LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 16: A detail of a Wilson glove and Los Angeles Dodgers hat in the dugout during a game against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on April 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Between Easton Shelton’s record-breaking performance and Tyler Glasnow demolishing Triple-A hitters, there is plenty for us to talk about in action on this past Wednesday across the Dodgers’ minor league affiliates.
Player of the day
What do you say of a hitter with more runs batted in than games, one who broke a team’s record with time to spare? Easton Shelton had another one of his dominant performances, now reaching 105 RBI on the season, putting him past Cody Bellinger’s 2015 campaign for the most ever by an Ontario Tower Buzzers player.
Easton Shelton made Dodger Prospect history and surpassed Cody Bellinger’s 103 RBIs in California League season (2015)!
Right after Shelton’s 35th home run of the season to hit 104 RBIs, he launched a double in his next at-bat to bring in two more runs and now sits at 106 🤯 pic.twitter.com/sPYZwpxujf
For the second time this month, Shelton homered in back-to-back games. Even though the batting average has taken a hit as of late, no pun intended, the production is still very high given the amount of power he brings to the table.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Tyler Glasnow made it clear he is ready to return to the big leagues, as he toyed with the Space Cowboys in an outing in which he allowed just a lone hit and run. Pulled after 5.1 innings and short of 80 pitches, Glasnow struck out nine, but that one run was enough for him to be the losing pitcher of record in a 2-1 defeat.
On the other side of the pitching matchup, Jason Alexander might not have been as dominant, but he was even more effective with five scoreless. The only run the Comets would score came on a Hyeseong Kim solo shot in the ninth inning.
As ready as Glasnow is to be back in the bigs, reliever Ben Casparius is not, once again allowing multiple walks in an outing, responsible for the other run the Space Cowboys scored.
Double-A Tulsa
Holding the Sod Poodles to just one run through nine, with multi-inning scoreless appearances out of the bullpen from Carson Hobbs and Jacob Kmatz, the Drillers still couldn’t avoid the 4-1 loss in extras. Starter Zach Root had a knack for navigating through trouble, allowing just one run in four innings despite a 2.00 WHIP in the game.
What’s unsettling about this loss is that even though the Drillers had a terrible offensive performance as a team, it’s not as if the whole lineup was lost all the way through. Each one of the nine hitters reached safely at least once; they just failed to do so when it mattered most.
High-A Great Lakes
The Loons scored more runs than the Drillers and Comets combined, but they also found a way to be underwhelming through the vast majority of the game in a 6-5 loss. Each side had a five-run rally early in the game, and in the seventh, an RBI single allowed to cleanup hitter Kerrington Cross cost the Loons the win.
Virtually all of the Loons’ scoring came from shortstop Emil Morales, with a grand slam in the fourth, one of four hits Morales recorded in the game. Meanwhile, none of the other batters in the top five of the Loons’ order recorded a hit in this one.
Class-A Ontario
Need an RBI? Call 0800-Easton Shelton, and he’ll provide immediate assistance. The young first baseman now sits alone with the most runs driven in for a Dodger player in the California League, overcoming one of the more notable Dodger prospects of the last 15 years, Cody Bellinger.
Leading the way as the Tower Buzzers overcame an early 3-0 deficit, Shelton hit a solo shot in the fourth and then added a couple more RBI in the fifth to hand Ontario their first lead in this one.
Getting a day off from the field, Joendry Vargas shined as the team’s designated hitter as well, the only other player besides Shelton to record a multihit game.
Transactions
The Tulsa Drillers placed left-handed pitcher Luke Fox on the IL.
Wednesday’s scores
Sugar Land 2, Oklahoma City 1
Tulsa 1, Amarillo 4
Fort Wayne 6, Great Lakes 5
Ontario 7, Inland Empire 3
Thursday’s schedule
4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Will Gagnon) at Fort Wayne (Carson Montgomery)
5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Aidan Foeller) vs. Amarillo (Avery Short)
5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Gavin Stone) at Sugar Land (Mike Burrows)
5:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) vs. Inland Empire (Jack Bowery)
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - AUGUST 19: Yandy Díaz #2 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates his two-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of the baseball game at Tropicana Field on August 19, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Yankees kept pace in a crowded American League playoff picture Thursday, felling the Orioles 5-3 on the strength of an eighth-inning rally to take their third straight. It was a mixed bag for their competition, with an intra-division matchup between the first place Rays and a Blue Jays squad still very much in the mix the marquee showdown.
Among the (many) other AL Wild Card hopefuls not listed below, Tigers closer Kenley Jansen blew a save opportunity and was walked off by the Pirates, Kody Clemens led the Twins to a sweep of the first-place Braves, and the Rangers were shut out by the Nationals, ceding the ever-changing last Wild Card spot to Minnesota in the process.
Tampa Bay Rays (76-50) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (62-66) 6
The AL-best Rays continued their torrid pace Wednesday, squeaking out a one-run victory against the Blue Jays, who still sit within a game of the third AL Wild Card spot despite the loss. It was not a banner day for two name-brand starting pitchers. Drew Rasmussen, the Rays’ ace who earned his second consecutive All-Star nod this year and carried a 2.78 ERA into play Wednesday, allowed just one run entering the fifth before imploding. After starting the frame with a strikeout, he allowed six of the next seven batters to reach first base in a textbook station-to-station rally that scored four more.
Fortunately for him and his Rays, Rasmussen was staked to a 7-1 lead before that inning got out of hand. Max Scherzer, the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer in the midst of a lost season, was torched yet again. Yandy Díaz started the party in the first with a two-run blast that traveled 414 feet out to center. The Rays’ offense exploded in the fourth, tacking on five more runs with some small ball of their own that ended Mad Max’s night. Wednesday’s game brought his ERA to 7.40 through 11 starts, calling into question the viability of inserting him every fifth day for a team clinging to its playoff hopes.
Nine-hole hitter Charles McAdoo brought the Blue Jays to within one with an RBI double in the sixth, but that’s where the score would stay. Three Rays relievers combined to throw 3.1 scoreless innings after McAdoo’s double, with Bryan Baker working around his own leadoff error in the ninth to secure his 36th (and a Rays record 25th straight) save of the season.
The two teams will face off in a rubber match at 1:10 ET Thursday, with Ian Seymour and Shane Bieber slated to start for the Rays and Blue Jays, respectively.
Other Games
Chicago White Sox (66-60) 3, Chicago Cubs (74-54) 0
The White Sox blanked the Cubs to avoid a sweep at the hands of their crosstown rivals. After Sean Newcomb pitched two innings to open the game, José Urquidy was the star of the show, holding the Cubs to two baserunners across six innings of work.
The South Siders struck first in the sixth on an RBI single off the bat of Andrew Benintendi, adding a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on a double from rookie Braden Montgomery. The pair of former Mets acquired by the Cubs at the deadline were their bright spots, with Tyrone Taylor recording both of their hits and Clay Holmes limiting the White Sox to one run in 5.1 innings.
Up next, the White Sox will keep their interleague run going, hosting a scuttling Braves squad for a one-game makeup before the Mets come to town for a three-game weekend set.
Arizona Diamondbacks (67-61) 7, Boston Red Sox (68-59) 6
The Red Sox came within a run of sweeping the Diamondbacks, falling just short in extras. After they were staked to an early 2-0 lead on homers by Nick Sogard and Jarren Duran, starter Payton Tolle and reliever Greg Weissert allowed five unanswered runs, punctuated by a two-run homer off the bat of the newly acquired Lars Nootbaar in the sixth. Mickey Gaspar answered back in the bottom half of the inning, swatting a three-run dinger to knot things up at five. That’s where the score would stay until the 10th, when Arizona scored two off Jovani Morán before the Red Sox were able only to plate their Manfred Man as old friend Jonathan Loáisiga closed things out.
After a day off Thursday, the Red Sox will continue their homestand, hosting a feeble Giants squad for a three-game series.
San Francisco Giants (52-74) 1, Cleveland Guardians (61-66) 0
Those feeble Giants toppled a playoff hopeful Wednesday, riding their much-maligned pitching staff to a shutout victory. Adrian Houser pitched five innings of bulk relief, with rookie Victor Bericoto knocking in San Francisco’s only run while Willy Adames collected three hits.
Parker Messick was excellent for Cleveland, holding the Giants to a single score in 6.2 innings of work to drop his season ERA to an exemplary 2.54. But his offense went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, dooming his strong showing. The two teams will decide the series tomorrow.
Houston Astros (64-63) 3, Los Angeles Angels (50-77) 2
The Astros surged above .500 with a narrow win against the Angels. The scoring kicked off with a third-inning homer off the bat of Houston’s Christian Vázquez. After the Halos took a one-run lead in the top of the fourth, Houston answered back with a pair of their own runs in the bottom half of the inning, taking a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish. A series of five Houston relievers twirled 5.1 innings of scoreless ball to secure the victory, with Josh Hader pitching around a leadoff walk to notch his 18th save of the year.
So much feast and so much famine in 2026. 10-game winning streaks, a 10-game losing streak. A few prolonged winning periods. A few prolonged losing periods. On the net, the winning has significantly outweighed the losing, but still frustrating. The Cubs have dropped four of seven. A speed bump not particularly notable. But it is exactly the kind of reason why I haven’t gotten overly excited as the Cubs got within striking distance of the Brewers. It’s been a long time since the Brewers have had an extended downturn. Probably a few years. Maybe I’m forgetting a stretch or two. They aren’t going to come back to us. We have to run them down.
A week like this. The Cubs have scored 22 runs over seven games is why we have trouble keeping up with them. You might have noted the Brewers scored 22 runs in a game this week. It happens. It happens. It happens. I could fill a jar with donations every time I have to type those words. A journeyman not quite starter shut the Cubs down for six innings in this one. He wasn’t particularly stretched out, but the Cubs got no traffic and really didn’t make him work. And he was able to get deep into the game. It happens.
It always feels like either the Cub offense is completely overmatched or everyone is running for the bat rack looking to get some swings in while they are routing someone. The nine games before this seven, the Cubs were 8-1 and scored 67 runs. That stretch includes a series against the back-to-back champs. Wild. It comes. It goes. It’s gone right now.
Off day Thursday, then gotta gear back up. The Fangraphs team schedule feature shows upcoming probabilities. I’m amused looking ahead with them. They aren’t particularly accurate. Though in fairness, they are probabilities and if you really understand probability, a 60/40 matchup can look like a huge edge, but of course there is a lot of variance in there. Anyway, this upcoming six game trip to Seattle and Arizona looks at best like two wins. That’s taking a 50.6 percent game as a win when that’s basically a coin flip. Two teams fighting for playoff spots. They aren’t going to go away easily. It’ll be into September probably before anyone might show any amount of let up. Maybe the Reds series at Wrigley right before the end of the month, but I’m not banking on that.
I didn’t talk much about this game. But the team didn’t accomplish much of anything. I’m still impressed with Clay Holmes. And Alex Bregman played a good shortstop third base, to be sure. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a third baseman field so many balls in front of the shortstop. But it was a day where you saw all of the skills that have led to a previous gold glove there. Actually, you would expect that maybe he’d have won one or two more.
Let’s hit the numbers and then turn the page and try to forget this one.
Three Positives:
Tyrone Taylor had a single and a double (and a baserunning blunder) before leaving the game.
Seiya Suzuki took two walks.
Clay Holmes was less sharp than the last time, but allowed only one run over 5.1 innings.
Mini hat tip to one of my favorite pitcher accomplishments. Caleb Thielbar faced one batter and recorded two outs thanks to a pickoff.
Game 128, August 19: White Sox 3, Cubs 0 (73-53)
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
Goat: Ryan Rolison (-.179). 0.2 IP, 5 BF, 2 H, BB, 2 R
Kid: Alex Bregman (-.121). 0-4
WPA Play of the Game: Pete Crow-Armstrong batted with a runner on second and no outs in the sixth inning, the Cubs trailing by one. He lined out to right field and Tyrone Taylor was out trying to advance to third. (.177)
Cubs Play of the Game: Colson Montgomery batted with a runner on first and no outs in the fourth. He struck out and Braden Montgomery was caught trying to steal second. (.090)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 127 Winner: Alex Bregman 69 of 82 votes.
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)
The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.
Pete Crow-Armstrong +27
Alex Bregman +21
Shōta Imanaga +14
Trent Thornton/Carson Kelly +13.5
Phil Maton -10
Edward Cabrera -12.5
Jameson Taillon -13
Dansby Swanson -17
Caleb Thielbar -18.5
Scoreboard Watching: (will return following Friday’s game)
Up Next: The Cubs face the Mariners (59-67). As crazy as it is, the Mariners are only three games out of the last wild card spot. No caps here as the Twins are presently holding that third slot at two games under. I wasn’t sure we’d see a wild card with a losing record at three wild cards, but here we are. Almost everything that could go wrong for the Mariners has this year. But they are still 33-29 at home. So, no real push over.
Matthew Boyd (8-2, 4.02) will be next up for the Cubs. He got rocked last time out against the Cardinals, allowing seven runs over 5.1 innings. He’ll look for a bounce back here. Emerson Hancock should be due for the Mariners. Hancock (7-7, 3.30) has been quite good. Even better over his last seven (2-3, 2.89, 37.1 IP). So this is a tough matchup. He won his last game at Houston, allowing two runs over seven.
When the Cubs get into the Mariner pen in this series, the Mariner pen is 20th in team ERA (4.24). They’ve converted just 28 of 48 save opportunities. The Mariners have used fewer innings out of the bullpen than any other team, by a comfortable margin. The Cub bullpen, for instance, has thrown about 80 more innings (in three more games). So expect the Mariners to be patient with their starters.
The Mariner offense is 27th in team OPS. So this is where you rely on your pitching staff to shut it down.
It’s not going to be easy, but go find a couple of wins.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 19: Nick Sogard #20 of the Boston Red Sox turns a double play over Corbin Carroll #7 of the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Fenway Park on August 19, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On Monday here at Over The Monster, Jake Reiser already asked “how do the Red Sox incorporate Roman Anthony, Trevor Story, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa?” But as we’re learning from this roller coaster Red Sox season, roster construction is both a complex and fluid beast that evolves by the day, and yesterday was a particularly interesting one.
But as compelling as it is to focus on all the guys coming back, something really interesting happened yesterday with all the guys who don’t want to leave. Namely, Nick Sogard, Jarren Duran, and Mickey Gasper all hit a home run. This is pretty amusing because you could argue that all three of these guys are at the top of the list in terms of people about to lose playing time when the cavalry comes back.
Gasper feels like the first man off the roster when somebody gets added. So what does he do this week? Hits a home run in every game of a three game series after have only having two major league home runs in his entire career (and none with the Red Sox). How about Jarren Duran? Do you think he feels Roman Anthony breathing down his neck? He went deep in the third inning yesterday.
And then there’s Nick Sogard, who is under pressure from the return of both Story and Kiner-Falefa, and led off the scoring with a home run of his own in the bottom of the first inning. But even before that long ball, Tyler Milliken was noting how much of a winning ballplayer Sogard has become, and I agree. At this point, Sogard needs to survive the upcoming roster tsunami. He does way too many little things to not be included as the bench/utility guy when all the dust settles.
Either way, isn’t it fascinating how human beings work? The guys on paper who all stand to get less playing time soon (or even get completely displaced off the roster) end up swinging the hottest sticks.
So with rehab assignments underway and a roster reshuffle immanent, where do you guys in the OTM community stand on this ever changing topic today? Use this thread to talk about that and whatever else you’d like, and as always, be good to one another.
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 31: Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) turns up ice during the second period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings on March 31, 2026, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
We have one more round of over/unders for the 2026-27 Pittsburgh Penguins, and it includes the four big-money, big-name players at the top of the lineup — Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson.
Here is a quick look at the other over/unders we have looked at so far:
Let’s get into today’s players and potential numbers.
Sidney Crosby: Over/under 90.5 points
At some point things are going to really start slowing down for Sidney Crosby. As great as he is, as great as he has been, as much of an all-time legend that he has become in NHL history, there is going to a come a time where he is not a 90-point player. Are we at that point? Is it getting closer? It does not seem to be.
While Crosby did not top the 90-point mark in 2025-26, that was largely due to the fact he missed extended time following an Olympics injury. But his 74 points in 68 games still put him on track for 89.2 points in an 82-game season, and 91.4 points in an 84-game season.
He topped 90 points in each of the three previous seasons.
Now, potential injuries are certainly a part of this game, and a 39-year-old forward could be more vulnerable to that sort of thing just because, you know, he’s a 39-year-old player in the NHL. But until the Olympic injury Crosby was going through one of the healthiest multi-year stretches of his career until a fluke play in an international tournament sidelined him. So who knows. You can’t really predict it.
Crosby may not always have that extra gear he had at his peak, but there is still enough there for him to be a major contributor offensively.
Enough to get back over the 90-point mark again?
Evgeni Malkin: Over/under 22.5 goals
Malkin is back for at least one more year, and a lot of the same points and questions listed with Crosby also apply here.
When will he REALLY start to slow down? How well will a 40-year-old player hold up over a full season? Does Malkin still have as much left in the tank as Crosby does?
Malkin’s 2025-26 season was a really nice bounce-back year when he was on the ice, scoring 19 goals with 42 assists and 62 total points in 56 games. But it was the second year in a row where he played in less than 65 games, and this time it was not just simply due to injury — he also missed multiple games for a suspension.
Over the past four years he’s scored at a 25-goal pace per 82 games, and was at a 27-goal pace in 2025-26. That is, by the way, the exact number of goals he scored in each of his past two full seasons.
Will he play in enough games to get back to that level?
Kris Letang: Over/under 5.5 goals
Of the Penguins big-three players, Letang is the one that seems to have slowed down the most over the past few years. Not just in terms of production, but also overall impact. There were times this past season where he seemed to be bordering more toward liability than productive player. There were still games and stretches where he showed something, but they were not as consistent as we have been used to seeing. His production also reached all-time lows for himself, both on a per-game level and in terms of the raw numbers.
Despite playing in 154 out of a possible 164 games the past two seasons, he has scored just 12 total goals during that stretch. He used to score 12 goals in a single season, even if he missed 15-20 games.
The brilliance just is not there as much.
Five goals is both a low bar for him given his career, but it also seems like it might be a high bar given what he showed a year ago and the reality that he is going to be a 39-year-old defenseman this season.
Erik Karlsson: Over/under 50.5 points (with the Penguins)
I am including Karlsson in with the big-three even though he has not been here as long or had anywhere near the same level of team success here. But he is a Hall of Fame player, he is their highest-paid player, and he is also one of their best players.
There is an argument to be made he was their best player in 2025-26.
Nobody seemed to benefit from the coaching change from Mike Sullivan to Dan Muse more than Karlsson, and he started to play like the player the Penguins thought they were getting when they traded for him prior to the 2023-24 season. He was sensational.
I would imagine some of that is still there for him this season.
He has tallied at least 53 points in each of his first three seasons with the Penguins, and went as high as 66 in 75 games this past season.
So I a confident in saying he is going to get to 50 points again.
The question is, will he do all of it with the Penguins?
Karlsson is in the last year of his contract and is a 36-year-old defenseman.
You do not need to work overtime to put the math together on that.
Could he be a potential in-season trade chip? If the Penguins are struggling as a team and not really in a playoff spot, it seems like it would be inevitable. Would they still do it if they are in the playoff race? Would they potentially extend him? There are a lot of options on the table here, but for the purposes of this exercise we are going to throw a curveball into the mix and set the over/under of 50.5 points with the Penguins, and not necessarily for the season overall.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have 42 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today, we look at the history of jersey #42.
Let's take a look.
Kevyn Adams - 2000-01 - Adams was drafted 25th overall in the 1993 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins.
Adams was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2000 NHL expansion draft. He would Adams would score 22 points in 66 games with the Blue Jackets before being traded at the trade deadline to the Florida Panthers alongside a 4th-round pick in the 2001 NHL entry draft in exchange for Ray Whitney and future considerations.
Although it felt like Adams played in Columbus for a long time, his stay was very short, and CBJ fans at the time were not happy about the trade initially. But when Ray Whitney stepped into Nationwide Arena, that all changed.
Adams went on to play until the 2008-09 season. In January of 2009, Adams retired from the league and became a player agent. He was hired by the Buffalo Sabres as a Development Coach in 2009 and has held various positions including Asst. Coach, Director, Youth Hockey Supervisor, Vice President, and Sr. VP of Business Administration. On June 16, 2020, however, he was promoted to the big job of General Manager of the Sabres. He was let go last season as GM, but is still a Senior Advisor for the Sabres.
Brett Harkins - 2001-02 - Harkins was drafted in the 7th round of the NHL Draft by the New York Islanders in 1989.
Harkins is a North Ridgeville, Ohio Native and attended the famed St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio. Harkins also played four years at Bowling Green State University in northwest Ohio, where he was a star. He had 208 points in his four years at BGSU. Harkins is also the first Ohio-born player to play for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Harkins played 25 games for the CBJ in 2001-02, after playing just over 50 career NHL games. he had a total of 2 goals and 14 points. After his year in Columbus, he would go to Europe and play six seasons in Finland and Sweden. He would retire in 2008.
Harkins has worked for the Boston Bruins for the past 10 seasons as the Head College Scout/Amateur Scout.
Duvie Westcott - 2001-08 - Westcott was undrafted and signed by the CBJ in 2001.
Wescott played in 201 games for the Blue Jackets from 2001 to 2008. He scored 11 goals and totaled 56 points. Wescott was described as "a gritty defenseman with a solid all-around game. Has good passing ability and power play skills."
After playing for Columbus, Wescott went to Europe and played the next seven seasons in the KHL, DEL, and Swiss National League. He retired in 2015.
Mark Hartigan - 2003-07 - Signed with the Atlanta Thrashers as an undrafted free agent.
Hartigan played in 48 games with Columbus after being traded by the Atlanta Thrashers to the Blue Jackets. He scored 11 goals and had a total of 19 points.
On January 26, 2007, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Zenon Konopka and Curtis Glencross. He would leave for Europe in 2008 and retire in 2012.
Chad Kolarik - 2009-10 - Kolarik was drafted in the 7th round of the 2004 NHL Draft by the Phoenix Coyotes.
On March 3, 2010, Kolarik was traded from the Coyotes to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Alexandre Picard. After playing in two games for Columbus, he was traded to the New York Rangers on November 11, 2010.
He left for Europe in 2013 and played until 2020. After coaching various levels of the USNTDP, he was hired by the Bridgeport Islanders as an assistant coach for the 25-26 season. He is now an asst. coach for Minnesota State University.
Artem Anisimov - 2013-15 - Anisimov was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2006 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers.
Anisimov was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets by the New York Rangers with Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon, and the New York Rangers' 1st round pick in the trade that sent superstar Rick Nash to New York. After playing in 168 games for the CBJ, he was then traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in the trade that brought forward Brandon Saad to Columbus.
Anisimov announced his retirement in October of 2024.
Alexandre Texier - 2018-24 - Texier was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
Texier played a total of 201 games for the Blue Jackets. His career started with a bang when he came over from Europe and made his debut in April of 2019, just before the end of the season. He ended up playing in the legendary series against the Tampa Bay Lightning and four of the games against the Boston Bruins. He scored 2 goals and 3 points in the postseason that year.
Texier would return to France for the 2022-23 season after it was reported that he lost family members in a crash. He played one season for the ZSC Lions and then returned to Columbus for the 2023-24 season. He played in 78 games and had 30 points in his NHL return.
Unfortunately for him, the Jackets hired a new GM in Don Waddell, who traded him to St. Louis on June 28, 2024, for a fourth-round pick. His tenure in Columbus ended with him scoring 34 goals and totaling 79 points.
In his two seasons for the Blues, he played in 39 games and had 12 points. He was granted his release from the Blues and signed with Montreal on November 23rd, 2025. He went on to play 43 games for the Habs, scoring 8 goals and totaling 20 points. He also had 8 points in 19 playoff games last year.
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Two first place clubs, the Chicago White Sox (66-60) and the Atlanta Braves (74-53) take the field in the Windy City this afternoon. The Sox lead the AL Central by four games over the Twins. The Braves lead the Phillies by 4.5 in the NL East. This game was originally scheduled for June 11 but was rained out.
The Braves arrive in Chicago after a difficult three-game series against the Minnesota Twins. Atlanta dropped all three games as they struggled to get the timely hit the entire series scoring just seven runs in the three games. Yesterday, they did plate four, but starter AJ Smith-Shawver was not good. The 23-year-old righthander allowed four runs in just 4.1 innings. For a team averaging just under 3.2 runs per game over their last 12 games, the results on the mound were simply not good enough.
Run production has rarely been a problem for the White Sox this season. Their issues have more often been on the mound. Yesterday, though, a trio of hurlers combined on a two-hit shutout of Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs in a 3-0 win. It was a bullpen game for the ChiSox. Jose Urquidy came on in relief of Sean Newcomb to start the third and threw six shutout innings allowing just two hits while striking out eight. Grant Taylor pitched the ninth for his seventh save. Braden Montgomery drove in a pair with a double in the eighth to secure the win.
Anthony Kay (9-5, 4.01 ERA) takes the ball for Chicago while Grant Holmes (7-5, 3.82 ERA) is expected to start for Atlanta. In his most recent outing, Kay allowed three runs over 5.1 innings last Saturday in Motown. It continued a stretch in which the southpaw has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last ten starts and has allowed three runs just three times in those ten outings. Right-hander Grant Holmes was torched in his last start allowing six earned runs over just 3.2 innings last Saturday against the Diamondbacks. Prior to that start, however, Holmes had not allowed any runs in his previous two starts (12 innings) and had not allowed more than three earned runs in an appearance since May 1.
Lets dive into today’s matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch: Braves vs. White Sox
Date: Thursday, August 20, 2026
Time: 2:10PM EST
Site: Rate Field
City: Chicago, IL
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The Latest Odds: Braves vs. White Sox – August 20
The latest odds as of Thursday courtesy of DraftKings:
Moneyline: Atlanta Braves (-108), Chicago White Sox (+101)
Spread: Braves -1.5 (+149), White Sox +1.5 (-181)
Total: 8.5 runs
Starting Pitchers and their Stats: Braves vs. White Sox for August 20
White Sox: Anthony Kay Season Totals: 121.1 IP, 9-5, 4.01 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 98K, 44 BB
Braves: Grant Holmes Season Totals: 117.2 IP, 7-5, 3.82 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 97K, 51 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Braves vs. White Sox
Lane Thomas is 4-9 in his career against Anthony Kay
Matt Olson is 2-10 over his last 3 games and has struck out once in each of the three
Drake Baldwin saw his 6-game hitting streak snapped last night (0-5)
Miguel Vargas is riding a 6-game hitting streak (10-24)
Munetaka Murakami last night snapped a string of 6 straight games in which he had struck out at least once
Braden Montgomery picked up a couple hits yesterday and has now hit safely in 5 of his last 6 games (8-25)
Anthony Kay has struck out 4+ batters in 4 of his last 5 starts
Grant Holmes has struck out 4+ batters in 4 of his last 7 starts
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top Betting Trends & Insights: Braves vs. White Sox
The White Sox are an MLB-best 76-50 on the Run Line this season
The Braves are 67-60 on the Run Line this season
The OVER has cashed 59 times in games involving Atlanta this season (59-62-6)
The OVER has cashed an MLB-best 71 times in games involving the White Sox this season (71-53-2)
Expert picks & predictions: Braves vs. White Sox for August 20
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s game between the Braves and the White Sox:
Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the White Sox on the Moneyline.
Spread: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Run Line.
Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total OVER 8.5.
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 01: Spencer Jones #78 of the New York Yankees slides into third base covered by Kevin McGonigle #7 of the Detroit Tigers during the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium on July 01, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Tuesday night’s series opener against the Orioles followed the exact same script that we’ve seen the last several weeks with the Yankees. A comatose offense, an elite pitching staff, a close game late, and a battle of the bullpens where every run matters. In the seventh inning, when the Yankees ultimately found the go-ahead runs with a two-run single by Trent Grisham, I thought about some things at the start of the rally.
Spencer Jones started it with a single off Shane Baz, representing the go-ahead run. With the team’s innate struggle to score runs of late, I immediately thought of the possibility of the guy who is regarded as the fastest player on the team being put in motion to give you three cracks at a runner in scoring position. Instead, over the next two at-bats, Jones stayed put, only advancing to second on George Lombard Jr.’s single.
This wound up not mattering due to Grisham’s heroics, but what if he didn’t come through against the lefty? While trying not to fall victim to Michael Kay’s fallacy of the predetermined outcome, if Jones ran on a relatively poor thrower in Carlos Narvaez and got to second, he would’ve scored easily on the slow grounder through the left side.
It’s not the first time I’ve felt something like this watching the Yankees (try to) hit. As much as the optics look bad when you mess up on the basepaths, the Yankees are just not good enough offensively to trust themselves to get runners over and hit them in right now. With the most athletic roster they’ve had in quite a long time, the Yankees need to lean into their speed and use it to push the envelope offensively, even if it means risking more outs on the bases.
For much of the season, it was part of the Yankees’ identity to leverage their speed. Through the Fourth of July, the Yankees were second in all of baseball in stolen bases with 92, leading all American League teams by at least 10. They had a teamwide Baserunning Runs (BsR) of 5.8, which was already their highest since 2017 while at the season’s halfway mark. It was a stark reversal from years past, when baserunning was perhaps the least important aspect of the game to them.
Fast forward six weeks, and things have changed. Since July 5, they’ve slowed their pace of stolen bases to eighth in baseball with 28, but the more stark decline is going from one of the best baserunning teams in baseball to the worst, recording -1.6 BsR in six weeks, a number that rivals the old, unathletic Yankees teams we saw a few years ago. This is coming with the most athletic roster the team has ever had, particularly with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on the shelf due to injury.
There have been times when the Yankees are not as willing to push the envelope on the basepaths, likely due to the game situation. With the offensive struggles, they don’t want to risk giving away outs, which might make them intuitively less aggressive in certain situations. This doesn’t stop the speedy guys who get great jumps from stealing, but it tries to eliminate risk. Despite this, the team’s success rate has declined from a rate of 77.9 percent to just 70 percent while attempting just 1.08 stolen bases a game, compared to 1.34 before. Declining both efficiency and quantity is a no-go.
The decrease in BsR may also be correlated with the flip side, being too aggressive to try and steal a run. Two recent examples include Ryan McMahon attempting to advance to third last week against Seattle on a botched relay to ensure Jazz Chisholm Jr. scored, and this near-perfectly executed play by José Caballero to stay in a rundown long enough to get Chisholm to score an insurance run.
Both of these plays symbolize a team that wants to ensure they can get a singular run, at the expense of a larger rally, due to their current capabilities, but the second one was significantly wiser than the first and is the sort of thing you want to see. Not only did Charles McAdoo get the tag on by only a millimeter, but if Caballero didn’t slip on the rundown, he would’ve been safe at second while simultaneously scoring Chisholm. These are the kind of plays and the kind of players that you want to do this with.
The Yankees don’t have baserunning savants that can make slower players threats on the bases like Antoan Richardson did with Juan Soto last year in Queens, but they do have speed. On any given night, they boast at least three plus-plus runners: Chisholm, Caballero, Jones, and Lombard. These guys have some problems getting on base, for sure, but there have been situations almost nightly where they can contribute.
Getting thrown out trying to steal a base is brutal, especially for an offense that is struggling to score, but the upside is tremendous. One of these fast players leading off an inning with a walk or single and immediately getting into scoring position gives you three opportunities with RISP. Chisholm leads MLB in steals of third base, where the Yankees as a team are the best in baseball at (24-for-27). Those are especially valuable with less than two outs.
There’s also a formula that shows it’s worth it to have some risk attached. Look at the AL East-leading Rays. They almost always lead the league in outs on the bases and currently sit fifth this year while also being picked off a league-high 16 times. They get thrown out at home more than anyone but the Nationals. For a team that’s seen as the beacon of fundamental baseball, they make these mistakes way more often than the Yankees, but they do it with a method of aggressiveness that overall makes them a net positive.
Baseball Savant has more complex baserunning stats that show another side to this. The most aggressive teams in the sport at taking the extra base are among the best in their version of Baserunning Runs, while teams that are more passive are towards the bottom. The only thing that really stands out here with the Yankees is that they have -4 BsR on steals of second, which tracks with their mediocre 73 percent rate of successful steals. Part of that is likely dragged down by Cody Bellinger’s struggles this year (9-for-15) and Caballero’s propensity to overslide and get picked off.
All of this is an exercise in measuring risk. Is the benefit of trying to take the extra base and maximize RISP opportunities for an offense that consistently strands them worth the downside of giving away outs in an already perilous situation? For at least the time being, it just might be.
SACRAMENTO, CA - JULY 4: Malique Lewis #19 of the Milwaukee Bucks plays defense during the game against the Golden State Warriors on July 4, 2026 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
After being taken by the Bucks with the 60th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Malique Lewis is expected to reach a deal with the NBL’s Cairns Taipans for the upcoming season. Of course, Lewis knows the league well, having spent the last two seasons with the Southeast Melbourne Phoenix; last year, he averaged 6.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 2.0 APG to go with nearly two stocks.
Malique Lewis is nearing a deal with the Cairns Taipans, sources told ESPN. Discussions between the Trinidadian forward and Taipans are in the advanced stages; there’s confidence a deal will soon be agreed for #NBL27. Lewis would be an import, and Cairns’ final roster spot.
As I’ve mentioned, the 21-year-old made real strides last season and started to look at least vaguely like a player who one day might play in the NBA. He’s a three-and-D player who can’t do much else—which caps his ceiling—but if he does that role well, which he did, there might be a role for him. Lewis took a huge step back in Summer League—as we noted in our player grades—but hopefully he can reclaim some confidence in a league he knows well and come back next year looking much better.
Crucially, Lewis will now be classified as an import, not an NBL Next Star, which was his classification for the last two seasons; once a player is drafted, they can no longer hold the Next Star title. For those who don’t know, the Next Star program is an NBL initiative that lets NBA prospects bide their time in the NBL instead of college or other overseas opportunities. They do not count as imports, nor does their salary count against their team’s payroll. As we know, Lewis is not the only Buck to have gone through the program; Ousmane Dieng was a Next Star, as was ex-Buck AJ Johnson.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers will each play two regular-season games in Germany next year as part of the NHL and NHLPA’s efforts to grow hockey in the country, the league announced Thursday.
The Bruins are to play two games in Munich, while the Oilers will play two matches in Leon Draisaitl’s native city of Cologne during the 2027-28 NHL season. The opponents have yet to be determined.
“These events represent an important step in our commitment to grow the game in Germany. By bringing more NHL games to one of Europe’s most dynamic hockey markets, we hope to continue to deepen engagement amongst our fans, partners and local communities, while at the same time creating a significant opportunity to grow the game throughout the country,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators were already slated to play two games in Düsseldorf in December. Those Global Series games are the second and third regular-season games the league has staged in Germany after the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings played in Berlin in 2011.
More are to follow with the NHL and NHLPA committed to bringing regular-season games to Germany for at least the next three seasons.
Welcome to The Hockey News Vancouver Canucks site's 2026–27 player preview article series. This series will outline the expectations for every player projected to play for Vancouver during the 2026–27 season. Today's player is Canucks defenceman Victor Mancini.
Mancini’s 2025-2026 Season
Mancini was traded to Vancouver from the New York Rangers in 2025 along with Filip Chytil and a draft pick in exchange for JT Miller. Since then, he has played significant time in both Vancouver and Abbotsford, including helping to secure a Calder Cup championship.
In 2025-26, Mancini played 33 games and recorded 12 points in the AHL. He also played 24 games in the NHL, recording three assists. Mancini earned a two-year extension, signed this March, and is developing into a full-time NHL player.
Mancini’s 2025-26 Letter Grade
For his efforts in the 2025–26 season, The Hockey News' Canucks site gave Mancini a C grade. With Manny Malhotra becoming Vancouver's new head coach, we may see more of Mancini's skills next year.
Mancini’s 2026-27 Predictions
Mancini has both time and room to continue developing his game. His game can be described as NHL-ready, just not 100% established. At just 24, Mancini has a bright future.
Following last season, Mancini could be looking at a total of five to 10 points in the NHL. He will be in and out of the lineup and might even see time in the AHL. Mancini will most likely see time on the third pair and could even get some penalty-kill minutes.
Mancini's goal for next year should be to establish himself as a full-time NHLer. He is ready to take on a bigger role, but needs to show it. Overall, he has the potential to surprise this season.
Bold prediction: Mancini scores his first career game-winning goal at the NHL level.
Mar 9, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Victor Mancini (90) skates against the Ottawa Senators in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 18: Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March 18, 2026 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In the first episode of Season 3 of How I Met Your Mother, the primary storyline revolves around breakups, and the idea that every time two people split there is a winner and loser.
If the 2026 offseason was HIMYM, the big breakup that occurred this offseason would be the divorce that transpired between the most storied franchise in league history (the Los Angeles Lakers) and (probably) its greatest player (LeBron James) after eight years of being happily married.
To most people, it seems like James won the breakup. After all, the Philadelphia 76ers, James’ new significant other, just assembled the league’s latest superteam in a conference that is much more manageable. Meanwhile, the Lakers are left to deal with the two behemoths (the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder) out West.
However, I’m here to tell you that, by losing James, the Lakers got way better, and, in turn, won the breakup.
How The Lakers Got Better Without James
Listen, this isn’t some Skip Bayless inspired anti-James propaganda. As I noted before, James is probably the best player to ever grace the hardwood, and he was certainly the most productive 41 year old of all-time last season.
With that said, we have enough of a sample size now to say that James and Luka Doncic were an imperfect fit. According to PBP Stats, the Lakers were better when only one of the two jumbo ball handlers was on the floor than when they shared the court together.
At the end of the day, both James and Doncic are better when a team is being molded in their likeness, rather than when they need to placate to others’ wants and needs.
We saw a couple of years ago when the 2023-24 Dallas Mavericks went to the NBA Finals what the Platonic Ideal for a Doncic team would look like. A second fiddle who knows how to oscillate between playing on and off the ball (Kyrie Irving), wings/forwards who will do Doncic’s dirty work (Derrick Jones Jr., PJ Washington, Josh Green), shooters (Tim Hardaway Jr.), and centers who can protect the rim and catch lobs (Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II).
The Lakers haven’t perfectly imitated this formula (more on this in a bit), but they have come pretty close. While not possessing quite the same resume, Austin Reaves does a pretty serviceable Irving impression. Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Cameron Carr (an excellent choice by the Lakers with the 24th overall pick, by the way), and Jarred Vanderbilt are all excellent athletes with the desire to do Doncic’s bidding on defense. Grimes, Collin Sexton, and Sandro Mamukelashvili are all ready to let it rip from downtown (Sexton also gives you some nice regular season innings eating as a creator). And Walker Kessler, Los Angeles’ big ticket signing, is going to do his best to replicate the value of Doncic’s former twin tower pick-and-roll partners.
Last season, the Lakers’ best lineup that played over 200 non-garbage time possessions featured Doncic, Reaves, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, and Deandre Ayton. That group outscored opponents by 23.3 points per 100 possessions (92nd percentile, per Cleaning the Glass).
Doncic and Reaves are still there, and it wouldn’t take much arguing to convince someone that a trio of Kessler/Grimes/Carr (or whoever you prefer in that fifth spot) wouldn’t be more potent than the triumvirate of Ayton/Hachimura/Smart. Plus, you no longer have to worry about laboring through minutes where Doncic is forced to share the floor with another uber-high-usage ball handler. The bottom line is that we already have proof of concept that the model the Lakers have built is conducive to winning.
The Lakers Will Be Better Than The 76ers Next Season
According to FanDuel, the 76ers odds of winning 50 or more games this season are set at -115 (an implied probability of 53.5%), while the Lakers are set at +250 (28.6%). So, the consensus view seems to be that the 76ers are better than the Lakers.
I will concede that the 76ers have more raw talent than the Lakers. But to win in this league, you need talent, depth, and fit. So many times over the last few years we’ve seen teams try to stack stars, only to crash and burn because their skillsets overlapped too much and they sacrificed so much of their salary cap to put them together that the players behind them aren’t good enough to fill the cracks.
This iteration of the Lakers isn’t a super team, but they do have a top five-ish player, a borderline All-Star, and a cavalcade of versatile chess pieces to slot around them. Their roster certainly makes a lot more sense than the team that James left them for. Now, I’m not saying that they are a lock to be better than the 76ers, but where oddsmakers currently have these two teams does not paint the proper picture.
Are The Lakers A True Inner Circle Title Contender?
The Lakers are going to be really, really good. They have a good blend of talent, depth, and fit. The issue is that a handful of other teams have a better mix of those three variables.
As of right now, I’d say that the Spurs, Thunder, New York Knicks, and Toronto Raptors (if the Kawhi Leonard trade ends up going through) are all firmly better than them. I’ll also hear arguments for the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Indiana Pacers.
The big thing holding this group back is their lack of a true power forward. One who can hit open shots, attack closeouts, handle various wing assignments, and use their size and length to offer some secondary rim protection. They’ve managed to almost perfectly copy that Mavericks team that won the West in 2024 (Doncic, Reaves is Irving, Grimes is Jones Jr., Kessler is Gafford/Lively), but they need their own version of Washington.
Vanderbilt can check those boxes defensively, but he’s a complete negative on the offensive side of the floor. Ditto with Thybulle. Mamukelashvili has size and skill, but lacks the lateral mobility to be trusted shadowing high-level forwards. Carr is too short and too unproven.
Until this problem is addressed, either via trade or unexpected emergence, the Lakers will be a tier below the true inner circle of title contenders – meaning that they will need more than a couple of lucky bounces to reach, let alone win, the NBA Finals. Still, this team projects to be pretty darn scary, which should be enough for them to win their breakup with James.
“Oh, what a (couple of) night(s)!” as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (almost) sang!
A historic lead-off and walk-off home-run Monday night by Pete Crow-Armstrong, followed by another lead-off HR by PCA and a pair of game-tying and game-winning RBI singles by Alex Bregman Tuesday definitely gave the two games a play-off feel.
I think it is normally is best for the Cubs if the hitting and scoring is scattered among the players, keeping everybody either hot, or at least really warm. And that causes a lot of stat-juggling over two games to determine the best performer over the period.
It’s cut-and-dry (and no surprise) in this article. Crow-Armstrong and Bregman combined to go 10-for-19 with four walks, three runs scored, six RBI, two doubles and three home runs.
PCA led the way, with the three home runs, going 5-for-8 with three walks, three runs scored, four RBI and a double. While PCA was the showman, Bregman was the workman, churning out five hits in nine AB with a walk, a double and the two huge RBI singles.
There were a few more key hitters over the two games. Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch each joined PCA with a first-inning solo home run on Monday and Tuesday. Nico Hoerner went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI on Monday. And Carson Kelly, who entered the game late Tuesday for Miguel Amaya, hit a lead-off double in the bottom of the ninth and eventually scored the winning run.
On the pitching side it was a mixed bag, but overall a good pair of starts. Shota Imanaga pitched extremely well Monday, as he allowed just two hits and walked three over six innings while striking out 10. However, he had to give up his obligatory home run — unfortunately it was of the three-run variety, but the Cubs were able to overcome it. Kevin Gausman had to battle a painful-looking cramp on his glove hand, which shortened his outing to 4.1 innings. He allowed the Complimentary Starting Pitcher Solo Home Run (CSPSHR from now on), but otherwise scattered seven hits and two walks while striking out five.
But the two big pitching performances were Javier Assad’s emergency scoreless three innings in relief of Gausman. And Jacob Webb picking up his fifth and sixth wins of the year with a scoreless inning of work in each game.
Yeah, what a couple of nights, huh?
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Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Gausman ‘doing well’ after exiting start with cramp in non-pitching hand. “”“I kind of couldn’t even put it in my glove there in the fourth before I got some electrolytes in me. … It’s pretty frustrating, to be honest. First start here as a Cub. Obviously, not what I’m trying to do.”“
Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Jacob Webb Showed Off Some Serious Stones in the 10th Inning Last Night. “Getting through an extra-innings inning without allowing that free runner at second base to score is an ENORMOUS thing.”
Josh Davis (ClutchPoints): Jon Heyman is absolutely right on gripping Pete Crow-Armstrong vs. Shohei Ohtani MVP race. “In one of the greatest MVP races ever, PCA and Shohei each had 4 hits and 2 HRs last night. But PCA homers were a leadoff HR and walkoff HR vs. rival White Sox. Their season stats/achievements are debatable but PCA fairly leads due to incredible narrative/unmatched dramatics”
Chris Pownall (DaWindyCity): Pete Crow-Armstrong believes he has answered Cubs’ biggest concern. “Pete Crow-Armstrong understands exactly what went wrong late last season. His blunt explanation should leave the Chicago Cubs feeling much better about what awaits them this October.”
Robert Calvin Bland (January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby “Blue” Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was described as “among the great storytellers of blues and soul music… [who] created tempestuous arias of love, betrayal and resignation, set against roiling, dramatic orchestrations, and left the listener drained but awed.” The inspiration behind his unique style was a Detroit Preacher, CL Franklin, because Bland studied his sermons. He was sometimes referred to as the “Lion of the Blues” and as the “Sinatra of the Blues”.
Bland was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2012. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame described him as “second in stature only to B.B. King as a product of Memphis’s Beale Street blues scene”. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Bland at number 163 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - JUNE 14: A view of the field after the game between the Cleveland Guardians and the Detroit Tigers was postponed due to pending severe weather at Progressive Field on June 14, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants conclude this three-game road series against the Cleveland Guardians this morning.
Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Landen Roupp, who enters today’s game with a 4.31 ERA, 3.62 FIP, with 128 strikeouts to 60 walks in 129.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 5-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Friday, in which he allowed four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks in five and two thirds innings.
He’ll be facing off against Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams, who enters today’s game with a 3.74 ERA, 3.59 FIP, with 190 strikeouts to 45 walks in 149 innings pitched. His last start was in the Guardians’ 7-5 loss to the San Diego Padres on Friday, in which he allowed five runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and four walks in four and a third innings.
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 05: TJ Rumfield #7 of the Colorado Rockies bats during the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Wednesday, August 5, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Casey Paul/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
It’s not controversial to say that the past few seasons of Colorado Rockies baseball have not featured a good offense. A team doesn’t lose more than 100 games based purely on an inability to pitch. It has also failed to score runs.
Watching the 2026 team, however, the offense has seemed different.
At this point in mid-August, the sample size is large enough to make meaningful comparisons between seasons and determine if that anecdotal understanding is backed up by the data.
To start, the obvious number to consider is runs scored. At the very fundamental level, the only thing that really matters for the offense is if it scored runs. Everything beyond this is just a building block describing how a team is trying to score runs.
Earlier this season, I wrote about the gap between Rockies run scoring at home vs. on the road and how it was smaller than it had ever been in franchise history. What I failed to mention in that piece is the simple fact that the 2026 Rockies are scoring more runs overall than their recent counterparts, a point illustrated by considering the Rockies runs per game.
The 2026 Rockies are scoring 4.81 runs per game, which is a full run more than they did in 2025 (3.69). What’s more, this jump in runs needn’t be caveated by a shift in the overall league offensive environment. The league-average runs per game last year was 4.45 and has slightly increased this year to 4.48 (so far).
The bottom line is this: The Rockies have made undeniable improvement in their ability to score runs this season. If you wanted to stop reading now and just move on with your day, secure in your knowledge that the Rox lineup is actually improved, you’d be fine to do so.
The more interesting question, though, is what parts of the Rockies profile are fueling this improvement?
That answer isn’t easily encapsulated in one graphic. Rather, it is encompassed by a variety of positive trends.
Consider first the Rockies offensive events per game.
The most notable thing about the chart above is the steep decline in the orange line as it reaches 2026. That orange line represents Rockies hitters’ strikeouts per game.
That’s right, Rockies hitters are striking out much less this year.
For all three of the club’s previous 100-loss seasons, their hitters’ strikeout numbers had been hovering somewhere between nine and ten per game, while the league average had hovered around eight and a half. Addressing this strikeout issue has been the stated goal of seemingly every Rockies hitting coach this decade. We have written about it many, many times here at Purple Row.
At long last, Brett Pill and the Rockies lineup appear to have made a tangible dent in the problem. This year, Rockies hitters are striking out 8.57 times per game on average, which is only a smidge above the league rate of 8.35.
Hallelujah!
Less stark than the reduction of strikeouts, is the uptick in all of walks, hits, extra base hits, and even stolen bases per game.
Where the league as a whole has seen slight decreases in all of those categories, other than walks, the Rockies have seen slight increases in all of them.
You read that correctly.
The Rockies went from below league average in every category in 2025 to either at or above league average in all of them this season — again, other than walk rate, which is just below league average.
The caveat to every conversation about Rockies offense, however, is Coors Field.
Raw totals of events like hits and runs are obviously inflated by playing at Coors. The Rockies being roughly league average in raw totals indicates that they are still below average in terms of true talent if one were to adjust for their home ballpark.
wRC+ is an attempt to take the full offensive package of a player or team, including park adjustments, and compare that to an anchored league average figure (100). If we take a look at Fangraphs team stats, we can filter by just the Rockies and compare their past few seasons. Consider, then, the Rockies’ wRC+ over the last decade.
All of the improvements to component parts have added up to a Rockies offense that is much improved over last season. In just one year, they’ve gone from an unthinkable 26% below league average to just nine percent below average.
What’s more, the league run environment adjustments accounted for in wRC+ indicate that this could be the best Rockies offense since 2016. That’s not to say that their lineup has been more valuable in total — the defensive prowess of those late-teens Rox is hard to understate — but at the plate, the 2026 Rockies may be roughly in the same range as the last playoff teams this franchise fielded.
The main takeaway from all of this is just that the numbers back up what we’ve been seeing: Practically every facet of the team’s offensive profile has improved a little bit. Taken as a whole, the Rockies lineup is significantly improved over from where it was a year ago.
Now let’s all ponder what this front office and coaching staff can do with another full offseason to have their developmental changes really sink in. The Rockies aren’t likely to continue improving at this rate, but they only have a small hole to dig themselves out of instead of the gaping crater that they did just last year.
Pacific Coast League baseball at it’s finest was on display in this slugfest.
Four pitchers took the mound for the Isotopes and none of them went unscathed. Valente Bellozo started the game and had the best performance of the night having allowed only three runs in his three innings of work. He was relieved by Mason Green, Jeff Criswell, and Evan Shawver each of whom allowed two runs or more in fewer than three innings each.
The Isotopes hitters had much more fun as they collected 14 hits among them and walked nine times. All told each of Ryan Ritter, Edouard Julien, Sterlin Thompson (No. 16 PuRP), Chad Stevens, and Drew Avans reached base at least three times. Oh, and Roc Riggio (No. 13 PuRP) hit his first Triple-A home run after his promotion last week. The lineup accomplished all of that and still the Isotopes were outscored by four runs. That’s just how the PCL works.
When Hartford starting pitcher Stu Flesland III exited the game before the eighth inning the Yard Goats were winning this game.
Flesland III only allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in his seven innings pitched but saw the lead evaporate with eight Patriot runs scoring in the final two innings. The first three of those were allowed by Nathan Blasick in the eighth and the final five by Victor Juarez in the top of the ninth to put it out of reach.
All the way back in the first inning a three run homer by center fielder GJ Hill had put the Yard Goats ahead. From that point forward the only other run they were able to scrape by came from a sacrifice fly from Cole Messina in the bottom of the sixth. All the while the Patriots were chipping away at the lead until that eventual late inning outburst that sealed the Yard Goats loss.
Spokane lost this game due to the combination of Everett Catlett struggling to find the strike zone in his four innings of work and the Indians lineup failing to record a hit with runners in scoring position.
By the time Catlett was relieved by Case Williams the damage had already been done. Catlett allowed four runs on five hits and five walks on 93 pitches in his four innings. The Spokane bullpen did it’s best to keep the game close with the only other run coming on a ninth inning double allowed by Ismael Luciano but the lineup was not able to mount a comeback.
In terms of the offense, the obvious standout was second baseman Wilder Dalis (Pre-season No. 24 PuRP) who reached base four times but was never able to come around to score. Spokane managed to load the bases with two outs in both the bottom of the sixth and the bottom of the ninth and failed to cash in any of the baserunners. In the sixth, Robert Calaz (No. 26 PuRP) grounded out to end the inning and strand all three runners and then in the bottom of the ninth Ethan Hedges did the same.
Fresno took an early lead in the bottom of the first when Ports pitcher Corey Braun walked Juan Martinez with the bases loaded and then allowed Daniel Jackson to score on a wild pitch. Even after the Ports were able to stop escape the first without any more runs crossing the plate, the Grizzlies held onto the lead for the remainder of the game.
Fresno pitchers combined to allow only six hits and three walks while striking out eight over nine innings. No Grizzlie pitched more innings than starter Sandy Ozuna who managed to get through four with a solo home run to Alex Sosa being his only substantial blemish. Ethan Cole got finished the final three frames of the game for Fresno and only allowed a single hit.
At the plate almost everyone had a pretty good day, partially due to Ports pitchers failing to find the strike zone. Martinez walked a total of three times, Jack Natili (No. 20 PuRP) and Daniel Jackson (No. 12 PuRP) both walked twice themselves alongside collecting two hits, Landyn Vidourek and Cristian Arguelles each had a couple hits and stole a base, and Sebastian Blanco hit his first Low-A home run.
In case you missed the news on Tuesday, Hunter Goodman was officially placed on the injured list after having missed the past several games. The shoulder strain was originally thought of as something that would just need a couple days of rest but as those days started to add up Warren Schaeffer could no longer wait to have a second catcher on the roster. Thomas Harding doesn’t indicate that the diagnosis has changed substantially so ideally Goodman can return after the requisite 15 day period.
I know you can’t get enough of Cole Carrigg and Zac Veen so here’s another piece on the pair of Rockies rookies from Kyle Newman. It compares the excitement and talent both bring to the field with the contrasting paths they’ve taken to reach this point as well as their mindset going into games. Especially interesting is Carrigg’s quotes on attempting to harness his emotions a bit more without losing the competitive fire that comes with them and Veen’s efforts to not take this opportunity for granted given the challenges he’s overcome to get here.
