Worldwide Sports News

As part of Sunday night’s Little League Classic festivities, Commissioner Rob Manfred appeared on the ESPN broadcast to announce the date and matchup of next year’s LLC in Williamsport, PA.

The Cubs will face the Toronto Blue Jays in that game, which will be held Thursday, Aug. 19, 2027 in Williamsport, in a change from past years (including this year) when the game’s been played on a Sunday.

The 2027 schedule released last month shows the Cubs in Toronto from Friday, Aug. 20 through Sunday, Aug. 22. This will move that Friday game to Thursday in Williamsport and then the teams will have Friday off before continuing the series at the Rogers Centre on Saturday.

In keeping with the tradition of this annual event, Major Leaguers from both the Blue Jays and the Cubs will attend Little League World Series games earlier in the day on August 19, demonstrating their commitment to helping grow the game at the youth level and engage with young fans. Later that evening, Little League World Series players and their families will fill Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field for the Little League Classic game.

As you likely remember, this will be the second time the Cubs will participate in the LLC. They were also in the 2019 version of the game, in which they defeated the Pirates 7-1. Here’s the BCB recap of that game.

This game is always fun for the players participating and it’s great for all the Little League kids who get to attend. Cubs outfielder Michael Conforto played in the Little League World Series in 2004, and is one of three players to appear in the Little League Baseball World Series, Men’s College World Series and Major League Baseball’s World Series, along with Jason Varitek and Ed Vosberg.

I look forward to seeing this game, which will be on ESPN and Sportsnet Canada at 6:10 p.m. CT next August 19… presuming we have a normal season in 2027. Fingers crossed.

Late August, early September. The Phillies are headed out west to have three series in which they are playing teams that have given them trouble in the past. First, to Seattle to face the Mariners, then down the Pacific coastline to see the Los Angeles Angels, followed by their own house of horrors in Phoenix against the Diamondbacks.

Of these three, which one worries you the most? The obvious answer is Arizona since they have rarely played well there, but they are coming off a big time high, traveling across the country and play a game in Seattle this evening. It screams of a letdown series even if the Mariners have been disappointing this year. Maybe it’s the one we’re all overlooking in Anaheim.

If they can get through this going at least winning four of the nine, I’ll be happy.

A lot can change in 427 days, especially if your name is Kade Anderson.

That’s exactly how many days were between his final collegiate start and his MLB debut. Since that final appearance in a Tiger uniform, Anderson won a national championship, got drafted #3 overall, breezed through AA baseball to become the top prospect in baseball, and then got called up to the Seattle Mariners to make his MLB debut.

Waiting for him at T-Mobile Park was the Chicago Cubs with a record of 74-55. With a lineup full of good right-handed hitters, they would present one of the toughest matchups possible for a rookie to debut against.

If there was one thing that we learned about Kade Anderson in his time at LSU, he’s the last person to shy away from competition. This is the same guy who sat in a press conference following a 16-9 game 1 victory vs West Virginia in a Super Regional with a face that was beet red with frustration for his own performance because he allowed 7 runs on 9 hits.

He has a high standard for himself and that’s why he didn’t even spend a full season in the minors. The lefty told everyone that he was going to be much better the next time and he did just that. Anderson showed up to the College World Series in Omaha and, between two starts, combined for 16.0 innnings pitched, 6 hits, 1 run, and 17 strikeouts.

He’s a competitor and there was no doubt that he’d be ready for the moment on Saturday afternoon in Seattle.

In his 1st inning, Anderson got through Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki fairly easily. Then, former LSU shortstop Alex Bregman stepped in to the batter’s box. After 2 balls, the southpaw fought back with back-to-back strikes to even the count. Bregman then fouled off 3 straight pitches and they were in the midst of a Tiger-on-Tiger battle. Anderson threw a beautifully executed changeup on the outside corner to get a swing and a miss and took round 1 in a matchup that made all of Baton Rouge proud.

After getting through the 2nd and 3rd innings with only a walk allowed, Anderson finally gave up his first hit on a bloop single to Suzuki to lead off the 4th. It didn’t phase him, as he retired Bregman, again, followed by another strikeout and a ground out.

Chicago finally got to him in the 5th, as they began the inning with a walk, a steal, and a single to set up runners at 1st and 3rd and no outs. A sacrifice fly would bring in Anderson’s first run allowed, but that was followed by a double play and as we saw him do numerous times in purple and gold, he pitched out of trouble.

With a reliever warmed and ready in the bullpen, the Mariners sent him back out there with just 72 pitches. Crow-Armstrong doubled to lead off the inning, but another double play quickly erased the danger. So we thought. It was time for round 3 with Bregman. The Golden Spikes finalist, World Series champion, and 11-year veteran is just too good to see the pitch that Anderson threw him. A first pitch changeup that was dead center of the zone quickly got turned around for a 415 foot homerun and that was part 1 the “welcome to the big leagues moment”. Part 2 came on the very next pitch when Michael Busch clobbered a 408 foot hanging slider out to center field and that would be it for the debut of Kade Anderson.

He walked off of the mound shaking his head and frustrated with his final two pitches, but as he looked up, all of the Mariners fans in the stadium were on their feet to give a rousing ovation. Regardless of how the debut ended, it was well-deserved.

The smiles returned later that night, though. Anderson looked poised to get the loss on his record as Seattle went to the bottom of the 9th down 4-2 and recorded two quick outs to start the inning. Following a double and an RBI single, Randy Arozarena stepped to the plate having already homered in the 1st and robbed a homerun for Anderson in the 3rd. On his second pitch of the at-bat, the veteran left fielder deposited a ball over the center field wall, won the game for the Mariners, and let a cheerful Anderson off of the hook.

After the game, he was asked how were his jitters going in to his debut, despite having pitched in some huge games across his collegiate career.

Anderson said, “I feel like I’ve had opportunities to pitch in some pretty big games. I’ve used those games to help me through this one. Obviously, there’s going to be some jitters, but I feel like I controlled them pretty well.”

While LSU isn’t the MLB and Charles Schwab Field in Omaha isn’t T-Mobile Park, it’s hard to argue that Kade Anderson could have been any more prepared for that moment based on his time as a Tiger. It’s a testament to him, his family, his work ethic, attitude, etc., but it’s also a massive nod to Jay Johnson and the staff at LSU for the work they do to prepare their athletes for the big leagues.

Anderson is just the latest example. Paul Skenes, Dylan Crews, Grant Taylor, Tommy White, Gage Jump, and Paul Gervase are all currently on active MLB rosters and each played for Johnson. That’s 7 players in the MLB in just 5 years as the Tigers head coach.

Sitting there in a post-game presser following LSU’s national championship in 2025, Johnson delivered delivered one of his most viral quotes.

“If you’re a pitcher and you don’t want to come here right now, you’re out to lunch. You’re not thinking clearly, because that’s three dudes that pitched in the series that are all going to be in the Major Leagues within 18 months.”

Those three dudes were Kade Anderson, Anthony Eyanson, and Chase Shores.

Scratch one off of the list, because Kade Anderson has arrived.

His next start, assuming Seattle follows the typical 5-man rotation schedule, looks to be on Friday night against the Blue Jays in Toronto, but that is very subject to change.

Stay locked in with ATVS to follow Anderson’s young journey, as the 22 year old now looks to settle in to a routine.

Sean Murphy is not having a great time — he apparently suffered through a debilitating hip injury for years, and finally decided to call it quits in a lost season and get surgery. He returns, and a week later, has his finger fractured by a swing. Fast forward right about three months, and he’s re-activated, but this time to serve as a very platoon-y bat amidst a stretch of the team not facing that many southpaws.

On top of that, his stats this season are super-gross: a .138 wOBA and a .159 xwOBA. It’s only 42 PAs, but it’s probably not helping him have a great time.

To say that he’s not in any sort of rhythm is an understatement. In those 42 PAs, he’s running by far the highest chase rate of his career, but also the lowest rate of swinging at strikes. Put those together and woof. But, I also noticed something else, partly due to the fact that Murphy only has one hard-hit ball in his last 11 balls in play. To summarize:

That’s a… very slow swing now. It’s been declining as it is, amid injury, but in this tiny-sample 2026 we have so far, that’s a collapse.

I can think of three big-picture reasons:

1. There’s still some lingering injury-related stuff that’s preventing him from taking the hacks he used to, except in limited situations.
2. Either in combination with his lack of “sync” and horrible pitch recognition thus far, or separately for whatever reason, he’s slowing things down (to little avail).
3. The bat speed collapse isn’t deliberate, but just an extreme reflection of Murphy not being “ready” at the plate. (The thing I don’t like about this one is that his swing rate on pitches nowhere near is so high that it doesn’t seem to make sense, but it’s a possibility.)

If Murphy were doing his usual massive cuts thing, and missing the pitch by a bunch, that’d be one thing. And, if he were doing that while not really recognizing balls versus strikes, yeah, okay, he’s had a long layoff and is barely playing these days. But the lack of bat speed suggests something physical or deliberate, and that’s on its own plane of concern.

I will also say, unrelated to this, that even if bat speed concerns were allayed, he’s got a long road to go, as evidenced by his looking strikeout last night. Two outs, some guys on base, Murphy takes four pitches and gets a 3-1 count. Walking won’t help that much because the Brewers can make a pitching change to preserve the platoon advantage. Murphy has already seen the sinker from Grant Anderson, it was two of the last four pitches. There’s another one on 3-1, and it’s a good pitch on the bottom edge, but… Murphy takes it. And then, on 3-2, Anderson changes to a four-seam grip and fires a ball in the exact same location and… Murphy takes it. Yeah, that’s not bat speed, but it might be related — why isn’t Murphy swinging on 3-1, but also not on 3-2 when he gets a very similar pitch?

Anyway, what do you think?

Slowly but surely, the Dodgers are getting the band back together.

Tyler Glasnow is going to be activated off the 60-day injured list on Tuesday to start for the first time in 111 days. By this weekend in Detroit, Shohei Ohtani might pitch for the first time since July 3, even if he starts out one inning at a time.

The Dodgers plan to be aggressive with Ohtani’s progression on the mound, with an eye toward postseason readiness. From Fabian Ardaya and Kaie Woo at The Athletic:

Ohtani could still build up to five-inning starts by October, Roberts said. If Ohtani keeps his standard once-per-week pitching schedule, he could get up to four or five (if he starts Sunday, with the regular season ending Sept. 27) starts in actual games before then.

“To then have the opportunity, the flexibility to insert Shohei to build up like he did last year, I think, is of huge benefit both ways,” Roberts said.

Eric Lauer figures into this week’s plan by being available out of the bullpen during the Tigers series, possibly following Glasnow on Tuesday. Then Lauer will likely follow Ohani on Sunday in Detroit. Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register has more.

Links

• Will Smith last caught for he Dodgers on June 5, missing nearly four months with neck inflammation. But after ramping up baseball activities, including facing Ohtani in a simulated game on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, Smith will start a minor league rehab assignment with Oklahoma City on Tuesday, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.
• When Edwin Díaz returns from the injured list after neck inflammation, he won’t be in the closer role, and will have to work his way back into high-leverage roles. “I’m good with the decision because I know I haven’t done my job,” Díaz told Dylan Hernández of the California Post. “If I’d done my job, I’d be pitching in the ninth inning.”

Even analytical fans can be overcome with emotions. The last ten days have been brutal. If we remove the opener of the Mariners series, we saw the Astros got a combined 2-6 in the span of eight days. That was against a collection of teams where they probably were hoping for a 6-2 run. They blew late leads, the offense sputtered at times, and the starting pitching continued to struggle to get through the fifth inning. Even the normally reliable Yordan Alvarez seemed to hit a snag throughout much of the run.

I hate to boil things down to simple math, but this is usually where my brain goes. There are essentially six months in a baseball season. It’s obviously grossly simplified to assume four weeks in a month, but we could probably add one week in there to account for the extra days. That means there are 25 weeks in a season. The last homestand accounts for slightly more than a week’s worth of games. 162 divided by nine equals 18. 18 is a nice round number.

To put this in perspective for most Houston fans, 18 essentially corresponds to the number of weeks in an NFL season. So, imagine if the Texans’ offense failed to show up for a particular game. I know that’s not hard to imagine. Imagine if they had held a lead into the fourth quarter and squandered it. Imagine if their defense simply got torched on a particular Sunday. What would the conversation be like?

Obviously, the conversation would likely depend on when that particular loss occurred. If it occurred in a random regular season game in October it would likely be a cause for concern, but no one would be quitting on the season quite yet. If it were the opening week of the season there would be some doom and gloom, but most people would realize it was just one game in a long schedule. If it occurred in January then obviously the season would be over.

This is where we find ourselves as Astros fans. We have experienced one terrible week of baseball. They have had worse this season. It doesn’t seem like it but the first road trip was an unmitigated disaster. There have been stretches at home that have looked just as awful. So, the key to sound analysis is to take a step back and keep a level head about these things.

The question we should ask is whether there is anything from these nine games that we can extrapolate to the much larger whole. I think there are a few through lines we can look at and pencil them in as areas of concern moving forward. These are things the next general manager and manager need to consider when the 2027 season opens (yes, I am assuming they are both gone).

The lineup is too shallow

Let’s do the math. We know Yordan Alvarez is great. We know Jeremy Pena is an all-star level player. We know Christian Walker overall has had a nice bounce back season. Isaac Paredes is also approaching career highs in OPS. That’s it. This lineup has four average to above average hitters when compared to the league average (as defined by 100 OPS+). That simply ain’t going to get it done.

Certainly, others have shown flashes of brilliance. Jose Altuve is a Hall of Famer in waiting, so he will have stretches where he looks like one. Cam Smith is obviously a physically gifted player and he will have stretches where he looks like a future all-star. Yainer Diaz even had a stretch earlier where he looked like his former self. That is why this offense can look great at times. Yet, on a nightly basis you are counting on the same four guys to hit. What happens when one or more of them aren’t hitting?

Moreover, if you have four guys that are clearly head and shoulders above everyone else then shouldn’t those four guys be the top four in your lineup? There are too many games when random people like Daulton Varsho are batting cleanup. Again, this is simple math. Who are your best hitters? Where they can hit in the lineup to get more opportunities?

The rotation is too shallow

Everyone here remembers the Jake Odorizzi days. Most fans would not remember them fondly, but they likely are misremembering things. Odorizzi was famously very effective two times through the order. The third time through things all went to crap. When Dusty Baker finally realized what he had then Odorizzi became a lot more effective. The Astros have a couple of those guys in their current rotation. Cristian Javier looks like one of those guys. Kai-Wei Teng was one of those guys when he was a starter. You could say Hayden Wesneski looks like one of those guys too.

Tatsuya Imai is also one of those guys as a starter. When more than half of your potential rotation are guys that are only effective two times through the order you are going to tax your bullpen. In my last lab, I suggested leaning into that. Obviously, that is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. You can’t go through a 162 game schedule without that blowing up in your face. You could credibly claim that it did on the last homestand.

Javier’s overall effectiveness has actually surprised me. I thought he was cooked earlier in the season. However, you are setting yourself up for problems if most of your starters are not capable of going beyond five innings. Heck, just getting to the fifth lately has been a struggle. In terms of short-term fixes, the answer is only Mike Burrows and hoping Ethan Pecko can go deeper than he did last time out. Neither of those are appetizing solutions. Still, when you do nothing at the deadline, your options are going to be limited.

The future is unwritten

If we have learned anything as Astros fans it is never to write them off in any situation. They taught us that in 2005 and throughout the current dynastic run. They are going up against the New York teams this week and that seems like a recipe for disaster. Still, this is when they usually have played their best baseball in the past. We can hope for it again. 3-6 is a horrible nine game stretch at home, but it is essentially one game’s worth of action in NFL terms. We wouldn’t write the Texans off after one week and we shouldn’t do that with the Astros even if the last nine games really makes us want to.

Meet the Mets

If you didn’t enjoy the first walk-off loss of the weekend, I have very bad news for you.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, Faith and Fear in Flushing, MLB.com, Newsday, New York Daily News, New York Post

Thankfully, the Mets mission to become Dodgers East hasn’t’ resulted in any financial crimes to this point.

For A.J. Ewing to come out clean on the other end of his slump, he can just look to his fellow psychopath and Nolan McLean as roadmaps.

Though it ultimately meant nothing, as most things do, Jared Young’s game-tying hit was the latest in a long stretch of timely hits by the first baseman.

If the Mets aren’t entertainment enough, some guy in the stands hit a flying leg drop, Matt Hardy-style from two rows up on some unsuspecting brawler.

Around the National League East

In the Little League Classic, Michael Harris II and the Braves gave the kids a show, beating the Brewers 4-2 in a 22-hit contest.

Down to their last strike, the Phillies scored six times, capped off by a Kyle Schwarber walk-off home run, and defeated the Cardinals, 6-4.

The Nationals continued their long descent to The Mets Zone of the NL East, falling to the Marlins for the third time in a row, this time 6-2.

Proving that walls are just a temporary obstacle, Jacob Young clambered up the Marlins’ left-center field wall and started a double play.

Around Major League Baseball

Shohei Ohtani is likely to make his grand return to the mound during the Dodgers’ next homestand.

Barely a week after Pete Crow-Armstrong became the first player in eons to start a game with a homer, end that same game with a homer, and start the next game with a homer, Randy Arozarena has matched him.

The first of two statues to be revealed at Coors Field this summer, a 15-foot-tall bronze Larry Walker was revealed outside the main gate in Denver.

Inside the stadium, Jimmy Herget was stung right on the UCL by a bee on the mound and went on with his business.

With his 120th consecutive day on the injured list in the books, Garrett Crochet has lost his option to opt-out of the remainder of his contract after the 2030 season.

As they continue their wild card push, the Diamondbacks lost one starter voluntarily and one to injury as they designated Zack Littell for assignment and placed Michael Soroka on the injured list.

He may be the best pitcher on planet Earth, but that doesn’t mean Jacob Misiorowski is immune from getting dunked on by a pre-teen in a game of ping pong.

During the Little League Classic, Commissioner Rob Manfred revealed the Blue Jays and the Cubs to to be the participants in the 2027 edition of the game next August.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2015, the Mets set a new franchise record with eight home runs in a single game against Philadelphia.

The Jays have this Monday off (and next Monday). Having Monday off is a good thing. I’ve always liked holiday Mondays.

They have 30 games left (and fortunately enough, no 17-game streaks without a day off.

They are a game and a half back of the last Wild Card spot. And would have to jump two teams to get there. I don’t know how many they would need to win to get there. I figure 20-10 would do it pretty easily. 18-12? Likely. Maybe even 17-13. Much worse than that? I don’t know.

They have three against the Rangers and three against the Guardians. Winning those series would help.

I’m mostly hoping it is a fun ride.

Anyway, use the thread, as always, to discuss anything you’d like.

Maybe long movies. I saw The Odyssey and Spider-Man this week. I guess they want you to feel you got your money’s worth. I enjoyed both and made it through without needing the washroom. I’ve hit that fun age that if I drink anything within like 6 hours of going to bed, I’m up three times during the night.

Or a favourite moment of the season up to this point. I’ve enjoyed seeing the young guys come up—Bateman, McAdoo, Valenzuela, Cameron, even Tiedemann for his 1.2 innings.

Or talk about what you plan to do with the last month of summer. Me? I don’t know. I tell myself I’m going to pick up my guitars more, but, with baseball and this place, my sitting on the couch time is pretty much filled. So, it is tough to add more ‘sitting on the couch time’.

Anyway, use the thread to talk about almost anything.

And….we could really use another voice or two on the site. What would be nice is if we could find someone or someones who could do a morning post on weekdays to take some of the morning pressure off me. When you are out here in Calgary, well, a morning post is up around noon Eastern. There is always a point in the season when burnout starts to show. Anyway, if you think you would like to help out, let me know. My email is in my profile.

The Braves are likely very glad Monday is finally here and an off-day can be used as a needed break and reset. Thankfully, the Braves were able to get a badly needed win in the 2026 Little League Classic on Sunday night. This allowed for Atlanta to avoid a sweep to the Brewers, and also have a positive note to end on after a wild last few days. After ending the road trip playing in four different cities in five days, Atlanta can now return home for another big series against the Dodgers.

Braves News

As the Braves switched up the lineup a bit, Michael Harris II proved to be huge from the leadoff spot, including the final run of the game coming via a home run that was clearly wanted from the Little League crowd.

Despite their recent travel and struggles, many on the Braves seem truly delighted to experience the Little League Classic.

Reynaldo Lopez had a fairly positive showing as he began a rehab assignment in his return from injury.

MLB News

The Phillies won their ninth straight game, as the NL East is once again a close race.

Jazz Chisholm helped the Yankees win on Sunday.

Mike Soroka went to the IL for the Diamondbacks.

Saturday night, the Red Sox were down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth against the Giants. The crowd had been anxious all game—understandably—but something shifted when Caleb Durbin led off the inning with a walk. The noise inside a 114-year-old stadium started to rise and crescendoed in a walk-off that encapsulates the luck and magic of the 2026 Boston Red Sox.

The walk-off itself wasn’t just something the crowd watched, though. It felt like something they willed into existence.

That’s what’s been happening at Fenway Park this summer. A building and a fanbase that has decided it’s part of this team.

Sellouts, near-sellouts, 37,000-plus on a regular Friday night in August. You can cite the attendance figures, but the number that actually matters is decibels. Jerseys are coming off—the tarps-off phenomenon sweeping the bleachers, people yanking their shirts over their heads and spinning them in the air like rally towels. People in apartments on Boylston Street are posting videos of themselves hearing the roar from inside their living rooms. That’s not a normal August at Fenway, or at least hasn’t been for quite some time.

I was at last Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks, and the crowd there had that same edge—that sense that nobody in the building was treating this as a casual summer night out. Even in a blowout, it’s beyond apparent how engaged and just purely fun the stands at Fenway are right now. Yankees Suckchants breaking out unprompted, everyone screaming their heads off at Mr. Brightside during a pitching change, every single person leaping to their feet the moment Sweet Caroline came on. It was infectious. The energy is different this year. You can feel it the moment you walk through the gates.

Friday night was the purest version of it. Rafael Devers walked out for his first at-bat back at his old ballpark and Fenway didn’t just boo—it rained boos on this man, 37,000 people making sure he knew exactly where he was and what this series meant. Whether you wanted boos or cheers, the crowd made its distain pretty well known, even to the chagrin of some other media pundits who were shocked there were so many jeers. Devers struck out. Later on, Willson Contreras hit one 450 feet over the Monster and the building became the loudest it’s been all year.

This is what a pennant race sounds like.

After a stretch of Red Sox baseball where the question was whether anyone was going to bother showing up—the pandemic years, the “rebuilding years” with Chaim Bloom, the quiet Septembers, the half-filled sections and the general sense of waiting for something to happen—this summer has felt like a reset, not just in the standings, but in the relationship between this team and this city. For the years of apathy that permeated from ownership and the front office on down to Red Sox Nation, there’s finally a well-earned feeling that everyone has bought in all at once.

The Red Sox are 25-11 since the All-Star Break, the best record in baseball over that stretch. They’re back over .500 at home for the first time since April 17th. They have strong footing in the Wild Card hunt. And Fenway has responded the way Fenway responds when it actually believes in something—which is with everything it has, every night, from the first pitch to the ninth inning comeback.

The crowd needs the team to keep giving them reasons. The team needs the crowd in September. Right now, both sides of that deal are holding up their end. And it has been one of the most raucous, engaged, alive stretches this ballpark has seen in a very long time.

Go outside and stand on Lansdowne Street some time. You’ll hear it.