Category: Sports News

On the latest episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo recap another tough week for the Mets, while looking ahead to the Brewers at Citi Field and the second round of this season’s Subway Series.

First things first, the guys go through the team’s struggles hitting with runners in scoring position, how much the hitting coaches should or should not be to blame, as well as the multiple issues with the starting rotation.

Later, Connor and Joe go 'Down on the Farm' to check in on Francisco Alvarez, Brandon Sproat, Nolan McLean, and Jonah Tong – while also addressing which prospects they would be willing to include in potential trades.

The show then wraps up by announcing the winners of the Mets Pod hat giveaway, and then answering Mailbag questions about the return of injured Mets, the potential of trading for Byron Buxton, and if the Mets offense can flip the switch back to “on.”

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The transformation happened quickly in May 2009.

Early into his second year in the majors, a young Clayton Kershaw was enduring a sophomore slump with the Dodgers. Looking for a way to complement his predominantly fastball/curveball mix, he began toying around with a slider in his between-starts bullpen sessions.

When Brad Ausmus, the well-traveled 40-year-old backup catcher on that year’s Dodgers team, heard about the experiment, he didn’t initially think much of it. That a raw 21-year-old talent would be tinkering with a new pitch didn’t come as much of a surprise.

But when Ausmus asked the club’s bullpen catcher, Mike Borzello, how Kershaw’s new pitch looked, he got his first inkling it might be special.

Read more:'A lot of gratitude and gratefulness to get back.' Clayton Kershaw reflects on 2025 return

“He was like, ‘It’s really good,’” Ausmus recalled recently. “I said, ‘Oh, so maybe he’ll throw it in a couple more bullpens before taking it into the game.’ And he’s like, ‘Ehh, I think he might take it into the game his next start.’”

A few weeks later, Ausmus got his first chance to see it up close, calling it sporadically in a Freeway Series game at Angel Stadium. That day, Kershaw spun a gem, throwing seven scoreless innings in a Dodgers victory. 

But it was afterward, as Kershaw, Ausmus and longtime Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt reviewed the outing, that the longtime catcher started to understand that Kershaw wasn’t just any young pitcher. That his tantalizing talent was matched by a preternatural aptitude. That his precocious battery mate was both a physical force and pitching prodigy.

“Keep in mind, this is a rookie, basically, talking to a guy who’s been in the big leagues 17, 18 years,” Ausmus said. “And he goes, ‘Brad, I wish you would call more sliders.’”

Initially surprised, Ausmus thought to himself: “Really? This is a brand new pitch. We probably threw 10 or 15 of them.”

But Kershaw could already see the bigger picture. He immediately sensed how the new pitch might profoundly impact his game.

“If you think about it, the fastball was 95, the curveball was probably in the low-to-mid 80s, so there was a lot of separation in terms of velocity. It almost gave the hitter time to reload before swinging,” Ausmus said. “The slider did not allow the hitters to do that.”

Read more:More than the glasses: How a lightbulb moment made Max Muncy a 'complete hitter' again

Seventeen years, three Cy Young Awards, two World Series titles, and — very nearly — 3,000 strikeouts later, the rest has been singularly impressive history.

“It speaks to not only his knowledge, but his ability and his confidence,” said Ausmus, now bench coach for the New York Yankees. “He has an aptitude for the game. He adjusts. And he continues to perform at a high level. It really is remarkable … I miss having that guy as a teammate.”

When Clayton Kershaw takes the mound on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, he will need just three strikeouts to become the 20th member of Major League Baseball’s 3,000 strikeout club.

And, just as it was almost two decades ago, it will be the same primary three-pitch mix that is all but certain to lift him into such rarified air.

For better or (very rarely) worse, at full strength or in ailing health, the now 37-year-old future Hall of Famer has managed to perfect one of the sport’s all-time signature plans of attack on the mound:

Establish the fastball on the edge of the plate for a strike. Tunnel the slider on the same trajectory to get awkward swings when it tails off late. Mix in a curveball when a change of pace is needed. And never be afraid to change the sequence and tendencies of that infallible trio of pitches, using instinct and feel to amplify his physical talent.

“It’s what's upstairs [that makes him special],” current Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said. “He’s always a step ahead.”

Countless big-league pitchers have used a similar fastball-slider-curveball repertoire. Even in Kershaw’s prime years, there were always others who could throw harder, or produce more break, or manipulate the ball with more gravity-defying spin.

What separates Kershaw are more foundational skills. His unwavering execution, in seasons he threw 200-plus innings or those in which he battled increasingly persistent injuries to his back, shoulder and even a bothersome left big toe. His unflappable persistence to move from one pitch, one start, one year to the next; never satisfied with his best moments nor shaken by his rare failures.

“He just knows the ins and outs of baseball, and has such good feel,” longtime teammate and backstop Austin Barnes
said. “He’s like a train that comes at you consistently.”

That’s why, when Kershaw does inevitably cross the 3,000-strikeout threshold, it will be equal parts a testament to his talent and durability — an accomplishment that required him to continually reinvent his game without ever changing his fundamental nature as a pitcher.

“Clayton has everything the right way, on the field, off the field, over a long period of time,” manager Dave Roberts said last week.

“It’s hard to wrap your head around what it takes,” he added, “as far as longevity, and greatness.”

Few players have produced the kind of prolonged period of greatness Kershaw did during the peak of his career. Starting in that 2009 season, he went on a run of sub-3.00 ERA campaigns in 11 of his next 12 years. In seven of them, he had 200 or more strikeouts, including a career-high 301 punchouts in 2015. Eight of his 10 All-Star selections came in that stretch, as did his three Cy Young Awards and a 2014 National League MVP (still the last time a pitcher won the game’s highest individual honor).

His only blemishes in that time were repeated disappointments in the playoffs. But even in most of those, he was tasked with trying to save the team’s season while pitching on short rest or desperately-needed outings out of the bullpen.

“Even with all the pressure he’s had as the Dodgers’ ace … he’s always out there, he’s always willing to take the ball,” Barnes said. “I think that goes underappreciated. He’s willing to put himself out there, even when he doesn’t feel his best.”

To Barnes, who has caught more Kershaw starts than anyone other than A.J. Ellis, the way Kershaw strives to always be better is what has made it all possible. It was a trait he noticed in one of his first games catching him in 2017 against the San Diego Padres.

“I kind of went against the scouting report, and I called a fastball that froze the guy,” Barnes, who signed a minor-league deal with the San Francisco Giants this week after being released by the Dodgers earlier this year, recalled recently. “I remember him coming up to me after, kind of sizing me up and down, like, ‘Why’d you call that?’ I just said, ‘I just kind of felt it.’”

Read more:Justin Wrobleski gives Dodgers a surprising boost during win over Royals

It was a small example of how Kershaw’s pitch mix — unchanged over the years, outside of an occasional flirtation with a variety of changeup grips — could be weaponized in ways opposing batters have long struggled to expect.

“Not everybody gets to his caliber of pitching and stuff,” Barnes said. “But the work he puts in, in the weight room, in the video room, for him to go out there and have clarity and conviction in what he needs to do, I think that’s what helps most. And the level of competitor he is. He can do it all.”

Even, in recent years, as his stuff has gradually diminished.

At the start of this season, Kershaw was just 32 strikeouts away from the 3K club — an exclusive fraternity that includes only three other left-handed pitchers, and two who spent their entire career with one team.

In past seasons, that would’ve been a total he could clear in less than a month.

But now, he joked early in his return from offseason foot and knee surgeries: “Maybe by September I’ll get there. We’ll see.”

After all, Kershaw barely touches 90 mph with his fastball even on a good day now. His slider and curveball don’t always have as much bite as they once did. Such has been the case for much of the last three seasons, as the miles on Kershaw’s arm and body have steadily caught up to him.

At the end of 2020, when Kershaw finally won his first World Series and began more seriously starting to contemplate when he might retire, he was less than 500 strikeouts away from 3,000. He seemed like a virtual lock to get there, perhaps as the last new entrant for the foreseeable future.

Since then, however, he had a season-ending elbow injury in 2021 that nearly required Tommy John surgery; back and shoulder problems that limited him in what were nonetheless All-Star seasons in 2022 and 2023; consecutive offseasons of surgical rehabs each of the past two winters, first on his shoulder and then his lower-body ailments; all on top of the normal aches and pains that come with pitching into someone’s late 30s.

His three-pitch arsenal remains unchanged, but figuring out ways to maximize it has been an ongoing challenge.

“He’s doing it the same way, but he’s having to figure out different ways to do it, if that makes sense,” Prior said.

Just like when he first broke into the majors, it has required him to trust what’s working best and adjust on the fly to his ever-weakening capabilities.

And yet, entering Wednesday’s potential milestone outing, Kershaw is 4-0 with a 3.03 ERA in his eight starts this season (the second-best ERA among Dodgers starters behind only Yoshinobu Yamamoto). He is coming off a particularly productive June, giving up just seven earned runs in 27 ⅔ innings over the entire month. And, while they don’t come as frequently as they once did, the strikeouts are still present, with Kershaw averaging 7 ½ per nine innings over his last five starts.

To Prior, it’s a testament to Kershaw’s enduring ability to still pitch his way through a start.

“He knows when guys are looking hard and he can get them with the slider. The fastball and slider still do look the same, when he’s on, so he can pull the trigger on one or the other … And he has the equalizer with the curveball, to be able to use that to change speeds like he has his whole career.”

“Again, it’s the same pitch mix,” Prior added, “but he’s still finding ways to do it at this stage.”

To Roberts, it’s made Kershaw an example for the rest of the team to follow.

“It’s a lesson in life,” the manager said. “You don’t always have to feel perfect to be productive. I have a lot of respect for him.”

Read more:Shohei Ohtani hits 102 mph in another sharp pitching start, but Dodgers fall to Royals

The great irony, once Kershaw does eclipse the 3,000-strikeout mark, is that punchouts have never been his primary objective.

“No, no,” Barnes said with a laugh. “He cares about winning the game and throwing up zeroes. That’s the biggest thing for him. The strikeouts are just a byproduct of him getting ahead of hitters, and being able to have [the pitches in] his mix playing off each other.”

But once that moment does arrive — fittingly, as things have lined up, likely on the Dodger Stadium mound he has dominated for almost two decades — the total will be indicative of all he has accomplished in a career of unmatched excellence, and the way he has elevated himself as one of the best pitchers in the history of the sport.

“He’s teaching me that so much of this game is still about mindset,” Prior said. “There’s so much object data, which is helpful in all aspects of our game. But part of it is still so unquantifiable. He’s just someone who has willed himself to be better than everybody else.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Why Buster Posey, Giants felt time was right to pick up Bob Melvin's 2026 option originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

PHOENIX — Bob Melvin is in his 22nd season as a manager for his fifth different organization. He knows as well as anybody that it can be an unpredictable job, one that has you on top of the baseball world one year and on the hot seat the next, and this season he has experienced plenty of highs and lows. 

Through it all, he tried not to think about his future, and he had no expectation that his contract would be discussed in July, or anytime soon. That changed Monday, when president of baseball operations Buster Posey informed him that the Giants were picking up an option for 2026 that will bring Melvin back for a third season. 

The move was not made hastily, Posey said. He has been evaluating Melvin since the start of spring training and had spent several weeks discussing his status with ownership and other members of the front office, but the timing was certainly fascinating. 

The press release came a day after the Giants lost for the sixth time in seven games. This is the low point of the Posey Era so far, but he certainly made a statement Tuesday. Posey claimed it wasn’t intentional, but it did mean a lot to Melvin. 

“It kind of speaks to who Buster is, that he knows what a grind this is and he knows how hard we wear it — myself and the coaching staff — so it doesn’t surprise me,” Melvin said. “It’s probably unique as far as the timing goes, but it doesn’t surprise me with him. He’s been very supportive of us as a staff. Our dialogue has been very good from spring training to now. We’re aligned on how we see things and where this team and where this organization are going, so it’s very much appreciated by me and by the staff, as well.”

That latter part was notable given how the last couple of weeks have gone. This was a vote of confidence in Melvin, but also his hand-picked coaching staff. 

Third base coach Matt Williams and hitting coach Pat Burrell have come under fire from segments of the fan base and media lately, but Posey said he has faith in the group. Four years removed from his own playing career, Posey shifted most of the blame to other parts of the organization. 

“From my perspective, and also my perspective as a player, sometimes when you’re going through a rough patch there’s a tendency to want to point the finger at coaches, and ultimately I believe we have great players, and I still believe in that group of players, but it boils down to them needing to play better baseball,” Posey said. “If anybody deserves any blame from the top, it should be on me, it shouldn’t be on the manager or coaching staff. I’m the one who sets the roster. I felt like with all those things considered, this was a good time for me to show my belief in Bob and this coaching staff.”

Posey’s words on Tuesday brought back memories of his “it’s go time” declaration last month. He reiterated that he strongly believes in this group, but at some point, the production needs to be there. That’s not a message that will upset any players. The team leaders feel the same way.

“Hundred percent, hundred percent,” Logan Webb said. “At the end of the day, it’s us players that go out there and throw the ball and catch the ball and hit the ball. The coaching staff is there to help out, and these guys work their asses off every single day. They’re the first here and the last to leave. 

“When we’re on a plane ride, you’ll see us players in the back playing cards or watching movies or something and those guys are up in the front scouting the next team … these guys put a ton of work in and at the end of the day it’s our jobs to go out there and be better and play better and ultimately win the game.”

Webb said he was hopeful the Giants would pick up Melvin’s option, adding that the clubhouse always has had his back. Fellow team leader Matt Chapman said his longtime manager deserved another year.

“I’m so pumped for him,” Chapman said. 

Melvin is 125-122 as the manager of the team he grew up rooting for. He has 1,642 career wins, but he is still looking for his first World Series title. That pursuit will continue in orange and black.

“We have a nucleus going forward,” Melvin said. “To be able to be part of that is a big deal for me, especially in the Bay Area and San Francisco.” 

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More details are coming out about what may be involved in the potential trade between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes involving K’Andre Miller.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman broke the news that the Rangers are working on sending Miller to Carolina. 

Now, Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today reveals the Miller trade return will center on draft-pick compensation with the Blueshirts reportedly eying one of the Hurricanes' first-round picks.

It’s unclear if the Rangers are also targeting any specific players.

Miller is a restricted free agent, and according to TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Hurricanes are working on finalizing a contract extension with Miller. 

Rangers Reportedly Working On Trading K'Andre Miller To HurricanesThe New York Rangers are

The Rangers opened up the Free Agent Frenzy by signing Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million contract, which made Miller expendable.