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The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies kick off the second half of the season tonight, and I've found value in the MLB player props. 

Tonight's Mets vs. Phillies props include J.T. Realmuto, Juan Soto, and Bryson Stott. 

Read more in our Mets vs. Phillies predictions and MLB picks for Thursday, July 16. 

Mets vs Phillies props for July 16

Pick	Odds
J.T. Realmuto Over 1.5 total bases	+155
Juan Soto to hit a home run	+220
Bryson Stott Over 0.5 singles	-120

Mets vs Phillies player prop picks

J.T. Realmuto Over 1.5 total bases (+155)

J.T. Realmuto may be hitting just .250 over his last six games, but he's showcasing gap-to-gap power. The catcher has a .250 ISO during that span, and a 42.9% hard-hit rate.

Realmuto has cashed the Over in total bases in three of his last four contests, and he has multi-base hits in back-to-back games.

New York Mets starter Christian Scott has a 4.90 FIP over the last month, and he's allowed a 46.7% hard-hit rate over his last three outings. He's also given up 2.03 HR/9 over that span. 

I'll play this pick up to +100. 

Juan Soto to hit a home run (+220)

I don't like to lean into the matchup too much, but it's hard to ignore here.

Juan Soto has faced Aaron Nola 45 times and recorded 12 hits. Five of those hits have been home runs, so he's consistently shown power against Nola. 

The right-hander is also struggling to limit the long ball. Over the last month, Nola has allowed 2.61 HR/9 while posting a 5.65 FIP. 

Soto owns a .302 ISO over the last two weeks, and he's gone deep four times in his last 13 games while posting an impressive 16.7% barrel rate. If Nola continues to make mistakes, Soto could very well punish him. 

I'll play this pick up to +200. 

Bryson Stott Over 0.5 singles (-120)

Bryson Stott is a base-knock type of hitter, and he was finding a rhythm before the All-Star break. The infielder has four hits across his last two games, and three of those were singles.

Stott has a .291 xBA across his previous seven games, and again, Scott has been vulnerable to hard contact lately. His primary offering is the four-seamer, and Stott owns a 46.9% hard-hit rate against the fastball this season. 

I'll play this pick up to -140. 

How to watch Mets vs Phillies and game info

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Welcome back, folks! Here's to the second half of the MLB season, which kicks off with Aaron Nola taking on Christian Scott in Philly tonight.

Let's dive into my Mets vs. Phillies predictions and MLB picks for tonight's action. 

Who will win Mets vs Phillies today: Mets moneyline (+118)

Despite the first game back from the All-Star break being in the City of Brotherly Love, I think this is a letdown spot for the Philadelphia Phillies. Especially with Aaron Nola on the mound, as he owns a 6.61 ERA over his last three outings.

Meanwhile, New York Mets right-hander Christian Scott has been more than serviceable over his last three starts, posting a 3.38 ERA, 4.14 xERA and 1.13 WHIP. Before the break, the Mets were on a tear, sporting a 117 wRC+, .334 wOBA, .172 ISO, and .757 OPS over their previous 12 games. 

With all the theatrics and hype around the city over the last few days, this feels like a prime letdown spot for the Phillies. Pair that with the way Nola has been pitching lately, and the Mets should be in a great position to feast.

COVERS INTEL: The Phillies have managed just a 93 wRC+, .135 ISO, and .684 OPS over their last 12 games.

Mets vs Phillies Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (-103)

With how poorly Nola has pitched this season and how hot the Mets offense was heading into the break, I want to be on the over.

Batters-Box projects six combined elite-rated bats and three more with strong ratings. Scott owns a poor rating in the default settings, while Nola carries a poor rating in the current season dataset. Both pitchers also grade out poorly in matchup hard contact, wOBA, and ISO.

I think most of the damage comes from the Mets, but Scott is due to give up a few runs as well.

Mets vs Phillies weather

This evening in Philadelphia should be a scorcher, with temperatures around 93 degrees at first pitch and winds blowing out to left field at 11 mph. There's a 28% chance of precipitation, but the game should be just fine.

The heat should definitely give the long ball a boost tonight.

Mets vs Phillies odds

• Moneyline: Mets (+120) | Phillies (-122)
• Run line: Mets +1.5 (-160) | Phillies -1.5 (+156)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (-102) | Under 9.5 (-100)

Mets vs Phillies trend

The Mets have covered the run line in nine of their last 16 games for +2.85 units and a 15% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Mets vs. Phillies.

How to watch Mets vs Phillies and game info

Mets vs Phillies latest injuries

Mets: Luis Robert (Out), Marcus Semien (Out). 
Phillies: No key injuries to report.

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If the A’s have a terrific second half reversing all bad trends, we will be able to look at this “unauthorized coaching” article as the springboard that vaulted the team back to relevancy. Obviously, if the team continues to sputter it’s not my fault — who reads junk on the internet anyway?

The All-Star break offers a natural “reset” and no team could use one more than the A’s, who limped, tripped, and plunged into a well even Lassie couldn’t help with, dropping 9 in a row and 17 of 20 to achieve the impossible: falling off the radar in the AL West.

Hopefully, Zack Gelof’s and Nick Kurtz’ IL stints will be minimal and soon the A’s will be at least near full strength again in terms of their roster. But how to squeeze more out of a roster that struggled to hit (on the road), pitch (at home), and led for 6 pitches on the last 6 game road trip.

Here’s some of how (if you know these folks feel free to pass these pearls along)…

Henry Bolte

For whatever reason, possibly involving head movement and/or swinging too much with the top half and not properly aligning the bottom half, most every time Bolte pulls the ball it’s on the ground. This worked fine for a while as he beat out a bevy of weak bouncers and some of the harder ones got through the infield, but it is not a sustainable profile.

This was shown in the slump Bolte took into the All-Star break, 6 for his last 50 with just one extra base hit (a HR). That a .120 BA and .180 SLG.

The solution: Even if he can’t adjust your mechanics easily mid-season, simply a change in approach can allow Bolte to return to being an offensive force in the 2nd half. During his epic 12 for 12 XBH-a-palooza at AAA just before being called up, Bolte was rifling balls to RF and right-center. This has always been, and continues to be, his best swing.

Pitchers are exploiting Bolte’s desire to “turn on pitches” by running a lot of fastballs in on the hands and Bolte is responding by chopping a lot of weak ground balls to 3B and SS. Sliders and changeups away, unless hung, have never been good pitches to try to pull.

Bolte should embrace his strength and think “right-center”. This will have many positive repercussions all at once. One is that he will naturally become less interested in pitches that are in off the plate, curing him of one way pitchers are getting him out a lot lately. Another is that an off-field swing/approach allows hitters to see pitches that fraction of a second longer, resulting in generally better swing decisions. A third is that it plays to Bolte’s inherent strength rather than trying, in real time, to master a part of his game that does not come easily.

The beauty is that when you focus on your strength and it results in a lot of hard contact, more slugging, increased success, not only is it a confidence booster but pitchers lose a “way to get you out” and are forced to throw more strikes to the inner half (if you are routinely mashing strikes on the outer half). And with that increased confidence, perhaps without being so self-conscious or effortful about it, you might turn on some inside fastballs or spin left up and hit the line drives and fly balls to LF that are so hard to produce now.

If Bolte emphasizes a “right center field first” approach he will be in company with some truly great hitters, such as Miguel Cabrera, Edgar Martinez, and Michael Young. And it doesn’t have to be forever, but it absolutely should be for right now.

Jacob Wilson

I’ve made much of this in game thread comments but it warrants its own paragraph here. Wilson suffers for his own ability and confidence: he is sure he can “get to” any pitch and he has a gift for sometimes turning pitches off the outside corner or down at the ankles into base hits.

The problem is, just because you can hit a pitch doesn’t mean you are well served to put it in play. The reality is that Wilson has, many many times, been gotten out (or you could say gotten himself out) on two pitches: well in off the plate and very high out outside. These are pitches that when you do put them in play, it’s going to be a pop-up or a lazy fly ball.

My belief is this: yes, Wilson can be a decent hitter swinging at a lot of junk. He has a unique gift that might allow him to hit .280 with this flawed approach. Trouble is, as a .280 hitter Wilson’s value is compromised since he rarely walks and his slugging is not especially high. A .280/.320/.400 hitter is ok but not special.

The solution: My other belief is that if Wilson will just commit to an approach of “hunting strikes” he can hit .320, which in this day and age is elite. He has even demonstrated that for long stretches (2-3 months) he is capable of hitting at that level. Bump his BA .040 and suddenly we’re talking about a .320/.360/.440 hitter who plays a solid SS. Now that’s the player the A’s signed to an extension.

Jacob, we know you can hit a lot of bad balls and even poke some of them for hits. But if you truly “hunt strikes” and commit to trying to lay off pitches you can hit but are balls, you can be the player who earned the All-Star starting gig just one year ago.

Shea Langeliers, Tyler Soderstrom

Both Langeliers and Soderstrom have had excellent stretches this season and bad stretches. For Soderstrom he struggled mightily early before turning it on lately, and Langeliers has been in a funk since an incredible April. Both are essential cogs in the A’s hopes of having a plus lineup with depth and ample power. But neither has been as consistent as you would want.

The solution: Stop guessing, start reacting. Soderstrom and Langeliers share that too many times that are caught looking for a pitch and either looking foolish swinging at what they’re not being thrown or, just as often, watching a called third strike they could have mashed if only they had known it was coming.

To my eyes, both hitters are at their best when they simply react to each pitch as best they can and are at their worst when they anticipate one pitch only to be vulnerable if and when they guess wrong. Most recently we saw this in action during the White Sox series that was so forgettable for Langeliers, culminating in a critical at bat (runner at 3B, one out, 1-0 in the 8th) when looking fastball Shea was frozen by a curve center cut that he wasn’t looking for, then tried to swing at a fastball that turned out to be a chase slider. Resolving not to swing at another chase slider, Langeliers stepped back in…and watched a belt fastball that caught a lot of the plate.

These two hitters will take off if they get back to basics, a version of “see ball, hit ball”. Just react so that every belt high curve, every elevated slider or changeup, every fastball in your happy zone, gets properly punished. Of course you won’t recognize correctly every pitch, so you’re going to wave at some sliders in the dirt or get way out of in front of some changeups, but overall you will be much better off and so will the A’s.

Basic Hitting Strategies

There is one tendency that drives me crazy, because even as I watch game after game for decades I still don’t get it. It’s the compulsion to swing at high fastballs well above the top of the strike zone.

The solution: There is a very basic principle that can prevent hitters from falling into this trap. It’s a “truth” that should be ingrained in every hitter: if you have to raise your hands significantly to swing, you’re not swinging at a strike. This was actually taught to me years and years ago by the great Cal baseball head coach, Bob Milano.

He was right. The moment you feel yourself start to raise your hands, you are about to swing at a ball. That’s because every hitter’s hands set up no lower than the top of the strike zone, certainly at the point where they are actually swinging. So don’t raise your hands to go after a pitch and you have stopped swinging at a key chase pitch: the high fastball out of the zone.

Put Players In The Best Position To Succeed

Ideally, every player should be able to thrive under any conditions, but in reality this is just not the case. Recently the A’s have walked into some unnecessary trouble, giving Jeffrey Springs not one but two starts on a 6-game homestand in Summerlin, and last week moving JT Ginn up while he was battling a 2-week illness to both start and finish the 6-game road trip.

Opportunities to shuffle personnel in their best interests don’t always present themselves, but here’s an easy example in front of Mark Kotsay and his wacky coaching crew. The A’s have a brief 3-game homestand coming out of the All-Star break, a 4-day hiatus that allows teams to reshuffle their rotations as they please.

The SP you clearly want to minimize starts at Sutter Health Park is the lone remaining veteran, Springs. Starting Springs against the Nationals over the weekend would be yet again asking for trouble, whereas the rotation is so flexible at this moment that Springs could easily be penciled into the #4 spot opening the road trip to Arizona, a hitter’s ballpark but nothing like West Sacramento where Springs has an unsightly 6.79 with 16 HR in 54.1 IP.

The solution: So here’s one easy move the A’s could make coming out of the ASB: Let 3 of the young guns, e.g., Jump, Perkins, and Ginn, get the ball for the 3 home games and then trot Springs out there against the Diamondbacks — and focus on fastballs down and away. Why? Because one thing about that pitch and location is it rarely gets hit out of the ballpark. And lord knows that should be the first, second, and third emphasis for Springs, who leads the planet in HRs allowed.

Leave it to the A’s to wait until it’s too late to make necessary changes and then start playing good baseball. But better late than never and in the mediocre AL West, a suburb of the mediocre AL, string a few wins together and as the Red Sox can tell you, you never know when you might even find yourself being relevant again.

Go do all these things, A’s, and godspeed to you. If you can lose 9 in a row then you can win 9 in a row, and I highly recommend it. Let’s face it: if the team only loses 55 games this season, it’s probably going to be a fun ride after all.

The 2026 MLB season resumes later today.

That means we’ve got a bit less than half a season remaining, plus the postseason, until the collective bargaining agreement between MLB owners and players expires Dec. 1 and we will almost certainly experience another lockout by owners at that time.

What happens after that is really anyone’s guess. The game is at a high point in popularity and talent and almost everyone agrees that interrupting that with a season of missed games would be a bad thing. And yet, we could be headed that way.

Here’s where players and owners stood as we hit the All-Star break, per this article by Evan Drellich in The Athletic.

Owners:

“I do know this: I think that I have an ownership group that is more united than any group in my entire time in baseball,” said Manfred, who started working with MLB as outside counsel in the late 1980s. “I think they are a group that believes in what I have been arguing for, and that is listening to our fans, trying to make changes to produce the best possible game that we can produce.”

Those changes, of course, are primarily connected to a salary cap, which owners have been trying to impose on players for nearly half a century. It’s what killed a third of the 1981 season and what killed the 1994 postseason. And they’re still at it. Commissioner Rob Manfred’s statement hints that fans want a salary cap, which… well, it’s true if you listen to carefully curated fan polls which had questions carefully crafted to the owners’ benefit. Which should not surprise you.

Players:

“Our union, the MLBPA, has been the most successful of the unions in professional sports,” said interim union head Bruce Meyer, who, like Manfred, spoke to members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday prior to the All-Star Game. “The other unions look to the MLBPA. I sometimes get asked about a salary cap, ‘Why does baseball not have one? Why is it the only one that doesn’t have one?’ The answer is very simple. It’s because our union has been the strongest.”

This is also true. I don’t think I have ever seen the MLBPA as united as it is right now against a salary cap. The cap isn’t designed to have a more “level playing field,” as owners claim. It’s designed to keep more of baseball’s $12 billion annual revenues in the hands of owners.

Players are the game. They are the ones who provide entertainment, thrills and the loyalty we feel as fans of a particular team, in our case, the Cubs. They should get paid commensurate with that. No one goes to a baseball game, or watches one on TV, to see owners own teams.

In fact, players were just as unified five years ago, when the last negotiations took place:

“What I think gets forgotten is — and I know the league leaves this part out — is that we started negotiating in April or May (2021),” Meyer said. “In our view, we didn’t get serious proposals from the league until February (2022). At the end of the day, in February, they started making real moves.

“At one point, they said … ‘We are going to miss games. That’s it.’ At that point, our players unanimously, the entire executive board, all 38, said that deal is not good enough.

“The league went back and they made their offer better. And again, they said, ‘All right, this time we mean it. If you don’t agree, then we’re going to miss games. That’s it. It’s too late.’ Again our players, and again unanimously — all 38 — rejected it.”

The third time, the owners’ offer had grown sufficiently, in Meyer’s view. He also said he did not recommend turning down the deal that turned into the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement that’s about to expire.

“My point is, the players were completely unified and willing to miss games up until the point where the league finally put enough on the table,” Meyer said. “Some of the narrative leaves out the two steps before that, where all 38 were unanimous in saying, we are willing to miss games unless you make the deal better.

The same thing is happening now. As I wrote here two months ago, players and owners had already begun exchanging proposals in around the same time frame they did in 2021. As is often the case for negotiations like this, none of the early proposals from either side is likely to be adopted. A lot of early bargaining in these cases is posturing. As many of you know, I was a TV director and a member of the Directors Guild of America. I once sat in on a negotiating session between DGA representatives and reps of the producers and TV networks who the DGA’s contracts are with. At one point the lead DGA negotiator said, “This is the most insulting offer in the history of collective bargaining.” Hyperbole, of course, but you can see that’s the sort of thing that happens in these types of negotiations. I can tell you that no DGA-represented worker ever missed a single day due to strike or lockout. The deals were always hammered out — sometimes a bit after the last minute.

And that’s what we all hope happens here, in time for no games to be missed in 2027. It would, as I wrote earlier, be the worst thing that could happen to a sport that seems on the upswing — especially with MLB’s national TV contracts coming up for renewal after 2028, and Manfred’s professed desire to perhaps have most, or all, local TV rights bundled with the national deals to make more money. A lockout that costs games in 2027 would almost certainly cost MLB owners a lot of money on those TV deals. And they know that.

Let’s hope they can reach a deal where the 2027 season goes off as scheduled, with no games lost.

And speaking of 2028, that is when the next Olypmics will be held, hosted in Los Angeles. And there’s been much talk about MLB players participating, which would obviously raise the Olympic baseball competition to a very high level.

Drellich writes in The Athletic that MLB has proposed penalties for players who are chosen for Olympic baseball teams but who later back out:

In a May proposal to the union, Major League Baseball said it wants big leaguers to face an effective suspension longer than three weeks — a period that would last into the second half of the regular season — if they are chosen to participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles but skip out without an approved excuse.

From as early as July 10 through Aug. 3, 2028, players who choose not to play in the Summer Games would be on the restricted list without pay or service time, per a copy of the proposal reviewed by The Athletic. Placement on the injury list would technically be an approved excuse, but with a wrinkle: such players would get pay and service time, but would not be able to return to regular-season action until after the same day, Aug. 3.

Bruce Meyer, the head of the Players Association, on Tuesday called the league’s proposal “extreme.” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, meanwhile, said the proposal was made on the premise that the 2028 Summer Games are “a unique opportunity to market the sport with our very, very best players.”

Again, as you can see, there’s a lot of posturing going on. Meyer’s comment isn’t entirely wrong, but calling it “extreme” isn’t going to push owners to come any closer to a deal on this.

Here’s how the proposed Olympic baseball competition would work with MLB players:

To accommodate the baseball portion of the Olympics, which is set to run from July 13-19, 2028, the usual midseason All-Star break would be extended. The first half of the regular season would wrap up July 9, and the All-Star Game is then set to be played July 11, likely in San Francisco. The regular season would resume on July 21.

So that would make the extended All-Star break 11 days, instead of the current four, but seven of those days would have Olympic baseball, which presumably would be of high interest. It would be like the World Baseball Classic, only compressed into one week instead of more than three, and with players who are in mid-season form instead of guys still trying to get ready for the season in March. Could be a lot of fun. Also, this is the first time I’ve seen any mention of the All-Star Game site for 2028. It should be noted that the Cubs have supposedly been told that if the 2027 season misses enough games due to a labor stoppage that the Wrigley Field All-Star Game wouldn’t happen next year, that the Cubs would host in 2028 instead.

Here’s what will happen next on this topic, per Drellich:

An MLB official who was not authorized to speak publicly said the union has not responded to the league’s participation proposal. A union official who was not authorized to speak publicly said that the MLBPA has informed the league that it would respond once players have a broader set of proposals on all the other issues.

A slew of additional things need to be worked out, including player accommodations and compensation for participation, as well as how many tickets are available to players and their guests. In the union’s proposal on those matters, it pushed for big leaguers to have many of the same accommodations that National Hockey League players are afforded for their participation in the Olympics.

The negotiations are complicated by the number of parties at the table: beyond just MLB and the MLPBA, the International Olympic Committee and LA28 are involved as well. The World Baseball Softball Confederation is also part of the process.

So there are a lot of moving parts here, and of course this discussion is going on at the same time as labor negotiations, so everyone’s got a full plate.

Lastly, here’s an early look at which countries would participate in Olympic baseball:

The U.S., the Dominican Republic and Venezuela have already secured spots in the 2028 Olympics’ baseball tournament. The latter two clubs qualified during the WBC, and the U.S. has an automatic bid as the host country. The last three spots will be determined at upcoming tournaments.

It’s not clear which tournaments these are, but I would imagine Japan would be one of the other countries who would come out of any qualifying tournament. Presuming MLB players participate, that would add huge star power to Olympic baseball.

Again, as always, we await developments.

Good morning everyone, and happy Thursday!

It’s the final day of the All-Star Break, and hope springs eternal for the second half. What are your expectations for the club the rest of the way?

In Mariners news…

• Brendan Donovan officially kicked off his rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League last night.
• Carlos Collazo at Baseball America gave a full breakdown of the Mariners’ 2026 draft class. ($)
• Zac Hereth at Seattle Sports outlined some critical second half series for the Mariners’ playoff hopes, specifically as they pertain to possible tiebreaking scenarios.
• Daniel Kramer provided a primer for the trade deadline, which is now just a couple of weeks away.

Around the league…

• The Astros cleared some payroll off their books by sending right-hander Lance McCullers, Jr. to the Brewers for left-hander Colton Gordon.
• The Athletics are calling up infielder Tommy White in advance of their upcoming series against the Nationals.
• Maybe this helps explain how the Nationals have surpassed expectations this year. Though, this specific injury has cleared the way for Harry Ford to make it up to D.C. for the first time this year.

• Ten years later, we’ve learned that FOX Sports tried to convince MLB to postpone the ending of the rain-delayed Game 7 of the 2016 World Series to the following day.
• Get to know soon-to-be Athletics ace Gage Jump through his insightful conversation with Fangraphs’ David Laurila.
• Rob Mains at Baseball Prospectus bemoaned the loss of diversity among scorebugs on baseball broadcasts. ($)
• Alexandra Tey at Defector recapped a fun day at the ball yard for “trans girl baseball,” and explained why this fun tradition among friends has made such an impact on her life.

Not every player that makes the major league is going to become a Hall of Famer. Not every player that makes it is going to be an All-Star. Not every player that makes it will even have a semi-long career. There are plenty of guys who have a brief cup of coffee and then never make it back. However, those guys still all have stories.

Tom Metcalf was one of those guys, and he has some quite interesting tidbits about his story.

Thomas John “Tom” Metcalf
Born: July 16, 1940 (Amherst, WI)
Yankees Tenure: 1963

Metcalf was born and raised in Wisconsin, attending Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids. He was a three sport star in high school, leading the Lincoln team in baseball, football, and basketball. Baseball is what got him a scholarship to Northwestern University, but he even played a bit of basketball there too.

After looking like a star on the mound for Northwestern, he was struck by a ball while watching teammates take batting practice. That kept him off the field for a while, and in the meantime, he let his grades drop below the level of being academically ineligible. During that time, pro scouts started to circle, and the Yankees eventually came in and outbid others to land the pitcher.

Starting his pro career in 1961, Metcalf fairly quickly rose through the Yankees’ minor league ranks. While he began his tenure in the system as a starter, the Yankees switched him to a reliever, and by 1963, he was already up in Triple-A. To start the ‘63 season, he had posted a 2.69 ERA in 67 innings and then got the call to the big leagues, joining a dynastic club that had won the 12 of the last 14 AL pennants and 10 of the past 14 World Series titles (including the most recent couple years in a row from 1961-62).

Metcalf debuted on August 4th in the first game of a doubleheader against the Orioles. He allowed three runs in two innings, but did retire future Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson and future MVP Boog Powell as part of his outing.

Playing time proved to be a little sparce for Metcalf, though. His next appearance didn’t come until August 14th, as the Yankees were still trying to claim the AL pennant. Metcalf would go on to pitch 13 innings across eight games, posting a very solid 2.77 ERA. The Yankees did also clinch the pennant, advancing to the World Series against the Dodgers.

His cameo down the stretch was good enough for Metcalf to get named to the Yankees’ World Series roster. He wouldn’t get a chance to pitch, though that would be the fate of several Yankees as the team got swept away. The story of the series was that the Yankees’ offense scored just four runs in total against Sandy Koufax and company, as the Dodgers dominated.

However as things played out, that ended up being it for Metcalf’s MLB career. The following spring, Metcalf lost out on the final bullpen spot, as new manager Yogi Berra preferred Pete Mikkelsen. Metcalf returned to Triple-A, but couldn’t replicate his previous numbers. He spent another season in the minors in 1965 and similarly couldn’t crack the big leagues. In spring training 1966, the Yankees were set to sell Metcalf to Cleveland, but the pitcher decided he was through with baseball and was returning back to his native Wisconsin.

Since leaving baseball, Metcalf went and got into the lumber business. If you’re looking for lumber somewhere in Wisconsin or that general area, perhaps check out Metcalf Lumber. He still lives in the Wisconsin Rapids area and is probably somewhere celebrating his 86th birthday as you read this.

Metcalf had quite a ride for a reliever who only had one major league season. According to his SABR bio (a wonderful resource for this particular article), he briefly dated future actress Ann-Margaret, who attended Northwestern at the same time. Upon going to LA while with the Yankees in the 1963 World Series, he tried to get back in contact, only to be rebuffed as she was then in a relationship with a certain Elvis Presley. What a world.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

I hope you’re enjoying the All-Star break. It is the only time in the regular season when baseball fans do not worry about the state of the lineup or that day’s starting pitcher. But the week is good for reflecting and admitting when you are wrong.

Here is my confession: The Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System is good for baseball.

Wait, let me explain

Yes, I am a baseball purist. Baseball remains genuinely authentic because its core rules have not changed since the sport’s founders played the game. But all fans can agree that their biggest source of discontent is the plate umpire’s strike zone.

Major League Baseball felt the time was right to implement the ABS Challenge System this season. It allows a batter, catcher or pitcher to challenge an umpire’s call. The system was extensively tested in the minor leagues before debuting at the start of the 2026 campaign.

The Perfect Alliance: ABS and plate umpires

I never thought the ABS Challenge System and the home plate umpire would form an unexpectedly perfect alliance. The system works because it integrates technology into the game without disregarding the umpire’s accuracy in calling balls and strikes. Missed calls will occur, but ABS is the perfect safety net to resolve issues within minutes. 

The challenge system is so popular because it eliminates human error while still relying on umpires to make quality calls. An electric graphic appears on the scoreboard to show the pitch’s location. It is fast, painless, and play resumes with little delay. 

Now, stadium crowds have switched from yelling about the plate umpire’s strike zone to pleading for their team to challenge a questionable call. Technology has crept into baseball, eliminating the fiery theatrical spectacle of a manager and umpire arguing over a call. Those days are over, as all disputes are decided quickly.

Who knew the ABS Challenge System offers game strategy?

Teams have developed a strategy for the challenge system. Too many clubs were losing both challenges early in contests, and had no recourse to question a call late in games. 

As the season has progressed, managers are cautioning their players not to use ABS until after the fifth inning. No longer are you seeing hitters challenge a pitch in the first inning, as teams want to hold onto at least one challenge for the eighth or ninth inning. It might be the difference in a low-scoring affair.

Baseball purists who dislike the challenge system are waiting for a call to be overturned in a high-leverage situation such as Game 7 of the World Series. They hope the controversy from the call will doom ABS. 

What they fail to see is that the challenge system offers instant accountability. ABS is designed to determine a winner and a loser when it matters most.

The New York Mets (40-57) return from their brief respite as they battle with the Philadelphia Phillies (54-43) for three games at Citizens Bank Park. The rivals squared off six times in June—three times in Philly, three times in New York—with Philadelphia winning four of the six games (two of three in each park). In a bit of an odd scheduling decision, the teams will play on Thursday, serving as the only game on the MLB schedule while the remaining 28 squads get another day to recuperate from the All-Star game. Then, the Mets and Phillies will be off on Friday while all the other teams play, and they’ll resume their series over the weekend.

The Mets’ final series of the first half was one to forget, as the team was swept by the Red Sox in three games at Citi Field. The offense was mostly missing in action, scoring just four runs across the three losses. Despite catching a break when flight issues delayed Boston’s arrival to New York until about two hours before first pitch—the game was eventually delayed by 35 minutes to accommodate—the Mets looked to be the tired ones in a 6-2 loss on Friday. The offense was even worse on Saturday as they fell 4-0 to secure a series loss.. The Mets looked to flip the script on Sunday, leading 2-0 heading into the ninth, but a Francisco Lindor error on a would-be game-ending double play and some ineffectiveness from Devil Williams combined to allow Boston to tie the game and eventually win 3-2 in extra innings.

The series really was a microcosm of the first half for the Mets. The offense was largely vacant, and when they put guys on, they failed to bring them home. The pitching had its moments but wasn’t good enough to overcome the weak offense. The bullpen was largely great, but Williams, who has been fine at times but also had a few blow-ups here and there, sunk a would-be win with his ineffectiveness on Sunday. The team has basically been unable to really string together any sort of momentum, and that’s how they find themselves where they are now: In last place in the National League East, eight (8!) games behind the fourth-place Nationals and 16 behind the first-place Braves. The Mets are 12 games behind the third-place Marlins, who also happen to hold the final postseason spot in the National League. Conversely, the Mets are only two 1.5 games ahead of the Rockies, who own the worst record in the NL, and two games ahead of the Royals and Angels for worst record in the sport. Get hyped!

So yeah, scoreboard watching won’t be a thing in the second half, at least for the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean you should turn off your TV and tune out entirely. There still are some things worth watching in the final 65 games of the season. One of them is Juan Soto, who did not have to travel far because he participated in Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Citizen’s Bank Park. Soto picked up one of three hits for the National League (it turned out to be the first one of the game for the losing side) and he ultimately did his club proud, as he always does. Despite the down season for the Mets, Soto will likely receive MVP votes once again. Soto leads the Mets in basically every offensive category, hitting .290/.405/.562 (all tops on the roster) with a 163 wRC+ (best on the Mets) and 2.9 fWAR (same). He also leads the team with 21 home runs and 51 runs batted in. In a dark season for the Mets, his star has continued to shine bright.

Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing have been two of the most positive developments from the season, giving New York “two golden nuggets” as Keith Hernandez so eloquently put it to build their team around. Benge begins the second half of his rookie season hitting .263/.326/.402 with a 106 wRC+ and 1.7 fWAR, which is second to Soto. He is also second on the club with 11 homers and first with 52 runs scored. Ewing, who debuted later than Benge, is hitting .276/.350/.439 with seven homers, 27 runs scored, 24 runs batted in, a 122 wRC+ (second to Soto), and 1.2 fWAR (third to Soto and Benge). It’s safe to say Benge and Ewing should get a bulk of the playing time from here on out, especially with the club floundering.

The vets, on the other hand, have been mostly disappointing, but their performance post-break could go a long way towards determining their futures in New York. Lindor has unfortunately missed significant time with a pair of injuries before and during this season, and he struggled both before his calf injury and after his return from it. In what has amounted to a mostly-lost first half, he’s hitting .216/.298/.373 with five homers, a 90 wRC+, and 0.6 fWAR in 40 games. The team could field trade offers for him in July/August or this offseason, but his future still seems to be in New York, where pairing him with Soto and the young pair of outfielders is the team’s best path towards relevancy in 2027 and beyond. I’m not quite ready to sign off on the “Lindor is declining” takes just yet, personally.

Bo Bichette got off to a rough start but has picked it up as of late, slashing .255/.300/.376 with 10 homers, 51 runs batted in, an 89 wRC+, and 0.9 fWAR. His play in the second half could determine if he decides to opt in, which is looking very likely given his overall numbers and the state of the CBA and a potential lockout heading into the winter. Beyond that, guys like Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr., and Jorge Polanco have been either ineffective, injured, or both, and they will certainly get time in the second half to prove that they belong on the team next year.

Other than that, the team is probably best suited losing more games than they win from here on out. Should the Mets fall out of the top-6 in the lottery, their place in the MLB Draft will fall ten spots. As of now, they have the fourth-worst record, so they enjoy a fairly decent chance of picking within those first six protected slots, but knowing their luck, they will fall to seventh or eighth, which drops them into the late teens given penalties for their payroll. I know it goes against character for some to root for losing, but perhaps think of it less “rooting for failure” and more “thinking about the team’s potential bright future”. In any event, losses (with some bright performances from their talented youngsters) is probably the way to go from here.

The Phillies entered the break on a high note, taking the last two from the Tigers and four of six overall from Detroit and Cincinnati before entering the All-Star Game at their home ballpark. As things currently stand, they are just two games behind the Braves for first place in the division, and two games up on the Wild Card field. If the season ended today, they would take on the Cubs in the 4-vs-5 matchup on the road at Wrigley Field. But as mentioned, there’s a lot of baseball left to play.

The Phillies led all of baseball with six All-Stars (tied with the Dodgers): Jhoan Duran, Bryce Harper (“Legend Pick”), Jesús Luzardo, Brandon Marsh, Cristopher Sánchez, and Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber and Marsh both started, and Harper came in later in the game, but none of them picked up a hit in the game. Schwarber, Harper, and Marsh are 1-2-3, respectively on the club in fWAR and have each enjoyed a great season. Schwarber entered the break leading all NL hitters with 32 homer runs while slashing .254/.367/.560 with a 149 wRC+. Harper as 20 homers and a team-high 59 runs scored while hitting .260/.365/.497 with a 133 wRC+—he also became the first hitter to request an ABS challenge in an All-Star game. Marsh, who started for the NL, is hitting .301/.339/.490 with 15 homers, 52 runs scored, and a 123 wRC+.

Thursday, July 16: Christian Scott vs. Aaron Nola, 7:10 PM EDT on ESPN

Scott (2026): 54.0 IP, 65 K, 26 BB, 7 HR, 3.17 ERA, 4.10 FIP, 77 ERA-

Scott was one of the biggest bright spots for the Mets in the first half, finishing with a 3.17 ERA in 12 starts after returning from Tommy John Surgery, which cost him the entire 2026 campaign. He ended his half on a high note as well, pitching five scoreless innings and scattering three hits against the Royals. He exited with a chance to earn his third career win, but the bullpen let him down, and he settled for a no decision. Despite that, he looked sharp as he struck out five while walking one, though he again struggled with a high pitch count, which has prevented him from pitching beyond five innings in most starts. That will be one thing he can work on and improve the rest of the way as he looks to position himself for a permanent spot in the rotation in 2027 and beyond.

Nola (2026): 97.0 IP, 102 K, 31 BB, 20 HR, 5.75 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 134 ERA-

Nola is just about the one key starter for Philly that hasn’t been performing all that well, but with Sánchez, Wheeler, and Luzardo dominating like they have, Philadelphia is more than happy to bury Nola in the back-end of their rotation. He’s actually had a couple of solid starts to kick off the month, although the Phillies lost both games. His last time out, he allowed two earned runs on three hits while striking out eight Tigers’ hitters in a no decision. Before that, he went seven and allowed three earned runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts, but he picked up the loss against the Reds. That represents the only start this year where Nola has completed seven innings of work.

Saturday, July 18: Sean Manaea vs. Zack Wheeler, 4:05 PM EDT on SNY

Manaea (2026): 75.0 IP, 74 K, 24 BB, 10 HR, 4.56 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 112 ERA-

Manaea closed off an uneven first half, which began with him in the bullpen, on a really high note. For the first time since September 21, 2024, he completed seven innings of work as he limited the Royals to three runs (two earned) on six hits. He struck out six, walked one, and was extremely efficient, needing just 97 pitches to complete his outing. Better yet, he threw 68 of those pitches (70%). He has now pitched into the sixth inning or deeper in four of his last five outings and has laid the blueprint for an effective second half: Attack the strike zone, pitch to contact, and keep the pitch count low. If he can do that, the team may be able to salvage the final year-and-a-half of his contract, and he may just find himself with a role in the 2027 rotation.

Wheeler (2026): 93.0 IP, 108 K, 22 BB, 10 HR, 2.13 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 50 ERA-

Wheeler was so offended that he was the fifth choice to join the NL All-Star squad that he openly rejected the invitation when it finally came. It’s hard to blame him, as Wheeler, who returned earlier this year after being diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome and undergoing surgery, has returned to form about as quickly as the Phillies could have hoped for. Wheeler begins the second half with the third-most wins among NL Starters (10) despite being about four-to-five starts behind the pack. He’s also fifth in bWAR (4.8) and second in ERA (2.13) among NL starters with at least 90 innings under their belt—he falls just short of qualifying, given his late start to the year. He ended the first half two wins against the Reds and the Tigers, as he combined to allow one earned run on six hits in those outings. He has also struck out 34 batters in his last three starts while hitting triple-digits in punch outs in each one.

Sunday, July 19: Nolan McLean vs. Jesús Luzardo, 1:35 PM EDT on SNY

McLean (2026): 107.1 IP, 125 K, 39 BB, 10 HR, 3.52 ERA, 3.44 FIP, 86 ERA-

Despite picking up the loss, McLean was really good in his final start before the break. He was charged with two unearned runs on a Soto error in the first, and that was all he ended up giving up to Boston. He allowed just the two unearned runs on five hits and he struck out seven over six innings of work. McLean, who figured to be the ace of the staff (or at least the 1b to Freddy Peralta’s 1a) had a difficult first half, but he found himself towards the end there. After allowing six runs to the Cubs back on June 24, he posted a 1.00 ERA and a 2.16 FIP, with 19 strikeouts over 18 innings in his last three starts.

Luzardo (2026): 110.1 IP, 136 K, 35 BB, 9 HR, 3.51 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 82 ERA-

Luzardo was just about the only Phillies player who didn’t outright embarrass themselves in front of the home crowd at the All-Star game—this may be a bit harsh, but I also don’t care. He hurled a perfect inning and struck out one while needing just six pitches in his first career All-Star game performance. It was a nice capper to a solid first half that saw the left-hander go 8-4 with a 3.51 ERA and a 2.84 FIP in 19 starts. Philadelphia has won each of his last nine starts dating back to May 25, and the lefty has five wins, a 2.14 ERA, a 2.81 FIP, and 70 strikeouts across 54 2/3 innings during that stretch. He enters the second half with the third-best K% (29.4%), fourth-best FIP (2.84), and fifth-best HR/9 (0.73/9) among qualified NL starters.

Casey Candaele became a member of the Houston Astros on July 23rd, 1988.  In a three-year period from 1990-1992, he played in 416 contests.   He joins us exclusively at The Crawfish Boxes for our 31st series entry of the Legends Series.    

Q:  The trade in 1988 that brought you to Houston.    What do you remember about that time?

A:  I was traded for Mark Bailey who they sent to Montreal.   I had a pretty good rookie season but at the time they had guys like Otis Nixon and Rex Hudler that were playing well, so it made sense at the time to trade me.

Q:  You played a bunch in 1991.   Bagwell was Rookie of the Year.   What did you see from Bagwell in his first season?

A:  That season I got to play almost every day at second base.   Bagwell’s discipline at the plate and his ability to get the barrel of the bat to the ball was just unprecedented.    You just could see he was going to make an impact.   He was the best 3-0 hitter I ever saw.   He never missed a 3-0 pitch.   He hit it really hard and really far most of the time.    He knew where he wanted his pitches, and he swung at pitches that he knew he could handle.   That was a unique talent.

Q:  Biggio brought it every day.  What stood out to you the most about him?

A:  What impressed me so much was that Craig always seemed to put the ball in play, even if he had two strikes on him.   He had the speed to beat balls out and he had power.   Complete player.   

Q:  Milo Hamilton gave you the nickname “Mighty Mite.”   Did you like that moniker?   

A:  (laughs)    That was great!    I had a little bit of pop but not home run pop for a little guy.    It was kind of cool.    It might have started when I hit a ball to the warning track or something which back then at the Astrodome was pretty far for me.   

Q:  Speaking of smaller guys, do you just sit back and marvel at the career that Jose Altuve has put together at only 5’6”? 

A:  He’s amazing.   The torque and the power he can generate is unreal.    He’s been such a good hitter for so many years, what an unbelievable talent.   I’m not going to say I look up to him, because I’m taller than he is (laughs) but I do respect him because he’s made his mark on the game.   

Q:  Did you like playing for Art Howe?

A:  Art was great.    He gave me an opportunity to play.    He really trusted me.   I did a lot of double switching back then, so Art used me often.   Art was probably one of the only managers that could’ve dealt with me and my personality and some of the things that I did or said back then.   I got called into his office quite a few times to talk to Art, but he was always understanding of my humor and if I went over the line, he’d call me in and talk to me about it in private.    I respected that about him.    I would fall in line and make any adjustment that was necessary afterwards.  

The Dodgers have the best record in baseball, the highest run differential in baseball, the biggest lead in baseball.

And a pitching staff that recently required seven arms to get through a six-run loss in a game started by Kyle Hurt.

The Dodgers have the best player in baseball, the best manager in baseball, the best lineup in baseball.

And a starting rotation containing two cornerstones who have shown up for a total of eight games.

You know where we’re headed with this, right?

C’mon Dodgers, would you look in the mirror and ignore the noise and make the trade already?

Go get Tarik Skubal.

Go get the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner and cement your October. Go get the marvelous Detroit Tiger lefty and claim your three-peat.

Everyone will say you are ruining baseball, but you know what would really ruin baseball? If its reigning dynasty is wrecked by loose bodies or back spasms or a needle stuck in a left knee.

Everyone will say you don’t really need him, but unless you have some sort of time machine that can restore vitality to some of the veterans showing serious wear, you need him.

The 29-year-old Skubal is a pending free agent, so the Tigers have to trade him or lose him to a $400 million contract elsewhere. The Tigers could keep him for a possible pennant run, but Skubal is a pitcher, not a miracle worker, and his 44-52 team has to leapfrog six others to sneak into a wild-card spot.

He’s there for the taking and, more than any other team, the asset-rich Dodgers are in the best position to take him. They have the best minor leaguers. They have the best fringe major leaguers. Give the Tigers whatever anonymous talents they desire because, as Dodger fans have learned, nobody will be lamenting the lost kids when the big leaguers are parading down Figueroa.

Read more:How Dodgers' Justin Wrobleski went from demotion to All-Star in less than two years

Yes, agreed, this is an insane column to write … if it hadn’t already been written.

Back in July 2023, this space begged the Dodgers to bolster their weak starting rotation at the trade deadline.

“They need to surrender prospects and take on debt and do whatever it takes to trade for an ace starting pitcher or they have zero shot at a championship,” I wrote at the time. “They need to find somebody who can take the ball in one of the first two games of what could be a three-game wild-card playoff series or they have zero shot at surviving that series.”

One month later, failing to improve the team for one of the rare times in his brilliant career, Andrew Friedman struck out.

Three months later, they were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round of the playoffs while rolling out a rotation of noodle-armed Clayton Kershaw, massively disappointing Bobby Miller, and a human dinger machine named Lance Lynn.

Three years later it feels like it’s happening all over again, the Dodgers once again faced with a nightmare they’d rather ignore.

The team with four aces needs an ace. The team that began the season with two Cy Young candidates needs a third. The supernatural pitching staff needs help.

Start with Shohei Ohtani. They’re understandably acting like the knee-draining procedure he underwent last weekend was no big deal, but it pulled him off the mound and there has been no definitive word when he’ll return.

“I think we all know with where we’re at, who he is as a player, if there’s opportunities to be extra cautious and mindful, it’s just prudent,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the media.

In less than three months, will “cautious and mindful” become “ready to roll?” Who knows? Ohtani is 32 with slowly diminishing tread on those overworked wheels.

Then there’s Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, the two injured Dodger starters who everyone thinks will just magically appear at full strength in the playoffs.

Believe that, and I’ve got some loose bodies to sell you.

Snell, 33, hasn’t lasted a full season in three years, and even though he’ll be pitching again soon, any season that includes even the most minor of elbow surgeries can have a problematic ending.

Glasnow, who turns 33 next month, has made but 25 starts in the last two seasons and missed the playoffs completely two years ago and by now it feels like back spasms are the least of his problems.

The surprise bright spot of the rotation has been Justin Wrobleski, and last season he didn’t allow a run in four World Series relief appearances, but can he be trusted with the start? In Tuesday’s All-Star Game, deep-bombing Miguel Vargas reminded him how the heat increases when the expectations are higher.

The starting pitcher fears are heightened by the vulnerability of the man who is catching them. Will Smith will be back from his neck injury, but he’s lately shown some of the strain of his record-setting postseason workload. And do you really want Dalton Rushing talking trash behind the plate for pressure playoff battles?

To all these worries, add the bullpen, which has fallen back to earth after its club-record 38 inning scoreless streak. Edwin Díaz can’t come back soon enough and, oh wait, does that 10.50 really ERA belong to him?

Into this tightrope-walking atmosphere would step Skubal, who underwent a minimally invasive elbow procedure in May but came back stronger than ever. He has gone 36-15 over the past three seasons with two full years of sub-3.00 ERAs while being generally regarded as the best pitcher in baseball.

Read more:Most pressing question for Dodgers in the second half: Can Shohei Ohtani stay healthy?

He might be a rental. So what? A third consecutive championship would be forever.

The rest of the baseball world would cry foul. Who cares? The only sound that matters around here are the cheers accompanying one more title before the game goes dark.

The Dodgers’ rotation is hurting. The Dodgers window is closing. The Dodgers are on the verge of a three-peat, yet still one player away.

Go get Tarik Skubal.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

It is one of the national media’s favorite pastimes – what players on the San Diego Padres can we put on another team? Most of the time this speculation leads to a Padres player landing with the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox or Philadelphia Phillies. This trade season is starting the same way thanks in large part to San Diego limping into the All-Star break following an eight-game losing streak which led to the Padres finishing the first half of the season with a 48-48 record.

Typically, the focus of trade speculation on the San Diego roster is Fernando Tatis Jr. The national writers have tried to get him to New York for years. There was some of that earlier this season, but as the MLB prepares to open the second half of the season this weekend, the new focus on the Padres is All-Star closer Mason Miller. The right-hander was added at last season’s trade deadline and is considered the most dominant reliever in the game. San Diego gave up top prospect Leodalis De Vries to make it happen so it seems unlikely that Padres general manager and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller would flip him this season.

Most of the speculation around Miller has involved the Yankees. There has been talk that New York has the talent pool of major league-ready players and prospects that an offer could be made to get San Diego to the negotiating table. The Padres and Yankees have lined up deals in the past, most recently involving Juan Soto and Michael King, but whether or not there is any truth to the rumors about New York wanting to make a deal again remains to be seen. For that matter, San Diego has not decided if it is going to buy or sell at the deadline and that decision could be made over the next 16 games.

Padres News:

Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres need to make intelligent decisions if the team decides to buy at the deadline.

Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune had a one-on-one interview with Padres rookie infielder Sung-Mun Song and talked with him about several topics including why he signed with San Diego.

Dennis Lin of The Athletic looks ahead to the second half for San Diego and identifies potential stories to watch.

Baseball News:

The Milwaukee Brewers landed Lance McCullers Jr. in a trade with the Houston Astros.

The Washington Nationals are set to promote catcher Harry Ford when the team returns to play.

The Athletics called up their No. 7 prospect, Tommy White.

Baltimore Orioles reliever Keegan Akin had Tommy John surgery.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Bronx on Friday...

5 things to watch

Measuring stick series

Sure, it's just the first series after the All-Star break, but this weekend against the Dodgers should be a measuring stick for the Yankees.

We all remember what happened in the 2024 World Series, and the Dodgers are still the class of not just the National League, but all of MLB. While the Yanks have to compete with other AL teams to even get a chance at their first title since 2009, going up against the team with the best record in baseball (61-36) can show GM Brian Cashman how the Yankees stack up against them and what moves need to be made at the deadline to bridge the gap. 

Will Ben Rice continue to mash?

It feels like forever ago that Rice was in one of those 0-fer streaks that major leaguers go through during a 162-game season. But the final week before the All-Star break was impressive for the young slugger.

Over his last seven games, Rice was 11-for-26 (.423) with five home runs and 12 RBI. 

With Aaron Judge on the shelf, Rice has stepped up massively to give the Yankees the offense needed to keep pace with the Tampa Bay Rays. New York will continue to rely on the youngster, and that starts this weekend. 

Aaron Judge update?

Speaking of Judge, Cashman said that the reigning AL MVP was to undergo more imaging over the All-Star break. 

While the club doesn't expect Judge's imaging to come back clean, they hope there is enough healing that he can expand his workouts, which would give the team a clearer picture of when he can return.

Obviously, the offense goes as Judge does. And although Rice and Cody Bellinger have done their parts, there's no replacing what Judge brings every game. 

Shohei Ohtani Mania

Whenever the Dodgers are in town, Ohtani is the main attraction. And although he had to skip the All-Star festivities due to a knee injury, manager Dave Roberts assured everyone that Ohtani will be in the lineup this weekend. 

He won't pitch, but Ohtani's at-bats will be must-see. 

Can Austin Wells stay on the right track?

Wells has had his worst season as a major leaguer, but he's shown signs that he may be turning things around.

The backstop has just six home runs this year, but two of them came in the final four games before the All-Star break -- and he had at least one hit in three of them.

While those are low bars for a potential World Series team, the Yankees and Wells will take it. Can he keep it up this weekend? 

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Ben Rice

Rice went into the break on fire and he'll come out of it the same.

Which Yankees pitcher will have the best game?

David Bednar

Without knowing the probable starters for the weekend, we'll go with the closer. Bednar has been nails, not allowing an earned run since May 18.

Which Dodgers player will be a thorn in the Yankees' side?

Freddie Freeman

Freeman has had a great first half and he's tortured the Yankees before.