Yay, the phenom is back!
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Game 107.
The first of three against the Nationals. Tomorrow’s is a 6:45 start time too, then a 1:00 game on Wednesday/
It is Max Scherzer starting for us tonight. And James Wood, taking a few years off acting, leads off for the Nationals. I was trying to think of the best movies I’ve seen with James Wood in. I guess Casino. Maybe Once Upon a Time in America. Or perhaps the small role in Entourage.
I’m still not a fan of Nathan Lukes at the top of the order against a lefty.
Go Jays Go.
Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:Camden Chat
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Keider Montero (7-5, 3.14 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Bradish (7-9, 3.49 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montero | 22 | 106.0 | 18.6 | 5.3 | 40.7 | 3.57 | 2.2 |
| Bradish | 20 | 113.1 | 23.1 | 10.7 | 48.7 | 3.95 | 1.7 |
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In Part One of our Atlantic Division offseason series, we compared the Senators to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Part Two featured the Montreal Canadiens.
Now it's time for another 106-point Atlantic Division heavyweight: the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Unlike Montreal, Tampa made some significant changes after a first-round playoff exit.
Senators Offseason Summary
The Senators' summer to-do list changed dramatically when Brady Tkachuk requested a trade and was eventually sent to Florida for the ninth and 25th picks in the 2026 draft, a 2027 second-rounder and a 2029 first-round pick.
GM Steve Staios then flipped the ninth pick to San Jose for William Eklund and prospects Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda.
Ottawa also acquired Andre Burakovsky and goalie Samuel Ersson, while re-signing Claude Giroux, Nick Cousins, Jordan Spence and Leevi Merilainen.
The biggest question remains whether Eklund and Burakovsky can replace enough of Tkachuk's offence.
Let's compare that with Tampa Bay's offseason.
Lightning Trades: Subtractions
Tampa didn't do much trading, but they did move out two familiar faces.
Pending UFA defenseman Darren Raddysh was dealt to Toronto for a fifth-round pick after a 22-goal, 70-point season. Raddysh's 70-point season in a contract year was so wildly out of step with the rest of his career that the Lightning let him walk in a sign-and-trade with the Leafs.
The Lightning also traded former Senator Nick Paul to Toronto. Paul had become a useful middle-six forward in Tampa, putting up back-to-back 20+ goal seasons, but his production dipped hard last season to 15 points in 51 games. Over a full season, that's a 23-point pace.
Lightning Trades: Additions
There isn't much to see here.
Tampa's only notable player addition by trade was goaltender Dennis Hildeby, acquired from Toronto in the Nick Paul deal. Hildeby posted a .914 save percentage last season and will back up Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Like Ottawa, Tampa wanted better support for its number-one goalie. The Senators brought in Ersson. The Lightning brought in Hildeby.
Lightning Free Agent Signings
The Lightning replaced Raddysh with longtime Washington Capitals veteran John Carlson, who finished last year with Anaheim. The 36-year-old got a two-year contract worth $8.5 million per season, exactly what Raddysh is getting in Toronto.
Like the Senators, who grabbed Burakovsky, Tampa also had some interest in one of Chicago's mid-tier forwards. The Lightning signed UFA Ilya Mikheyev for four years at $3.85 million per season
Tough guy Jeffrey Viel, who split his time between Boston and Anaheim, was signed to a surprising five-year deal worth $2.5 million annually, a move that certainly gives Tampa a little more muscle for the Battle of Florida.
Lightning Free Agent Losses
Oliver Bjorkstrand signed with the New York Rangers, while Corey Perry moved on to Los Angeles.
Verdict 1: Who Had The Better Offseason?
The Lightning lost Raddysh, but they gained Carlson. Carlson is one of the top-scoring D in the game, and he's been that for a lot more than one season. They also lost Paul, Perry and Bjorkstrand, but they gained Hildeby, Mikheyev, and Viel.
The Sens lost Tkachuk, but added Eklund, Burakovsky, and Ersson. They also added some much-needed prospects and draft capital.
Tampa gets the nod, but not by much.
Verdict 2: Who Will Be The Better Team This Season?
Tampa Bay again.
Ottawa finished only seven points behind the Lightning last season, and there's an argument that the Senators' younger core has more room to improve.
Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Shane Pinto, Dylan Cozens and Eklund should still have some of their best hockey ahead of them.
Tampa's core is considerably older, and eventually, that will matter. But people have been waiting for the Lightning to fall off for a while now, and we're not going to predict their decline until they actually show signs of it.
The Lightning still have Nikita Kucherov, who had 130 points and won the Hart Trophy last season. Jake Guentzel scored 38 goals, Brandon Hagel had 36, while Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli remain excellent players.
Victor Hedman anchors the defence, Carlson now joins him, and Vasilevskiy is coming off another Vezina Trophy season. Oh yeah, and Jon Cooper is finally the reigning Coach of the Year.
For now, the Senators are still chasing them.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article first appeared at The Hockey News Ottawa. For full Senators coverage, check out one of The Hockey News headlines below.
Senators Won't Be Replacing Daniel Alfredsson On Their Coaching Staff
A Member Of The Senators 'One-And-Done' Club Announces His Retirement
20 Years Later: Three Moves That May Have Cost The Senators A Stanley Cup
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WASHINGTON – Connelly Early has been a major leaguer for just 10 months, but he’s packed a wild spectrum of emotions into that period.
It started with his big league debut in August 2025 in West Sacramento, his family trekking cross country from Virginia to Yolo County to take it in. Two months later, he started a do-or-die playoff game for the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
Come spring, he survived a monthlong battle and won the fifth starter job for the Red Sox, standing on the baseline for Opening Day in Cincinnati, the club he rooted for as a child. Three months later, he was in orthopedist Keith Meister’s Dallas exam room, wondering whether he’d blown out his prized left elbow.
Finally, Saturday, July 25, his phone rang shortly before 11 p.m., as he was getting ready for bed. Forget how high the Red Sox were on Early, and the years of club control they’d enjoy: Club president Craig Breslow informed Early he’d been traded to the Washington Nationals for slugger Curtis Mead in the first major transaction before the trade deadline.
Monday, he put on jersey No. 19, climbed a bullpen mound at Nationals Park and began a new journey, one that began with Meister confirming it was just inflammation, not ligament damage, around his elbow.
He hopes to commence a rehab assignment next week and, later in August, partake in what few imagined at the start of the season: Help the Nationals in their drive for a playoff spot.
In a trade deadline rarity, Early did not lose much in the standings: Boston’s 15-game winning streak pushed it into what’s now a 2½-game lead for the final wild card spot in the American League. The Nationals, toting the most potent offense in the majors, are tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates just one game out of the National League’s final wild card spot, currently held by Arizona.
So, not much harmed. Yet the gentle dip in the standings is quantifiable; the emotional heft of getting traded from a team that drafted him in the fifth round out of the University of Virginia in 2023 was more challenging to process.
“I feel like baseball brings so much more than the game,” Connelly said Monday. “It brings so many relationships, builds bonds that you can’t really get anywhere else.
“So obviously that’s tough, but I’m excited to be here and build that with these guys around me.”
He leaves behind close ties with fellow lefty starter Payton Tolle, a relationship with pitching coach Andrew Bailey and interim manager Chad Tracy, who also managed him at Class AAA Worcester.
But there’s still a connection in D.C.: First-year Nationals baseball operations chief Paul Toboni came from Boston, where as vice president of amateur scouting he drafted Early. And even traveled to West Sacramento to witness his debut.
This time, Toboni was giving up a prized asset – Mead has 17 homers, an .852 OPS and is expected to destroy left-handed pitching at Fenway Park – to snag Early.
And so shortly after Breslow got off the phone, Toboni was blowing him up.
“Obviously a little bit emotional, coming up with (Boston),” Early said. “But I know T-Bone pretty well and he called me after that, and just super excited to get here and have a couple familiar faces.”
Indeed, Early grew up in the Richmond area, a little more than two hours from Nationals Park, and he has relatives in nearby Ashburn. He’d been to a handful of Nationals games as a kid, but, in one of those inexplicable-little-kid moments, took a shine to Joey Votto and Aroldis Chapman and thus rooted for the Reds growing up.
A decade later, Early was sharing the Red Sox clubhouse with Chapman, now the all-time leader in strikeouts for a reliever.
“You don’t get to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff,” Early said of Chapman. “You just see 100 mph on the board. You wonder how he gets to that point, and then you watch him go about his work and you know why.”
Early is just beginning his journey. He struck out 29 in 19⅓ innings of his debut year, then, with Boston’s rotation facing injury, drew a difficult assignment: Game 3, AL wild-card series against the Yankees and rookie Cam Schlittler.
Early did not survive that buzzsaw – he gave up three earned runs in 3⅔ innings while Schlittler famously struck out 12 over eight shutout innings. Yet he was road-tested by the time spring came around, and posted a 3.44 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 91⅔ innings of 17 starts this year before his elbow barked. Oddly enough, the injury came after he threw four innings of three-hit, shutout ball against Washington at Fenway Park.
Now, the Nationals hope he’s their rotation fixture. The trade nicely balanced both clubs’ needs, although a winner or loser may eventually emerge.
Early plans to remain unbothered. It is an ethos that’s already served him well over this wild year of a major league indoctrination.
“I just go out there and compete every single time. I love playing baseball,” Early said. “There’s a lot of people who think about results. I’m just out there enjoying it.
“In this job, everybody’s put under a microscope. So the more you can make it fun, the better it’s going to be.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: First big deal of MLB trade deadline capped wild year for Connelly Early
Initially, when Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger got hurt on Saturday, it was believed that the injury was not overly serious. Dealing with a hamstring strain, the All-Star and former NL MVP was even seen doing some light jogging in left field on Sunday before the series finale in Philadelphia.
Well, perhaps he shouldn’t have done that, at least not yet. Results of tests performed on Bellinger’s left hamstring came on Monday, and it was revealed that he is dealing with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. As a result, he is expected to be sidelined for 4-to-6 weeks.
Losing Bellinger represents yet another blow to an offense that is already missing Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. The outfielder is hitting .259/.350/.420 with 11 home runs, 10 stolen bases, a 119 wRC+ and 3.0 fWAR in 2026, his second season in pinstripes.
With Bellinger out of action for the time being, Spencer Jones is expected to take on a significant role with the Yankees, with utility option Max Schuemann also seeing some time against southpaws. The team, however, needs to go to the trade market and bring in a relevant bat.
We are not talking about just a catcher to share time with Austin Wells, no. We are talking about how the Yankees need to go out and acquire a productive outfielder to avoid falling too far down in the race for the AL East. Judge and Stanton aren’t particularly close to making it back, and every single game counts.
Bellinger spent much of the summer struggling to put up good numbers, but was starting to heat up, and the injury interrupts a nice little stretch he enjoyed from July 9-25. Over that span, the sweet-swinging lefty slashed a cool .372/.438/.465 with four doubles, six runs, three RBI, and a 161 wRC+.
Yesterday, 24-year old pitching wiz Jacob Misiorowski continued his dominate 2026 with a 12-strikeout, 1-hit performance across 5 innings against the lowly Colorado Rockies in Milwaukee. It was his ninth double digit strikeout performance of the season (in 20 starts), and it sparked another tranche of eye-popping posts from Sarah Langs about this velocity demon:
The Giants, the loser cousins of the Rockies, will not face Jacob Misiorowski in this series, thankfully. Indeed, they’ve managed to miss him these past two seasons. But, they’ll be facing a team that’s won 7 of 9 and is 50-25 since May 1st. Remarkably, the Giants split a 4-game series in Milwaukee at the beginning of June. Seems hard to remember 19 wins ago, but remarkably, the Giants are 19-23 since that series or 21-23 since the start of that split.
Hard to believe! Does that mean the Giants have Figured Things Out? No!
The Brewers are a great team that ought to clobber them. The only forseeable problem with that plan is the state of Milwaukee’s rotation after Misiorowski. Kyle Harrison is on the 15-day IL. Brandon Woodruff is on the 60-day IL. That leaves Mis, Brandon Sproat, Shane Drohan, Logan Henderson, and Robert Gasser as the rotation, a group that could clearly use an upgrade as the trade deadline approaches. Harrison (2.2 fWAR) is the second-most valuable pitcher after Misiorowski (4.8) and Woodruff was on his way to a good season before being lost for the season (1.2 fWAR in 45.1 IP). He and Harrison’s 3.4 fWAR is on par with the collective value of the current non-Mis group, just to put it in perspective.
Well, actually… despite those injuries, Milwaukee’s 17.1 fWAR makes them the most valuable pitching staff in the sport. 4.7 fWAR of that is coming just from the relief corps (3.47 ERA / 3.67 FIP in 410 IP, 9.2 K/9, 0.88 HR/9). The Giants’ bullpen, remarkably, is not the worst in the sport — yet. Their -0.1 fWAR is 25th, basically tied with the A’s, and both ahead of the Cubs, Reds, Nationals, and Royals.
Their top five hitters: Santa Rosa’s own Andrew Vaughn (141 wRC+), Jake Bauers (135), Gary Sanchez (128), Brice Turang (127) and Garrett Mitchell (124). Remarkably, the bigger names aren’t contributing at the same level, with Jackson Chourio a “mere” 120 wRC+. Cooper Pratt, who was recently signed to an historic extension, is at 114. William Contreras and Christian Yelich are right around 100 wRC+. They’re still a fine hitting group. Their team 105 wRC+ is 6th in MLB (they’re also 5th in runs scored). They also walk a lot (10.6 BB% — 2nd) and steal bases (104 — 5th).
What’s really funny about this comparison is that the Giants have had a great offense since June 1st (107 wRC+), but the Brewers have been even better (119) — and as good as the stats have been, the Giants have scrounged up just 204 runs (23rd), just barely ahead of the Angels.
So, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the baseball, I guess.
Who: San Francisco Giants (44-61) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (66-39)
Where: Oracle Park | San Francisco, California
When: Monday & Tuesday at 6:45pm PT, Wednesday at 12:45pm PT
National broadcasts: None
Projected starters
Monday: Tyler Mahle (RHP 2-9, 5.31 ERA) vs. Brandon Sproat (RHP 3-5, 5.09 ERA)
Tuesday: Landen Roupp (RHP 7-8, 3.93 ERA) vs. Logan Henderson (RHP 4-1, 3.05 ERA)
Wednesday: Logan Webb (RHP 5-7, 3.98 ERA) vs. Shane Drohan (LHP 5-4, 3.51 ERA)
Luis Rengifo: Since acquiring him from the Padres, he’s 13-for-30 with a pair of homers, a double, 7 RBI, and 3 walks against 6 strikeouts. Possible switch-hitting menace here.
Logan Webb: So, what’s going on here? Is he really cooked, washed, and/or chopped? My confidence in such declarations has increased as the season has gone along, but just looking at his Statcast data, the problems become a bit more clear:
He’s 5-0 (8 starts) with a 1.79 ERA in his career against the Brewers.
I like the Giants’ chances of winning a game and maybe even the series given the lack of Misiorowski in this series and I wonder what a single loss, let alone a series loss, might do to Milwaukee’s front office… become so embarrassed that they trade for Tarik Skubal or Hunter Greene (somehow)?
After a massive series win this weekend, the Nats kick off another series against the Blue Jays. Last season’s AL pennant winners have not had a great season, and are likely to sell at the deadline. However, the Jays still have plenty of firepower. The Nats also welcome back the greatest pitcher in franchise history in Max Scherzer.
With a righty on the mound, the Nats lineup looks pretty different. Luis Garcia Jr. goes back to the 2 spot in the lineup. Jose Tena, Daylen Lile, Keibert Ruiz and Jorbit Vivas are also back in the fold. Dylan Crews is the only true right handed hitter in the lineup. Eddy Yean will open for Andrew Alvarez in this contest.
The Jays have a lot of big names in the lineup, but many of them are underperforming. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the most notable example, with the slugger only having six homers this season. George Springer, Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk are also struggling to replicate what they did last year. At least Kazuma Okamoto has provided some thump for them. Max Scherzer returns from the IL to make a start on his 42nd birthday in what could be his last start at Nationals Park.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Nationals Park
Time: 6:45 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
This could be the last time we see Mad Max in action at Nationals Park. Hopefully the future Hall of Famer gets a warm reception. However, this offense will not be going easy on the veteran. This is another huge series in a playoff push. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
The Cincinnati Reds return to Great American Ball Park on Monday fresh off a sucucessful road trip, and now they’ll send ace Chase Burns to the mound for the series opener against the Cleveland Guardians.
They’re riding a pretty good high right now, something that the Baseball Gods saw fit to wreck with the news that Spencer Steer tore a sheath in his wrist and will be out indefinitely – including through the trade deadline. So, now they don’t even have their most coveted trade chip to cash-in on in the next week even if things go sideways enough to start ripping things completely apart, which complicates the job facing the front office as this club is still mired in last place in the Central.
The Reds are, though, just 5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot, and they could climb higher in that list if Burns shows up tonight and dominates the way we know he can. They’re up against a Cleveland club that has fallen completely on its face to begin the second half, fresh off five consecutive losses and just 3-7 overall since the All Star break. Because the AL as a whole this year is about as garbage below the top as it has been in years, they still hold a 1 game lead over Minnesota for the final AL Wild Card spot, but this is a team fighting for its life just like the Reds are with just a week to go before the deadline.
Slade Cecconi will start for Cleveland, who welcomed back Jose Ramirez last week after a five-week absence just in time to revv up to face Cincinnati pitching.
First pitch is slated for 7:00 PM ET, with this one being broadcast directly by ESPN.
Here’s how both clubs will line up to start:
A.J. Ewing – RF
Francisco Lindor – SS
Bo Bichette – 3B
Luis Robert – CF
Francisco Alvarez – DH
Jared Young – 1B
Tyrone Taylor – LF
Marcus Semien – 2B
Luis Torrens – C
SP: Zac Thornton – LHP
Ronald Acuna – RF
Drake Baldwin – DH
Matt Olson – 1B
Ozzie Albies – 2B
Michael Harris – CF
Mauricio Dubon – LF
Austin Riley – 3B
Joey Bart – C
Jim Jarvis – SS
SP: Martin Perez – LHP
First pitch: 7:10 PM ET
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
Jackson Holliday will bat sixth and play shortstop tonight as the Orioles look to get back in the win column against Detroit. Gunnar Henderson will bat third and serve as the designated hitter.
Coby Mayo will get the start at third base against right-handed pitcher Keider Montero, and Jeremiah Jackson will play second. Leadoff hitter Dylan Beavers, Leody Taveras and Taylor Ward will handle the outfield duties. Pete Alonso will bat second and play first base.
Chadwick Tromp will bat ninth and catch Kyle Bradish. The Orioles made a move to shake up their catching situation by recalling recent waiver claim Yohel Pozo and designating Sam Huff for assignment, but Tromp will still get the start tonight.
Bradish will look to play stopper after the Orioles dropped two winnable games over the weekend. Bradish recently received a five-year, $90 million extension, and Baltimore will look to the righty to help steady the ship this evening.
The Orioles will enter the series four games below .500 and 2.5 games back of the final wild card position. Baltimore (51-55) currently holds a one-game advantage over Detroit (50-56) in the race for the final spot.
Orioles lineup
Starter: RHP Kyle Bradish
Welcome to Pounding the Rock’s 2025-26 player reviews! The series will look at the players who finished the season with the San Antonio Spurs on guaranteed contracts and who played consequential minutes and/or a vital role (so no two-way players because we hardly saw them this year, no players who were traded away, and none of the deep bench centers, since they were both irrelevant and are now all gone).
There’s not much that can be asked about journeymen on minimum contracts. They are simply expected to suit up when needed, likely due to injury to a rotation player, and mostly blend in, helping when possible but mostly just not hurting the team too much.
The Silver and Black, who couldn’t find a veteran big who could live up to those modest expectations, mostly got that from their fourth-string point guard. Jordan McLaughlin only played a total of 282 minutes in the regular season, fewer than Jeremy Sochan, as a comparison point, spread over 44 games, so it’s hard to consider him an impact player. The good news is that he didn’t try to be one when his number was called, even in his handful of playoff minutes.
At this point, McLaughlin knows that the reason he’s still in the league is that he plays within himself. The veteran guard took decent care of the ball, played disruptive defense, and was happy to pass to a more talented creator while spotting up from beyond the arc. He brought the same level of professionalism in garbage time as he did in the Conference Finals, which is what you want from your 11th guy.
Delving into the numbers from someone who played so little and so often in low-leverage situations isn’t really helpful, so any judgement of McLaughlin has to rely on the eye test, which is kind to him. As a break-in-case-of-emergency ball handler and veteran stabilizer, he looked the part. He never impressed, but he rarely looked out of place or helpless when he was on the floor, as others in the deep bench did.
While McLaughlin was fine in his role last season, he benefits from the comparison to the horrendous platoon of veteran centers and an underwhelming Lindy Waters III, who showed some intriguing flashes but couldn’t crack the rotation. The expectations from everyone on the periphery of the roster were low, so McLaughlin meeting them doesn’t feel like a significant achievement.
There was a case to be made for a change in the fourth guard spot heading into 2026/27. Knowing what you are going to get from someone can be comforting, and the still youngish and supremely talented Spurs need veterans who will be fine with little to no minutes, but taking the long view, finding someone with more oomph to their game than McLaughlin might have been a good idea. After all, at some point the logjam at point guard will eventually disappear as a result of the increasing cost of the roster, and San Antonio will need actual production from a backup.
For now, though, McLaughlin (and the two-way guards) will do. The vet won’t complain about the many, many games in which he won’t get to see the floor and hopefully will continue to hit open threes to complement his solid floor game and tenacious defense.
If this is, as it probably should be, J-Mack’s last season in San Antonio, he has the opportunity to leave a good impression just by being ordinary instead of a liability in the few minutes he gets, which seems like something he should be able to accomplish.
6 points, 1 assist in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against OKC. McLaughlin got few but important minutes in De’Aaron Fox’s absence and did well enough under the bright lights.
Next up: Carter Bryant
LeBron James’ move to Philadelphia may have been billed as his “last decision,” but one small detail buried inside his new two-year, $8 million contract with the 76ers leaves the door open for an unexpected plot twist.
Unlike his contracts with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers, James’ new deal with the Sixers does not include a no-trade clause because under NBA rules it legally couldn’t.
James wasn’t eligible for a no-trade clause because players must have at least eight years of NBA service and four consecutive seasons with the team they are signing a contract with. James will embark upon a record-breaking 24th season this fall, making the former part of the rules not a problem, but because he has never played with the Sixers before, the latter was the issue. Had James re-signed with the Lakers he would have been eligible for a full no-trade clause.
James was able to negotiate a player option for the second year of the contract, and added a 15% trade kicker, which guarantees James a 15% bonus on the remaining guaranteed salary should he be dealt during the first year of the contract. With the veteran minimum salary James is making, that should not deter any team from wanting to acquire him.
Without James’ power to veto a trade, Philadelphia retains the right to trade the four-time NBA Champion should their season go sideways.
Realistically, the Sixers trading LeBron is a long shot. At just under $4 million dollars this season, James is the biggest bargain in professional sports. His value off the floor in ticket sales, television ratings, jersey sales, merchandise, and sponsorships will far exceed his salary. Even if his production on the court falls off a cliff, he’s still worth more to the Sixers than almost any other player in NBA history making the veteran minimum.
Still, Philadelphia’s fan base has a history of turning on their stars quickly. If injuries or dysfunction derail the Sixers season, and they suddenly find themselves staring at the lottery instead of the playoffs come the All-Star break, then James’ contract gives them an escape hatch.
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) July 27, 2026
There’s a precedent as well. Many teams have hit the eject button on their experiments with “untouchable” stars. The Golden State Warriors traded D’Angelo Russell just 33 games after signing him to a four-year contract. The Brooklyn Nets dismantled the Kevin Durant-James Harden-Kyrie Irving experiment faster than you’d remove a bandage. Even the Lakers moved on from their Russell Westbrook experiment after one year.
LeBron says this is his final chapter and it most likely is, but without a no-trade clause, the ending isn’t entirely his to write.
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The Houston Astros have signed 20 members of their 2026 MLB Draft class, along with three non-drafted free agents. The highest pick to sign today was second-round pick LHP Wes Mendes from Florida State University. The announcement was made by Astros Director of Amateur Scouting Cam Pendino.
The Astros three non-drafted free agents are RHP John Carver from Adelphi University, RHP Carson Estridge from West Virginia University and IF Drew Wyers from Mississippi State University. Carver was the 2026 Northeast 10 Pitcher of the Year after he recorded a 2.67 ERA (17ER/57.1IP) with 92 strikeouts and a .186 opponent batting average in 10 starts. Estridge was a 2026 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection after finishing the season with a 3.09 ERA (12ER/35IP) and 34 strikeouts in 22 relief appearances. In 2026, Wyers batted .333 (20×60) with two doubles, four home runs, 16 RBI and a 1.020 OPS in 33 games.
Astros signings from their 2026 MLB Draft are listed below.
Rnd (#) Player Pos. B-T Ht./Wt. DOB Age School
1 (17) Logan Hughes OF L/L 5-11/197 4/27/05 21 Texas Tech
PPI (28) Jack Radel RHP R/R 6-5/250 09/14/04 21 Notre Dame
2 (57) Wes Mendes LHP R/L 6-1/198 10/04/04 21 Florida State
3 (93) Keon Johnson SS R/R 6-2/203 3/07/08 18 First Presbyterian HS (GA)
4 (121) Kam Durnin SS R/R 6-1/200 08/05/04 21 Missouri
4C (133) Beau Peterson IF L/R 6-3/195 08/03/07 18 Mill Valley HS (KS)
5 (153) Gavin Eddy RHP R/R 6-5/225 09/22/04 21 California
6 (182) Michael Addari RHP R/R 6-6/225 06/01/04 22 Illinois State
7 (211) Bryan Carney RHP R/R 6-6/210 01/12/04 22 University of Olivet (MI)
8 (241) Aaron Piasecki SS L/R 5-10/187 11/03/03 22 Troy
9 (271) Ryan Pruitt OF L/L 5-11/185 10/19/03 22 South Florida
10 (301) Tazwell Butler RHP R/R 5-11/210 06/24/03 23 Kansas State
11 (331) Peyton Fiene RHP R/R 6-2/190 10/22/05 20 Odessa JC (TX)
12 (361) Owen Nowak OF L/L 6-1/200 06/13/05 21 Middle Tennessee State
14 (421) Brady Thomas RHP R/R 6-6/220 12/27/03 22 Jacksonville State (AL)
16 (481) Rashawn Galloway C R/R 6-0/193 09/04/03 22 Texas State
17 (511) Ben Tryon IF L/R 6-1/210 09/28/04 21 Dallas Baptist
18 (541) Petey Soto Jr. SS R/R 5-10/175 04/27/05 21 Utah Tech
19 (571) Noah Miller C R/R 6-0/200 09/11/04 21 Michigan
20 (601) Mick Uebelhor RHP L/R 6-3/210 11/24/04 21 Western Kentucky
NDFA John Carver RHP R/R 6-3/210 10/06/03 22 Adelphi University (NY)
NDFA Carson Estridge RHP L/R 6-7/210 11/17/03 22 West Virginia
NDFA Drew Wyers IF R/R 6-2/200 06/15/03 23 Mississippi State
And so the Diamondbacks start their Most Crucial Season of the Series (TM, Clickbait Enterprises). Seem to have been hearing that phrase a lot lately. Certainly, for the first series after the All-Star break against the Cardinals, and then again, over the weekend in Washington. Arizona won one series and lost the other. And, guess what? Nothing much changed. Sure, we’d like to have beaten the Nationals. But considering Mitch Bratt and Kohl Drake had four (4) major-league starts between them going into Washington, and neither were expected to be part of our rotation this year, I can’t say I am exactly shocked by the outcome.
Consequently, the D-backs go into Pittsburgh with the front of their rotation ready to do battle. Or so you’d perhaps think. Though if you were looking only at the results since the break, the optics would be rather different from the first half. Each starter has appeared twice, and the worst ERA belongs to… first-half MVP, Eduardo Rodriguez, at 7.27. Small sample size applies, obviously: he has only thrown 8.2 innings, but that is also the fewest in the rotation, two turns through in the second half. While regression was expected, if E-Rod ends up pitching like the 2024-25 version in the second half of the year, it’s going to make things tough for Arizona.
Cross that when we come to it on Wednesday though. Today, it’s Merrill Kelly, who has had the best ERA post-break, at 2.70. However, his FIP is more than twice that figure at 5.41, in part because the strikeouts he got in his last couple of first-half outings have evaporated. His two starts since have been curiously similar. Each outing has been for five innings, seen Merrill throw exactly 87 pitches, allow six base-runners, one home-run (a solo shot), and get three strikeouts. Guess we know what to expect from him today. As long as the result is more like the A’s game (15-5 win) than the Cardinals (4-5 loss), I’ll be fine with that.
