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Yesterday we took a closer look at the Clay Holmes part of this transaction that brought a sinkerball throwing, extreme ground ball pitcher to the Cubs rotation in return for one of their top prospects, Jefferson Rojas. You can read about the Rojas part of the trade in the link above, however today I want to focus on the second piece the Cubs got in this deal: outfielder Tyrone Taylor. Here is his first hit as a Cub [VIDEO].

The bat

Taylor is a 32-year-old righthanded outfielder whose overall slash line doesn’t really jump off the page. In 174 plate appearances this season he’s hit .241/.294/.481 with ten home runs and zero stolen bases. He has an above league average strikeout rate of 19.5 percent and a below league average walk rate of 5.7 percent. His wRC+ of 113 indicates he’s about 13 percent better at run creation than the league and park adjusted average.

However, digging into the stats a bit reveal the reason Taylor is a Cub. He has a much better .295/.304/.564 slashline with five home runs and a wRC+ of 137 in 82 plate appearances against lefties. Below you can see the Cubs hitters with at least 20 plate appearances against lefties sorted by wRC+ with some additional key stats:

Name	PA	BB%	K%	BB/K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	BABIP	wOBA	wRC+
Carson Kelly	109	13.76%	16.51%	0.83	.340	.431	.564	.995	.223	.380	.431	177
Seiya Suzuki	120	14.17%	19.17%	0.74	.320	.417	.590	1.007	.270	.347	.421	170
Pete Crow-Armstrong	171	12.87%	27.49%	0.47	.308	.421	.517	.939	.210	.416	.411	163
Pedro Ramírez	21	0.00%	9.52%	0.00	.333	.333	.571	.905	.238	.333	.387	147
Matt Shaw	68	7.35%	19.12%	0.38	.279	.353	.492	.845	.213	.326	.367	134
Alex Bregman	136	14.71%	14.71%	1.00	.270	.390	.396	.786	.126	.300	.349	122
Nico Hoerner	134	5.97%	10.45%	0.57	.298	.343	.419	.763	.121	.321	.335	113
Michael Busch	158	12.03%	20.25%	0.59	.241	.348	.391	.739	.150	.283	.330	110
Miguel Amaya	61	14.75%	19.67%	0.75	.260	.383	.300	.683	.040	.342	.322	104
Dansby Swanson	126	6.35%	30.16%	0.21	.237	.280	.465	.745	.228	.288	.316	100
Ian Happ	128	7.03%	34.38%	0.20	.154	.227	.291	.517	.137	.203	.233	45

To be clear, hitting against southpaws is a strength of the Chicago Cubs. Their team wRC+ of 124 is seven points higher than the next best team, their wOBA of .353 is nine points higher than the second place team (in both cases it’s the Washington Nationals). But there is a glaring outlier at the bottom of that table in left fielder Ian Happ. Happ has really struggled against lefties this year and it seems pretty clear that Taylor was brought to the Cubs at least in part as a short-side platoon partner for Happ.

Interestingly, that isn’t how the Cubs have played it so far. Taylor has started three games in centerfield to allow Pete Crow-Armstrong to DH on those days while Happ is still starting against left- and right-handed pitching. Admittedly, one of those lefty starters was an opener, but it’s worth keeping an eye on how Counsell deploys Taylor.

The glove

It’s a bit difficult to measure a part-time outfielder based on counting stats like Outs Above Average or Defensive Runs Saved. Taylor doesn’t really jump off the page by either metric this season. He’s got zero OAA this season and one DRS this season in 393.2 innings played in the outfield so far this season. He’s committed two errors this season and they were both fielding errors for a fielding percentage of .979. Again, not really a stat that screams excellent defender.

However, in looking at the rate at which he makes plays by difficulty Taylor compares favorable to Ian Happ in left field:

Obviously we’re looking at pretty small sample sizes here given Taylor’s part-time role. But I did glance back at these leaderboards for each of the last few seasons and the slight edge Taylor has over Happ also existed in 2024 and 2025 as well. Taylor consistently makes slightly more difficult plays than Happ. He’s also just a smidge better in terms of total percentage of plays made. It’s less clear who has the stronger arm as both have a handful of assists each season. The bottom line is Taylor makes the outfield a lot deeper and since he can play center field he upgrades the Cubs’ bench options considerably.

Here’s a nice grab he made against the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman last week [VIDEO].

Takeaways

One of the items on Craig Counsell’s wish list heading into the trade deadline was a better right-handed bat off the bench who could play the outfield. Taylor certainly fits that bill. He’s been solid defensively so far with the Cubs and has a track record that backs that up. His familiarity with Wrigley Field is a bonus given his time with the Brewers. This is the type of move that makes a contender deeper down the stretch and while the cost of Rojas for two rentals is incredibly steep, I imagine we’ll all be fine with it if Taylor saves a run with his glove or delivers a key hit off a lefty in October.

The St. Louis Cardinal wrap up their homestand before heading off to Chicago with a game Wednesday afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies. Kyle Leahy gets the nod from the Cardinals while Zack Wheeler will start for the Phillies. First pitch scheduled for 1:15pm central time at Busch Stadium and game TV broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

The Atlanta Braves losing the season series to this iteration of the New York Metropolitans is some pure and unadulterated NL East silliness.

This hilariously frustrating run between division rivals comes to a close this evening. The Braves and Mets will face off for the final time this season at 7:15 pm ET.

Bryce Elder and Martin Perez had some diametrically opposed starts in Games 1 and 2 – so what will Tyler Mahle bring to Game 3 in his first start in front of the home crowd?

Mahle (3-9, 4.83 ERA) went toe-to-toe with old friend Max Fried in the Yankees series opener. In a battle of #54s, Mahle spun six scoreless innings of three-hit ball. He tossed 92 pitches, walked two batters, and struck out nine. Other than receiving a no-decision in the extra-innings loss, there was a lot to like about Mahle’s first start in a Braves uniform. Sean Murphy turning Mahle into an ace? Sign me up.

The Mets have little history against Mahle – Francisco Lindor leads the team with 10 ABs (.200 AVG, .473 OPS). Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. are tied with 6 ABs and matching .167 averages. Second baseman Marcus Semien and catcher Francisco Alvarez have a homer apiece. 

The Braves have even less experience against Mets lefty Zac Thornton (3-2, 2.52 ERA). The rookie last faced Atlanta on July 27 and was the winning pitcher in the Connor Thomas sacrifice game. Thornton only needed 81 pitches to get through 6.1 innings. He was tagged for six hits and all three Braves runs of the game, including an Ozzie Albies two-run homer. Ozzie was also responsible for driving in the other run, which accounts for his .667 AVG in team-leading 3 ABs. Ronald Acuña Jr., Drake Baldwin, and Michael Harris II also have singles against him. 

Thornton’s outings since have been against Miami (4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 earned), 3 BB) and Pittsburgh (5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB). 

Series finale, rubber match, final matchup with the Mets – it’d be a sweet one to win before the off day tomorrow. 

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Wednesday, August 12, 7:15 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM

Diamondbacks News

Diamondbacks Need to Jumpstart Offense to Take Series
After Tomoyuki Sugano continued his ownership of the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, they find themselves needing to get back to firing on all cylinders at the plate so that they can take this series against the lowly Rockies before heading out on the road for a string of series against competitive teams.

Diamondbacks Injury Return Tracker
With all the numerous setbacks the team has had with injured players this season, this writer is not holding his breath for any of these players to make any meaningful appearances this season until after they actually do so and are still healthy a week later.

Diamondbacks Expecting Major Martinez Injury Boost on Road Trip
Will Justin Martinez be able to find his command and control again in time to make any sort of meaningful contribution in August and September? Assuming no further setbacks, Arizona could start seeing an answer to that question within the next week or so.

Other Baseball News

Which Teams are Built to be Most Dangerous in the Playoffs
Interesting to see that Arizona is ranked competitively against the Dodgers for this, despite Los Angeles adding Tarik Skubal at the deadline.

10 Storylines that will Shape Rest of 2026 Season
Are the Diamondbacks, sitting in the thick of the playoff race, a solid team? Or are they doing all this with smoke and mirrors?

Brewers Have Most Underrated Bullpen Duo in MLB
Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe are going to be key to essentially any and all success Milwaukee is expecting to have in October.

Paul Skenes Leaves After 65 Pitches and Velocity Drop
No updates yet from the Bucs about this concerning development.

Dodgers’ Snell Fans 10 in Six Innings Returning from Injury
Blake nell is apparently getting himself tuned up just in time to help bolster the Dodgers for the run-in to the playoffs.

MLB Owners to Vote on Padres Sale Next Monday
Major League Baseball’s 29 other owners will vote on the Padres sale on Monday. The agreement will need approval from 22 owners, the final step to finalize the transfer of majority control to José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones.

Momentary panic swept through Los Angeles on Wednesday morning when news broke that Mark Walter was selling the Los Angeles Lakers only 10 months after being approved as the team's owner, wondering whether the Dodgers are next.

Well, as it turns out, nothing is expected to change.

The Dodgers are not being sold, a high-ranking official familiar with Walter’s plans told USA TODAY Sports, and that it will be business as usual with Walter retaining control of the club and remaining chairman.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of Walter issuing an official statement Wednesday.

So, yes, even when the Dodgers win their next World Series, they can still afford to have a parade and celebrate with Dom Perignon.

The Dodgers are still going to be the Dodgers. Oh, they won’t have the crossover in advertising and marketing with the Lakers any longer, but Walter and the Guggenheim ownership group will have an extra $2.5 billion in their pockets – although they’ll be paying significant taxes on the short-term capital gain.

Walter made himself the cool $2.5 billion profit by purchasing the Lakers for $10 billion last October, and then selling the team for $12.5 billion on Wednesday to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner in the largest sale of an American sports franchise in history. Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and his group also bought a minority stake in the San Francisco Giants earlier this year.

“Owning the Los Angeles Lakers has been one of the great honors of my life – an extraordinary investment, but what I will carry with me is the community, the fans, and a city that treats this team as family,’’ Walter said in a statement provided to ESPN. “I am grateful to Jeanie Buss, the Buss family, the players, and the staff for welcoming me into this chapter. The Lakers belong to Los Angeles, and I have every confidence the best is still ahead.”

But sell the Dodgers next? It’s not happening.

Thanks to Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers became the first baseball team to eclipse $1 billion in annual revenue last season and the money keeps pouring in.

This is a franchise that Walter and his partners purchased for $2.15 billion in 2012 from Frank McCourt. The Dodgers have since become the most profitable team in baseball history, worth an estimated $9 billion.

They are also baseball’s most successful franchise in recent years, winning three World Series championships since 2020, drawing more than four million fans a year, with a payroll about four times the size of small-market franchises.

There’s also no indication that Walter plans to dismantle any part of his sports empire that also includes the Professional Women’s Hockey League, the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks, Chelsea of the English Premier League, and the Cadillac Motor 1 Team.

Yet, Walter and his group are under federal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for alleged loan fraud using insurance money from policy holders to pay loans to undisclosed outside business ventures.

It’s unknown whether the Lakers’ sale, which came together within 72 hours, was tied at all to the investigation.

MLB officials also are unaware of any potential wrongdoings that would impact the Dodgers.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Lakers sale impact Dodgers? Owner Mark Walter faces federal probe

The Adley Rutschman deal is finally complete. Harold Rivas, who was widely reported to be a part of the deal on the day it was made, only for that reporting to be walked back, has now officially been named as the final player to be named later going from Boston to Baltimore. An athletic outfielder with a high-risk/high-reward profile, Rivas was the 10th-rated prospect in the system according to Soxprospects.com. As an 18-year-old who has yet to graduate out of the Florida Complex League, he is the definition of a lottery ticket. (Brian Murphy, MLB.com)

The Sox did get one prospect back on deadline day: 21-year-old outfielder Carlos Gutierrez, who came over from the Giants in the Marcelo Mayer deal. Gutierrez has hit the ground running down in Greenville, which probably pleases his Red Sox fan sister. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

As for Rutschman, he immediately proved his value to his new team, reaching base three times in last night’s loss to the Jays. “He’s an All-Star catcher, and I have all the confidence in the world in him,” said battery mate Patrick Sandoval. “He’s a big-time catcher, big-time player. We’re very lucky to have him here.” Rutschman will get the start again tonight before taking Thursday afternoon’s game off as recovers from his wrist injury. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)

Despite the confidence he had in throwing to Rutschman, Sandoval didn’t have the best night. So why did Chad Tracy leave him in for the sixth inning when he coughed up the lead? “We’re still in a position… where we have to be careful with when we chase (wins) and when we don’t,” Tracy said. “Obviously, we used Guerrero for an inning. You look at that before the game and decide, ‘How much are we willing to chase?’ We’ll chase with one guy, but doing it with two or three guys, then (you’re) having to deal with it on the back side.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

The counter move to Rutschman’s addition to the roster was the DFA of catcher Jake Rogers, who performed very well for the Sox in his limited time with the team. The Sox are not expecting Rogers to make it through waivers. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

As Rogers departs, a new (old) arm enters. Lefty reliever Alec Gamboa has been recalled to the big league club. He posted an ERA of 2.08 in his first 7 MLB appearances this year. (Rodney Knuppel, NESN)

But let’s face it: lefty middle relievers aren’t the additions you want to hear about right now. It’s Roman Anthony you want, and this losing streak shows why he’s still so important to this team. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)

Even with the Orioles trying their darndest to bury their postseason chances on their own, the rest of the American League just refuses to do all that much to throw more dirt on this team. They linger on, two or three games out – currently two – and while it’s not terribly likely that they leapfrog four teams to make it in as the third wild card team, the flame of hope has not gone out entirely just yet.

Probably it will go out when their next ten games after today are against the Rays and Yankees. But it’s not out yet, so winning today’s game still matters. The Orioles flip back ahead of the Twins in that wild card picture if they win the finale today.

Elements of a decent enough team are in this mix somewhere. That’s the frustrating thing! That’s been the frustrating thing all season long. They should have been better than this. Even without the guys who were traded last week, they still could be better.

Last night’s effort by Gunnar Henderson was a tantalizing look at what “better” might look like. It’s pretty simple, really: If the guy who should have been the team’s best player starts playing like the team’s best player again, the Orioles are better off. It is fun to dream about that better Henderson re-emerging suddenly on August 11 and staying with us through the remainder of this season plus the next two as well.

That’s the same kind of fun that it is to dream about the stuff you’d do with a lottery jackpot in the several hundred million dollar range. It’s not going to happen, but assuming you don’t spend money you can’t afford to waste to get one or two plays, it really doesn’t cost too much to believe in it until the numbers come in.

If the Orioles prove themselves good enough to get to like 84 wins, there’s no reason they couldn’t start beating all the other flawed teams in the AL in short series. They probably won’t, but they still could. That’s better than nothing.

Orioles lineup

1. Gunnar Henderson – SS
2. Pete Alonso – 1B
3. Jackson Holliday – 2B
4. Tyler O’Neill – DH
5. Dylan Beavers – LF
6. Christian Encarnacion-Strand – 3B
7. Leody Taveras – RF
8. Christian Franklin – CF
9. Carlos Narváez – C

This is the lineup supporting Shane Baz. Or at least, hopefully it will support him. Baz has not gotten much run support at all this season, his 4-11 record standing as a testament to the declining value of judging a pitcher’s quality by his W-L. Baz has a 3.76 ERA (111 ERA+) and is averaging just about six innings per start. The defense behind him at times and a lack of run support at other times have not helped him. Maybe it will go better today.

Henderson continues in the leadoff spot. As mentioned above, this finally paid off last night. Will it continue? I doubt it. The Orioles have no real choice but to believe in Henderson and they are choosing to express this in the most dramatic way possible, throwing him in at the top of the lineup when his season performance this season has not earned it in any way.

One thing I think can be said about manager Craig Albernaz is that he believes in his guys. This trait would seem laudable if his supposed-to-be-good guys were playing better and if he had better guys overall. Henderson, Rico Garcia, and Grant Wolfram between them have probably generated a decent percentage of the disappointment in the first-year skipper. For Garcia and Wolfram, at least, part of the answer is that Mike Elias could have signed better relievers.

Speaking of Henderson, we’re running a poll this week that asks if he will ever have a good season for the Orioles again. Have you voted yet?

Twins lineup

1. Trevor Larnach – LF
2. Royce Lewis – 1B
3. Josh Bell – DH
4. Koby Clemens – 2B
5. Brooks Lee – 3B
6. Luke Keaschall – CF
7. Victor Caratini – C
8. Alan Roden – RF
9. Ryan Kreidler – SS

The Twins starter, Zebby Matthews, has a 5.23 ERA so far in this season. Orioles fans are regrettably well acquainted in the 2026 season with what this means for today’s game.