ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 29: Luis Arraez #4 of the Philadelphia Phillies in action against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 29, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Detroit Tigers dropped the series opener against the Minnesota Twins, 11-1, at Target Field on Monday night in a game that everyone wants to quickly forget. Jackson Jobe managed to escape trouble through the early innings, but it finally caught up with him in the fifth, when a three-run dinger opened the gates for the eventual rout.
Taking the mound in Game 2 for the Olde English D is right-hander Troy Melton, who has given up as many earned runs over his last two outings as he had in his 10 starts prior. After a stretch of absolute excellence, the 25-year-old has posted a 4.26 ERA and 4.98 FIP over 12 2/3 innings, allowing 14 hits (two home runs) and three walks while striking out seven and hitting a batter.
Melton’s only appearance this summer against the Twins back on June 9 in Detroit was his worst game of the season, surrendering eight hits — four of them solo homers, representing all of the runs he gave up — but no walks while striking out five over five frames. He still managed to earn his third win as the Tigers ultimately prevailed, 10-4.
For Minnesota, left-hander Connor Prielipp will toe the rubber for the 20th time of his rookie campaign. The 25-year-old has had a brutal August, putting up an ugly 7.76 ERA but a less-offensive 4.73 FIP over five games stretching across 26 2/3 innings, allowing 31 hits (five home runs) and 13 walks while striking out 30 batters. He earned a pair of losses while his team was defeated in all five starts.
Here is a look at how the two match up for Tuesday night’s American League Central battle.
Detroit Tigers (63-74) vs. Minnesota Twins (66-72)
Time (ET): 7:40 p.m. Place: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota SB Nation Site:Twinkie Town Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 138: RHP Troy Melton (7-3, 1.86 ERA) vs. LHP Connor Prielipp (3-7, 5.55 ERA)
Jonah Tong of the Syracuse Mets delivers a pitch during a MiLB baseball game at Coca-Cola Park in the United States on June 26, 2026. (Photo by Dan Squicciarini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
It’s too bad that the roster construction of the Mets works out that MJ Melendez is left high-and-dry. He wasn’t good in the limited at-bats he got earlier this season, but he wasn’t particularly bad, either. Likewise, his performance isn’t so exceptionally good in Triple-A that David Stearns needs to figure out how to get Melendez back to the majors, but he’s having a nice little run. The veteran outfielder seems like a generally cool dude and apologized to fans for not being good enough when he was sent back down to Syracuse, which makes the fact that he hasn’t really found his footing more annoying.
If nothing else, I wouldn’t be against bringing Melendez back as minor league depth next season.
Jonah Tong
Week: 1 G (1 GS), 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (Triple-A)
In Game One of a double-header against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Jonah Tong set batter after batter after batter down at the plate, and before we knew it, it was the seventh inning and Tong had yet to allow a hit. I’m not a fan of treating the two the same, but 7 innings is a regulation game in minor league double-headers, just like 9 innings is regulation under normal circumstances, and Tong was three outs away from throwing a no-hitter. The first batter he faced, right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr., flew out to left field. The second batter he faced, third baseman Otto Kemp, struck out on three straight fastballs down-and-away. With one out to go, centerfielder Kameron Misner laced a cutter down and in into right field for a hit. With the no-hit bid over, Tong struck out the next batter, Carter Kieboom, on four pitches and had to settle for a one-hit shutout.
It was obviously a great game for Tong, and overall, August has been a strong month for him. Coming into August, batters were hitting .238/.349/.447 against Tong, but in August, they hit .170/.271/.436 against him. A big reason for that was his fastball and cutter both being more effective than they have been all season, especially his cutter; batters hit .125/.239/.325 against his fastball and .158/.238/.158 against his cutter in August as opposed to .213/.353/.386 and .300/.386/.540 entering the month.
I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but since none of the underlying metrics for either pitch, such as velocity or spin rate or movement, are appreciably different, I think the recent success is more a case of a .148 BABIP than Tong finally compensating for his velocity/IVB dip stemming from his arm angle change or his change from a traditional slider grip to a traditional cutter grip, but it would be great if I was wrong.
With September here, the right-hander having a strong month or two, and the Mets not exactly having a fifth starter, it is all but guaranteed that Tong gets called back up the Queens and appears in a few games. I’m not sure how well he will perform- honestly, I do have a bit of trepidation, since International League hitters have hit him hard- but here’s hoping he performs well enough to avoid the Mets analyzing the small sample of his MLB performance and switching him to sidearm while having him scrap his changeup for a gyroball.
Oh, man, I was really wanting this article to be a celebration of PCA, the MVP(?) and a win of the series and start another streak of series wins.
But, Shota. Craig Counsell said, “We need Shota. We need Shota. We need him to have good starts.” That’s good to say, but there needs to be a replacement ready to go for the playoffs — and maybe before to make sure they even make the playoffs. The comfortable Wild Card lead is no longer comfortable, especially with the Brewers the focus over the next 10 games.
Counsell is not wrong — Imanaga has not had a bad season. He’s had a season full of CSPSHRs*, but now they are turning into two- and three-run home runs. “Needing him to have good starts” would be a drastic improvement from recent results, and a lot to hope for.
Yeah, that took a bit of the air out of the PCA bubble, but he can handle all the self-promotion with that magic bat of his. There’s been 40-40 talk for a few weeks now, and it was natural to assume that getting the homers are the hardest part. After Sunday, he’s two homers away. You can’t tell him to walk or turn every hit (inside the park) into a single just to steal eight more bases, especially with the playoffs are on the line. But I’m sure there will be opportunities for him to stack a couple of SBs here and there, so we’ll see.
You know all of PCA’s stats for each game, but for posterity, in the two games, PCA went 6-for-11 with six runs scored, five home runs and eight RBI. The Cubs need to keep him in bubble wrap between games.
For the other hitters this weekend — most of the action was on Saturday (obviously) but these two had a good pair of games. Alex Bregman went 4-for-9 with a run scored, two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Nico Hoerner quietly went 3-for-8 with two RBI.
Saturday saw Carson Kelly go off — 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, a home run and 4 RBI. Tyrone Taylor keeps impressing, going 4-for-5 with a double and three runs scored. Seiya Suzuki went 3-for-5 with a walk, three runs scored, a home run and two RBI. And Pedro Ramirez went 2-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored.
Sunday had Ian Happ adding a 2-for-3 day with a walk and two runs scored.
It’s a good thing that the Cubs scored so many runs Saturday. Kevin Gausman allowed five runs over five innings, with five hits and two walks, but two of those hits were home runs. He did strike out seven. Hope it was just a little blip.
In the two games, the bullpen was (cautiously) good after the meltdown Friday. Over eight IP, the bullpen allowed one run (on Trent Thornton’s HR allowed), four total hits, three walks and six strikeouts.
Complimentary Starting Pitcher Solo Home Run*
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Combo PCA-Mania — Sammy Sosa’s Magic Prediction — Cubs and MLB History — OH! and MVP Race:
Jeff Agrest (Chicago Sun-Times): The anatomy of Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong’s potential MVP season. “While working with assistant hitting coach John Mallee at Citi Field, Crow-Armstrong walked out of the cage and essentially said, “I found something that I’m going to be able to repeat for a long time.” He has.“
Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Even Cubs legends are in awe of Pete Crow-Armstrong’s MVP campaign. “Jake Arrieta said, “For his third at-bat, his fourth at-bat, his fifth at-bat, we were glued to the actual gameplay live. I didn’t want to just watch it on TV. I wanted to see it happen live. We’re all standing there and you’re kind of shaking your head.”“
Pete Crow-Armstrong joins Mookie Betts (2018) as the only players in MLB history to accomplish these feats in one season: • Hitting a lead-off home run • Hitting a walk-off home run • Hitting for the cycle • Hitting 3 home runs in one game pic.twitter.com/kHPkXRjqzg
Jeff Agrest (Chicago Sun-Times): Cubs’ key relievers might be regressing to mean at worst time. “After David Peterson at least gave the Cubs a chance to win, Trent Thornton all but removed it, allowing five runs in the sixth inning of a 10-8 loss to the Reds.”
Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune {$})): Sammy Sosa basking in rebuilt relationship with Cubs. “Of his relationship with the team he defined for 13 seasons, Sosa said he and the Cubs have put their old differences to the side.”
Jordan Bastian and Adam McCalvy (MLB.com): Cubs’ divisional fate rests on the results of their next 10 days. “With seven games between the Cubs and Brewers over the next 10 days, this is Chicago’s chance to try to swing the momentum in this year’s division race before it is too late.”
Altered Five Blues Band (originally known as Altered Five) is an American five-piece blues band. Formed in 2002 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, they have released six albums since 2008. Altered Five smokes, smolders and burns like a swig of good whiskey. The hip Milwaukee quintet is known for its strong brew of tough, original blues and hard-hitting live shows. Blues Blast raves that barrel-chested front man Jeff Taylor possesses a “smooth, warm-toned voice as monumental and undeniable as Howlin’ Wolf with the finish and flourish of B.B. King.” Downbeat declares stealth guitarist Jeff Schroedl “reaches the high bar of mixed invention and fluidity.” Fueled by a rhythm section laying down the deepest grooves this side of the MGs, the award-winning group has remained at the forefront of contemporary blues for more than two decades, performing in 13 countries around the world.
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.
Aug 25, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (88) gestures after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Happy Tuesday, Camden Chatters. We made it to September!
The Orioles are still out west for the last few games of their long road trip. I personally find this stretch of games to be a touch on the ridiculous side. After an off-day on Monday, August 24th, the Orioles traveled to St. Louis. That kicked off 16 straight days without a day off. That is a really long stretch of games, but the travel on top of that is too much.
The Orioles traveled St. Louis (Central time zone) to Sacramento (Pacific) to Denver (Mountain). When their series with the Rockies is over, they will travel home to Baltimore (Eastern). They will play seven games in Baltimore before an off day. Sixteen games, four time zones, zero off days. I’m sorry, that’s bonkers.
Yesterday afternoon, the Orioles claimed outfielder Luis Robert Jr. off waivers from the Mets. The Mets are currently a last-place team with a bloated payroll, and the move saves them millions of dollars. Robert is still owed about $3 million of this year’s salary, which the Orioles will now cover. His contract also holds a $20 million club option for 2027 with a $2 million buyout. The Orioles are also on the hook for that. And because the Mets payroll is so large, they were paying 110% luxury tax on Robert’s salary. Getting another team to take Robert for 25 games is saving them north of $8 million.
The Orioles, for their part, are hoping that Robert can harness some of the talent that he showed earlier in his career. The White Sox signed Robert to a six-year contract with two club option years back in January 2020, when he had never played a single Major League game. That year, Robert came second in AL Rookie of the Year voting and locked up a Gold Glove for his defense in center field.
Since then however, he has been unable to stay healthy and productive. He has played over 100 games just twice. In 2023, he hit 36 doubles and 38 home runs in 145 games, racking up a 5.4 bWAR. And in 2025, he played in 110 games with a drop in both power and OBP. His offensive production dropped off significantly of his last three injury-marred seasons.
The White Sox picked up the first of Robert’s two options last November. In January, they traded him to the Mets. In six seasons with the White Sox, Roberts played in 577 games. He hit .253/.313/.455. He has always been considered a strong defender.
Robert broke camp with the Mets in March and was an everyday player until he went on the IL at the end of March with a lumbar spine disc herniation. He was not playing well when he went on the IL, and he got off to a slow start upon his return on July 2oth.
But for the month of August, he has been much improved. In 24 games, Robert had six home runs and seven walks in 84 plate appearances. His hitting line was .267/.321/.520 (.841 OPS). Once a pretty good base stealer, that has dried up. But he is still fast on the base paths.
With Tyler O’Neill on the IL and Leody Taveras atrocious against left-handed pitchers, the Orioles need a right-handed bat in the outfield. They just spent a lot of money to try and improve over the final 25 games of the season (and playoffs!), and it’s a risk I appreciate. I don’t care about their money; they should spend it all, as far as I’m concerned. But I know that some other clubs wouldn’t in the same position. That includes the John Angelos era Orioles.
Will it make a difference? None of us really knows. But it has the potential to, which makes it exciting. Let’s all hope Luis Robert Jr. stays healthy and productive and keeps Taveras where he belongs against lefties: on the bench.
Because You Asked – The Bone Temple – MASN Sports Roch Kubatko has a Q&A for the fans. He says it’s a mailbag, but is someone out there really asking about Nick Raquet? (Get well soon, Nick Raquet)
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies, although neither is particularly memorable for their time in Baltimore. Eduard Bazardo is 31 years old today. He pitched 2.1 forgettable innings for the 2023. The Orioles traded him to the Mariners at the trade deadline of that year and he’s spent the last three-plus seasons in Seattle. He’s been particularly good out of the bullpen in the last two years. The trade return, Logan Rinehart, is no longer playing professional baseball.
Also born on this day in history is another pitcher, Dean Stone (b. 1930, d. 2018). Stone pitched in eight Major League seasons, the last of which was 1963 with the Orioles. A relief pitcher, Stone had a 5.12 ERA in 17 games. Cool name, though.
On this day in 1999, Albert Belle hit his 40th home run in a 3-1 win over the Rays. It marked his eighth straight season with 30+ home runs. It was also his final season with 30.
In 2000, the Orioles turned a triple play in Cleveland. With runners on first and second, Sandy Alomar Jr. hit a pop-up into shallow left-center field. Shortstop Melvin Mora raced out to catch it, but at the last second let it drop. The infield fly rule was not called. Mora threw to second base where Jerry Hairston applied the tag to Travis Fryman and stepped on second base to retire Wil Cordero. The third out came from Alomar, who assumed it was an infield fly and went right into the dugout.
In 2005, the Orioles released pitcher Sidney Ponson. He had one year and $10 million remaining on his contract, but the Orioles contended that his off-field conduct (multiple DUIs, one judge punching) warranted termination. MLBPA filed a grievance on Ponson’s behalf, and the two sides later settled.
In 2007, Clay Buchholz no-hit the Orioles in his second career start. That was embarrassing.
In 2011, the Rangers and Orioles completed the trade that sent Mike González to Texas at that year’s trade deadline. The PTBNL turned out to be Pedro Strop.
And on this day last year, the Orioles beat the Padres 4-3. They got to Dylan Cease for two runs in four innings, then added on two more against the bullpen. Kyle Bradish allowed two runs in four innings as well, but Baltimore’s bullpen was better. Jeremiah Jackson had three hits, including a home run. Samuel Basallo doubled twice.
Late changes to South Africa’s team smacked of mind games, but reinvigorated New Zealand remain in the hunt
The margins are slim in South Africa this past fortnight and not just on the scoreboard. According to aviation experts, one of the two planes flying over the stadium in Cape Town just before kick-off on Saturday came within 12 to 14 metres of hitting the top of the stand which, depending on your perspective, either ranks as highly-skilled piloting or the most gratuitous of matchday stunts.
Something similar could be said, as it happens, about Rassie Erasmus’s ongoing selectorial high jinks. His initial starting XV announced for the second Test bore about as much resemblance to the one that ultimately took the field as Erasmus did to the late, great Dolly Parton, with no fewer than six of the original lineup missing. It had the desired result in terms of South Africa levelling up the four-Test series at 1-1 but was yet another example of Erasmus toying with the game’s supposed conventions.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 31: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees smiles on the field before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 31, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The dog days of August are over and the final month of the MLB regular season has arrived. Leading the Wild Card race, the Yankees are in good shape to return to the playoffs for the ninth time in the last decade (and 27th time in 32 years dating back to 1995), but they have a tall task ahead if they want to run down the surprising Rays for the division title and a first-round bye. Otherwise, a likely Wild Card Series rematch with the Red Sox awaits, with the winner behind the eight-ball in terms of pitching before they square off with Tampa Bay in the ALDS — the same scenario that the Yankees got burned by in 2025 with Toronto.
But let’s ponder the AL East for a second and be hopeful. FanGraphs gives the Yankees a 16.9-percent chance of winning the division. That’s not great, but 2025 AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh is hitting .171, so consider the odds about the same as Raleigh getting a hit in a given at-bat this year. Unlikely, but not impossible! Here’s how Yankees’ September lines up:
September 1-2: @ Angels
September 4-6: @ Padres
September 8-10: vs. Rockies
September 11-13: vs. Mets
September 14-16: @ Twins
September 18-20: @ Diamondbacks
September 22-24: vs. Rays (doubleheader on 9/23)
September 25-27: vs. Orioles
That’s 24 games. If they win, say, two-thirds to take 16, then they’ll need the Rays to only win 11 of their 25 to fully make up the deficit (unless they can sweep that four-game set against Tampa Bay to get the tiebreaker, which I’m not counting on). It’s a tall task, and while I have skepticism about the Rays, in my gut, I don’t think they’re a team that will have a losing month. I actually am optimistic enough on the Bombers that they can get a 16-win month against that batch. My concern is that—like their 18-win September 2025—it might not be enough.
But despite that missed opportunity last night, I can hope! Remember when the 2017 Dodgers were on an absurd win pace and then utterly bombed in September? And this Rays team is no 2017 Dodgers. What do you think?
Today on the site, Dani will discuss the new SB Nation app that just came out to help make your experience on the site (and others around SBN) much smoother! We’ll also have Michael’s weekly minor league report, Madison on the Rivalry Roundup, Kento on the birthday of a forgotten Yankee who starred at Dartmouth long before Ben Rice, Peter’s monthly GM poll, and Jonathan and Matt on our monthly check-ins on the AL Central and AL West, respectively.
As a programming note, there’s no minor-league recap today because none of the Yankees’ affiliates were in action.
AUBURN HILLS, MI - 1990: Larry Bird #33 of the Boston Celtics looks to pass during a game circa 1990 in Auburn Hills, Michigan. 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 1990 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
People who never saw great athletes play frequently can’t believe the claims about them. We’ve seen this recently with some who doubt that Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single NBA game, apparently because there’s no video. In 1962, though, not only was the NBA not on TV a lot, TV cameras looked like this (he did score 100, by the way, as his teammate, Al Attles, attested).
More recently, there is a bizarre theory that Babe Ruth didn’t actually exist because, again, there’s not much video. Well, of course there wasn’t much video in the 1920s.
This is what those sorts of cameras looked like about 100 or so years ago. You had to advance the film manually, there was a lot of technical expertise involved, the film wasn’t necessarily cheap, and you also had to have a certain level of expertise to develop it.
And of course you had to get lucky to an extent because it’s not like they filmed every minute of every game.
Which brings us to a more recent misunderstanding: could Larry Bird play in today’s game?
Which is a really dumb question.
The argument is that Bird was too slow and too unathletic to play in today’s game, which is just foolish. People had the same concerns when he came into the league in 1979. There were plenty of freak athletes in the NBA in the 1980s – Clyde Drexler, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, and Michael Jordan, to name a few. All of those guys have talked about what a nightmare it was to play against Bird.
Beyond that, though, today, Luka Doncic and Kon Knueppel are slow, unathletic players, and they’re thriving.
Also, in the 1980s, guys like Bill Laimbeer and Charles Oakley made their living essentially mugging opponents. In today’s game, you can’t do that.
But that’s not the main reason Bird would thrive.
It’s true that he wasn’t fast or athletic by the normal definition of those things, but his hands and his mind were extraordinary.
He made decisions incredibly quickly and ruthlessly, and he moved the ball like no one else has ever done.
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 30: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #13 of the New York Yankees high fives teammates during the game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 30, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
MLB.com | Ian Browne: Sunday’s blowout win over the Red Sox came with some minor controversies, but one of them was generated by a broadcast booth. Red Sox radio play-by-play commentator Will Flemming became irate with Jazz Chisholm Jr. stealing a pair of bases in the eighth inning with the Yankees up 7-1 at the time, calling first for Boston’s pitcher to drill Austin Wells (who was at the plate at the time) before turning his temper to Jazz as he walked over to home plate after Wells hit a home run and saying that the pitcher should start a fight with the Yankee second baseman. The Rivalry can certainly cause a flare of emotions from time to time, even if nowhere close to as often as the 2000s teams did, but Flemming truly crossed a line when he called Chisholm a “bush league player” for stealing those bases and adding that he “didn’t play the game the right way,” invoking the type of commentary that less than stellar folks tend to direct at Chisholm over a decision to swipe some bags in a game that was still very much up for grabs.
Aaron Boone, when asked about the incident on Monday, added that he was the one who told Chisholm to go for the steals since the Sox weren’t holding him at first and he wanted to rule out needing David Bednar in that game, even yelling at the Sox’ dugout that he would let Chisholm loose if they didn’t care to hold him. Boone also added that Flemming reached out to apologize about the incident, though he didn’t give that apology to Jazz. Chisholm, to his credit, took it in stride saying he didn’t care about an apology as he didn’t know who Flemming was until he was told about it Monday morning, and he’d forget about him soon after.
NY Daily News | Gary Phillips: The Yankees are keeping a watchful eye on Shoki Oda, an 18-year-old Japanese pitching prospect turning lots of heads as he weighs a decision to declare for the Nippon Professional Baseball draft or become an international free agent. The NPB draft is on October 22nd, effectively serving as Oda’s deadline, but if he chooses to go stateside teams wouldn’t be able to sign him until January 15, 2027. That pushes him into the 2027 signing class as opposed to the 2026 period, the latter of which the Yankees still have a rare pile of money to spend after previous agreements they made under international scouting director Donny Rowland fell through after he was let go by the organization. The Yankees are one of many teams highly interested in Oda, but they’re also showing a renewed effort in making connections with the Japanese market — an area they’ve been largely absent from since signing Masahiro Tanaka way back in 2014.
NJ.com | Bob Klapisch: Heliot Ramos didn’t get off to the most impressive start in his Yankees tenure, hitting 2-for-32 in his first 13 games in pinstripes. He’s turned it on of late though, encapsulated by his three-run homer on Sunday to break open the scoring in what became a rout, and having Ramos contributing goes a long way towards making the Yankee lineup a more balanced threat. Ramos was the right-handed addition to the offense at the deadline, and being able to slot him in around Aaron Judge once the captain returns will go a long way to building the deepest threat they have for October.
NY Post | Greg Joyce: In case you missed it, the Yankees continued their roulette spinning in the relief market by picking up John Schreiber off of waivers from Kansas City. Schreiber has been a solid enough reliever this year, owning a 3.65 ERA in 55 games, but his numbers come with a very obvious split: right-handed hitters have a .414 OPS against him while lefties have crushed him for a 1.024 OPS. He’ll get a chance to pick up innings against righty-dominant stretches of opposing lineups and carve out a niche for himself with the potential to earn a postseason roster spot if he succeeds, but the biggest impact he could carry is simply lightening the load a little bit from the Yankees’ top three arms in David Bednar, Paul Blackburn, and Brent Headrick.
Still making my way through the Atlantic Division as I explore the world of basketball around us. I feel like LeVar Burton doing Reading Rainbow, except instead of riveting children’s stories, I’m learning about why nobody has won back-to-back titles since the Golden State Warriors last did it between 2017 and 2018. One of those teams that had an opportunity and squandered it is the Boston Celtics, who won in 2024 and then suddenly have a roster that looks markedly different than that squad.
Golden State and Boston played twice last season with Boston winning both. Jaylen Brown had a triple-double in one and dropped 32 in the other. Brown was the one lighting the match both times, much to Golden State’s chagrin. But it makes sense as Brown was Finals MVP two years ago and finished sixth in MVP voting last season. He’s 29 and in his prime, and led the Celtics after his running mate Jayson Tatum got injured.
So naturally, Boston’s offseason move was to trade him. And Boston sent him to their division rivals in Philadelphia for Paul George and four draft picks: two firsts, two seconds. FASCINATING. I mean I love Playoff P’s game as much as the next guy, but I did NOT see that trade coming.
Celtics owner Bill Chisholm admits he needed to be convinced to trade Jaylen Brown
“I needed to be convinced. I definitely have a level of trust in Brad Stevens and his team… But as a fan, that was tough"
So what’s the roster now? Jayson Tatum, still working his way back from the Achilles tear that cost him the first 62 games of last season. PG13, on an expensive deal, with health a real question at this point in his career. They’ve got Mitchell Robinson and Neemias Queta manning the paint, with the timeless wonder Mike Conley running point at 38 years old.
But I wonder if that means the Celtics didn’t just trade Jaylen Brown; did they trade title contention this year too? What does Boston know about Jaylen Brown that the rest of us don’t?
Brown and Tatum won a title together and Brown’s the healthier player as of late. Unless Brown is constantly acting like the smartest guy in the room (lol) every clue in my mind keeps coming back to money. Reading between the lines, this feels less like Boston souring on Brown as a player and more like Boston deciding it couldn’t afford him at the same time as Tatum and everything else on the books.
If that’s the real answer, it’s a lot less interesting than “we don’t believe in him anymore,” and honestly worse for the rest of the league, because it means the sixth-place MVP finisher is walking around for the price of an expiring vet and picks purely because of the way the new cap rules bite. I defer to an SB Nation article by Ricky O’Donnell to shed some light on this topic:
The simple version for why the Celtics traded Brown is because he’s a good player, but a bad asset. He’s owed $180 million over the next three years, and the Celtics decided their team wasn’t good enough right now with him on that deal to win a championship. Why did the Celtics trade Brown? I don’t think it’s because he believes he’s the smartest guy in the room, or because they couldn’t repair the relationship. It’s more because Brown finished with a -1.6 RAPM last season. By time decay RAPM, Brown ranks No. 270 in the league.
Regardless of where you fall on the Jaylen Brown debate, it is pretty remarkable that the Boston Celtics were better with him off the court than on the court over his entire 10-year tenure with the team pic.twitter.com/J2dUkBU8vr
Well if his RAPM was so bad why did Boston just throw him a farewell block party?! We’re talking ten thousand people on Boston Common and a key to the city. Did you see that street sign that says “Jaylen Brown Way”? They traded him in July but they named a street after him in August. Boston, pick a lane!!
He’ll walk back into that building wearing a Sixers jersey this season. Good luck figuring out whether that crowd is supposed to cheer, cry, or boo. So thanks, Boston. You finally found a way to stop Jaylen Brown from kicking the Warriors’ (regular season) ass in a Celtics jersey.
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 14: Darryn Peterson #22 of the Utah Jazz poses for a portrait during the 2026 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot on July 14, 2026 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
In the spirit of Bill Simmons and his NBA trade-value rankings, I wanted to rank the Utah Jazz players by how valuable they are as prospects.
Just like with Bill Simmons’ trade value rankings, this isn’t ranking players from best to worst (even though that is a consideration) but rather a list of who is the “most untradable” based on multiple factors. From Bill Simmons, here are the considerations:
Rule no. 1: Salaries matter (more than ever in the Apron Era, by the way).
Rule no. 2: Age matters.
Rule no. 3: Contract length matters.
Rule no. 4: Happiness matters; so does durability.
Rule no. 5: Bizarre real-life trades SHOULD affect the list.
Rule no. 6: Concentrate on degrees.
Basically, you can sum this up as the likelihood that the Jazz will trade this player. With that out of the way, let’s get started.
10. Josh Green | 26’ $14.6m | Age 26 | Drafted 18th overall
With a list of players ranked by how untradable they are, the first on the list has to be the guy who was signed because of how tradeable his contract is.
That said, Green does bring a lot to the table as a role player. He has good size at 6’6” and shoots 42% from three. He’s not all-defense, but he’s a positive defender. Considering all of that, and that he’s still just 26, he has a chance to make himself much more untradeable. Although, in a weird way, him playing well makes him more tradeable? Look, it’s a weird paradox here, and I don’t know the witchcraft that can help him. But let’s just say Green playing well helps the Jazz in a variety of ways, whether it’s winning games or helping Utah make a big trade come trade deadline.
If this were a player ranking list, Svi Mykhailiuk would be higher. His shooting is consistently great, and he brings a fearlessness backed up by real production. His contract is also incredibly affordable. You could argue the value you get for the cost makes him one of the best values in the league.
The defense is the biggest liability here. If he was more impactful on that end, he’d be even more untradable. Ironically, if Svi wasn’t so low in salary, he’d be more tradable. His $3M+ contract is difficult to move because it’s hard to find a salary match for Svi with comparable winning production. Unless Svi is added to a multi-player trade, it’s not likely to see him be moved.
This is a tough one. Collier would typically be higher in the rankings because of his age and lower salary. The issue is that Collier hasn’t proven he can shoot the three consistently, or that he can impact the game in a winning way. Dunks and threes has him as a negative on the offensive and defensive end with a -3.6 overall EPM. What does that mean? He’s the #553 ranked player in the league.
Alllllll that said, Collier is in the 98th percentile in assist rate. He’s also just 22 and is still in the “potential” zone as a player. He’s tantalizing enough now that there may be a team interested in that potential. The best case for Utah is if he can improve while on the Jazz and can become the third guard in the Jazz rotation.
Okogie was a nice addition to the Jazz this offseason with the sole purpose of improving Utah’s defensive intensity. Okogie has also shot 38% from three last season. If he keeps up that production, it makes him incredibly valuable. Like Mykhailiuk, Okogie’s contract isn’t big at $6M, so he’s probably only going to be in a multi-team deal if that happened.
But Utah isn’t as interested in moving this contract unless they have to. Okogie is the perfect type of role player for the Jazz.
This was not on purpose, but I like that Brice Sensabaugh comes in at #6 on this list because he has the potential to be a fantastic 6th man in the league. Sensabaugh has got to work on his consistency, but on some nights you’ll see Sensabaugh play and he’ll look like one of the best shooters in the league.
Sensabaugh is a career 38% shooter and shoots 45% from the field. He’s also not just a catch-and-shoot player, he can handle the ball and score in the mid-range. He’s the type of player that can get you 30 on any given night. That type of scoring punch is really valuable off the bench, and the more that Sensabaugh develops alongside Keyonte George and Darryn Peterson, the more likely he is to be a valuable contributor.
Here’s where things get interesting. Markkanen is one of the more proven players on the Jazz with his three-point shooting, his transition play, his cutting, and his improved mid-range post game. The Jazz have had him as the cornerstone player during the entire tank and now come out of it with Markkanen proving to be a complementary star rather than the focal point of a winning team. And when I say complementary player, that’s not a slight. Markkanen, when he’s playing well, is one of the best off-ball players in the league on the offensive end.
The issue with Markkanen is that he makes a LOT of money for a complementary player. For a team that is not interested in winning, that’s not an issue. When you’re playing to win, that salary can get scary. If Darryn Peterson and Keyonte George look like a star duo next year, Markkanen looks more expendable. If Ace Bailey takes off, it might be only a matter of time before a move happens.
4. Jaren Jackson Jr. | 26’ $49M, 27’ $50M, 28’ $52M, 29’ $53M | Age: 27 | Drafted 4th overall
Jaren Jackson Jr. was easily the biggest surprise from last season. In a year where fans expected to be losing games to get the best player possible in the draft, the last thing they expected was to trade for a former All-Star and DPOY.
Utah’s biggest need this upcoming season is more defense. Jackson’s two-way ability is exactly what Utah needed, as well as some proven star power and veteran leadership on the floor. Jackson is arguably the best player on the Jazz, and Utah was able to get him for three picks, which shows just how valuable he is. But that does mean he’s tradable. Jackson is in the middle of his prime on a max contract, and Utah is hoping he can find his DPOY form this year. If he does, it takes Utah to another level. If he doesn’t and isn’t living up to his contract? We might start seeing some trade rumors. That seems extremely unlikely. Utah has the firepower to allow Jackson to focus on what he does best and doesn’t have to be the focal point of the offense. That would put Jackson into the complementary player category. Utah can only have so many complementary players on the roster making max money. At some point, Utah will likely have to choose between Jackson and Markkanen.
No one on the Jazz rocketed up in the rankings more last season than Keyonte George. He was a frontrunner for Most Improved Player last season, thanks to his incredible leap in production. He had a legitimate shot until he was pulled so Utah could tank for Peterson. That potential he showed, along with his age and cheap contract, makes him extremely unlikely to be traded.
There’s also more to George’s game than just production. He’s looked like a real leader for the Jazz on and off the court and has been a big part of the Jazz in Utah’s offseason workouts. George is completely bought into Utah and is poised to get a big contract this season. Depending on that contract, he may rise and fall on this list. If he has an all-star season and meshes well with Darryn Peterson, he becomes invaluable to the future of the Jazz and becomes almost untradeable.
Before Utah had the luckiest night in team history, Ace Bailey was the potential savior of the franchise. Even with Darryn Peterson on the team, Ace Bailey is the player that could swing everything for Utah towards a championship. At 6’8” with his athelticism, defensive potential, and scoring, he’s got as much a chance as anyone to be a true star in the league. His rookie season wasn’t Rookie of the Year caliber, but he did show enough signs that he could become something special.
This is a big year for Bailey, and he needs to show improvement. If he does, he’s probably as untouchable as Peterson. Wings with his talent and size are impossible to get outside of the draft, and there’s almost zero chance Utah would take a call with someone asking for Bailey.
This was a difficult list to think through, but this was the easiest of all the choices. The list of players the Jazz would consider in a trade for Peterson right now is extremely small. It may only be one and rhyme with … Memben…pama?
Peterson has the talent and upside to be one of the literal best players in the league. His skill level is the type that just needs refining rather than developing. He should destroy opposing defenses this upcoming season, and it’s scary to think of how good he can become when he improves his decision-making and acclimates to the grind of the league.
Utah has some tough decisions ahead with other contracts, but building the team around Peterson is one of the easiest they’ll ever make.
Inglewood, CA - April 15: Forward Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers fights for the ball against forward Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors and forward Gui Santos, right, of the Golden State Warriors in the first half of a NBA play-in tournament basketball game at Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images
I’ve been hanging out in the Western Conference doing my division by division analysis, until my phone started blowing up from my college buddies in the Eastern time zone. They wanna hear what the Gold Blooded King is seeing with their teams too apparently. Ask, and you shall receive my friends!
But where to start? I’ll tell you where, the storied Atlantic division. Why you ask? Wellp, that’s where the Toronto Raptors play. And that’s the team Kawhi Leonard is trying to escape to after Draymond Green’s Warriors banished his Clippers out of the play-in tournament and into the off-season. And if he gets there legally or illegally, it doesn’t matter!
BREAKING: The Los Angeles Clippers-Toronto Raptors trade centered on Kawhi Leonard will not be finalized until the NBA investigation into the Clippers is complete, per @ShamsCharania. pic.twitter.com/hYB2w5S1Na
Golden State did not handle Toronto well last season. The Raptors swept the season series 2-0, and imposed their length, athleticism and physicality on the Dubs. If there was ever a time the Warriors fans would wish for James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga picks to have panned out, it was these games where the Warriors just had no answer for the swarming, bouncy style of play Toronto has. They averaged 140+ points on Golden State last year…that’s insane!
Toronto went 46-36, third in the Atlantic, and lost in the first round to Cleveland in seven games. Then the front office looked at a team that finished 5th in the league in defense and 15th on offense and decided the fix wasn’t patience. Rather, it’s THE KLAW. They decided to send Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and draft capital out the door to the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard, come on back to the North!
And Toronto didn’t really have to rip the foundation out to get him. Ingram was probably the worst defensive starter they ran out there. Not that he’s a slouch so to speak, but that’s just how good that Raptors squad is on that side of the ball. So if this trade goes through…they are basically just trading their worst defensive starter for Kawhi Leonard???
Think about how many times last season the Raptors offense boiled down to a late shot clock shot for Brandon Ingram.
Kawhi was top 10 in FG% on shots in the last 4 seconds of the clock last season. https://t.co/a2qNYgNdh4
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) July 4, 2026
Kawhi isn’t walking into some tired roster squeezing out one last run either. They’ve got a great mix of youth and vets with playoff experience. RJ Barrett is 26, former Warrior prospect Trayce Jackson-Davis is also 26, and then you’ve got that monster Scottie Barnes at 25. Immanuel Quickley is back and reportedly healthy after missing the whole postseason and he’s only 27. Their oldest player is Kyle “SloMo” Anderson at 32! This team is primed for a run.
The one thing standing in the way is the league itself. The Clippers are still under investigation for alleged cap circumvention in how this deal got structured. If the NBA unwinds it, Brandon Ingram has to walk back into Raptors training camp next month after everybody already watched Toronto trade him away. Toronto’s operating like the trade sticks.
Everyone is talking about Year 6 Scottie, but Immanuel Quickley running the offense with a full offseason of health is what unlocks this entire roster.
And look Dub Nation, I know none of us wants to hear “Kawhi Leonard” and “Toronto Raptors” in the same sentence again. The last time that combination showed up in June, it ended with a title and the Finals we don’t talk about at family dinners. KD’s Achilles, Klay’s ACL, Oracle’s last game, and a banner in Toronto. All bad for the Bay.
I hope this trade sticks so the Dubs can get some measure of vengeance.
Have you ever heard the saying, “I don’t have to be faster than the bear; I just have to be faster than you?”
Because that’s kind of what this is for Devon Levi.
Levi doesn’t have to prove he’s better than Frederik Andersen. He has to prove he’s better than Tristan Jarry, and he’ll have however long Andersen is out to do it. When Andersen returns, the Edmonton Oilers will have three goalies and only two positions available. At some point, somebody will have to go.
This is Levi’s chance. It might be the best chance he’s ever had in his NHL career.
Andersen is expected to miss training camp after suffering an injury during an offseason training session, and the Oilers haven’t given a timeline for his return. That leaves Jarry and Levi as Edmonton’s two healthy NHL goalies entering camp and, presumably, the regular season.
Levi was buried so deep in the Buffalo Sabres prospect pool that he never really got looked at the way he could have elsewhere. He entered the NHL as one of the Sabres’ top prospects and played seven games immediately after leaving Northeastern University in 2023, then started 21 games as a rookie the following season. Buffalo kept adding goalies around him, including Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, which started a series of events that led Levi to spend much of his time in Rochester.
Levi has appeared in 39 NHL games over three seasons and has a 17-17-2 record with an .894 save percentage. Those numbers don't establish him as an NHL goalie, and his time in Buffalo never established that either. He has spent much of his professional career moving between leagues while trying to get enough NHL starts to show where he belongs.
Edmonton can give him those starts now.
Jarry enters camp with the inside track because of his experience and contract, though his standing with Oilers fans isn't particularly strong after last season. He has been around the NHL for years, has been an All-Star and has handled a starter's workload before. His recent seasons have also included enough poor stretches that fans are not unreasonable for not trusting him.
Once Andersson gets healthy, Mike Babcock and his staff will have seen who should back him up between Levi and Jarry.
Edmonton has no reason to run Jarry through every preseason game while Andersen is unavailable, and Levi needs to spend time in the NHL at this point in his career. He's 24 years old now. Another season spent waiting for occasional opportunities won't do him much.
Jarry will have the same opportunity, of course, but his job isn't protected simply because he enters camp having been in the NHL longer.
Now, there are fans out fans wondering "what about Connor Ungar."
Ungar has gotten a lot of attention after his first professional season in the AHL, but he still needs time. Goaltending development rarely benefits from skipping steps, and another season in the AHL gives Ungar more needed time to develop before he makes that next step.
There is no reason to push him into the NHL in September, especially when Levi is already there.
He's played in the NHL before, albeit for fewer games than Jarry, and has reached the point where Edmonton needs to find out whether he can be an NHL goaltender. Buffalo never gave him a long runway to answer that question, and his path kept getting crowded by other goalies.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 31: Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks greets Dave McKay #36 in the dugout before the MLB game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field on August 31, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Record: 73-66. Pace: 85-77. Change on 2025: +5.
The Diamondbacks won the series against the Phillies on the East coast, but all three games there were decided by one run. Tonight’s game at Chase Field was just as close, neither side exactly taking advantage of their scoring opportunities. Arizona and Philadelphia combined to go 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. But it was the “1” which proved the difference maker, Bryce Harper’s RBI double off the outfield wall turning out to be enough. It gave D-backs’ pitcher Brandon Pfaadt his first loss since April 11th, ending his streak of unbeaten starts at ten, though it was definitely a tough loss.
Of course, the major storyline tonight was the return of Ketel Marte to the Diamondbacks’ line-up. It came after ten days on the Injured List for a knee issue, and a few more on the Restricted List after he failed to show up at Fenway Park for a game. How would he be greeted by the fans at Chase? Listening at home, it seemed a genuinely mixed greeting, but reporting from the ballpark, Jack said, “Many more booing than cheering, booers were louder, and booed again as he grounded out.” However, the reception for his subsequent at-bats seemed to be kinder. Maybe it’s like family: you can’t stay angry at them forever. You still have to live with them, after all.
In the end, Marte went 1-for-3 with a walk (we’ll cycle back to that later). Hopefully, this entire situation is something the team can now put behind them for now, and just concentrate on the battle for a wild-card spot. Regardless of what does (or does not) happen in the off-season, the month of September is something which deserves absolute focus and commitment from everyone on the roster the rest of the way. Hopefully, it shouldn’t be too hard for everyone to pull in the same direction over the remaining games. Except in the absence of a relapse, I’m inclined to draw a line under everything for the balance of this season. So, moving on…
After a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the first, the Phillies took the lead with one out in the second. It came on an absolute monster shot by Bryson Stott off Pfaadt, estimated at 464 feet. That’s the second-longest hit at Chase Field this year, trailing only a ringworm-powered one which went one foot longer. It was also the third-longest allowed by Pfaadt at Chase, the record belonging to a 472 footer by Oneil Cruz. In case you’re wondering, in the Statcast era, the record is a Franchy Cordero blast in 2018 off Matt Koch, tracked at 489 feet. Of course, like the blast tonight, it still only counted as one, the Stott shot giving Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.
They were then able to double their tally in the third, though things could have been a lot worse. A single and a walk started the inning, then Harper’s double with one out put two in scoring position. Luis Arraez did Luis Arraez things, putting the ball in play. However, it was firmly hit to Ildemaro Vargas, who came home for Gabriel Moreno to apply the tag at home for the second out. Pfaadt was able to escape further damage, and got through six innings on 87 pitches, allowing five hits, with one walk and just the one strikeout. While he did take the L and there were only five swinging strikes, it was a better performance than his outings against the Red Sox or Cubs.
After the second Phillies tally, the D-backs were able to get on the board in the bottom of the third. Though they had already stranded their first runner in scoring position in the second inning, after a Lars Nootbaar walk and Nolan Arenado legging out an infield hit (no, really!). Tim Tawa and Ildemaro Vargas came up empty, but definitely weren’t the last Arizona hitters to do so. But in the third, a two-out double just fair down the left-field line by Moreno, and an aggressive send by third-base coach J.R. House, got Geraldo Perdomo all the way from first across home-plate, narrowing the deficit to 2-1.
While the visitors would not be able to score over the remaining six innings, neither could the home team. Arizona’s best chance perhaps came in the sixth, where Moreno singled and Marte walked, to put two on with nobody out. But Nootbaar, Arenado and Tawa couldn’t move the runners. The most egregious mistake might have come in the seventh, where Vargas’s lead-off hit was erased on an ill-advised attempt to start running for second while the pitcher still had the ball. There were two more Arizona men on base with one out in the eighth, but Arenado and Tawa were, again, unable to do anything.
The last chance came in the ninth against (as Sneeks pointed out in the GDT) former D-backs prospect Jhoan Duran, now the Phillies’ closer. He was part of the haul sent by Arizona to Minnesota in 2018 for Eduardo Escobar, and after becoming the Twins closer, was traded to Philadelphia in 2025. Tonight, the D-backs almost got to him. Ryan Waldschmidt and Corbin Carroll each got infield hits (Carroll avoiding an 0-for-5 night), to put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Moreno came up, with Marte lurking in the on-deck circle, ready to speed-run the Redemption Arc storyline. But Gaby grounded out, and another one-run game went the Phillies’ way.
Click for details at Fangraphs Redemption, of a kind: Ketel Marte, +10% Damnation: Tim Tawa, -26% Perdition: Arenado, -18%; Vargas, -18%; Perdomo, -12%
Interesting to see Ketel Marte leading the Win Probability on his return tonight. Of note, after the game:
Ketel Marte after the game said he misunderstood the question asked to him pregame on if he had any message for the fans, a question he shook his head no to.
Comment of the night to AzDesertLovr (one of these days, I will both spell and capitalize that correctly first time – but today is not that day!) for coming oh-so close to a correct prediction about Ketel Marte’s performance on his return.
With the Padres winning, Arizona drops out of a wild-card position by one-half of a game. We will see what tomorrow brings, in the second game of the series. It’s another 6:40 pm pitch, with Eduardo Rodriguez taking the mound for the Diamondbacks.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — After his first four big league starts were all fairly similar — meaning not particularly effective — Elmer Rodríguez dazzled his last time out, offering hope the young right-hander had figured things out in his time back at Triple-A.
Then came another dud Monday, with most of his teammates following suit.
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Rodríguez walked three batters, hit two more and gave up four runs in 3 ²/₃ innings as the Yankees fell flat all around following their big weekend against the Red Sox, losing 10-1 to the Angels, who came into the night tied for the worst record in baseball.
“Obviously an ugly one for us tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s just a great reminder that in this league, you got to play well or you get it handed to you.”
Coming off a high-stakes series win over the Red Sox, with four games in three days and then a cross-country flight Sunday night, the Yankees (78-60) were not sharp in any area Monday in a lifeless performance.
“That’s an excuse. That’s an excuse,” Boone said. “It’s obviously been a tough stretch. We’re coming out here, we know we got to play well. We were ready to go today, we just played poorly.”
New York Yankees pitcher Elmer Rodriguez comes out of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in the fourth inning on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. AP Photo/Wally Skalij
They wasted a chance to pick up a game on the Rays, remaining 4 ¹/₂ games behind them for the division, while the Red Sox moved back within three games of the Yankees for the top AL wild card.
Any chance the Yankees had of coming back after Rodríguez spotted the Angels (53-85) a 4-0 lead was sabotaged by some sloppy play late with three errors, two charged to José Caballero on one play.
Rodríguez had actually flown ahead of the rest of his teammates, landing in Los Angeles around 7:30 p.m. local time Sunday to get him a good night’s rest, though it did not make a difference. After tossing six innings of three-run ball against the Astros last week, Rodríguez needed 91 pitches to record 11 outs Monday, with his velocity falling off late in addition to his poor command.
“Just falling behind a lot of hitters,” Rodríguez said. “I feel like if I just attacked from the start — I know when I was ahead, I was getting my outs and executing good pitches.”
In relief, Michael Fulmer, Luis Gil (in his first career appearance out of the bullpen) and David Bednar (who got hit around in a 28-pitch eighth after pitching just once in the last 10 days and the rest of the seven-man bullpen taxed) each gave up at least one run, allowing the game to get out of hand.
The Yankees, who scored 25 runs in their last two games against the Red Sox, made plenty of loud contact early against Angels right-hander Walbert Ureña with little to show for it before he settled into a groove. They let him off the hook in the first inning, when Trent Grisham — moved out of the leadoff spot against a righty (in favor of Ben Rice) for only the second time since May — struck out to end the threat.
Michael Fulmer of the New York Yankees reacts to a run from Christian Moore of the Los Angeles Angels after a failed pickoff attempt at second base during the fifth inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Getty Images
Their only run in seven innings against Ureña came on Spencer Jones’ moonshot in the fifth inning. In each of the first three innings, Rodríguez issued a two-out walk. He worked around the first two but the third, which came after a leadoff double, eventually gave way to the Angels’ first run on Vaughn Grissom’s RBI single.
Rodríguez then got himself in trouble again with two outs in the fourth after hitting ex-Yankee Oswald Peraza and Tyler Heineman in back-to-back at-bats, both on curveballs. Zach Neto and Mike Trout followed with back-to-back singles that made it a 4-0 game.
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Fulmer gave up a pair of runs in an ugly fifth, which were not entirely his fault. With a runner on second and one out, Christian Moore hit a bloop to right field that Jones tried to make a sliding grab on, only to come up short, with his glove flicking the ball back toward the infield and allowing the run to score and Moore to take second on a double.
Fulmer then tried to pick off Moore, but Caballero could not catch the throw and it got worse from there, as Grisham lobbed the throw in to no one in particular. That allowed the advantageous Moore to come all the way around to score for the 6-1 lead.
Caballero later committed two errors on one play in the sixth inning behind Gil, who gave up one run in two innings. First, Caballero bobbled a grounder to cost him a shot at a double play, then tried to just get the out at first, which did not happen either after he bounced the throw there, as the Angels made it 7-1.
“Couple mistakes we made, including me,” Caballero said. “Just need to clean that up and play better baseball.”
