SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 14: Jeff McNeil #22 of the Athletics celebrates his solo home run with third base coach Bobby Crosby #8 during the bottom of the sixth inning against the Texas Rangers at Sutter Health Park on August 14, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Scott Marshall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, LSB.
The Rangers lost another one last night, 8-3 to the A’s.
Shawn McFarland writes about the Rangers’ no good very bad record against the AL West this season, specifically on the road.
Jake Burger’s clutch homer wasn’t enough to “stop the bleeding.”
Kevin Sherrington writes this latest skid is the final sign that the Rangers have maxed out at “average.”
On the plus side Josh Jung finally appears to be progressing toward a return.
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 24: Tommy Gregg, Anthony Lerew, JoJo Reyes, Gerald Perry and Jerome Walton sign autographs during the Atlanta Braves alumni weekend before the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals at Truist Park on August 24, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Atlanta Braves are having their annual Alumni Weekend during this series with the Diamondbacks. Over 60 former players and coaches were in attendance. Here is the listing of those who are in town.
There are some Hall of Famers and World Series Champions on this list. There are some from the dry times of the 70s and early 80s. What would (or did) you ask at Braves Alumni Weekend? I’ve met Dale Murphy, and I would probably be too tongue-tied again to remember what I was going to ask. I’ve always wondered who cracked Sid Bream’s ribs after he famously slid in 1992, but I know David Justice had him in a headlock. You could always ask Brian Snitker why. That’s it, just why. That’s an open-ended question that could apply to bullpen management, lineup, or gaping maw and hat tips. You could ask Kelly Johnson which NL East city had the best clubhouse and nightlife.
I have a question for Leo Mazzone. But I’ll hold onto that one for now.
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - JULY 12: Alec Burleson #41 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits an RBI double against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Busch Stadium on July 12, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Alec Burleson has hit 47 fly balls at Busch Stadium this season with an average expected wOBA of .610 and an actual of only .397. Burly is getting absolutely ripped off by his home ballpark. Baseball Savant’s Park Factors calculation ranks Busch as the fifth most stifling park in baseball. It has been particularly tough for lefties over the last three seasons with only Tampa Bay and Seattle ranking as more difficult places to hit. Lefty power hitters are punished the most with a home run factor of 73, where 100 is average. Add it all up and it is no surprise that the Cardinals offense has been a bit flat at times. Despite an expected wOBA of .323 (4th in baseball), the Cardinals’ actual wOBA ranks 25th and their runs per game ranks 19th.
This gap in expected vs. actual production led me to investigate which Cardinals are being punished the most by the unfriendly confines of Busch Stadium. As I started getting into the data, the obvious secondary question arose: is the underperformance due only to their home park, or has there been a bit of bad luck too?
For this investigation, I will focus on wOBA and its various cousins, so I want to provide a few points of reference. The MLB average wOBA is .316 this season. wOBA is not park or league adjusted, but in a neutral environment, .316 would equate to a wRC+ of 100. wOBAcon is simply the wOBA on contact only, so it removes walks, strikeouts, and HBP from the calculation. The MLB average for wOBAcon is .364. The expected versions of these statistics (xwOBA and xwOBAcon) are calculated using exit velocity and launch angle. One of the limitations of the expected statistics is that they do not take into account the direction a ball is hit. More on that when we discuss fly balls.
The Cardinals have the tenth-best road offense in the league by wRC+, checking in at 101. Their home wRC+ of 89 ranks 27th in baseball. Remember, wRC+ is park adjusted. It is relatively unusual for a team to hit this much better on the road. Across MLB, teams hit six points higher at home than on the road (103 vs. 97), and the Cardinals are one of only four teams to have a reverse split of ten or more. I was curious if there were any teams that consistently hit better on the road, so I looked at the splits going back to 2021 and only the Angels have hit better on the road in the aggregate. The Cardinals have a normal 104 to 98 wRC+ home/away split over that time period. These facts alone lead me to believe that some of the Busch struggles can be attributed to bad luck.
This bad luck would likely be showing up in the Cardinals’ home/away damage on contact (wOBAcon) splits. The below table compares the Cardinals’ expected wOBA on contact to their actual results.
Sure enough, the team’s expected production on contact is similar home vs. away, but the gap on production at home pulls the overall wOBAcon down to .342, the second-worst mark in the majors. Cardinals hitters are underperforming their expected damage on contact at home by .037 points. For the sake of comparison, I pulled the same metrics for Cardinals pitchers at Busch. As a group, they are outperforming their collective xwOBAcon by .022 points. Going back to our park factors reference, Busch has suppressed wOBAcon by 6% over the last three years. Cardinals pitchers are getting that 6% benefit almost exactly, while the hitters have underperformed by 10%. While not conclusive, this does put a point in the “bad luck” column.
I do want to check in on the fly ball issue. Historically, the Cardinals have had teams that underperformed their underlying data because too many of their fly balls were hit to center and the opposite field. To illustrate the problem with this, I pulled data from Baseball Savant on every fly ball hit in MLB this year, broken out by direction.
Players or teams that pull the ball more frequently outperform their expected production (.611 expected vs. .858 actual). Opposite-field flies are measured fairly accurately, but fly balls in the middle of the field cause significantly less damage than the xwOBA formula projects due to deeper fences and more skilled defenders.
Poor directional distribution does not appear to be the driver of the Cardinals’ Busch Stadium woes; their percentage of pulled fly balls at home is in line with the major league average and their center-field percentage is below average.
Despite this solid distribution of fly ball direction, the majority of the Cardinals’ problems are indeed coming from fly balls. The major league average wOBA on fly balls is .425. The Cardinals’ average wOBA on road flies is a stellar .445. At home, the wOBA on fly balls falls all the way down to .355 (xwOBAcon of .454).
So, which players are feeling pain?
Not surprisingly, the three players with the biggest splits are all left-handed. As I opened with, Burleson has serious grounds for irritation with his home field. His pulled fly ball rate of 36% is well above average, which makes the lack of production even more frustrating. Wetherholt has had some bad luck as well. Only 21% of his fly balls have been to the pull side, but he is underperforming his expected stats on line drives by over .100 points.
Interestingly, none of the top right-handed hitters have had as much of an issue with Busch. I cut the chart off at 100 balls in play, but the rest of the righties have had horrible luck in small sample sizes.
It is easy to identify the players that have paid the highest Busch tax. Burleson in particular has been crushing balls all year without getting full credit for his awesomeness. Wetherholt is more of a mixed bag with his poor pulled fly ball rate, but he has already shown a remarkable ability to make adjustments at the big league level, so I am guessing he will get to even more pull power. Regardless, his luck on line drives is sure to improve and lift his stat line as well.
Untangling environment from luck is a bit more challenging, but I really do think this is an above-average offense. In the Statcast era, the Cardinals have underperformed their expected wOBA by .006 points. The current gap would be a new low-water mark for the franchise if the trends do not reverse. I focused on the contact side of the offensive equation in this article, but the Cardinals are also one of the best teams in baseball when not making contact. With the seventh-best BB/K rate in baseball and the most HBPs, their “damage” on non-contact outcomes is third in baseball. The fact that opponents at Busch are performing closer to expectations gives me hope that the offense can see some positive regression toward their expected stats.
Aug 2, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bryan De La Cruz (41) reacts to hitting a two run home run against the Baltimore Orioles during the third inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Bryan De La Cruz has been the latest member of the Phillies outfield carousel, having now been with the major league club for a little over three weeks since being called up from Lehigh Valley. De La Cruz has only appeared in 12 games, but he has performed admirably, hitting .346 with a 1.021 OPS. Again, we’re talking about an extremely small sample size of 32 plate appearances, but De La Cruz’ production has been a welcome sight for a Phillies lineup that will take production from anywhere it can get it.
The problem now however is that the recent new defensive alignment has cut down on De La Cruz’ playing time. With Bryce Harper now occupying first base, De La Cruz is left to only platoon with Brandon Marsh in left rather than finding starting time in the other corner outfield spot. Obviously, Harper shouldn’t be the one to suffer to get De La Cruz in the lineup, but the Phillies could opt to put the former back at first base and cut into the playing time of the struggling Alec Bohm.
Bohm has been better in the second half, hitting .276 with a .713 OPS, but his season numbers are still among the worst in the majors for a regular starter. His -1.2 WAR is the worst among all 142 players in baseball who have qualified for the batting title. The Phillies would certainly be justified in cutting down on Bohm’s playing time. Either sending him to the bench full time or putting him in a platoon would allow them to find some more playing time for De La Cruz in order to ride the hot hand.
De La Cruz will almost certainly not continue this trend of hot hitting, but it’s hard to argue he isn’t a better option than Bohm at this point. So, should the Phillies find more playing time for Bryan De La Cruz?
Ohtani threw 35 pitches during the session, according to Roberts.
"He used his entire mix (of pitches)," Roberts told the media. "He felt encouraged."
Ohtani, 32, hasn't pitched in a game since July 3 because of inflammation in his left knee.
Roberts said Ohtani will go through one or two more bullpen sessions, followed by live pitching sessions, during which Ohtani will throw to actual hitters. Roberts said he couldn’t see Ohtani doing any fewer than two live sessions before he returns.
"And then I would see him in a major league game," Roberts said.
Roberts indicated he had talked to Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior Friday about the situation.
"He's confident in talking to Shohei, just also watching the 'pen," Roberts said. "So I'm pretty confident that if we stay the course, he'll throw a 'pen in a couple, two, three, four, five days. And then if we get out of that, I think we'll be out of the woods."
Ohtani’s official return to big league pitching would involve his pitching an inning to open games.
The Dodgers previously said they expected Ohtani to pitch again this season but had provided no timeline.
Ohtani had been brilliant on the mound before the knee issue surfaced in June. He’s 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA in 85 2/3 innings pitched.
Aug 14, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Colorado Rockies outfielder Zac Veen (13) leaps to acknowledge the bullpen near first base coach Doug Bernier (50) after hitting a two run home run against San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Landen Roupp (not pictured) during the sixth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Long gone are the days in which fans rub their hands together and coo: Oooo the Rockies.
In this hopefully alternate historical timeline these 2026 Giants have dragged us into, there are no gimme games, no such thing as a breezy series. The cheap balm San Francisco has applied to their burns in recent years is the fact they aren’t as bad as Colorado. They were never last in the NL West, never completely decked-out on the damp cellar floor — just a couple steps up the basement stairs where you might get a little bit better air circulation, touched by a bit more light from the crack at the bottom of the door. They’ve generally dominated the bruised, purple-and-black visitors when they’ve come to town — a home series seen as a relished opportunity for the team to feel big and strong for once by beating up on someone worse off.
But that thin and meaningless separation between the two teams is at risk of disappearing completely. They’ve been scratching-and-clawing at each other in a cartoon-y ball of dust and limbs all season. Going into Friday’s match-up, Colorado and San Francisco were 5-5 in head-to-head match-ups, with both teams solidly holding down the fourth and fifth spots in the division, both boasting records within the five worst in all of baseball.
Now, after Friday’s 5-2 loss, the Rockies are now just a game behind the Giants…who are 23.5 games out of first place and 14.5 games behind the third place Diamondbacks.
No one cares. Let’s get into it.
Ostensibly disadvantaged as the visiting team, the timing was just right for the Rockies to roll into town, catching the Giants on one of their worst runs in a terrible year. They’ve dropped four straight series, against the Padres, Rangers, Tigers, and Astros, since September 30th. After Friday’s loss, they’re 4-10, victims of a trio of shutouts as well as winless in four one-run games.
The answer to the how isn’t hard to discern. While the pitching has been suspect at times, the offense has been the main culprit. Obvious personnel departures in Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos before the trade deadline have left holes. Casey Schmitt’s injury on the 28th took another right-handed threat out of the line-up. Replacements have been brought in. Osleives Basabe has shown some pop, Victor Bericoto is back, Drew Gilbert has been relatively solid — but these mild points of praise are barely worth mentioning considering the lack-of-club the club has shown over the past couple weeks.
Some numbers:
Since July 30th, the Giants are slashing .201/ .267/ .324 with a 66 wRC+. Their .264 wOBA is tied for worst in the Majors. Their flyball rate is the second highest in MLB span (49%) but their home-run to flyball ratio is one of the lowest (8.4%). According to Fangraphs’, their 28.5% Hard-%, measuring rates of ideal contact, is the lowest in the National League.
Bryce Eldridge punched another impressive drive over the center field wall to briefly tie the game in the 4th. It was another no-doubter, off lefty Kyle Freeland too, but proved to be an outlier spike in a game of ground balls rolled into the teeth of the defense.
The Rockies turned three double plays (two on the infield). Freeland struck out only two batters but earned 13 groundouts and surrendered just 4 hits. He needed 95 pitches to throw 8 complete. Throwing with the devil’s hand certainly helped facilitate the dominance. Southpaws have bedeviled Giants hitters all year, their 85 wRC+ is third lowest in the Majors.
No complaints about the Eldridge homer — it just would’ve been a whole lot nicer if there was a runner, or two or three, on base when it happened. Damage with ducks on the pond, that’s been a huge ask and huge problem throughout this rough patch. Over these last 14 games, the Giants are 13-for-94 with runners in scoring position. That’s a .138 average with a .191 slugging — which includes Rafael Devers’s excuse-me RBI double in the 9th that found the outfield through the gaping hole between third base and the man charged with protecting it. That non-needle moving extra basehit was their first, and only knock, with a runner in scoring position all night. That lack of production has been the rule over the past 14 games. The Giants have managed just one hit, or have been held hitless with RISP, or did not even earn an opportunity to hit with a RISP in 11 of their past 14 games.
This isn’t on the babes either, those wide-eyed call-ups that populate the bottom of the order. While on paper it appears as though the line-up falls off a cliff after the clean-up spot, that weak and inexperienced half aren’t to blame. They’ve done a nice job of setting the table. Jonah Cox, (who actually hit lead-off yesterday) tripled before Devers punched him in. Again, glad it happened, but cheap penance for previous, and future, sins. The number-2 slugger had an opportunity to uncork an influential swing with runners on the corners in the 3rd, after Christian Koss doubled and the Rockies gifted Cox a base on a missed catch, but rolled into an inning-ending double-play. And immediately after his double in the 9th, which pulled the Giants within three of Colorado’s five runs, Devers ran himself off the bases when he misread center fielder Cole Carrigg’s diving catch. What was inches from another RBI hit, and would’ve brought the tying run to the plate with nobody out, turned into a nice defensive snare and another self-inflicted, bubble-bursting two-fer against the Giants.
Devers is 2-for-11 with RISP since July 30th; Willy Adames is 1-for-14; Eldridge, 1-for-10; Lee, 1-for-9. The ones we want getting opportunities to hit with consequence just aren’t connecting. And when they do…somehow things go horribly wrong.
With another full big league schedule, my MLB player props analysis has found real value on the mound and at the dish.
I'll start things off with AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler, followed by Jacob Misiorowski, who is set to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. The red-hot Pete Alonso closes out today's best props.
Cam Schlittler continues to strengthen his AL Cy Young case. The right-hander owns a stellar 1.76 FIP across his last five appearances while allowing just 1.93 BB/9 and 0.64 HR/9.
The New York Yankees right-hander has cashed the Under in earned runs surrendered in three of his last four appearances, limiting the powerful Atlanta Braves to just one earned run in his most recent start.
Jacob Misiorowski has a real task ahead of him tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the ace will be up for the challenge. Misiorowski sports a 1.30 xERA over his last four outings and has struck out a mind-boggling 15.14 hitters per nine innings.
This is a great time for him to face the Dodgers, who carry an 88 wRC+ over their previous seven games into this contest. Misiorowski has also cashed the Under in two of his last four starts, and he has been dominant on the road, compiling a 2.02 FIP.
The youngster will keep the Dodgers lineup under wraps.
Play this pick up to -130.
Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
Where to watch: FOX
Pete Alonso Over 1.5 total bases (+131)
Pete Alonso is arguably the hottest hitter in the sport right now. The Baltimore Orioles slugger has a .522 average and .435 ISO over his last six games, also going deep three times during that span. Alonso has posted a ridiculous 73.7% hard-hit rate and 26.3% barrel rate.
He's cashed the Over in total bases in three straight games, finishing with two hits apiece in back-to-back contests. Tonight's matchup is favorable, too. Alonso faces Tampa Bay Rays starter Ian Seymour, who has allowed a 45.5% hard-hit rate over the last month.
The Rays' bullpen is also vulnerable, posting a 5.53 FIP over the last week while giving up a 42% hard-hit rate. Alonso will keep it rolling.
Play this pick down to +100.
Time: 6:10 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Rays.TV, MASN
Quinn Allen's 2026 Transparency Record
Prop picks: 6-3, +2.83
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.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - AUGUST 11: Gunnar Henderson #2 of the Baltimore Orioles rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the second inning during the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Andrew Ritter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Orioles fans and fans across the country.
The question of whether Gunnar Henderson will ever be good for the Orioles again is a subject of near-daily debate in Birdland. Each poor at-bat or misfire in the field is fresh fodder for contemplation about how bad things have gone for the previously-superstar player. Many minds have already been made up.
In this week’s poll, I asked our readers whether you think Gunnar will manage to be a good player for the team again or not. We had a total of 271 votes come in and these were the results:
That’s not an exact 50/50 split, but it’s probably as close to even as any question I might have come up with. A slight majority are feeling glum about Henderson ever getting back to something they could call good. It’s tough to look at his season this year and feel positive.
There are those who think he just won’t manage to be good at all. Others think he’s sunk into some kind of situation where he needs a change of scenery. There are a number of ways it could never work out. Or, he could just go back to being the guy we saw two years ago.
The Orioles themselves sure seem to be hoping for the “sudden improvement” outcome. Their treatment of Henderson this year has something similar with the common conception of an ostrich burying its head in the sand. They don’t have much choice other than to wait for him to be good.
The wait stretches on uncomfortably. Henderson hasn’t had a really good month at the plate since last July. Close to half of Orioles fans still want to believe. As pessimistic as I generally am about the Orioles, I remain a believer in Henderson. Perhaps, like the Orioles, I don’t have any choice either. Maybe he’ll give more people a reason to believe between now and season’s end.
The Warriors haven’t signed anyone new this offseason, but ESPN doesn’t view the contracts they’ve handed out in a negative light.
As the team missed out on big fish like LeBron James this summer, Golden State re-signed Kristaps Porziņģis, De’Anthony Melton, Al Horford, Gary Payton II and Draymond Green ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season and is running it back with the same squad that finished its last campaign as a play-in tournament participant.
While that certainly isn’t music to Dub Nation’s ears, ESPN handed out grades for four of those five signings — a majority of which are favorable.
“Before the offseason began, the expectation was that Green would play out the 2026-27 season on a $27.7 million deal. He had a player option for that amount and likely wouldn’t have received any more on the open market as a 36-year-old with more value to the Golden State Warriors than any other team.
That expectation changed for about a month, after Green declined his player option to give the Warriors the financial flexibility to pursue free agent LeBron James. But after James went to Philadelphia 76ers rather than northern California, it made sense for Green to re-sign with the Warriors for the same one-year deal he declined a month earlier. Because the baseline for these free agent grades is a ‘C,’ and because Green stuck with the baseline expectation entering this summer, that’s the logical grade to give this deal.” – Zach Kram
“Last summer, Melton signed a two-year deal with the Warriors, with a player option in the second year. He opted out and is going the same route this summer, just with a slightly higher price tag following a strong comeback season from a torn ACL in November 2024.
“Regardless of whether the Warriors’ star ambitions pan out this summer, Melton will be an excellent fit on their roster as a do-it-all guard with a knack for forcing turnovers. He doesn’t need the ball to contribute, and if his 3-point shot bounces back with more time removed from his injury — he was at 29 percent last season, a big step down from his previous 37 percent career mark — he’ll thrive playing off Stephen Curry (and LeBron James?).
“The Warriors had a plus-3.9 net rating with Melton on the court last season, which ranked second on the team behind Jimmy Butler III. Still only 28 years old, he’s squarely in his prime.
“Perhaps he’ll turn in another solid season and do the ‘opt out and re-sign’ dance with Golden State once again next summer.” – Kram
“This is a low-floor, high-ceiling play for a veteran team that’s angling to become one of the lowest-floor, highest-ceiling squads in the league.
“Porziņģis’ floor is tied entirely to his availability. The 30-year-old center is still an effective player if he’s healthy, but that’s a mighty large ‘if’ at this point: He played just 42 games for the Boston Celtics in 2024-25 and 32 combined games for the Atlanta Hawks and Warriors last season, because of an illness that Boston’s doctors reportedly diagnosed as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
“He also never played more than 29 minutes in a game with Golden State and averaged a career-low 24 minutes per game over the whole season, as the Hawks and Warriors sought to manage his stamina.
“But Porziņģis averaged 25 points per 36 minutes when he was able to stay in games, right in line with his other recent averages. And his decline in efficiency (58 percent true shooting, his first time below 62 percent in four years) was likely tied to his inability to develop a rhythm, with so many long absences throughout the year. …
“But for now, committing up to $20 million per year — only $3 million is guaranteed for the second season, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater — is a questionable move for a team that hopes to finish the offseason with a crowded cap sheet. There’s a world in which Porziņģis, Horford, Green and [Anthony] Davis all take turns missing games and form a sort of super-center Voltron when they’re available; there’s also a world in which the Warriors miss out on Davis and end up paying Porziņģis about $1 million per game because he plays so infrequently.” – Kram
“Al Horford got off to a very slow start in Golden State last season, to the point that it seemed as if the veteran big man might be done as an NBA rotation player. Amid various absences, he averaged just 5.6 points per game on 45 percent true shooting before Christmas.
“But he soon rediscovered his typical form and averaged 9.3 PPG on 59 percent true shooting from Christmas through the end of the season — right in line with his 8.8 PPG and 60 percent true shooting from his final two seasons in Boston. He was also one of Golden State’s best performers in the play-in round.
“So don’t close the book on Horford’s career just yet. He is 40 years old now, and he might need plenty of rest throughout the regular season — he hasn’t played 70 games in a season since 2017-18 and appeared in only 45 last year — but he can still play 20 productive minutes per game, supplying savvy defense, offensive spacing and positional flexibility.
“It’s not easy for the Warriors to find role players who belong in their read-and-react system, but with his unselfish play and basketball intellect, Horford is a strong fit.
“Horford is replacing his $6 million option for 2026-27 with a new two-year contract worth just a bit more than that per year. At some point, he’ll inevitably slow down for good. But this is a low-dollar, low-risk deal for Golden State, and Horford seems to have enough left in the tank to make it worth the Warriors’ while.” – Kram
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 14: Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale(51) in the second inning of the MLB game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves on August 14, 2026, at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Atlanta Braves suffered a shutout during Friday’s series opener, dropping game one with the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0. It’s a tale as old as time; Chris Sale turns in a terrific start, yet the offense is unable to provide run support. Sale went six innings, allowing just one run on five hits. He recorded nine strikeouts.
Unfortunately, the Braves’ bats were extremely quiet and the team tallied just three hits on the night. The Braves fell to 73-49 but aim to get back in the win column this evening.
More Braves News:
Alumni Weekend is taking place at Truist Park, and several Braves legends were in attendance for Friday’s pregame ceremony.
Davis Polo had a seven strikeout night for the Augusta GreenJackets on Thursday. More in the minor league recap.
Athletics reliever Justin Sterner underwent season-ending knee surgery. He is already on the 15-day IL and will be transferred to the 60-day when the A’s need a roster spot.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JUNE 24: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the bullpen prior to the game against the Minnesota Twins on June 24, 2026 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
LOS ANGELES — Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani has increased his throwing progression over the last week, and on Friday threw a bullpen session at Dodger Stadium three or so hours ahead of the team’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Ohtani last pitched in a game on July 3 in San Diego, and has been sidelined since with left knee inflammation. Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic has more on the bullpen session:
The Dodgers have not put a firm timeline on Ohtani’s return, which is complicated somewhat by his continued presence as the team’s designated hitter. But Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said he still believes Ohtani could return and pitch in a big-league game before the end of the regular season.
“A lot of it, we just need to take our time and see if he comes in feeling good tomorrow, and then OK, what’s the next step?” Gomes told The Athletic following Ohtani’s bullpen session. “A lot of it is just how he’s bouncing back, and do we think it’s prudent to keep progressing?”
After Friday night’s game, manager Dave Roberts said he was pleased with Ohtani’s 35-pitch bullpen session, and laid out a timeline for a possible return to pitching. Ohtani will need to throw at least one more bullpen session, maybe two, then face hitters in a simulated game at least twice before he would return to the Dodgers.
Roberts said the team is willing to have Ohtani start even if he’s only able to pitch an inning at first, much like his gradual ramp up in his return last June.
“You start to think about who the guys that he essentially would open for, and that sort of shortens the list,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “For Shohei, knowing that any inning is additive is important, and it was a formula that worked.”
Because Ohtani is a two-way player he doesn’t count against the active roster limit of 13 pitchers, so any outs he secures on the mound are outs the bullpen wouldn’t have to cover, which lessens their workload at no extra roster cost. The Dodgers have sorely missed those Ohtani innings since he last pitched, on July 3, and the bullpen’s performance has worsened.
“We’ve missed [Ohtani], but also he was built up to six, seven innings, so you have a guy that’s additive innings and you’re getting zero, and have gotten for the last six, seven weeks,” Roberts said. “Then you have the guys we feel we have to give them their rest, to do what they’re used to doing. You know, there’s a cost to doing business sometimes.”
CLEVELAND, OHIO - NOVEMBER 05: Guard Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles the ball to the basket around guard Tyrese Maxey #0 of the Philadelphia 76ers during the fourth quarter at Rocket Arena on November 05, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers defeated the 76ers 132-121. 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 Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The 2026-27 regular season schedule has been released, and it isn’t necessarily kind to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They have 16 sets of back-to-backs — which is tied for the most in the league. On top of that, their schedule is incredibly difficult out of the gate, with most of their marquee matchups happening in the first two months of the season.
With that in mind, let’s run through the 10 games I’ll be looking forward to most this season.
10. March 1 vs. 76ers
We could get into all the storylines that make games with the Philadelphia 76ers must-watch TV. However, those aren’t necessarily what make this matchup interesting.
Cleveland’s schedule is front-loaded. As such, there aren’t many opportunities against great teams down the stretch, aside from a few West Coast games during their annual MAC Tournament road trip at the beginning of March.
This game against the Sixers will serve as a good litmus test for where the Cavs are at this point in the season. It comes a few weeks after the trade deadline, meaning both teams should have their playoff rosters set. And, it’ll be far enough away from the end of the regular season where teams start resting players. As such, we should get a good preview of what could be a playoff matchup.
9. Jan. 5 vs. Raptors
The Toronto Raptors pushed the Cavs to the brink last postseason. This upcoming season, they should be even better — assuming the Kawhi Leonard deal actually goes through.
This will be their first of four meetings. Toronto proved to be a tough matchup for the Cavs last season. Will that still be the case by the time they meet in the middle of next regular season?
8. April 1 vs. Celtics
The Boston Celtics only come to Cleveland once this upcoming season, and we have to wait until the very end of the year for that to happen.
Late-season matchups can be great tests or completely inconsequential. We won’t know which one this will be until right before the game. But this has the potential to be a preview for what we could see in a postseason series.
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7. Nov. 20 vs. Pacers
We never got to see a rematch of the Cavs and Indiana Pacers after their 2025 playoff series. Tyrese Haliburton missed all of last season with injuries, causing Indiana to go from title contenders to a lottery team.
This upcoming season’s Pacers won’t resemble that 2025 team much. Myles Turner and Bennedict Mathurin aren’t in the picture anymore. Instead, they will be built around a much more imposing front line featuring Ivica Zubac.
This will also be an important NBA Cup group stage game. I know the in-season tournament doesn’t mean much, but it would be encouraging to see the Cavs fare well in a difficult group with the Sixers, Pacers, and New York Knicks.
6. March 9 at Pistons
This will be the Cavs and Detroit Pistons’ final matchup of the season. Last year, they met in the playoffs for a seven-game series. Could the same happen this upcoming year?
5. Nov. 29 at Knicks
The Cavs play the Knicks four times before Christmas. This matchup will actually be their third time facing off.
Each of Cleveland’s home games are the second leg of a back-to-back, so I’m not going to highlight either of those. I chose this late November meeting over their first trip to Madison Square Garden because it’ll be an NBA Cup group stage game.
Again, whether or not you think the in-season tournament matters is up to you. What I will say is that it would be meaningful if the Cavs could advance out of the group stage for the first time in franchise history. And as the Knicks showed last year, winning the NBA Cup can actually lead to playoff success.
4. Dec. 15 vs. Spurs
Victor Wembanyama has only played in Cleveland once during his career and is winless in three total meetings. We’ll see if that changes when the Cavs host the San Antonio Spurs for their annual trip.
Wemby vs. Cleveland’s frontline of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley is an intriguing matchup. Both Allen and Mobley have size and speed to make life difficult for Wemby. That’s incredibly important in a league that could be dominated by Wemby for the next decade.
3. Dec. 31 vs. Clippers
Darius Garland made a huge impact on the Cavs during his seven seasons here. He helped turn what was a rudderless team when he was drafted in 2019 into a legitimate championship contender. This includes being the lead ball handler for the 2024-25 team that put together the second-best regular-season record in franchise history.
This will be Garland’s first game back in Cleveland since he was traded away for James Harden last deadline. Seeing him back in Cleveland will be bittersweet, even if the marriage ending when it did was best for both sides.
2. Oct. 22 at 76ers
The adrenaline is always a little higher on opening night. It coinciding with LeBron James’s first home game with the Sixers should up that even more.
There were presumably many in the organization who thought LeBron would sign with Cleveland at some point this summer. His spurning them for a conference rival likely makes this sting worse. Fortunately, the Cavs won’t have to wait long to show James that he made the wrong choice.
1. Nov. 6 vs. 76ers
LeBron’s annual visit over the last eight years has served as an opportunity for Cleveland to show their hometown hero how much he means to them. That joyous atmosphere won’t be here when he returns this time around after he chose to likely end his career with a conference rival instead of his hometown team.
There won’t be close to the anger and vitriol there was for James’s first game in Cleveland as a member of the Miami Heat in 2010. However, there will be more than a handful of boos, which would’ve been hard to fathom at this time last year.
On top of that, this will be another matchup between two of the top teams in the East and an NBA Cup game. If the Cavs want to advance in the group stage, they’ll likely need to take care of business here.
Which game are you most looking forward to this season? Let us know in the comments below.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 22: Hugo Gonzalez #28 of the Boston Celtics plays defense on Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of their game at Crypto.com Arena on February 22, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. 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 Luiza Moraes/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The idea of playing a balanced schedule is a rarity in American professional sports. An NFL team that finishes in first place in their division one year draws other first-place teams on the schedule the next year. NHL calendars lean heavily on divisional matchups and regional rivalries. MLB moved to a more balanced schedule in 2023, reducing the number of division games and increasing interleague play to even things out.
The NBA does not play a balanced schedule, but the biggest factor in an individual team’s success often feels like it has more to do with the travel arrangements than who they’re playing on a particular night. Trimming the NBA’s 82-game regular season schedule always felt like a silver bullet for many of the league’s most pressing problems. Until that happens, teams are still jetting around the country every night to try to sell out as many arenas as possible.
The 2026-27 NBA schedule came out this week. Read our take on the league’s 10 biggest rivalries for the upcoming season. With a little help from Shamit Dua’s NBA Schedule Dash Board, these are the teams who got hit the hardest by the schedule makers this year.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics’ 16 back-to-backs are in a five-way tie for the most in the NBA. They play 22 times in a stretch of three games in four nights, which ranks as the eighth hardest in the league. They are -4 in “net rest” games, which measures who the more tired opponent is in a given game. The Celtics aren’t just dealing with the loss of Jaylen Brown this season, they’re also needing to navigate one of the league’s hardest travel schedules. I still think the Celtics will be a regular season wins machine, and I wouldn’t count them out for grabbing the No. 1 seed in the East, but the road to get there looks more daunting after the schedule release.
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans have the hardest schedule in the NBA this year. New Orleans plays a league-leading 16 back-to-backs, they’re the only team in the NBA with 27 ‘three in four nights’ stretches, and they have a -5 net rest disadvantage. The Pelicans already had the league’s seventh-lowest over/under at 29.5 wins coming into the season, and it feels like it’s going to be an uphill climb to even hit that number. New head coach Jamahl Mosley has his work cut out for him. After years of believing in Zion Williamson, I’m finally giving up the dream that he can be one of the NBA’s best players. At this point, I’m more interested in seeing what Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen can do together.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls are one of the league-leaders with 15 back-to-backs this season. They play a stretch of three games in four nights 24 times, which is the fourth most in the league. They’re -3 on “net rest,” which is third-hardest in the league. The Bulls also have five time zone crossings on no rest, which is the fifth-most in the league. The first 15 games of the season are especially brutal for Chicago, with two games against Boston, two games against the Knicks, two games against the Sixers, and one game each vs. San Antonio, Minnesota, and Cleveland. The Bulls are starting yet another rebuild, but it’s going to be difficult for this fanbase to be patient when the team has the third worst cumulative record in the NBA after the last nine seasons. This year is more about figuring out if they have a future star in Caleb Wilson, and seeing how Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey develop in their third year together. The Bulls actually have a decent bench led by Leonard Miller, Jalen Smith, and Tre Jones, and they’re going to need it with this type of schedule.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavs missed out on LeBron James and got a tough schedule to boot. Cleveland is tied for the league-lead with 16 back-to-backs. They have 23 ‘three in four nights’ games, which is the sixth hardest in the NBA. They’re a -2 in rest advantage, also sixth hardest. The Cavs have done a whole lot of nothing this summer coming off the world’s least convincing conference finals run, but there’s still time to potentially land Peyton Watson or swing a big trade. I just get the sense that Cleveland’s Eastern Conference rivals are passing them by … unless Evan Mobley has another leap left in him.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks have 16 back-to-backs (tied for the most in the league), and they’re at a -3 net rest advantage. It will be fascinating to see how Dallas manages Kyrie Irving as he returns from a torn ACL at age-34. The team will also have to manage Dereck Lively II, because the 22-year-old big man still hasn’t been cleared to run after having foot surgery in December. I could see a world where Cooper Flagg takes a big leap and carries the Mavs to playoff contention, but it’s important to remember Flagg won’t turn 20 years old until just before Christmas. It might be wise for Dallas’ new front office to take a more long-term view around their franchise star.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers play 15 back-to-backs. They face three games in four nights 26 times, which is the second most in the league. There’s so much riding on Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves this year. Both of them dealt with injuries last year, playing 115 out of a possible 164 games. That’s not going to cut it this year. Doncic and Reaves need to carry this offense every night without LeBron James around, and the Lakers probably don’t want to know what happens when Quentin Grimes needs to be their first or second option for a night. Will the Lakers have a plan to save Luka in some back-to-backs? It’s going to be a battle in the Western Conference every night, but the Lakers really just need him healthy for the playoffs, unlike last year.
LANDOVER, MD - CIRCA 1992: Tom Chambers #24 of the Phoenix Suns drives on Harvey Grant #44 of the Washington Bullets during an NBA basketball game circa 1992 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. Chambers played for the Suns from 1988-93. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There isn’t much in the wide world of sports that you can look at and genuinely call a “travesty”. Especially when you consider all of the instability in the world at large, sports are merely entertainment. They’re designed to provide an escape, a distraction, and something for us to care about for a few hours before returning to the things that actually matter.
But much like “sports hate” is different from real hate, I think there’s room for “the sports travesty”. It’s something that isn’t a true tragedy in any meaningful sense of the word, but within the strange little universe we’ve created around games, statistics, legacies, and the people who play them, it feels egregiously wrong.
Tom Chambers not being in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame falls into that category for me.
I’m not alone. Granted, the results of the polling we’ve done here are most certainly biased. Asking a community of Phoenix Suns fans whether Tom Chambers belongs in the Hall of Fame isn’t exactly a scientific exercise conducted under the watchful eye of Gallup. Still, the response showcases that there is some merit to the argument. Tom Chambers should be in the Hall, and 79% of the Bright Side community concurs.
Why? I’ll start with something that occasionally gets lost in these conversations. This is the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. It isn’t the NBA Hall of Fame. It isn’t the College Basketball Hall of Fame. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame encompasses all aspects of the sport. It exists to honor, recognize, and celebrate the history of basketball in its totality. Careers are supposed to be viewed through that wider lens, which makes Chambers’ absence increasingly peculiar the longer you stare at it.
Start with 20,000 points. Chambers scored 20,049 of them during his NBA career, and he is one of only four eligible players in NBA history to cross the 20,000-point threshold and remain outside the Hall of Fame. The others are Antawn Jamison, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Joe Johnson. That’s the list. How many of those guys hold the all-time single-season points per game record for a franchise? Still, Chambers isn’t among the names ESPN’s Ben Golliver identifies as being on the waiting list for the Hall of Fame. Joe Johnson is, as is LaMarcus Aldridge.
Of the 156 NBA players who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, 43 scored at least 20,000 points. Chambers did something that has historically served as one of basketball’s great monuments to longevity, production, and sustained excellence, and somehow he remains standing outside the gates. That doesn’t automatically make him a Hall of Famer. No single statistic should. But when you’re searching for historical oddities, places where the numbers make you stop, scratch your head, and wonder how the hell we arrived here, Tom Chambers scoring more than 20,000 points and never receiving the call from Springfield is a pretty damn good place to start.
Going a step further, Chambers played during an era of basketball loaded with stars, and he still found a way to thrive offensively. Perhaps his career average of 18.1 points is viewed as some kind of gatekeeper, a number that doesn’t quite scream “Hall of Fame” when you first see it. Once you start digging through the players who are actually in Springfield, however, that argument begins to lose some of its weight. Chambers averaged more points for his career than Kevin Garnett, Kevin McHale, Scottie Pippen, and plenty of other players whose Hall of Fame credentials have never been questioned. In fact, 80 of the 156 NBA players currently in the Hall, or 51.3%, averaged fewer than Chambers’ 18.1 points.
SEATTLE – FEBRUARY 1987: Tom Chambers #23 of the Eastern Conference All-Stars celebrates after winning the 1987 NBA All-Star Game MVP award circa 1987 in Seattle, Washington. 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 Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
There will always be another side to the argument, especially when discussing the Hall of Fame. Chambers never won a championship. He never made an All-NBA First Team. His résumé lacks that one obvious achievement you can point to and declare the conversation over.
Still, we’re talking about a player who was a quality and effective forward for more than a decade, scored more than 20,000 points, was a two-time All-NBA Second Team recipient, made four All-Star teams, won an All-Star Game MVP, and averaged more points than half of the NBA players who have already been enshrined. At some point, the accumulation of accomplishments has to matter.
Then there is Chambers’ place in NBA history, and this is where I believe his case becomes even more interesting. Tom Chambers was the first unrestricted free agent in NBA history, and his decision to sign with the Phoenix Suns in 1988 represents a seminal moment for the league.
Think about how much of the modern NBA revolves around free agency. Think about the television specials, the airport tracking, the social media detectives, the cap space clearing, and the annual hysteria surrounding where the biggest names are going next. There had to be a first domino, and Chambers was it. A star player exercised his newfound freedom and chose to leave Seattle for Phoenix, helping usher the NBA into an era that now defines how teams are built and how players control their careers.
And yet, he’s probably not going to make it. I’m not sure what the FanDuel odds are, but Basketball Reference gives Chambers a 5.2% probability of reaching the Hall of Fame, which feels remarkably low when you stack everything together. The 20,000 points, the 18.1 points per game, the All-Star appearances, the longevity, the production, the historical significance as a pioneer of unrestricted free agency. Individually, perhaps you can poke holes in each piece of the argument. Collectively, they tell the story of somebody who mattered to the NBA, both in what he accomplished on the court and what he represented off of it.
For a place tasked with preserving and celebrating the history of basketball, you’d think that would matter. Apparently, it hasn’t mattered enough. And that’s a damn shame.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 11: Connor Norby #35 of the Colorado Rockies throws over Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks to complete a double play during the sixth inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on August 11, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Connor Norby has already packed quite a bit into a major-league career that is barely two years old.
He debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in June 2024, was traded to the Miami Marlins at that year’s deadline, spent much of 2025 working around injuries and returned to Triple-A this summer after his offense backed up. Then came another trade, this time to the Colorado Rockies as part of the return for Victor Vodnik.
Eight days later, Norby was back in the majors.
At 26, he is no longer a prospect waiting for his first opportunity. He has more than 700 major-league plate appearances and a fairly clear set of strengths and weaknesses.
There is also a version of Norby that has never quite disappeared.
He never became a consensus Top 100 prospect, but consistently ranked among the better second-base prospects in the game, placing 10th at the position entering 2022, sixth in 2023 and seventh in 2024. Second base was his primary defensive home through much of the minors, while his bat was built around patience and above-average power.
The production backed that up. Norby hit .279/.360/.526 with 29 home runs in 2022, then .290/.359/.483 with 21 homers and 40 doubles at Triple-A in 2023. His strikeout rate generally sat in the low 20s, manageable for the amount of damage he produced.
His platoon splits also gave little reason to view him as a right-handed specialist. In 2023, for example, he hit .292/.360/.473 against right-handers and .285/.356/.510 against lefties.
That profile reappeared this summer. In 121 Triple-A plate appearances, Norby hit .291/.397/.544 with eight doubles, six home runs, 17 walks and 23 strikeouts.
Level
AVG
OBP
SLG
BB%
K%
MLB Career
.234
.302
.383
7.5%
29.3%
MiLB Career
.286
.367
.496
10.6%
23.0%
2026 MiLB
.291
.397
.544
14.0%
19.0%
The harder part has been getting those skills to coexist against major-league pitching.
The problem is contact
In 2024, Norby struck out in 33.0% of his plate appearances but produced a 14.8% barrel rate, a .202 ISO and a .448 xSLG. The strikeouts were ugly. The damage gave them somewhere to hide.
He cut the strikeout rate to 26.7% in 2025, but his barrel rate fell to 9.4% and his xSLG to .417. Even so, the overall profile stayed roughly above water: 0.3 bWAR in 194 plate appearances as a rookie and 0.8 bWAR in 337 plate appearances last season, with 162WL% marks of .499 and .498.
This year, the balance broke.
Norby hit .205/.313/.325 in 233 plate appearances with Miami before being optioned in late June. His strikeout rate returned to 30.0% while the barrel rate slipped again to 7.5%.
His swing decisions, however, have improved.
Norby has chased only 26.9% of pitches this season and walked in 10.8% of his plate appearances. The contact numbers are much less encouraging: a 77.0% zone-contact rate and 32.3% overall whiff rate.
The problem runs across the pitch mix, but breaking and off-speed pitches have punished him most severely. Norby has whiffed on 47.8% of his swings against sliders, 44.4% against changeups, 40.0% against sweepers, and 66.7% against curveballs. His four-seam whiff rate is also elevated at 33.1%.
This looks much more like a bat-to-ball problem than a swing-decision problem. Norby knows the zone reasonably well; making enough contact when he attacks has been the harder part.
The contrast between his swing decisions and his ability to make contact shows up in these two pitches:
Whether timing, swing path, contact point, or sequencing is driving that is harder to say.
The quality of the contact he does make has slipped, too.
Norby’s fly-ball rate remains high at 37.3%, but his sweet-spot rate has fallen from 47.0% in 2024 to 42.0% last season and 29.9% this year. His under rate is up to 32.1%, while his barrel rate has dropped from 14.8% to 9.4% to 7.5%.
The power still shows up when he gets the barrel there.
But that’s not often enough. More of Norby’s air contact is coming from underneath the baseball instead of becoming line drives and barrels.
His average exit velocity sits at 87.1 mph, only modestly below league average, while his bat speed has been fairly steady. So the problem does not appear to be a simple loss of bat speed.
That contact shape still makes Coors Field interesting. Norby already gets the ball in the air and has enough power and speed to benefit from the outfield when he squares one.
Coors can reward his contact. It cannot create the contact for him.
Where the glove fits
How much offense Norby needs depends on where he plays.
His +5 Outs Above Average this season is driven mostly by first base, where he has been +3 over 100 attempts. There is some major-league history at second: Norby handled 28 Statcast attempts there in 2024 and finished at 0 OAA. But that opportunity is now fairly distant, and his current sample with Colorado is only beginning to build.
Third is less encouraging. Norby is +1 there in 20 attempts this season after finishing at -4 OAA in 2025 and -5 in 2024. His arm has never been an above-average part of the profile, either.
First looks playable, while third has produced the most negative evidence. Second remains the more immediate question.
The position itself is familiar. Second base was Norby’s primary defensive home through much of the minors, and the early eye test with Colorado has been encouraging. He has not made spectacular plays, but he has looked competent and comfortable, handling routine ground balls, feeds and double-play pivots without much trouble.
Norby does not need to become a standout defender there. If he can simply provide adequate defense with some regularity, the offensive standard becomes considerably easier to clear than it would be at first base or DH.
Norby is still looking for his first hit as a Rockie, but Friday night was the kind of ballplayer’s game that shows why his value does not have to begin and end with the bat. He went 0-for-2, walked twice, stole a base, scored a run and handled a busy night at second base without looking out of place.
The hit column was empty. His impact was not.
The comparison with Edouard Julien is difficult to avoid because the profiles are not dramatically different.
Both came to Colorado around the same age with offensive skills worth testing and questions about whether those skills could combine into enough major-league production.
Same bet, different ante.
Julien hit the ball hard and controlled the strike zone, but too much of that contact stayed on the ground. Once the bat failed to produce enough, there was little defensive or baserunning value underneath it. He departed with a 65 wRC+ and -7 DRS at second base.
Norby is not an established offensive upgrade. His major-league bat needs recovering, too.
But he is right-handed, runs better, gets the ball in the air and offers more defensive possibilities. His overall game had already produced some major-league value before this season, and his first few games with Colorado have already shown how some of that secondary value can surface even before the hits do.
The right-handed bat also helped the rest of the roster make more sense. Tyler Freeman’s trip to the injured list had removed a right-handed bat from the mix, even if much of his recent work had come in right field. Norby gave Colorado a right-handed hitter who could also handle the infield, restoring some of that balance without simply duplicating Freeman’s role.
That mattered when the Rockies moved on from Julien and recalled Zac Veen. The transactions were not one-for-one replacements: Norby had already arrived for Freeman, while Veen took Julien’s roster spot. But the resulting roster kept a right-handed infield option in Norby while replacing Julien’s left-handed bat with Veen.
That is roster balance with actual utility.
Making the competition mean something
Second base has been a below-average offensive position for Colorado this season. Rockies second basemen rank 24th in batting average, 21st in slugging and 18th in OPS. They have drawn the fifth-most walks at the position, but also have the fourth-most strikeouts while ranking only 16th in home runs.
There has been some on-base value, but too many strikeouts and not enough damage around it to produce a complete offensive profile.
Norby does not have to fix all of that himself.
He just has to raise the standard of the competition.
The Rockies no longer need another player who can merely play second base. They need players good enough to make the competition at second base meaningful.
Norby has a legitimate path to a majority of the playing time himself. If enough of his minor-league offensive profile translates and he proves adequate defensively, a second baseman who walks, gets the ball in the air, produces 20-plus-homer power and can stay in the lineup against both right- and left-handed pitching has plenty of value.
If not, there is still a potential role as a right-handed, multi-position bat with some pop.
Either way, Colorado does not need to clear the position around him.
Adael Amador can compete for it. Ryan Ritter can force the issue from Triple-A. Roc Riggio provides another possibility farther down the line.
None of them has to be evaluated in a vacuum. Even with an unsettled offensive profile, Norby has already shown he can hover around neutral major-league value.
He gives them an actual major-league baseline to beat.
The Albuquerque Isotopes (61-57) beat the Oklahoma City Comets (65-51) 4-2, using a three-run fifth inning to erase an early deficit before adding an insurance run late.
Newly acquired Mason Adams started for Albuquerque and allowed two runs on three hits over four innings, walking two and striking out four. Mason Green followed with two scoreless innings to earn the win, lowering his ERA to 5.71, and Jaden Hill worked a clean seventh with one strikeout to pick up his first hold. TJ Shook recorded the final out in the ninth for his 11th save, after taking over for Evan Shawver with two outs.
The Isotopes trailed 2-0 before breaking through in the fifth. Jose Cordova singled, Drew Avans reached on an error, Ryan Ritter singled to load the bases, and Roc Riggio walked in Albuquerque’s first run. Braxton Fulford then delivered the big swing with a two-run single to put the Isotopes ahead.
Fulford finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and now has a .910 OPS, while Ritter went 2-for-5 and is hitting .325 with an .881 OPS. Cordova added two hits and is now batting .299 with a .731 OPS. Charlie Condon went 0-for-3 but drew a walk and added a sacrifice fly in the seventh, giving him 74 RBI with a .919 OPS.
The Hartford Yard Goats (55-56) dropped a tight 2-1 game to the Erie SeaWolves (65-46), with all three runs coming in the fifth inning.
Bryson Hammer started for Hartford and took the loss, allowing two runs on five hits over 4.1 innings while walking one and striking out four. The damage came in the fifth, when Erie used a walk, a double, a bases-loaded walk, and a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead. Hammer is now 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA.
GJ Hill accounted for Hartford’s only run, going 3-for-4 with his 14th home run of the season. Hill’s solo shot came in the bottom of the fifth and cut the deficit to one, but the Yard Goats could not push across another run.
Dyan Jorge added his 14th double of the season, drew a walk, and stole his 44th base. Andy Perez, Cole Messina, and Skyler Messinger each added a hit, but Hartford went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base.
The Spokane Indians (50-61) were walked off in a 3-2 loss to the Everett AquaSox (58-54), with Carter Dorighi’s ninth-inning single ending a tight game.
Newly acquired Aiden May started for Spokane and allowed two runs on six hits over five innings without a walk, striking out one. He owns a 2.79 ERA on the season.
Kelvin Hidalgo led the offense with three hits and stole his 19th base of the season. Roldy Brito and Tanner Thach added two hits apiece, with Brito stealing two bases to give him 17 on the year and Thach adding his second steal.
Spokane trailed 2-0 after the second but chipped back. Cameron Nelson doubled home Clayton Gray in the third, and Thach scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to tie the game. Seth Clausen took the loss after allowing a leadoff double in the ninth, followed by Dorighi’s walk-off single.
The Fresno Grizzlies (61-51) gave up three runs in the eighth inning in a 6-4 loss to the San Jose Giants (62-50), another late lead slipping away for a Rockies affiliate.
Fresno fell behind in the first but answered in the third, when Cristian Arguelles drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. The Grizzlies took the lead in the fourth after Jack Natili was hit by a pitch, Ryan Niedzwiedz doubled, and Juan Martinez reached on an error that brought both runners home.
Natili added his first home run of the season in the sixth, giving Fresno a 4-1 lead. Arguelles, Daniel Jackson, Natili, Niedzwiedz, and Aidan Redahan each had one hit, but the Grizzlies finished 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and were held hitless over the final three innings.
Luichi Casilla allowed one run over four innings, but the bullpen could not hold the lead. San Jose scored three times in the eighth, with Luke Hansel taking the loss.
Hunter Goodman was held out of Friday’s lineup with left shoulder inflammation that dates back to a swing Wednesday in Arizona. Manager Warren Schaeffer said Goodman is day-to-day as the Rockies give him treatment and see how the shoulder responds. His absence is significant: Goodman leads Colorado in OPS, RBIs and runs while ranking fifth in the majors with 34 home runs entering Friday.
Roc Riggio’s latest promotion adds another name to the Rockies’ increasingly crowded middle-infield pipeline. The piece looks at where Riggio now fits among Colorado’s second-base options and what his rise means for the organization’s depth at the position.
Nick Frasso’s path to the majors changed quickly after the Rockies acquired him from the Dodgers at the trade deadline. His debut came in the 11th inning at Coors Field, and Frasso reflected on the experience, what he learned from it and how he is beginning to settle into Colorado’s bullpen.
Cam Schlittler 
Jacob Misiorowski 
Pete Alonso 
