Angus Crookshank sees an opportunity in New Jersey.
Using an objective approach to free agency, the 25-year-old left the Ottawa Senators and signed a two-year deal with the New Jersey Devils on July 2.
The contract breakdown is a two-way contract in the first year, worth $775,000 at the NHL level and $425,000 ($475,000 guaranteed) at the American Hockey League (AHL) level. The second year of the deal is a one-way contract worth $775,000.
"It is a good situation there," Crookshank explained on SENS TALK. "I am fortunate that it was the terms that we were looking for, especially in the second year. The second year was a big deal for us.
"To have the shown interest, commitment, and belief from the Devils meant a lot to me," he continued. "If I am looking at this very objectively, I am used to Ottawa, but when you take the emotions out of it, objectively, it was going to be a better situation and better opportunity in New Jersey. I can't wait to get down there."
The 5-foot-10 winger has played 21 NHL games for the Senators over two seasons and 202 over four seasons for the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League.
One thing to note from last season is his 11 power-play goals in Belleville tied for sixth among all AHL skaters. His 40 points would have been tied with Brian Halonen for second-most on the Utica Comets.
As for what type of players Devils fans can expect when the training camp opens in September, Crookshank describes himself as somewhat of a pest to the opposition.
"I will bring energy," he said. "I will be in your face, probably annoy you, all that sort of stuff. I mean, you play a different game when you are in the NHL vs. when you are in the American League. I feel like I have gotten much better at managing those two different styles of play, so to speak. From an intangible standpoint, I am going to be flying around the ice and bringing energy every night."
When he arrives in New Jersey and prepares for his first NHL training camp away from Ottawa, he will have his sights on one thing: making the New Jersey Devils roster.
Crookshank made his NHL debut on Dec. 17, 2023, against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. He celebrated his first career NHL goal in his second career game against the Arizona Coyotes. With the Senators, he played in 21 career NHL games and collected four points (two goals, two assists), including one game-winning goal.
His first career assist was against the Devils as well as one of his two career goals.
Crookshank will report to Prudential Center for Devils training camp in mid-September. The club's first preseason game is scheduled for Sept. 21 against the New York Rangers.
Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
Mookie Betts slumps his shoulders after flying out with the bases loaded to end Sunday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium. Betts went 1 for 5 batting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The day off was unanticipated.
The change to the lineup was even more of a surprise.
In what has become a season-long struggle by Mookie Betts and Dodgers coaches to get the slumping superstar back on track, this weekend brought the most glaring examples of experimentation yet.
First, on Saturday, manager Dave Roberts gave Betts an unexpected off day and providing what he felt was a needed mental reset after sensing Betts — who missed the All-Star Game for the first time in a decade this year — was still off despite his week-long break.
Then, on Sunday, Roberts gave the veteran slugger an unexpected challenge: Bumping him up from the two-hole to the leadoff spot in the batting order in hopes it would trigger something amid a career-worst season at the plate.
“Looking at how things are going, where Mookie is at emotionally, mechanics-wise, all in totality,” Roberts said, “I felt that giving him a different look in the lineup, hitting him at the top, something he's obviously been accustomed to throughout his career, will put him in a mindset of just [trying] to get on base and just trying to take good at-bats.”
“There's a lot of internal kind of searching that goes on with the mechanics and things like that,” Roberts added. “But I personally do feel that the external part of it — hitting at the top of the order, having a mindset to get on base — I think will help move this along better.”
It all served as the latest confounding chapter in what has been a trying season for Betts and his once-potent swing, the newest effort by the club to ease the frustration that has weighed on his mind amid a summer-long slump — while waiting for his mechanics to finally get back in sync.
“This is a process I've never been through,” said a clearly-dejected Betts, who entered Monday sporting a .240 batting average (ranking 120th out of 158 qualified MLB hitters), .684 OPS (132nd) and 11 home runs (tied for 89th), to go along with well-below-league-average marks in underlying metrics like average exit velocity (29th percentile among MLB hitters), hard-hit rate (20th percentile) and bat speed (12th percentile).
“I don't have any answers,” he continued. “I don't know how to get through this. I don't know. I'm working every day. Hopefully it turns.”
The leadoff exercise started with mixed results Sunday. Betts singled in the third inning, one at-bat before new No. 2 man Shohei Ohtani hit a home run. But, in a failed ninth-inning rally that sent the Dodgers to a series sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers, he finished a one-for-five day by lining out sharply to center field, ending the game with Ohtani stuck in the on-deck circle.
Betts will continue to lead off for the foreseeable future, with Roberts committing to keeping him at the top of the order — and Ohtani, the team’s previous leadoff hitter, in the two spot — at least until Max Muncy makes his expected return from a knee injury sometime next month.
“The only way we'll know, we'll find out, is once we do that for an extended period of time,” Roberts said. “I do think that there will be some fallout from that kind of external mindset of, 'Hey, I'm hitting at the top of the order. My job is to get on base, set the table for Shohei and the guys behind him.' I think that will lead to better performance.”
Until such a turnaround actually materializes, however, the search for answers to Betts’ struggles will go on, with the Dodgers continuing to try to unravel the mystery behind a sudden, unsettling slump no one saw coming.
“I just got to play better,” Betts said. “I got to figure it out.”
Indeed, while his superstar teammates were at All-Star festivities in Atlanta last week, Betts spent the break back home in Nashville, working on his swing at a private training facility.
In one clip that emerged on social media, Betts was seen doing one of the many drills that have helped him maintain offensive excellence over his 12 big-league seasons: Taking hacks with a yellow ball pressed snuggly between his elbows, trying to promote the fluid and connected motion that has eluded him this year.
“With Mookie, a lot of it has to do with how his arms and hands work, and getting his arm structure properly lined up,” hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said. “It sets up how the bat slots, and how his body sequences.”
For Betts, a 5-foot-10 talent who has long exceeded expectations as one of the sport’s most undersized sluggers, such mechanical efficiency has always been paramount.
As he noted early this season, when his slump first came into focus in early May, he has never had the same margin for error as some of the sport’s more physically gifted star hitters. He can’t muscle doubles or hit home runs off the end of his bat. He can’t afford to have a bad bat path or disjointed swing sequence and be the same hitter who, just two years ago, batted .307 with 39 home runs.
“I can’t, unfortunately, not have my A-swing that day but still run into something and [have it] go over the fence or whatever,” Betts said back then. “Even when I have my A-swing, if I don’t get it, it’s not gonna be a homer. If I don’t flush that ball in that gap, they’re gonna catch it.”
And this season, much to his chagrin, flushing line drives and cranking big flies has become a frustrating rarity.
Identifying the reason why has led to countless potential theories.
At the start of the year, Betts believed he created bad swing habits while recovering from a March stomach bug that saw him lose 20 pounds and some of his already underwhelming bat speed.
But as he tried reverting to mental cues and mechanical feels that had recalibrated him in the past, nothing seemed to click in the same way they once did.
“The cues and feels that I've used my whole life, in Boston and L.A., just don't work anymore,” he said this weekend. “So I'm just trying to find out who I am now, what works now.”
Some of that, of course, could be attributed to age. Betts will be 33 by the end of this season. He is coming up on 1,500 career games. Inevitably, even players of his caliber eventually start to decline physically.
Roberts, however, framed it more through the lens of evolution. On the one hand, he said of Betts, “I know he's still in his prime. I know he's as strong as he's been in quite some time.” However, the manager added, “his body has changed and will continue to change,” requiring Betts to find new ways to maximize the power the team still believes he possesses.
“That’s the nature of hitting,” Van Scoyoc said. “He has to find something for him that works organically, that gets him lined up again.”
This dynamic is why, to both Betts and the Dodgers, his full-time move to shortstop this season hasn’t been to blame.
Betts has repeatedly pushed back against that narrative, pointing to the MVP-caliber numbers he posted while playing the position during the first half of last year (before a broken hand cost him two months and forced him to return to right field for the Dodgers’ World Series run) and the two-week tear with which he started this season (when he batted .304 with four home runs over his first 15 games).
Mookie Betts and the Dodgers continue to insist his season-long slump at the plate has little to do with his full-time move to shortstop. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
And though his new defensive role has come with some added challenges — Betts said on his Bleacher Report podcast last month that his daily pregame workload has increased while playing shortstop, to the point “it probably does weigh on you a little bit hitting” — he has also emphasized the confidence he has gained from his defensive improvements; his shortstop play serving as the one thing that has gone right in a season of offensive misery.
"I just can't see that you go out there and stick him in right field tonight and he's going to throw out two hits or three hits, or he goes to second base and he's going to go on a heater,” Roberts echoed earlier this month, before reiterating Sunday that the team has not considered changing Betts’ position. “That's hard for me to kind of imagine. It's a fair ask. But I just don't see that as the case."
Instead, the focus has remained not only on Betts’ flawed swing mechanics, but the resulting side effects it has had on his approach at the plate.
One stat that jumped out to Roberts recently: In Betts’ last 99 plate appearances, he has walked only one time — a shockingly low number for a hitter with a walk rate of nearly 11% over his career.
To Roberts, it’s a sign that Betts, in his ongoing search to get his swing synced up, is failing to accomplish the even more fundamental task of working good counts and waiting out mistakes.
“If you're ‘in-between’ on spin versus velocity, and [getting in bad] counts, you're not as convicted [with your swing],” Roberts said, tying all of Betts’ problems into one self-fulfilling cycle that has only further perpetuated his lack of results. “So my eyes tell me he's been ‘in-between’ a lot.”
Which is why, in recent weeks, Roberts had started to mull the idea of moving Betts into the leadoff spot.
After all, the manager hypothesized, if Betts can’t find his swing by grinding in the batting cage and analyzing his mechanics — as he did during his off day on Saturday — then maybe reframing his mindset in games can better help him get there.
“It speaks to how much faith I have in him as a ballplayer,” Roberts said. “To, where he's scuffling, not move him down but ironically move him higher in the order. “I think that kind of support, and the different way that he'll see the lineup as it's presented each day, will kind of lead into a different mindset and I think that'll be a good thing for all of us."
For now, the Dodgers can only hope.
With Muncy still out, Freddie Freeman having his own recent slump compounded by a ball that hit him in the left wrist on Sunday, and the Dodgers stuck in a current 2-10 spiral that has seen their once-comfortable division lead dwindle leading up to the trade deadline, they need the old Betts more than ever right now.
Thus far, the search for answers has met no end.
“It's hard,” Betts said, “but I got to figure it out at some point."
Seven NHL RFAs could have salary arbitration hearings this week.
As is normally the case, some of the 11 RFAs who filed for arbitration – Anaheim Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal and defenseman Drew Helleson and Winnipeg Jets forwards Gabriel Vilardi and Morgan Barron – agreed to a new deal before the scheduled hearing.
While RFAs such as Mason McTavish, Marco Rossi and Connor Zary are eligible for offer sheets, seven others are scheduled to have hearings between July 20 and Aug. 4.
These players’ circumstances may have been affected by what their teams have done since the start of NHL free agency on July 1. Here are the seven players and their predicament.
Conor Timmins, D, Buffalo Sabres
Timmins was traded for the second time in four months, from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Sabres in a salary dump deal on the second day of the NHL draft in exchange for veteran blueliner Connor Clifton and a 2025 second-round pick.
The 25-year-old split time between Spencer Knight and Petr Mrazek this past season. Mrazek was traded to the Detroit Red Wings at the deadline, leaving Soderblom to battle youngster Drew Commesso for the backup job.
The Blackhawks have over $21 million in cap space, so it is likely they will settle with Soderblom on a one-year deal.
Jayden Struble, D, Montreal Canadiens
The 23-year-old American likely slots in as a bottom pairing option with David Savard retiring, Logan Mailloux dealt to the St. Louis Blues for Zack Bolduc and the Canadiens not wanting to rush David Reinbacher after the 2023 first-rounder missed most of this past season with a knee injury. Struble put up 13 points and 124 hits in 56 NHL games.
Maxim Tsyplakov, RW, New York Islanders
The Russian right winger signed a one-year entry-level contract after scoring 31 goals in the KHL in 2024. Tsyplakov recorded 35 points this past season, and with the departure of Brock Nelson and Noah Dobson, GM Mathieu Darche will be relying on the 26-year-old along with another KHL import, right winger Maxim Shabanov, to pick up some of the slack on offense.
The Islanders have less than $4 million in cap space, so a one-year deal that walks Tsyplakov to unrestricted free agency makes the most sense.
Kaapo Kakko, RW, Seattle Kraken
The 2019 second overall pick found new life in the Pacific Northwest after struggling in the Big Apple, with 30 points – 10 goals, 20 assists – in 49 games with the Kraken.
The 24-year-old is one year away from being a UFA, so a settlement on a multi-year deal that buys unrestricted years will be costly. Seattle has five high-priced veterans on expiring contracts, so they can afford Kakko’s potentially hefty price tag.
Nick Robertson, LW, Toronto Maple Leafs
The diminutive scorer does not fit with Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving’s penchant for bigger players, but the 23-year-old has scored in double figures the last two seasons in limited ice time under Sheldon Keefe and Craig Berube.
With the departure of Mitch Marner, Toronto may want to keep Robertson, with multiple years under control, or at least settle with him to facilitate a trade.
Samberg is not an offensive dynamo, putting up a career-high 20 points this past season. With one year before unrestricted free agency, a rising salary cap and the prices for defensemen skyrocketing, the 26-year-old will likely get a big payday this summer or next. He led Winnipeg in blocked shots this past season, with 120.
An effective end to the decades-old distinction between betting and gaming feels increasingly imminent
The 12-week consultation on a Treasury proposal to “harmonise” the rate of duty levied on online betting – on racing and other sports – and casino gaming – for example, roulette and online slot machines – closed on Monday, and the British Horseracing Authority submitted “the sport’s formal response” to the process, with “the backing of British racing’s key stakeholder groups” last Friday. Whether or not the government takes any notice is, in the BHA’s view, a potential £100m question for the country’s second-biggest spectator sport.
That is roughly the mid-point of the Authority’s best- and worst-case scenarios if the proposal for a unified online gambling tax – Remote Betting & Gaming Duty, or RBGD – becomes a reality in October’s budget. The current rate of duty on betting is 15% of gross profits while online gaming is taxed at 21% of gross profits, and BHA-commissioned modelling suggests that an RBGD rate of 21% would cost the sport £66m per year in lost income from betting. A unified rate of 40%, meanwhile, could see the annual cost rise to £160m.
Its Monday, July 21 and the Giants (52-48) are in Atlanta looking to right the ship as they open a series against the Braves (43-55).
Hayden Birdsong is slated to take the mound for San Francisco against Bryce Elder for Atlanta.
The Braves lost two of three to the Yankees coming out of the All-Star Break. yesterday they lost 4-2. Aaron Judge smacked his 36th home run of the season in the win for New York. Grant Holmes started for the Braves and lost his ninth game of the season. Atlanta remains in fourth place in the National League East.
San Francisco has lost five in a row including three to the Blue Jays this weekend. Toronto finished off the sweep with an 8-6 win Sunday. Robbie Ray allowed five runs in just 4.1 innings and as a result, earned his fourth loss of the season.
Lets dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch tipoff, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Giants at Braves
Date: Monday, July 21, 2025
Time: 7:15PM EST
Site: Truist Park
City: Atlanta, GA
Network/Streaming: NBCSBA, FDSNSO
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Giants at the Braves
The latest odds as of Monday:
Moneyline: Giants (+111), Braves (-131)
Spread: Braves -1.5
Total: 9.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Giants at Braves
Pitching matchup for July 21, 2025: Hayden Birdsong vs. Bryce Elder
Giants: Hayden Birdsong (4-3, 4.11 ERA) Last outing: July 6 at Athletics - 5IP, 1ER, 3H, 5BB, 6Ks
Braves: Bryce Elder (3-6, 5.65 ERA) Last outing: July 9 @ Athletics - 6.2IP, 2ER, 8H, 1BB, 7Ks
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Giants at Braves
The Giants have lost 6 of their last 7 games
The Under is 40-28-3 in the Braves' matchups against National League teams this season
The Braves have failed to cover the Run Line in 8 of their last 10 home games
Ozzie Albies had his 4-game hitting streak snapped yesterday
Rafael Devers is 11-51 (.216) this month
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Giants and the Braves
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Monday's game between the Giants and the Braves:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Atlanta Braves on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the San Francisco Giants at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Game Total of 9.0.
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It’s been a quarter century since an American League pitcher won back-to-back Cy Young Awards.
It takes a pretty special pitcher to pull that off — but Tarik Skubal fits the bill.
Skubal showed why he’s the favorite to win the Cy Young for a second straight year, striking out 11 with no walks Sunday night in Detroit’s 2-1 victory over Texas. If the Cy Young indeed goes to him, he’ll be the first AL pitcher to earn it in back-to-back seasons since Pedro Martinez’s remarkable stretch with the Red Sox in 1999 and 2000.
Roger Clemens won consecutive Cy Youngs on two different occasions (1986-87 and 1997-98), and Jim Palmer did it in 1975 and ‘76. Those are the only AL pitchers besides Martinez to pull that off. It’s been a bit more common in the National League: Greg Maddux (1992-95) and Randy Johnson (1999-2002) both won four straight, and Tim Lincecum (2008-09), Clayton Kershaw (2013-14), Max Scherzer (2016-17) and Jacob deGrom (2018-19) are in the two-in-a-row club.
National Leaguer Sandy Koufax won the Cy Young in 1965 and 1966, back when there was only one award for both leagues.
The win Sunday snapped a six-game losing streak for the Tigers, who still have baseball’s best record and an 11-game lead in the AL Central. Not only has Detroit struggled to win games lately, but the All-Star game didn’t go great either, with Skubal giving up two runs in the first inning and Tigers teammate Casey Mize allowing a homer in the sixth.
Skubal, however, pitched well enough on Sunday to take over the AL lead in ERA. He’s at 2.1854, while Boston’s Garrett Crochet is at 2.1946.
Trivia time
In 1988, a Minnesota left-hander won the ERA title by an unusually slim margin, finishing at 2.4465, while Milwaukee’s Teddy Higuera was second at 2.4545. Who was that Twins pitcher?
Double repeat?
Not only does Skubal have a shot at winning two straight Cy Young Awards, but last year’s AL MVP — Aaron Judge — has a good chance to repeat as well.
Only three times has a league had back-to-back winners of both its MVP and Cy Young — and all three times it happened in the NL. Albert Pujols was MVP and Lincecum won the Cy Young in 2008 and 2009. Barry Bonds was MVP in 2001 and 2002 while Johnson was winning the Cy Young — and Bonds was also MVP in 1992 and 1993 while Maddux was taking Cy Young honors.
Line of the week
Miami’s Kyle Stowers, who hit three homers last Sunday in the final game before the All-Star break, added two more in the Marlins’ first game back Friday night. One of those was a two-run walk-off shot that gave Miami an 8-7 win over Kansas City.
Honorable mention: Minnesota’s Joe Ryan allowed one run in seven innings and struck out 11 in a 7-1 win over Colorado on Sunday. The All-Star right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.63.
Comeback of the week
The New York Yankees rallied from a 7-2 sixth-inning deficit to beat Atlanta 12-9 on Saturday night. Trent Grisham hit a tiebreaking grand slam with two outs in the top of the ninth. Before that, the Yankees scored four runs in the sixth and got solo homers from Cody Bellinger and Anthony Volpe in the seventh and eighth. Atlanta’s win probability peaked at 96.1% in the fifth, according to Baseball Savant.
Trivia answer
No, it wasn’t Frank Viola, the Minnesota lefty who went 24-7 and won the Cy Young that year. The left-hander on the Twins who edged Higuera for the ERA title was Allan Anderson.
Athletics star first baseman Nick Kurtz was awarded his first career AL Player of the Week award on Monday after hitting .583 with seven hits, including four doubles and a triple, and four RBI with a home run over three games against the Cleveland Guardians between July 18-20.
Kurtz is the first A’s player to take home the honor since outfielder Lawrence Butler did on Sept. 3, 2024, and the first A’s rookie to do so since Yoenis Céspedes on July 16, 2012. The 22-year-old also became the first rookie to win Player of the Week this season and the first since Detroit Tigers pitcher Keider Montero and Chicago Cubs infielder Michael Busch did on Sept. 15, 2024.
Selected No. 4 overall by the A’s in the 2024 MLB Draft, Kurtz has wasted no time dominating the big leagues. He’s slashing .348/.601/.949 with 60 hits, 48 RBI and 18 homers through his first 61 games with the Green and Gold and is on pace to be a finalist for AL Rookie of the Year alongside A’s teammate and star shortstop Jacob Wilson.
Not only is Kurtz one of the best rookies in baseball, but he simply is one of the game’s top first basemen. And he’s doing it with a mere 33 minor-league games under his belt.
Nick Kurtz since May 20th among first baseman:
HR: 17 (1st) RBI: 42 (1st) ISO: .454 (1st in MLB) AVG: .312 (4th) OBP: .395 (1st) SLG: .766 (1st in MLB) wOBA: .477 (1st in MLB) wRC+: 209 (1st in MLB) fWAR: 2.2 (1st)
— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) July 21, 2025
The sky appears to be the limit for Kurtz. And, despite the A’s — with a 42-59 record — being last in the AL West, Kurtz, along with Wilson, are headlining what has been a fun, young core building by the day in West Sacramento.
Kurtz’s first Player of the Week nod surely won’t be his last.
Chris Paul, above watching Game 2 of the NBA Finals in June, will reunite with the Clippers and return for his 21st season in the NBA. (Julio Cortez / Associated Press)
The Clippers went from “strongly, strongly considering” bringing Chris Paul back to the franchise to actually agreeing to a deal with the point guard on Monday, according to people familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.
Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, told the media Saturday in a Zoom that Paul “obviously possesses some of the qualities we just referenced” and that led to the two sides agreeing to a veteran’s minimum deal of about $3.6 million.
Paul joined the Clippers for the 2011-12 season and was with the team until 2017 as he teamed with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan to form the core of the “Lob City” teams.
“What I’d say about Chris is he’s a great player,” Frank said during that Zoom meeting. “He’s a great Clipper.”
In what is likely his final season in the NBA, Paul will be entering his 21st campaign and will do so in Los Angeles, where his family lives.
Paul, 40, played in all 82 games last season with the San Antonio Spurs. He averaged 28.0 minutes per game, 8.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 7.4 assists and shot 42.7% from the field.
Over the course of his career, Paul averaged 17.0 points, 9.2 assists and shot 47% from the field and 37% from three-point range.
Paul, a 12-time NBA All-Star, was a teammate with James Harden during the 2017-18 season with the Houston Rockets.
With the addition of Paul, the Clippers now have five veteran guards. They signed Bradley Beal to a two-year, $11-million deal and they also have Harden, Kris Dunn and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
From Simpson’s sad death to Froome’s bizarre run, the ‘Bald Mountain’ has always been the place where stuff happens
The decades pass, generations of Tour de France cyclists come and go, but some gruesome things never change. On Tuesday, the survivors of one of the craziest, fastest Tours ever, a race with even less respite than usual, will do as their predecessors have done every few years since 1951: they will crest a rise in the road, and see Mont Ventoux on the horizon. A sinking in the heart will accompany the dull ache in the legs: we’re off to the Bald Mountain once again.
The men of the Tour probably won’t be thankful for small mercies, but they should be. Last time the Tour visited, in 2021, although the background scenario was the same – Tadej Pogacar had smashed the race to bits on the first serious climb and was set fair for victory – the organisers cruelly made them go over the 1,910m summit twice, in two different ways. Wout van Aert might recall that with a wry smile: the Belgian was in his prime back then and he won out of a breakaway.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti argued in a letter to the NCAA that Michigan should receive no further punishment in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing case
The Boston Red Sox are expected to be active ahead of the 2025 MLB trade deadline. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has clearly stated his desire to add “impact starting pitching” before 6 p.m. ET on July 31.
While pitching is undoubtedly the priority, the Red Sox could also look to upgrade at first base and catcher. Breslow should be aggressive in his efforts to improve the roster, with Boston currently in postseason contention and aiming to clinch its first playoff berth since 2021.
As for Alcantara and Bradley, both are in the midst of down seasons to varying degrees. Alcantara, the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner, has a 7.14 ERA and 1.495 WHIP across 19 starts. Bradley has a 4.35 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over 20 starts.
Alcantara is the more realistic — albeit less enticing — option of the two. The 29-year-old is under team control through 2026 while the 24-year-old Bradley is under contract through 2029.
Breslow has used the phrase “impact starting pitching” multiple times when asked about Boston’s trade deadline priority. That would suggest he is eyeing a true No. 2 starter to slot behind ace Garrett Crochet, in which case Kelly, Bubic, and Keller appear to be the most sensible options on the list.
This upcoming trade deadline will be critical for the Red Sox, and it could ultimately seal Breslow’s fate as Boston’s front-office leader. Last season, his first as Chaim Bloom’s replacement, Breslow traded for catcher Danny Jansen, right-hander Quinn Priester, and relievers Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia. The Red Sox missed the postseason, and none of those four players are still with the team.
NCAA charged Michigan with 11 violations surrounding sign-stealing investigation of Connor Stalions. Big Ten's Tony Petitti said punishment was served.
Its Monday, July 21 and the Royals (48-52) are in Chicago to open a series against the Cubs (59-40).
Noah Cameron is slated to take the mound for Kansas City against Ryan Brasier for Chicago.
The Cubs have now won four of their last six following a weekend series win over the Red Sox. Chicago was denied a sweep of Boston yesterday as the Sox salvaged the series with a 6-1 win at Wrigley. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Dansby Swanson each collected a couple of hits in the loss.
Kansas City took Sunday's game against the Marlins, 7-4, to prevent a sweep at the hands of Miami. It was just their second win in their last six games. Kris Bubic pitched five shutout innings to earn his eighth win of the campaign and Salvador Perez went yard for the 15th time this season to pace the attack in yesterday's win. The veteran catcher is now 12 home runs shy of 300 for his career.
Lets dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch tipoff, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Royals at Cubs
Date: Monday, July 21, 2025
Time: 8:05PM EST
Site: Wrigley Field
City: Chicago, IL
Network/Streaming: FDSNKC, MARQ, MLBN
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Odds for the Royals at the Cubs
The latest odds as of Monday:
Moneyline: Royals (+116), Cubs (-138)
Spread: Cubs -1.5
Total: 8.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Royals at Cubs
Pitching matchup for July 21, 2025: Noah Cameron vs. Ryan Brasier
Royals: Noah Cameron (3-4, 2.31 ERA) Last outing: 7/13 vs. Mets - 6.2IP, 0ER, 7H, 2BB, 8Ks
Cubs: Ryan Brasier (0-0, 1.04 ERA) Last outing: 7/19 vs. Boston - 1IP, 0ER, 1H, 0BB, 2Ks
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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Royals at Cubs
The Cubs have won 4 of their last 5 games against the Royals
The Under is 7-3 in the Cubs' last 10 games
The Cubs have covered in 4 of their last 5 games showing a profit of 3.01 units
Pete Crow-Armstrong is riding a modest 5-game hitting streak (7-17)
Kyle Tucker was 2-9 in the series against the Red Sox
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Royals and the Cubs
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Monday's game between the Royals and the Cubs:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Chicago Cubs on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Kansas City Royals at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC
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