May 19, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) celebrates with forward Og Anunoby (8) after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime of game one of the eastern conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The Eastern Conference Finals resume tonight at Madison Square Garden with the Knicks holding a 1-0 series lead after Tuesday’s astonishing comeback victory over Cleveland. Donovan “Spida” Mitchell remains fully capable of carrying Cleveland for stretches, but the Cavs were totally gassed late in Game 1, particularly James Harden, who shot terribly, committed a half-dozen turnovers, and was hunted by Jalen Brunson in crunch time. Tonight, Cleveland will either dig deep and come back with a big swing or roll over like dogs. (We predict some version of the former.)
Tip off is at 8 PM EST on ESPN. This is your game thread. This is Fear the Sword. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. Be cool and enjoy the ride. And go Knicks!
On Thursday, he walked the bases loaded in the first inning, escaping unscathed, albeit with an elevated pitch count.
As the starting pitcher, he got the Mets through the fifth with only one run allowed against the Nationals, reversing a recent trend:
In five appearances this season as a bulk reliever, he’s pitched to a 2.25 ERA.
In five as a starter before Thursday, he had an 8.10 ERA.
Peterson’s best start since opening weekend helped the Mets win 2-1 to split their four-game series at Nationals Park and snap a two-game skid.
David Peterson prepares to throw a pitch during the Mets’ May 21 win. Imagn Images
“He’s a good pitcher, that is where you start,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s a real good pitcher that went through struggles, but we believe in him. Now it’s time for him to continue to do that and he will. He’s a big part of this team and we are going to continue to use him.”
The lefty had a brutal start against these Nationals on April 29, allowing seven earned runs, but since then has recovered, pitching to a 2.50 ERA over four appearances following an opener.
The Mets have needed him, especially with Clay Holmes’ deployment to the injured list over the last week with a fractured right fibula.
“I feel like I have been there for a couple of outings now,” Peterson said when asked if he felt as if he’s reverted to the pitcher who earned an All-Star appearance last season.
Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams each pitched a scoreless inning behind Peterson.
Next stop for the Mets is a three-game series beginning Friday in Miami.
Bo Bichette singles during the Mets’ win over the Nationals on May 21. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Peterson started his day with two fast outs before walking Andrés Chaparro, CJ Abrams and Dylan Crews to load the bases.
Peterson, who threw 28 pitches in the inning, struck out Daylen Lile to escape.
“There’s a couple of things I was feeling, but I was a little quick [in the first inning],” Peterson said. “I just tried to kind of settle in, slow myself down and get in my motion and then continue to try to get ahead with the first pitch and go from there.”
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Bo Bichette’s fielding error to begin the second was overcome as Keibert Ruiz was nailed attempting to steal second, completing a strikeout/throw-out double play to end the inning.
Bichette stroked a two-run single in the third against Cade Cavalli to give the Mets their only scoring.
MJ Melendez got hit by a pitch and Luis Torrens and Carson Benge each singled to load the bases before Bichette delivered with a shot through the middle.
It continued a hot stretch for Bichette, who was 7-for-19 (.368) with three homers over his previous four games.
He finished with six RBIs in the four-game series.
The Nats pulled to within 2-1 in the fifth on Chaparro’s RBI groundout.
Ruiz singled and James Wood doubled to put runners on second and third with nobody out.
After Chaparro brought in the run, Mark Vientos’ diving stop and scamper to first on Abrams’ smash prevented the Nats from tying the game.
“I felt like we were on the attack,” said Peterson, whose outing matched his longest since April 13. “I felt like we had a good game plan and just tried to fill up the zone and stay on the attack, be aggressive all day.”
The Mets loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth, but couldn’t add insurance.
Melendez struck out, Torrens was retired on a line drive and Carson Benge flied out.
A.J. Ewing broke in the wrong direction on Lile’s fly ball leading off the bottom of the ninth and couldn’t secure the ball in his glove upon recovering.
Lile reached second and advanced to third on a groundout. Williams kept the tying run stranded by striking out José Tena before retiring Ruiz.
“That’s a good team over there,” Williams said. “We were able to split with them and come away with two [wins] and we have got to keep stacking good days.”
May 20, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) dunks over Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the second quarter during game two of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
We’re deep into the NBA playoffs, and one former Husky hooper is still playing meaningful basketball.
Stephon Castle and the San Antonio Spurs are in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2017. Castle has been the number-two option behind the breakout megastar Victor Wembanyama. Castle is doing a little bit of everything this postseason, averaging 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game while providing some highlight-reel dunks, including one over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in their Game 1 win that included a staredown.
As well as he has been playing overall, his turnover numbers in the first two games of the Western Conference Finals have been less than ideal, totaling 20, the most by a player over two postseason games in NBA history. After the Spurs mounted a late comeback in Game 2, Castle threw the ball directly out of bounds, which was the nail in the coffin for San Antonio.
Game 2 also saw one of the best dunks in recent memory. Midway through the second quarter, Wembyanyama fed the ball to Castle, who had an open lane to the rim. The 6 ‘6 guard drove the lane and levitated over the 7-foot Isaish Hartenstein, who had no chance at blocking the dunk. Even Wembyanyama couldn’t believe how thunderous the jam was.
Castle and the Spurs are even at 1 game apiece heading into a crucial game 3 back in San Antonio Friday night. Castle’s key for victory? Hold onto the ball and hit long-range shots. So far he’s 2-for-12 from the three-point range over the first two games. Castle hit his threes in the Minnesota series, going 5-for-7 in the closeout Game 6. Most importantly, the turnovers were the result in over half of the teams in the department. If they played the defending champs close in both games, the Spurs shouldn’t be alarmed. They have a great chance of finishing the series in six games.
David Peterson and the Mets’ bullpen combined to hold the Nationals to one run, which meant that Bo Bichette’s two-run single in the top of the third was just enough for the Mets to beat the Nationals by a 2-1 score and get out of D.C. with a series split.
Peterson might not have been dominant, but he was effective. The lefty went five innings, struck out three, walked three, and gave up one run on four hits. That brought him down to a 5.03 ERA on the season, and he threw 82 pitches in the start. Having struggled mightily in traditional starts so far this year, it was good to see him pitch that well without an opener having pitched before him.
As for the aforementioned two-run single from Bichette, the Mets had loaded the bases for him when MJ Melendez was hit by a pitch, Luis Torrens reached on an infield single, and Carson Benge singled to left. In a series that’s seen his bat finally come to life, Bichette came through with a single to center to bring home the Mets’ only pair of runs.
From there, the bullpen was the story. Huascar Brazobán, who’s been the most vital and versatile reliever on the roster so far this year, spun a scoreless sixth on just nine pitches. Brooks Raley needed just 14 pitches to get through a scoreless seventh with a pair of strikeouts. Luke Weaver issued a walk but notched one strikeout in a scoreless eighth. And following a wind-aided leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth that barely eluded A.J. Ewing in center field, Devin Williams got a ground out, a strikeout, and another ground out to get the save.
The Mets’ lineup remains a concern, but in isolation, there’s nothing wrong with a pitching-fueled win. Depending on the outcome of the Marlins’ game against the Braves, which is ongoing at the time of this writing, the Mets might even wake up tomorrow morning in fourth place in the division.
Big Mets winner: Devin Williams, +20% WPA Big Mets loser: Mark Vientos, -23% WPA Mets pitchers: +70% WPA Mets hitters: -20% WPA Teh aw3s0mest play: Devin Williams strikes out José Tena for the second out in the ninth, +25% WPA Teh sux0rest play: Daylen Lile doubles to lead off the bottom of the ninth, -24% WPA
Last week’s costly defeat to Leeds means Brighton must overcome Manchester United on the final day to ensure they secure a place in Europe for the second time in their history. The good news is that Michael Carrick’s side have nothing to play for and United have a wretched record at the Amex, losing in three of their past four visits in the Premier League including a 4-0 drubbing back in 2022. Danny Welbeck could be key against his former club having enjoyed his most prolific season with 13 league goals. The veteran striker still has a chance of finishing as the highest scoring English player in the division if he can find the net on Sunday, with World Cup rival Ollie Watkins leading the way on 14 as it stands. Ed Aarons
Brighton v Manchester United (all games Sunday 4pm BST)
May 19, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) celebrates with forward Og Anunoby (8) after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime of game one of the eastern conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals are tonight. The Cleveland Cavaliers are at New York Knicks. Watch starting at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Apr 13, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; An exterior stadium view before the game between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images
Just in case I don’t get home before game time, use this as the game thread. I expect to be home before, but best laid plans and all.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Spencer Miles does tonight. He’s been terrific in this role. I’m thinking they could skip the opener thing, but i don’t run things.
Thanks mostly to dominant pitching, especially from the bullpen, the Mets squeezed out a 2-1 win over the Nationals in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
With the win, the Mets split the series 2-2 with the Nationals.
Here are the takeaways...
-Devin Williams finished off an excellent day for the bullpen, pitching out of trouble in the ninth inning to get his seventh save of the season.
The inning became dicey when rookie center fielder AJ Ewing misplayed a shallow fly ball by Daylen Lile into a wind-blown double, charging hard after getting a late start as the ball hit off the heel of his glove.
Lile advanced to third on a ground ball, but Williams then struck out Jose Tena swinging at a change-up and got Keibert Ruiz on a routine groundout to end the game.
The Mets’ bullpen, which has been outstanding lately, delivered dominance on this day as four relievers pitched four near-perfect innings, allowing only one walk and one hit, all while holding a 2-1 lead.
-Prior to Williams in the ninth, Huascar Brazoban and Brooks Raley were perfect in the sixth and seventh innings, before Luke Weaver allowed a two-out walk in the eighth, the only blemish for the bullpen.
Weaver now has a streak of eight straight scoreless innings.
-Bo Bichette’s bases-loaded single in the third inning gave the Mets their only two runs of the afternoon.
They loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning but failed to score as MJ Melendez struck out swinging, Luis Torrens’ soft liner was caught by second baseman Nasim Nunez, and Carson Benge flied out to deep right-center – a 101 mph shot that may have been knocked down by a fairly strong wind.
With a solid five-inning outing in his first start in three weeks, Peterson offered the Mets hope that he can again be a reliable piece in their starting rotation.
After early-season struggles, Peterson has been more effective recently, being used as a bulk reliever, following an opener. But because the Nationals feature key left-handed hitters at the top of the lineup, Peterson got the start.
And after a shaky first inning, in which he walked three straight hitters with two outs but escaped unscathed, the Mets’ lefty put together a strong outing. He had a shutout through four innings, then gave up a run in the fifth and escaped further damage when Mark Vientos made a nice, diving grab to his left of a hard one-hopper, stranding a Nationals’ runner at third base.
Peterson was pulled after five innings, his pitch count at 82. He lowered his ERA to a still-high 5.03, but he has been much better lately, with a 2.50 ERA to show for his four outings in May, spanning 18 innings.
-Bichette continued his recent productive streak at the plate. His hard, ground-ball single up the middle off Cade Cavalli with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning delivered two runs to give the Mets a 2-0 lead at the time.
The two RBI gave Bichette nine for the series. He hit three home runs and drove in seven runs in the first two games of the series.
Bichette’s overall numbers remain well below expectations: he’s hitting .227 with a .607 OPS and 11 extra-base hits.
-Despite his wind-blown misplay in center, Ewing continues to do the little things well, dropping down a sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning that moved two runners into scoring position.
Ewing was actually safe on his bunt when the throw to first was dropped by second baseman Nasim Nunez. But more to the point, he has now delivered twice in late-inning sacrifice situations since his call-up on May 12. He had never bunted for a sacrifice successfully in the minors.
Game MVP: Devin Williams
Williams had to overcome the wind-blown double in the ninth, but he got a huge strikeout to prevent the Nationals from scoring with a runner on third base and one out. Williams now has 10 straight scoreless outings.
Highlights
David Peterson strikes out Daylen Lile to end the first after walking the bases loaded pic.twitter.com/3jUfpFTdwk
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - MAY 20: Dylan Harper #2 of the San Antonio Spurs looks on during the first quarter of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Two of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center on May 20, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 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
After exiting Game 2 early in the second half following an awkward fall, Spurs rookie guard Dylan Harper is listed as questionable for Game 3 in San Antonio with a sore adductor. The play occurred when he collided with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander while going for a lay-up and came down awkwardly on his leg. While obviously not ideal, it’s a much better diagnosis than a hamstring pull, which was the fear after he appeared to grab it after the play.
The status of questionable suggests MRI’s were negative, and while it doesn’t confirm he will play tomorrow, it’s a brighter outlook than some may have feared. Adding to the awkwardness, he appeared ready to return as he jogged back from the locker room, only for someone to tell him to go back. That could also be a good sign.
As has been the case for both games so far in this series, De’Aaron Fox remains questionable with a high ankle sprain suffered in Game 5 against the Timberwolves when Ayo Dusunmo rolled into his legs while diving for a loose ball. Fox played in Game 6 but re-aggravated the injury and did not participate in Game 1 vs. the Thunder, which the Spurs won in double overtime. While Mitch Johnson has been adamant that he would play if he could, the win had many speculating that it bought him an extra game off. Related or not, he was ruled out of Game 2 about an hour before tip-off. Both Fox and Harper’s returns will likely depend on pain tolerance.
Both De’Aaron Fox (ankle) and Dylan Harper (adductor) are questionable for Game 3 against the Thunder. pic.twitter.com/kpeQ0ixyiy
In other injury related news, Thunder star Jalen Williams has been ruled as day-to-day after he re-aggravated the same hamstring that had kept him out of the first two rounds of the playoffs. He only played seven minutes last night before exiting after playing 37 minutes in Game 1, which was his first game in a month.
While the Thunder have been used to not having Williams for much of this season, the same can’t be said for the Spurs. While Fox, Harper and Stephon Castle all missed time here and there, they’re used it having at least two of the three, and the Spurs need at least one of them to give Castle some relief from ball-handling duties. While his scoring has been on point in this series, he has struggled holding onto the ball with 20 turnovers so far. If both Fox and Harper can’t go, expect to see some relief minutes from Jordan McLaughlin.
This series had all the makings of an instant classic coming in and has lived up to the hype through the first two games, so it would be a shame if more injuries were to spoil it in any way. Despite last night’s loss, the Spurs still hold home court advantage heading into Game 3 in San Antonio after stealing Game 1.
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 02: Carlos Rodón #55 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium on April 2, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Though the Yankees and Blue Jays remain 7.5 games apart in the AL East standings, the first three games of this four-game set between them have each been decided by a single run. Last night, the Yankees failed to support Cam Schlittler’s strong start as their nemesis Trey Yesavage dominated them again. Thanks to the wins on Monday and Tuesday, though, the worst the Bombers can do is split with the Jays. Carlos Rodón has other plans—he’ll look to get right in his third start of the season and bring the Yanks a much-needed series victory.
Rodón himself had harsh words for his first two outings of the year, but as I mentioned in the series preview, his woes have been almost entirely limited to getting the last out of a given inning. While velocity has been solid, his command has been spotty. Again, pay close attention to how he approaches Toronto with two outs. They’re a team that was famously pesky in 2025 with no margin for error, but they haven’t been quite at the same level this year.
The Blue Jays’ rotation only goes four deep right now; Eric Lauer was recently DFA’d, Shane Bieber is working his way back, and José Berrios just underwent Tommy John surgery, so John Schneider has no choice but to turn to a bullpen game. Righty reliever Braydon Fisher, who has a 3.08 ERA in 24 games this year, will get the opener assignment.
As far as the bulk innings, that will be handled by 25-year old Spencer Miles, who has pitched to a 2.55 ERA in 24.2 innings. Miles started a game against the Angels back on May 10th but only went three innings—scoreless innings, though. He pitched from the second to the fifth his last time against Detroit, so look for a similar strategy today.
Trent Grisham is out today after having to leave early in last night’s contest, so Spencer Jones stays in tonight. Aside from J.C. Escarra filling in for the badly struggling Austin Wells, it’s the same lineup as yesterday.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES, SN1
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, SN590 THE FAN
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 26: Andrew Friedman, Dodgers President of Baseball Operations, talks with a Dodgers coach during practice prior to the MLB game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on April 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers defeated the Pirates 6-2. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Lakers President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka said that with Mark Walter as the majority owner, the Lakers would spend everywhere possible to improve the franchise. So far, that’s been true.
However, don’t expect Zaidi and Friedman to remain as involved once all new hires are put in place. According to a piece by Yaron Weitzman of Yahoo Sports, both Zaidi and Friedman are only focused on getting things situated for the Lakers.
That said, neither Friedman nor Zaidi seems interested in making a cross-sport leap. Their interactions over the past few months with NBA player agents, including those representing Lakers’ stars, have been minimal, according to league sources. “This isn’t like when one of these owners comes in and acts like they know everything,” said an agent who’s spoken frequently with Zaidi about the Lakers. “His focus seems to be much more on the building out of the organization.”
Since Friedman and Zaidi don’t seem interested in planting their roots in basketball, they can focus on helping where they can with front office hires and then move on once the right people are in place.
While basketball and baseball are completely different sports, this is more about the organizational front-office infrastructure, which is essentially corporate work wrapped in an entertainment package. So, their success with the Dodgers should be replicable with the Lakers.
The fact that they’ll likely be done once their work is finished should be a good indicator to Lakers fans that Walter will rely on experts rather than hire people he already knows.
We’ll better understand how Walter will run the team once these big transitions are further along and more new hires are revealed.
Until then, expect a lot of change with the Lakers this season, not just with their roster, but with everything involving the franchise.
Ducks right wing Troy Terry slides the puck past sprawling Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson during a shootout last season. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Anaheim Ducks forward Troy Terry needs hip surgery that could endanger his availability at the start of next season.
Terry has a chronic hip impingement, the Ducks revealed Thursday in their postseason injury report. Anaheim’s first postseason since 2018 ended last week in the second round with a six-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Ducks haven’t finalized a date for Terry’s hip surgery or a definite time frame for his recovery.
Terry has been Anaheim’s most consistent offensive player for the past half-decade, scoring at least 19 goals and 50 points each year. He scored 57 points last season before adding three goals and eight assists in 12 playoff games — the first postseason contests of his career.
The team also confirmed that goal-scoring forward Cutter Gauthier played with two fractured vertebrae in his back during the postseason. Gauthier was hurt in late March, but only missed five games before returning and eventually scoring 12 points in the postseason.
Captain Radko Gudas sprained his ankle in the Ducks’ playoff opener and didn’t return to the lineup, but he would have been available if Anaheim had advanced to another round. So would forward Ryan Poehling, who has been cleared after incurring a concussion from an illegal hit by Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb, who was suspended for a game.
Defenseman Pavel Mintyukov sprained a ligament in his knee, but he will be ready for training camp.
The Los Angeles Angels' biggest misstep in franchise history — their refusal to trade Ohtani — has been harped on ever since they ultimately lost him for nothing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency after the 2023 season. And now, one more what-if from that time has come to light.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Thursday morning that the Rays offered the Halos a package centered around two of their top five prospects at the time according to MLB Pipeline: Junior Caminero, then a 19-year-old in Double-A and now one of the most exciting young sluggers in baseball, and Carson Williams, then a 20-year-old in High A.
Angels front office personnel not able to speak publicly confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that they were in talks with the Rays and Caminero's name was floated around. According to Rosenthal, the Angels would have wanted additional talent, which the Rays were reportedly willing to offer.
Tampa Bay, however, was just one of the teams they had been involved with. According to the staffer, front office brass were all in a room taking calls for Ohtani when they looked over to the TV and saw reports that owner Arte Moreno shut down the possibility of any trade involving the two-way phenom.
If the trade with the Rays had gone through, it could have significantly altered the trajectories for both teams involved. The Angels would've gotten back two young core pieces to place alongside Zach Neto in the infield, and shipping off Ohtani would've likely turned the club into sellers at the 2023 trade deadline, meaning they wouldn't have made the ill-fated moves for Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, CJ Cron, Randal Grichuk and Dominic Leone. The Rays, who had opened that season with 13 straight wins and had World Series aspirations, would've slotted Ohtani into a rotation that already included a healthy Tyler Glasnow, Shane Mclanahan at his peak and Zach Eflin.
As Rosenthal reported though, that trade would've ended up disastrously for Tampa Bay. Mclanahan was lost for the remainder of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on Aug. 2 and shortstop Wander Franco went on the restricted list two weeks later as part of an investigation into his inappropriate relationship with a minor. Ohtani himself — who likely would've been a half-season rental for the small market Rays — tore his right UCL on Aug. 23 and underwent the second major elbow procedure of his career a month later.
The Rays weathered that storm, held onto their top prospects and now find themselves back at the top of the AL East three years later. Caminero has been a huge part of that with his 13 home runs and 27 RBIs on his .865 OPS through 210 plate appearances this season.
The only player in Rays franchise history over the first 48 games of a season to have 13 HR, 20+ walks, and fewer than 40 Ks.
— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) May 21, 2026
The 22-year-old was one of the breakout stars for the Dominican Republic during the World Baseball Classic this spring, but also had a monster 2025 season that flew relatively under the radar to some more casual baseball fans. Going into that year, Caminero said that his goal was to hit 40 home runs. He hit that goal by early August — at Angel Stadium, ironically — and finished in the top five in the American League in both homers and RBIs during his first All-Star campaign.
The Angels, meanwhile, have continued to flounder and own the worst record in the big leagues at 17-33.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 22: San Francisco Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey looks on in the dugout before a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants on April 22, 2026 at Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Hello, Mr. Future Hall of Famer, sir, Mr. Buster Posey Man. I am but a lowly sports blogger doing that thing that bad baseball columnists do and writing you an open letter. Here’s why.
It’s unfathomable that there’s just 17 months or so remaining on your deal to be the Giants’ President of Baseball Operations. It seems like you just got here and it feels too soon to run away from the scene of a potential crime. That three-year deal you signed up for has always felt like hedging at best and at worst the length of a deal, say, The Music Man might’ve signed. Yes, you’ve got trouble! Trouble with a capital T!
I wouldn’t blame you or the rest of ownership and especially Tony Vitello if y’all were having second thoughts about this embarrassing 20-30 situation. That doesn’t mean I think the President of Baseball Operations and his manager hire should be able to walk away after accidentally burning down the house. Oh no. Everyone involved in the fire should be made to smoke the entire pack of cigarettes that led to it. Tony Vitello might just have to lose 300 games before returning to the NCAA and you might have to create even more negative history with the team failing to record a winning season for 5+ seasons.
The state of the major league team might be dire, but that doesn’t mean anyone should be on a hot seat. You shoved aside Farhan Zaidi because you wanted the responsibility of setting the course for the future of the Giants. It was the right call in one respect (Zaidi is no longer in the baseball industry) but with the easy part out of the way, it’s time to see if your vision can survive the harsh elements thrown at you by reality. You took the keys away and now you’ve stalled the engine. It’s time to see if you can recover.
The team is losing. The fans are booing. Industry types have seen the San Francisco Giants and now wonder aloud, “What are they doing?” Yes, the sensationalism has begun, as the Giants — an irrelevant franchise for a decade now — finally has some good grist for the content mill. Not history-defining losing a la the White Sox or Rockies of recent years, but cataclysmically awful performance from an organization that has blithely turned away from some tenets of the modern game like scouting and stats to reimagine itself as a team from your championship days or whatever.
At least, that’s what it looks like from the outside. I’m sure the organization still does scouting reports and provides them to the players, but when I watch the team play, I don’t see much in the way of understanding what the opponent is doing or anticipation of what they might do. It’s true that I could live 10,000 years and still not accumulate .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of the baseball knowledge that you possess, Good Sir, my obvious better in every way imaginable, but as a mouth-breathing consumer of your product, it’s a very dumb team you’ve put together. As in, they play dumb and look dumb while doing so. I doubt that’s your vision! But also, there’s no chance you’re going to turn things around in the next 17 months. It’s not a rebuild, as you suggest, but it’s more of the same that we’ve seen since 2020.
I’ll close with two much stronger points. In your recent KNBR hit, you talked up how much talent there is brewing in the farm system right now, which you hope to add to with the upcoming draft. This is an unassailable fact at the moment and you yourself are the evidence that the Giants have at some point in their San Francisco history been able to draft and develop All-Star talent. You might be the one who breaks the curse of the franchise’s overall track record on that front, however. In the San Francisco era, it really has happened so few times that the farm system has been as reliable as luck. You ought to be around to see those prospects develop and graduate to reap the full reward of your work. That usually doesn’t happen in three years!
You also owe it to yourself to stick around so you can master how to manage a bench and 40-man roster!
Your “we’re in the memory making business” line needn’t be repeated back to you mockingly because it was a great line; but right now, the memory would be that you made a mess and walked away from the business. Why not stick around and setup the Giants to be relevant again in the 2030s?
Rays pitcher Chase Solesky threw his first-ever MLB strike this week, and nobody was more excited to see it than his fiancée, golf influencer Averee Dovsek.
In a video the social media personality shared with her 36,000 Instagram followers on Tuesday, Dovsek could be seen getting emotional as she watched her future husband live out his dream while she was on a work trip in Maryland.
Solesky got into Tampa Bay’s game against the Orioles in the top of the sixth inning, and as broadcasters were going over his pitching resume, Dovsek, who was taking in the action on a TV inside a restaurant, jumped up and down repeatedly with a big smile on her face.
“POV,” she wrote in a caption on the footage. “You are on a work trip in Maryland but your fiancé makes his MLB debut.”
Averee Dovsek and Chase Solesky got engaged in March. Instagram/averee_dovsek
Solesky went three innings, recorded four strikeouts, gave up six hits, walked one and allowed two earned runs. He was awarded his first-career hold after the Rays ultimately locked things up, 16-6,
In the afterglow of the big game, Solesky made time to drop by Dovsek’s comment section to shout her out for all her support.
Chase Solesky went three innings in his MLB debut earlier this week. Getty Images
“I love you more than anything,” he wrote. “I can’t wait to give you the biggest squeeze in the world! I couldn’t do it without you! I cannot wait for you to be my wife!”
The milestone moment was a long time coming for Solesky, who had toiled in the minor leagues since 2019, when the White Sox took him in the 21st round of the MLB draft.
And for Dovsek — who got engaged to Solesky in March — it’s clearly an evening she’ll never forget.
