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Bobbing back from the trade deadline, mostly unscathed (positively and negatively), the Mariners take on the Tigers for a three-game, midweek set at home. Think of it as a buffer, a practice round, a get-right, momentum-builder before the Rays arrive.

The practice of declawing a cat has been deemed so cruel that in many countries it’s actually banned. Because cat’s claws develop from tissue in the bones of their toes, it’s not simply a removal of the claws themselves, but a surgical amputation of those end bones. It’s an intensive procedure with a high rate of post-operation complications and, depending on studies, can lead to disruptive behavioral changes likely linked to the corresponding psychological damage of the surgery. I’m not a Tigers fan, so I cannot speak to the pain of the trade deadline, but this was a team looking to contend at the start of the season and they arrive in Seattle distinctly less dangerous than any would have hoped.

Thank goodness for Dillon Dingler, am I right, Detroit?? He and likely Rookie of the Year Kevin McGonigle are almost singlehandedly hoisting this offense into mediocrity. Riley Greene has been fighting his own sky-high K% in pursuit of adding additional value alongside Gleyber Torres who is somehow still not 30 years old, a fact that is actively making it difficult to move on to anything else.

But in my defense,there isn’t honestly much to move on to, when it comes to the Tigers’ offense. Am I still scared of Kerry Carpenter? Of course, some wounds take longer to heal than others. But is it logical? Decidedly not. Spencer Torkelson spent years hearing concerns about his strikeout rate and this season took a flying cannonball into the shallow end of a pool bellowing “Check THIS shit out!!”

Probable Pitchers 

Updated Stuff+ Explainer 

• Stuff+ scores for Mariners starters

After racing through the Tigers farm system, Troy Melton burst onto the scene last year, serving as a spot starter and fireman reliever for them during their playoff run. Elbow inflammation delayed his start to this season but he’s been one of Detroit’s best pitchers since being activated off the IL in late May. He’s allowed more than two runs in a start just once this season, though his peripherals don’t exactly support such gaudy run prevention. With an excellent fastball, a tight gyro slider, and a diving splitter forming a solid foundation for his pitch mix, the development of his cutter has helped him take a big step forward. He’s throwing that pitch a few ticks harder and it has a bit more horizontal break as well. That gives him a fourth above average pitch to deepen his repertoire.

This was supposed to be Tarik Skubal’s spot in the Tigers rotation but he was traded to the Dodgers on Saturday. Instead, Ty Madden will step into the rotation to make his second start of the season. He’s been used as a bulk reliever behind an opener for 10 of his 11 appearances this year so it’s possible Detroit will go with that strategy on Wednesday too. Madden has a deep, six-pitch repertoire that makes up for a pretty mediocre fastball. His slider, cutter, and splitter are all solid secondary offerings, which often means he’s pitching backwards, driving his walk rate up as he works to avoid allowing too much hard contact. 

From a previous series preview:

A familiar foe from his time in Houston, Framber Valdez signed a huge free agent contract with the Tigers this offseason. The idea was that he’d form a formidable one-two punch atop Detroit’s starting rotation with Skubal, though that hasn’t exactly played out as planned. Valdez has struggled a bit this year; his strikeout rate and his groundball rate are the lowest they’ve ever been. Those were his two calling cards during his time with the Astros. For whatever reason, he’s allowing a bunch more contact, and the majority of it is in the air.

The Big Picture:

Honestly, who the heck knows. They’re 2.5 games back of the division, 2 back of a Wild Card spot and the former is definitely where they should be concentrating their energy. The Astros are battling the Blue Jays, the Rangers are scrapping with the Giants and the Guardians (their primary competition for Wild Card #3) are preparing to steamroll over the smoking, hulking whale carcass of the Mets, which sits on the proverbial beach ready to explode at a moment’s notice.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country.

The Yankees have secured a couple of assets that have the potential to be crucial factors in the AL pennant race.

Adding Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos to the lineup adds some fuel to the Yankees’ offense, noting García Jr.’s impressive home run in his Bronx debut, but raises concerns about the available relievers going forward. During the series opener against the Cardinals on Monday night, Angel Chivilli struggled in the eighth and gave up six earned runs to ultimately hand St. Louis the 13-7 win. He has been solid for the Yankees since coming up to the majors, but nights like this can leave a lasting impact on how the remainder of the season unfolds. Looking ahead, the Yankees must maintain a confident bullpen to tighten the race for the division.

When reviewing the Yankees’ acquisitions at the deadline, what grade would you give the front office? It seems likely that fans felt there was more to be desired, but we encourage you to share your thoughts!

• A (Optimistic with the Yankees’ new additions and have a positive feeling about how they’ll impact the offense)
• B (Hopeful that the acquisitions will give the Yankees offense an extra boost to fuel the playoff push)
• C (Somewhat dissatisfied with what the Yankees failed to execute, including the addition of a new catcher)
• D (Disappointment in how the Yankees approached the deadline, adding new additions to the offense instead of relievers)
• F (Frustrated about the Yankees’ moves and skeptical of their impact for the remainder of the season)

Cast your votes in the Feed poll below (or on the homepage), and we’ll provide a deeper analysis of the results in a few days.

After making a couple of outsideadditions at the trade deadline, the New York Yankees are now looking internally for what they hope will be another helping (farm) hand in their playoff push.

Infielder George Lombard Jr., the team's top minor league prospect, is getting the call to the majors for Tuesday night's home game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Yankees have gotten disappointing results this season from two former top prospects, outfielder Jasson Dominguez and shortstop Anthony Volpe, so much so that both are expected to be sent to the team's Class Triple-A affiliate in Scranton-Wilkes Barre (Pennsylvania) to open up a roster spot for Lombard and trade deadline acquisition Heliot Ramos.

After a 13-7 loss to the Cardinals on Monday, Aug. 3, the Yanks (63-50) sit 3½ games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East division.

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After falling 13-7 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, in a game that saw 10 home runs, the New York Yankees look to regroup as -186 home favorites tonight.

My Cardinals vs. Yankees predictions and MLB picks think that's too steep a price to pay with Ryan Weathers toeing the rubber on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

Who will win Cardinals vs Yankees today: Cardinals moneyline (+152)

This is a bit of a lean, but the value on the St. Louis Cardinals is too good to pass up.

New York Yankees left-hander Ryan Weathers has been fine. His 3.99 ERA is certainly respectable, but his peripherals do not inspire much confidence, even against a Cardinals lineup that has looked fairly anemic aside from last night's explosion.

Weathers generates a fair amount of swing-and-miss (73rd-percentile strikeout rate), but he always seems to get squared up at some point by opposing offenses, as evidenced by his 25th-percentile barrel rate and 23rd-percentile hard-hit rate.

The Cardinals have been somewhat middling against left-handers, overall, but Jordan Walker and Ivan Herrera have thrived in the split. Even if Walker has cooled a bit lately, he owns a 153 wRC+ vs. lefties, which is not only the best on the team but a Top-15 mark across MLB (min. 100 plate appearances).

St. Louis starter Hunter Dobbins isn't a dominant hurler. However, he keeps the ball on the ground relatively well (45.5% ground-ball rate), and he can navigate a depleted Yankees lineup well enough to give the Cardinals a chance to win at significant plus money.

I'd play this down to +135.

COVERS INTEL: Walker is succeeding due to pure strength. Despite a 13th-percentile squared-up rate and a 50th-percentile sweet-spot launch angle average, he's still hit 22 home runs. He may only be a minor adjustment or two away from really taking off.

Cardinals vs Yankees Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-116)

For as many runs as crossed the plate on Monday night, the Yankees didn't burn closer David Bednar, lefty set-up man Brent Headrick, or long reliever Paul Blackburn. That trio has served as New York's most reliable relief arms this season, so if Weathers exits early, the Yankees are in good shape to stop the bleeding.

And despite the Cardinals' offensive outburst, including three home runs off the bat of Alec Burleson alone, the Cardinals are batting .214 with a 70 wRC+ over the last 30 days. Both are MLB lows over that time.

Weather conditions also favor a lower-scoring output, with wind blowing in toward home plate from right field. This is expected to suppress extra-base hit potential and limit scoring opportunities, per BallparkPal.

This isn't a case of "these teams scored all of their runs last night," but a situation that lends to a more conservative scoring total. I'd play the Under 8.5 to -130 and consider Under 7.5 if it's +130 or longer.

Cardinals vs Yankees Home Run pick: Ivan Herrera (+650)

Herrera is the second-best Cardinals slugger against left-handed pitching. He rarely strikes out in the matchup (13.4%) and has hit five of his 12 home runs off of southpaws. 

The odds for him to clear the fences are among the highest on the board, with Burleson closer to +400 despite much worse numbers in the split.

Make it a half-unit wager because the weather conditions aren't ideal for power, but I like the number we're getting on one of the team's premier lefty-mashers.

Cardinals vs Yankees weather

Sunny with 5-9 mph winds blowing in from right field, which could prevent Yankee Stadium from playing small, as it did last night.

Cardinals vs Yankees odds

• Moneyline: Cardinals +178 | Yankees -186
• Run line: Cardinals +1.5 (-122) | Yankees -1.5 (+117)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+104) | Under 8.5 (-108)

Cardinals vs Yankees trend

The St. Louis Cardinals have hit the Moneyline in 27 of their last 50 away games (+8.80 Units / 17% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Cardinals vs. Yankees.

How to watch Cardinals vs Yankees and game info

Cardinals vs Yankees latest injuries

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The Texas Rangers are massive -186 favorites over the San Francisco Giants tonight at Globe Life Field.

While I like Texas straight up, my Giants vs. Rangers predictions and MLB picks see more value in the run line, especially when considering MacKenzie Gore's success at home on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

Who will win Giants vs Rangers today: Rangers -1.5 (+109)

I like the Texas Rangers to defeat the San Francisco Giants tonight, but I'm not paying the -186 juice to make that happen. Often, in that scenario, I'll pivot to the underdogs on the moneyline as a pure value play (something I did in my Cardinals vs. Yankees predictions today), but I do not like the Giants in this spot at all, so I'll go for Texas on the run line.

MacKenzie Gore is better than his 4.77 ERA suggests. His 3.83 xERA isn't elite, but it tells us he's getting burned by bad luck. Much of this is due to opposing offenses squaring him up, as he owns an unseemly 9.2% barrel rate (23rd percentile) and a 42.4% hard-hit rate (25th percentile).

That shouldn't matter against the Giants. San Francisco has a team wRC+ of 91 (league average being 100) against left-handed pitching. They are now missing their four best hitters against southpaws, with Heliot Ramos and Luis Arraez traded and Casey Schmitt and Matt Chapman injured.

Blade Tidwell has barely pitched at the MLB level this season, but his Triple-A numbers aren't exactly promising, with a walk rate north of 10% over 72 innings.

I'd play the run line to +100.

COVERS INTEL: Tidwell worked primarily as a reliever earlier in the season, and while he's been stretched out in the minors, a long outing can't be expected, and he'll give things over to a depleted Giants bullpen that owns a 4.25 ERA (19th) and just traded away Caleb Killian and Erik Miller.

Giants vs Rangers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (+105)

Globe Life Field plays large, and with the dome closed tonight, the extreme heat won't be in play to help the ball fly.

Gore has been a primary beneficiary of a home-field advantage, posting a 3.61 ERA in Arlington and a 5.79 ERA on the highway. 

Even if I expect the Rangers to win by multiple runs, Gore offers a distinct probability that the final score comes in Under 7.5. 

San Francisco's offense was already putrid before the trade deadline, and it's only gotten worse in the last 24 hours.

I'd play theUnder 7.5 to -105, but I'd prefer Under 8.5 at -122, which is also an option.

Giants vs Rangers weather

Due to summer heat, the Globe Life Field roof is expected to be closed for tonight's game.

Giants vs Rangers odds

• Moneyline: Giants +178 | Rangers -186
• Run line: Giants +1.5 (-122) | Rangers -1.5 (+113)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-117) | Under 7.5 (+113)

Giants vs Rangers trend

The San Francisco Giants have hit the Team Total Under in 23 of their last 40 away games (+4.45 Units / 10% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Giants vs. Rangers.

How to watch Giants vs Rangers and game info

Giants vs Rangers latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Mets (47-66) are back in action tonight as they visit the Guardians (57-56) for a three-game series in Cleveland. Simply put, the Mets are coming off a fire sale that saw them open up five vacancies on their active roster, which was already missing the best hitter in the National League as Juan Soto sits on the injured list with his second calf injury of the season.

Watching the Mets the rest of the way will be an exercise in patience and devotion, as we Mets fans will be hoping to catch some glimpses of a brighter future. The continued development of A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge at the major league level should provide some excitement, and perhaps some of the other younger players who are about to get their shot will establish that they are realistic options for the major league roster heading into next season.

In the meantime, it’s worth appreciating Francisco Lindor, who has been on an absolute tear at the plate since the All-Star break. In 70 plate appearances over that span, he’s hit .295/.366/.574 with a 165 wRC+. He hasn’t been stealing bases, which is understandable since he dealt with a significant calf injury this year, too, but nobody should be surprised that he’s turned around his delayed, slow, and injury-interrupted start to the season. And of course, Lindor established himself as a star in the six seasons he spent in Cleveland. An interesting tidbit is that Lindor’s career 61.8 fWAR and 56.6 bWAR are both split exactly evenly between his time in Cleveland and his time in New York at the time of this writing.

If the Mets are to compete in the next couple of years, they almost certainly need to keep Lindor and Soto on the field. If Lindor stays healthy the rest of this season and Soto actually makes it back into major league games, they’ll still have gotten roughly 55-60 percent of the plate appearances that they would have penciled in for two players who had been among the most durable in the sport before this year.

As for the Guardians, their lineup has been even worse than the Mets’ lineup when it comes to scoring runs. They’ve averaged 3.95 runs per game, which is the second-worst rate in baseball. The Mets are fourth-worst with 4.04 runs scored per game.

Chase DeLauter has been Cleveland’s best hitter with a 124 wRC+ this season, while José Ramírez has been their best player by fWAR despite having a down year at the plate thus far with a 101 wRC+. Despite missing some time with an injury, Ramírez has stolen 27 bases in the 82 games that he has played.

Run prevention, however, has been a relative strength for the Guardians. They’ve given up 4.09 runs per game, the eight-lowest rate in baseball. Add it all up, and even with a slightly negative run differential, they’re in second place in the American League Central, three games behind the division-leading White Sox and one ahead of the Twins for the third and final AL Wild Card spot.

If the Red Sox continue playing as well as they have lately, that final playoff spot could go to any one of seven teams, as the Blue Jays are just four games back of the Guardians despite having a 53-60 record.

Tuesday, August 4: Sean Manaea vs. Joey Cantillo, 6:40 PM EDT on SNY

Manaea (2026): 91.2 IP, 88 K, 30 BB, 13 HR, 4.42 ERA, 4.33 FIP, 109 ERA-

In a season that’s seen the Mets held back by significantly poor performances by veteran players, Manaea’s in-season turnaround has been a pleasant surprise. Since the beginning of May, Manaea’s been perfectly cromulent with a 3.75 ERA and a 4.30 FIP. And since rejoining the rotation in mid-June, he has a 3.88 ERA and a 4.64 FIP. That’s still a far cry from his outstanding second half performance in 2024—which made the Mets believe in him to the tune of his three-year, $75 milion contract—but is a major improvement upon his early-season work that made him look like a DFA candidate at the time.

Cantillo (2026): 113.2 IP, 124 K, 54 BB, 13 HR, 3.88 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 94 ERA-

If you’re not familiar with Cantillo, that’s understandable. The 26-year-old lefty was drafted by the Padres in 2017 and traded to Cleveland as part of the nine-player swap that included the likes of Josh Naylor and Mike Clevinger. Cantillo made his big league debut with the Guardians as a starter in 2024, worked mostly out of the bullpen while making some starts in 2025, and has been a rotation mainstay this season. His ERA and FIP are identical, which is always fun, and his career 3.78 ERA is pretty close to matching his mark this season, too.

Wednesday, August 5: Nolan McLean vs. Slade Cecconi, 6:40 PM EDT on SNY

McLean (2026): 125.2 IP, 148 K, 45 BB, 13 HR, 3.29 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 81 ERA-

If McLean keeps pitching the way he has been recently, he might get himself back into the conversation for the National League Rookie of the Year award. While he’s been out of the Cy Young picture for a while now, he’s pitching as well as anyone in baseball lately, as he has a 2.24 ERA over his last eleven starts and a 1.49 ERA over his last six. It’s been easy to overlook how good McLean is, and it would be very fun to see him finish the season with a sub-three ERA.

Cecconi (2026): 107.1 IP, 84 K, 35 BB, 16 HR, 4.78 ERA, 4.53 FIP, 116 ERA-

While Joey Cantillo was traded alongside Josh Naylor to Cleveland, Cecconi was traded in a one-for-one swap that sent Naylor to the Diamondbacks. He had a rather unsightly 6.06 ERA in the portions of the 2023 and 2024 seasons that he spent in the big leagues with Arizona, but he’s been a serviceable back-of-the-rotation starter since the beginning of the 2025 season with the Guardians. He has a 4.51 ERA in 239.1 innings of work with the team, all of which have been as a starter.

Thursday, August 6: TBD vs. Tanner Bibee, 1:10 PM EDT on SNY

TBD

Over at FanGraphs’ Roster Resource, the best guess is that Christian Scott will make this start. If so, he has a 2.99 ERA and a 3.47 FIP in 69.1 innings this year. If not, you’d have to figure the Mets will go with some sort of bullpen game as they sort through their roster following the deadline.

Bibee (2026): 132.1 IP, 100 K, 38 BB, 20 HR, 3.81 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 92 ERA-

Drafted by Cleveland in the fifth round in 2021, Bibee hasn’t quite lived up to his very good rookie season in 2023. He finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting that year as he put up a 2.98 ERA in 142.0 innings of work. Since then, he has a 3.85 ERA, which certainly isn’t terrible.

Roger Clemens. “The Rocket.” The nickname alone tells you almost everything you need to know. Over 24 major league seasons, Clemens won 354 games, struck out 4,672 batters, captured a record seven Cy Young Awards, won an American League MVP Award, claimed two pitching Triple Crowns, and led his league in ERA six different times.

As of 2026, he ranks third all-time in career strikeouts, ninth in wins, and among the greatest pitchers the game has ever seen by virtually every meaningful measure. Few pitchers in baseball history can match the combination of longevity, dominance, and hardware Clemens accumulated. Even fewer have remained as polarizing.

William Roger Clemens
Born: August 4, 1962 (Dayton, OH)
Yankees Tenure: 1999-2003, 2007

Before he became “The Rocket,” Clemens was simply a kid from Dayton, Ohio. While he was still in high school, his family moved to Texas, the state he would then forever call home. Clemens excelled in baseball, football, and basketball at Spring Woods High School before attending JUCO power San Jacinto College. He eventually transferred to the University of Texas, where he cemented himself as one of the nation’s top collegiate pitchers.

Clemens capped off his collegiate career in storybook fashion in 1983. In his final game, he threw a complete game to lead the Longhorns to the College World Series championship. Just days earlier, the Boston Red Sox had selected him with the 19th overall pick in the MLB Draft.

The Red Sox wasted little time bringing Clemens to the majors, and he debuted in 1984. Over the next 13 seasons, he became the face of Boston’s staff and one of the most feared arms in baseball. His legendary 1986 season remains one of the greatest ever by a starting pitcher, as he captured the American League MVP Award, the Cy Young Award, and All-Star Game MVP honors.

During his time in Boston, Clemens won three Cy Young Awards, earned five All-Star selections, led the American League in ERA four times, and topped the league in both wins and strikeouts three times (fanning a record 20 in a game twice). He established himself as a Red Sox legend and one of the players Yankees fans loved to hate. Truly you can almost guess a Yankees fans age based on their immediate reaction to hearing Clemens name.

After the 1996 season, Boston let Clemens walk, a decision that immediately came back to haunt the franchise. Clemens signed a then-record three-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays and somehow reached an even higher level of production. In both 1997 and 1998, he captured the pitching Triple Crown by leading the American League in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. He won the Cy Young Award in both seasons, made the All-Star team each year, and erased any doubt that he remained the most dominant pitcher in the sport.

Following the 1998 season, Clemens was traded for the first time in his career, landing with the defending World Series champion Yankees. On February 18, 1999, Brian Cashman sent fan favorite David Wells to Toronto in exchange for the game’s biggest pitching prize. The move still provokes an uneasy feeling among some fans today.

Clemens immediately raised expectations for an already dominant club. His first regular season in New York had its bumps, but when October arrived, so did The Rocket. In Game 4 of the 1999 World Series, Clemens threw 7.2 brilliant innings against the Braves to finish off the sweep and finally earn the first World Series championship of career.

The 2000 season only added to his legend, and it wasn’t the cause of the 15-K, one-hit shutout he spun in Seattle in the playoffs. During a regular-season game in July, Clemens struck Mike Piazza in the helmet with a fastball, forcing the Mets star to miss the All-Star Game. The incident set the stage for one of the most memorable moments in Subway Series history. Then in Game 2 of the World Series in a fateful Subway Series matchup against those same Mets, Piazza shattered his bat on an inside pitch. As the barrel spun toward the mound, Clemens picked it up and fired it down the first-base line as Piazza sprinted out of the batter’s box, creating one of the most replayed moments in Yankees history. (Lost in all of it was that Clemens also threw eight shutout innings to help the Yanks get a 2-0 lead.)

If 2000 cemented Clemens as a Yankees legend, 2001 may have been his finest regular season in pinstripes. Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to begin a season 20-1, ultimately finishing 20-3 with a 3.51 ERA while capturing his sixth career Cy Young Award. This season still stands as one of the best individual performances by any Yankees pitcher in terms of wins and losses (even if other metrics favored new teammate Mike Mussina for the Cy that year).

Then in 2001, following the attacks of September 11th, Clemens helped carry the Yankees back to the World Series. In Game 7 against the Diamondbacks, he battled Curt Schilling pitch for pitch, striking out 10 over 6.1 outstanding innings before leaving with the game tied at 1-1 and the Yanks soon to seize the lead on an Alfonso Soraino homer off Schilling. Arizona would ultimately rally against no less than Mariano Rivera, denying Clemens what would have been another championship and one of the best sport stories of all-time.

After a somewhat injury-limited 2002 campaign, Clemens reached two of baseball’s most sacred milestones in 2003. On a Friday night at the original Yankee Stadium, he struck out Edgar Renteria for career strikeout No. 4,000 before securing his 300th career victory later that evening. Fittingly for a pitcher who always seemed to want to be on baseball’s biggest stages and be the headliner, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to reach both milestones in the same game.

Throughout 2003, Clemens said that he would retire at season’s end, and after receiving an ovation in Miami while leaving the mound during the World Series upset loss to the Marlins, the game bid him adieu. It didn’t take. Friend and teammate Andy Pettitte had signed with the Astros in free agency when the Yankees oddly didn’t pursue him with much vigor, and after thinking about it, Clemens decided to make a comeback close to home.

Clemens returned to Houston following the season and immediately added another chapter to his remarkable career. I am not joking when I say I think Lebron took a page out of Clemens book when it came to trying to make his career a storyline fit for a movie.

At age 42, he became the oldest pitcher ever to win a Cy Young Award after posting an 18-4 record with a 2.98 ERA in 2004. The following season, he led all of baseball with a microscopic 1.87 ERA while helping guide the Astros to the first World Series appearance in franchise history, though a hamstring injury in Game 1 paced a White Sox sweep.

Three years after leaving New York, Clemens authored one final memorable Bronx moment. During the seventh-inning stretch of a May 6, 2007, game against Seattle, the stadium video board suddenly came to life as Clemens appeared from George Steinbrenner’s suite and simply told the crowd, “Thank you… I’m back.” A moment I remember being way, way too excited about in hindsight.

His second Yankees stint lasted 17 starts and far less of a fun ride than the first—he was 45 when he threw his final pitch and it showed, leaving with an injury in the 2007 playoffs—but it brought his New York totals to 83 victories, 1,014 strikeouts, six postseason appearances, two World Series championships, one Cy Young Award, and one of the most memorable runs any Yankees pitcher has ever enjoyed.

No discussion of Clemens’ career is complete without acknowledging the cloud that followed him towards the end of his career and after retirement. Allegations of performance-enhancing drug use and the Mitchell Report (not to mention other, worse off-field questions) overshadowed his final years in baseball and have kept him outside the Hall of Fame despite his technical acquittal on federal perjury charges in 2012.

Love him or hate him, believe him or doubt him, Roger Clemens changed baseball. Few pitchers have ever matched his intensity or competitiveness.

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

The Dodgers entered the 2026 season with ambitions of becoming team to three-peat in 26 years. Following Monday’s trade deadline, they echoed that sentiment with a summer blockbuster and an encore.

Their string of deals began late Saturday night, as after suffering a 3-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox, they struck a deal that infuriated nearly the entire baseball world. The Dodgers landed two-time defending AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers while sending away outfield prospect Zyhir Hope, right-hander River Ryan and pitching prospect Brady Smith.

The addition of Skubal not only invigorates an already vaunted rotation (when fully healthy), it gives the Dodgers another left-handed option that is a proven innings eater. Before Skubal needed surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow, he had logged at least six innings of work in six of his first seven starts. He hasn’t matched his pre-injury average start length since returning on June 13, but he has logged at least five innings in all but one of his nine final starts in Detroit.

For a Dodgers rotation that is still missing Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, adding Skubal in the mix keeps the six-man rotation as the norm for the pitching staff down the stretch. With Emmet Sheehan’s demotion to Triple-A, the current rotation features Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Justin Wrobleski and Eric Lauer, and until the other three starters return, the Dodgers could implement a weekly bullpen game. Skubal will certainly headline the four-man rotation in the postseason, and the Dodgers have seven options to choose to accompany him come October.

Gauging what the postseason rotation will be a work in progress until October arrives. Skubal and Yamamoto are shoe-ins at the top, but the final two spots are completely up for grabs. Blake Snell is set to return next week after a final rehab start, while Tyler Glasnow has yet to embark on his rehab assignment. The latter is projected to return sometime in September. Ohtani’s status for returning to the mound in the regular season is unclear, though the team expects him back in October. The trio of Sasaki, Wrobleski and Lauer all were used exclusively in relief last year for both the Dodgers and Blue Jays.

The Dodgers decided to acquire a former All-Star starting pitcher in fixing their bullpen, as they landed left-hander Kris Bubic from the Kansas City Royals. Although Bubic has been on the injured list since May, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that Bubic threw a bullpen on Monday, with the plan being to build him up as a reliever.

While the Dodgers have five available options for the rotation at the time of writing, Bubic is an excellent candidate to handle bulk duties for a bullpen game or come in for short, high-leverage situations. He already has previous experience in relief, as he made 27 appearances out of the bullpen with Kansas City in 2024, posting a 2.67 ERA across 30 innings before returning to the rotation the following season.

The Dodgers addressed their concerns at catcher by bringing back a pair of old friends; Ben Rortvedt from the New York Mets and Hunter Feduccia from the Tampa Bay Rays. Dalton Rushing has joined Will Smith on the injured list, and the tandem of Rortvedt and Feduccia ensure the Dodgers have a viable catching option against right-handed pitching. Eliézer Alfonzo and Chuckie Robinson both remain on the roster for now as options against left-handed pitching.

Once Smith and Rushing both return from injury, all three current options will see their playing time crunched dramatically, but they will steady the ship in the meantime.