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I have been struggling to articulate my feelings about what took place at the San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night all week. There’s a lot to say, and a lot of things have already been said. But every time I’ve tried to sit down to write this post, the words have stubbornly refused to come until now.

I used to think that people were reasonable and decent, on the whole. Or at least were capable of being so. I used to think that if I worded my point exactly right, and in a respectful, compelling and logical manner, that I could maybe help to combat some of the hatred and bigotry in this world.

Because surely, it must be based in ignorance, right? And if they knew better, people would want to be better. Surely if they understood the harm that they were causing, they would care and change.

It’s a punch to the gut to realize that actually, a lot of people do understand and they just choose to be hateful and cruel anyway.

And I guess that’s kind of what I’m struggling with at the moment. It leaves me feeling like there isn’t a point to my craft. That nothing I have to say matters when a lot of people would rather shove their thumbs in their ears and pretend like there isn’t a problem. It’s demoralizing.

But I’d be just as much of a coward as those people if I let that silence me, so I will not.

What I want to say is that the players who chose to write bible verses on their Pride Night hats last week knew exactly what they were doing. MLB players are not required to wear the Pride uniforms. Participation is optional.

Which means that Landen Roupp and his band of bigoted buffoons intentionally opted IN to wearing the hats when they absolutely did not have to. And they did so with the full intention of being antagonistic towards a marginalized community in a declaration of bigotry to signal to like-minded people.

It was not subtle.

Ryan Walker said that his intention was to spread his religious beliefs and get more people to read the bible. Why exactly did these players feel like Pride Night was the appropriate time to proselytize? I mean, I know the answer to that. But I’d like to hear them say it with their full chests.

Because it’s not about Christianity or believing in God. The Giants have faith-focused events at Oracle Park every season. They are not excluded. If the players wanted to preach the good word as they understand it, that would be a perfectly appropriate time to do so.

But it wasn’t about that, of course. Faith is often used as a blank check for (poorly) coded-bigotry without consequences. It’s the same way that people like to use the concept of “freedom of speech” to insist that they get to say whatever they want and no one is allowed to do anything about it.

Which is, of course, not how that works.

Freedom of speech doesn’t protect you from personal or professional consequences of being a jerk. Sure, the government can’t arrest you for it, but if people no longer want to associate with you, support you, or maybe even employ you, well…those are consequences of choices.

Choices like having the option to not participate in Pride Night, but choosing to do so anyway just to let people know that you are homophobic. And choices like being someone within the organization that has the power to do something about it and choosing not to. Sure, you’re free to make those choices, but you don’t get a pass from the consequences of them.

So with those things in mind, I cannot help but come to the conclusion that bigotry and cruelty were the point.

And given the fact that the organization has not adequately addressed the situation or made any actual attempt to make amends for the harm that their players caused, I cannot help but come to the conclusion that anyone inside of the organization with the power to do anything about it quietly agrees with them.

The Giants could prove me wrong immediately by holding the players accountable, hosting educational events for players, making donations to local LGBTQIA+ charities, and declaring their unwavering support for all members of the Giants community.

But they have not thus far.

Which implies that the organization is rotting from the top. And I think it’s time to clean house.

Earlier today, I made a little trade deadline preview where I discussed some of the bigger names and set the stage for August 3rd. Now, I want to talk about 3 under the radar targets. As we know, the Nats bullpen has been a weakness for this team, but relievers tend to be available at the deadline. Sam Bachman, Jaden Hill and Caleb Kilian are the names I will discuss today.

The thing that ties all three of these guys together is that they are flamethrowing righties. Kilian has the slowest fastball at 96.7 MPH, while Bachman averages 98.6 MPH. The Nats need an infusion of stuff at the back end of their bullpen, and any of these guys would bring that.

The first guy I want to talk about is Sam Bachman of the Angels. Bachman was a top 10 pick in the 2021 draft, but he did not have the control or pitch arsenal to stick as a starter. However, he throws absolute fuel and has a wipeout slider. That slider generates whiffs at a 41.8% clip despite Bachman using the pitch over half the time. It is a borderline 80 grade pitch.

To go with that, Bachman has the 99 MPH sinker to go with that. The sinker helps him generate ground balls at a 50% clip this year. Having a GB% over 50 and a K% over 25 is a very enticing combination. Bachman’s one big flaw though is his strike-throwing. His 12.5% walk rate is not good, plain and simple. That is a big reason why his FIP is over 4. Bachman’s ERA of 3.31 and xERA of 3.21 paint a prettier picture though. 

At just 26 years old, and with plenty of pedigree, there could be more meat on the bone for Bachman. We saw the Blue Jays pick up a hard throwing righty in Louis Varland and transform him from a good reliever to one of the best in the sport. Paul Toboni could try the same thing with Bachman, who is under team control through the 2030 season.

Another high velocity arm Paul Toboni could target is Jaden Hill of the Colorado Rockies. He averages over 97 on his fastball and has a whiff rate in the 88th percentile. Right now his surface level stats are not great, with a 4.97 ERA and 1.66 WHIP. However, you have to consider that he pitches half of his games at Coors Field.

Hill also had a 2.61 ERA and 1.35 WHIP entering June before a few bad outings. Even if June has been rough for him, the Nats should still be calling about Hill. He posted a 3.38 ERA in 28 outings last year, and has been good for most of this season. Hill also has not even hit arbitration yet, but the Rockies are deep in a rebuild and could cash in like the Nats did with Jose A. Ferrer.

Hill has a fastball that averages 97, but his slider and changeup are arguably his two best pitches. The slider is used the most and has a 38.2% whiff rate and .172 average against. Meanwhile, the changeup has a bonkers 46.8% whiff rate. Even the 4-seam fastball gets a lot of whiff, at 29.6%.

Like Bachman, control has been an issue for Hill. His 14.2% walk rate is a serious issue, but last year that number was around 9%, giving me more optimism. If that walk rate is fixed and he takes a leap from getting out of Coors, the 26 year old has a lot to love if you are the Nats. 

He is also an LSU product, which the Nats have a few of. Hill could be a hidden gem in DC. Teammates Victor Vodnik and Seth Halvorsen have a similar profile, but I think Hill is the best of the 3.

Lastly, if the Giants are open for business, one player I would take a look at is 29 year old reliever Caleb Kilian. The right hander had some buzz a few years ago, but had some years in the baseball wilderness. Now he is back and has nasty stuff and a ton of team control.

Like all these guys, Kilian throws gas, with a fastball that averages 96.7 MPH. He uses it 50% of the time, and the pitch which has ride and cut sets the tone for his arsenal. Batters are hitting just .157 against the offering. In April, Kilian dominated against the Nats in that crazy extra inning loss.

Along with the heater, Kilian has a knuckle curve and a slider that both have a whiff rate over 40%. Kilian is the biggest strikeout artist of the three guys we will talk about, with a 28.6% K rate. However, even in a pitcher friendly environment, Kilian was quite homer prone, allowing 1.39 HR/9. His walk rate of 11.3% is high, but not horrible for a reliever.

Given his age and shorter track record, Kilian probably will cost the least of these three. He is more of a one-dimensional strikeout artist compared to the other two, but he can punch guys out. In the bullpen, getting whiffs is king. Kilian can do that in a big way. 

All three of these guys would slide into the back of the Nationals bullpen and be upgrades. That Louis Varland trade I talked about earlier could be a good comparison point, especially for the first two names. The Jays gave up talented lefty Kendry Rojas and outfielder Alan Roden. A comparable package for the Nats would be Alex Clemmey, Christian Franklin and maybe one other piece because I think Rojas is a bit better than Clemmey.

Trading for pitchers with team control is something I think Paul Toboni should be aggressively pursuing. In the majors and in the minors, the Nats are lopsided towards hitting. That creates an opportunity to make moves for pitching, either at the deadline or in the offseason.

As many anticipated, Thursday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves has been postponed. A storm has been tearing through the southeast, and it put all three games of the series in jeopardy: Tuesday’s game began during rainstorms, and was postponed in the second inning, though it was finished on Wednesday as part of a doubleheader when the rain calmed down. But the weather picked up again on Thursday, so severely that the game was scrapped nearly five hours before it was scheduled to begin.

The Giants (who won the first two games of the series) caught a bad break with the rescheduling process. Rather than schedule a doubleheader for when the Braves visit the Bay Area in a week, MLB opted to maintain the home/road setup, as they always try to do (so that all teams can have the revenue of 81 home games). As such, the game has been rescheduled for Monday, August 31 in Atlanta, at 3:05 p.m. PT. That was originally a travel day for the Giants, after finishing a string of 13 games in as many days. Now, with the rescheduled contest (which comes after a home game on Sunday afternoon against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and before a Tuesday night game on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates), the Giants will play on 23 consecutive days, from August 18 through September 9. That will be quite a test, though thankfully rosters will expand on September 1.

San Francisco is not using the unscheduled off day to adjust their rotation, and will instead just push everyone back. Their weekend series against the Miami Marlins will now feature Landen Roupp on Friday, Logan Webb on Saturday, and Trevor McDonald on Sunday.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but last week in Chicago, Yoshinobu Yamamoto took a no-hitter into the ninth inning. And then…well…as if I needed any more reason to be annoyed by the Savannah Bananas…ex-Savannah Banana Tristan Peters spoiled my fun.

That ball had a family. I had the oddest sense of deja vu. If only I could place my finger on it…along with my simmering, justified resentment towards Jackson Holliday…

I am probably one of the few people on the planet outside the Dodgers organization who happened to be in both Baltimore and the South Side of Chicago for Yamamoto’s attempted dalliances with history. Other random coincidences are that Stephen Nelson was on the call for both games, and I was sitting literally below him at both Oriole Park at Camden Yards and Rate Field.

In all seriousness, if I had a nickel every time I was present for Yoshinobu Yamamoto losing a no-hitter by a home run in the ninth inning, I would have two nickels. It isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice, right? The situation is right up there with “being doomed by a puppet.”

Kidding aside, when I say at some point I became the Forrest Gump of traveling Dodgers fans, I am not kidding. I used to complain about it; now, I just lean into the insanity. While I lack both the mental deficiencies and the physical prowess of Winston Groom’s fictional character, history has a knack for just unfolding around me.

Being who I am and doing what I do, I tend to get it recorded on my phone. The best analogy I have for what it is like to experience these events live compared to through a screen is to ask you to imagine you are forced to wear gloves to interact with the world. And then one day, someone rips off the gloves, and you get to interact directly for the first time.

The downside to this analogy is that events lose their pop over time. Where I was reduced to stunned silence after the Dodgers won the COVID Cup in 2020, I was hooting like a madman when Freddie Freeman met Gibby in 2024. My brain overloaded at the conclusion of Game 7; if I hadn’t been recording, I wouldn’t have realized I was screaming at the end.

Another statistical oddity that unfolded in front of me this past week, which researchers like Sarah Langs ignored, is that Shohei Ohtani led off three straight games at Guaranteed Rate Field/Rate Field with a homer going back to his last visit in 2024 and 2026. Considering this fact, why fans would chant “We want Shohei” when he wasn’t playing in Game 1 of the series is entirely beyond me. There’s tempting fate and then there’s just being dumb.

One might wonder why I don’t have footage of the second home run, and the explanation is simple: I was stuck in The Patio, having an awful, not-succulent pregame meal, and I thought the video on the monitor was a replay from the day before, not live footage of Ohtani homering again. Oops.

There he goes…

This flash update is not just to highlight Ohtani’s homer streak (which ended with catcher’s interference of all things) and Yamamoto’s outings, because oddly enough, the happenings keep happening. Thankfully, I learned to stop trying to embrace my inner Vin Scully relatively early on and let the action speak for itself.

I have always considered myself a traveling correspondent and columnist. You shouldn’t see or hear me (unless the moment is too great, as I am not a robot — see Game 7 2025 World Series Highlights). The game is the story, not me.

If someone could legitimately call me an influencer, I think I would gag and die of embarrassment. To each their own, but it is certainly not mine. However, the events of the past week have put me in a reflective mood.

On this off day, it seems as good an opportunity as any to wind back the clock and share some insights from the road. I do not go out hunting history, because that act is a fool’s errand. I like going to Dodgers baseball games. I like going to see new things. I like catching up with or meeting people I have been bantering online with for years, to finally put a name to a face.

Ian Fleming of James Bond fame famously wrote in Goldfinger: “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.“ What would Fleming say if something happened six times?

At the risk of jinxing any future brushes with history, let’s revisit the brushes with history that Dodgers pitching keeps having with me in attendance since I have been traveling and writing (on an amateur basis or not) for True Blue LA.

June 19, 2021 – Walker Buehler’s reaches for the brass ring in the desert

When I first got started, the idea that I could be present for a potential no-hitter seemed as alien as the idea that I would eventually visit every Major League Ballpark to see the Dodgers or be at a World Series game where the Dodgers clinched a championship. On my first visit to Chase Field, Walker Buehler unexpectedly tried to grab for the brass ring and came fairly close.

I remember getting overly excited and acutely aware when Walker Buehler kept the Diamondbacks at bay for seven innings. He faultered against David Peralta, of all people, before eventually getting pulled for Mitch White, who coughed up the shutout. However, the cost of experience is wonder. Getting through seven innings unscathed somehow became my general baseline before I started thinking about words like no-hitter or perfect game.

• Line before the no-hitter was broken up: 7 IP, 2 BB, 10 K
• Final line: W, 7 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K

April 13, 2022 – Kershaw abbreviated snow day in Minneapolis

I have spilled plenty of ink on Clayton Kerhsaw’s Snow Day in April 2022. It was cold, it snowed a little, and the Twins were flailing at everything. I remember how I was getting progressively more excited as Kershaw was perfect through five innings, then six, and ultimately seven, as Gavin Lux really saved Kershaw’s bid and bacon.

And then, poor Alex Vesia was summoned into the game. The reaction from the Minnesotans still in attendance was as visceral as anything I had ever seen in person. Seriously, who gets that angry at Alex Vesia? Unlike the majority of fans in attendance, I had and continue to have no problem with Dave Roberts’ decision to pull Kershaw after seven frames, considering the lack of a true spring training combined with the weather conditions.

Alas, it was not to be. Gary Sanchez singled off Vesia, and he was the only baserunner of the day. Personally, a combo no-hitter or combo perfect game is not a thing; it’s one person, one game. This view has evolved over time, and I get that the league views this position differently.

• Final Line: W, 7 IP, 13 K, 21 up, 21 down

July 15, 2022 – Kershaw’s second bite at the apple in Anaheim

If you read Kershaw’s biography, The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness— a title I grow to hate with each passing year (the book is fine, the title needed an editor), you’d be forgiven if you forgot this outing, considering Kershaw omitted when recounting 2022.

I didn’t and wouldn’t, as for my money, it was the stronger start. The Twins were flailing aggressively, but the Anaheim Angels looked lost as even the mighty Ohtani looked clueless in facing Kershaw. For the record, the loud Angels fan in the background of these videos is my friend from law school, a long-suffering Angels fan.

If one were looking for the last truly dominant start of Kershaw’s career, that balmy night with friends in Anaheim is a strong candidate. I have never claimed to be a beat writer, so I leave the day-to-day happenings to Eric Stephen and company. Accordingly, I hadn’t seen another Kershaw in between that truncated outing in April. From my perspective, it was consecutive; therefore, the silent yay and golf clap after his first two innings was an acknowledgment of a perfect game just for me.

No one was ever supposed to know about it. Then he was perfect for five more innings — again. For those wondering, I get the impulse to root against history. I snicker that if history is not made, you generally are just at a stinker of a game, destined to blend together in the sands of time.

Luis Rengifo doubled in the eighth, and the late-Reyes Moronta coughed up the shutout by a solo homer to Brandon Marsh, which was the only other hit in the game, in the ninth.

• Line before Perfect Game broken up: 7 IP, 6 K, 21 up, 21 down
• Final line: 8 IP, 1 H, 6 K, 25 up, 24 down

August 12, 2022 – Tony Gonsolin’s dalliance with history in Kansas City

One might wonder why I don’t have footage from this moment. Unfortunately, in 2023, my original iPhone was fried, and its backup was lost before I had a chance to fully upload all the videos that I had recorded. Plus, the conditions that night were truly miserable.

Honestly, I was more surprised than anything else at what turned out to be Gonsolin’s best start in a Dodgers uniform. It was horrifically muggy that night in Kansas City, a mugginess that only exceeded the following night. The perfect game bid seemed like an afterthought as Kyle Isbel drew a walk in the bottom of the fifth, and the no-hitter bid ended before it truly had a chance to get interesting with a Vinnie Pasquantino single in the bottom of the seventh. Michael A. Taylor knocked Pasquantino with a double that same frame to end the shutout.

• Line before Perfect Game broken up: 5 1/3 IP, 3 K
• Line before No-Hitter broken up: 6 1/3 IP, 2 BB, 3 K
• Final Line: W, 6 2/3 IP, ER, 3 BB, 3 K

September 6, 2025 – Yamamoto’s Brilliance Wasted

Imagine losing a game after getting 26 no-hit outs. Who would let that happen?

I still flinch whenever I think of this game. Not because of the no-hitter being broken up, but the ultimate conclusion. In part, I also flinch because I was mildly late, as I spent two hours in traffic trying to get pit beef before the game started. I wanted to be seated well in advance of the pregame ceremonies to honor Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig’s record, and sadly, I was not.

The only time my blood pressure rose for this one was after Yamamoto got the 26th (and final) out. Once the ball sailed out, my thoughts turned to the Dodgers’ bullpen, and I wondered if they were capable of getting one final out.

The fans around me were annoying that night. The Baltimore fans, apart from my friend extoling Tanner Scott to remember his roots, would not shut up about the no-hitter starting in the fifth inning. The Dodgers fans near me did not realize there was a potential no-hitter until the seventh inning and then proceeded to not shut up about it.

Spending the game with a friend and meeting friends afterward took a lot of the sting off of this one. I always wondered how I would have fared had I been alone that night.

• Line before No-Hitter Broken Up: 8 2/3 IP, 2 BB, 10 K
• Final Line: ND, 8 2/3 IP, H, ER, 2 BB, 10 K

June 13, 2026 – E6

Woof. That error gets worse every time I see it. Talkin’ Baseball argued that the condition of the field contributed to Mookie Betts’ error. I refrained from saying “Cut Rate Field” while I was in Chicago, but sometimes the shoe fits.

It was the bottom of the third inning when I realized the last time I saw Yamamoto this sharp was, and then I immediately silenced my thoughts before thinking of the word Baltimore. It was just a Saturday in the park, and while I wish I had thought of the Chicago song of the same name, my mind went elsewhere while trying to drown out the Let’s Go White Sox song, the horrible US chant someone made up at the World Cup, and the Brass Bonanza — the goal song for the defunct Hartford Whalers of the NHL.

The Whalers moved to Raleigh and became the Carolina Hurricanes. When they won the Stanley Cup, I had to resist the urge to blast the song on the airplane and succumb to the memes of victory. The song is quite good and quite catchy.

Once again, the local fans would not stop talking about the perfect game starting in the fifth inning, and I was trying to distract myself as I had no one to banter with this time.

Betts owned up to the error after the game:

“Just a routine ground ball that I missed. I’m not making any excuses. I should have made the play.”

No kidding.

I had a whole diatribe lined up for Betts as I was genuinely angry after E6. I had to strain myself to find some positivity. Yamamoto was far more forgiving than most would have been in the situation. Having previously thrown two no-hitters in Japan, I understand that he had a measure of experience from which to draw grace.

Second, it’s just a regular-season game in June. Had Betts’ blunder occurred when Alejandro Kirk hit his ground ball in the bottom of the eleventh in Toronto on November 1… Let’s instead skip that horrible what-if scenario by reliving the time Betts got it right — especially with his Game 7 bobblehead night coming up on Friday.

Betts has unleashed a couple of web gems since, which doesn’t make up for Saturday’s goof. Nothing will, but I have to live with that fact. His bat has crept above the Uecker line, forestalling any need to vent on that front — for now. In any event, the Dodgers managed not to blow another lead in a no-hitter, which is something positive, I suppose.

• Line before Perfect Game broken up: 7 2/3 IP, 7 K
• Line before No-Hitter broken up: 8 IP, H, ER, 7 K
• Final line: W, 8 1/3 IP, H, ER, 7 K

What’s next? Who knows? Realistically, we will have a proper field report next week. As for travel, I go back on the shelf until after the All-Star Break, when I visit MLB stadiums 29 and 30: New Yankee Stadium and Citizens Bank Park, respectively.

Trea Turner returned to the starting lineup in Wednesday’s series finale against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, with manager Don Mattingly returning him to the leadoff spot. It was his first time batting leadoff since his season-long slump resulted in Turner being dropped to the No. 2 spot on May 27th.

Turner had a nice game in a losing effort, going 3-for-5 with a run scored in the Phils’ 12-4 loss. But there is much work to do for the veteran shortstop who has spent the entirety of the 2026 season mired in another massive slump.

Slumps are one thing. All players go through them. Great players are able to avoid prolonged slumps. They usually don’t have ones that swallow up half a season.

But once again, Turner is in the midst of an epic slump that has already decimated nearly half of the 2026 season. Coming into Wednesday, Turner’s .595 OPS was 2nd-worst among 22 qualified MLB shortstops. Worse than that, it ranked 151st out of 156 qualified position players in baseball. One year after winning the NL batting title as the only player in the league with an average over .300, his .216 average ranked 139th (it rose to .223 after Wednesday’s 3-hit effort).

Turner is making $300 million. I sure don’t like bringing up that price tag, because all players, now matter how much they’re making, are allowed to slump. But that salary is an indication of just how much the Phillies depend on Turner to be an impact player at the top of the lineup.

There are some who believe Turner gets a free pass in Philadelphia. Perhaps that stems from “The Ovation” he received in August of 2023 when, in midst of almost identical struggles, the fanbase decided to support him with a standing ovation as he came to plate for his first at-bat against the Kansas City Royals.

As he walked up to the plate, he was hitting .236 in 484 plate appearances, with a .289 OBP and .367 slugging percentage. Following the ovation, he hit .339 and put up a 1.069 OPS over his last 47 games.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the fanbase is going to be able to go to that well a second time.

Patience for Turner is running short, but really, there is no alternative other than to keep playing him at shortstop everyday and wait for the turnaround.

At the moment, Trea is simply striking out too much, 22.7% of his PAs right now, a career high. Last year it was 16.7%. His 38.5% hard-hit rate is far below his 42.1% from a season ago, and he’s chasing pitches out of the strike zone at a 36.0% clip, again far higher than last season’s 31.1%. The plate discipline has been a major issue.

His Baseball Savant page is a sea of blue.

Resiliency when down in the count has been the biggest difference between Trea Turner 2025 and Trea Turner 2026.

• After 0-1 (2025): .741 OPS
• After 0-1 (2026): .334 OPS
• After 0-2 (2025): .636 OPS
• After 0-2 (2026): .255 OPS
• After 1-2 (2025): .592 OPS
• After 1-2 (2026): .240 OPS
• After 2-2 (2025): .747 OPS
• After 2-2 (2026): .385 OPS

Virtually every player, no matter their skill, does worse when down in the count. But Turner’s inability to rally with two strikes is a key difference between this year and last year.

It is not fair to say his tenure in Philadelphia has been a failure. Far from it. Since 2023, Turner is 7th among all MLB shortstops in fWAR (14.7). His .277 batting average is tied for 5th, his 69 HRs are tied for 10th, he’s 4th in runs scored (325) and 7th in OPS (.769).

If you had told me that’s where Turner would rank among qualified MLB shortstops at nearly the midway point of his fourth season with the team, I would have been pleased with it.

But no one is pleased right now because once again, Turner is mired in an epic slump that he appears nowhere close to figuring out.

ATLANTA — The Giants spent four days here and played baseball once.

With the worst of a tropical storm set to arrive Thursday afternoon, the three-game set between the Giants and Braves ended the same way it began — in a rainout.

The game will be made up Aug. 31 in Atlanta with first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. ET.

The date is one of three off days the teams share for the remainder of the season.

The Giants were scheduled to have a travel day on their way from San Francisco to begin a road trip against the Pirates and Mets, while the Braves will be in the middle of a homestand with another day off two days later.

The series finale was postponed well before the scheduled 7:15 first pitch, unlike the first game of the series, which was allowed to start in a downpour and ended up being suspended after only an inning and a half and a weather delay of nearly two hours.

In that case, the teams were easily able to squeeze in a doubleheader Wednesday, with the Giants sweeping both games. Making up the getaway day game won’t be so easy.

While the Braves visit San Francisco next weekend, agreeing to play a doubleheader there would have robbed Atlanta of one of 81 lucrative home dates. But making it up in Atlanta will come at a competitive cost for the Giants.

The makeup date will result in the Giants playing 23 games in 23 days, potentially putting a strain on an already-thin pitching staff. 

As far as the immediate impacts of the rainout, the Giants will push back everyone in their rotation by a day. Landen Roupp, scheduled to start the series finale Thursday, will instead pitch the first game against the Marlins on Friday, followed by Trevor McDonald and Logan Webb.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 inches of rain was forecasted to fall in Atlanta between Tuesday afternoon and Friday evening, per the National Hurricane Center.

The worst of it was expected to arrive Thursday afternoon and last through the night; however, when word came of the cancellation, only a few drops had begun to fall.

Not even half an hour after our (doubt-laden) preview went up, the Braves have announced that tonight’s game against the San Francisco Giants has been postponed due to inclement weather. August is the month for series-salvaging makeups, as this Giants game will now be played on August 31, and the White Sox finale is set for August 20.

Weather permitting, the Braves will be back in action on Friday night when the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers come to town.

What to do in the meantime? Maybe vote for Drake Baldwin, Michael Harris II, and known right fielder Matt Olson (I can’t get over it) for the All-Star game. Thin slate of games today, but maybe NYM vs. PHI might be worth tapping into. Stay dry, Atlanta folks!

Ever since Giancarlo Stanton went down with an injury and Paul Goldschmidt found himself in the starting lineup pretty much every day, the Yankees have had a fairly consistent strategy atop the order. Against right-handed pitchers, Trent Grisham would lead off, and against southpaws, Goldschmidt would. In fact, between Stanton’s injury back on April 24th and Grisham’s injury this past weekend, the Yankees deviated from this pattern just four times, with Ben Rice sitting atop the order on May 16th, May 20th, May 21st, and June 2nd.

Early indications suggest that the Yankees might opt to have Rice lead off against righties, while continuing to bat him second against lefties; indeed, this is exactly what they did last Saturday, the team’s first day without Grisham. I would like to make the case, however, for another batter to sit atop the order: Jasson Domínguez.

Back when he was a top prospect, Yankees fans dreamed of the Martian as a middle-of-the-order bat. During his 2023 cup of coffee, that seemed accurate, as he hit four home runs in just eight games before requiring Tommy John surgery. Aside from that stretch, however, the prodigious power he demonstrated as a 16-year-old has not really materialized at the Major League level, and while there’s still time for that to come around — he is, after all, just 23 years old — that is not the player he is today.

The traits that have developed, though, suggest to me that he could be an effective bat at the top of the order. In 429 plate appearances last season, Domínguez worked 41 walks, good for a 9.6 walk rate that ranked in the 67th percentile. Although he has not yet demonstrated that so far this season, this walk rate matches what analysts have said about him during his years as a prospect: for example, MLB’s top prospect lists said prior to the 2024 season that “he draws more than his share of walks.” And while he’s not been barreling the ball as of yet, he has cut down his strikeout rates both in the majors (14.6 percent, down from 26.8 percent last season) and in the minors (16.1 percent when in Scranton).

Even if it hasn’t resulted in real production as of yet, there’s quite a bit of red on that Statcast profile. Batting in front of a hitter like Ben Rice, the Martian would see a lot of pitches to hit, as teams will want to avoid putting runners on for the Yankees’ first baseman/designated hitter. Even though our sample size is still too small to say with certainty that Domínguez will see positive regression, they provide some reason for optimism that he can at least get on base at a decent clip while providing some power in the gaps and making some plays on the basepaths with his speed — which is exactly what the Yankees could use as a table setter with Grisham out so many hitters out.

Furthermore, using Domínguez as the leadoff hitter against righties allows the rest of the lineup to settle in with some consistency behind him. In particular, this lets Rice bat second on a daily basis, which is what he absolutely should be doing right now as the team’s best hitter with Aaron Judge on the shelf. While the rest of the order behind him will likely see quite a bit of platoon-based turnover — in particular, the Yankees have been sliding Goldschmidt between Rice and Cody Bellinger against righties ever since Judge got hurt and batting Amed Rosario in the middle of the order against southpaws — allowing Rice to anchor the lineup construction in the two hole, much like Judge does when healthy, will go a long way towards getting the most of out this Judge-less lineup.