Apr 24, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) throws a pitch during in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
The Milwaukee Brewers are finalizing a deal to acquire right-handed pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and left-handed pitcher Colton Gordon in a trade with the Houston Astros, with the return to Houston not yet known.
Neither club has yet confirmed.
Per multiple reporters, the trade is primarily a depth deal for Milwaukee and a salary dump for Houston. McCullers, who must waive his no-trade clause for the deal to go through (per Chandler Rome of The Athletic, he’s done just that), is being paid $17 million this year in the final year of his five-year, $85 million contract signed ahead of the 2022 season. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Astros have agreed to pay down a portion of what’s remaining on the contract.
McCullers, 32, has struggled over the last few years, as he missed all of 2023 and 2024 due to injury before making his return in 2025. Over the last two years, he’s appeared in 24 games (21 starts) with a dismal 6.65 ERA, 5.48 FIP, and 104 strikeouts over 94 2/3 innings. He’s pitched just 39 1/3 innings this year and is currently on the IL, though he’s currently on a rehab assignment with an expected return of late July. In three rehab appearances, he’s pitched well, with a 2.45 ERA and 11 strikeouts across 11 innings.
Gordon, 27, was an eighth-round pick by the Astros in 2021 and hasn’t had much major league success in parts of two seasons. Across 24 games (15 starts) in 2025 and 2026, Gordon has a 5.95 ERA, 5.86 FIP, and 83 strikeouts over 95 1/3 innings. He’s pitched just 9 1/3 innings in the majors this year, with an 11.57 ERA and 10.39 FIP. He’s been much better at Triple-A, however, with a 6-3 record, 3.69 ERA, and 55 strikeouts over 70 2/3 innings this season. Gordon is a controllable arm, as he’s still in his pre-arbitration years.
CHICAGO — Roch Cholowsky agreed to a contract with the Chicago White Sox that includes a record-breaking $10.35 million signing bonus after he was the No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft.
A person familiar with the contract confirmed the agreement to the AP because it hadn’t been announced by the team.
The slot value for the top pick this year was $11,350,600. Cholowsky’s bonus tops the previous mark of $9.25 million for the amateur draft that belonged to Reds pitcher Chase Burns and Rockies prospect Charlie Condon, two of the top three selections in 2024.
Cholowsky, a 6-foot-2 shortstop who turned 21 in April, hit .320 with 21 homers, 60 RBIs and a 1.088 OPS in 60 games this season for UCLA. He is the first No. 1 overall pick for the White Sox since they drafted outfielder Harold Baines in 1977.
“At the end of the day, we were most comfortable with Roch Cholowsky with our first pick, regardless of what the signing bonus was going to be,” general manager Chris Getz said.
Cholowsky played for the Bruins for three seasons, batting .329 with 52 homers, 167 RBIs and a 1.072 OPS in 178 games. He ranks among the school’s career leaders in homers, runs scored, on-base percentage and RBIs.
“You look at what he has done throughout his baseball career, both at UCLA, but prior to that,” Getz said. “We had interest in him in high school and then to be able to watch his college career unfold and see what he accomplished and the impact that he had on his teammates and that program and now to envision that type of influence within this organization is something that attracted us to select him at No. 1.”
Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Phillies play a three-game series in Philadelphia starting on Thursday night at 7:10 p.m.
In his first season back after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Scott has been a bright spot for a Mets team whose rotation will be in flux after the season.
Across 54.0 innings over 12 starts, Scott is not only showing that he belongs, but displaying the upside that had New York so excited about him when he debuted in 2024.
Scott has a 3.17 ERA and 1.29 WHIP, and has allowed just 44 hits while striking out 65 -- a rate of 10.8 per nine innings. The 27-year-old doesn't yet have enough innings to qualify among the league leaders, but if he did, his strikeout rate would be tied with Paul Skenes for the fifth-highest among MLB starters -- behind only Dylan Cease, Jacob Misiorowski, Jesus Lazardo, and Jacob deGrom.
And Scott's ability to miss bats this season is not surprising.
His four-seam fastball (which he has used 50 percent of the time this year) is averaging 95.4 mph (up 1.2 mph over where it was in 2024) and topping out in the high-90s. Scott's cutter has also been a serious weapon, with batters slugging just .167 against it -- though it's his sweeper that has induced the highest percentage of swings and misses (whiff percentage of 34.9).
Francisco Lindor is starting to look more comfortable at the plate
The lasting image of Lindor's first half will be him botching a would-be game-ending double play ball last Sunday against the Red Sox.
But after missing roughly two months due to a calf injury, Lindor's offense is starting to come around.
He has reached base safely in each of his last four starts (including ripping a homer and a double last Sunday) and has popped three homers over his last 12 starts.
McLean has still been battling himself a bit as he looks to regain his early-season form, but the results lately have been tremendous.
He has allowed two runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts, pitching to a 2.35 ERA while allowing just 33 hits in 46.0 innings during that span.
New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) throws a pitch in the first inning of the MLB National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
McLean has been even more locked in over his last three starts, allowing two earned runs in 18 innings while walking five and striking out 19.
One key thing to watch with McLean down the stretch is whether he continues to go four-seamer heavy while relying much less on his sweeper (he's throwing it just 16.4 percent of the time this season after using it 25.7 percent of the time in 2025).
Polanco has been limited to just 19 games this season due to injuries, with an Achilles issue being the main thing holding him back.
In those 19 games, he has slashed .178/.241/.274 (.514 OPS, 44 OPS+) with just one home run.
Since Polanco is under contract through the 2027 season and will count for $20 million toward the luxury tax payroll, it would be a relief for the Mets if he is able to produce and stay healthy over the final few months of the season.
If not, the Mets will have a serious issue on their hands.
The dangerous Kyle Schwarber
This year's Home Run Derby runner-up, Schwarber is on pace to finish the year with 53 homers.
If Schwarber hits 50-plus bombs, it will be his second straight season accomplishing that feat, and the fourth time in the last five seasons where he's hit at least 46 taters.
While he's leading the league in home runs, Schwarber is also leading the league in strikeouts (144), and is on pace to finish the year with 240 of them -- which would be miles past his career-worst of 215 that he set in 2023.
Predictions
Who will the MVP of the series be?
Juan Soto
Soto had a quiet final weekend before the All-Star break. He'll come out recharged.
Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?
Nolan McLean
As McLean rounds back into form, one thing he has to get in check is his issue with hit batsmen. He has plunked a league-high 13 batters this season.
Which Phillies player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?
J.T. Realmuto
Realmuto was swinging the bat well before the break, with two homers and two doubles over his last seven games.
PHILADELPHIA — Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani will be a designated hitter at a minimum for the series at the New York Yankees after having fluid drained from his left knee.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani had the procedure to relieve irritation and the four-time MVP was taking a few days of vacation before the season’s second half. Roberts said the two-way star did not receive an injection.
Two-time World Series champion Los Angeles opens the second half with a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
“He’s going to be in the lineup,” Roberts said before managing the National League in the All-Star Game.
Ohtani is batting .293 with 22 homers and 58 RBIs while going 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings over 14 starts. The four-time MVP skipped the All-Star Game.
Ohtani last pitched on July 3. It isn’t yet clear whether he will pitch against the Yankees.
Victor Wembanyama choosing to take a discount and leave roughly $50 million on the table in his latest contract to help the Spurs build and maintain a championship team is exactly what is wrong with the system in the eyes of David Kelly, the new executive director of the NBPA (the players' union).
"Our position would be that the system should not require a player to carry all that burden," Kelly said during his introductory press conference last week. "It should not put a player in a position where he has to carry the burden in order to keep a team together. A system that does that, we have a problem."
Kevin Love was more direct, saying the second apron has essentially become a hard cap. He referenced how Brad Stevens and Boston traded away Jaylen Brown because he felt he couldn't have two supermax players together and build out a championship roster, or how the tax is already impacting decisions for the Thunder and Spurs.
"I'll tell you, selfishly, what's really f****** stupid, these aprons are f****** with the game," Love said in an appearance on The Old Man and the Three podcast. "That's on our side, [the owners] know exactly who they are that did it…
"You're telling me Oklahoma City can't keep those three guys together because of these aprons? That's bulls***. You're telling me Sam Presti, the greatest, all the things that he's done, is handcuffed because of these f****** aprons?"
To NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, the system is working as designed.
"It's certainly not an unintended consequence," Adam Silver said when speaking to the media after the NBA Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas on Tuesday. "When you have a salary system in place as we do, every general manager is going to need to make mixed basketball and business decisions. Frankly, they make them regardless of whether you have a cap. You see that in other sports. People manage budgets. People recognize that you can't — at some point, you can't have unlimited resources, whether it's for a team or any business....
"The purpose of the system is ultimately to create competition throughout the league, and from that standpoint, I think the system is working incredibly well. The goal isn't necessarily to have a different champion every year, but we've had eight different champions over the last eight years. As I've said previously, one of the things we were hoping to accomplish in this latest collective bargaining agreement was to dispel this notion that only certain markets were in a position to truly compete. We just saw a Finals between, essentially, the largest market in the league in New York and one of the smallest markets in San Antonio."
What the owners and Silver wanted was parity — and they got it, or at least closer to it than the league saw before. Fans may hate that the Thunder and Spurs, at the start of potential dynastic runs and an elite rivalry, are already having to get players to take discounts — OKC's Chet Holmgren took the exact same discount Wembanyama did — and think about breaking up their star trios, but the owners love that. If Boston feels it has to trade Brown, he just goes to another team and makes them better in the 30,000-foot view of the league.
There is a push in some circles to allow teams that draft and develop a max player — a guy who stays with his team — to get a salary cap discount so they can build around their homegrown star. For example, in Wembanyama's case, he could put the Rose Rule escalator in his contract and get 30% of the salary cap in his next deal (about an extra $10 million a year), but on the official team books, it would only count as 25%. That could help a team like Boston keep Brown and build around him (because both Brown and Jayson Tatum would qualify). It's something Warriors owner Joe Lacob brought up when he had Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green together (it was a selfish proposition on Lacob's part, but that doesn't mean it was wrong).
All of that will be part of the next CBA negotiations, but the owners like this current system. They wanted a hard cap, instead the owners got a second apron that is essentially the same thing (only one team was over it last season, Cleveland, and only one is now, Oklahoma City, and it may make a move to get below that number). If the players want to change it, what are they willing to give up in the next CBA negotiations?
Anthony Mantha's prove-it season has landed him a raise and a new deal in another city.
Mantha, 31, signed with the New Jersey Devils for two years at a $4.75 million average on Wednesday, July 15, two weeks after the start of free agency. He'll make $5.4 million this upcoming season and $4.1 million in 2027-28.
He had scored 33 goals and 64 points last season on a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins,
That goal total was more than any Devils player had last season. Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes led the way with 28 and 27 goals, respectively. His 64 points would have ranked fourth.
The question is whether Mantha can duplicate that. He had only one 20-goal season from 2019-25 and had one assist and a minus 5 rating in a six-game loss in the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Anthony Mantha contract details
He will make $5.4 million in 2026-27 and $4.1 million in 2027-28 for a $4.75 million cap hit. According to puckpedia.com, all but $1 million a year of that is signing bonuses. 'the website says the Devils have $3.875 million left in cap space.
Top remaining free agents
Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Eeli Tolvanen, MIchael Bunting, John Klingberg
The Buffalo Sabres will not have to waste any time hosting one of their prominent former players, as the NHL's release of the 32 club home openers on Wednesday revealed that the club will begin the 2026-27 regular season against Bowen Byram and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, October 3rd.
Byram, 25, who was heading into the final year of a two-year bridge deal, indicated to the Sabres that he would not re-sign with the club and wanted to go someplace where he could be a #1 defenseman. Before the NHL Draft last month, GM Jarmo Kekalainen shipped the blueliner to the Hawks for the #4 overall selection (Daxon Rudolph), defenseman Louis Crevier, and a 2026 second round pick, which was later flipped to Anaheim for blueliner Olen Zellweger.
The Hawks will be without young star Connor Bedard to start the season, as the center suffered a shoulder injury in a summer pickup game and had surgery last week that will keep him out a minimum of four months.
Sabres sign Peyton Krebs to a four-year contract extension
Buffalo will start the schedule on the road in Columbus on Thursday, October 1st against the Blue Jackets.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes will raise their second Stanley Cup championship banner on Sept. 29 before hosting the Florida Panthers to kick off the NHL season.
The opener pits the most recent champions against the winners the previous two years. The Panthers look primed to contend for another title until injuries derailed them and caused them to miss the playoffs. Carolina lost only one game to get through the Eastern Conference, then defeated Vegas in the final to win it all for the first time since 2006.
The league announced home openers for all 32 clubs Wednesday. The full schedule is set to be released on Thursday.
The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins will also face off as part of a five-game curtain raiser. The Chicago Blackhawks visit the Vegas Golden Knights in the nightcap.
Play begins before October as the league moves to an 84-game schedule for the first time since 1993-94. The 1,344 games will be the most in NHL history.
ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues and NHL announced on Wednesday each team's home opener for the 2026-27 season.
The Blues will host the San Jose Sharks for their home opener on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at Enterprise Center.
The Blues are also part of two home openers and will open the regular season on the road, Oct. 2 against the Dallas Stars and Oct. 6 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The league will announce each full 84-game regular-season schedule, and for the Blues it will feature two additional divisional games, on Thursday at noon.
Fans will get the opportunity to get their first glimpses of new additions for the upcoming season, including Mason McTavish, Connor McMichael, Brandon Carlo and Ross Johnston.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that they've signed forward Luke Tuch to a two-year, two-way NHL/AHL contract.
Tuch was acquired by the Blue Jackets in a trade from the Montreal Canadiens on June 25.
In 114 AHL games, Tuch has 28 points. He has zero games played in the NHL.
Tuch will most likely be expected to bring depth to the forward ranks in Cleveland, and could possibly be called up to Columbus should they need him.
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HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 13: Lance McCullers Jr. #43 of the Houston Astros reacts after a strikeout to end the fifth inning during a game against the Seattle Mariners at Daikin Park on May 13, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images) | Getty Images
MLB Trade Rumors: The Milwaukee Brewers are acquiring pitcher Lance McCullers, Jr., from the Houston Astros, according to Astros beat writer Brian McTaggert.
The 32 year old McCullers has spent his entire career up to now with the Astros, having been drafted with the 41st pick of the 2012 MLB Draft (two picks after the Rangers selected Joey Gallo) and signed to a well-above-slot deal out of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida. A consensus top 100 prospect for most of his minor league career, McCullers, the son of former major league pitcher Lance McCullers, was seen as an amateur and early in his professional career as someone with terrific stuff but major questions about his ability to start in the major leagues.
McCullers ended up mostly being a starter in the majors while he was healthy — he has only six major league relief appearances — but he has had huge problems actually staying healthy. He missed all of the 2019, 2023 and 2024 seasons due to injury, and since making it to the majors in 2015, he has made just 148 starts and 6 relief appearances, totaling 813.1 innings pitched.
Just to put McCullers’ durability issues into context, since the start of the 2019 season, McCullers has thrown 359.2 innings over 68 starts and three relief appearances. Jacob deGrom, often pointed to as someone who can’t stay healthy and on the mound, has more than twice as many innings during that time — 742.2 — in 127 starts.
McCullers, who is in the final year of a 5 year, $85 million deal, made 13 starts and three relief appearances in 2025, putting up a 6.51 ERA in 55.1 IP. This year, in eight starts, he has logged 39.1 innings with a 6.86 ERA. He has been on the injured list since mid-May, and is currently on a rehab assignment with AAA Sugar Land, for whom he has made three appearances, the most recent being on July 7.
McCullers has, per McTaggert, a no-trade clause, which he has apparently waived. The Astros would not appear to be sellers — they are just three games back in the American League West and 1.5 games back of the Wild Card. They also just placed Mike Burrows, who has the most starts for the team in 2026, on the injured list — they had initially optioned Burrows to AAA, but had to rescind the option and put him on the major league i.l.
There is no word yet on what Milwaukee is giving up in this deal, but I’m guessing it is minimal. The Astros are just a few million dollars below the Competitive Balance Tax threshold, however, and moving McCullers and his $17 million salary is presumably being done to give them additional flexibility to try to add salary over the next couple of weeks leading up to the trade deadline.
UPDATE — Chandler Rome writes for the Athletic that the Astros have been trying to trade McCullers “for most of the past year,” and that McCullers was part of the package that the Astros were going to send to the Cardinals prior to the 2025 season in a deal for Nolan Arenado that Arenado ended up vetoing.
UPDATE II — The Astros are also sending 27 year old lefthanded pitcher Colton Gordon to Milwaukee in the deal. Gordon, 27, was the Astros’ 8th round pick in 2021. He has 95 innings in the majors over 15 starts and nine relief appearances, with most of his time being logged in 2025. He has a career 5.95 ERA and 5.86 FIP in the majors. Gordon has a 3.69 ERA in 70 innings in AAA this year. He provides the Brewers with an up-and-down guy they can use to supplement their rotation depth, which has taken a hit this year due to injuries.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 14: The Phillie Phanatic and Racing President Teddy race on an ATV during the 2026 MLB All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park on July 14, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Three Likely Call-Ups for Arizona If Tyler Locklear can just stay healthy and he continues to hit like he has been of late, the team will be happy to see him come give the Majors another go.
Other Baseball News
The Haters All-Star Game Holding the All-Star Game in Philadelphia resulted in some interesting experiences all around.
Which Ballplayers Are on Cameo Bryce Harper was emphatic that his likeness was mis-used by the system and Draft Kings. Something tells me he isn’t the only one who was used like this.
Mookie Betts Is Proving Why You Should Never Doubt Him After over a year of recovering from a wasting ailment that saw the diminutive Betts lose 20 pounds in little time, the Los Angeles star is finally bouncing back to be his old self and the improvement comes none to soon for the Dodgers.
Mar 1, 2025; Greenville, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks pitcher Jake McCoy (23) throws to the Clemson Tigers during the top of the first inning at Fluor Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Ruinard/USA Today Network via Imagn Images | Ken Ruinard/USA Today Network via Imagn Images
Josh Elander and Tennessee baseball may have come up short to end the 2026 season, but they’re already one of the biggest winners of the offseason so far. The Volunteers had a big weekend in the MLB Draft, getting several players back to campus that were major draft risks.
Tennessee got another one on Wednesday.
According to a report from Volquest on Wednesday morning, Jake McCoy will not turn pro and will head to Knoxville to join the Volunteers for the 2027 season. The left-handed pitcher was taken in the 18th round by the Blue Jays after missing last season. McCoy will join Tennessee after being with South Carolina.
Tennessee also got center fielder Andrew Duncan after he went in the 19th round. Right-handed pitcher Hayden Simmerson, reliever Ricky Ojeda, infielder Travis Sanders, right-handed pitcher Parker Detmers and infielder Mario Trivella round out the Volunteers’ transfer portal class — all will make it to Knoxville.
Tennessee also got several top freshmen prospects to campus. Right-handers Gannon Grant, Gary Morse and Shawn Sullivan, catcher Sean Dunlap, first baseman AJ Curry, infielders Jack Dugan and Jaxson Wood, along with tw0-way player Cole Koeninger each chose the college route. Several of those names are top prospects in the entire class.
Big-name prospects Trevor Condon and Jared Grindlinger were likely never making it to campus.
With McCoy now in the boat and likely a piece of the weekend rotation, it’s difficult to imagine this offseason going much better for Elander, who frankly needed a shot of energy after how the season fizzled.
“The victory was in everything that remained: a loaded prep class, premium transfer additions and two late-round picks still expected to reach Knoxville,” Baseball America wrote this week. “Few programs entered the draft with more talent exposed to professional baseball. Fewer emerged with this much of it still headed to campus.”
Just as we’ve all come to expect now, expect Tennessee baseball to enter next season with one of the best rosters and highest expectation levels in all of college baseball.
The 2026-27 NHL season will have two major differences.
Each team will play 84 games for the first time since 2003-04 and as a result, the season will start in September.
The season usually starts in early October but the date was moved to Sept. 29 to accommodate the extra two games per team.
The opening day schedule was announced on Wednesday, July 15, and will feature five games, including the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes raising their banner before a 5 p.m. ET game against the 2024 and 2025 champion Florida Panthers.
The Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights will host the Chicago Blackhawks at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Three of the games will be shown on ESPN and the other two on Sportsnet.
The full 2026-27 schedule will be announced on Thursday afternoon.
The @NHL announced today the 2026-27 regular season, expanded to 84 games with the addition of two more divisional contests per team, will open on Tuesday, Sept. 29. In addition, the League announced each team’s home opener.
The NHL never rests, and USA TODAY is keeping tabs on the league all year long with reporters covering every team and transaction. Follow the news on our NHL hub. Get our USA TODAY Sports newsletter in your inbox every morning and join our WhatsApp channel to get the latest updates right in your texts.
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 11: Commissioner of Major League Baseball Robert D. Manfred announces Tyler Spangler as the 36th overall pick by the Philadelphia Phillies during the 2026 MLB Draft presented by Nippon Express at Pennsylvania Convention Center on Saturday, July 11, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The All-Star week festivities have concluded, the game being played, the home runs having been hit and the players having been drafted. It’s all complete and Philadelphia was on full display for the baseball world to enjoy. One of the bigger events was the first year player draft that happened over the weekend, teams filling out their player prospect pool with new choices. The Phillies were among them, realizing several dreams along the way. How the Phillies did was a matter of discussion among several experts, so let’s take a look at how different people believed the team to have done.
I didn’t mention their first two picks yet: SS Tyler Spangler (first round) and CF Caden Bogenpohl (second round). Those two are typical Phillies picks with some risk — does Spangler get to his power in games and what did we miss from not seeing him play this spring? Will Bogenpohl’s swing get optimized to get to his power in games? — but also plenty of ROI if the development objectives are hit.
This draft class is full of extremes: Tyler Spangler was a huge question mark after not playing all spring, Caden Bogenpohl and Will Gasparino have huge power and huge contact questions, Deven Sheerin has one of the wilder deliveries you’ll see and Rhudy has an outlier fastball.
The Phillies’ draft was, admittedly, confusing to me. They took on risk, which is fine, but there are serious question marks surrounding the bats selected. Tyler Spangler missed the spring with an injury (among other things), Caden Bogenpohl has significant hit tool concerns, and Deven Sheerin and Jaxon Jelkin are expected to be relievers. They made decent picks here and there (Macon Winslow, Ruger Riojas, and Patrick Clemmey), but I am curious as to the plan for their class.
The Phillies draft was top-heavy, with a potentially over-slot Spangler up top and what look like some pretty hefty under-slot targets later. Spangler exited last summer as a virtual lock for the middle of the first round or higher, then his team was collectively suspended for partying and he had a stress fracture in his back. He looked rusty at the Combine. If the Phils can get Bogenpohl to tap into his power in games, then they’ll have a second-round steal. With this kind of power, he can run a sub-70% contact rate and still thrive so long as he’s getting to the pop, which he was last able to do freshman year. Riojas and Sheerin could be quick-moving relievers à la Orion Kerkering. Jelkin is a lanky, talented pitcher who had a nomadic college career due to off-field behavior.
A notable prep prospect in 2023 who opted to go to college, Gasparino started at Texas before transferring to UCLA, where he reunited with childhood friend — and fellow son of a scout — Roch Cholowsky. The California native has a massive offensive ceiling with plenty of right-handed pop in his 6-foot-6 frame. He looks more athletic in the box this year and has cut his strikeout rate, which had been a concern. Gasparino’s above-average speed has shown up more with promising center-field defense than on the bases.
