Checking in with Dodgers relievers Will Klein, Wyatt Mills
With the Dodgers on a three-city road trip to Anaheim, San Diego, and Milwaukee, here are a few leftover tidbits from the last homestand at Dodger Stadium.
Toast of the town
First, I spoke with reliever Will Klein, who has kept his late-season surge and World Series heroics going in the early part of the season, with a 2.45 ERA and 2.83 xERA with 19 strikeouts and four unintentional walks in 18 1/3 innings.
After last season’s championship parade, Klein was in a scrum with media on the field at Dodger Stadium. I was off to the side talking to another reporter about the right-hander, and said reporter noted Klein’s four-inning effort in Game 3 of the World Series and said he should never have to pay for a drink in this town again. Klein’s wife Carson happened to be standing near us and quipped something like, “You would think, and yet!”
That was only a week after Klein’s gem, so this week I asked him if in fact he has encountered such generosity from fans in the time since.
“It happened to me the first time ever a couple off days ago [in late April]. My wife and I were out eating dinner, after a day game before an off day,” Klein said. “I just had a glass of wine, and then I was going to the bathroom and some guy comes up and goes, ‘Hey Will,’ and that doesn’t happen often. Someone noticed who I am, that’s cool. Then we were getting the bill and they said the table over there got your drinks.”
“That’s the first time I’ve experienced that,” Klein added. “I think people overestimate their ability to spot us.”
Long road back
Another Dodgers reliever is relatively new to the squad, as Wyatt Mills was called up last Sunday, when he pitched his first major league game since 2022 while with the Kansas City Royals. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 and 2024 seasons, and after signing a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox in 2025 never got called up.
He signed with the Dodgers last August and spent the rest of the season at Camelback Ranch, and was a non-roster invitee in big league camp this spring. After a 3.26 ERA and 36.4-percent strikeout rate for Triple-A Oklahoma City, the 31-year-old Mills got the call back to the majors. His wife and two-year-old daughter were living with him in Oklahoma City, so they packed up and arrived in Los Angeles as a family last Sunday.
I talked with Mills about his return to the majors.
“I’ve been up, and those crazy jitters and nerves weren’t there, like it was in ’21. It was more of like a gratitude. A long road, it’s never a guarantee that you get fully healthy after that. So it was more like a deep breath, kind of peaceful. I felt calm. I put in a lot of work, and my confidence came from that,” Mills said. “Then to get out there, remind myself that I belong here, now we can move forward, rather than sit there for, sometimes five, six, seven days and you don’t play until that specific situation comes up where they need you.”
Mills pitched in mop-up duty in his first two days with the Dodgers, getting the final out after allowing two singles in the ninth inning last Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, then entered in a three-run deficit in the ninth inning Monday against the Giants, walking four and hitting a batter to let three more runs in.
Mills understands the nature of the role, as he himself was called up after Paul Gervase pitched three innings of relief last Saturday in a “take one for the team” outing before getting optioned to the minors.
“It’s not fun. But when you’re in the stretch of 13 in a row, when you know the game is not essentially in the balance or I feel that I’m trying to win the war, not the battle, that’s just kind of the role of certain guys,” manager Dave Roberts said last Monday. “Instead of chasing a loss, because regardless of the score, it’s still just one loss in the loss column. It’s never good to have a guy wear it, and I just want to make sure I’m taking care of their health. But as long as that’s not a compromise, that’s part of it.”
Mills got back on the beam with a scoreless inning on Friday night in Anaheim, one of eight Dodgers pitchers used in a shutout of the Angels.
Manchester City win FA Cup final as Semenyo magic sinks Chelsea 1-0 – as it happened
Antoine Semenyo’s brilliant goal settled a hard-fought final and brought more glory to Pep Guardiola’s City
‘Stirring’ is the subject of Matt Dony’s email. And he doesn’t mean a synonym of ‘rousing’
Is the score not something like 115-74 to City? The magic of the cup, eh?
Continue reading...Warriors would ‘love' to have Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford back next season
Warriors would ‘love' to have Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford back next season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Now that Steve Kerr is returning as coach, the focus of the Warriors’ offseason now shifts to the state of their aging roster.
Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy already have admitted Golden State must get younger entering next season, after their previous campaign was marred by inconsistent player availability.
However, the Warriors also have shown interest in bringing back several veterans, including Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford, who will be 31 and 40 years old, respectively, by the start of the 2026-27 NBA season. Both Kerr and Dunleavy were asked Friday about what’s ahead for both big men.
“Yeah, those are guys that we definitely would love to have back,” Dunleavy told reporters. “They had some really good performances for this year with us. They add an element to our team that we haven’t had in the past. Al specifically with his size, his shooting, his leadership. KP is just a unique, unique player on both ends of the court. I think for us to have that talent back is something we want.
“And so those guys — you know, Al has an option. I think frankly his option is two-fold: One, do you want to keep playing? Two, do you want to be back with the Warriors? Then KP is unrestricted, so we’ll start having the conversations to try and get him back in the fold, but we like what we’ve seen from him. I think next year could be a more healthy, productive year for him.”
As Dunleavy mentioned, Horford has a player option for next season at just under $6 million, though retirement still appears to be on the table for the 19-year NBA veteran. Porziņģis, meanwhile, is an unrestricted free agent, but his injury history remains a question mark.
While the general manager underscored the on-court fit of the skilled centers, Kerr said both players enjoyed their first seasons with Golden State.
“I had an exit meeting with Al a couple of days after the season ended,” Kerr detailed. “Obviously we want him back. It’s his option with the player option. I know he really enjoys it here. I know his family loves it here. I’m hoping he’s back.
“Kristaps, actually we did not have an exit meeting. I gave him a pass on the exit meeting because he had to fly somewhere, like, the next day after our season ended. I do that frequently with veteran players. There’s only so much you need to discuss. He’s obviously unrestricted. I’d love to have him back. I know he enjoyed it here, and he’s a really talented player. I thought showed an awful lot for our team. I’d love to have them both back, but we have to see how it plays out.”
Horford and Porziņģis obviously both fill an important need for the Warriors with their size and versatility. But they also combined to play in just 77 total games last season, which fits a broader, concerning trend on the roster.
So — especially if Horford doesn’t pick up his player option — it will be interesting to see how Dunleavy and the Golden State front office moves forward in the frontcourt.
On This Day: Steve Yzerman's Slap Shot Game 7 Winner Changes The Course Of Detroit Sports History
The roar inside Joe Louis Arena on May 16, 1996, still echoes through hockey history. In a tense, scoreless Game 7 between the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues, captain Steve Yzerman delivered one of the most unforgettable goals the NHL has ever seen.
Deep into double overtime, with every shot carrying the weight of an entire season, Yzerman gathered a loose puck near center ice after a neutral-zone turnover by Wayne Gretzky.
The Red Wings captain crossed the blue line and unleashed a blistering slapshot from nearly sixty feet away, a seemingly harmless attempt that suddenly rocketed past Blues goaltender Jon Casey and exploded into the top of the net.
Yzerman flew through the air in celebration as the Red Wings escaped with a 1-0 victory, winning the series and preserving Detroit’s Stanley Cup hopes in dramatic fashion. What made the moment even more remarkable was how unexpected it felt as only moments earlier, Casey had robbed Sergei Fedorov on a dazzling point-blank save that appeared certain to extend the game further. Then came Yzerman’s gamble, a laser beam from just inside the blue line that Casey never truly tracked.
The series had already become a clash of giants with Detroit entering the postseason after one of the greatest regular seasons in NHL history, finishing 62-13-7 with 131 points, the second-highest total ever recorded at the time. The Red Wings captured their second consecutive Presidents’ Trophy and were overwhelming favorites to win the Stanley Cup.
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Yet the Blues pushed them to the brink as St. Louis iced a roster overflowing with Hall of Fame talent, including Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, and Glenn Anderson. Detroit was forced to win Game 6 on the road simply to force a deciding game back at The Joe. In the defining moment of the series, Yzerman delivered when the Red Wings needed him most.
Awaiting Detroit in the Western Conference Finals was the Colorado Avalanche, a newly relocated franchise in its first season in Denver but already loaded with stars such as Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy, and Claude Lemieux. The series would ignite one of the fiercest rivalries in sports history.
It featured the infamous hit by Lemieux on Kris Draper, a devastating collision that fueled years of hatred between the franchises. Colorado ultimately defeated Detroit in six games before capturing the Stanley Cup, but the bitterness and intensity forged during that series transformed both organizations forever.
Yzerman’s goal against the Blues became more than just a series winner. It was the spark that ignited a dynasty.The heartbreak of 1996 hardened Detroit into a champion. The Red Wings would return stronger, winning Stanley Cups in 1997, 1998, and 2002 while establishing one of hockey’s defining dynasties of the modern era.
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Braves Biweekly: May-be they’re just really good
Past summaries:
How did the Braves do recently?
The Braves went 9-4 in the first half of May. They were 22-10 through April (.688) and 9-4 is a .692 winning percentage, so… that’s remarkably consistent considering there’s no reason to expect that 13 games will look like the past 32 games, but here we are. It’s a great place to be. Only four teams have done better in May so far — the Brewers have one fewer loss, the Phillies and Cubs have one more win, and the Rays are 11-2. The Braves remain the only above .500 team in the NL East. Their division lead of nine games (over the Nationals and Phillies) is bigger than the division leads in the other five divisions combined. It’s been a good time to be a Braves fan.
For the month so far, the Braves are sixth in position player value, including sixth in hitting outputs, tenth in hitting inputs, and fourth in defensive value. The pitching continues to be “okay” and “defense-reliant” — 16th in fWAR and 19th in FIP-, but it’s actually improved a fair bit, and is ninth in xFIP- with a mark of 90 in May. (They were 15th with a 98 xFIP- in April.)
Game-by-game, going by pregame odds, the Braves “should have” gone something like 7-6 (or maybe 6-7) in the month so far. Naturally, they did much better, against a tough part of the schedule. The win in the middle game of the Los Angeles series was probably their biggest upset so far (and might be something they can’t replicate because there won’t be another game stacked against them in the same way); on the flip side, losing a Chris Sale-Ben Brown-and-Cubs-bullpen matchup was one of their least-expected losses of the year (second, behind the loss to the Athletics early on).
Over this two-week-ish span, the Braves have added another 1.5ish wins to their projected end-of-season win total, which now sits at 94.5 per FanGraphs’ playoff odds page. Their playoff odds continue to approach unity (but probably won’t get there, rounding or not, for a while given that this is still baseball we’re talking about).
How are the Braves doing for the season?
Well, they lead the Rays by a game (two more wins) for best record in MLB. They still project to end the season with the second-best record (Dodgers). They have the best run differential in MLB, and the third-best BaseRuns differential (Dodgers, Yankees).
They’re third in position player value, including third in hitting inputs, second in hitting outputs, and fourth in defensive value. They’ve clambered up to 11th in pitching value, including up to 11th in xFIP-, and still lead the league in ERA- (thanks, defense!). At this point there isn’t too much more to say about that you haven’t already read a few times. The Braves are good, yay.
How are the hitters doing?
The gray-shaded per-600 PA column gets less irresponsible each time, but is still irresponsible.
The first half of May was marked by Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson continuing to be super-awesome, while Ozzie Albies and Mauricio Dubon took a big step back. Fortunately, Austin Riley coming alive and continued good-to-great production from the various role players on the roster essentially made up for the dropoff in Dubon-and-Albies production. The lefty-swinging triumvirate of Baldwin, Olson, and Michael Harris II continues to have some great-to-absurd season-level stats, even after Harris fell off a bit these past few weeks as he recovered from his quad trouble. Dominic Smith hasn’t had any huge season-defining moments recently, but continues to power along with an almost to-good-to-be-true batting line. None of the regulars had a particularly egregious wOBA-xwOBA gap over the last couple of weeks, which is kind of weird in and of itself.
Here’s the wOBA and xwOBA stuff in visual form, for May-so-far:
As you can see, the remarkable-esque thing is that there isn’t much that’s remarkable other than Olson and Baldwin continuing to be awesome, and perhaps that Jorge Mateo is somehow solidly in the upper-right quadrant. If we do the season to date…
Also note that I changed the axis to cap out at 150, since Harris is no longer on a complete rampage that separated him from everyone else.
Mike Yastrzemski didn’t have a great few weeks, but got the hits when it counted. He actually leads the position players in WPA, though that’s partly because Olson has had a rough last few games. On the flip side, Riley is WPA vortexing again (again…) despite an overall improvement in his performance. I’d definitely call Yastrzemski the position player of early-mid May for the Braves given his very direct involvement (even when not starting!) in multiple wins over this period.
How are the pitchers doing?
My ability to do this biweekly for pitchers is getting absolutely destroyed by the fluid-but-well-managed pitching situation. At this point, the Braves have three “starters,” a prospect who is being used as a “starter” because they’re not using him as a flex arm, and then four guys who are or have been used as “starters” but are either not starting anymore, or are effectively becoming not-quite-starter opener-type guys. As a result, I just included everyone who had a start in May in the table below.
Among this sextet, there’s a pretty clear delineation between “it’s working” and “it’s not working,” with Martin Perez kinda hanging out in a weird liminal space. Grant Holmes will likely be limited to one time through the order eventually, but his numbers are suffering in the interim. JR Ritchie’s numbers are really ugly; I’m not sure he’ll be optioned down and honestly I’m not sure that I would option him down to clear up the pitching logjam, either, but that’s an option (pun sorta intended).
Spencer Strider had a rough landing in his season debut, but then bounced back and eviscerated the Dodgers in one of his better post-2023 outings. His most recent start was a mixed bag; as the table above shows, he’ll be great going forward if he can somehow run a tiny HR/FB, but since that’s unlikely, it’d be better if he reined in the walks like he did in Los Angeles. Still, I think over these two weeks, his return was a big boost to the rotation given the other numbers you see above.
As for the bullpen, well, it’s kind of the bulk-pen at this point. Oof slash woof. Dylan Lee was absolutely filthy over the last few weeks; Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias also did their thing without many issues. But, the real standout for the pitching staff as a whole in early-mid May was Didier Fuentes: five appearances, 7 2/3 innings, and four shutdowns recorded, to go with a 29/65/91 line. On the flip side, Tyler Kinley has had a miserable time, Aaron Bummer’s performance hasn’t gotten any better, and Reynaldo Lopez is just uncomfortable in many senses of that word at this point. That trio joins Ritchie and Holmes as the arms at replacement level or below for May so far that are still on the roster; Kinley, Bummer, and Holmes were the only guys to get saddled with negative WPA for this period. (Kinley’s -0.52 WPA was disastrous.)
See you at the end of May — and, as always, if there’s something in particular you do want to see covered here, let me know.
GameThread: Tigers vs. Blue Jays 1:10 p.m.
Detroit Tigers (20-25) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (19-25)
Time/Place: 1:10 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: Bluebird Banter
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Casey Mize (2-2, 2.90 ERA) vs. LHP Mason Fluharty (2-0, 5.40 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mize | 6 | 31.0 | 27.3 | 8.6 | 38.8 | 2.85 | 0.9 |
| Fluharty | 22 | 15.0 | 29.2 | 10.8 | 36.8 | 2.84 | 0.4 |
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Just how attractive is the Sixers’ president job?
The calls for Daryl Morey’s ouster got louder and louder in the 48 hours between Philadelphia’s elimination from the NBA playoffs last Sunday and his official firing on Tuesday.
In the span of just over one week, the Sixers managed to come from 3-1 down against the Boston Celtics on the heels of their star power to looking like a team that was out of gas against the New York Knicks. Perhaps only the Sixers are capable of such an emotional 180, but they pulled it off. Morey’s affinity for stars appeared to finally be paying dividends during the comeback against the Celtics, only for Philadelphia’s lack of depth to be greatly exposed by the Knicks.
As the embarrassments against the Knicks piled up with each loss, it seemed like it was becoming harder for Morey to survive and he was ultimately let go. So often in sports, fans will shout to the heavens for a coach or executive to be fired without any real succession plan. Many simply believe that the next guy simply can’t be as bad as the current guy. But whoever replaces Morey still has to deal with the mistakes he made. Firing Morey doesn’t also undo the Joel Embiid and Paul George contracts. It also doesn’t bring Jared McCain back to Philadelphia. This isn’t to say firing Morey was incorrect, but it is to suggest that if you thought the team was in such bad shape prior to firing Morey, you shouldn’t instantly think the franchise is in better shape now.
Having said all of this, there are some things to like about the state of the Sixers at the moment. In true Sixers fashion, Embiid’s presence on the roster is both a pro and a con and we saw both sides of the spectrum in the playoffs. Embiid was the best player for either team in the Celtics series and didn’t even play for the first three games of the first round. He’s still a dominant offensive player when healthy and rested. But almost instantly in the Knicks series, Embiid looked like a shell of himself and we were already starting to see his body break down. Will the new president of basketball operations decide to dump Embiid at 25 cents on the dollar and deal with the fact that such a move likely makes the Sixers a worse team in 2026-27?
George might be easier for a new executive to trade simply because he has one less year remaining on his contract than Embiid. His mostly good play since returning from the 25-game suspension may have been enough to get his trade value back to neutral after it had been a negative for a long time. Whoever is making these decisions for the Sixers has to decide if it’s possible to build a deep enough roster during the next two seasons to load manage Embiid and George throughout the regular season, and weather their playoff lulls as well. Those are very difficult questions to answer and it’s entirely possible that a new executive comes in and knows full well that the team can’t win a championship with Embiid and George on the roster at their current costs and has to just deal with two years of stagnation.
On top of a new President potentially viewing the short-term salary cap situation as unsolvable in the next two years, that new person is not going to have their own head coach on the sideline. That’s never an attractive situation for someone holding the president title for a sports team. For what it’s worth, Nick Nurse strikes me as a pretty good coach and I wouldn’t consider being “stuck” with him as a problem for the new president.
Of course, all of these things are known by any candidate that interviews with Bob Myers and Josh Harris. So maybe there’s a candidate that either has a strong enough plan for the Sixers to become a serious contender as early as next year. At the same time, there could be a candidate that likes the upside of where the Sixers can go in 2028 and beyond that can sell themselves hard on how they would build out the roster with more financial freedom.
It’s that upside that does make the attractiveness of the Sixers’ president of basketball operations job a difficult thing to gauge. Philly has at least one first-round pick in every draft for the rest of the 2020s. The Sixers could have two firsts in the 2028 draft if their first-rounder that season falls in the top eight. Before you scoff at the idea of the Sixers being that bad in two years, remember the new lottery rules will make the top 10 picks much more random. The unprotected first-rounder from the Clippers in 2028 is a very nice asset to hold as are the swap rights with Los Angeles in the first round in 2029. While the Sixers do not have a second-round pick in next month’s draft, they do have an abundance of second-rounders in future drafts. For the first time in a while, Philly has ample draft capital to either draft prospects or make trades.
Remember, Morey’s staff that has also been responsible for a lot of his strong drafting while running the Sixers is all still employed by the franchise. If George plays out his entire contract with the Sixers, that would mean the new president will lead the team through three drafts before George is gone and Embiid has one more year left. A few strong drafts, and potentially a good trade or two with some of that draft capital could have the Sixers looking very exciting in a mere two years. The 2028-29 season will be Tyrese Maxey’s age-28 season and VJ Edgecombe’s age 23-season. Any confident executive that takes the Sixers president job will look at the draft picks and how young Maxey and Edgecombe are and tell themselves they can have this team contending in two years even if George and Embiid play out the full duration of their contracts with the Sixers.
Does a new executive have the patience to wait two years before they can really move the Sixers into the upper echelon of NBA contenders while working with a coach they didn’t hire? Does the new executive possibly believe they can elevate the Sixers out of the second round in the next two years while Embiid and George are likely still on the roster? If the answer to the second question is yes, then this job is wildly attractive to that kind of candidate. If the answer to the second question is no, then the new hire is going to have to really like the upside for the franchise starting in the summer of 2028.
The other component to all of this is the role Myers will have in the organization once the hire is made. Myers made it clear he will remain involved and have an ongoing dialogue with whomever he hires.
“They’ll have a lot of authority here, which they should,” Myers said of the person he hires. “I won’t be on a day-to-day level, but on the high-level decision-making, which is being here at the draft, being here leading up to the trade deadline, being available for free-agency discussions, free-agency meetings, things like that. I’m going to be involved at that level, and I can tell you that I imagine — and I’m not saying this lightly — I’ll be communicating with that person daily, if not five out of seven days a week.”
It’s easy to feel confident about Myers overseeing basketball operations both on an interim basis right now and having a heavy role in decisions moving forward. But don’t forget he inherited Steph Curry and Klay Thompson by the time he was promoted to general manager in Golden State. This isn’t to say Myers can’t steady the ship for Philadelphia, but his presence in the organization also might not be a fast track to the conference finals.
How attractive is the title of president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers? We can answer that with another question — if you’re interviewing for this job, are you a glass half-full or glass half-empty person?
Padres promote Alek Jacob; Matt Waldron to IL
The San Diego Padres made a roster move on Friday before their first game in the three-game series versus the Seattle Mariners. RHP Alek Jacob was recalled from Triple-A El Paso to join a bullpen that was depleted by the short start (1.2 innings pitched) of starter Griffin Canning on Thursday.
Starter/reliever Matt Waldron has been placed on the injured list with a right Brachialis muscle injury. Waldron started the first game in the recently completed series against the Milwaukee Brewers. He didn’t last long, giving up six runs in 2.2 innings pitched in a 6-4 loss. He also pitched two innings to finish the loss to the Brewers on Thursday. The trio of Ron Marinaccio, Yuki Matsui, and Waldron each pitched two innings in relief of Canning, saving the rest of the bullpen for other games.
Even with that effort, it was expected that a fresh arm would be called up with two of the last three games being mostly carried by the bullpen.
Alek Jacob started the season with El Paso after not making the Padres bullpen out of Spring Training. He was called up on April 14 and pitched one inning on April 15 versus Seattle. He allowed one hit and no runs with a walk and was optioned back to El Paso on April 17.
With the Chihuahuas, Jacob has pitched 17.2 innings with a 4.08 ERA. He has 18 strikeouts to 10 walks. He throws a four-seam fastball at 85 mph, a changeup, a sinker, and a sweeper from a sidearm delivery.
Game #45 GameThread: Jays @ Tigers
Why don’t we score more than two runs?
I have stuff on this morning, but should be back to watch the game by the second inning. But I’m putting together the GameThread the night before, so I don’t have the lineups
They are saying Mason Fluharty will start and Spencer Miles will be second up. I’m hoping Miles can to 3 innings again. On the Tigers side it is Casey Mize (2-2, 2.90)
This is ‘rivalry weekend’ and our rival is, apparently, the Tigers. The Tigers were once our rivals, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But now? I guess someone has to be our rivals. I suppose I would say the Yankees’ are our rivals, but then half the teams in baseball would call them their rivals. But really, why are the Red Sox and Braves rivals?
Really, all baseball wants is a way to hype the Yankees/Mets series. The others aren’t such a big deal.
Red Sox place Trevor Story on IL, call up Nick Sogard
Just yesterday we told you about how well Nick Sogard was doing down in AAA. Well, now we’ll get a chance to see if he can keep that going in the big leagues. Ahead of tonight’s game against the Braves, the Sox called up Sogard to take the place of Trevor Story, who has been placed on the 10-day IL.
If you’re thinking to yourself, wait… Trevor Story is hurt? You’re not alone. But Chris Cotillo reports that he’s been “battling a groin issue” since late April.
It goes without saying that this groin issue is probably minor, and probably the type of thing he’d keep playing through if he wasn’t literally one of the very worst hitters in baseball this year. But he is, raising the question of whether this this a “phantom IL” stint and, if so, will MLB investigate? My gut says and yes to the former and no to the latter. And, anyway, MLB should probably spend some time investigating Aroldis Chapman’s hat from last night’s game:
Suffice it to say, Trevor Story is not going to be the shortstop on the next great Red Sox team. So it will be interesting to see whether the Sox start the clock on the Marcelo Mayer era at shortstop now, or whether Andruw Monasterio mans the position for the next week or two. Stay tuned.
Narváez battles headwinds to break free and claim his second stage of 2026 Giro d’Italia
Ecuadorian wins stage eight by 32 seconds
Hindley attacks but Vingegaard stays on his wheel
Jhonatan Narváez powered away from his breakaway rivals to win stage eight of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday for his second victory and a third for the injury-decimated UAE Team Emirates XRG.
Adam Yates, Jay Vine and Marc Soler have all been forced out of the Giro after a gruesome stage three pile up in Bulgaria, but the super-team from the Emirates has refocused impressively.
Continue reading...Rangers vs Astros Prediction, Picks & Odds for Today's MLB Game
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The Texas Rangers were shut out by the Houston Astros on Friday night, falling 2-0.
However, with Jacob deGrom taking the mound this evening, my Rangers vs. Astros predictions expect the visitors to flip the script at Daikin Park.
Let's dive deeper into my MLB picks for Saturday, May 16.
Who will win Rangers vs Astros today: Rangers (-145)
Jacob deGrom has posted a 2.81 xFIP and 2.60 SIERA in 2026, indicators that he is every bit deserving of his strong 2.61 ERA.
The Texas Rangers' right-hander has not allowed much quality contact, striking out a remarkable 32.8% of opposing batters on the year.
Now, the two-time Cy Young winner has a mouthwatering matchup against the Houston Astros,who rank 23rd in wOBA and own the second-highest strikeout rate vs. right-handed pitching in May.
DeGrom will have his way against Houston's struggling offense, giving Texas a great chance of prevailing.
COVERS INTEL:Isaac Paredes is the only everyday Astros hitter with a batting average above .240 in May.Rangers vs Astros Over/Under pick: Under 8 (-120)
Generating offense has been a major problem for the Astros, with several key bats missing from the lineup. They have hit their team total Under in 13 of the last 15 games (+10.35 units, 55% ROI), and a date with deGrom is only going to highlight their woes at the plate — especially when it comes to striking out.
The Rangers aren't exactly firing on all cylinders either. They are hitting only .216 in May and own the fifth-highest ground ball rate, leading to a lot of easy outs.
Don't expect fireworks in this one.
Todd Cordell's 2026 Transparency Record
- ML/RL bets: 17-10, +3.48 units
- Over/Under bets: 11-15-1, -6.41 units
Rangers vs Astros odds
- Moneyline: Rangers -145 | Astros +125
- Run line: Rangers -1.5 (+115) | Astros +1.5 (135)
- Over/Under: Over 8 (+100) | Under 8 (-125)
Rangers vs Astros trend
Texas has hit the game total Under in 17 of its last 25 games (+8.4 Units, 31% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rangers vs. Astros.
How to watch Rangers vs Astros and game info
| Location | Daikin Park, Houston, TX |
| Date | Saturday, May 16, 2026 |
| First pitch | 7:10 p.m. ET |
| TV | RSN, Space City HN |
| Rangers starting pitcher | Jacob deGrom (3-2, 2.62 ERA) |
| Astros starting pitcher | Kai-Wei Teng (1-3, 3.12 ERA) |
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Max Muncy keeps hitting, Kiké Hernández feeling healthy
Max Muncy homered in Friday night’s Dodgers win in Anaheim, his team-leading 12th of the season. The third baseman is in his ninth season with Los Angeles and is hitting .275/.372/563 with a 162 wRC+ that ranks seventh in the National League and 2.2 fWAR that is third in the league.
Ben Clemens wrote about Muncy’s season, and his consistency, for FanGraphs:
It’s not so much that he’s found a new gear; you’d have a hard time differentiating between his 2025 and 2026 component statistics. That’s basically my point, though. What he’s doing isn’t surprising, because he’s made it commonplace. He’s hit more or less like this for a decade.
Kiké Hernández has played six games so far on his rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City, including three games this week in Albuquerque. Hernández talked to Geoff Grammer at the Albuquerque Journal about several topics, but also his health relative to last season:
“I knew it was going to be a long rehab. And even though I’m ahead of schedule, it still feels like it’s forever, because it’s the first time in my entire career that I missed spring training and I missed Opening Day,” said Hernández. “… Last year was miserable, you know? Not only performance wise, but I was just in a lot of pain every time I took the field. So I’m just happy that I’m pain free right now.”
The public comment process for the Dodger Stadium gondola project is exceedingly difficult to navigate, chronicled by Martín Macías Jr. at LA Public Press.
Former major league outfielder and current ESPN broadcaster Doug Glanville wrote about his time guest-hosting ‘This Week in Baseball’ while with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2000, at his Welcome to Glanville newsletter.
“The show took viewers around baseball without heavy bias toward one particular market,” Glanville wrote. “It simply made you love baseball wherever, and whenever, it was being played.”
Red Sox Minor Lines: Danny Coulombe rehabs
Worcester: L, 2-5 (BOX SCORE)
In this bullpen game, every pitcher gave up their share of Buffalo (Blue Jays AAA) runs. The team was bogged down, moreover, by uninspired offense. Despite drawing 8 walks, they hit 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position, had just four batters record a hit, and never held a lead. By the time Buffalo’s Je’Von Ward hit a homer off Wyatt Olds, it was a 4-2 game that felt out of reach despite not being so.
Portland: W, 2-1 (F/10) (BOX SCORE)
Red Sox fans in Hartford, Connecticut (Rockies AA) that stayed for some extra baseball were treated to Max Ferguson’s third hit of the night driving in what would become the winning run after a game that lacked offensive firepower across the board on Franklin Arias’ night off. This wasn’t due to a lack of runners getting on, as, and stop me if you’ve heard this before in this season organizationally, they couldn’t bring the runners home. This game shouldn’t have been close, but it was. At least Portland pulled it out.
Also notable was John Holobetz putting together one of his best outings of the season in five innings after an opener from a rehabbing Danny Coulombe. I gotta be honest real quick: I don’t really see the appeal of rushing back a 36-year-old mop-up guy with an ERA nearing 6 and an inability to strike guys out to a high level in relief. I’d instead opt to give some younger relief arms some shine or at least some experience. But what do I know?
Greenville: L, 2-10 (BOX SCORE)
If you’re playing the “The Drive have still only won once this month” game with me, know that Greenville has now lost thirteen of their last fourteen games. Marcus Phillips couldn’t make it out of the fourth, Shea Sprague got peppered by Hot Rods bats (Rays High-A) and Greenville was hitless in 11 chances with runners in scoring position. Perhaps the one bright spot was Yophery Rodriguez mashing his 10th home run of the year, but even that cut the deficit to 5-2 and Bowling Green would score two in the next inning anyway.
Salem: : L, 5-6 (BOX SCORE)
Salem found themselves in an early 3-1 hole in Fredericksburg (Nationals A) but fought back. In the end, the only home run of the game the RidgeYaks let up back in the first inning ended up being the difference in this one as even Ty Hodge’s two hits to drive runners in couldn’t place Salem in the win column in this hard-fought game.
Have a scorching Saturday.