Worldwide Sports News
Texas Rangers lineup for May 15, 2026: starting pitchers are Jack Leiter for the Rangers and Spencer Arrighetti for the Astros.
The Rangers begin a 9 game road trip with a game in Houston. Corey Seager gets the day off.
The lineup:
Pederson — DH
Duran — SS
Nimmo — RF
Jung — 3B
Carter — CF
Burger — 1B
Osuna — LF
Higashioka — C
Foscue — 2B
7:10 p.m. Central start time. The game is a pick ‘em.
It was rough going from the first inning. The San Diego Padres had newcomer Griffin Canning on the mound, who had (mostly) impressed in his first two starts of the year. He did not impress this time around.
Canning issued four walks over just 1 2/3 innings of work, surrendering six runs to the Milwaukee Brewers. At the end of the first inning, the Padres had more hits (2) than the Brewers (1) but trailed 3-0. It was like that for most of the game, with the Friars failing to score until an RBI forceout in the ninth inning.
With San Diego now headed to Seattle to face the Mariners, they’ll need to get the offense going before they meet the division-rival Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. If they can’t do that, it’s going to be a rough week for the Friar Faithful.
Hancock is off to a fantastic start to the season with the Mariners. He’s headlined a rotation full of elite pitchers who have made way for the breakout righty. Entering play on Friday, Hancock boasts a 3.21 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 47 2/3 innings.
The Friars faced Hancock in their last series against Seattle, and he managed to hold them to two runs over six innings. San Diego ended up winning that game with a five-run ninth-inning rally, but Hancock wasn’t the cause of that. The offense will need to come alive if they hope to scratch some runs against the right-hander.
Similarly, Vásquez has been a breakout pitcher in the San Diego rotation. The righty sports a 3.05 ERA in 44 1/3 innings. The WHIP is a little high at 1.17, but he’s managed to strand the baserunners he picks up most of the time.
Vásquez also faced Seattle in that last series, but it went much worse for him than it did for Hancock. It was the right-hander’s first poor start of 2026, allowing four runs in the same number of innings. The Padres still ended up winning, but they’ll need a better performance from Vásquez this time around if they hope to save their beleaguered bullpen.
Manager Craig Stammen has been making his lineups as offense focused as possible lately, having Fernando Tatis Jr. play second base quite often so Nick Castellanos and Miguel Andujar’s bats can remain in the lineup. That hasn’t worked, so it’s possible they try something different in this series.
I know, I know. Putting Machado in the fifth spot feels blasphemous. But he’s batting .190 on the year. He cannot keep hitting in the three and four spots as if that still makes sense. The same goes for Tatis, who has had an incredibly streaky start to the year mostly because of poor hitting mechanics.
Bogaerts and Merrill, on the other hand, have a career .429 and .400 batting average against Hancock. Sheets owns a 1.232 OPS. If they can show up tonight against Seattle, the San Diego starter might be able to pitch with a lead for the first time in a while.
With Canning unable to make it through two innings, Ron Marinaccio, Yuki Matsui and Matt Waldron covered the rest of the Padres’ loss on Thursday. The three pitched well, only giving up one run in that time frame.
Despite Stammen stating that Waldron will continue to pitch out of the ‘pen, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Waldron will be designated for assignment. Acee also reports that the Padres will call up reliever Alek Jacob to pitch out of the ‘pen until starter Lucas Giolito is added to the roster this weekend.
For tonight’s series opener, the high-leverage relievers are out in full force. Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Wandy Peralta are all available out of the ‘pen tonight. But, hopefully, Vásquez can pitch deep enough that Stammen won’t need to call on too many of those arms.
Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet
Pitching Matchup: Aaron Nola (2-3, 5.14 ERA) vs. Braxton Ashcraft (2-2, 2.77 ERA)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home hosting the Philadelphia Phillies today at beautiful PNC Park.
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
BD community, this is your thread for today’s game against the Phillies. Enjoy!
The NHL came down hard on the Vegas Golden Knights for violating media policies after the team advanced to the Western Conference final.
Head coach John Tortorella didn't meet with the media after the series-clinching 5-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, May 14, and the dressing room wasn't opened to the media either, according to reporters.
The NHL said Friday it was taking a 2026 second-round pick away from the Golden Knights and was fining Tortorella $100,000. The league said the team had been warned before and that Vegas would be able to appeal the penalties. A hearing, if requested, would be held next week in New York.
The team said in a social media statement: "The Golden Knights are aware of today's announcement from the NHL regarding the postgame media availability following Game 6 in Anaheim. The organization will have no further comment."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vegas Golden Knights lose draft pick for violating NHL media policy
The Vegas Golden Knights caused quite a stir on Thursday night following their victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Despite this victory advancing the Golden Knights to the Western Conference Finals for the fourth time in team history, head coach John Tortorella declined to speak with the media following his team’s 5-1 win.
The reaction from the National Hockey League was swift and left no room for interpretation. The league found this unprecedented behavior unacceptable, and its retribution sets the standard that it will not tolerate this sort of thing in the future.
As a result of “flagrant violations of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Media Regulations,” the NHL brought the hammer down on the Golden Knights. The team will forfeit a second-round pick in the 2026 draft– a harsh punishment for a team in possession of very little draft capital.
Head coach John Tortorella has also been fined $100,000.
The NHL made it very clear in its issued statement that the Golden Knights have been warned about similar issues in the past.
“The imposition of these penalties comes after previous warnings were issued to the Club regarding their compliance with the Media Relations and other associated policies.”
The Golden Knights have the opportunity to appeal this decision to the Commissioner’s Office. If they choose to do so, that appeal will be held in person next week in New York.
Friday notes…
Cubs lineup:
White Sox lineup:
Edward Cabrera was going along pretty well this year, then he got hit hard by the Rangers last Saturday. Of concern as well: After allowing no home runs in his first four starts covering 22.2 innings, he’s now served up seven homers in his last four starts, in 23.2 innings. This is not a trend you want to see continue.
Cabrera has also been better at Wrigley Field (3.60 ERA in five starts) than on the road (4.41 ERA in three starts). Small sample sizes here.
Last year, Cabrera held the Sox to one run in five innings at Rate Field, May 10. 2025. We’d take that tonight.
Sean Burke has made eight appearances for the Sox this year (six starts). The relief appearances were essentially “starts” following an opener. Coming off two good outings vs. the Nationals and Padres, Burke got lit up by the Mariners in his last start (six runs in 4.1 innings).
He made two starts against the Cubs last year and allowed eight runs (seven earned) in 9.1 innings. One thing he’s done better this year is cut down on his walk rate.
Here is the weather forecast for the area around Rate Field.
Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. It’s also on Chicago Sports Network and WCIU-Ch. 26 with the Sox announcers.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox. If you do go there to interact with Sox fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
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The Phillies – winners of their last five series – will head to Pittsburgh to start a three-game series with the Pirates on Friday night.
The Phillies’ starting pitcher for the opener will be Aaron Nola. Nola is off to a rough start to the season at 2-3 with a 5.14 ERA.
He’ll be opposed by righthander Braxton Ashcroft. In his second big league season, Ashcraft is 2-2 with a 2.77 ERA.
Game time is 6:40 PM and will be televised locally on NBCSP.
On Thursday afternoon, Homer Bush Jr laced a line drive that just kept carrying. It quickly soared over the starting pitcher, Owen Murphy. The middle infields jogged lazily into shallow center field as they began to line up for a potential relay throw, but quickly realized it was not going to happen. Then center fielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. watched helplessly as the ball cleared the center field wall for a two-run homerun.
There was nothing dazzling about the homerun. It had an exit velocity of 102.4mph and only traveled 379 feet. But it was already the second homerun in Triple-A for Homer Bush Jr. after hitting zero all of last season in Double-A.
A few days prior, Bush Jr. did not look on helplessly as a batter sent a towering flyball to deep right field. Bush Jr. tracked the ball, taking calculated steps as the right field wall quickly approached. The ball soared just beyond the right field wall, but Bush Jr. perfectly timed a jump and leapt up to snag the ball and take a homerun away from the opposing hitter.
The highlight reel play continued an impressive start to the season for perhaps the most underrated prospect in the Rays system.
The Rays originally acquired Bush Jr. during the firesale that was the 2024 trade deadline, where he was part of the return for reliever Jason Adam. Dylan Lesko and JD Gonzalez were also involved but both are struggling in the lowest levels of the Rays system. Bush Jr. is looking like he might turn into something for Tampa Bay.
Entering Spring Training, Bush Jr. was ticketed to be a starting outfielder for Triple-A Durham, where he would battle for playing time in center field with newcomers Jacob Melton and Victor Mesa Jr. Then, during a Spring Training game, Bush Jr. injured his thumb while making a diving catch. This led to him opening the year on the Injured List and unable to make his season debut until April 18th. He only rehabbed for one game in Single-A before moving up to Triple-A for the first time in his career.
Since arriving at the uppermost level in the Rays system, Bush Jr. has hit .329/.390/.443 with 2 HR over 84 plate appearances. Although it’s a small sample, that offensive production nearly mirrors what Bush Jr. has done throughout his minor league career, although he already has surpassed his homerun total from last season. In Double-A in 2025, he hit .301/.375/.360 without a homerun over 546 trips to the plate; Bush Jr. is also walking and striking out at nearly the same clip. Also, Bush Jr. is among the best base stealers in all of minor league baseball, swiping 57 bases in each of the past two seasons.
His offensive production is welcome, but the tools that will propel Bush Jr. to the big leagues are his speed and defensive capabilities.
Following the 2025 season, Bush Jr. was awarded a Minor League Gold Glove, officially recognizing him as one of the top three defensive outfielders in all of minor league baseball. In their latest rankings of Rays prospects, FanGraphs rated Bush Jr. as have 80-grade speed and potentially 60-grade fielding ability. Meanwhile, Baseball America had him at 80-grade speed and 70-fielding. He was considered the second fastest runner in the Rays organization behind Chandler Simpson.
Despite his success in 2025, Bush Jr’s lack of power at the plate led to him sliding down prospect charts. He was 22nd at our site, but didn’t make the Rays top 30, instead slotting in at 31st for Baseball America:
Bush looks like an NFL free safety, but that size and physicality is not apparent at the plate, where he hit zero home runs in 2025. He is a polished hitter with a well above-average glove in center field.
Rays Assistant GM, Kevin Ibach, reaffirmed that sentiment when discussing Bush Jr. at the end of last season.
“You look at his body, and he wouldn’t look out of place playing (for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers),” Ibach said. “So while the impact hasn’t quite shown up in the offensive stat line, there’s optimism about some untapped power potential.’’
Bush Jr. has always looked like a hitter capable of tapping into some power but thus far the homerun stroke has more or less eluded him throughout his career. However, Triple-A has been kind to him thus far in a small sample, having already launched two homeruns and is currently slugging .443 entering play on Friday; that slugging percentage would be the highest of his professional career.
The Rays outfield situation right now is barren. Behind Jonny DeLuca on the Rays depth chart, Homer Bush Jr. might just be the next man up should there be an injury concern, as Jacob Melton is currently on the Injured List and Victor Mesa Jr is working his way from an injury suffered in mid-April.
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL docked the Vegas Golden Knights a second-round pick in next month's draft and fined coach John Tortorella $100,000 on Friday for violating media access rules after their series-clinching Game 6 victory at Anaheim on Thursday night.
Tortorella refused to speak to reporters after Vegas routed the Ducks 5-1 to move on to face Colorado in the Western Conference final. The Golden Knights also did not open their locker room in accordance with league and Players' Association-negotiated regulations.
The NHL in a statement announcing the punishment said the penalties for these “flagrant violations” come after previous warnings were issued to the Golden Knights. The team has been offered the opportunity to appeal to Commissioner Gary Bettman’s office in person at the league’s New York headquarters next week.
“The Golden Knights are aware of today's announcement from the NHL regarding the postgame media availability following Game 6 in Anaheim,” the team said in a statement posted to social media. “The organization will have no further comment.”
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
Well, the question over the past two weeks was whether the Detroit Tigers could hold it together long enough to start getting some help back off the injured list. Suffice it to say it hasn’t gone well. Losers of eight of their last ten games, the Tigers are still only 4.5 games behind first place Cleveland in the division. They’ll get a chance to test the 2026 Guardians in person early next week in Comerica Park. Fortunately, the news on the injury side is rapidly improving. Casey Mize is now scheduled to pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday.
Mize hit the injured list with a groin strain after his last start on April 28 was cut short after he pursued a ball off the mound. At that point, the 29-year-old right-hander was pitching the best baseball of his career. With the best command of his splitter we’ve seen in pro ball, Mize is whiffing 27.3 percent of hitters faced, five percent better than his career best mark set in 2025. Mize’s 2.90 ERA and 2.85 FIP are top 33 and top 16 numbers in baseball from starters with at least 30 innings so far. Starting pitching hasn’t really been the Tigers biggest issue over the past three weeks, but they’ve held it together by using some of their better relievers out of an already poor relief corps to help handle the vacated rotation spots while having to deal with short, generally bad outings from Jack Flaherty, and a mess of a game from Framber Valdez.
In the meantime, AJ Hinch announced on Friday that Connor Seabold is back from the injured list, and RHP Ricky Vanasco has been optioned back to Triple-A Toledo. Seabold hasn’t been particularly good so far, but he’s at least been more effective than some of the depth options behind him were. Better help is close at hand as Will Vest has avoided any signficant injuries and is scheduled to rehab with the Mud Hens on Friday, along with Beau Brieske, who has yet to pitch this season but has thrown the ball well in his rehab appearances.
The biggest issue for the Tigers remains their bullpen. With Brant Hurter helping cover two vacant rotation spots, and Ty Madden pitching bulk innings, it’s an extremely weak group. They really need a healthy Will Vest in there to stabilize things, and if Brieske can get it going as well, all the better. Adding Hurter back to the bullpen mix at least part time will only help matters even more. Troy Melton has about 10 days until he’s eligible to return, presumably in a starting role.
Just as important for an offense that has blown a tire over the past two weeks, second baseman Gleyber Torres, a crucial cog in the Tigers’ lineup, is also close to going out on a rehab assignment, perhaps as soon as this weekend. More likely, with the Mud Hens home next week, expect that assignment to start on Tuesday as the Mud Hens kick off a home series against Indianapolis.
The Tarik Skubal news is also very promising, as he’s already progressed to doing some light throwing only nine days after a nanoscope procedure to remove a bone chip described as being about the size of a lima bean from his left elbow. The nanoscope procedure is much less invasive that the usual arthroscopic procedure, doing much less damage to tissues during the operation, and the hope was always that this would speed his return. So far, so good.
And in the final bit of good injury news, LHP Andrew Sears began a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League and throwing two innings. Sears, along with fellow LHP Jake Miller, are the Tigers two most advanced starting pitcher prospects, but both have been sidelined since spring camp. Miller is still working his way back from double hip labrum repairs last fall, and his status is unknown. Miller was never transferred to the major league 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man, so we expect some news on his status shortly. The duo offers some hope of further starting depth, and the ability to handle middle relief should one or both get it going by midseason.
Cue Boyz II Men, because we’ve (finally) come to the end of the road. We’ve arrived at the final SunsRank for the 2025-26 season.
Once again, thank you to everyone who took the time to vote, provide input, and approach this exercise without trolling. Well, mostly without trolling. Because yes, there were definitely a few of you out there. When you see Devin Booker receive votes for the depth pieces tier, you can’t help but laugh a little. Human nature remains undefeated.
So here’s where everything landed, and this is the framework we’ll revisit in September when preseason SunsRank rolls around again.
| # | Community SunsRank | Writers SunsRank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devin Booker | Devin Booker |
| 2 | Jalen Green | Dillon Brooks |
| 3 | Dillon Brooks | Jalen Green |
| 4 | Collin Gillespie | Collin Gillespie |
| 5 | Grayson Allen | Mark Williams |
| 6 | Jordan Goodwin | Grayson Allen |
| 7 | Mark Williams | Jordan Goodwin |
| 8 | Oso Ighodaro | Oso Ighodaro |
| 9 | Rasheer Fleming | Royce O’Neale |
| 10 | Khaman Maluach | Rasheer Fleming |
| 11 | Royce O’Neale | Ryan Dunn |
| 12 | Ryan Dunn | Khaman Maluach |
| 13 | Jamaree Bouyea | Haywood Higsmith |
| 14 | Haywood Highsmith | Jamaree Bouyea |
| 15 | Koby Brea | Amir Coffey |
| 16 | Amir Coffey | Isaiah Livers |
| 17 | Isaiah Livers | Koby Brea |
| 18 | CJ Huntley | CJ Huntley |
The battle for the #2 spot was legitimately close. In the end, Jalen Green barely edged out the competition by five total votes. That tells you everything you need to know. The Bright Side community ranked him second overall, still, it was far from unanimous.
Other interesting differences showed up between the community rankings and the Bright Side writing staff. Mark Williams finished seventh in the community vote, whereas the writers placed him fifth. The community slotted Khaman Maluach at No. 10, which is exactly where I had him, whereas the writers landed him at 12.
Like every ballot, every perspective was a little different. In the end, this is where we landed.
What makes SunsRank fun every year is that it becomes a snapshot of where the fan base’s head is at in real time. Some players inspire belief. Some inspire skepticism. Some land directly in the middle, which honestly feels like the most Phoenix Suns experience imaginable these days. The Jalen Green conversation perfectly captured that divide. There’s intrigue there, clearly, although there’s still hesitation attached to what exactly he becomes long term.
And as we head toward another offseason full of questions, roster decisions, and inevitable overreactions, this final SunsRank serves as a pretty honest reflection of how people currently view the state of the organization.
As was expected after he exited his Wednesday start early in Baltimore, Max Fried is going on the IL with an elbow injury before the Yankees’ Subway Series showdown tonight against the Mets. The good news is that the southpaw, who underwent Tommy John surgery as a minor leaguer in 2014, appears to have dodged the worst. An MRI revealed a bone bruise in Fried’s left elbow, a much better finding than the kind of structural issue which was the nightmare scenario. Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Fried does not expect surgery will be necessary. Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the preeminent surgeon who performed Gerrit Cole’s Tommy John surgery last year, will review the imaging to confirm there is no ligament damage that needs to be addressed.
It’s unclear how much time he will miss, but the Yankees have indicated they expect it to be more than the minimum 15 days, planning to reevaluate their star hurler “in a few weeks.” Fresh off a fourth-place Cy Young Award finish in his first season with the Yankees last year, Fried was off to a hot start through the end of April, going 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA through seven outings. He struggled in May, allowing 11 runs in 14.1 innings, before exiting after the third inning during his most recent outing against the Orioles.
With Cole still expected to need multiple rehab starts before returning, the Yankees will need to look elsewhere to fill Fried’s spot, at least in the interim. Elmer Rodríguez, the team’s number-two prospect according to MLB Pipeline, would be the most obvious choice, and Sherman hinted as much. Rodríguez held his own in two starts earlier this season, allowing five runs in 8.2 innings. He last pitched on Sunday, so he’s rested and ready whenever the Yankees want to insert him. At latest, it would be on Tuesday in Toronto, but it could be sooner if Matt Blake and company want to give another member of the rotation an extra day of rest.
Mets utility player Jared Young is playing in his first rehab game since undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee in mid-April.
Young’s return to the lineup comes for Single-A St. Lucie, where he’ll be batting second and DHing.
The 30-year-old was off to a hot start for New York this season, slashing .350/.391/.450 with two doubles and two RBI in 20 at-bats while playing first base, left field and right field.
With the Mets’ offense struggling at the time, Young had been getting more and more at-bats and was impressive in the field as well, with some highlight-reel catches in the outfield.
Tonight’s game is an Apple TV one, because MLB will sellout to anyone offering a bag of money. Trey Yesavage (1-1, 0.68) goes against Brenan Hanifee (0-0, 1.08, making his second start of the season, with 5 relief appearances). It looks like a cloudy day (or a cloudy weekend) in Detroit.
There are a bunch of injury updates:
And they haven’t made any announcement on tomorrow’s starter or how they plan to get through nine innings. Odds are that Spencer Miles will have a part in it. Some of the plans will depend on how things go today. I’d imagine that Yariel Rodriguez will be part of things too. But even if both are in the game, there will be 4-5 innings left for others.
Tonight’s lineups:
Tarik Skubal is on the IL but he’s throwing already. The Tigers have Casey Mize starting tomorrow. Sunday It is Kevin Gausman and Jack Flaherty who is 0-4 with a 5.73 ERA. It would be nice if he’s 0-5 after it.
It would be nice to win some of these games. Or all of them.