+ is 93 across the 121 games he has played this season. However, he’s fourth in MLB in stolen bases, and despite his offensive issues, he’s still been very effective on the basepaths. The same goes for Jose Caballero, whose entire profile is similar to that of Jazz’s this season — although Caballero didn’t come out before the season and say he wanted to go for a 50/50 campaign.

Austin Wells is another roster mainstay who has failed to live up to snuff this season. His last 20 games have been better than what his numbers might suggest (.255/.340/.404 slashline instead of .179/.274/.297), but he has been the worst hitter on the team for the majority, if not the entire season. He has been decent behind the plate, and the two seasons before this saw Wells showcase his offensive potential. However, he hasn’t been the same this year. But compared to new addition Heliot Ramos, who came over from the San Francisco Giants, Wells looks like a superstar.

In 16 games in pinstripes, Ramos is slashing .113/.230/.189, which is good for a 19 wRC+. His -0.7 fWAR is the worst on the Yankees and in such a short period of time. But a redeeming factor could be an acclimation period. Moving from one side of the country to the other isn’t easy for anyone, let alone a professional baseball player. And in 74 games with the Giants, Ramos was a slightly above-average hitter (105 OPS+) who had the kind of opposite-field power that could really be handy at Yankee Stadium. So, while it may be taking longer for him to get his bearings in a Yankee uniform than some fans may like, the sample size is still small, and he has a chance to prove himself down the stretch.

If you had to pick one player who could return to form and help lead the charge, which one do you think is most likely? Let us know in the Feed poll below, and we’ll analyze the results later in the week.

Captain’s back.

As expected, the Mariners have reinstated shortstop J.P. Crawford from the IL, where he landed on July 30 with right wrist inflammation. And emphasis on the “shortstop” part of that sentence, as Colt Emerson, who was playing short in J.P.’s absence earlier in the year and then even when he returned, is done for the year with a similar wrist issue that he’s scheduled to have surgery on today. (If you’re curious about why one player might opt for season-ending surgery and another might come back after an IL stint for the same injury, read yesterday’s report on Colt Emerson, where I dove into the specifics of this injury and how it affects players differently (standard Not A Doctor caveat applies).)

Crawford completed a rehab stint with the Rainiers, playing three games with Tacoma over this past week. After going hitless in his first game, he went on to have a three-hit game with a homer the next day, and collected another hit in his final appearance. His last hurdle was returning to T-Mobile Park to go through a standard daily pregame workout with the team, which he cleared yesterday, leading to his activation today. Crawford was out for early batting practice again today, lasering hits all over the field, including a solid power round where he cleared the right field fence multiple times and even banged one off the ribbon board there.

“Great getting J.P. back,” said manager Dan Wilson pregame. “Obviously, we talk a lot about what he brings to the clubhouse in terms of his leadership and just what he means to this organization…It feels a little bit more like the family’s getting back together.”

With J.P. back, the Mariners lineup recovers some of the on-base ability lost when Brendan Donovan went on the concussion IL, and a veteran presence known to work a lengthy at-bat at the top or bottom of the lineup, offering manager Dan Wilson some flexibility in writing his lineup. That flexibility extends to the left side of the infield, where Crawford can play either short or third while Donovan is out, although from pregame activities yesterday he was taking reps exclusively at short.

Wilson says Crawford will bounce between short and third, likely settling in at short when Brendan Donovan returns. As a corresponding move, the Mariners opted to send infielder Leo Rivas back to Tacoma, leaving rookie Brock Rodden with the big-league club for a little more seasoning before he’s likely optioned back to Tacoma as well to make room for Donovan, who is on the concussion IL but eligible to come off of it on Saturday, assuming he doesn’t suffer any lingering effects from being hit in the head with a batting practice pitch on Saturday. Donovan was out on the field playing catch pregame but needed to take a few minutes to recover afterwards with his hands on his knees, still obviously feeling the nausea from his concussion. Wilson called sending Rivas to Tacoma a “tough decision”, but highlighted that the team feels Rodden has done a “really nice job” at short as well as putting up some good at-bats.

“Felt like Brock brought a little bit of a spark, and that’s a big reason why he’s here,” said Wilson.

Boy, this is a really different lineup than we’re used to… sorta.

Mauricio Dubon has hit cleanup twice this season (both against right-handers, like Tyler Glasnow), but not since the first few days of July. Michael Harris II has hit fifth here or there, but hit leadoff on Sunday and has largely hit fourth. The big thing is the Braves alternating handedness with no left-handed batter back-to-backs.

As for the Dodgers, well, you know most of these guys:

With Andy Pages now injured, the Dodgers have largely moved up their usual 3-4-5 into 2-3-4 behind Shohei Ohtani.

Batter versus pitcher for tonight is silly. Everyone in the Los Angeles lineup but their catcher has faced Bryce Elder before, with double-digit PAs for the top four in the lineup. Most guys in their lineup have crushed Elder; the aggregate line is 75 PAs with a .389 xwOBA… but just a .314 wOBA. That won’t necessarily keep up, but if Elder and the defense can hold the Dodgers to a .314 wOBA, that might be pretty welcome.

Every Brave but Dubon has faced Glasnow; Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies have double-digit PAs against him. The aggregate line: 58 PAs, a .282 xwOBA, and a .204 wOBA. Almost nowhere to go but up for the Braves against Glasnow, at this point. Amusingly, Sean Murphy has seen five pitches from Glasnow in two PAs (both in 2023). He struck out looking on four pitches, and then hit a first-pitch down-the-pipe fastball for a homer.

After dropping the first two games against the Mariners in soul-crushing fashion, the Cubs put an exclamation mark on the series with a 19-2 rout on Sunday. Rookie Pedro Ramírez was right in the middle of it all, going three for six with three runs scored and five RBI, four of which came on his first career grand slam [VIDEO].

But the game of baseball moves fast, and just as Ramírez is getting his shot at everyday playing time, Matt Shaw started a rehab assignment in Iowa. That means the Cubs will soon have a decision to make: Should Shaw or Ramírez man the keystone while Nico Hoerner covers for Swanson at shortstop? It’s admittedly a good problem to have, so let’s dive into the numbers and see if there’s a clear answer.

Ramírez has been excellent this season. The 22-year old was called up at the end of May after posting a .312/.395/.547 slash line with nine home runs and a wRC+ of 136 through his first 196 plate appearances for Triple-A Iowa. He paired that production with an excellent 16.3 percent strikeout rate and a 10.7 percent walk rate. It would be totally reasonable to expect a player who was young for Triple-A to struggle at the big league level, but Ramírez didn’t get that memo. In his first 171 MLB plate appearances he’s hit .290/.347/.439 with three home runs and a wRC+ of 117. The strikeout rate is up slightly at 18.7 percent, but that’s still ahead of the league average of 22.1 percent. His 8.2 percent walk rate is ever so slightly below the league average of 8.9 percent.

Since Dansby Swanson hit the injured list with an oblique issue, Ramírez has been the everyday second baseman for the Cubs. It’s been an adjustment for the last week, although his .292 BABIP during that time is low relative to his history in the minors. Back-to-back big games against the Mariners and Diamondbacks have already improved his numbers since taking over the full-time role considerably, and he looks like he’s settling into the everyday job. He does have two fielding errors so far this season, one at second base and one at third base, but honestly it’s such a small sample size he doesn’t qualify for the Statcast leaderboard unless you adjust the qualifier. He does have two Outs Above Average so far as a fielder this year. While the scouting report sees Ramírez as an average or slightly above average fielder, he does have some webgems so far this year, like this excellent play to rob Andy Pages of extra bases in August:

Matt Shaw was a Gold Glove finalist at third base for the Cubs last year as a rookie, but by comparison he had -1 OAA last season. Despite that gap, most evaluators would say Shaw is the superior defender despite the initial results show them as reasonably close to each other defensively. Shaw also offers a bit more defensive flexibility than Ramírez. He’s already played a decent amount of outfield and while there have been some hiccups there at time, he’s also flashed some promise as a corner outfielder:

Shaw has shown improvements at the plate so far in 2026. His wRC+ of 106 through his first 147 plate appearances is 22 points higher than the 94 he posted through 437 plate appearances last season. Those improvements are visible across multiple stats, including his slashline which has improved from .226/.295/.394 to .246/.322/.415. His walk rates are relatively similar, he posted an 8.7 percent BB rate in 2025 and an 8.2 percent BB rate in 2026, but the real improvement is in his strikeout rate. During his rookie campaign Shaw struck out 21.5 percent of the time. So far in 2026 he’s struck out 18.4 percent of the time.

Where Shaw does have an advantage over Ramírez is raw power. He has four home runs in 24 fewer plate appearances than Ramírez this season, and hit 13 in 437 plate appearances last year:

One complication is that both Shaw and Ramírez are better against lefties. Shaw has posted a .279/.353/.492 slashline with a wRC+ of 135 and two of his four homeruns in 68 plate appearances against southpaws this year compared to a .217/.295/.348 slashline with a wRC+ of 81 in 79 plate appearances against righties in 2026. He had similar splits in a larger sample last season. Ramírez is a switch-hitter, but hits better from the right side of the plate where he’s slashing .370/.414/.556 with a wRC+ of 171 in (an admittedly tiny sample size of) 29 plate appearances against lefties compared to a .262/.324/.381 slashline with a wRC+ of 94 in 140 plate appearances as a lefty against right-handed pitchers. That gap was similar in a larger sample size of his minor league plate appearances this season.

Which all leads to the big question: Who should be the primary second baseman when Shaw is ready to return from his rehab in Iowa? At the beginning of the season, it would have undoubtedly been Shaw’s job, but Ramírez is in the midst of an outstanding rookie debut and manager Craig Counsell has been known to ride the hot hand. Who would you play at second base while Dansby is out?

Prior to Tuesday's series opener against the Houston Astros, the Yankees made a couple of moves to their 40-man roster.

First, New York selected the contract of right-hander Justin Topa, calling him up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and adding him to the 40-man roster. He will be available starting Tuesday night against the Astros.

To make room for Topa on the 40-man roster, the Yankees transferred Giancarlo Stanton to the 60-day IL following his injury setback during rehab.

Topa, 35, has pitched in the big leagues for the last seven seasons and was pitching for the Minnesota Twins this year before getting DFA'd and subsequently released in May after pitching to a 8.05 ERA in 23 appearances. New York signed him to a minor league contract on Aug. 14.

The right-hander pitched well for the Twins in 2025, owning a 3.90 ERA across 60 innings in 54 games. His best season, though, came with the Seattle Mariners in 2023 where he saw action in 75 games and had a 2.61 ERA.

With the RailRiders in Triple-A, Topa had a 1.80 ERA in four appearances before getting promoted.

In his career, Topa owns a 4.27 ERA in 168.2 innings pitched.