Category: Sports News

The Mets were able to get themselves back in the win column -- snapping their first three-game losing streak of the season on Wednesday night in Boston. 

Facing one of the top pitchers in the game in ace lefty Garrett Crochet, New York’s struggling offense was finally able to come up with some timely hits with runners in scoring position to pull out a 5-1 victory.

First, it was Brett Baty who remained in the lineup against the tough southpaw because of his defensive play -- but he delivered with his bat in the second, getting the scoring started with a two-out RBI single. 

Tylor Megill put together a terrific bounceback outing -- striking out 10 batters over 4.2 innings of work, but some shoddy infield defense helped the Red Sox scratch across the tying run in the bottom of the fifth. 

But a few innings later, Baty would deliver for the Mets again, this time lining a two-run opposite-field double off another tough lefty Brennan Bernardino with the bases loaded to put New York back in front for good. 

Francisco Lindor put the exclamation point on the victory -- crushing the Mets’ first home run since last Tuesday just over the Green Monster in the top of the ninth. 

“When you’re going through stretches like this, guys want to come through so bad,” Carlos Mendoza said. “At times it takes a little longer than we’d like it to, but it was good to see the guys today not panicking -- not that we have been.

“You just continue to play your game, continue to execute and we were able to come through. Lindor with the homer, the first one in a while which is very rare. Overall a good team win, and now we have to go home and play another good team.”

That good team? The defending champion Dodgers. 

The last time LA was in town there was much more at stake -- the Mets had defeated them in Game 5 of the NLCS to extend their season -- but a few nights later, that miraculous run came to an end with a 10-5 loss at Chavez Ravine.

The Dodgers then went on to beat the Yankees in five games in the World Series -- securing the franchise’s eight overall title, but first since 1981.

Much has changed for both organization's since then -- but one thing remains the same. 

Even with the Mets hitting a rough patch and the Dodgers battling numerous injuries, these are two of the top contenders in the National League again this year -- and Mendoza is expecting another electric atmosphere for their three-game set this weekend at Citi Field. 

“They’re a good team, we’re a good team too,” the skipper said. “We’ll be ready for them. Obviously, they beat us last year in the NLCS and they added a lot more people in the offseason, but we did the same -- I think it’s gonna be a fun matchup."

The series kicks off on Friday night with Griffin Canning taking the mound against Clayton Kershaw.

Fernando Cruz has been a revelation for the Yankees’ bullpen during his first season with the team, but the right-hander has landed on the Injured List.

The 35-year-old was officially placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to May 19, with right shoulder inflammation. Cruz told reporters on Thursday morning that he received a cortisone shot and that an MRI showed no structural damage.

When asked about a timeline for Cruz to return, manager Aaron Boone said the right-hander will “hopefully get on the mound in the next few days,” but the team will obviously need to see how he feels as he progresses.

Cruz, who previously spent three seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, has pitched to a 2.66 ERA over 21 appearances. Featuring a lethal splitter, Cruz has struck out 35 batters in 23.2 innings.

To take Cruz’s place on the 26-man roster, left-hander Brent Headrick has been called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Phils won't keep shifting Walker back and forth, intrigued by what they've seen in relief originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

DENVER — The regular season isn’t even two months old and the Phillies have already moved Taijuan Walker from the rotation to the bullpen back to the rotation with another shift to the bullpen looming.

The shuffling won’t continue for much longer, though. Once Aaron Nola (right ankle sprain) returns from the 15-day IL, Walker will shift to the bullpen for the duration of the season — as long as the Phillies don’t suffer any long-term injuries in the rotation.

“It’s difficult. I don’t think many guys like doing it because there’s some wear and tear there. The chance of injury goes up,” manager Rob Thomson said Wednesday of the multiple changes to Walker’s role within a short timeframe.

“I think at some point, we’ve got to decide that whenever Nola’s back, with Tai, even if we need a spot start, we come get somebody else. Just leave him right where he’s at. Keep him healthy. I’m kinda excited to see him come out of the bullpen just to see if the stuff plays up because the few times he’s come out, the one time in Tampa was unbelievable but even the second time, the first couple innings were really good. I’m excited about it.”

Walker has a 2.97 ERA in seven starts and has allowed two earned runs in six innings out of the bullpen. His first relief appearance against the Rays was spectacular — three scoreless innings with seven strikeouts for his first career save. A week later, he went three innings against the Cardinals.

In both relief outings, his fastball played up, averaging 93.7 mph compared to a season mark of 92.3.

“As a starter I’m more of a contact pitcher but I’m kinda learning new roles in the bullpen where I can let it eat and go for the strikeouts as a bullpen guy,” Walker said Wednesday night after allowing three runs over five innings to beat the Rockies.

Nola has not yet thrown off a mound since being placed on the injured list last Friday so his return is not imminent. The Phillies want to see him throw a bullpen session first and that could come this weekend in Sacramento. Nola will not need a rehab assignment if he misses only a couple of starts. It’s safe to assume Walker will have at least one more.

When Walker does shift back to the bullpen, it won’t be exclusively mop-up duty. He will be eased into the relief pecking order but could soon thereafter find himself in late-game, high-leverage situations if he performs. The loss of Jose Alvarado until late August and for all of October to a PED suspension creates more opportunities in the Phillies’ bullpen.

“I think (initially) he’d go to a one-inning stint, maybe two,” Thomson said of Walker. “I think I’d start him in a middle inning and then start working him toward the end of the game as long as he’s having success. It’s what we did with (Jeff Hoffman) when he first got here and we think it’s a pretty good plan.”

Walker, who is making $18 million per year on a contract that runs through the end of 2026, is thrilled to be contributing in multiple ways after a career-worst year. And it’s not just a feel-good story, the Phillies have needed all of his outs and innings with Ranger Suarez and Nola suffering early-season injuries.

“I feel confident, I think that’s the biggest thing is being confident in my stuff and knowing it’s playing well,” Walker said. “I can get outs in whatever role I do. The biggest thing for me is just keeping my confidence up.”

Slow down.

Previously limited to fastballs and splitters, Shohei Ohtani threw a handful of sliders and curveballs in his mid-week bullpen session, but that doesn’t mean he will be a two-way player again before the All-Star break.

Ohtani is lined up to potentially face hitters in a simulated game on Saturday in New York, but that doesn’t mean he will pitch in the upcoming four-week stretch that could determine the course of the Dodgers' season.

As encouraged as the team is with his progress and as desperate as the Dodgers are for one of their sidelined frontline starters to return, they will continue to slow play Ohtani’s return to the mound, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking but not authorized to speak publicly.

The Dodgers could use Ohtani’s arm, but they absolutely need his bat, and they don’t plan on jeopardizing his offense by exposing him to any unnecessary risks on the mound.

Read more:Back in the lineup, Teoscar Hernández provides the offense as Dodgers beat Arizona

Which is a major gamble in itself.

Every one of their next 26 games will be against teams with winning records. Of them, 23 will be against teams that would have qualified for the playoffs if the regular season ended on Wednesday, the exception being the St. Louis Cardinals, who have won 13 of their last 17 games.

Starting on Friday at Citi Field with the opening game of a three-game series against the New York Mets, the stretch of games will include seven meetings with the San Diego Padres and three with the San Francisco Giants.

The Padres were 2 ½ games behind the Dodgers in the National League West entering Thursday. The Giants were just two back.

Considering the state of their pitching staff, the Dodgers could very easily emerge from this stretch of games in second, third, or maybe even fourth place in their division.

Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell will be sidelined for another month, leaving Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the team’s only reliable starter.

Roki Sasaki is targeting a return in late June from what the team described as a shoulder impingement, but the rookie never looked entirely comfortable before he went down, so who knows what he will offer them when he comes back.

“Not sure I’ve ever seen their pitching so decimated,” an executive from a rival team said.

The loss of frontline starters is nothing new for the Dodgers, whose injury problems last year practically forced them to acquire Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline. What’s new is their lack of depth.

The returns of Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw have mitigated the problem but only so much. Along with the inconsistent Dustin May and the consistently mediocre Landon Knack, Gonsolin and Kershaw represent the rotation’s final line of defense.

In previous seasons, the Dodgers always seemed to have 10 pitchers in their organization who could beat a mid- or low-level opponent on any given day. However, the inability to keep their young pitchers healthy has cost them much of that depth. Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan and Gavin Stone underwent major surgeries last year. Michael Grove had a shoulder operation this year. Injuries have turned Bobby Miller into a pedestrian minor leaguer, but if another starter is injured, the Dodgers could be forced to call him up again.

Read more:Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts it, Dodgers finish it with walk-off win over Arizona

Dave Roberts expertly managed a depleted rotation and exhausted bullpen in the playoffs last year, and he’ll have to do it again less than two months into the regular season. He could have to punt on certain games. When his team is behind, he could have to ask his starter to pitch an extra inning or two so that he could save his high-leverage relievers for games in which they are ahead.

This isn’t to say Ohtani’s pitching comeback should be expedited. Whomever they have pitching, the Dodgers will have to score runs to win another World Series, and that starts with Othani. Before they unleash Ohtani the pitcher, they have to protect Ohtani the hitter.

Because of that, they have gambled on May pitching more games like the one he pitched on Wednesday night in a 3-1 victory over Diamondbacks. They have gambled on Kershaw figuring out how to pitch as a 37-year-old returning from multiple operations. And they have gambled on Roberts managing an injury-ravaged pitching staff.

The wagers will decide what kind of season this will be, whether this is a year in which the Dodgers will run away with the NL West or one in which they will have to fight until the final days of the regular season to determine which team is granted a first-round bye in the playoffs.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Phillies reportedly look into Robertson to fill void left by Alvarado's PED ban originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies bullpen needs help. A unit that had already struggled for much of the season to his point lost its anchor, closer Jose Alvarado, to an 80-game PED suspension. GM Dave Dombrowski and the rest of the front office could be facing the sobering possibility of giving up one or more of the organization’s most talented prospects as they scramble to fill the void left by the flame-throwing left-hander.

But there is a relief pitcher the Phillies could pick up. One that wouldn’t cost them any personnel. One with whom they are quite familiar. In fact, they’ve already looked into it for this season.

According to mlb.com’s Mark Feinsand, the team contacted free agent pitcher David Robertson even before the Alvarado suspension was announced.

Robertson, who turned 40 on April 9, has had two stints with the Phillies. He signed a two-year deal prior to the 2019 season, but suffered an elbow injury requiring Tommy John surgery after only seven appearances, missing the rest of 2019 and all of 2020. He was acquired at the 2022 trade deadline and pitched to a 2.70 ERA in 22 games, notching six saves, and held a 1.17 ERA in eight postseason appearances.

In 2024 the right-hander pitched 68 games for the Texas Rangers, going 3-4 with a 3.00 ERA and a 33.3 K%, among the best in the game. His cutter, a pitch he throws nearly two-thirds of the time, held a plus-17 run value, tied for 2^nd-best in MLB.

The season, and the Phillies’ search for relief help, could go in a lot of different directions in the next few months. But another look at Robertson could be a low-risk, high-reward option for Dombrowski and Company.