Jonathan Kuminga turned down more guaranteed money from the Lakers — nearly twice as much per year — and elsewhere to come to Minnesota on a two-year, $13 million contract that could have him back on the free agent market next summer. Kuminga is betting on himself. Again.
"Just looking back, I think I'll say it's one of the best decisions I made," Kuminga said of coming to Minnesota. "Just looking at the roster, looking at the young group of guys they have, and just seeing what they've done in the past and things that they're trying to accomplish going forward."
Kuminga also said all the right things about fitting into a role with this team, where he often won't have the ball in his hands because that role falls more to Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball. Fitting into a role has not been Kuminga's strength (just ask Steve Kerr), but he sees a fit.
"I think my game, my mentality, pretty much everything fit well with the group. It don't matter what it is," Kuminga said. "They could put me wherever: running the floor, screen, defend, play fast, whatever it is. I feel like I could come in, be one of the best defenders."
Kuminga talked about how Edwards called him nearly every single day to recruit him. He also talked about his excitement of playing with LaMelo.
"I was watching him work out yesterday. I was watching him doing certain things, and just the way he passed the ball — it's incredible," Kuminga said. "I mean, I play with so many point guards in my career, but I never played with somebody that could pass as good as LaMelo, so I think I'm looking forward to it."
Kuminga talked a lot about defense — Edwards' focus on that was one of the draws for Kuminga, according to reports — and specifically the freedom he will have knowing Rudy Gobert is behind him.
"I could be myself on defense, I will be more aggressive because I know I have a shot blocker, and he's done it so many times," Kuminga said.
Tim Connelly and the Minnesota decision makers took a big gamble this offseason, moving on from Julius Randle, Naz Reid and a style of play that had been successful — but seemed to run into a wall — to bring in LaMelo, Kuminga, and to radically reshape the style of play. It's going to take coach Chris Finch a little time to find the rotations and systems that work, but by the holidays we should have a better sense of just how good this team will be.
Two months after the Philadelphia Flyers tendered an aggressive $90 million offer sheet to Leo Carlsson, the Anaheim Ducks are beginning to pay the price for matching the blockbuster contract.
Former Flyers draft pick Cutter Gauthier, now a 40-goal-scorer just two years into his NHL career, is still in need of a new contract from the Ducks and remains an RFA.
After matching the Carlsson offer sheet and making a handful of auxiliary signings, the Ducks had just $9 million in cap space to reach an agreement with Gauthier, and as we now know, that was never going to happen.
As a result, Anaheim was forced to consider gutting their roster depth and salary dump players to free up space for Gauthier, and again, no takers were found.
So, on Wednesday, veteran winger Chris Kreider was placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination, and on Thursday, Kreider cleared waivers, making him an unrestricted free agent and freeing up $6.5 million in cap space for the Ducks.
Kreider, 35, was in the last year of his contract anyway, but because the Flyers put the Ducks in such a bind with the Carlsson offer sheet, Anaheim loses a winger with 958 regular season games of experience, and a player who scored 22 goals and 50 points for their club last year.
Replacing Kreider and his 22 goals and 50 points won't be an easy task for the Ducks either, as Troy Terry will miss the start of the season due to injury, and other depth options include Frank Vatrano, who scored five goals and nine points in 50 games last year; and newcomer A.J. Greer, a career fourth-liner who exploded for 17 goals and 32 points last year after having previously never scored more than six goals and 17 points in a single season.
That leaves a lot of heavy lifting for Carlsson, who wouldn't have to do so on the Flyers, Gauthier, and Beckett Sennecke. Their only support offensively will come from Alex Killorn, Mikael Granlund, Vatrano, Greer, Ryan Poehling, Nathan Gaucher, Jeff Malott, Nikita Nesterenko, and Tim Washe.
Of course, it goes almost without saying that the motivation behind all of this was the Flyers simply trying to pull a lever that was available to them to try and acquire a young No. 1 center.
It didn't work out for them, clearly, but it also isn't working out too well for the Ducks right now. After losing Kreider for free, they have $15.5 million to re-sign Gauthier, and there's no telling if that will even be enough to get it done.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 10: Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves reacts at third base after a triple during the eighth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Truist Park on September 10, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The theme of this series so far was something like, “Braves can’t find holes, Rays hit all the homers and find all the holes.” Well, much of the third game between these two teams was similar, as both Martin Perez ad Nick Martinez largely cruised through the afternoon. But, lo and behold: in the eighth, the Braves flipped the script and found a bunch of holes in a row, leading to a 3-1 win that staved off a sweep. To put a fine point on it, the Braves didn’t actually hit the ball particularly well as they notched five straight hits… they just happened to actually get the ball to drop in a way that didn’t happen for them all series.
Not to be forgotten in the effort was Martin Perez, whose predilection for Perez pachinko worked out well on the afternoon. Perez had a scary first inning because three of the first four reached against him — largely on soft singles, what else. (Yandy Diaz’ leadoff hit was a 94 mph liner through the infield, but the other two weren’t well hit balls.) But, the Braves managed to escape with something amazing: a double play off the bat of speed demon Chandler Simpson. You kind of have to see it to believe it:
Was Simpson ultimately safe at first? I have no idea, but the Rays opted not to challenge.
After that, basically nothing happened in this game for a long while. Seriously, only one of the next 24 plate appearances resulted in a non-out, and that was Matt Olson’s two-out single in the first. Perez issued a two-out walk in the fifth, but a routine lineout to right field ended that inning.
The sixth was a bit more eventful. The Braves went 1-2-3 again, but there was a scary moment where it looked like Mauricio Dubon tweaked his oblique evading an inside pitch. Dubon ultimately stayed in, and hopefully he’s avoided an actual injury, but we’ll see.
With two outs in the bottom of the frame, and the powerful Junior Caminero facing him for a third time, Perez issued an unintentional intentional walk to the slugger. That ended up being stressful because the next batter hit another bloop single (sigh), bringing up Simpson once again. This time, Simpson tried to bunt for a hit, only to be thrown out (maybe) on an acrobatic spin-and-throw by Perez. The Rays did challenge this one, and the call stood; the vagaries of replay review potentially helped the Braves out here.
In the top of the seventh, the Braves finally got another hit, courtesy of Ha-Seong Kim, who lined a hard single off Caminero’s glove at third base. However, Kim then got picked off, so… ew. Perez finished his day with another perfect frame. It was a very “good Martin Perez” outing — he won’t wow you in the xFIP department as he only had a 4/2 K/BB ratio, but he didn’t allow a homer unlike an assortment of other arms the Braves used this series. It wasn’t as good as his emergency seven-inning outing on August 1 against the Nationals, but it helped a lot nonetheless.
The Rays pulled Martinez in favor of a lefty reliever to pitch to Olson and Michael Harris II in the seventh, despite a modest pitch count. Both Olson and Harris hit liners to the outfield that were easily caught. Didier Fuentes had a no-problems top of the eighth, ending the frame by catching a soft liner hit back at him.
So, onto the bottom of the eighth, where the Braves rallied against Kevin Kelly. With one out, the Braves subbed Dominic Smith for Ozzie Albies. Smith wasn’t even supposed to start in this game, but was inserted when Lane Thomas felt a twinge in his oblique during pregame activities. Albies did the same thing the Braves did a lot earlier in this series: hit a 50-50 fly ball. This time, though, it worked out! It split the gap, and Albies was able to sprint to third after the ball took a friendly (to the Braves) bounce off the wall. Up next was Austin Riley, and his inside-out swing produced a sad dribbler that somehow rolled perfectly through the right side of the Rays’ drawn-in infield. Mike Yastrzemski, who also didn’t start today (and didn’t get added to the lineup after Thomas couldn’t play) then made a pinch-hit appearance of his own, and chipped in with another fairly unimpressive bit of contact, except that it too was down the right-field line enough such that no Rays fielder could grab it. The ball bounced up a bit and ended up being a ground-rule double. With the infield drawn in again, Kim hit yet another weak spurter, but this too got through, giving the Braves a 3-0 lead. The Rays swapped relievers, but now it was Drake Baldwin’s turn for yet another soft single. However, the frame ended when Ronald Acuña Jr. failed to extend the soft hit parade, as his weak comebacker turned into a double play instead. Seriously, look at this:
We’ll take it, but not exactly the proudest moment in Atlanta Braves hitting history.
All that was left was the ninth, and it was more dramatic than it needed to be. After a first-pitch groundout by Caminero, pinch hitter Victor Mesa Jr. scooped up a Raisel Iglesias 1-2 changeup below the zone and just clipped it over the wall to make it a 3-1 game. Iglesias then walked Simpson, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of another pinch hitter, Liam Hicks. After a battle, Hicks didn’t pull the trigger on a fastball inside the zone, making pinch hitter Jonathan Aranda the last hope. Aranda saw seven pitches from Iglesias, only one in the zone, with the other six nowhere near. Still, that seventh pitch was a changeup way off the plate and it turned into a paltry comebacker and the final out.
So, the Braves will be, at worst, three games up on the Phillies for the start of their key series this weekend. That means that even if the Phillies sweep, they won’t be in the division lead due to the Braves capturing the tiebreaker. Or, maybe the Astros could help the Braves out again, and shave another digit off that magic number for the NL East crown. We’ll see.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 29: Seth Lonsway #86 of the San Francisco Giants pitches during the top of the ninth inning in his MLB Debut during game one of a doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park on August 29, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Scott Marshall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Three games for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates on Wednesday, as the season is rapidly winding down. Here’s everything that happened.
All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.
AAA Sacramento (77-60)
Sacramento River Cats lost to the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 1-0 Box score
For the 2nd game in a row, the River Cats held the Aviators to just 1 run, despite playing the game in Las Vegas. That is tremendously impressive, even if in this particular case it resulted in a loss.
Despite that, it wasn’t an overpowering pitching performance, but it was a mighty fine one nonetheless, courtesy of a pair of pitchers who were recently optioned following their MLB debuts. Kicking things off was the starter, LHP Seth Lonsway, who took down 6 scoreless frames. It was a little bit of a funny outing for Lonsway, who, per the usual, wasn’t getting swing-throughs (he had just 3 strikeouts). Despite the 6 shutout innings, he couldn’t find the strike zone, as he threw just 47 of 90 pitches for strikes, and walked 3 batters. But he kept hitters off balance, as Vegas had just 3 hits against him all night.
That goes down as the best start of the year for the 2021 6th-rounder, who has a 5.49 ERA in Sacramento. Lonsway, who turns 28 next month, will almost certainly be designated for assignment this offseason, as the Giants will need to clear more than 20 roster spots over the winter. But he’ll likely clear waivers and be outrighted, and can be a valuable depth piece in AAA again next year.
After Lonsway it was RHP Braxton Roxby, who was optioned after 2 MLB appearances. Roxby, who had been on quite a AAA tear at the time of getting called up, continued that success in this game, as he tossed 2 scoreless innings with 2 hits and 2 strikeouts. I suppose Roxby has a chance of being DFA’d this offseason as well, given that he’s 27 and only just made the Majors with decent-not-great AAA numbers (3.97 ERA, with 55 strikeouts and 26 walks in 59 innings), but the Giants will be wanting to hang on to him so he can be a depth bullpen piece next year, in both AAA and the Majors.
Unfortunately, the shutout ended in dramatic fashion, as RHP Eric Cerantola allowed a walk-off solo home run with 1 out in the 9th inning.
The offense, meanwhile, did complete their shutout, which obviously is not a good thing. Needless to say, it was a bad day with the bats, with the River Cats securing just 7 hits on the day, and drawing 0 walks. Nobody had multiple hits, and left fielder/right fielder Will Brennan, a day after smacking 3 home runs, had the only extra-base knock of the day, as he went 1-4 with a triple and a strikeout. Center fielder Scott Bandura was the only Sacramento player to reach base twice, with the lefty going 1-3 with a hit by pitch, but he also struck out once and was caught stealing.
The big news was, unfortunately bad: right fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) left the game with an injury. Davidson, who went 0-1, fouled a ball off his foot in the 3rd inning, and it certainly didn’t seem good. He was on the ground in very visible pain with the trainers for over a minute, before needing help off the field. It wouldn’t be surprising if his season is over, especially since Sacramento only has 10 more games.
AA Richmond (73-59)
Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Chesapeake Baysox (Orioles) 8-7 Box score
Well, a more interesting game for the Squirrels, but they sure are slumping to end the year. Richmond has lost 7 games in a row, and they’ve gone 6 consecutive contests without hitting a home run.
There hasn’t been a lot of offense for the Squirrels lately, but they finally broke through in this game, and it was all at the top of the lineup, where the 1st 3 hitters accounted for 8 of the team’s 11 hits. That was especially true for the top 2 in the lineup, center fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL) and designated hitter Dayson Croes. Both Cohen and Croes have been struggling a bit at the plate lately, but they sure didn’t in this game, with the former hitting 2-5 with 2 doubles and a strikeout, and the latter going a blistering 4-5 with with 3 doubles, while knocking in 4 of the team’s 7 runs.
Dayson Croes just missed sneaking one outta here and settles for an RBI double instead 👍 pic.twitter.com/w8GikkYRM0
Cohen, a 22-year old who was taken in the 3rd round last year, has had a fairly average year since getting promoted to AA, but that counts as a big win given how early he is in his career, and how strong his defense is. Croes, a 26-year old who signed from an indy league last year, has been scuffling a bit in both AA and AAA, and his spot on the domestic reserve is probably in peril.
The 3rd player in the top of the order trio wasn’t quite as dynamic, but still had a good game, as right fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) hit 2-5 with an RBI and a strikeout. It’s good seeing Jordan end the year healthy, after he was sidelined for about a month.
Richmond spent the whole game trying to erase a deficit, after LHP Charlie McDaniel got positively destroyed in his 16th start at the level. McDaniel only lasted 2.1 innings and gave up 8 hits (including 2 home runs), as well as 3 walks, 8 runs, and 7 earned runs, while striking out 3. The 25-year old undrafted free agent was struggling to find the zone, and when he did find it he struggled to miss bats. Just a game to forget for him.
This game notwithstanding, McDaniel has done a tremendous job avoiding free passes in his 2nd pro season. Unfortunately, that’s come with quite an expense: he’s far too hittable. In 119 innings this year, split between High-A and AA, the 6’3 Presbyterian alum has allowed 139 hits and 19 home runs.
The bullpen pitched a shutout the rest of the way, though they played with fire. RHP Shane Rademacher had one of his best outings of the year, giving up just 1 hit in 3.2 scoreless frames, while striking out 4. But RHPs Dale Stanavich and Mitch White combined to walk 5 batters in 3 innings … but didn’t allow any hits or runs.
High-A Eugene (0-2)
Eugene Emeralds lost to the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 5-4 (10 innings) Box score
And just like that, the Emeralds are on the brink of elimination. Their goal is simple: win the next 3 games (all of which are at home), and the season is over, with a championship in hand. Lose any of the next 3 games, and the season is over, without a championship in hand.
They just didn’t have quite enough offense to overcome a rough start from LHP Jordan Gottesman, who really struggled with the strike zone in his 2nd High-A appearance. Gottesman, who was a 6th-round pick last year, had a decent, but not electric year in Low-A this season, posting a 3.96 ERA and a 4.91 FIP in his debut season, with 9.8 strikeouts to 3.0 walks per 9 innings.
His debut in High-A went pretty well last week, but his playoff start was a different story. The just-turned 24-year old from Northeastern pitched 4.1 innings and gave up both 4 hits and 4 walks, with just 46 of his 86 pitches going for strikes. Impressively, those 8 baserunners only resulted in 2 runs (he also had 2 strikeouts), with RHP Mauricio Estrella replacing him and promptly giving up 2 more runs. RHPs Alix Hernandez and Gerelmi Maldonado (No. 21 CPL) followed up with quality, scoreless outings, before RHP Ryan Slater became the unlucky extra-innings loser: Slater retired all 5 batters he faced, but a pair of productive outs in the 10th inning scored the Manfred Man and ended the game.
As for that offense, the star was once again right fielder Cam Maldonado (No. 34 CPL), who has looked like a different player entirely since getting promoted to High-A. Maldonado, a 7th-round pick a year ago, had a fine season in San Jose, but ended the season with a 22-game stint in Eugene in which he posted a 1.023 OPS and a 154 wRC+, with 8 home runs. That continued on Wednesday, as the righty only hit 1-5 with a strikeout, but bashed a 2-run home run to get the scoring started for the Emeralds.
Maldonado will almost certainly resume his time in Eugene when the 2027 season kicks off, but if he keeps hitting like this, it won’t be long before he’s sent across the country to try his trade in AA.
No other offensive performances of note.
Home run tracker
23 — Cam Maldonado — [9 in High-A; 14 in Low-A]
Thursday schedule
Sacramento: 7:05 p.m. PT at Las Vegas (SP: TBD) Richmond: 4:05 p.m. PT vs. Chesapeake (SP: Niko Mazza) Eugene: Off day San Jose: 6:30 p.m. Pt vs. Stockton (SP: Jackson Flora)
Reminder that almost all MiLB games can be watched on MLB TV
ST. LOUIS, MO - Oct 1: Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto (19) argues with the umpire about his strike zone before getting tossed from his last game in the major league during a game between the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals on October 1, 2023, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis MO (Photo by Rick Ulreich/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
On September 10th all the way back in the year 1983, Joseph Daniel Votto first graced the presence of the world in Toronto, Ontario. It would likely be a record if he took his first walk that same day, but I honestly wouldn’t put it too far past him.
Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2nd round of the 2002 MLB Draft out of Canada’s Richview Collegiate Institute, the future Hall of Famer went on to do some pretty incredible stuff across 17 seasons in a Reds uniform. Once robbed of the Rookie of the Year Award and later robbed of what would’ve been his 2nd National League MVP, the 2010 NL MVP led the National League in OBP in seven (7!) different seasons while three times leading all of Major League Baseball in the stat.
Across a 9-year window from 2010 through 2018, he put up a ridiculous .311/.436/.538 (.964 OPS) in 5542 PA, work that included 216 homers, more walks (970) than strikeouts (965), and was good for a 159 OPS+ and absurd 51.1 bWAR. And through it all he was the coolest damn sonofagun on the planet.
Today marks Joey’s 43rd birthday, and for that we celebrate.
SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 04: Will Warren #29 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game between the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Friday, September 4, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Ryan Levy/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Aaron Judge is back and (almost) all is well with the world. However, our focus today is not the offense but on the pitching side of things. Specifically, a sequence from Will Warren pitching in perhaps his impending role as a multi-inning reliever.
We join Warren with two outs in the sixth inning last Friday in San Diego. Max Fried has exceeded expectations to give the Yankees 5.2 innings of one-run ball on just 72 pitches in his second start back from his most recent elbow bone bruise IL stint. The score is tied, 1-1, Ben Rice answering Xander Bogaerts’ RBI single with a solo home run in the third. Warren is called on for just his second relief appearance of the year, and it gets off to an inauspicious start with Warren walking Ty France on four straight fastballs that were miles from the zone.
That brings the once-dangerous Jackson Merrill to the plate, the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up having regressed significantly with each subsequent year in the bigs. Nonetheless, it’s a nightmare scenario for Warren, who struggles mightily facing lefties and pitching out of the stretch.
Warren has to get ahead of Merrill, if only to fully turn the page on the four errant fastballs he sprayed against France.
Austin Wells sets a target low and away, but Warren misses his spot and ends up hoofing this 94 mph four-seamer pretty much right down the middle. He’s lucky that Merrill left the bat on his shoulder, perhaps hunting a get-me-over breaking pitch after watching Warren walk France.
The benefit of establishing the fastball for a called strike early on is it should generate chase potential on breaking and off-speed pitches below the zone. That is exactly Wells’ thinking here as he calls for a changeup off the plate low and away.
Once again, Warren yanks this pitch inside, missing his target by almost two feet. At no point during its flight does this changeup look like a strike, making for a very simple take from Merrill.
So far both of Warren’s misses have been to the glove side, his release point on both the four-seamer and changeup a fraction late. Regardless, Wells calls for another changeup — a pitch Merrill has struggled to hit from righties the last two seasons.
That’s three pitches and three badly missed locations. Warren leaves this changeup up — fortunately for him the tailing movement that carries the pitch off the plate away is enough to keep the ball off Merrill’s barrel.
Somewhat serendipitously, Warren finds himself ahead in the count, 1-2. If there is one pitch Merrill has always been able to hit, it’s the curveball, and he likely knows Warren’s tendency to throw them way more against lefties. The trick with a pitch you know the hitter is hunting is to throw it far enough away from the zone that it’s impossible to do damage, but still close enough to entice him to swing.
The process here is sound but the execution was not. This curveball is simply not close enough to the zone to extract a chase from Merrill.
After three straight slower secondaries, Warren feels the time is right for one of his trademark sinkers thrown to the glove-side edge of the plate. His sinker can exhibit in excess of a foot-and-a-half of tailing arm-side movement, which is how he has at times proven adept at that called strike three looking front door against lefties and back door against righties.
I count this as the third pulled pitch by Warren in this AB, his release point still not quite right. Just like the 0-1 changeup he threw, this sinker looks like a ball for the duration of its flight toward home which means another straightforward take from Merrill.
Warren has squandered the count leverage he possessed with two non-competitive two-strike pitches, and now he faces a full count. It’s good to see that he doesn’t immediately give in and groove a fastball, and instead continues to hunt the strikeout with a back-foot sweeper.
Merrill is a hair early with his swing and tops it foul. This is probably the best executed pitch of the bunch, and even then it could have been better. Even though it lands on the corner down and in, it’s a dangerous pitch to throw a lefty looking to pull the ball — ideally you would like to get it a little lower and a little farther inside. Even in a 3-2 count, Warren gets so much movement on his sweeper that there’s a good chance the batter will chase, and if not, a walk is better than a two-run homer.
After finally showing Merrill a pitch that breaks toward him, Warren immediately switches back to the changeup that fades away. If he can throw it down a similar tunnel as the sweeper he just threw, he’ll have a good chance at the strikeout swinging, even on a pitch out of the zone away.
Make that four pitches that Warren has yanked. As a righty, you generally do not want to throw a changeup down and in to a lefty because the movement of the pitch runs it directly into the sweet spot of the barrel. Luckily for Warren, Merrill has yet to show that he can adjust his swing path low enough to do anything other than foul off these secondary pitches down and in.
It seems like Warren gets fed up with trying and failing to execute one of his secondaries, because he decides to throw his four-seamer as hard as he can by the hitter.
This pitch comes right down the pipe, but once again Merrill’s swing path only allows him to strike the top of the baseball. George Lombard Jr. is perfectly positioned to gobble up the grounder up the middle and fire to first to end the inning. I have long maintained that Warren is far too cavalier with his fastball in the zone, particularly with two strikes. At 92-94 it’s just not a good enough pitch to groove to big league hitters. However, as his fastest pitch of the day at 97 mph, that added velo creates a little more margin for error.
This is certainly an outlier for Sequence of the Week in that none of the pitches Warren threw were particularly well executed. I also normally do not select ABs or sequences from losing efforts, but this one stood out because of the broader context of the Yankees’ pitching situation. If everything goes according to plan, Warren will not be pitching in the rotation come the postseason. Therefore, this AB and his relief outing as a whole can serve as a proof of concept for Warren’s deployment out of the bullpen if and when all of their starters are fully healthy and built up.
There are still a lot of rough edges to the second-year pitcher’s game — case in point, he gets to a 1-2 count with relative ease, but then required another five pitches to retire Merrill after consecutive put-away pitches landed nowhere close to the zone. I’m sure many are also understandably still scarred from the six runs he gave up in 4.2 innings of relief in Game 2 of the 2025 ALDS against the Blue Jays. However, I feel that this AB showcases the way his stuff can play up when he pitches at max effort in shorter bursts as a reliever rather than have to conserve energy and save bullets to make it through a start. If nothing else, the mistakes he makes in the zone with his fastball are less apt to get punished. The secondary pitches in his arsenal are too good to get such pedestrian results, and I think those pitches could see an uptick in whiff and chase when thrown off a higher velocity heater in relief.
INGLEWOOD, CA - OCTOBER 24: Chris Paul #3 and Bradley Beal #0 of the LA Clippers high five during the game against the Phoenix Suns on October 24, 2025 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. 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 2025 NBAE (Photo by Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The last 10 days for the Los Angeles Clippers have been tumultuous, to say the least. Last Wednesday, the NBA dropped the hammer on them for salary cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard, which resulted in the league taking away five future first-round picks and suspending several key personnel, including owner Steve Ballmer and President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank. And if you didn’t think there was enough drama going on in Clipperland, tensions involving arguably the franchise’s greatest player and one of the most influential figures in recent Phoenix Suns history continue to brew.
After returning to the franchise he helped lead to a franchise-best 57-win season and earning numerous All-Star and All-NBA selections for the final season of his career, Chris Paul was sent home by the Clippers in the middle of the night less than two months into the season. The move was an attempt by the team to shake up the locker room amid a poor start to the season, and it ultimately ended his career prematurely.
Now, more than nine months after his release, as if the Clippers hadn’t done enough damage to their relationship with potentially the most iconic player in franchise history, it seems there’s a new wrinkle, and it involves another former Phoenix Sun.
With Paul retired and no longer on the Clippers, Bradley Beal is switching his number from zero to three, according to NBA numerologist Etienne Catalan and the Clippers’ team website. Paul wore No. 3 for the entirety of his career, and it was the number he was told the organization would retire.
Chris Paul details convos with Kawhi, Ty Lue and Lawrence Frank ahead of his abrupt exit from the Clippers 👀 pic.twitter.com/fG3ojh2YE4
Coincidentally, Beal took Paul’s No. 3 when he was traded for him after the Suns acquired Beal from the Wizards. But even though Paul helped break a decade-plus playoff drought and led the team to its first Finals in nearly 30 years, he played just three seasons in Phoenix, compared with seven for the Clippers, and there have been no reports from Paul or the team about plans to retire his jersey.
Beal taking Paul’s number in Phoenix didn’t ruffle any feathers, but Paul’s history with the Clippers runs much deeper, and people are disappointed with how the franchise is acknowledging it, or lack thereof.
With all the backlash directed at the Clippers, Beal stepped in and appeared to defend his former Clippers teammate with a recent post on Twitter, singing his praises and saying that Paul’s legacy is intact.
He’s a legend!
The HISTORY and BRAND can’t be touched, nor erased!!!
The NBA has a checkered history with alternate uniforms, to put it lightly. While throwbacks and retro-inspired designs often strike the right chord between nostalgia and innovation, many of the recent designs aimed at pushing on-court fashion forward feel like a miss. It feels like an absolute shame that the greatest moment of LeBron James’ career happened in sleeved jerseys back when Adidas had the NBA contract. Nike took over as the league’s official jersey maker two years later, and it’s hard to say it’s been any kind of improvement.
There have been some good Nike City Edition NBA jerseys through the years, but lately it feels like there are more and more misses. It’s hard to maintain optimism for the future of the league’s alternate uniforms after Nike’s latest release leaked this week. Eight teams are getting new looks for the 2026-27 season with Nike’s Specter Edition uniforms, which “reimagine team identity for the league’s oldest franchises through their history, culture and the energy of today’s game.”
It’s a good idea in theory, but the execution is currently getting panned all over the internet. Here’s the leak of the new uniforms for the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and Sacramento Kings.
🚨BREAKING 🚨@Nike & @NBA are unveiling new Specter Edition unis!!
Nike’s new NBA Specter Edition uniforms, created for the teams who trace their roots back to the earliest chapters of the league.
Nike says these looks are “inspired by the next generation of hoopers,” and there are plenty of young people in the press photos. I’m not going to tell a teenager what’s cool and what isn’t because I’m twice their age. All I know is that from the reaction I’ve seen online so far, justabouteveryonehatesthese.
these look like the kind of thing you'd wear in middle school basketball. hard to think of any worse jerseys ever worn in the league. https://t.co/WPC5CgKU9l
Pick out the good ones, and stick with them for a few years. Radical idea, I know.
It really feels like the public has fully turned against Nike’s NBA uniforms. After years of complaining about Adidas’ sleeved jerseys, these feel just as poorly thought out. Making new NBA uniforms doesn’t have to be so hard. Maybe take a few years off and get back to the drawing board.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 06: Edgardo Henriquez #60 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after striking out CJ Abrams #5 of the Washington Nationals in the ninth inning for a save at Dodger Stadium on September 6, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images
LOS ANGELES — When Tarik Skubal walked off the mound with one out in the eighth inning with a slim lead on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, the top of the Cincinnati Reds batting order was due up, and in came Edgardo Henríquez out of the Dodgers bullpen.
The hard-throwing right-hander allowed a double to Elly De La Cruz, who had homered twice in the series to that point, but otherwise escaped without damage, painting a 101.9-mph fastball to strike out Sal Stewart looking to end the inning.
“I love watching him play. He throws the hell out of the baseball, and it’s so effortless. He’s huge, he’s a monster,” Skubal said. “It’s fun, when he comes in after you you feel very confident you’re going to win the ballgame, especially in a one-run game.”
In three of Skubal’s seven starts, Henríquez has directly followed him on the mound.
“What he’s been able to do since I’ve been here, he’s been shutdown. In my first game here he came in in the sixth inning or something, and I was like, ‘Woah, this is the guy we’re rolling out in the sixth?’,” Skubal added. “It’s 102, it’s nasty, a really good slider, the cutter has kind of developed into a good weapon for him. He’s intense out there, I love everything about his moxie and what he brings to the mound.”
This season, Henríquez has pitched in every inning from the first through the 11th, and he’s been incredibly effective, with a 2.62 ERA and 2.36 xERA in 59 games, with 69 strikeouts and 24 walks in 58 1/3 innings, with a 29.9-percent strikeout rate. Over half of his innings have been in the seventh or eighth, but he’s been gradually pitching in higher-leverage situations, including the eighth inning on Tuesday and the save on Sunday night, his second of the season.
Henriquez is still only 24 years old but has already lived quite a baseball life. Signed out of Venezuela in 2018, Henriquez was a starting pitcher who made it to Class-A Rancho Cucamonga at age 19 in 2021, but after only 14 games in 2022 he had Tommy John surgery that knocked him out for all of the 2023 season as well.
Back in 2024 as a reliever, Henriquez pitched at all four minor league levels before getting called up to the Dodgers during the final week of the regular season. Dave Roberts at the time said of Henríquez, “Very excited, he’s a really great kid, with a big arm. He’s certainly a weapon.”
It hasn’t quite been two years since Henríquez debuted, but his profile and role have expanded, especially of late. Dating back to June 1, opposing batters have just two hits in 45 at-bats that ended on a four-seam fastball, with 24 strikeouts.
On the season, Henríquez has thrown his four-seam fastball 33.7 percent of the time, and his sinker 25 percent. In his excellent run in August and September, he’s at 38.1 percent for the four-seamer and 18.8 percent for the sinker. But both pitches have been effective, both averaging in triple digits, with 100.9 mph on the sinker and 100.7 mph for the four-seam fastball.
Of the 17 pitches Henríquez has thrown at least 103 mph this year, 10 were four-seamers and seven sinkers. His five fastest pitches of the year came last Friday against the Washington Nationals, including two sinkers at 104.5 mph and 104.1 mph. In the last two weeks, he’s finished off strikeouts at 103.6 mph.
“It’s the confidence he has in his fastball. Everybody knows it’s not easy to hit 103, 104 coming at you with confidence,” outfielder Teoscar Hernández said Tuesday. “That’s been the difference between the Edgardo we saw at the beginning of the year, and the Edgardo we’re seeing right now.”
Henríquez had an uncharacteristically wild July, with eight walks in 10 1/3 innings to go with his 10 strikeouts, then in his first outing of August he walked three and allowed three runs in an inning-plus against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Since then, Henríquez has only walked two of his 52 batters faced and has only allowed one run in his last 16 appearances, while striking out 24 batters with an eye-popping 46.2-percent strikeout rate.
“The last six weeks, the efficiency rate, the strike-throwing, the quality of strikes is much better. The breaking ball is much better, and I think that’s just kind of confidence,” Roberts said Tuesday. “He’s just a different person now than he was six weeks ago.”
Carson Kelly “pitching” for the Cubs against the Mariners Aug. 23 | | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Major League Baseball has set specific rules for allowing a position player to pitch in a blowout game.
The player’s team has to be trailing by eight or more runs at any point, or be ahead by 10 or more runs in the ninth inning. Position players can also pitch at any point in extra innings.
This has turned from “ha, ha, this is entertaining” to something farcical. We’ve seen this a couple of times with the Cubs this year, when Dansby Swanson hit his third home run of the game off San Diego’s backup catcher Rodolfo Durán in the 23-3 blowout of the Padres July 1, and Alex Bregman doing the same off Andrew Vaughn of the Brewers when the Cubs blasted Milwaukee 17-3 on Aug. 31. In that game, Bregman’s third homer gave the Cubs nine for the game, breaking the franchise record set last year.
Is that all fun? Sure, if you’re the team that’s ahead. Is it baseball? Not really. I’ve suggested in the past that MLB could establish a mercy rule where teams could agree to just stop playing after the seventh inning if there’s a certain deficit, most recently last February.
Position player pitching used to be fairly rare. But check this out:
Cubs have now faced ELEVEN different position players this season.
They have a combined 18.47 ERA in 12.2 innings this season (26 runs, 37 hits).
That’s batting practice, not competitive baseball. Those 11 are among 110 (!) different position players who have pitched this year. That’s more than doubled the 48 position players who pitched last year. You can see all such players in MLB history here.
Last week at Fangraphs, Jay Jaffe wrote a long article on this topic in which he suggested this change to position players pitching (PPP):
Raising the PPP threshold to a nine-run deficit for the losing team would cut into the number of those appearances, as would prohibiting them from happening before the eighth inning. Either or both steps might serve to concentrate more PPP within a smaller footprint, which appears to be the case since 2023, but from a competitive standpoint, so what?
Rule-wise, another thing to do is to cap the length of an individual PPP stint, whether by innings, pitches, or batters faced.
That could work, but I have a different idea.
What if teams all had “emergency pitchers” who could pitch in situations like this, similar to the emergency goalie who is with NHL teams? Those guys don’t get into games often, though you likely remember Scott Foster, the Blackhawks emergency goalie who once played college hockey and then settled into a life as an accountant. He wound up playing in a 2019 game for the Blackhawks and made several saves.
So what if MLB teams signed deals with guys like that with baseball experience? Say, a college pitcher who didn’t make it to a pro career, or a guy who had some minor league seasons but was let go, maybe some guy who played a bit of indy ball.
Here’s how I’d do it. Each team would have one pitcher like that around for every game. He’d work out with the team and be ready to pitch in a blowout situation. That pitcher would be attached to the home team, though he could also pitch for the visitors if needed. Teams might have to have multiple guys available like this because those folks, like Foster, might have other jobs, and unlike the NHL, baseball is an everyday sport. If such a pitcher had to pitch, at least he could do a credible job and not throw 43 mile per hour floaters termed “knuckleball” on video boards. (Hint: They’re not knuckleballs.) Although, the database does have one correct slow pitch, noted here from Vaughn to Matt Shaw twice in that Aug. 31 rout:
Remember this pitch that was thrown by Frank Schwindel for the Cubs in 2022? At the time it was said to be the slowest MLB pitch ever hit for a home run:
I wouldn’t count the emergency pitcher against any roster limit because, well, most of the time he’s not going to pitch. But at least if and when he did pitch, he could probably throw a decent enough selection of major league pitches so that even in a blowout, his team could play, you know, a game resembling real baseball instead of batting practice. The team would pay these players a modest sum. NHL emergency goalies get $500 per game (plus a jersey!); MLB teams could certainly afford even more than that (and wouldn’t have to count it against any payroll limits or luxury tax).
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 08: Wyatt Langford #36 of the Texas Rangers celebrates a run during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on September 08, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Texas Rangers lineup for September 10, 2026 against the Seattle Mariners: starting pitchers are Jacob deGrom for the Rangers and Logan Gilbert for the Mariners.
It is the last game of the series in Seattle, the last game the Rangers will play against Seattle this season, and a win would be a very fine thing indeed.
The lineup:
Pederson — DH
Seager — SS
Duran — 3B
Nimmo — RF
Langford — LF
Carter — CF
Burger — 1B
Lopez — 2B
Jansen — C
3:10 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +106 underdogs.
The mullet, goatee and oversized suits made him instantly recognizable, but it was Melrose’s voice—and the unmistakable personality behind it—that made him one of hockey’s most memorable figures.
The former NHL player, coach, and beloved analyst died on Wednesday, his wife, Cindy, informed ESPN’s Steve Levy. He was 70.
“For decades, Barry Melrose was one of the most distinctive and trusted voices in hockey,” ESPN said in a statement. “His knowledge of the game was deep, his candor was refreshing, and his passion was unmistakable.”
Melrose stepped away from broadcasting in 2023 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. At the time, Wayne Gretzky described him as being “bigger than any team,” a fitting reflection of the impact Melrose had beyond the bench or broadcast booth.
His path to becoming a television personality was anything but conventional.
Melrose grew up in Kelvington, Saskatchewan, and began his professional career with the Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association in 1976. He spent three seasons with the club, including one alongside a young Mark Messier, before moving to the NHL following the WHA’s collapse.
He played for Winnipeg, Toronto and Detroit, finishing his NHL career after the 1985-86 season with 10 goals and 33 points in 300 regular-season games.
Melrose subsequently turned his career to coaching.
After leading the Adirondack Red Wings to a Calder Cup championship in 1992, Melrose was hired by the Los Angeles Kings. In his first season behind the bench, he guided a Gretzky-led Los Angeles team on an unforgettable playoff run that ended in the Stanley Cup Final against Montreal.
The Kings ultimately fell in five games, but Melrose had established himself as one of hockey’s most colorful coaches.
Broadcasting eventually became his defining role. He joined ESPN in 1996 and became a fixture on the network’s hockey coverage, briefly leaving television in 2008-09 to coach the Tampa Bay Lightning before returning to the booth.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman remembered Melrose as someone who could make people love the sport simply by talking about it.
“His passion was unmistakable,” Bettman said, praising Melrose’s ability to bring humor, personality and genuine enthusiasm to the game.
That may be Melrose’s lasting legacy: He never simply analyzed hockey.
COLUMBUS, OHIO - JUNE 18, 2026: Ralphy Velazquez #35 of the Columbus Clippers hits a single during the first inning against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at Huntington Park on June 18, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
The Guardians’ front office has been aggressive this season. It’s no time to stop now with fifteen games left.
Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff’s group did almost nothing this offseason, betting on their young players and their ability to make needed trades at the deadline. While this was frustrating (likely driven by ownership), they have been admirably aggressive in promotions and demotions this season. From getting Parker Messick and Chase DeLauter on the opening day roster to promoting Juan Brito, Travis Bazzana, Kahlil Watson, Daniel Espino and Angel Genao at the first opportunities to acquiring Craig Yoho, Jo Adell, Nathaniel Lowe and Foster Griffin at the trade deadline, Guardians’ brass has done what they promised to do.
However, the Guardians are still 2.5 games down in the AL Central and only 1 game ahead in the wildcard race. The job is not done. And, the current roster is starting Jo Adell against right-handed pitching (82 wRC+ for his career) and carrying both Petey Halpin and Daniel Schneemann on the roster. It’s time, folks, to make one last aggressive move to try to give this team a chance to push themselves across the finish line.
Dealer’s choice – Cooper Ingle or Ralphy Velazquez. One of these bats needs to be promoted and given at-bats in left-field and DH (and some first base in Ralphy’s case or catcher in Ingle’s case, as needed).
Ingle has a 155 wRC+ with a 23/19 K/BB% in Columbus. His first taste of the big leagues went incredibly poorly. He still has a chance to really help against RHP if given another shot; he has a 1.018 OPS vs. RHP and an .865 OPS at away games. He is likely to provide far more than Adell can against RHP and needs to be given that chance.
Alternatively, show the fanbase you really mean business and bring up Ralphy Velazquez. Since getting acclimated to Triple-A, starting on August 1st, Velazquez has a 197 wRC+ with an 18.6/13.2 K/BB%. He is breaking down the door to the big leagues, as they say. Ralphy has an .812 OPS in away games and a .983 OPS vs. RHP. He’s destroying fastballs and making steady progress against offspeed and breaking balls. As we have seen with Bazzana and Genoa, you can get an immediate bump from a bat like Ralphy when you bring him up as the league races to adjust to them. I am at the point today where the immediate bump is needed and it’s worth gambling that a lockout might cost him development time next season to try to secure a playoff berth this season GIVEN that Adell has proven incapable of hitting RHP consistently and given Jose’s continued struggles. I understand punting that decision until now, but it’s time, guys. It’s time.
Now, Ralphy didn’t play the past two Clippers’ games. Is he hurt? Is he already on his way to Minnesota? I don’t know, but I do believe the time is now to swing for the fences, both metaphorically and literally. If not, then give Ingle another opportunity. The team has a chance for a playoff berth and a division title. Don’t jump off the aggressive promotion horse that has brought you this far. Ride him through to the end.
Governing body floating staging Ireland v Italy in US
World Rugby eyes commercial value in American fixtures
World Rugby wants a Six Nations match to be staged in the US and has offered financial incentives to the unions to do so – but England have effectively ruled themselves out on the grounds that fixtures at Twickenham are too lucrative.
The US will stage the 2031 World Cup and World Rugby is seeking to capitalise commercially despite mounting fears over the parlous state of rugby union in the host country. As a result, the governing body is desperate to raise interest in the sport’s profile by staging high-profile matches Stateside, with Baltimore hosting the fourth Test between South Africa and New Zealand on Saturday.
Goals from Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Lisandro Martínez gave United a comfortable victory in their opening game
It’s also worth noting that Patrick Dorgu starts at left-back tonight, for the first time under Carrick. Bought for Ruben Amorim, really he’s a specialist wing-back – not a defender because his awareness isn’t great, nor his ability to pass the ball out from the back, nor a winger because he lacks finesse and one-on-one ability – he starts at the back tonight mainly because Shaw is rested and there’s no better option. But if he’s to have a future as a starter, it feels much more likely it’ll be at the back than in attack – though, as we’ve seen he’s got a worldie in him.
Thinking more about that United defence, this is a big evening for Leny Yoro. He was pretty good in his first season at Old Trafford, but didn’t get to play much last; ultimately, Carrick couldn’t afford to risk him because he had a formula that worked – Maguire and Martinez, plus fast counters – with points to win and a job to secure.
