DENVER, COLORADO - MAY 7: Antonio Senzatela #49 of the Colorado Rockies stays warm in the dugout in the eighth inning against the New York Mets at Coors Field on May 7, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Believe it or not, currently the Colorado Rockies bullpen is tied for eighth place with its 1.6 accumulated fWAR. (They are tied with the Miami Marlins.)
Their 4.35 ERA comes in 20th, and their BB/9 of 3.38 comes in ninth.
Probably, a lot of that is due to Chase Dollander’s working with an opener, so let’s set him aside as well as Tanner Gordon, who appears to be headed for Dollander’s spot in the rotation.
Instead, consider the rest of the bullpen:
Zach Agnos
Brennan Bernadino
Jimmy Herget
Jaden Hill
Juan Mejia
Sammy Peralta
Antonio Senzatela
Victor Vodnik
Right now, who’s your All-Star pitcher? Who’s impressed you with his evolution? And who are you concerned about?
May 15, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) shakes hands with San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half during game six of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
To win an NBA championship, a team needs to win 16 playoff games. The majority of the players on the Spurs entered these playoffs without ever playing in an NBA playoff game, let alone winning one, or 16. The Spurs coach is also essentially a rookie, with just over one year of being a head coach — and no NBA playoff experience as either head or assistant coach.
However, the Spurs’ best player had faced the pressure of playing in an Olympic gold-medal game, at home, against a USA team filled with former MVPs and numerous previous gold medals. The Spurs’ second best player ran the table during his one college season, winning the six intense March Madness games necessary to win the NCAA championship. Of course, that is putting the best possible spin on the fact that Victor Wembanyama is only 22, while Stephon Castle is 21. The Spurs third guard, rookie Dylan Harper, is 20, while key bench contributor Carter Bryant, also a rookie, is 20 and looks 16. How young is Bryant? This is how he described Gregg Popovich:
“It’s funny because you hear the stories about him being tough on guys and, obviously, he’s not my head coach, so I don’t kind of get that same experience,” Bryant said. “But I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ This dude is the sweetest, nicest guy. He’s dope.”
Yes, Bryant became the first person in history to describe Pop as “dope”. Bryant is also one of the few 20-year-olds sent in the game specifically to cover a player as good as Anthony Edwards — and he loves the assignment.
And look at this picture from Game 6 in Minnesota, with the Spurs about to go up 54-27 (yes, 54-27) after Victor made this free throw:
The five Spurs in that photo were on the floor on the road in a crucial playoff game. Their ages? 20, 20, 21, 22 and 25 (Devin Vassel is the ancient one). I asked AI if those were the youngest five players to be on the floor together in an NBA playoff game. AI gave me this response:
“Oops, something went wrong.”
Thanks, AI. I guess you won’t be taking over the world quite yet. I think I can answer my question: ‘”Yes.” If anyone can prove me wrong, go for it.
My quick research indicates that the youngest starting unit to win a playoff game may have been this year’s Houston Rockets. The Rockets starters were Reed Shephard (21), Jabari Smith (23), Amen Thompson (23), Alperen Sengun (23) and Tari Eason (25). The Spurs group referenced above calls that Rockets team “the old guys”, like that group of older players on the court as you are calling “winners” so you can blow them off the court in the next game. (I am on that old guy team.)
And now the young inexperienced Spurs get just what they wanted on their latest young birthdays: a chance to go to the NBA Finals. All they need to do is win four games against the best NBA team over the last two seasons, and the best team since the Death Star Warriors. As young Carter Bryant would say: that would be dope.
Other Thoughts
Many others are coming over to my view that the Spurs don’t have too many quality guards — they have the exact right number: three. As I have pointed out several times, teams need to fill 96 minutes between the two guard spots. If spread exactly evenly, that would be 32 minutes each — a number which is fairly close to the maximum number of minutes the Spurs best players have played since the middle of the Popovich era. For instance, while the Great Duncan played more minutes early in his career, he did not average more than 34 minutes per game for the twelve seasons beginning with the 2003-04 season. For these playoffs, the Spurs three wondrous guards averaged 33 minutes (De’Aaron Fox), 32 (Castle), and 25 (Harper). And while the rest of America is discovering how good Harper is, let’s pump the brakes a bit on declaring him the best of the three, though he might be someday (Castle will be tough to overcome). For one thing, Harper has averaged only 2 assists per game in the playoffs, well below Fox (5.8) and Castle (6.1). Instead, let’s just say that each of them is occasionally the best at any given moment, quarter or game. The Spurs’ second superpower (we know who the first one is) is their ability to have two of these guards on the floor at any given time.
These have already been a strange playoffs for Victor. In the first series against the Blazers, he ejected himself by face-planting, leading to a concussion. Then, the NBA ejected him for the elbow against Naz Reid. As a result of those two incidents, and some funky shooting games (both good and bad), Victor’s scoring over the 11 playoff games looks like a scary EKG: 35, 5, 0 (DNP), 27, 17, 11, 39, 27, 4 (ejected), 27 and 19. Interesting question: If Victor had elbowed Reid late in the fourth quarter of Game 4, instead of early in the second quarter, or if the Spurs had won that game,would the NBA have suspended him for Game 5? Because he essentially suspended himself by having to leave Game 4 early, and the Spurs lost, I believe the NBA decided that he and the team had already received the proper punishment.
My college buddy Jamie emailed me this from his home in Baltimore with the series 2-2: “I am looking forward to your analysis. The Spurs always look better, and they will probably win, but the T’wolves are fun to watch and easy to cheer for.” Only someone who has been a Washington Wizards fan would describe the Wolves as “fun to watch”. As one little factoid (stolen from an excellent Jeremy Lin Instagram post), the Spurs averaged 13 more points off assists per game than the Wolves. For me, fun to watch involves unselfish players who enjoy setting up a teammate as much as scoring themselves. To pick a team at random, the 2025-26 Spurs (or the 2014 Beautiful Game Spurs). One of my favorite moments in Game 6 was when Julian Champagnie, having just buried a three-pointer, got the ball even more wide open the next time down court. Instead of shooting, he spotted Victor under the rim and fired the ball to him for a dunk. Fun to watch!
I generally don’t write much about the Eastern Conference (other than the cheap shot about Jamie’s Wizards in the prior section). But, holy cow, the New York Knicks just won seven straight playoff games, the last three by over 25 points. My Knick-fan friends are wearing the same clothes every day so as not to jinx the streak. Perhaps the winner of Spurs-Thunder will have more of a test in the Finals than anyone thought a month ago.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MAY 16: Willson Contreras #40 of the Boston Red Sox celebrateshitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on May 16, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Remember when we just complained about the third time through the order? We didn’t know how good we had it.
Holding on to a slim lead and wanting to give their top bullpen arms a break, the Braves opted not only to run Bryce Elder through the Red Sox order a third time, but also a fourth. While the first two outs of the eighth occurred with little drama, the Braves didn’t budge when a double put the tying run on second. Up came Willson Contreras, and not much later, a no-doubter of a two-run shot turned the game around. While the Braves rallied in the ninth, a ricochet didn’t quite go their way, and that was that. They’ll need to win tomorrow to take the series.
The beginning of this game zipped along, though things got a bit muddy in the middle innings. Jarren Duran hit a double to start the game, but Elder held fast and struck out two to prevent him from advancing. Drake Baldwin then jumped all over a mis-located Payton Tolle sinker and smashed it to deep center for another leadoff homer. Ozzie Albies followed with a barrel of his own, but his didn’t carry out to left. The game then went into turbo mode. There were 13 straight outs before Jose Azocar ripped a double off Tolle. Baldwin then worked a walk, but Albies and Matt Olson made outs in the air to keep it a 1-0 game.
The Red Sox threatened with a couple of soft singles to start the fourth. A number of Braves losses this season have been precipitated by terrible defensive plays in key moments, and that also happened here: Contreras hit a routine, probably should’ve been a double play ball to Austin Riley at third, but Riley booted it and then didn’t even get a force at second in time. The next batter hit a lineout to left that worked a sac fly: the Braves inexplicably took forever to decide whether to challenge, ultimately opted to, but to no avail. (I’m not sure why they thought, if they took them so long to decide whether to challenge, that somehow the borked replay system currently in place in MLB would reward them with an overturn, but here we are.) Elder and the Braves were able to wriggle out of the jam with a couple of outs in the air, but the game was now tied.
And, thus it stayed tied, as there were ten consecutive outs before Azocar hit another double. Starting Tolle’s third trip through the Braves’ gauntlet, Baldwin then came through again, lashing a 108+ mph liner to left that gave the Braves another lead, though he was thrown out trying to take second.
The Braves have been somewhat inconsistent with the urgency of their pitching management this season. I think both sides are understandable, though understandable doesn’t mean pleasant to watch. Pushing the reliever button early could suggest needing to take it easy here and there, though the Braves have played a number of close games due to their great position player production on both sides of the ball, which has made it somewhat hard to find a place to do so. To his credit, Elder didn’t melt down the third time through, working around a two-out Contreras single in the sixth, and then getting three straight balls on the ground to strand a leadoff double in the seventh.
Meanwhile, the Braves just weren’t doing much against Tolle. He wasn’t exactly defeating them, more just letting them hit the ball in the air over and over, but Cedanne Rafaela made a number of nice catches in center and the Braves just didn’t get any ball-in-play fortune, receiving a .130 BABIP on the night.
So, then came the fateful bottom of the eighth, which also heralded Elder’s foray into ye olde 4TTO. There was a pop-out. There was a groundout. Wilyer Abreu poked a double the other way, but the Braves didn’t press the bullpen button. Contreras fouled off a hanging changeup. He chased a buried slider. He took a buried slider. Elder threw a third straight slider. It was low, below the zone, but not so low that Contreras couldn’t demolish it for a game-winner.
Tolle went 1-2-3 in the eighth, finishing his night with a pretty weird line that included just a 3/1 K/BB ratio, a homer allowed, and a grounder rate below 20 percent. Elder was similar with a 3/0 K/BB ratio, but his grounder rate was over 50 percent. The part that would’ve made me gnaw on my shirt if I had pica or whatever was that the Braves ultimately summoned Martin Perez for the ninth, where he had little trouble. If you were going to use Martin Perez for an inning in a close game, why not just use him for two innings, and not have Elder pitch to a lineup a fourth time in the same game? On the one hand, these are the luxuries you can afford to partake in when you have the best record in baseball. On the other hand, I’d rather it be some other team engaging in the eff-ayy-eff-oh Olympics.
The Braves actually threatened in the ninth against Aroldis Chapman, though it didn’t actually result in a comeback. Albies popped out, and Olson hit a very hard liner that was unfortunately right at the shortstop. Riley then reached on a botched throw from that same shortstop, and Chapman floundered about a bit with back-to-back walks on four pitches each.
That brought up Ha-Seong Kim, who hasn’t really hit at all since returning from his Injured List stint and rehab assignment. Kim had a chance to play hero, and he almost did, lining an 0-2 pitch back up the box and off Chapman, who tumbled to the ground but recovered and tossed it to first in time to end the game. If the ball had gone through Chapman, it’s likely an easy out; if it ricochets away a bit further, this game is tied and I’m probably writing some other flavor of recap, the massive 34TTO blunder/self-inflicted wound overshadowed by whatever else happened. But, as we’ve seen for a while now, the beneficence, or lack thereof, of a ricochet off the pitcher seems to be nigh-deterministic, and this one did not go the Braves’ way.
They can still win the series tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll go back to chasing wins and whatnot.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 13: Roki Sasaki #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers warms up on the mound prior to the game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on May 13, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers finish off their weekend series against the Angels on Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, with Roki Sasaki on the mound for the series finale.
This will be the first career game against the Angels for Sasaki.
Grayson Rodriguez is expected to be activated from the injured list to make his Angels debut on Sunday, after missing the first seven-plus weeks of the season with right shoulder inflammation. Rodriguez struck out 11 last Sunday in 4 2/3 innings in a rehab start for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga against the Dodgers’ affiliate Ontario.
Boots discarded by alleged illegal miners are seen at Porto do Arame, located on the banks of the Uraricoera river, the main access point for people trying to leave illegal mining sites inside Yanomami indigenous land in Roraima state, Brazil on February 7, 2023. (Photo by MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
The Texas Rangers scored one while the Houston Astros scored four home runs.
The Rangers had five more hits tonight than last night! Six hits! That’s pretty good. That’s one more hit than Houston! They also walked eight times. That’s a ton of baserunners!
The bad news is none of Texas’ hits went for extra bases and only one of them produced a run — a run that scored when the game was 4-0 — which means Texas has now scored one run in 18 innings against the team that has allowed by far the most runs in the big leagues this year.
Meanwhile, the Astros hit the most home runs that Jacob deGrom has ever allowed in a start. I guess on the bright side, they were all solo shots.
The Rangers have not gotten off on a good foot in their quest for the Silver Boot, I dare say.
Player of the Game: Joc Pederson singled in the Rangers’ first and only run of the series in the top of the seventh.
Up Next: The Rangers will try to avoid getting swept tomorrow afternoon with RHP Nathan Eovaldi expected back on the mound for Texas opposite RHP Peter Lambert for Houston.
The Sunday matinee first pitch from Daikin Park is scheduled for 1:10 pm CDT and will be carried on the Rangers Sports Network.
May 16, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Connor Prielipp (61) throws to the Milwaukee Brewers in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
The Twins got a career-best start from Connor Prielipp, who struck out eight Brewers and held them to three hits in a six-inning start, but could only prop up a single run despite outhitting the visiting Milwaukee victors.
After squandering a second-inning opportunity with two men in scoring position and nobody out — then a one-out, bases loaded situation — the Twins were able to touch Logan Henderson in the third, when Trevor Larnach welcomed himself back to the batting order by smacking a homer just over the right-field wall.
The lead, unfortunately, proved short-lived. After a single and a walk set up a scoring chance for the Crew, it was a left-side bouncer getting past Royce Lewis that allowed Brice Turang to rush home and tie the game. But it was an unearned run, and the hit that put Turang on the basepaths was the only knock allowed by rookie Connor Prielipp through the first five innings of another rock-solid start.
At right around 70 pitches, Prielipp was trusted with entering the sixth inning for the first time in his big-league career. Jackson Chourio decided to call that decision into question immediately, blasting his first dinger of the year into left-center field, and putting Milwaukee up 2-1 on only their second hit of the ballgame.
Prielipp stayed locked in through the rest of his start, striking out two more batters in the sixth to bring his line up to eight on the evening. So far, he’s done what it says on the tin; a strong xBA and an ability to generrate chase and swing-and-miss has rewarded him with a 2.88 ERA to open up his Baseball Reference table.
With the bullpen able to hold the score tonight, the Twins’ best chance to tie the game came in the seventh, when James Outman’s one-out triple put him 90 feet away from home; unfortunately for him, a bloop flyout snagged by Chourio and a 3-1 groundout that saw reliever Chad Patrick beat Brooks Lee to the bag ended the threat.
So, with the game improbably held by a combination of Eric Orze and Yoendrys Gomez, Minnesota remained down by a 2-1 score heading into the bottom of the ninth. For Milwaukee, Chad Patrick effectively piggybacked with Henderson, taking over in the sixth and going the distance in a 50-pitch relief appearance. A pop-out from Kody Clemens and a rather rough swinging strikeout by Royce Lewis set the stage for Tristan Gray to line out softly to short, and send the mostly-Wisconsinite crowd home happy.
As has been the case in far too many Twins games in 2026, there were some inspiring takeaways from some of the young starting pitching, but the rest of the team failed to put together a complete effort.
Minnesota plays to avoid the sweep tomorrow. See you then!
Blake Snell is the latest pitcher headed for elbow surgery, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Snell is having loose bodies removed from his left elbow and is out indefinitely.
The procedure has become an unwelcome trend across the sport. New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon had a delayed start to the 2026 season after having the surgery to remove loose bodies and a bone spur shaved down.
Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, a two-time Cy Young Award winner like Snell, underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies after a flare-up earlier this month.
The typical recovery time for this surgery is two to three months. But Skubal’s surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, used a device called the NanoNeedle Scope 2.0, which could significantly shorten that timeline. Nine days after the procedure, Skubal had already started playing catch.
Snell, 33, shares the same agent as Skubal, Scott Boras, so there has been speculation he could use the same procedure. Roberts said he was not sure what surgery Snell would have.
This would be the second time Snell has had loose bodies removed from his elbow. He also had surgery in July 2019 when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. He returned two months later.
Snell has a long history with injuries.
Snell had just made his season debut a week before after missing the first six weeks with shoulder fatigue and inflammation. In his lone start of 2026, Snell gave up five runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out five over three innings.
A 2018 and 2023 Cy Young Award winner, Snell signed a five-year $182 million deal with the Dodgers in November 2024. He missed two months last season with shoulder inflammation before returning to go 4-4 with a 2.41 ERA in nine regular season starts. He pitched 34 postseason innings, posting a 3.18 ERA as the Dodgers won the 2025 World Series. He cited that workload as a reason for the shoulder issues this spring.
Will Vancouver Canucks prospect Danila Klimovich be heading to the KHL?
According to his agent, Dan Milstein, the forward will not be.
With both Vancouver and the Abbotsford Canucks’s 2025–26 seasons wrapped-up, and Klimovich waiting for a new contract with the Canucks, rumours have floated of the forward signing in the KHL, which would end his five-year tenure with the AHL team.
Earlier today, Milstein clarified the rumours for a second time, confirming that Klimovich would not be going to the KHL at this moment.
“Fake news,” he wrote on X in a response to an article claiming that his client would be heading to the KHL.
Milstein also confirmed this to David Quadrelli of CanucksArmy earlier in the week, writing that the “KHL is not being considered at this time at all.”
Klimovich was drafted 41st overall in the 2021 NHL Draft but has yet to make his NHL debut. The forward has played on Abbotsford since the 2021–22 season, reaching career-highs in 2024–25 with 25 goals and 13 assists in 65 games played. He is currently tied with Linus Karlsson for Abbotsford’s franchise-high in all-time goals-scored with 70.
Klimovich is one of four players currently in the Canucks organization who are represented by Milstein, with the others being Evander Kane, Max Sasson, and Kirill Kudryavtsev. Milstein also represents Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, Montréal Canadiens rookie Ivan Demidov, and former Canucks forward Ilya Mikheyev.
Klimovich’s current contract will expire come the 2026 off-season, making him a restricted free-agent if the Canucks opt not to re-sign him.
Sep 26, 2025; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Danila Klimovich (9) reaches for the loose puck against the Seattle Kraken in the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
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ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 11: Freddie Freeman #5 of the Los Angeles Dodgers at bat in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 11, 2025 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After four losses in a row, the Dodgers try for their fourth win in a row on Saturday night in Orange County. The day-off carousel lands on Kyle Tucker for this one, with Alex Call starting in right field.
Sky Blues claim semi-final on penalties and will face Auckland FC in decider
Coach Patrick Kisnorbo hails ‘mental toughness’ of Sydney side
Sydney FC’s head coach Patrick Kisnorbo has hailed the “resilience and mental toughness” of his side as they punched their ticket to the A-League Men grand final, winning a pulsating semi-final against premiers Newcastle on penalties.
The Sky Blues opened the scoring on Saturday night through Piero Quispe’s 64th-minute goal, before a relentless Eli Adams made it 1-1 with a thunderous strike late in injury time to send the game into extra time at McDonald Jones Stadium.
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 11: Trevor McDonald #72 of the San Francisco Giants pitches during the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium on Monday, May 11, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Nicole Vasquez/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
It’s time for game two of the series between the San Francisco Giants and their former neighbors, the one-named Athletics.
At the time of me writing this, a few days in advance, the scheduled matchup is right-handers Trevor McDonald and Luis Severino. McDonald has made two starts on the season, and is 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA, a 4.00 FIP, and 12 strikeouts against two walks in 12.1 innings. Severino has made nine starts, and is 2-4 with a 4.07 ERA, a 4.42 FIP, and 47 strikeouts against an MLB-worst 29 walks in 48.2 innings.
Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell is set to undergo surgery next Tuesday to remove loose bodies from his elbow, according to manager Dave Roberts, but there is optimism he could return sooner than the 2-3 months such procedures typically require.
While the exact nature of the operation Snell will have next week is still being determined, multiple sources told The California Post that there is hope he will be able to utilize a new medical technology called the NanoNeedle Scope 2.0 — which is a smaller version of a typical arthroscope that allows for less invasive procedures and a potentially faster recovery time.
The Dodgers’ Blake Snell hopes to return sooner than expected after having surgery next week. AP
On May 6, two-time reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal became the first known major-league pitcher to have such a procedure, which was performed by renowned sports surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache (who is the Dodgers’ head team physician and will also perform Snell’s surgery).
Already, Skubal is back to playing catch. And according to The Post’s Jon Heyman, he could return in as little as six weeks.
Snell’s exact timeline won’t be clear until his surgery is completed, according to sources. But Roberts said “it’s supposed to be a lot quicker recovery,” citing the surgical options that would be available for the 33-year-old pitcher.
Snell had a more traditional loose-body removal to address the same elbow problem in 2019 while he was playing with the Rays. That year, he missed two months before returning to the mound.
Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz also had loose bodies removed from his elbow last month. He is expected to be sidelined until the second half of the year.
The reason Snell’s current situation makes him a candidate for the NanoNeedle procedure, one source said, is because of where the loose bodies in his elbow are located.
As ElAttrache explained in an interview with The Athletic while discussing Skubal’s recent surgery, the NanoNeedle method also has little downside. If it’s unable to remedy the problem, a traditional arthroscope can still be used instead.
Snell will certainly be hoping to return as fast as possible.
Already this year, he had missed more than a month to begin the campaign while recovering from offseason shoulder fatigue, which stemmed from a shoulder injury that cost him four months during his debut campaign with the Dodgers in 2025.
He only made his season debut last weekend, pitching three innings in a loss to the Atlanta Braves.
While the Dodgers had Snell take his time with his build-up process this year –– hoping to avoid another elongated absence like he experienced last year –– the left-hander ultimately returned to the active roster a week sooner than expected, skipping a final scheduled minor-league rehab outing after Tyler Glasnow went on the injured list with back spasms.
Snell and Tyler Glasnow’s injuries have caused a pitching crunch for the Dodgers, who are down to five healthy starters. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Now that they are without both Snell and Glasnow, the Dodgers are facing their first true pitching crunch of the season, down to just five healthy starters.
They are hopeful of getting Glasnow back in the somewhat near future, though he has been limited to only flat-ground catch play in recent days and likely remains at least a couple weeks away from returning.
Former top prospect River Ryan is their best option to call up from Triple-A. But he recently missed a month on the minor-league injured list with a hamstring problem and has made just three outings this year in his return from a Tommy John surgery.
Thus, the Dodgers might have to roll with just a five-man rotation for now — which presents complications as they work around the roughly one-start-per-week schedule of their three Japanese pitchers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Shohei Ohtani.
It could result in an added short-term strain on their bullpen, which had to cover all nine innings of Friday’s game after Snell was scratched.
But if things go as the Dodgers hope, Snell might not be out as long as initially feared, raising the possibility of their pitching staff getting back to full strength at some point this summer.
“He said he was just excited to have a date on the calendar [for the surgery],” Roberts said of Snell, whom he has communicated with via text, “to get it taken care of, get back to playing catch and getting back to joining us.”
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 15: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs and Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves lock arms after the game during Round Two Game Six of the 2026 NBA Playoffs on May 15, 2026 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
I was seven years old when my father first taught me how to play blackjack.
Whether that is a particularly normal thing to teach a child of that age is perhaps a conversation for another time, but it is, for me, a formative and happy childhood memory.
Having spent the better part of a week vacationing at my father’s boss’s coastal vacation home, we were beginning to run out of card games to play. Old Maid, Go Fish, Kings In the Corner, Spades, Cheat, Spoons, and Uno had all been played ad nauseam, and the beach-house (very purposely) lacked a television set, much less a VCR.
We had only ourselves, and our diversions, and the ocean at the shore. It was, in retrospect, a remarkably lo-fi moment in our lives, preceding the technological onslaught to come.
We read books out loud, and wrestled on the living room floor, and spent time on the beach until our burgeoning sunburns drove us back inside like vampires fleeing the dawn. We marinated in the scent of spices and fresh crustacean boiling in the cavernous kitchen, and sprawled about the dining room table telling all the jokes we knew, and making up worse ones. And then, after the meal, it was down to business.
“Remember, the dealer has to take a hit on 16 or lower”, my father reminded me, as I asked for a somewhat inadvisable hit on a 17 of my own.
“What’s a hard 17 again?”
“A 17 with no aces.”
“Oh, I have an ace. What does that mean?”
“That means you have a soft 17. Your ace can be an 11 or a 1.”
“It’s a 1 if I go over, right?”
“Right. But right now I’m showing a 6, which mean I’ll probably have to take a hit unless I have an ace too.”
“Because the dealer has to stand on 17, right?”
“In our game, yes. But not in all games. In our game, if I have an ace, we’ll push. We’ll tie.”
“I don’t wanna tie. I wanna win. I want a card.”
The card came off the deck and revealed itself as a 2.
“Ok, that’s 19. Do you want to stay?”
“The next card will be high, right?”
“Maybe. It’s not looking good for me.”
“Yeah, I’ll stay.”
My father flipped his second card. It was also an ace.
“Well, that’s 17. I have to stay.”
“I win?”
“Yep. But only in our game. In a casino maybe not. I’d get to take another hit.”
“Good thing we’re not at a casino.”
“Mhmm. And that it’s not your money. It’s harder when it’s your money.”
“How is it harder?”
“Well, do you have any money?”
“No. I spent it all.”
“I guess you’ll just have to find out one day.”
We spent the rest of the vacation playing blackjack when we were indoors, until I was certain I’d mastered the game. I knew when to take a hit. I knew when to stand. I’d gotten good at anticipating what might be coming based on what was on the board. It wasn’t card counting per se, but it was the best I’d ever been with numbers.
We ended up playing blackjack on a lot of subsequent vacations, and I was delighted to find in adulthood, in my first encounter with Las Vegas, that I’d retained the knoweldge.
Maybe that shouldn’t have been so surprising considering how I took to compiling and accumulating box scores in the years just after that first brush with Vingt-et-un.
I’d cut them out of newspapers the night after games (when the paper had been fully read) and keep them in my room, sometimes on my walls (like Tim Duncan’s Game 6 masterpiece against the New Jersey Nets), but more often in piles on the top of my dresser, or the tiny square of laminate ‘wood’ with legs that I called a desk.
It felt like there was more information than the information I was getting, as I tracked the ups-and-downs of important Spurs players in my spiral notebooks. Having gone through much of my mother’s storage, I suspect that they are long-lost at this point, but I still fantasize about finding the notebook that I dedicated to Stephen Jackson, Malik Rose, and Speedy Claxton, as I tried to figure out which one the Spurs should make an effort to keep.
I’m not 100% sure why these were the memories that San Antonio’s thrashing of the Minnesota Timberwolves triggered for me. I was certain that the game was over halfway through third quarter, in the midst of the 3rd straight 36+ point frame from the Silver and Black, just on the conscious side of dozing with the comforting weight of my daughter sleeping on my chest.
(Her sole contribution before passing out was to remark that 100 is a big number)
With every closing flicker of my own eyelids came a memory. With every opening, the massacre of reality.
How am I going to write about this? Do I just say that everyone played well?
I mean, they really did. Kelly Olynyk, Jordan McLaughlin, and Lindy Waters III all played two thirds of the fourth quarter. Only one member of the regular rotation played more than 27 minutes.
With eight minutes left in the game and a 30 point deficit, the valiant but ailing Anthony Edwards personally congratulated Spurs players before retiring to rest his banged-up knees for next season, the opposite of the comportment of the extra-physical ‘Jordan Rule’ Pistons that they were sometimes exasperatingly compared to at the start of the series.
In the end they were more paper tigers than the superstar thwarters so many outside the fan-base had hoped they’d be. Whether by dint of injury and/or inferior roster flexibility, they were forced to stand on 17.
The Spurs were playing with house money, deeper and more advantageously capable of adjusting, and lacking a certain weight of expectation due to the seasons preceding this one.
And while I have spent most of this year’s postseason blowouts reminding myself and others not to put the cart before the horse, I couldn’t help but look ahead to the match-up on the horizon, and the reality that expectations are about to really and truly change.
Before the opening of the season, even the most ardent of Spurs supporters and journalists considered the Western Conference Finals to be the absolute and remotest peak on the horizon. Most agreed that avoiding the Play-In and defeating a first round opponent would be an acceptable and reasonable limit.
But now the Spurs are on the doorstep of a Finals appearance in Victor Wembanyama’s 3rd season, and facing a team they went 4-1 against in the regular season.
The rules have changed. All things considered, the Thunder are more flexible and more talented and healthier than the Timberwolves were, and just as (if not more) physical, with a habitually favorable whistle to boot.
The Spurs can’t count on them to stand on a soft 17. The Thunder are going to take the hit. They’re going to have home-court advantage. They’re the house, and the house has the odds in their favor.
It’s almost guaranteed that the Spurs will have to make the exactly right play at the exactly right time, and this time, they won’t be able to afford the lapses they had against the Trailblazers and the Timberwolves.
They are no longer playing with house money. The cost will be their own, and that of the city that supports them. A loss here might haunt them, and that can go two very different ways. They’re too young to know better, and I sincerely hope that they get to stay that way.
Playing in Vegas with my own cash at stake, I found myself second-guessing moves that I would never have thought about twice in the past. It was money that I had set aside for exactly that purpose, but the brain can have expectations in direct opposition to that of the nervous system in the same way that Spurs fans can intellectually hold reasonable perspectives about how this team has exceeded all expectations and still become unmoored by the not-unreasonable desire for more.
It’s strange to be experiencing this all over again at the age I am now. I’ve seen variations of this story play out before, and I can see most of the plot points before they arrive, and yet it’s somehow a new experience all over again, except that now instead of the youth being soothed by the experience of the adults on the court, I find myself carrying hopefully anxiety for the prosperity of youth. I wonder how much more of my life will become that way.
And yet, I find that the wonderful chaos of this season and postseason has revealed itself as an ace in a soft 17.
Hit me. I’m ready for whatever card is next.
Takeways
We have to talk about the masterclass that Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell put on against Julius Randle in this series. Prior to the series, Randle was the obvious mismatch for a Spurs team that struggles with size at Power-Forward specifically. My thought was that the Spurs should let Randle shoot himself into a hole while the Spurs spent most of their time and energy on Ant Edwards. And there’s a reason that I’m not coaching in the NBA, because Sean Sweeney pulled out his previous playbook against the Wolves, and decided to alternate sending doubles at both of them. This was incredibly affective against Randle, who had lost his favorite passing target in Donte DiVincenzo against Denver, and his inability to anticipate these doubles seemed to shake him somewhat, as he was a turnover machine and forced some very ill-advised shots. But, most tellingly, he seemed to decline taking shots at all over the last two games, as Castle and Vassell smothered him in equal measure. This was, at least to me, a big, big deal, with teams in the Thunder and (potentially) the Knicks also being capable of exploiting what I was previously concerned would be a fatal flaw. Both of those teams are now going to have to figure out a way to deal with that when/if they face the Spurs.
As it turns out, when the Spurs three guards combine for 68 points very efficient points, San Antonio becomes an absolute juggernaut. This game served as yet another perfect example of why all three of these guards are critical to what the Spurs can do, and how they can absolutely unravel defenses with some of the best rim-protectors and perimeter defenders in the league. All previous elaboration and hedging aside, if the Spurs do this regularly, it just will not matter who they’re matched up with. Wemby opens up everything for these guards, and each one is different enough to pose varying challenges for the defense in such a way that it opens it right back up for Wemby and the perimeter snipers. Stephon Castle was absolutely irresistible in this one, but the filthy varieties of perimeter penetration from the other two had Minnesota’s defenders seeing ghosts by the middle of the second quarter, and only a spate of turnovers and defensive mistakes really let the Wolves back in the game at all.
Carter Bryant has this really funny thing going on, where when I see him on the court, he looks amazing even when his shot looks awkward, and then shows confusingly little in the box score, and then looks almost as amazing in the advanced stats. There are some thing about his game right now that don’t easily convey, but he’s been on Luke Kornet’s level when it comes to doing the dirty work and making the effort play, and he gave both Randle and Edwards trouble while gobbling up rebounds like Pac-Man after eating a power-pellet. If that shot comes along in the off-season, I’m willing to go out an a limb and say that he could transform into a reasonable facsimile of another forward who came to the Spurs with an awkward shot and staggering athleticism. The Spurs don’t even need to draft outside of best pick available at the rate that Bryant is improving. He’s overshadowed by the majestic poise and maneuvers of fellow rookie Dylan Harper (who I personally like to refer to as ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’), but he’s doing shocking work in the postseason for someone who got very little playing time comparatively-speaking, and I think this draft could go down as one of the best in Spurs history.
Despite reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2024, the Minnesota Timberwolves front office decided they needed to move on from Karl-Anthony Towns (and his contract) if they were going to make one more step forward. They traded KAT to the Knicks, betting that the combination of Julius Randle with the depth of Donte DiVincenzo would be the upgrade they needed.
If one thing became clear in the six games against San Antonio that ended Minnesota's season (despite the injuries they faced), it's that there is a large gap between the young, improving Spurs and the Timberwolves.
What's next for Minnesota? How does it take that next step forward?
Minnesota to pursue Antetokounmpo
Minnesota was one of the teams in conversation with Milwaukee about Giannis Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline, and the two-time MVP reportedly had interest in pairing with Anthony Edwards. However, at that time, the Bucks were gauging the market more than looking for a deal, league sources told NBC Sports.
That vibe has changed this offseason, with the Bucks sounding serious about a clean break. Expect the Timberwolves to be back in the conversation for Antetokounmpo, reports Jon Krawczynski at The Athletic.
One key question in this: Milwaukee is going to ask for Jaden McDaniels as well as a matching salary (Randle at $33 million or Rudy Gobert at $36.5 million are the most likely fits), plus draft picks. A third team likely has to be involved to add picks and make it work. Would Minnesota be willing to trade McDaniels, who, along with Naz Reid, makes up a core part of the Timberwolves' identity?
Even if they do, will that be enough? Will Antetokounmpo want to play with Edwards badly enough to push for this, or will he decide his best path back to the Finals is to stay in the East and push for a trade to a team there? Everything is still up in the air with Antetokounmpo, but Milwaukee will be in the mix.
If not Antetokounmpo, then what?
About the only thing that feels certain in Minnesota this offseason is that the team will focus on re-signing free agent Ayo Dosunmu, whom the Timberwolves acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline and who has become a key shot-creation option.
Aside from that, look for team president Tim Connelly to go big game hunting, Krawczynski reports.
Nearly every big name that has come available over the last few years, from Durant to Antetokounmpo to Ja Morant and James Harden, has at least been discussed internally. That will only shift into overdrive now.
For his part, Edwards thinks Minnesota's roster can compete with San Antonio and Oklahoma City (when healthy).
"I feel like we good," Edwards said at exit interview day when asked about adding another star.
There are parts of this core that the front office also believes can win, Krawczynski reports.
As disappointing as the finish to this season was, the Timberwolves do feel good about the core of Edwards, McDaniels, Reid and [center Joan] Beringer going forward. They will have some big decisions to make, but were encouraged by how the team did pull together to play for one another in the playoffs.
(Beringer was Minnesota's first-round pick last year and a player the team likes to take a big step forward next season.)
Expect changes, maybe big changes, around that core. Minnesota got an up-close look at where San Antonio is setting the bar in a West where it may not even be the best team. And a conference that still has Luka Doncic with the Lakers and Nikola Jokic with the Nuggets.
Minnesota is a good team, but the next step is the hardest one to take. They are going to try to take that step this summer.
José Berríos’ delayed start to the season could turn into a full missed season.
The Blue Jays’ right-hander, who has been sidelined since elbow inflammation was first detected as he geared up to pitch for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, will undergo surgery Wednesday to repair a stress fracture and loose bodies in his elbow.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that Dr. Keith Meister will also evaluate Berríos for possible ligament damage.
Berríos is expected to miss at least a couple of months, which could turn into the entire season if worst-case fears are realized or if the Blue Jays are out of the playoff hunt when he could return.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher José Berríos throws a pitch during the second inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on March 25, 2025. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
“There may be some ligament stuff going on,” Schneider said. “They’re going to figure that out when they’re in there.”
Berríos made four rehab starts at Triple-A but was shut down after experiencing discomfort during his May 3 outing.
“There’s always risk with pitchers,” Schneider said. “Even if they’re healthy as can be, there’s always risk. That’s a risk that both he and we accepted when we said, ‘Keep throwing.’”
It’s essentially a continuation of a frustrating eight months for Berríos, who was 9-5 in 31 appearances for the Blue Jays last season.
But he landed on the injured list in September and missed the playoff run to the World Series due to elbow inflammation.
Berríos has an opt-out clause in his contract that could be exercised after this season.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jose Berrios reacts after giving up a two-run home run to Philadelphia Phillies’ Kody Clemens during the second inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Philadelphia. AP Photo/Matt Slocum
He has two years and $48 million remaining on his contract.
Considering the uncertainty of his health, it seems unlikely that Berríos would opt out even if he does end up making his season debut.
The Blue Jays’ rotation already is without Shane Bieber, Max Scherzer and Cody Ponce.
Berríos, 31, has been a model of stability during an era of heightened arm injuries.
He made at least 30 starts in each of the last seven 162-game seasons and 12 in the shortened 60-game season in 2020.
