LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 10: Dalton Rushing #68 of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on during the sixth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on July 10, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Melina Pizano/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing went from minor arm irritation to the injured list with elbow inflammation, to now a slight tear in his ulnar collateral ligament that will sideline him for at least a month.
Manager Dave Roberts confirmed to reporters on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field that MRI results Monday showed a “slightly torn” UCL in Rushing’s elbow. From Jack Harris of the California Post:
Roberts expounded after Tuesday’s game by saying Rushing will remain on a hitting program, but is set to be shut down from throwing for up to potentially 4-6 weeks.
That could leave his status as a catching option in doubt for the stretch run of the year, and potentially the playoffs.
“Don’t know what that looks like for the rest of the season and throughout the postseason,” Roberts said. “Fortunately, it happened the day before the trade deadline. So… today we’re looking at two new catchers.”
An update from Wednesday morning:
Dave Roberts said he thinks there’s a “very small” chance Dalton Rushing catches again this year. They want to keep him as an option as a left-handed bat, though. https://t.co/kAeiRUwnac
It’s similar to last September when Smith had a hand injury and Rushing injured his shin. Rortvedt went from relative obscurity to starting 19 out of 25 games, including four postseason games before Smith returned. Now, it’s Rortvedt and Feduccia for the foreseeable future behind the plate, perhaps until Smith might return in either late August or September.
The former Cub has been tormented by left-handed hitters all season long. Over the last 30 lefties he's faced, they've produced a 23.8% barrel rate and 76.2% elevation rate while posting a .405 xBA, .735 xSLG, and .400 xwOBA.
Alvarez enters today with one of the highest matchup ratings of the day on Batters-Box while covering 100% of Taillon's pitch mix. Through 37 elite-rated games this season, the big fella has gone deep in 29.73% of them.
At home, that number jumps to nearly 40%, homering in seven of his 18 elite-rated games.
No matter how obvious this spot may seem, you can't overthink it. Alvarez has been on an absolute tear all season, and this is one of the best home run spots on the board.
Over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, Murakami has posted an .852 SLG, 1.252 OPS, .523 wOBA, and .519 ISO. He's also generated a 70.6% hard hit rate and nearly a 30% barrel rate during that span.
Murakami draws veteran Red Sox righty Sonny Gray, who has hit a few speed bumps over his last three starts. During that stretch, Gray owns a 5.00 ERA while allowing a 45% hard hit rate.
The last 30 left-handed hitters he's faced have produced a 43.5% hard-hit rate and 43.5% line-drive rate while posting a .605 xSLG and .361 xwOBA.
The White Sox star enters tonight with an elite Batters-Box rating, covering more than 84% of Gray's pitch mix. In his 22 elite-rated road games this season, Murakami has gone deep in nearly 32% of them.
I'd play this down to +225.
Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
Where to watch: CHSN, NESN
Colby Marchio's 2026 Transparency Record
HR picks: 90-338, +3.7 units
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
Who will win Pirates vs Brewers tonight: Brewers (-126)
It’s never easy to fade Paul Skenes, but he is in poor form right now. The Pittsburgh Pirates ace owns a 5.24 xERA across his last two outings, having allowed a 50% hard-hit rate and 18.2% barrel rate.
The Milwaukee Brewers counter with Kyle Harrison, who makes his first appearance since early July after recovering from injury. Harrison may be on a short leash, but Pittsburgh has struggled against lefties, posting just a 90 wRC+ compared to a 112 mark vs right-handers.
The Brewers’ home offense gives them enough upside to get to Skenes, while Harrison can keep Pittsburgh contained.
Playable to -140.
COVERS INTEL: The Brewers own a 111 wRC+ at American Family Field this season, compared to a 98 wRC+ on the road. They should be able to cause trouble for Skenes.
Pirates vs Brewers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-131)
This total sits at 7.5, and the Under looks like the better angle.
Harrison may not work deep in his return, but Milwaukee’s bullpen has been solid, posting a 3.03 xERA over its last 22 frames. Pittsburgh’s bullpen has also been reliable with a 2.97 FIP over the last week.
This profiles as a lower-scoring game, even if Skenes allows traffic.
I'll play this to -140.
Quinn Allen's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 42-54, -17.82 units
Over/Under bets: 53-41, +5.23 units
Pirates vs Brewers weather
Conditions in Milwaukee look cool and damp tonight, with overcast skies early and temperatures falling from the low 70s into the upper 60s.
There's a moderate chance of rain early, but conditions should improve later in the day with light winds throughout.
Worst-case scenario, expect the retractable roof to be utilized at American Family Field.
Pirates vs Brewers odds
Moneyline: Pirates +117 | Brewers -126
Run line: Pirates +1.5 (-186) | Brewers -1.5 (+178)
Over/Under: Over 7.5 (+122) | Under 7.5 (-131)
Pirates vs Brewers trend
Milwaukee has hit the game total Under in 30 of its last 50 games (+9.40 Units / 17% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Pirates vs. Brewers.
How to watch Pirates vs Brewers and game info
Location
American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI
Date
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
First pitch
7:40 p.m. ET
TV
ESPN
Pirates starting pitcher
Paul Skenes (9-9, 3.90 ERA)
Brewers starting pitcher
Kyle Harrison (8-2, 3.01 ERA)
Pirates vs Brewers latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JUNE 01: Roki Sasaki #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers prepares for a game against the Arizona Diamonddbacks at Chase Field on June 01, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After dropping two series in a row, the Dodgers move on to face the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are fighting for a wild card berth.
Roki Sasaki takes the ball in the series opener on Friday night at Chase Field in Phoenix, where the roof will be appreciated with triple-digit high temperatures in the forecast all weekend in the desert.
The Diamondbacks, who swept the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium from July 10-12, enter Wednesday with 15 wins in their last 22 games and are 32-23 at home this season. The Dodgers won two out of three games at Case Field from June 1-3.
BOSTON — Adley Rutschman still was adjusting less than 24 hours after being traded for the first time in his career.
Being in playoff contention may make for a smoother transition once the three-time All-Star catcher is ready to take the field for the Red Sox after spending his first four-plus seasons with the Baltimore Orioles.
“Just from playing here, the city loves baseball. It always has a great atmosphere and I’m excited to play in it,” Rutschman said at Fenway Park before the Red Sox hosted the Chicago White Sox. “They’re playing the game the right way and doing things right. It was cool to watch from a distance. Now being here, like I said — just trying to fit in and help out any way I can.”
Rutschman joined his new club on the injured list with left wrist inflammation. He and Boston interim manager Chad Tracy said Rutschman would meet with the team’s medical staff to determine what’s next in his rehabilitation and how soon he could be back behind the plate.
Tracy said Rutschman already is swinging a bat and the Red Sox were hopeful to add him to their lineup soon. Boston also wasn’t about to rush the recovery of a player that cost it a handful of top prospects in a deal pulled off shortly before the trade deadline.
“It’s been feeling good. I’ve got to get with the medical staff here and kind of just see what the next steps are moving forward,” said Rutschman, who’s been on the IL since July 20. “I don’t exactly know just what kind of timeline and how all that goes.”
Rutschman moved from the Orioles, who are 12 games back in the AL East and on the fringes of the wild-card race, to the Red Sox, who are 5 1/2 games out of the division lead and in position for a wild card after winning 24 of their last 27 games.
The Orioles stopped Boston’s franchise record-tying winning streak at 15 games last month, but reaching the playoffs appeared less likely for Baltimore without Rutschman, the top overall pick in the 2019 draft.
“I played my entire career there and there’s been a lot of unbelievable memories. Just made a lot of great friends for life,” Rutschman said. “It’s tough goodbyes. But we’re on to the next thing. And excited to be here and playing. It’s all part of the game.”
Rutschman said part of his down time will include getting to know Boston’s pitchers, although there was already some familiarity.
“I’ve seen a lot of these guys pitch and faced them,” Rutschman said. “I kind of understand how they attack guys but I’m definitely going to have some more in-depth conversations, just make sure that we’re on the same page and it flows smoothly when we get out there.”
Whenever that is, Boston will be glad to have him.
“I think it’s a strong statement to the group with a player like that,” Tracy said. “We went out and got a huge addition to our lineup and behind the plate. So it means a lot. We’ll work through getting him healthy and getting him out there. But his history speaks for itself and who he is as a catcher and as an offensive player. So it’s a big add for us.”
Playa Vista, Calif. — Tuesday, 25 NBA players gathered in the Los Angeles area for an offseason run. Nothing unusual about that, it happens nearly every day around L.A. in the summer, most famously at UCLA but plenty of other spaces as well. With so many league players choosing to spend their offseasons in the city, it's to be expected they get together.
What was different about this is that this run was at the PLYRS UNTD performance center — a new state-of-the-art training facility opened this week by PLYRS UNTD, the commercial arm of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).
There's a new energy around the NBA players' union, with former Warriors executive David Kelly taking over as executive director, and with a largely new board led by veteran guard Fred VanVleet as president. This is a group with a lot of ideas — and a focus already on the next Collective Bargaining Agreement — and the new PLYRS UNTD performance center in Los Angeles is part of that.
"The response has been phenomenal…" Kelly said, with about 80 players coming through for workouts or recovery the first week it was open. "I think it ties into what we're trying to do with our larger brand in the launch of PLYRS UNTD, and that is create spaces that are by and for the guys. Get feedback from the guys on what they would want to see inside of that space. Get them to authentically engage inside of that space, and then there's any number of commercial and opportunities that can flow from that."
The NBPA talked to the players and what they wanted was a one-stop training shop: A fully equipped athletic training room, weight room, recovery room (which includes a sauna, steam room, massage therapy room and more), multiple official NBA-sized courts, fully staffed kitchen that can make recovery smoothies and a rotating menu of healthy, customizable meals, and spaces for family members to wait — or children to play — while their family member works out.
It's not done being built out, more is coming. During the soft openings this summer, the union put up a whiteboard with sticky notes and asked players what they wanted, then tried to add it. For example, they added a turf area, including weighted sleds, for guys who want that as part of their workout. While the NBPA has workout facilities at its headquarters in New York as well as The Sanctuary — a PLYRS UNTD offseason performance retreat for NBA players in Andalucía, Spain — the goal with the new facility was to meet players where they are.
"There wasn't a spot like that in L.A. that had everything in one and was like full courts, all that stuff…" said the Pelicans' Trey Murphy III, an NBPA board member who was part of the official first run this week and worked out there other times.
"Here we have regulation courts. We have a weight room. We have a sauna. We have a cold tub. We have turf. We have everything here. We literally do not have to go anywhere else to work out, and then you also have all the players here in one spot… I had one of my best workouts I've had, and I've shot it really well because I knew there's other people watching, and it's important to have that.
"It's like iron sharpening iron."
There will still be other runs all around Southern California, but the goal with the PLYRS UNTD facility is that it's full-service and open only to NBA players. And it's available 24/7.
"You walk in the gym, and your mind starts going like, all right. I see a lot of NBA players, and I have to lock in and make sure they know that I've been working too," Murphy said.
Future focus is on next CBA
While Kelly's NBPA is focused on player-serving and PLYRS UNTD commercial ventures in the short term, in the longer term, the union is already looking ahead to the next CBA negotiation.
"Just preparing for the CBA that is coming up soon…" Murphy said when asked what the future holds for the new union leadership. "Obviously it doesn't seem like it's coming soon, but for us it is coming up soon. And so we have to be prepared to push back, or give our opinions on what we want."
While the current CBA agreement between the league and the union runs through 2030, there is an opt-out in October of 2028, which either side can trigger, and it would end the CBA in the summer of 2029. As happened with the current CBA, the negotiations between the league and NBPA will start well before that with the goal of a seamless transition where a new CBA is in place before the old one ends, avoiding a lockout or strike.
That doesn't mean those negotiations will be smooth.
Kelly has been clear in public comments that he is no fan of the second tax apron and what that is doing to teams, and by extension players in his union.
"We are not fans of the second apron," Kelly said in Las Vegas during Summer League (via ESPN). "We did not propose the second apron. We should have done a better job of fighting back against the second apron. In the future, we will have a much more unified union, and we will do a better job of fighting back...
"We're seeing it decimate teams and force decisions to be made that are not basketball decisions."
Kelly was referring to Boston's decision to trade Jaylen Brown this offseason because, as team president Brad Stevens put it, having two players taking up 70% of the salary cap made it impossible to build out a champion in the apron era. While Boston is the latest example, there are many more on the horizon (tough decisions are coming to Oklahoma City and San Antonio eventually, for example).
For his part, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the apron system was working as intended and touted the parity it has helped bring to the league. If the owners like it — and they appear to — then Silver will fight to keep it.
However, the more interesting part of Kelly's comment was saying they would have a "much more unified union." Murphy said he sees his role on the board as part of that.
"I feel like I look at things a little differently than a lot of players, just mainly because I didn't know for sure if I was going to be in the NBA growing up..." Murphy said. "I've had every role. Like I've been the guy that didn't play my rookie year. I've been the guy that just came off the bench. I've been the guy that's just been a starter, and now I'm at a point where I'm one of the better players on the team...
"I feel like there's a lot of times where you'll see the Karl-Anthony Towns, the Jaylen Browns... A lot of guys that they've always been 'the guy.' They may not have the same experience of being the guy at the end of the bench and how they were treated and how they maybe didn't have the same access to different things. I have those experiences... And it's very important to me to speak for everybody when it comes to the union because it's not just for the top guys; it's for all 450."
Those potentially contentious CBA negotiations are a little ways down the line. For now, the focus is on the PLYRS UNTD training facility in Los Angeles.
And if Tuesday was any indication, it's going to be a very busy place between now and the start of training camps.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 24: Jack Suwinski #14 of the Oklahoma City Comets bats during the fifth inning against the Sacramento River Cats at Sutter Health Park on July 24, 2026 in Sacramento, California (Photo by Scott Marshall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
As the clock ran out on the MLB trade deadline, the Rays made one final move by sending C Hunter Feduccia and minor league RP Jacob Kmatz to the Dodgers for Triple-A OF Jack Suwinski and international bonus pool money. The Rays have been linked to several popular IFA guys in the 2027 class (including an 80-grade name right-handed pitcher Mussumbay Navarro) so that bonus pool money will be valuable, but Suwinski immediately becomes one of the more intriguing outfielders in the organization and is not to be overlooked.
Suwinski is a left-handed hitting outfielder with nearly 400 games of MLB experience with the Pirates from 2022-2025. He was DFA’d by the Pirates before being claimed by the Dodgers in February of this year. He went to work with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate to work on his swing without sacrificing power — and he succeeded.
Suwinski’s swing change has two main components: a shorter bat bath with less barrel movement and a flatter bat angle. First, we’ll look at the swing length. He has reduced the amount his hands needed to travel to get his bat on the ball. Suwinski previously employed a bit of a hitch and barrel tip that added length and power to his swing, but at times his swing was too long and it resulted in a lot of whiff. This is evident in his 72.8% contact rate in the majors and 69.0% in AAA prior to the 2026 season. Suwinski’s shorter swing this season has allowed him to maintain a much more playable 79.6% contact rate. While all of that nearly 11% increase is unlikely to translate to major-league pitching, most of it should given the underlying mechanical adjustments that have allowed him to get to this point. This isn’t a hot streak or luck; it’s meaningful adjustments that allow him to handle advanced pitching.
Next, well look at his bat angle. Suwinski tweaked it to be less vertical and more “flat.” This change further supports his ability to make more contact. A steeper bat angle does produce more loft so Suwinski could be susceptible to ground balls, but so far this hasn’t been an issue. The images below are both on pitches that were low in the zone, so we can see how drastic the difference is in his bat angle when he begins his swing as he plants his front foot.
The result is a more balanced ability to handle different pitch types. To compare apples to apples, we’ll look at just the difference in his AAA data between 2022-2025 and the 2026 season so far:
Contact% and wOBA 2022-2025
Contact% and wOBA 2026
>= 95mph
64.4% contact, .421 wOBA
86% contact, .411 wOBA
Breaking balls
65.7% contact, .220 wOBA
75.5% contact, .401 wOBA
Offspeed
70.5% contact, .368 wOBA
73.1% contact, .427 wOBA
Of course the sample size is different, but the exact numbers here are less important than the trends. Suwinski seems to have meaningfully improved his ability to handle secondaries without losing his ability to punish velocity.
On the defensive side, Suwinski is a fine defender in a corner outfield spot. Both his arm and speed are roughly average. The Rays are one of the better teams at improving outfielder jumps, so I am interested to see if they could improve his defense. Although that point is secondary as his bat is what could get him in a lineup everyday against righties.
Suwinski appears to be a nice depth option for the Rays with a few more years of team control. Left-handed outfield depth is relatively thin with both Fraley and Melton battling injuries most of the year, so the team rightfully saw some risk with the major league outfield depth. Suwinski doesn’t need a 40-man spot at the moment, and will not become a free agent until 2030. His adjustments have helped him find a new level of his game, and now he just needs an opportunity. That could come in 2026, but may be more likely in 2027.
1 Sep 1993: Infielder John Olerud of the Toronto Blue Jays swings at the ball during a game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule /Allsport | Getty Images
Today marks John Olerud’s 58th birthday.
John Olerud, born in Seattle, Washington, followed his father’s path—his father also named John—who played catcher for Washington State University and reached Triple-A in professional baseball. Olerud Jr. was picked by the Blue Jays in the third round of the 1989 draft out of Washington State, where he stood out as both a pitcher and a fielder, amassing a 26-4 record on the mound. Unusually, he started his pro career directly in the majors, only appearing in minor league games in 2005 while recovering form after joining the Boston Red Sox.
Olerud gained recognition for wearing his batting helmet while playing first base—a precaution after a health scare in early 1989, when he collapsed following a workout due to spinal column bleeding. A month later, he had surgery to remove a brain hemorrhage, leading him to wear the helmet in the field for extra protection.
After signing with the Blue Jays in late August, Olerud joined the major league roster as a September call-up, appearing in several games as a defensive replacement. In 1990, he made the team out of spring training, platooning at designated hitter while Fred McGriff played first base. Facing mostly right-handed pitchers, Olerud hit .265/.364/.430 in 111 games and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. That offseason, the Jays traded McGriff and Tony Fernandez for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter, clearing the way for Olerud to become the starting first baseman.
In 1991, Olerud began the season in a platoon with Pat Tabler and later Ed Sprague. He posted a solid .256/.353/.438 line with 17 home runs. Bill James oncecompared him to a young Rusty Staub, though Olerud would go on to surpass that comparison. He played infive games during the ALCS loss to theTwins, collecting three hits in 19 at-bats.
In 1992, as the Blue Jays won their first World Series, Olerud became a full-time player, starting against both right- and left-handed pitchers. He played through a broken nose suffered during batting practice, yet improved at the plate, hitting .284/.375/.450. Olerud shined in the ALCS win over Oakland, batting .348 with a home run, and hit .308 in the World Series victory over Atlanta—though he appeared in only four of six games as Cito Gaston shifted Carter to first base when the designated hitter was unavailable.
Olerud’s breakout year was 1993, when he hit .363/.473/.599 with 24 home runs, 54 doubles, 200 hits, 114 walks, 109 runs, and 107 RBIs. He was batting over .400 as late as August 2. He led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, OPS (1.072), runs created (161), doubles, and intentional walks (33). That year, he was an All-Star, won the Hutch Award for competitive spirit, and finished third in MVP voting behind Frank Thomas and teammate Paul Molitor—though many believed Olerud deserved the honor. He also had a 26-game hitting streak and became just the 20th player in MLB history to record both 200 hits and 100 walks in a season. It remains one of the greatest single seasons by a Blue Jay.
Olerud remained productive in the postseason, hitting .348 with four walks in the ALCS win over the White Sox. Although he batted just .235 in the World Series win against Philadelphia, he contributed a home run and four walks. By age 24, Olerud already owned two World Series rings—a remarkable start to his career.
The next few seasons were disrupted by the lockout and strike, and the Blue Jays struggled to recreate their earlier success. Although Olerud didn’t replicate his 1993 numbers, he consistently posted an on-base percentage above .390 each year. He might have thrived as a leadoff hitter, but speed was considered essential for that spot at the time. In 1996, his final year with Toronto, Olerud hit .274/.383/.472 with 18 home runs in 125 games, as Cito Gaston increasingly favored Joe Carter at first base and Carlos Delgado emerged as a key player.
With Carter, Delgado, and Olerud all competing for playing time over two seasons, roster changes became inevitable. Delgado was young, inexpensive, and had a bright future, while Carter remained Cito Gaston’s favorite. Olerud was seen as not aggressive enough at the plate, and his stellar 1993 season had set expectations he couldn’t quite match. Despite being the youngest and arguably the best hitter and fielder of the trio, Olerud was the one the Jays decided to move.
If trading Olerud was a mistake, sending him to the Mets for pitcher Robert Person was an even bigger blunder by Gord Ash. Person went 8-13 with a 6.18 ERA in two-plus seasons with the Jays. Meanwhile, Olerud remained a terrific player for several more seasons, while Joe Carter did not. It was simply a bad trade, but Ash was a poor GM for the team.
Olerud enjoyed three great seasons with the Mets, then four and a half strong years with the Mariners. He later played half a season with the Yankees and wrapped up his career with the Red Sox in 2005. Over 17 seasons, he compiled a .295/.398/.465 batting line, 255 home runs, 1,230 RBI, and 1,275 walks (77th all-time).
Baseball Reference lists Olerud at 6’5” and 220 pounds—bigger than I remember. He had a picture-perfect left-handed swing and an excellent eye at the plate. He was strong defensively, winning three Gold Gloves as a Mariner. He probably deserved at least one Gold Glove as a Jay, but that’s how things go.
Matt noted that John hit better after leaving the Jays, even considering his one big season. This may have been because Cito insisted he become a pull hitter, even though Olerud’s real strength was hitting from foul line to foul line. Cito’s hitting philosophy worked for some players, but not for everyone.
John Olerud is married, lives in Fall City, Washington, and has a daughter. We saw him at the celebration for the World Series-winning teams in July. He looked like he could still play.
Happy birthday, John.
Today is Eric Hinske’s 49th birthday.
Eric Hinske was born in Menasha, Wisconsin. The Cubs selected him in the17th round of the 1998 draft from the University of Arkansas.
In March 2001, Hinske was traded to the A’s for Miguel Cairo. Later that year, he and Justin Miller were sent to the Jays for Billy Koch—a trade that clearly worked out in Toronto’s favor.
Eric’s rookie year in 2002 was outstanding. He racked up 99 runs, 84 RBI, 24 home runs, 77 walks, and 13 steals (caught just once)—almost all career highs and most setting team rookie records, except steals. He hit .279/.365/.481 with a 119 OPS+ and posted a 4.7 WAR per Fangraphs. His defense at third base was the main drawback, with limited range and 20 errors for a .946 fielding percentage, though Fangraphs gave him a 2.8 UZR/150. He made an early impression with a two-run single against Pedro Martinez in his first major game, and it seemed the Jays had found their third baseman for years to come.
After that season, JP Ricciardi signed Hinske to a five-year, $14.75 million deal, buying out his arbitration years—a move that seemed wise at the time. In 2003, Hinske hit just .243/.329/.437 (OPS+ 97) with 12 homers, but he tallied 45 doubles (fifth in the AL) in 124 games and stole 12 bases in 14 tries. His defense remained an issue, leading the league with 22 errors and a .930 fielding percentage. A broken bone in his hand cost him a month, which was blamed for his dip in offense—at least initially.
Hinske’s 2004 season was rough. He hit just .246/.312/.375 in 155 games (OPS+ 76), though he did have a 16-game hitting streak. The only highlight was his improved defense: just eight errors and a .978 fielding average, which led the AL. After the season, the Jays brought in Corey Koskie and Shea Hillenbrand for third base duties, moving Hinske over to first.
In 2005, Hinske improved at the plate, hitting .262/.333/.430 with 15 home runs, but made seven errors at first base. An OPS+ of 100 wasn’t enough for a first baseman or DH, so after the season, Ricciardi acquired Lyle Overbay for first and Troy Glaus for third.
At the start of 2006, Hinske platooned in right field with Alex Rios, but Rios soon won the job outright thanks to his strong play. When Rios went on the DL with a staph infection in June, Hinske filled in. Later, after Shea Hillenbrand’s departure, a spot at DH opened up for Hinske.
Hinske was enjoying his best season since his rookie year, hitting .264/.353/.513 with 12 homers in 78 games, when, on August 17, the Jays traded him to the Red Sox for cash.
Hinske developed a reputation as a good luck charm. In 2007, he earned a World Series ring with the Red Sox. The following year, he was on the losing side with the Rays, making the final out of the World Series on a strikeout—his second postseason at-bat, the first being a home run. In 2009, he won another ring with the Yankees, though he only had one plate appearance, drawing a walk. In 2010, his Braves lost in the NLDS to the Giants, but Hinske still managed two home runs in seven playoff at-bats. He remained with Atlanta through 2012, then played for the Diamondbacks in 2013.
After retiring, Hinske became a scout for the Yankees, then joined the Cubs as first base coach before becoming their hitting coach. He earned his third World Series ring with Chicago. This year, he’s serving as the assistant hitting coach for the Mets.
Happy birthday, Eric.
Today is Rick Bosetti’s 73rd birthday.
Bosetti played for the Blue Jays from 1978, the team’s second season, through 1981.
In 1978, as the Jays’ center fielder, he hit .259/.299/.347 with five home runs in 136 games. The following year, he played all 162 games, batting .260/.286/.362 with eight home runs, 13 steals, and 12 times caught stealing.
In 1980, after Toronto brought in Barry Bonnell for center field, Bosetti’s playing time dropped. He appeared in 53 games, hitting .213/.277/.324. In June 1981, he was traded to the A’s for cash. As a Blue Jay, he hit .252/.289/.348 over 376 games in four seasons.
Rick played for the Phillies and Cardinals before joining the Jays, and later appeared in 15 games over two seasons with the A’s after his time in Toronto.
Happy birthday, Rick.
It’s also Bobby Kielty’s 50th birthday.
The Jays acquired Kielty in exchange for Shannon Stewart midway through the 2003 season. He played 62 games in the outfield, hitting .233/.342/.376. After the season, Toronto traded him to the A’s for Ted Lilly.
Kielty played seven seasons in the majors, hitting .254/.348/.408 with 53 home runs in 599 games. He spent time with the Twins before joining the Jays, and later played for the A’s and Red Sox.
Hey again, I’m Jon, and we’ve hit the seventh-inning stretch. This is a special, super-sized episode of The History of Charging the Mound, and unlike the others, it’s not about any particular mound-charging. Instead, I decided to call an intermission and take inventory of other once-hallowed baseball institutions that have faded from relevance like mound-charging has.
Something happened around 2010. That’s when mound-charges dropped off suddenly and precipitously. That’s also when players stopped posting ultra-high batting averages, hitting streaks became shorter, light-hitting ballplayers began to phase out, and pitchers would commonly get pulled from a game six or seven innings into a no-hitter. All these practices and achievements have something important in common: they do not perfectly correlate with the winning of baseball games. It seems that the turn of the 2010s was when optimization finally came for baseball.
Although it’s entirely possible that baseball is worse off for it – in at least a couple of ways in particular, I absolutely believe it is – I think the more honest framing is that baseball has entered a phase of accelerated evolution, and it is not finished evolving. Rather than worry too much about all that, though, I decided to have 45 minutes of fun slapping some numbers and charts on the wall.
Dec 7, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Lebron James (23) and Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey react with each other after the game at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Lightning struck just as Jim Lynam was finishing the ninth hole at Twisted Dune Golf Club in South Jersey on a recent Friday. It came not in the usual way, but in the form of newsflash: LeBron James was going to sign with the Sixers.
A few hours earlier Lynam – an NBC Sports Philadelphia studio analyst for the team and once its coach – had told some people in the clubhouse that while he thought the Sixers once were in the running for LeBron, it appeared their chances had dwindled.
Now those same people were awaiting him as he approached the clubhouse a second time.
“And,” he said with a laugh, “they jumped me.”
He mentioned that during an appearance last Friday on “After the Buzzer,” a podcast I co-host with fellow journalist Mike Gross. Then he went on to draw a parallel between the way the rest of his day unfolded and the possible mesh among the Sixers’ star-studded cast.
Part of a foursome that opposed two other groups under a scramble format, the 84-year-old didn’t play great.
But, Lynam added, “My team was so strong that I pocketed some of the money.”
That, of course, would be the best-case scenario for the new-look Sixers – that everybody checks their egos at the door, and they cash in next June. But certainly Lynam voiced many of the same concerns others have. About fit. About chemistry. About defense.
The bottom line? They might look great off the tee, but this season will be far from a gimme.
“There’s a lot of things that have to go right for this to work,” Lynam told Mike and me.
Add the 2025-26 usage rates of the likely starters together, and it comes to 142 percent. Clearly something is going to have to give. Clearly everybody is going to have to adjust. And clearly the head coach is going to be under the microscope.
During Friday’s 30-minute interview, Lynam proclaimed himself “a big Nick Nurse fan” and declared that the Sixers boss is “a very adaptable guy.” More than once when Nurse was leading the Raptors to the 2018-19 NBA title, Lynam saw something that surprised him, like a triangle-and-two or some such thing.
Now Nurse will be tasked with maximizing the talents of this group. But in James he has the ultimate cheat code, a guy who is nearing his 42nd birthday and his 24th season. A guy who has seen everything and whose resume speaks volumes.
LeBron chose the Sixers because in his mind they give him the best opportunity to win a fifth ring. Because Joel Embiid and fellow Klutch Sports client Tyrese Maxey pitched him on playing in Philly. And because Mike Gansey pulled off the Jaylen Brown trade.
All that being the case, Lynam said that if he were Nurse, he would approach LeBron and tell him one thing: “Make it work, dude.”
Because a lot of it falls on James, without question. It always has, though he has always been a connective player, always shown a willingness to share. Lynam puts him in a class with Larry Bird and Rick Barry as the best-passing forwards of all time, while at the same time raising these questions: “Is he really a forward? Could we classify him as a guard?”
Even though LeBron stands 6-foot-9 and weighs 250 pounds, it’s a fair point: He plays a position all his own. Last year with the Lakers, for example, he willingly relegated himself to third fiddle when he, Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves shared the floor, though he reserved the right to go get his own whenever the need arose. (His counting stats were 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game. Few have done it better at such an advanced age, in any sport. “Tom Brady is the only one that comes to mind,” Lynam said.)
Lynam knows what it is like to coach big personalities, having worked with Charles Barkley during his time as the Sixers’ head coach (1987-92). But LeBron brings as much juice to a locker room as any player in the history of the league. There are ample tales of him playing GM at his various stops, to the point that he even had his son Bronny as a teammate in Los Angeles.
Strictly from an on-court, player-coach standpoint, Lynam said he always operated from the premise that a player, no matter his stature, was willing to be coached.
“That’s one of the things I respected about Charles over the years: Charles let us coach him,” Lynam said, adding that he doesn’t believe James is any different – that he “has shown (through) his play over the years in various settings that that’s what he’s about. He’s about winning.”
The other thing is, LeBron commands so much respect that he will be able to police the locker room. No one is going to want to disappoint him. No one is going to want to be the weak link in the chain.
“His persona is such, and his achievements are such, they go hand in hand,” Lynam said. “You can have all the bravado you want; if you’re not backing it up, nobody’s going to listen to you. But no, this guy, he’s the total package when it comes to what you’re referring to.”
Lynam is most curious as to how Brown will be incorporated into the mix, given the way he carried Boston for most of last season. Surely he won’t get as many touches as he did there. Surely he won’t be free to play as much iso-ball.
At the same time, Lynam concluded that Brown “knows how to play,” and “will be able to fit in and play well with other people despite the setting: ‘Tell me what we’re going to do. Tell me how we’re going to play.’ … Give him the rules. Boom, no problem. It’s done.”
It figures to be the same for Maxey, who always brings a ton of positive energy into the equation. Lynam believes that VJ Edgecombe will likely have to sacrifice some shots, especially in the game-on-the-line situations where he excelled last season, but is high on the second-year man, especially at the defensive end.
And what of Embiid?
Lynam believes the veteran center will still be an offensive force, if and when his balky knees allow him to take the court, but added that Embiid is “no longer the defender that he was when he terrorized the league. … That’s not the same Joel at the defensive end. Nor is LeBron. That’s going to be a very, very big challenge come late May and June – to be able to defend at a championship level.”
One of many.
“There have been teams assembled in the past. … We called them All-Airport,” Lynam said. “They’re All-Airport. Walks through the airport. Everybody’s pointing. ‘Oh, did you see so-and-so? … Look at that guy. … Look at this guy.’ And I got news for you – a lot of those teams never got it right. So we’ll see how it plays out. But it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
He wouldn’t make any predictions beyond that. Certainly the defending-champion Knicks will again be formidable, and San Antonio and Oklahoma City remain the class of the West. If things break right for the Sixers, that is the company they will keep, without question.
“But to me,” Lynam said, “I think the difference in terms of the (top) teams is so, so small. I’ll use the word ‘infinitesimal.’”
He mentioned how OKC was hamstrung by Jalen Williams’ hamstring injury most of last season. He mentioned how the Knicks, as well as they played throughout the playoffs, found themselves trailing the Spurs by 29 in the second half of Game 4 of the Finals before rallying to win.
“How good could this team be?” Lynam said. “I would joke right now with (Jalen) Brunson or Mike Brown: ‘I’m supposed to be scared of you guys? You were down 29 on your homecourt.’”
There are miles to go before we find out how this plays out, and there will be any number of sandtraps for the Sixers to navigate in the meantime. And only then will we learn whether lightning might strike – whether they can cash out or not.
Apr 5, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) at bat against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Ever since the Red Sox traded for Adley Rutschman on Monday, I’ve been fascinated by the debate over how much having a solid stick behind the plate matters. On one hand, the bat is not your primary focus at that position, and most of the league stinks offensively at catcher anyway, so even if you have a catcher with a slightly above average bat there, he’s still not a true slugger in the vast majority of cases.
But on the other hand, this also makes it the easiest position to get a leg up on everybody else, and in some cases, a huge leg up. For the 2026 Red Sox specifically — who are getting paltry production from their combination of crummy catchers — it screamed the most obvious path for improvement.
And no, I’m not just saying this now that the Sox landed Rutschman. I felt catcher should’ve been the target for the Sox even when most rumors were connecting them to a shortstop.
I'd rather target catcher. While shortstop is a mess with a bevy of broken candidates, I don't have to squint that hard to envision a scenario where Trevor Story, Marcelo Mayer, or even Franklin Arias is there at the end of the year and playing surprisingly well. Catcher? You're… https://t.co/oC7liKaael
So in any case, I started looking back at all the World Series winners over the last several decades and what type of offensive production they got from their catching. And you know what? The results are pretty fascinating. Here’s the raw data going back for the last 50 World Series (1975 to 2025, with 1994 missing because of the strike) and each catcher measured by OPS+.
(For this exercise, I used whatever catcher got the most plate appearance for their team during that championship season and their regular season OPS+. It’s imperfect if you want details, but it gets the job done as a broad overview, and the OPS+ metric being park and league adjusted over time brings everybody onto a level playing field, which is a must in this type of comparison.)
Doing it chronologically makes it easy to find certain guys and seasons, but you can glean even more from the results when you take that same data and organize all the seasons by OPS+. Since this is where some real patterns start to emerge, let’s see what that looks like below:
A few things jump out here immediately. First off, the 2018 Red Sox are a complete anomaly. They had not one, but two completely useless bats at catcher on that roster between Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez. Together they played 89 and 80 games respectively, and posted an OPS+ of 37 and 46. In other words, if you use either guy for this exercise, you end up with the worst hitting catcher on any World Series team in the last 50 years.
Secondly, the example closest to the 2018 Red Sox almost doesn’t even count, for several reasons. First, we know Yadier Molina is better than that 53 OPS+ he posted in the 2006 regular season, and this was specifically illustrated by the fact he hit .358 with a .971 OPS in 16 games for the Cardinals during the 2006 postseason. Additionally, that 2006 Cardinals team only won 83 regular season games, so they literally only started acting like a World Series team once October started, which is also the precise moment they started getting explosive offensive production from behind the dish. So this is pretty much the exception that proves the rule.
Taking a broader view, above average offensive production from catching compared to the rest of the league tends to be a pretty serious championship building block. For reference, the average OPS+ among catchers in 2026 is 89, and if we look at the second table up there, 33 of the last 50 World Series winning catchers posted an OPS+ of 89 or higher (so we’re talking two thirds of the batch).
If I had to take a guess as to why this is the case, I’d guess it’s because the MLB postseason becomes a game of outs even more than a game of runs, and while many of the catchers on that list weren’t big boppers, they also weren’t automatic outs either, meaning the opponent found it just a little bit more difficult to collect 27 outs against them each night, and ultimately couldn’t do it without cracking over a seven game series.
However, the really fascinating data starts when you look at the names near the top of the table above. Specifically, when you hone in on the guys who posted an OPS+ above 120 during a World Series winning season. If you go from Jason Varitek’s 2004 upwards (121 OPS+ and higher), you get seven names (spanning eleven seasons). Here they are in bulleted form:
Buster Posey
Will Smith
Johnny Bench
Jorge Posada
Yadier Molina
Thurman Munson
Jason Varitek
Do you know what those seven guys all have in common? They all won the World Series more than once! And in Posey, Smith and Posada’s case, it was at least three times. So when you get to this level, not only does a big bat at this position help you win one World Series, it puts you in a hell of a position to eventually go for a second bite at the apple.
So now the question becomes, where does that leave the Sox with Adley Rutschman? Rutschman’s OPS+ right now is 115, and that’s true for both his 2026 season and his career mark. So if he can come back and get just a little bit of a bump from that number and start looking like the guy he was earlier in his career, you start playing with some extremely enticing numbers. (This is undoubtedly the vision the front office saw, and why they paid such a high premium for him.)
Then again, do you know what there’s almost no track record of on that list? A catcher as good as Adley Rutschman switching teams in the middle of a season and then leading that new team to a World Series title that same year. As far as that table is concerned, the biggest thing Monday’s deadline did was ship Carlos Narvaez’s 52 OPS+ out of town (a level of futility that only the 2018 Red Sox made work).
Then there’s also the concerning fact that Rutschman’s really only had two good months by OPS+ over the last two years (although both of those were downright excellent). Here’s his OPS and OPS+ numbers by month for the last ten months he’s tallied at least 50 plate appearances dating back to the middle of the 2024 season.
July 2024: OPS of .482 with an OPS+ of 35
August 2024: OPS of .625 with an OPS+ of 73
September 2024: OPS of .578 with an OPS+ of 68
April 2025: OPS of .694 with an OPS+ of 98
May 2025: OPS of .561 with an OPS+ of 57
June 2025: OPS of .890 with an OPS+ of 147
August 2025: OPS of .616 with an OPS+ of 69
April 2026: OPS of 1.067 with an OPS+ of 194
May 2026: OPS of .636 with an OPS+ of 81
June 2026: OPS of .717 with an OPS+ of 93
Outside of June 2025 and April 2026, that’s ugly stuff. So if the Red Sox don’t get some sort of bounce back here, they severely overpaid for Rutschman’s services. Then again, Rutschman’s been thrust into his best chance to win a World Series in years overnight, and we’ve seen situations time and time again in this sport where you put a dog in the kitchen where he can smell meat, and then all of a sudden they start to relearn old tricks.
So to bottom line all this, the stakes are extremely high. The Sox are in pretty uncharted territory trying to win with Rutschman as an in-season pickup, but history suggests there’s a pretty strong link between a good hitting catcher, and a good shot at a championship (maybe even multiple championships). So which guy did the Sox get? It will be fascinating to find out in the months ahead.
The San Francisco Giants were on the clock to improve their roster or create future spending flexibility before the MLB trade deadline on Monday, Aug. 3.
They did both.
San Francisco (48-66 entering Wednesday, Aug. 5) spent deadline season reshaping a roster that failed to meet expectations, moving veterans in exchange for younger talent and future upside.
Whether those moves ultimately pay off will depend on the development of the prospects acquired in those deals.
Here's a grade for every trade the Giants made before the deadline, along with an overall team grade of C+.
Luis Arraez, Caleb Kilian to Phillies for RHP Ramon Marquez and RHP Marty Gair
The Giants did right by Luis Arraez and sent him somewhere he could have a chance to make the postseason and even win. Caleb Kilian was also shipped to Philadelphia. In return, San Francisco got building blocks to develop a bullpen. Ramon Marquez is only 20 years old, while Marty Gair just turned 23 in July.
They can get acclimated within the Giants system as they develop their game. If they become key players down the line, this trade would be a surefire success, especially considering Arraez was only signed on a one-year deal.
Marquez quickly blossomed into one of the best pitching prospects in the Phillies system, according to MLB.com, and he's the highest-rated prospect coming to the organization from the trade deadline deals. That type of potential has to make the Giants excited for what could be.
As for Gair, he has put up a 4.50 ERA in 30 relief appearances between Single-A Clearwater and High-A Jersey Shore in 2026.
GRADE: B-
Robbie Ray to Padres for RHP Miguel Mendez and SS Joniel Hernandez
Once the Giants knew they were dealing Robbie Ray, they needed to replace him with potential.
Miguel Mendez is a 24-year-old, right-handed pitcher who can throw heaters. His fastball velocity is rapid. His four-seamer sits between 95-99 mph and touches 101 mph at times. An underrated pitch is his slider, which comes in near the mid-80s. When followed by his fastballs, he gets right-handed batters to swing late.
Joniel Hernandez is a shortstop from Cuba with some offensive potential. He's a slugger with lots of bat speed and easy power. And he's only 17 years old. He stands at 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, and still hasn't put on his grown man strength yet.
GRADE: C+
Heliot Ramos to Yankees for LHP Henry Lalane and SS Kaeden Kent
The Giants sent outfielder Heliot Ramos across the country to play in the Bronxcfor the Yankees. In return, the Giants received left-handed pitcher Henry Lalane and shortstop Kaeden Kent.
The 6-foot-7 Lalane becomes the Giants' No. 9 prospect, and he is said to be fully healthy coming off shoulder surgery. Last year his fastball sat around 91-92 mph, but this year it has hovered around 94 and topped out at 98. Additionally, he has a changeup that gets around low-80s with fade and depth, but he throws it for strikes. Other pitches include a mid-70s slurve to a 78-82 mph sweeper.
Kent's dad, Jeff Kent, was just enshrined in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame as a San Francisco Giant. The MLB scouting report says Kent has the same profile as an offensive-minded infielder who fits best at second base, despite playing shortstop.
Overall, his best attributes are his high baseball IQ, quality left-handed swing and tendency for making line-drive contact. It's a full-circle moment that will be a story to come if he pans out to have any similar contribution as his pops.
GRADE: B
Erik Miller to Red Sox for INF Marcelo Mayer
For the second consecutive year, the Giants do business with the Boston Red Sox. In 2025, they acquired Rafael Devers. They spun the block in 2026, receiving infielder Marcelo Mayer after sending left-handed pitcher Erik Miller to Boston.
Mayer was the top prospect in 2023, so San Francisco landing him is a big win for its development. According to MLB.com, the consensus among many scouts was that Mayer was both the best hitter and best defender in his draft class. The baseball comparison he was given was a combination of Corey Seager's bat and Brandon Crawford's glove. That's high praise. If Mayer can be that then the Giants got a steal.
GRADE: B+
Tyler Mahle to Braves for RHP Anthony Molina
The Giants swapped right-handed pitchers with the Atlanta Braves as they sent Tyler Mahle to the South and in return received Anthony Molina, who they immediately assigned to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.
Molina, 24, is an interesting study. There's not too much of a "wow" factor, but he does show promise with his fastball, which sat around 94 mph last year and touched as high as 97. He could just be a shoo-in to the Giants bullpen in years to come, and maybe even a starter. But right now, Molina has to make it out the minor league and back to The Show.
Which positional label will best suit the ultra-versatile LeBron James in Philadelphia?
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse doesn’t believe “point guard” will be wildly off the mark.
“I think he’s an offense creator,” Nurse said on the “Takeoff with John Clark” podcast. “I think he certainly is a guy that will bring the ball up the floor and try to create for himself or others — really (well) for others. And I think that lends itself to (point guard), yeah.”
“I’m just as excited about some of the other guys,” he said. “I think the bench got fortified. The bench, with the injuries and stuff, has been pretty thin lately. I just think our overall youth, speed and athleticism has been challenged a lot. Our defensive rebounding has been challenged.
“So I think we’ve improved in a lot of areas. Talent is certainly number one, but I think there are some basketball-specific things that we addressed very well.”
As far as star power, the Sixers’ standing has skyrocketed this summer with the additions of James and Jaylen Brown.
Nurse played a part in the Sixers’ free agency pitch to James.
“First of all, I think he’s a great player and we’re fortunate to have him on the team,” he said. “That’s kind of where I started. I said, ‘I think you slot right in there perfectly.’ We did talk about some multi-position situations. We talked to him just about his leadership in general, his professionalism in general … that could help raise the level of some things. Talked about his late-game play and some things like that. That’s about it.”
In thinking about how to optimize his new roster, Nurse said he’s been “watching a lot of historical stuff from these guys’ (former) teams.”
“With these guys in particular, just really zeroing in on Jaylen Brown’s last few years in Boston,” Nurse said. “Just really watching, an overload almost, of how they used him, all the sets they used. It’s been really fun going back and watching. I’ve obviously coached against Jaylen a lot recently … and then a lot of years (against) LeBron when he was in Cleveland.
“You remember the huge play packages that they had, especially for LeBron but also for Jaylen. … Even if it’s seven, eight years ago, you can pull some of that stuff out, stuff they’re comfortable with and that they’ve done. And see how it fits once we get there.”
Once training camp does roll around, Nurse and the Sixers will be pushing for a championship.
Nurse won a title in his first season as an NBA head coach with the 2018-19 Raptors. He understands the high expectations and intense scrutiny to come for the 2026-27 Sixers.
“I think that championship teams have a lot of similar characteristics,” he said. “The first thing is we need to get to work. I really put hard work and work ethic and all that stuff at the top of the list. If we want to win, are we going to outwork our opponents? Are we going to watch better film, more film, spend more hours? Then you’ve got to have some chemistry. You’re going to have to handle adversity. And then just keep climbing to get a little bit better as the season goes by.
“The team I coached in 2019 with the Raptors that won it all, we were a completely different team at the end of June than we were even at the start of April when the playoffs started. It’s a two months-long process, but we just kept getting better and better. Each series, better and better. I think that’s the goal and you’ve just got to try to reach your ceiling.”
The Boston Red Sox are modest -127 favorites over the Chicago White Sox today when Sonny Gray and Sean Burke go toe-to-toe at Fenway Park.
My White Sox vs. Red Sox predictions expect the chickens to come home to roost for fly-ball-prone hurler Burke, as Boston not only wins outright but also covers the run line in our MLB picks for Wednesday, Aug. 5.
Who will win White Sox vs Red Sox today: Red Sox -1.5 (+158)
Normally, I like to start with a breakdown of the pitching matchup, and while both Sean Burke and Sonny Gray have excelled this season, I'm keying in on the offenses a bit, specifically the Boston Red Sox.
Over the last 30 days, the Red Sox rank fifth in MLB in wRC+ at 116 (league average is 100), which has been a massive contributing factor toward their hot streak bringing them back from the brink of death in the AL race.
Caleb Durbin has rebounded from his poor start, hitting .321/.418/.464 in that span, while Andruw Monasterio has been even better (.359/.440/.656). The power stroke has been handled by Wilyer Abreu, who has countered his poor .204 batting average in the last month by blasting a team-leading nine home runs.
But it's Willson Contreras who has emerged as the real heart of this team and the lineup's potential, boasting a 177 wRC+ while hitting .296/.465/.519 with eight long balls in his last 106 plate appearances.
With favorable weather conditions (more on that below, in the Over/Under section), I like Boston's offense to push the Red Sox to another statement win, especially since the Chicago White Sox have gone in the opposite direction, owning baseball's fifth-worst wRC+ (84) in the last 30 days.
I'd play Boston -1.5 to +130.
COVERS INTEL: Contreras is a heat-seeking missile for barrels. Despite being 34, his bat speed remains in the 96th percentile, while both his barrel rate and expected slugging percentage are in the 92nd. Swing hard, hit hard is the name of his game.
White Sox vs Red Sox Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (+110)
On paper, this is a solid pitching matchup between Burke and Gray, but there's good reason to target the Over.
Fenway Park will experience fairly humid conditions tonight with wind blowing to left-center field. While Gray keeps the ball on the ground fairly well, Burke is an extreme fly-ball pitcher, with a 36.4% ground-ball rate (18th percentile). Despite that, he's kept the ball in the ballpark at a much better clip relative to 2025.
But even if the ball doesn't sail over the fence, the Green Monster will be in play, making Burke's night a tricky one at best.
And for as strong as Gray has been in his debut season in Beantown, he's been knocked around a bit of late, surrendering nine earned runs on 17 hits in 12 innings over his last two starts.
So even though the White Sox haven't been mashing of late, Munetaka Murakami & Co. can do enough damage in these conditions to help clear the Over.
I'd play down to +100.
Jason Wilson's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 6-4, +2.23 units
Over/Under bets: 6-4, +1.06 units
White Sox vs Red Sox weather
As mentioned, the wind is blowing right at the Green Monster, which may not bode well for the pitchers in Boston tonight. There's no rain in the forecast, and it will be between 76 and 82 degrees, so warm but not insanely humid.
White Sox vs Red Sox odds
Moneyline: White Sox +122 | Red Sox -127
Run line: White Sox +1.5 (-170) | Red Sox -1.5 (+163)
Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+104) | Under 8.5 (-108)
White Sox vs Red Sox trend
The Boston Red Sox have covered the Run Line in 24 of their last 35 games (+18.20 Units / 43% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for White Sox vs. Red Sox.
How to watch White Sox vs Red Sox and game info
Location
Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Date
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
First pitch
7:10 p.m. ET
TV
CHSN, NESN
White Sox starting pitcher
Sean Burke (7-5, 3.04 ERA)
Red Sox starting pitcher
Sonny Gray (13-2, 2.93 ERA)
White Sox vs Red Sox latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 15: Cade Cunningham #2 of the Detroit Pistons looks on against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second quarter in Game Six of the Second Round of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at Rocket Arena on May 15, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In my head and my heart are three fundamental truths about the Detroit Pistons’ offseason. One, they made a series of good moves and are likely a better team than the one that won 60 games a season ago. The second truth is that the offseason was a failure. The final truth is that failure was likely the best course of action.
Let’s unpack each of those a bit more.
The Detroit Pistons Are a Better Team
The first truth: The Detroit Pistons are better than they were one season ago. I believe this pretty unreservedly.
Look, I am a Tobias Harris fan, and I believe the kind of mid-range, backdown shot creation he brought to the team was underappreciated and will be missed. But I also see the vision of why this team targeted John Collins as a Harris replacement. Collins is a mix of rim pressure and outside shooting that can play extremely effectively off the ball.
Over the past two years, Collins is shooting 60% on twos and 40% on threes compared to 53% and 35% for Harris. Collins can get himself to the line when asked, and the Pistons love getting to the line. He’s a better rebounder and shot blocker than Harris.
He’s going to have less of a direct role in the offense, but what he is asked to do, Collins is going to do at a high level, and likely be a better defender.
The Pistons made another crucial addition by adding Isaiah Joe in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s almost like Detroit fans processed the addition of Joe and priced in an eventual trade of Duncan Robinson, and wrote off the move as a wash. Except that Duncan Robinson trade never came. Now the Pistons are surrounding Cade Cunningham with two of the most dangerous spot-up shooters in the NBA, who are both high-volume and efficient from the perimeter.
Both are the types of players that you have to guard, and that makes it tough for defenses to scheme against. The Pistons won 60 games last season with Robinson as the only bona fide shooter on the floor most of the time. They needed to address this critical flaw, and they couldn’t do much better than adding Joe.
In practice, the Pistons executed the offseason playbook from two seasons ago when they tripled their win total thanks to the largely unheralded additions of Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. As we saw that season, nothing helps Cunningham more than having space with which to work.
Detroit also added Taurean Prince as a legit backup power forward, which they did not have last year, and he is a perfectly serviceable reserve who can hit open perimeter shots. Prince shot over 48% from the corners a season ago, and 45% the season before that. If that is what he is mostly asked to do in Detroit, then that is just fine. The Pistons somewhat surprisingly re-signed Kevin Huerter, whom they added at the trade deadline for Jaden Ivey. Huerter is a well-rounded and servicable player who does a ton of things well. If he somehow rediscovers his 3-point shot, this is easily a surplus-value deal. If that shot continues to be AWOL, he still knows how to make himself useful on the court, and the deal is just fine.
I am also pricing in the return of Jalen Duren, and the longer this offseason drags on, the more likely it is going to be on a number the Pistons won’t be living to regret. He will be incredibly well paid, but he isn’t signing for the supermax or even the max. I also don’t think he blows things up by signing his qualifying offer. He’ll sign a long-term deal for some generational wealth and be a cornerstone of Detroit’s lineup.
Finally, the Pistons added Ebuka Okorie in the first round of the draft. I’m pretty skeptical of his year-one impact, but if they can unlock any of his self-creation, foul-drawing, and playmaking then it’ll be the cherry on top of the offseason sundae.
All of these are good moves individually and in the aggregate. They are swapping Collins for Harris, Prince for Isaiah Stewart, Joe for Caris LeVert, and Okorie for Marcus Sasser. I understand the fears associated with Harris’ role and Stewart’s defense, but those are all upgrades in my book.
The Detroit Pistons’ offseason was a failure
Now that 400 words of praise are out of the way, let’s move on to fundamental truth No. 2. The Pistons’ offseason was a failure.
Again, I believe this is unequivocally true, and anyone trying to talk themselves around this truth feels like someone who isn’t comfortable in discomfort.
The Pistons’ failure is defined by their previous success. Their offseason goal was not just to get better; it was to make the moves that allow them to compete for an NBA championship. They did not do that.
They are still one player away. I believe they went into the offseason knowing that fact, and they spent the entire offseason attempting to address that fact. And they couldn’t do it. They failed.
There were early reports of the team being ready to make a max offer to Austin Reeves. It spooked the Lakers so much that they re-signed him to his max. Persistent rumors of interest in Trey Murphy, but the Pelicans seemingly had unreasonable trade demands. There were reports of interest in Coby White, but the Hornets signed him to a big deal after unloading LaMelo Ball.
Feelers about Kyrie Irving rejected. Eagerness in Kawhi Leonard spurned. Cade Cunningham’s attempt to woo Kevin Durant went nowhere. All would have been seismic moves (minus White, I suppose), and an attempt to get Cunningham his running mate.
Trajan Langdon simply couldn’t get anything across the finish line. He had his price, and he held firm. Whether you consider this patience or reluctance to do what is necessary is up to you, but I think Langdon understands one thing pretty clearly. He gets one shot at this major swing, and he can’t afford to miss.
In this salary cap era, you can’t afford to add major money and then continuously rerack of its not working. There are just not as many buyers for guys on major contracts as there once were. He needs to know the major he player he adds has the skills and temperament, and that he fits into the roster in a way that takes the Pistons to title contention.
The thing that makes this the most difficult pill to swallow is seeing just how much better the Eastern Conference has gotten this offseason. Being better than your 60-win team from a season ago certainly won’t mean winning 60 games again, and Detroit will be in a scrum with a lot of teams with championship aspirations.
There are the defending champion Knicks, of course, and the new-look Philadelphia 76rs who are dominating the headlines. Winning a title and adding Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to two of basketball’s biggest markets will do that.
The Boston Celtics are relying on a full season of Jayson Tatum to build on the momentum of last year’s surprise success. The Cleveland Cavaliers remain a formidable force with big expectations led by Donovan Mitchell, the Miami Heat want another superstar-led run via Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Toronto Raptors believe they’re adding Kawhi Leonard (time will tell). The fan bases in Indiana, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Orlando also think they have the talent to make plenty of noise.
The East is pretty stacked, there is little incentive to tank, and Detroit will have its hands full all season.
Failure Was Not Only An Option, but it was also the Best Option
Langdon failed at his No. 1 objective this offseason, but instead of panicking into a move that wouldn’t work just so he could say he is taking his shot, he decided to bide his time and wait to see if that move becomes available at the trade deadline or this offseason.
If Detroit can find that move, they can swing the balance of the East in their favor and make a legitimate run to the NBA Finals. If they can’t make that move, the ceiling on this team feels like incremental progress that sees them advance past the second round and get dispatched in the Eastern Conference Finals. Maybe that finals matchup is competitive, maybe it’s a route as Detroit’s lack of a second option comes into painful focus.
Would that make for a satisfying season for Pistons fans? Probably not. However, I am glad they were willing to accept failure rather than win headlines or a news cycle. That way lies ruin. We’ve seen it in Detroit before.
It also remains true today, as it was on the final day of last season, that the Pistons have set themselves up for the chance to make a significant addition to this roster. Their books are clean, their core players are mostly in place, and they are in control of all their future picks. Cade hasn’t reached his ceiling. Ausar Thompson and Duren have not reached their ceiling. If Ron Holland is finally able to break through a bit on offense, he becomes an actual attractive trade piece and not simply a throw-in. Okorie could be the real deal and become the same.
The prognosticators, somewhat rightly, expected the Pistons to take a home run swing. They instead stepped to the plate and hit some singles and doubles. Importantly, they didn’t strike out. They will also be back up to the plate.
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