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TRANSACTIONS The St. Paul Saints made several moves in advance of their Tuesday tilt against the Louisville Bats. The Minnesota Twins optioned LHP Kendry Rojas while RHP Woo-Suk Go was activated from suspension. Kala’i Rosario was assigned from the Wichita Wind Surge, and RHP Eduardo Salazar was placed on the Development List. To take Rosario’s place on the Wind Surge roster, OF Graham Brown was assigned from the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The Kernels also received reinforcements from the roster of the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. RHP Mike McKenna, 1B JP Smith II, and RHP Merit Jones were all assigned to Cedar Rapids. RHP Nolan Santos was also placed on the 7-day injured list. With the Florida Complex League season completed, several players were brought up to the Mighty Mussels roster to continue their campaigns. They included RHP Brad Rudis, RHP Melvin Rodriguez, OF Yovanny Duran, and RHP Cristian Hernandez. They also were assigned undrafted free agent OF Bryce Fowler. Heading to the injured list were RHP Jonathan Stevens and RHP Billy Oldham . SAINTS SENTINEL Louisville 5, St. Paul 15 Box Score The St. Paul Saints wasted little time getting to work against Louisville Bats pitching, which is nothing new for them this season as they lead all of the minor leagues in first inning scoring. Walker Jenkins led off with a single into right field. Kaelen Culpepper followed with a walk. Matt Wallner then turned on a fastball and sent it out down the line in right for the early 3-0 lead. It was Wallner’s 20th home run of the season with the Saints. Mr. Consistent Aaron Rozek made the start for St. Paul. He was charged with two earned runs on five hits and a walk in his four innings. He struck out one and needed just 47 pitches (27 for strikes). Ben Ross added a solo home run in the bottom of the second, his 10th of the season, and an RBI single in the fourth that made the score 5-2 Saints. Alejandro Hidalgo entered the game to begin the fifth inning and the Bats closed to within one. Back out for the sixth he delivered a one-two-three inning. He was charged with two earned runs on three hits in his two innings, striking out one. Jack Anderson allowed an unearned run in his lone inning on two hits. After returning from his suspension for a foreign substance, Woo-Suk Go was finally able to make his debut with the Saints. He walked one but was able to erase the runner with a double-play ball (he also had a brand new glove). The bottom of the seventh is when the floodgates opened at CHS Field. Jenkins got it started with a one-out double. Louisville decided to intentionally walk Wallner, and Aaron Sabato made them pay with his 20th homer of the season to make it 8-5. Hendry Mendez and Gabriel Gonzalez followed with a pair of singles, Cody Morissette an RBI double, and Ross an RBI single to make it 11-5 Saints. They continued adding on in the bottom of the eighth after Culpepper launched a triple off the wall in left-center. Wallner was hit by a pitch and Mendez cashed them both in with a hard liner for a double into right center. Gonzalez followed with a two-run homer to make the final 15. Garret Acton closed out the ninth with a clean inning, punctuating the victory with a strikeout to end it. The Saints had 17 hits on the night, with Jenkins, Culpepper, Gonzalez, and Ross all collecting three apiece. Six of their nine hitters scored two or more runs. Wallner, Sabato, and Ross each drove in three. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 6, NW Arkansas 7 (10 innings) Box Score Starting pitcher Chris Vallimont has been on a good run, allowing just two earned runs in his last three starts and fourteen total innings. He’d allowed just four hits and four walks in those games, while striking out 15. Unfortunately for him in this one, he exceeded both those totals in four innings. The Nationals scored runs in each of the first three innings, and four total on six hits and a walk. He did strike out six but when he left the mound the score was 4-2 in favor of NW Arkansas. Paulshawn Pasqualotto came on for the fifth and allowed a leadoff single and home run that made the score 6-2. He gave up three hits in his lone inning. The Wind Surge scored their first two runs in the top of the third inning thanks to a solo homer from Khadim Diaw and a bases loaded walk. The beginning of the sixth was Preston Johnson’s time to shine. He retired the first 11 men he faced before a nine pitch at-bat resulted in a double against him in the ninth. No matter, he induced an easy ground ball to send this one to extra innings. Johnson worked four total innings, allowing just one hit and striking out five. He got them to extra innings because the Wind Surge offense took advantage of some pitching wildness in top of the seventh. After a pair of flyouts to start the inning, Naturals pitchers walked the next six hitters, and along with a wild pitch allowed Wichita to tie the game at six. Once it got to extra innings, the Wind Surge had runners on second and third with just one out, but Marek Houston and Khadim Diaw both went down swinging to keep them scoreless. With Johnson done after his excellent four innings, the Naturals wasted no time, needing just three pitches to walk it off with an RBI single from the third batter of the inning (intentional walk to the second batter). Right-hander Kyle Bischoff took the hard-luck loss. The Wind Surge were outhit 12-6 on the game, but nearly took advantage thanks to 12 walks they drew as a team. But 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position won’t get it done most games. They left 12 men on base. Houston finished 0-for-5 but drew a walk and stole his 17th base in Double-A. Diaw was 2-for-5 with a homer, Wichita’s lone extra-base-hit of the game. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0, South Bend 6 Box Score The last place Kernels were shutout on Tuesday in South Bend, Indiana, by the first-half West Division winning Cubs. They actually outhit their opponents 8-6 on the game but went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position while the Cubs bashed three home runs. Kolten Smith got the starting nod and went the first four innings, allowing a lone run on a solo-homer and just two hits total. He walked three and struck out five. Ross Dunn allowed one earned run in his lone inning thanks to a pair of walks. Mike McKenna made his high-A debut and was charged with four earned runs on four hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings. He struck out three. Christian Becerra finished the final 1 1/3, striking out two. Andy Lugo and JP Smith II had doubles and each finished 1-for-3. Danny De Andrade chipped in his sixth triple of the season. Jacob McCombs was the lone hitter with multiple knocks, finishing 2-for-4. Emmanuel Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with a walk to continue his rehab assignment and had a nice diving catch in center field. MUSSEL MATTERS Fort Myers 2, Bradenton 4 Box Score Newly minted first round draft pick Vahn Lackey batted second in this one, and after a groundout from the leadoff man sent his first professional extra-base hit down the left field line for a double. Colby Turner traded places with him two batters later to put the Mighty Mussels on the board first. Eric Hammond toed the rubber for Fort Myers and went the first four solid innings. He scattered four hits and allowed just one earned run while walking one and striking out four. The freshly promoted Brad Rudis was the first call to the bullpen and he worked a scoreless inning, allowing one hit and striking out one. Nick McAuliffe pitched the sixth inning and was hit with three unearned runs after a leadoff error that led to three hits and a walk. He struck out two. Brent Francisco went the final two innings, allowing one hit and one walk, but zero runs. The Mighty Mussels offense went quiet after the first inning, as 15 hitters in a row went down before Lackey drew a walk in the sixth. Aidan Teel singled in the seventh but was immediately erased by a double-play ball. Quentin Young led off the top of the eighth with his fifth triple of the year, and scored their second run on an RBI groundout from Merphy Hernandez. Including the first inning doubles, those were all four of the Mighty Mussels hits. They went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, but left only two men on base for the game. Here’s some Lackey defense for tax: DOMINICAN DAILY DSL Twins 6, DSL Mets Orange 14 (8 innings) Box Score This one was tied at six heading into the eighth inning, but as weather moved into the area Zeus himself injected his lightning into the bats of Mets players just like Homer J. Simpson’s Wonderbat. Well, not really. Lightning did end the game early, but it was the Twins pitching that spelled disaster. The first six Mets in the bottom of the eighth reached base via a walk or hit-by-pitch. Then there was a two-run single, and a two-run triple that made it 13-6 Mets. They added their last run on an RBI groundout before the game was called. Jeferson Abreu hit his second home run of the season in the fifth inning, putting the Twins up 3-0 at the time. Jhon Gonzalez led the lineup with two hits in four at-bats, including a double. He also scored two runs. Enmanuel Merlo drove in two with a single in the sixth. Fernando Hernandez made the start and went the first two innings. He surrendered one hit, walked one, and struck out one. Camilo Made went the next two scoreless innings, walking two and striking out two. The Mets finally got on the scoreboard against Juan Collado in the fifth and he was charged with five runs (four earned) on four hits and one walk in his 1 2/3 innings. He struck out two. Herkyn Tavares allowed one earned run on a walk in his 1 1/3 innings, striking out two. Juan Germosen (0 IP, 4 ER, 3 BB) and Juan Quinones (1/3 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB) took the shock trauma in the eighth before the teams headed to the clubhouse to escape it. TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Preston Johnson, Wichita Wind Surge (4 IP, H, 5 K) Hitter of the Day – Ben Ross, St. Paul Saints (3-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul): 3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, K #2 - C Vahn Lackey (Fort Myers): 1-for-3, R, 2B, BB #3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul): 3-for-4, 2 R, 3B, BB #4 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (Rehab w/Cedar Rapids): 1-for-3, BB #5 - SS Marek Houston (Wichita): 0-for-5, BB, 3 K #7 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids): 1-for-4, K #10 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul): 2-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K #11 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul): 3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, HR (12), 2 RBI #13 - C Carson Tinney (Fort Myers): 0-for-4 #14 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita): 2-for-5, R, HR (2), RBI K #15 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita): 1-for-5, R, 2 K #17 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Fort Myers): 1-for-3, R, 3B, 2 K WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ St. Paul (1:07 PM CDT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (4-5, 6.38 ERA) Wichita @ NW Arkansas (7:05 PM CDT) - RHP Sam Armstrong (6-8, 4.64 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ South Bend (6:05 PM CDT) - LHP Michael Carpenter (High-A debut) Fort Myers @ Bradenton (5:30 PM CDT) - RHP Callan Fang (3-3, 4.81 ERA) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! 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The Miami Marlins made five total trades on Monday prior to the trade deadline. The one established major league player they acquired was right-hander Victor Vodnik from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for infielder Connor Norby and prospect Aiden May. Vodnik made his team debut in the Marlins' 4-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. The trade was an unexpected move for a Marlins team that spent more time listening on their own relievers than shopping for new ones. Even Vodnik was not expecting the move. "I've been traded before, but this is different because," Vodnik told reporters pregame in Atlanta. "I debuted with the Rockies and now I got traded here and it's crazy, so I'll be good and settle in here during the next couple of days." Atlanta is not strange place to Vodnik. He was selected by the Braves in the 14th round of the 2018 MLB Draft, but never made his debut with the team. He was traded to the Colorado Rockies during the 2023 season along with Tanner Gordon in exchange for Pierce Johnson. "We think he's somebody with really good stuff," Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix told beat writers on a call Tuesday before the game. "We think he's going to benefit, as all pitchers do, from no longer pitching in Coors Field. We think he has traits that you can't teach. He's got stuff that touches 100, really, really good stuff. We think that our pitching group can really unlock new level of performance from him. He's somebody that we specifically set out to acquire and really glad that we were able to do so." Vodnik made his Marlins debut at the ballpark of his original team in the bottom of the eighth inning, staring at a 3-0 deficit. The first hitter he had to face was Ronald Acuña Jr., surrendering a base hit on the fifth pitch of the at-bat. He then hit Matt Olson and walked Michael Harris Jr. to load the bases. A long chat with his new pitching coach Daniel Moskos helped him as he struck out Ozzie Albies swinging. The lone run he allowed was on a wild pitch, allowing Acuña to score. Maurico Dubon grounded out and Lane Thomas flew out for outs two and three of the inning. In his lone inning of work Vodnik allowed one run on one hit, walked one and struck out one. He threw a total of 26 pitches. Known for his four-seam fastball velocity, it averaged 98.6 mph, topping out at 99.5 mph. His slider, considered his best pitch by run value (+2), generated a swinging strikeout. "The guy was on a plane this morning changing teams, meeting new teammates and coaches," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said postgame. "We've seen him before. The premium velocity and he has other weapons. Get his feet wet and credit to him for bowing his back there and being in a tight spot, but to only give up the one run, we're excited to have that type of arm in our organization." MTZLT1ZfVjBZQUhRPT1fVndVREIxMVdYZ0lBRGxOWEJBQUhCZ1pXQUZsVFV3TUFCVmRYQkFNRUFWWlRCZ1pV.mp4 Truist Park has been known as a house of horrors for these Marlins. On Tuesday night, starting pitcher Ryan Gusto put his team in a position to win. In six innings of work, Gusto allowed one run on five hits (one home run), no walks and struck out five. Albies took Gusto deep in the bottom of the second inning, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead. "The velo continue to be very impressive," McCullough said. "You can count on Ryan throwing a lot of strikes, and he did. The ability to move the ball around, his changeups gotten a lot better and using the the slider. I think it's as much now when he's throwing with that type of velocity, and now how much everything else ticks up, but outstanding outing from him." Going into the ninth inning, the Marlins trailed 4-0. With closer Raisel Iglesias on the mound, the Marlins started a small rally, knocking in two runs on a Leo Jimenez RBI single. With two outs in the top of the ninth and Javier Sanoja down to his final strike, the Marlins attempted a double steal. Lead runner Jakob Marsee got thrown out at third to end the game. Marsee has been caught stealing 12 times this season, which leads MLB. "I'm glad he went," McCullough said of Marsee. "You're at that point where it's two outs and Sanoja up there. If he had gone a few pitches earlier, it's worth the gamble. If Javi bloops one in or gets a single—that's what he does more often than not, is just get base hits—now you got a chance to get the tying run into scoring position on the backside. We don't know what would have happened, but for me, that was worth the shot." With the loss, the Marlins drop to 58-56, 2.5 games out of the third National League Wild Card spot. Eury Pérez takes the mound for game two of the series at 7:15 pm. View the full article

Box Score SP: Joe Ryan 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (99 pitches, 65 strikes (66%)) Home Runs: Josh Bell (14) Bottom 3 WPA: Ryan (-0.23), Luke Keaschall (-0.11), Ryan Jeffers (-0.11) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Twins spent the trade deadline adding to their bullpen, and failing to add to their lineup either via trade or call-up. They faced Randy Dobnak a week after getting shut-out over seven innings without any new bats up their sleeves. Joe Ryan took the loss against Dobnak last week, after giving up four runs over six frames. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Let's get nuts Twins Territory! Behind the Two-Ball Yet Again The most recent road trip began in Seattle and involved the Twins offense failing early and the Twins starters surrendering two-run leads in the first inning in all three ballgames. Tuesday night in Kansas City started with Dobnak inducing three easy groundouts with only 13 pitches, and Ryan surrendering three hits and two runs in the first inning. Any momentum gained by keeping the lineup intact and being a spender on the market fell flat in the face of Dobnak's sinker. Royce Lewis kept his wingspan of amazing pull radius alive and well with a one-out double down the line in the top of the second, but Brooks Lee looked overmatched and Alan Roden flew out harmlessly to end the threat. Twins Offense Continues to Be Offensive Post-Break The Twins have been struggling to push runs across before the late innings since the All-Star Break, and they continued to flounder with runners in scoring position tonight. Lewis was 3-for-3 in the first six innings, but even his hit with a runner at second didn't score the runner. With seven at-bats having a chance to score a Twin in the early frames, only a Roden sac fly plated a runner in the fourth inning. With the game now within a run, Ryan looked to keep his squad in the game. He couldn't. In the bottom of the fifth, a single and a walk put runners on ahead of Witt Jr., and again the superstar did what superstars do with a double past a diving Lee to plate two more royals. Ryan Kreidler chucked the relay throw thirty feet over Jeffers' head, allowing Witt Jr. to reach third base. A single plated him and suddenly the Twins were right back where they were on July 29. Down four runs to Dobnak with only a few innings left to play. Ryan's velocity continues to tick down game by game, and red flags are flying everywhere as he tries to battle through the start of the second half. The Royals Bullpen Compels You! If we learned anything from last week's action, its that Twins fans shouldn't turn off the game until its actually over. Add the fact that the Royals bullpen is involved. Daniel Lynch IV and John Schreiber kept Minnesota off the board, but Steven Cruz was in the giving mood to start the eighth. Josh Bell jumped all over a first pitch fastball for his 14th jack of the season to start the late inning surge. But that's where the rallies ended, and the night ended with yet another lost opportunity to jump back into the playoff picture. Travis Adams failed to finish the bottom of the eighth after some bobbled grounders and throws, and Taylor Rogers allowed both inherited runners plus one of his own to score to end things with an embarrassing 8-2 loss all to show for keeping the strong clubhouse vibe through the trade deadline. What’s Next? The Twins look to recover from this four day hangover and get even with the Royals in game two of the series on Wednesday night. The new and shiny RHP Dean Kremer (1-4, 6.50 ERA) will make his first start for his new squad. The Royals will counter with LHP Noah Cameron (5-8, 4.59 ERA) whose last outing involved almost no-hitting the Twins before Kody Clemens slammed the Royals bullpen ultimately. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm CDT. Postgame Interviews Coming Soon Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Gomez 25 0 19 0 0 44 Funderburk 19 3 0 0 14 36 Adams 0 11 0 0 20 31 Rogers 0 14 0 0 14 28 Nance 11 16 0 0 0 27 Minter 0 1 19 0 0 20 Morris 6 12 0 0 0 18 Hoffman 0 0 0 0 0 0 View the full article

There is little doubt that Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove wanted to be on the mound in Phoenix on Tuesday night as the San Diego Padres played the second of a crucial four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Yet here the two veteran right-handers were, at a Low-A stadium in Lake Elsinore, a little more than an hour north of San Diego and 340 miles from Phoenix, on a sunny Tuesday morning. The two 33-year-olds suited up for the Lake Elsinore Storm with a bunch of aspiring MLB players who are 20 years old or just a year or two off as they took the next big step in their comebacks from injuries. (So did Tyler Glasnow of the Los Angeles Dodgers, making it three MLB pitchers in the California League game involving the Storm and Ontario Tower Buzzers.) Pivetta and Musgrove are technically on the Padres’ 60-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, but it has been more than that keeping the pair sidelined for this extended period. Musgrove hasn’t pitched in a real game since Game 2 of the 2024 NL Wild Card Series. He had Tommy John surgery that October and was on track to be ready by Opening Day this year. But his arm never bounced back from a single exhibition game against a World Baseball C team from Great Britain. Pivetta made four starts to begin the season, leaving an April 12 game vs. the Colorado Rockies after throwing three pitches to begin the fourth inning. He had a start skipped in spring training due to arm fatigue. First, the bad news. Pivetta appeared to sustain an injury during his first inning. Facing his fourth batter after having recorded two flyouts and yielded a single, Pivetta threw his 16th pitch, a ball that made it a 3-2 count, and immediately walked off the mound and into the Storm dugout on the first-base side, then into the clubhouse. Pivetta had already relayed that he would not speak with the media following his rehab appearance. Musgrove, however, did, doing so before Pivetta was injured. Java Joe's outing went fairly well. He threw 39 pitches, including 22 strikes, in going 2⅔ innings. He gave up a run on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. After a 14-pitch first inning, Musgrove ran into issues in the second inning, giving up a single, a double and a run-scoring wild pitch, then two walks and a stolen base before an inning-ending double play in the 20-pitch frame. Knowing he only had a handful of pitches left before hitting his allotment, Musgrove retired both hitters he faced in the top of the third on five pitches. After topping out at 93.1 mph twice in the first inning, Musgrove hit a high of 93.6 mph in the second, consistently around 93. In his brief third inning, he maxed out at 92.5 on his final pitch. "I think a big checkmark is just getting in there and getting in the pace and the tempo of a normal start and kind of getting your (timing) back in line, getting comfortable, being on the mound with the pitch clock," Musgrove said. "Obviously got the hitters in the box, so checked off a lot of things. Physically feel great. Yeah, good day." Musgrove was fairly happy overall with his performance as he worked with catcher Ty Harvey, Padres Mission's No. 7 prospect whom he met 20 minutes beforehand. Typical adrenaline rush in the first inning after not being in any type of game since March, then the comedown from that in the second inning. While his mechanics still need some work, his fastball velocity was right where he thought it would be. In 2024, his four-seamer averaged 92.9 mph, and he felt good about his pitch shapes Tuesday. "That's about where I've been. I've been like (92 to 95 mph) anywhere in that range. Haven't done three ups, so I don't know what my velo was in the last inning, but I felt like I was maintaining decently well," Musgrove said. He expects his next outing to come Sunday, site to be determined, and probably another inning or so tacked on. Perhaps back in Lake Elsinore. With the Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller having added two excellent starters at the trade deadline in left-hander Robbie Ray and right-hander Casey Mize, the team doesn't have to try and push Musgrove to return quickly to a pennant race that could come down to one game. "I didn't plan on cutting any corners to begin with," Musgrove said before Pivetta pitched in the game. "The rush thing is not really up to me. If I could, I would rush back and be back sooner than possible. But the staff and A.J. and them got a plan for us to get there. This does give us a little more peace of mind that not everyone's holding their breath, waiting for us to get back. We got a little bit of help until we can get back. But the way that rotation will round out when me and Nick get back, I feel really confident about it." Musgrove has felt the weight of the rotation not performing as he and Pivetta were sidelined and their progress was slow, yet now the team is in position to be competitive down the stretch. "Our offense has worked their ass off this year to get things right, and the pitching staff has kind of had to piece it together lately," Musgrove said. "A lot of that responsibility falls on me and Nick. Injuries happen, but this team counted on us being there, being a part of that rotation and him and I are doing everything we can to get back as soon as we can. But having some reinforcements come in, especially guys that have done it for a while at a high level ... Robbie's track record speaks for itself. Casey being a first overall pick (in 2018) and kind of coming into his own in the league as a starter, really good. And then heard a lot of good things about the teams they came from, work ethic and just quality of person, so excited to have them." The 39-pitch rehab appearance was a good first outing. His one start this spring, the WBC exhibition against Great Britain, went 60 pitches over three innings, which felt to some like a lengthy outing coming off Tommy John surgery. "I think three innings, 60 pitches felt like a lot," Musgrove said. "But in the moment, you feel good. I wasn't begging to come out of that game, just maybe I shouldn't have let myself go that far in my first one. I never felt great coming into spring. I was always kind of under the idea that I just got to keep working. This thing's going to start to iron itself out and I'll turn the corner soon. And that day just never came. So I went into that outing not feeling great and a little bit skeptical where my arm was going to be. In the moment, competition, the adrenaline, you don't feel much and then the next day, had a really hard time moving my arm. So that could have been part of it. It could have just been my arm wasn't ready. Could have been the pitch count." As is typical for rehabbing veterans when they visit the minors, Musgrove and Pivetta treated the Storm players a little bit more than they are generally accustomed to. "We got them a taco truck. There's a coffee cart here this morning," Musgrove said, although it wasn't his Java Joe coffee. "I think we got a Cold Stone (ice cream) truck coming later. So try to do something. We're gonna leave some gifts for them in the locker room, something to spice up their day." View the full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (August 1-3) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies): 3-3 Season Record: 52-56 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies): 2-4 Season Record: 48-52 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Spokane (Colorado Rockies): 3-3 Season Record: 45-57 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets): 3-2 Season Record: 47-52 FCL Blue Jays: Season Complete DSL Blue Jays Blue Week Record: 1-3 Season Record: 18-26 DSL Blue Jays Red Week Record: 4-0 Season Record: 26-17 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 52-56 Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) August 1: Simeon Woods Richardson had the mound on Saturday for Buffalo, as they took on Lehigh Valley and Alan Rangel. While the two starting pitchers were in the game, it was a complete pitchers' duel. The only thing that would break up the string of zeros on the scoreboard would be an error that left open the doors for Buffalo to score a run when Charles McAdoo scampered home from third base on a wild pitch. Woods Richardson ended his outing by going 5.1 innings, giving up just three hits, only one walk, and striking out seven. Javen Coleman would be the man Buffalo turned to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning, up 1-0. The game was all tied up after the first batter Coleman faced, as he gave up a solo home run to Kameron Misner. After Coleman proceeded to load the bases, Pat Gallagher relieved him and wasn't much better. Gallagher gave up RBI singles to the first two batters he faced and then a sacrifice fly, putting Buffalo into a 4-1 hole. The Bisons didn't have a lot of time to make a comeback, just the top of the ninth. Daz Cameron would get a single, but that would be all, as Buffalo fell 4-1 in a game they only managed four hits. August 2: It was a bullpen game for Buffalo on Sunday, with Jack Nedrow up from High-A Vancouver starting on the mound. Nedrow worked around a triple in the first inning to make it out of that frame with a zero still up on the scoreboard. Unfortunately for Buffalo, his troubles put them in a hole in the second inning. A two-RBI double and an RBI single created a three-run deficit for Buffalo. In the fourth, Sean Keys cut into the Lehigh Valley lead with an RBI double that scored Ismael Munguia. Daz Cameron followed that up with a big two-run home run, tying the game up at three. Still in the fourth, CJ Stubbs launched a home run of his own, a solo blast to right, 103.4 mph off the bat. Cameron had himself a game, providing more scoring for Buffalo in the fifth, getting a two-RBI double to center to knock in Nick Goodwin and Munguia. In the sixth, the Bisons extended their lead on a Keys sacrifice fly and when Josh Kasevich scored from third base on a wild pitch. Buffalo's bullpen was on top of its game, shutting down Lehigh Valley the rest of the way, with the exception of two unearned runs that crossed the plate. Tanner Andrews pitched a perfect eighth and ninth to get the save and the win for the Bisons, 8-5. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 48-52 Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) August 1: Saturday was a new day for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, but the woes continued. Danny Thompson Jr. was on the mound for New Hampshire and had himself a pretty great game. He pitched a quality start, going six innings, allowing five hits, giving up just one run, and striking out seven. Probably the best part of the day for him was that he didn't issue a walk. Alex Amalfi came in and gave up three runs, which was a rough task for the Fisher Cats once again. New Hampshire only managed two runs on nine hits. Aaron Parker singled in a run in the sixth inning, and Cade Doughty did the same in the seventh. New Hampshire fell in this one 4-2. Arjun Nimmala was 1-for-4 with a double and a walk. August 2: Things were looking up for New Hampshire on Sunday in the week finale against Hartford. Jackson Wentworth threw a quality start, continuing a good run for the Fisher Cats’ starting pitchers. He went six innings and didn't allow a run. The offense had his back this time. In the first inning, Victor Arias drove in a run with a single, and then he hit a three-run home run in the third inning. Dub Gleed finished off the scoring with a two-run double to left field in the eighth inning. In his final game with the Blue Jays organization, Arjun Nimmala went 1-for-4, with a single and a walk while scoring a run. New Hampshire won 6-0. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 45-57 Series vs Spokane (Colorado Rockies) August 1: Silvano Hechavarria has not found the form he had last season, as the Cuban righty has now given up 27 runs since getting promoted to Vancouver in only five starts. The Canadians went down nine runs early, as Hechavarria gave up two big homers in the second and the fourth inning, and the offense did not have enough firepower to come back from it. The only run of the game for the Canadians happened with runners on second and third with no outs, but Bryce Chance could only muster up an RBI groundout. Reece Fields had his first minor league appearance and pitched five scoreless innings with five strikeouts after Hechavarria was taken out to keep it at nine in a tough loss for Vancouver. August 2: The offense went off on a Johnny King start, as the Canadians skunked Spokane 14-0. King went five strong innings, striking out seven batters without allowing a run, although he did walk three batters. Jake Casey and Alexis Hernandez both hit some big homers to extend the lead in the fifth and sixth. Ryan Sprock had himself a day as well with a three-hit night capped off with his first homer as a member of the Blue Jays’ organization. Carson Myers and Reece Wissinger each pitched two scoreless innings each as the Canadians ran away with this one 14-0. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 47-52 Series vs St. Lucie Mets (New York Mets) August 1: Denis Samudio took the mound for the Jays and gave up two runs early in the first as Ryan Tayman tagged him for a two-run double. Samudio was able to go five innings without allowing another run, striking out six batters with 11 whiffs. JoJo Parker had some sixth-inning heroics as he hit a two-run blast to tie the game up with an absolutely massive 114.2 mph exit velocity, 446 ft homer. Unfortunately for the Jays, Dean West made an error in the seventh, which ended up scoring, putting the Jays down one heading into the bottom of the seventh. Down to their last three outs in the ninth, Jake Cook and Ryan Franden both got on base, and Brayden Martin was able to move Cook to third before West made up for his error with a sac fly to tie it and send it to extras. Noah Palmese allowed three runs in the 10th, however, and the Jays were not able to move the ghost runner over in a 6-3 extra-innings loss. August 2: Canceled FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 38-20 Season Completed DSL Blue Jays Blue Season Record: 18-26 August 1: Yoenis Morales had the mound on Saturday for BJB in the DSL and put in one of the better pitching performances there. He threw four innings, gave up just one hit, walked one, and struck out eight. He did see three unearned runs cross the plate in the top of the first inning thanks to two errors, though. BJB answered Cubs Red's big first with a big inning of their own in the bottom of the third. Frelian Flores and Juan Caricote each had RBI singles, then both would score on wild pitches later in the inning. The runs and hits in the third inning were all BJB would have on the day, but it was enough, as they won the game 4-3 behind Morales' pitching. August 3: Monday was another bad day at the plate for BJB's bats. They only managed to get three hits in the game, matching Saturday's total, but Isay Veras did provide a little thunder. Veras swatted a fifth-inning, two-run home run, his first of the season. In the seventh, Randy Soto scored on an error, giving BJB three runs for the game. Unfortunately for BJB, their pitching was terrible for the day, giving up 13 hits, seven walks, and 10 runs. BJB lost 10-3. DSL Blue Jays Red Season Record: 26-17 August 1: BJR had a fun day on Saturday, tallying 13 hits, 10 walks, and 11 runs for the game against the Mets Blue DSL team. 17-year-old Jose Gori provided the fireworks, blasting his first career home run in the fifth inning. The home run was a grand one, bringing home four runs for a grand slam! Luis Nunez and Darwin Nuñez each had good games as well. Darwin Nuñez had a double, three singles, and scored three times. Luis Nunez was on base four times, with two singles and two walks, while also knocking in three. BJR won going away 13-2. August 3: Luis Nunez and Darwin Nuñez continued to hit on Monday for BJR. Luis Nunez had an RBI single in the fourth, while Darwin Nuñez had a two-RBI double in the same frame. Elaineiker Coronado provided the cherry on top for BJR, his second home run of the season. His solo blast cleared the right field fence in the bottom of the seventh and capped off another good game for BJR, as they won 6-2. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins entered last week's trade deadline with three obvious needs. They needed relief help, more starting pitching depth, and another right-handed bat to balance out a lineup that has struggled badly against left-handed pitching. General Manager Jeremy Zoll addressed the first two needs. The Twins added bullpen reinforcements in Tommy Nance, A.J. Minter and Jeff Hoffman while also acquiring Dean Kremer from the Baltimore Orioles to provide another quality starter for the rotation. The one need that went unaddressed was adding another right-handed hitter. There were rumors late in deadline day that Minnesota had interest in Angels shortstop Zach Neto, but that didn't come to fruition. That leaves the Twins with the same lineup that currently ranks 26th in baseball with a .676 OPS against left-handed pitching, an area that has been one of their biggest weaknesses all season. With the trade deadline now behind them, the waiver wire becomes the only avenue for Minnesota to make additions before the stretch run. Interestingly, three veteran right-handed hitters hit waivers the day after the deadline when Jorge Soler was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels, while the Seattle Mariners DFA'd both Mitch Garver and Rob Refsnyder. Of those three names, Soler is the most intriguing. Twins fans know Soler well from his four-and-a-half seasons with the Kansas City Royals. Since leaving Kansas City, the veteran slugger has bounced around the league, most recently landing with the Angels after they acquired him following the 2024 season. At his best, Soler has been one of baseball's premier power hitters. He owns a career 110 OPS+, has multiple seasons with at least 35 home runs, won World Series MVP with the Atlanta Braves in 2021, earned an All-Star selection in 2023, and followed that up with another strong season in 2024 when he posted a 120 OPS+. The problem has been staying healthy. A back injury limited Soler to just 82 games in 2025. Hip and oblique injuries have continued to plague him throughout 2026, and the production has suffered as a result. Through 86 games, Soler owns a .664 OPS with 12 home runs while striking out at a career-high 32.7 percent clip. One of Soler's biggest strengths throughout his career has been demolishing left-handed pitching. He owns a career .841 OPS against southpaws, which is exactly the type of production Minnesota has lacked. Unfortunately, that advantage has disappeared over the last two seasons. Soler managed just a .685 OPS against lefties in 2025 and owns a .626 mark this year, although those numbers have come in relatively small samples of 51 and 95 plate appearances. Even with the disappointing production, there are still reasons to believe there may be something left in the tank. Soler still ranks in the 86th percentile in bat speed and continues to barrel baseballs at an 11 percent clip, placing him among the better hitters in baseball in that category. He continues to control the strike zone well with above-average walk rates and below-average chase rates, despite his high strikeout rate. The underlying tools are still there if he can finally get healthy and receive consistent playing time. That makes Soler an interesting gamble. Minnesota desperately needs right-handed power, especially after Byron Buxton landed on the injured list. Soler would fit naturally as either a designated hitter or a right fielder against left-handed pitching while allowing Trevor Larnach to sit against tough southpaws. Soler is in the final season of his three-year, $42 million contract. If he clears waivers, the Twins could sign him for the league minimum while the Angels remain responsible for the rest of his salary. The Mariners also designated both Mitch Garver and Rob Refsnyder for assignment after acquiring Taylor Ward at the deadline and making room on the roster for both Ward and Jhonny Pereda. Garver certainly brings plenty of nostalgia. He played the best baseball of his career in Minnesota before being traded away more than five years ago. Unfortunately, he simply hasn't been the same hitter recently. Since the beginning of 2024, Garver owns just a .626 OPS. Like Soler, Garv Sauce built much of his value by crushing left-handed pitching. He owns a career .820 OPS against lefties, but that production has slipped as well. He managed a .718 OPS against left-handers last season before dropping to just .659 in 64 plate appearances this year. At 35 years old, and after years of catching, it is fair to wonder how much wear and tear his body has accumulated. Minnesota is also set behind the plate, making Garver's primary position unnecessary. Asking him to fill a designated hitter role simply doesn't seem like the best fit. Refsnyder presents a much more interesting case. Twins fans may remember his brief stint in Minnesota during the 2021 season when he posted an 86 OPS+ over 157 plate appearances. Since then, he reinvented himself with the Boston Red Sox, producing back-to-back excellent seasons with 133 and 132 OPS+ marks in 2024 and 2025. Even more importantly, Refsnyder became one of baseball's better hitters against left-handed pitching. He posted a .941 OPS against southpaws in 2024 before somehow improving to .959 in 2025. This season has been a completely different story. Refsnyder owns just a .465 OPS overall and a .506 OPS against left-handed pitching in 129 plate appearances. The underlying metrics are just as concerning. His average exit velocity has fallen from 92 mph last season to just 86.6 mph this year. His strikeout rate has climbed while his walk rate has fallen, and nearly every Statcast percentile sits near the bottom of the league. There is certainly reason for skepticism, but there is also reason to wonder whether Seattle simply wasn't the right fit. Refsnyder was one of baseball's better platoon bats for two consecutive seasons before arriving with the Mariners, and returning to a more hitter-friendly environment could potentially help him rediscover that version of himself. Like Soler, he can play the corner outfield while filling exactly the type of platoon role the Twins have been missing. None of these three players are perfect. Garver looks like a poor positional fit, and his recent production doesn't inspire much confidence. Soler comes with significant injury concerns but still offers intriguing power upside if he can finally get healthy. Refsnyder has been one of the worst hitters in baseball this season, yet his success over the previous two years suggests there may still be something worth betting on. Considering the Twins' struggles against left-handed pitching and the fact that adding a right-handed bat was the one need left unresolved at the trade deadline, taking a low-cost chance on either Soler or Refsnyder feels like a worthwhile gamble. Neither move would require surrendering prospects or taking on financial risk. If either player rediscovers his previous form, the Twins could suddenly have exactly the platoon bat they've been searching for all season. What do you think? Should the Twins pursue Jorge Soler or Rob Refsnyder once they clear waivers, or should they stick with the roster they have for the remainder of the season? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View the full article

The Milwaukee Brewers acquired three players at the 2026 trade deadline in Dustin May, JoJo Romero, and Antonio Senzatela. They fortified their rotation and their bullpen, but did they address all of their needs? View the full article

The Milwaukee Brewers are giving right-handed starter Brandon Sproat a chance to reset, but it will be in the minors. Following another rocky start Monday, Sproat was optioned to Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday by the Brewers. Right-handed reliever Garrett Stallings also went to Nashville as the Brewers added right-handers Dustin May and Antonio Senzatela, two of the three players acquired in trades the day before, to the 26-man roster. They were already on the 40-man roster, which had room following the trade of right-handed reliever Codi Heuer to the Baltimore Orioles and right-handed starter Carlos Rodriguez was designated for assignment on Monday. Left-handed reliever JoJo Romero, the other player acquired Monday, was placed on the 15-day injured list, which is where he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, after having an appendectomy in mid-July. Sproat gave up five hits and walked two while allowing four runs and striking out four in three-plus innings of a 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has given up 12 runs over 16⅔ in his last four starts with 11 walks. He also has 16 walks over his previous six outings. Sproat's pitches have tremendous movement and he has lost the ability to manage that part of his game. Now he will go to Nashville and be in a less-pressurized environment with an eye on returning for the stretch drive and the postseason. View the full article

Throughout Miami Marlins history, there has been one constant measuring stick. While the Marlins have never won a National League East title themselves, it's rare for the Atlanta Braves to finish anywhere but atop the division. Every Marlins manager has uttered some version of, "The Braves will tell us where we are" in advance of their head-to-head meetings. The Marlins will be tested once again this week in Atlanta, trailing the Braves by 9.5 games entering Tuesday's series opener. Another chance to upset a team viewed as clearly better than them coming into the season and fire up fans to come out and support them during the next homestand. Thus far in 2026, the Marlins are 2-5 against the Braves. Those previous matchups like an eternity ago, in ways both good and bad. Kyle Stowers was only available for one of those series. Griffin Conine missed both. Eury Pérez was not pitching at this level. Joe Mack hadn't fully established himself yet. Then again, Max Meyer is out hurt. Liam Hicks is gone. This club has gone through the highs of June and the lows of July. The distraction of the trade deadline has passed. It's just not the same squad. So what will this series against the Braves tell us about the Marlins? Two things jump out. First off, the obvious: Is this team good enough to contend? If you can beat the division leaders on the road, that obviously speaks volumes, especially if you can do so without ace Sandy Alcantara pitching in the series. Given how crowded the NL Wild Card race is, every game counts right now. Maybe the Braves look past Miami and coast on their big division lead, having less at stake in the series. That's fine. Miami will take those wins given how hard the schedule is the rest of the way. Of course, even good teams lose series. This isn't must-win for the Fish, but the manner in which they compete over these three games? That matters, and will speak volumes about the Marlins chances. Secondly, how will the Marlins react to the end results of the trade deadline? On the plus side, this group was mostly kept together and is being given the chance to compete for a playoff spot together as they have done all season. But on the down side, the front office did deal away a very useful player in Hicks. With Agustín Ramírez, they are replacing him with a player who has performed worse than Hicks in every respect. No splashy additions were made on the trade front. Will the clubhouse feel that the front office did enough to help them? If so, great. If not, how do they handle that? In both cases, there's only one way to find out. Bring on the Braves. View the full article

The Royals have claimed LHP Connor Thomas off waivers from the Athletics. Thomas was previously DFAed on Aug 1, shortly after the A's claimed him off waivers from the Atlanta Braves on July 31. Thomas has struggled in the majors in his brief appearances with the Brewers in 2025 and the Braves in 2026. He's thrown 11 2/3 innings over four appearances, giving up 27 earned runs. He has struck out nine hitters and walked eight in that time as well. In Triple-A with the Braves this year, he has had much better results, pitching to a 1.98 ERA over 12 appearances and 27 1/3 innings. In those innings, he has struck out 20 and walked eight. He will provide the Royals with relief pitching depth. No 40-man roster move was needed, as LHP Matt Strahm was designated for assignment earlier in the day. View the full article

A day after shipping Freddy Peralta to Tampa Bay for three prospects, the Mets, as one of the few sellers employing impact talent, remained active in the trade market. Monday morning, they flipped left-handed reliever Brooks Raley to the Philadelphia Phillies for two 23-year-old High-A prospects– Luke Gabrysh and John Spikerman. Raley is in the midst of a strong season, but he was never going to land a haul commensurate with his 1.96 ERA. His strikeout rate of 23.5% and walk rate of 8.8% are only slightly better than the MLB averages for relievers (22.3% and 9.8%), and he has been relying on home run suppression (4.4% HR/FB) while being an extreme flyball pitcher (35.8% groundball rate) to produce a 3.10 FIP and 3.37 xERA. Rental relievers who rely on contact suppression are just not as hot a commodity in the age of the strikeout. Make no mistake, Raley is a good reliever, but only the cream of the crop land a haul for three months of work. The most important detail about Gabrysh, a right-handed pitcher, and Spikerman, an outfielder, is that they’re 23 and still in High-A. Any prospect who is old for their level needs to be dominant or possess outlier physical traits to be viewed as a future big leaguer, and neither Gabrysh nor Spikeman can really say that. Starting with Gabrysh, he is by far the more interesting of the two. His surface-level stats in High-A are not pretty: 5.14 ERA, 11.1% BB%, and 1.45 HR/9. However, he is sporting a 29% strikeout rate and is at least still starting. Stuff-wise, he has the goods to make the show, as his fastball, cutter, and sweeper all flash plus. The lack of a changeup or curveball makes his long-term prospects as a starter much more murky, and his scattershot control – he has hit 14 batters this season – already has him on the single-inning reliever path. However, pitchers who have multiple plus pitches should be given every chance to start. Despite averaging only 4 innings per start, Gabrysh, from a pitch count perspective, has been able to hold up to a starter’s workload for his level. If the Mets can help Gabrysh further refine his control and/or find a lefty-neutralizing off-speed pitch, he has a chance to be a starter, albeit an inefficient one. He isn’t Rule-5 eligible until December of 2027, which gives the Mets some runway to continue to develop him as a starter. If the control doesn’t come along by midway through next season, he’ll almost certainly be moved to the pen, where he could shoot through the minors if his stuff plays up in single-inning bursts with a more pared-down arsenal improving his strike throwing. The most likely outcome for Gabrysh is he’ll be an extremely volatile middle reliever. His stuff is good, but not so good he can just rear back and throw down the middle. The Mets should let him continue starting just for the reps, but I wouldn’t fault them for moving him to the pen and seeing just how nasty he can be in single-inning bursts. There’s a chance he takes to the pen and debuts in 2026, but 2027 is more likely. Spikerman is probably just organizational depth. He’s old for his level, and his future in center field is a bit murky. Despite excellent speed, he was moved off center field full time in 2025, and while he has played the vast majority of his innings in center this season, he probably needs to be plus in center to have any real future in the majors. There is good and bad news about Spikerman’s offensive profile. The good news is that he went from striking out nearly 30% of the time in 2025 to 22% in 2026. His contact metrics suggest he improved markedly in this department, which improves his chances of climbing the ladder from zero. The bad news is he has demonstrated absolutely no game power. He has hit three home runs in his minor league career; they all came last season in A-Ball, and his 90th percentile average exit velocity was only 100.4 MPH at A-ball in 2025. While his raw thump isn’t of the wet-noodle variety, he has struggled to lift or pull the ball, which he’d need to do at an exceptional rate to produce any power at the major league level. Despite his lack of power, he does own a 116 wRC+ at High-A this season, but it comes with a serious caveat. His profile is being carried almost exclusively by an excellent 19.5% walk rate, which is paradoxically not a good sign. Spikerman gets to his walks by being extremely passive. According to Prospect Savant, his swing rate of 35.98% is in the sixth percentile, and his in-zone swing rate of 59.29% is in the 16th percentile. The minors are littered with on-base machines who take advantage of wild minor league arms by simply not swinging. As he climbs the ladder, pitchers will more consistently pound the zone, and his lack of thump won’t make them pay. Functionally, his production looks like a house of cards built on a foundation of capitalizing on amateurish pitching. There’s a chance Spikerman can develop into a speed-centric fourth outfielder, but he’ll need to maintain his contact gains, develop a bit more power, and improve defensively enough to be viable in the majors. That’s a lot of “ifs” for a 23-year-old in High-A to overcome. However, he has shown real improvement at the plate season-to-season, which gives him a slim chance. The ability to make adjustments is the defining characteristic of baseball, and Spikerman has at least shown some aptitude to do so. View the full article

For two months and a possible postseason series or four, the San Diego Padres paid a good price to acquire 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray from the San Francisco Giants. The prospects the Padres gave up are right-handed starter Miguel Mendez, Padres Mission's No. 3 prospect, and shortstop Joniel Hernandez, the Friars' top international signing this year. With the Giants paying half of the remaining $7.35 million on Ray's contract, the Padres had to give up a little bit more to get the left-handed starter. Mendez is well-known to Padres fans and was in danger of being exposed to the other MLB teams in this offseason's Rule 5 draft if not placed on the 40-man roster. The 24-year-old. who was at Double-A San Antonio, just returned from a right shoulder injury, making a rehab appearance at High-A Fort Wayne on Tuesday, where he pitched a perfect first inning, striking out one, before exiting. Mendez, who signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2021, has been on the injured list twice this year, for about three weeks in April-May, then a month beginning in late June before returning last week. He has made 12 starts this year, pitching 35⅔ innings with a 10.9% walk rate and 25% strikeout rate. His walk rate is much improved from 14.9% in 2024. Since making his debut in 2021, Mendez has made 101 appearances, including 79 starts, with a 4.52 ERA. Mendez has a tremendous fastball and still has potential, as he didn't begin pitching until six months before signing with the Padres. He has excellent athleticism and is effective with a three-quarters delivery. In addition to a mid- to upper-90s fastball, Mendez also has a nice slider and changeup. The changeup was a developing pitch that had a 37% miss rate last year. With the Padres still in contention mode, finding a spot on the 40-man roster this offseason might have been difficult. Hernandez is a 17-year-old out of Cuba who received a $1.4 million signing bonus. He has been playing in the Dominican Summer League, where he has put together a .303/.424/.503 slash line with four homers and 43 RBIs in 41 games. He also had four steals in eight attempts. With a wiry frame at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Hernandez has the tools to stay at shortstop with a strong arm and being a plus runner, skills that could also translate as a center fielder if the infield doesn't pan out. His plate approach, including a leg kick, is something that needs to be worked on, but at least in the DSL this summer has been producing decent results. Overall, the price to bring in a No. 1 starter ahead of Michael King and reducing the Padres' chaos pitching plan a bit seems fairly appropriate without doing too much damage to their prospects. View the full article

The Boston Red Sox have acquired catcher Adley Rutschman from the AL East division rival Baltimore Orioles. In a blockbuster move that indicates that Craig Breslow and Fenway Sports Group are serious about winning this season. It’s difficult to trade for a catcher in the middle of the season and have them mesh with your pitching staff, but out of all the available catchers on the market, Rutschman is far more familiar with the Red Sox’s rotation and bullpen than any other option the team could have brought in. While there’s a lot to love about Rutschman’s profile, there are a few questions as well. Let’s dive into it. The Good About Rutschman As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Adley Rutschman is the most all-around catcher available on the trade market. I assumed that the price to bring him to Boston would be more than Breslow wanted to pay, but I’m glad to say I was wrong. In that piece, I explored what Red Sox fans would love about Rutschman, and all of that information still rings true. Offensively, he’s slashing .251/.331/.433 with a .333 wOBA, 115 wRC+, and a 2.3 fWAR. He has eight home runs and 47 RBIs during his injury-shortened 2026 season. He’s a switch hitter that features power from both sides of the plate, but he does tap into it a bit more from the left-handed side, with five home runs and a .462% slug from the left versus three home runs and a .385% slug from the right. His home spray chart doesn’t scream immediate success at Fenway Park, but his offensive profile offers a lot to be excited about. While it’s unlikely Rutschman will live up to the hype he carried when he was breaking into the league, he’s still an incredible talent and has put up numbers at Fenway during his career. He’s slashed .275/.344/.400 and a .326 wOBA when the O’s came to town. If we combine that with his Savant page, we see a hitter who, when healthy, is going to absolutely rake from both sides of the plate. He has an incredible strikeout percentage, draws a ton of walks, and gets on base at a clip that is rare for most catchers. In addition to that, his Pull AIR% is top ten in the league at 19.3%, and that should only go up as he gets more comfortable hitting at Fenway Park. Once he’s in the lineup, he’s going to provide a positive spark whenever he hits. What likely made Breslow incredibly comfortable with trading for Rutschman, though, is his ability behind the dish. He grades out at the top of the league in almost every catching category, except pop time. He’s the best in the league at catching runners when they attempt to steal bases, his framing is top-notch, and his blocking ability is underrated. It’s going to take him a bit of time to get comfortable with the pitching staff, but he’s a top-of-the-league catcher, so he’s going to adapt to a new pitching staff very quickly. The Not-So-Bad But Concerning About Rutschman Adley has an injury history that should give people a bit of a pause for concern. Just this season, he’s been on the injured list with a hamstring injury, a concussion, and he’s currently about to start a rehab assignment for an injury to his left wrist. Historically, he has had a back injury in 2024, a head injury in 2025, two oblique injuries in 2025, an abdomen injury in 2025, and an ankle injury in 2025. He doesn’t have the ‘injury prone’ label, but there is a reason why the medical review was rumored to be the thing that was holding up the deal for a couple of hours. He’s likely a week or two out from his Red Sox debut, but that also worked out pretty well last time the team acquired an injured, middle of the order type bat in 2021 in Kyle Schwarber. That being said, there’s not much to dislike about this move. So that begs the question, why would the Red Sox feel the need to pay such a high premium to acquire him? It’s a fairly simple explanation: elite, franchise cornerstone catchers don’t grow on trees. Rutschman is a potentially franchise-altering addition, playing for an organization that didn't seem to fully buy into his talent and abilities. Putting him in Boston, a team that is on the hottest streak in the league, and letting him eat at Fenway is going to be a huge boon to his numbers as he settles in. The addition of Adley Rutschman proves that this team is in win-now mode and wants to compete for a World Series title this season. It’s fair to wonder if the team hadn’t swept the Dodgers, if they would have made this move, but we should all be glad they did. Now, the only order of business left is for them to start talking extensions with their newly acquired catcher. View the full article

July looked nothing like June for the Twins' pitching staff. After a brutal stretch in which Minnesota's pitchers struggled to consistently keep games under control, the script completely flipped over the last month. The Twins allowed more than five runs in just five of their 24 games in July, and nowhere was the turnaround more noticeable than in the bullpen. In June, Twins relievers combined for an ugly 6.94 ERA. Just one month later, that number plummeted all the way to 2.86. Coincidence? Probably not. Behind that dominant pitching, the Twins went 15-9 in July, climbed back into the American League playoff picture, and ultimately convinced the front office to buy at the trade deadline instead of sell. The pitching staff didn't just improve; they kept the Twins’ season alive. With that, here are your Pitchers of the Month for July. 4. Yoendrys Gómez July Stats: 11 G, 10 1/3 IP, 1.74 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 10 K, 7 BB, 3.20 FIP It almost feels disrespectful putting Yoendrys Gómez fourth on this list. After all, he was last month's Pitcher of the Month and has done nothing to lose the closer's job. But that's just a testament to how dominant Minnesota's pitching staff was throughout July. Across 10 1/3 innings, Gómez allowed just two earned runs while striking out 10 hitters. He also walked seven and surrendered eight hits, so there was certainly no shortage of traffic on the bases. The difference was that Gómez consistently found a way out of trouble. Whether it was inducing a weak ground ball, missing a bat in a big spot or simply making the next pitch when he needed to, the Twins' closer repeatedly escaped jams before they could snowball into anything bigger. Even after Minnesota acquired A.J. Minter ahead of the trade deadline, Gómez has maintained a firm grip on the closer role. Yes, he was tagged with the loss on Sunday, but that came in a tie game during the ninth inning and was his first defeat of the entire season. It doesn't change the fact that Gómez continues to be one of the biggest reasons the Twins have been able to shorten games late. 3. Taj Bradley July Stats: 6 G, 37 IP, 2.92 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 48 K, 14 BB, 3.40 FIP Just like Gomez, Taj Bradley almost feels too low on this list. The right-hander was everything the Twins could have asked for throughout July, leading all of Major League Baseball with 37 innings pitched during the month. And they weren't empty innings, either. Bradley posted a 2.92 ERA while piling up 48 strikeouts, good for a remarkable 33% strikeout rate. Time after time, he gave the Twins exactly what they needed—a workhorse capable of pitching deep into games while missing bats at an elite level. Since arriving in Minnesota, Bradley has settled into the role of a reliable #2 starter behind Joe Ryan, and July may have been his best month yet in a Twins uniform. When his fastball is commanding the zone and his breaking stuff is generating swings and misses, Bradley has shown he can dominate just about any lineup in baseball. For a Twins team hoping to make noise in the American League Central race, that's exactly the kind of pitcher they'll need down the stretch. 2. Kody Funderburk July Stats: 10 G, 11 2/3 IP, 0.77 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 11 K, 3 BB, 1.98 FIP After a slow start to the season, Kody Funderburk is beginning to look like himself again. The left-hander was outstanding throughout July, posting a microscopic 0.77 ERA across 11 2/3 innings while striking out 11 batters and issuing just three walks. Perhaps even more encouraging than the ERA was how he got there. Funderburk's strikeout rate jumped nearly 20 percentage points compared to June, showing that his swing-and-miss stuff has returned in a big way. At the same time, he continued generating ground balls at an elite rate, posting a 69% ground-ball rate for the second consecutive month. Missing bats while keeping the ball on the ground is exactly what every bullpen wants out of a late-inning reliever, and that's exactly what Funderburk provided throughout July. The Twins have waited patiently for the left-hander to find his rhythm after his rough start to the year. It certainly looks like he's found it. And with the playoff race heating up, Minnesota would love to see this version of Funderburk stick around for another two months. Twins Pitcher of the Month: Andrew Morris July Stats: 12 G, 14 IP, 0.64 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 11 K, 3 BB, 3.31 FIP Andrew Morris finished second in last month's rankings. Apparently, he wasn't satisfied with that. The rookie right-hander claims the top spot this time around after another dominant month out of the Twins' bullpen. Across 14 innings in July, Morris surrendered just one earned run while striking out 11 hitters and walking only three. That lone run came on a solo home run. Every other baserunner Morris allowed to reach safely (which wasn’t many) ended up stranded. That's incredibly difficult to do, but it has become something of a trademark for the rookie. Morris continues to rank among the best pitchers in baseball at generating soft contact, consistently forcing hitters to beat the ball into the ground or make weak contact rather than driving the baseball. He doesn't overpower opponents with eye-popping strikeout totals, but he rarely gives hitters anything to square up. As a rookie, Morris has quickly transformed himself into one of the Twins' most dependable bullpen arms. If this is the pitcher Morris already is during his first taste of the major leagues, it's hard not to be excited about what he'll become over the next several years. After an ugly June, the Twins' pitching staff answered with one of its best months of the season in July. For the time being, the group is also relatively healthy, with Mike Paredes' move to the 60-day injured list serving as the lone significant exception. The front office has already rewarded that turnaround by adding a pair of arms before the trade deadline, and it wouldn't be surprising if another move is still on the way. Because if the Twins can get two more months of pitching like they received in July, they'll have a very real chance to play postseason baseball. View the full article

The annual MLB Trade deadline is one of two sides. On one hand, it's exhilaration; it's adding new talent, new faces, and hope. It's about here, it's about now. For the Cubs, it's celebrating the arrival of veteran pitchers like Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes to bring stability to their rotation or for the excitement of a heavy Ryan Zeferjahn fastball striking out someone with the tying run on second late in a ball game. But these new additions didn't just appear out of thin air; they were paid for in prospect capital and the potential of the future; it's the other side of the coin. There's loss. You have to give to get. Everything has a cost, and nothing is free, especially in baseball. The goal is to buy more than you sell, to get more value than you give, and teams have to evaluate that in real time, and the Cubs had to give up a few names that are quite recognizable. Of the losses, the two names that will stick out the most are Moises Ballesteros and Jefferson Rojas. Both are names that have appeared on top-100 lists, regardless of the publication, and both were lights at the end of the tunnel when the Cubs weren't battling the Brewers for NL Central supremacy and were mired in mediocrity. If you're worried today that the Cubs just sold the future of the farm for today's crops I'm here to tell you to step a little off from the ledge a step or two. These are good prospects, yes, and they have real MLB futures, but to the Cubs, these were expendable pieces. Players the team saw as flawed enough to move and players the Cubs thought, ultimately, were better served being swapped for the here and the now. A few months ago, it would have been wild to think that the Cubs traded their Opening Day designated hitter, Moises Ballesteros. Big Mo got off to a really good start, hitting .387/.435/.481 through his first 69 plate appearances, which was good for a 210 wRC+. He even got a handful of starts behind the dish, making you believe there was a real future at the position. But things hit a snag, and not only did Ballesteros struggle to the tune of a 14 wRC+ over his next 106 PAs, but he was also sent back to Iowa to work on his swing and approach. Pitchers were getting him to flail at high heat, and he needed some added seasoning. Here's the harsh reality, however: the team told you today what they think of "Mo Baller"; he's a DH, and only a DH. Between their two catchers, Ballesteros and the up-and-coming Owen Ayers, it was the 19th-round pick Ayers who the team reportedly held firm on, not Mo. And as a DH, he's really just not that special. He's a high-contact, aggressive hitter who struggled against LHP both at the MLB level (76 wRC+) and at the Triple-A level (.260 wOBA last year). From this perspective, he becomes far less of a star and far more mundane. The barrier to entry at DH is just so high compared, and if he's not going to be a catcher, the value proposition is just different. vs LHP / RHP Overview Split PA AVG OBP SLG OPS wOBA xwOBA K% BB% Barrel% HardHit% Whiff% vs LHP 148 0.234 0.291 0.285 0.575 0.260 0.252 16.2% 4.7% 0.9% 31.3% 23.5% vs RHP 357 0.352 0.420 0.557 0.977 0.415 0.382 12.0% 11.2% 7.8% 47.8% 18.7% As surprising as it was to see Ballesteros moved, Jefferson Rojas may have been the most shocking to see dealt. Not because he was dealt (with how the Cubs' organization is set up, he felt expendable) but in how he was used: for rental starting pitcher Clay Holmes and rental outfield Tyrone Taylor of the Mets. Rojas has been a fixture on top-100 lists over the last few years, currently sitting 63rd on MLB.com Pipeline and #99 on Baseball America. As recently as our mid-year rankings, we had Rojas as our top prospect in the entire system. This makes the price seem steep, quite steep. Internally, however, the Cubs view their young shortstop quite differently. Defensively, Rojas has had questions about his ability to stick at shortstop across the board. Baseball America said about this part of his game that "his footwork and hands leave something to be desired and he’s prone to poorly timed dives on extra-effort plays". This would give you pause about his long-term ability at the most premium of infield positions, and the Cubs share this fear. They don't think he's a shortstop at the next level at all. While the defense has always been a question, the hope is that the bat would play at lesser positions such as second, third, or left field. At the MLB level, the team has long-term solutions across the infield, meaning that Rojas would likely have to adapt to a corner OF spot. On the surface, a 21-year-old who's hit 15 home runs and has posted a 114 wRC+ in Double-A would seem to have the possibility to end up with a bat good enough, but this is once again where industry rankings and internal ones collide head-on as the Cubs are concerned with his ability to hit at positions that require a more demanding bat. Specifically, the fear revolves around his swing and whether or not it is adaptable enough to handle the high bar those positions require. When you look at both Ballesteros and Rojas in this light, the cost makes more sense. If you traded a 23-year-old, left-handed hitting catcher and a 21-year-old 20 home-run shortstop, today really hurts. If instead, you traded a platoon-DH and a tweener with the bat and the glove, it hurts way less. With how the Cubs priced them, it's easy to come to the conclusion that they feel they gave up the latter, and not the former. Beyond these two, most of the other names traded probably won't sway the system's overall ranking heavily. Mason McGwire, the nephew of Mark, whom the team also traded to the Angels in the Zeferjahn trade, is a strike-throwing pitcher who has mid-rotation upside and lots of injury risk. Jonathon Long is a fringe-MLB bat who's stuck at first base. Brett Bateman and Ty Southisene both receive 20-grades in the power department and profile as bench-hitters with a lot of contact and glove, but likely no ability to start. These aren't prospects who offer zero upside, but they also are much more "run of the mill" than Ballesteros and Rojas. All have interesting aspects, but none change the calculus of the team or the system. Ultimately, we cannot know today whether the Cubs gave up too much, and we probably won't know for years. But it's also probably important to look through the history of prospect-led trades made by Jed Hoyer to see what to expect, and when you do that, one thing becomes clear: Jed Hoyer hasn't been taken to the woodshed yet in any deal. While it's true the Cubs did give up Zyhir Hope (who headlined the Tarik Skubal deal), they also received Michael Busch in that deal, who has provided the Cubs 7.3 fWAR over 418 games. The Cubs traded first-round pick Cam Smith for Kyle Tucker: so far in 900 PAs, Smith has had an 87 wRC+. Christopher Morel, moved for Isaac Paredes, is currently in the Mets system, hitting for their Triple-A affiliate. Going further, it's hard to find many having success elsewhere, as former second-round pick Jackson Ferris (struggling in the Dodgers' system), Ryan Gallagher (struggling in the Twins' system), and Ronny Cruz (struggling in the Nationals' system) are having a hard time finding their footing in new organizations. We shouldn't expect the Cubs to bat 1.000 on prospects; when you trade enough of them, everyone gets burned, but to this point, they haven't had a notable "miss". A very easy thing to do on deadline day is to pull up your favorite publication and scour over their top-100 list and come to the conclusion that someone is an overpay or an underpay, but time and time again we are reminded that teams don't look at Baseball America or Pipeline when they make trades and have their own systems. Rojas may have been Jim Callis' 63rd-best prospect, but the Cubs didn't act like they thought he was the 63rd-best prospect. Time will tell if the Cubs were right on this front, but so far, Jed and the Cubs have been more right than the industry has been on their prospects. And with all of the doom-and-gloom of those leaving, it's probably important to remember who's left. The Cubs still have Josiah Hartshorn, Owen Ayers, Jaxon Wiggins, Cade Townshend, Kane Kepley, and Ethan Conrad. They have a brand new draft class about to start their own professional journey. And that doesn't count barely-graduated prospects like Pedro Ramirez, who have been making an impact with the Cubs already. They're not depleted. A good thing to remember is that prospects are assets to help the MLB side of things. You get a trophy for one thing in this sport, and it isn't having the most top-100 prospects on Pipeline. Prospects can affect your team by playing for it, or by being used as currency to buy known commodities. It's okay to be sad that they lost some of their perceived future, but also fair to believe in the team's internal ability to grade their own assets. View the full article

In what may have come as a bit of a shock, the Brewers struck their biggest deal of the deadline with the St. Louis Cardinals, a notable division rival. The last time these two franchises did business was in 2015 when Milwaukee sent Jonathan Broxton to St. Louis in exchange for Malik Collymore, so it’s been a while, to say the least. What was even more surprising than the trade partner was the package. In exchange for Dustin May and JoJo Romero, the Brewers gave up Josiah Ragsdale and Alexander Frias, two highly-touted prospects. Dustin May is responsible for the bulk of the value coming to Milwaukee as he’ll reinforce an injury-ridden rotation and does carry some meaningful upside. However, JoJo Romero is no slouch either. He was mentioned on DiamondCentric’s list of Top 80 trade targets and has had a decent season with the Cardinals, posting a 3.35 ERA over 43 innings. But as a rental reliever, how much does he actually bring to the table? A quick glance at his Statcast numbers would suggest not much. The majority of his numbers are below average, and his average exit velocity of 91.3 mph places him in the fourth percentile among qualified pitchers. His 48.8% ground ball rate seems to be his only saving grace, but there must be more to the 29-year-old southpaw. The only weapon in his arsenal with a positive run value this season is his sinker, which he has used as his primary fastball offering since 2022. It’s definitely one of the pitches of all time, which, in other words, means that it’s serviceable. Opposing hitters are averaging .265 against it, which isn’t totally out of the ordinary for sinkers. What’s more concerning is the hard-hit rate, which stands at 56.1%. He has gotten somewhat lucky so far, limiting the opposing slugging percentage to just .324, but it does seem like it’s only a matter of time before that levy breaks. His secondary pitch of choice is a sweeper with quite a bit of movement. On paper, it complements his sinker well since there are 32 inches of net lateral movement between the two pitches. In practice, it has a whiff rate of just 26.9%. This is largely a location issue, as Romero lands almost half of his sweepers in the zone, which can result in considerable damage. Three of his five home runs have come against the pitch. His tertiary offering is the changeup, which has been mostly uncompetitive this year. It has a chase rate of 34.6% and a whiff rate of 30.4%, which are satisfactory by themselves but hardly enough to compensate for the 17.5% zone rate, meaning it’s landing as a waste pitch far too often to be effective. So far, this all sounds pretty underwhelming. But surely the Brewers, in their infinite wisdom, were excited about something if they wanted him included in the trade. But what is it? To start, there’s a real bullpen need for left-handed pitching. Aaron Ashby seems to be falling apart before our very eyes, posting a gruesome 6.57 ERA and 4.31 FIP since the start of June. DL Hall recently returned from the injured list, but who knows what his readiness will be like. Furthermore, both of these players profile more like starting pitchers, boasting deep arsenals and excellent stamina. Romero’s east/west tendencies seem to be what specifically made him stand out, as it’s also what Dustin May brings to the table. The Brewers don’t currently have a lot of it in their pitching staff, and adding what’s almost like a left-handed Grant Anderson in Romero gives opposing hitters yet another attack vector to prepare for. As a ground ball pitcher, he’s more reliant on the defensive capabilities of his infield, which should be better in Milwaukee. The Brewers are exceptional up the middle with Brice Turang and Cooper Pratt, and now that Joey Ortiz is spending more time at third base, he also brings his exceptional glove to the hot corner. His understudy, David Hamilton, isn’t too shabby either. Together, this defensive ensemble should augment Romero’s run prevention abilities even if his intrinsic abilities remain unchanged. There may be some pitch design changes that the Brewers decide to implement, but with two months left in the regular season, that may be asking for too much too soon. As a rental reliever, Romero’s value proposition seems to be adding a new dimension to the team’s pitching staff that synergizes well with Milwaukee’s infield defense. JoJo Romero has the potential to be a solid piece of the bullpen and will likely excel in double play situations. He doesn’t have the stuff to take the ball in high-leverage situations, but he doesn’t need to be — the Brewers already have other guys for that. If one is asked to decide whether he’s a forgettable piece of an already questionable trade or the man to finally take the Brewers to the World Series, the answer is probably something far less extreme. He’ll eat up important relief innings and get outs for the squad when needed. What more can one ask of a pitcher? View the full article

The Minnesota Twins had an active trade deadline, picking up Jeff Hoffman on deadline day, but just how much of an impact will the moves have? Was this more about Tom Pohlad backing up his words or making the team meaningfully better? View the full article

The Cubs made it clear they're all-in after adding Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, Braxton Garrett, Ryan Zeferjahn and Tyrone Taylor at the deadline. But while some of those moves look like home runs, others came with a price that was far too steep. View the full article

Lou Hennessy and Mitch Widmeier are joined by Brock Beauchamp and Jake McKibbin to discuss the Brewers deadline as it happened! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brewer-fanatic-podcast/id1740648724 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CY8mWsQayqjDXqw9OT2Td iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-brewer-fanatic-podcast-166534588/ Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/ommzz627 Watch On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@brewerfanatic View the full article

Lou Hennessy is joined by Mitch Widmeier, Jason Ross, and Cory Sparks to break down the Cubs trade deadline live as it happens! Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-north-side-baseball-podcast/id1798599313 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/75wMGhBwlrDDYPt3kaF453 Listen on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-north-side-baseball-po-268998437/ Listen on Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/eey7h6ih Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@northsidebaseball View the full article

TRANSACTIONS St. Paul Saints placed LF Kyler Fedko on the 7-day injured list. ST. PAUL SAINTS SENTINEL The Saints split their series in Omaha at 3-3 and will now turn their attention to hosting the Louisville Bats. The Saints will see some considerable prospect talent from the Reds system barring any roster action. On the hitting side, outfielder Hector Rodriguez will bring his strong hitting to town. The lefty is hitting .274/.347/.533 (.881 OPS). Fellow outfielder Carlos Jorge joins Rodriguez. Jorge has played 22 games at Triple-A and is being challenged a bit as he is hitting considerably below his Double-A numbers at .267/.305/.378 (.683 OPS). On the pitching side is old friend Chase Petty, whom the Twins traded to the Reds to acquire Sonny Gray. Petty was optioned back to Triple-A this past Thursday. Petty holds a 4.50 ERA in the majors this season, but hasn’t been able to maintain the same sort of K-rate in the majors as he has in the minors. His K-rate drops down to 10.8% when putting on a Reds uniform. WICHITA WIND SURGE WISDOM Springfield had the upper hand over Wichita this weekend, with the Wind Surge only managing one win out of the six played. They will look forward to facing NW Arkansas and seeing if they can collectively turn things around this week. The Wind Surge will see outfielder Carson Roccaforte, who ranks ninth on Royals Keep’s top prospect list. The 24-year-old is hitting .247/.334/.506 (.841 OPS). There is also a trio of pitchers just outside the top ten on Royals Keep's list. Left-hander Justin Lamkin, in only two starts thus far, has a 3.97 ERA at Double-A and a 34.9% K-rate. Right-hander Drew Beam is headed in the wrong direction with a 7.13 ERA. Lastly is Felix Arronde, who in 17 starts has a 5.77 ERA, 20.1% K-rate, and 11.1% walk-rate. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids spent a lot of time losing this last week; in fact, the entire week was filled with a loss. They will turn the page and visit South Bend and take on the Cubs. Unfortunately for the Kernels, South Bend isn’t exactly an easier matchup, largely because of some high-end organizational prospect talent. That includes a top-50 prospect nationally and North Side Baseball’s number two prospect, Josiah Hartshorn. At High-A, Hartshorn has hit .279/.377/.532 (.909 OPS) with 11 home runs. There is also number six prospect, outfielder Kane Kepley, who is hitting .254/.435/.414 (.849 OPS). FORT MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS MATTERS Fort Myers went 3-3 over the past week while visiting Palm Beach. What was exciting about the past week in Florida was that many of the Twins top draft picks from this year's draft began to play in real games at this level. First-round pick Vahn Lackey was able to show off all the tools that led to him being the Twins pick. Carson Tinnney, the other catcher taken in the second round, quickly showed off the power that made him intriguing regardless of what position he ends up at as he develops. The Mussels will hope some of their new talent will help them improve on their performance against Bradenton, whom they travel to face off against this week, and last time went 1-4 against. Middle infielder Johan De Los Santos continues to be the most exciting prospect for the Pirates on Bradenton’s roster. His adjustment to the level has not gone smoothly as he is hitting .218/.258/.310 (.568 OPS). DSL TWINS Twins 4, Phillies 6 Box Score The Phillies jumped on Twins starter Agustin Campusano in the second inning to take an early 3-0 lead. The Phillies didn’t hit Campusano with any big blasts in the inning, with Nelson Prieto’s double being the loudest hit. Instead, it was a series of singles, sacrifices, a throwing error, and a balk that put them on the scoreboard. The Twins did answer in the second, taking advantage of an Abel Sosa walk and an Anibal Beltre hit-by-pitch. That led to a strange series of events centered around a ground out by Fabian Ulloa, which led to Sosa scoring the Twins a run to make it 3-1. It was in that same play that the inning eventually ended, as the Phillies recorded the final two outs after the run-scoring hit. Sosa did score two runs on Monday after reaching base on two walks. Daiyer Barboza may have had the most exciting hit of the day, recording an inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning, bringing the score to 5-3 in the Phillies favor. That was Barboza’s only hit of the day alongside two walks, bringing his year-long OPS to .870. In the next inning, Enmanuel Merlo tripled to put himself in position to score off of a single by Beltre. Merlo added a walk to his triple. The Twins did finish the day with eight total walks, doubling up their four hits. Miguel Martinez gave the Twins two solid innings out of the bullpen Monday. The right-hander pitched two innings, gave up two hits, walked no one, and struck out three batters. Campusano was charged with four earned runs while giving up five total, walked one batter, and struck out one batter. The Twins were very much in this game most of the way, but in the end could not overcome the early second inning runs. The team will look to rebound against Mets Orange tomorrow. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Daiyer Barboza: 1-2, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 RBI, 1 HR Miguel Martinez: 2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K TOP 20 PROSPECT WEEK IN REVIEW #1- Walker Jenkins (Saints)- .368/.478/.474, .952 OPS, 2 2B #2- Vahn Lackey (Mussels)- .286/.500/.286, .786, 2 SB #3- Kaelen Culpepper (Saints)- .190/.227/.238, .465 OPS, 1 2B, 1 SB #4- Emmanuel Rodriguez (Rehab)- .286/.333/.429, .762 OPS, 1 3B #5- Marek Houston (Wind Surge)- .318/.375/.727, 1.102 OPS, 3 2B, 2 HR, 2 SB #6- Riley Quick (Wind Surge)- 2 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K #7- Eduardo Tait (Kernels)- .296/.321/.444, .766 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR #8- Kendry Rojas (Twins)- 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K #9- Dasan Hill (Kernels)- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K #10- Hendry Mendez (Saints)- .353/.429/.647, 1.076 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR #11- Gabriel Gonzalez (Saints)- .000/.125/.000, .125 OPS #13- Carson Tinney (Mussels)- .167/.474/.417, .890 OPS, 1 HR #14- Khadim Diaw (Wind Surge)- .375/.444/.375, .819 OPS #15- Brandon Winokur (Wind Surge)- .150/.292/.300, .592 OPS, 1 HR, 1 SB #17- Quentin Young (Mussels)- .385/.500/.769, 1.269 OPS, 1 3B, 1 HR #18- Ryan Gallagher (Saints)- 5 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Louisville @ St. Paul Saints- LHP Aaron Rozek Wichita Wind Surge @ NW Arkansas- RHP Chris Vallimont Cedar Rapids Kernels @ South Bend- TBD Fort Myers Mighty Mussels @ Bradenton- RHP Eric Hammond DSL Twins @ DSL Mets Orange- TBD View the full article

"I just follow the card," Luke Keaschall said last week, standing in the home dugout at Target Field. "I take the card Grady makes for me and go where he tells me." Keaschall has been an outfielder for just over a month now and racked up 246 innings there so far, with 137 of those innings coming in center field. He's doing his best to sand off the rough edges, but he's a confident athlete who wants to trust his instincts and play without fear. He's highly complimentary of Sizemore, who wants the same things. "He just tells us to be free, be relaxed and ready out there," Keaschall said. "He wants us to be comfortable and go get the ball; pretty simple." It is. It also isn't, and there seems to be a key detail Keaschall, Sizemore and the Twins have overlooked. As Cody Schoenmann wrote last month, Keaschall has been playing deeper in center field than almost anyone else in the sport, often to the detriment of his ability to catch lazy fly balls. After Keaschall noted that the positioning card with which the team furnishes him indicates in which direction and by how much to shade each batter, I asked how he and Sizemore set his initial position. Therein, as it turns out, lies the rub: It's all Keaschall. Trying to preserve his comfort, the Twins have been hands-off when it comes to setting the default starting spot for Keaschall in center. He adjusts based on information from batter to batter, but his anchor—his starting point, taking the batter's tendencies out of the equation—is his own to drop. That's a mistake, and it's become a glaring one. When a ball falls in front of Keaschall because of a poor read or a mistaken last-second adjustment—two things we've seen happen to him multiple times already—that's understandable. Even great athletes need time to learn the nuances and to get accustomed to the specific skills of playing a new position. Over the weekend, we saw the latest instance of that, when Keaschall was unable to catch a ball that had a 90% catch probability, based on his starting position, the landing point of the ball and the hang time on the ball. He took a bad route, and when he did bend his run in toward the sinking liner, he did so too hesitantly. SzRCcjJfWGw0TUFRPT1fQVFnRFhRQlhVRlFBVzFVSEJBQUhBRklEQUFCUVZGZ0FDMUZYVVFWWFVBWUhWZ2Rm.mp4 However, just as often, we're seeing Keaschall prove unable to catch balls that should have been not only catchable, but easy. They're not even counting against him in some defensive metrics, because based on his starting position, they were uncatchable—but that's an indictment of his starting position, which he and the Twins say is his own to determine right now. This ball, which Keaschall misplayed into a triple, counts against him almost only because of the extra bases he allowed by mishandling the ball, according to Statcast. It gives the liner a 5% catch probability. But if Keaschall had been playing 10 feet shallower (as he unequivocally should have been, against low-power Nico Hoerner), that expected catch rate would be much, much higher. Whether Keaschall himself would have gotten to the ball is a fair question, but by starting so deep, he gave himself no chance. SzRCWmxfWGw0TUFRPT1fRGdBSFZBWU1CVlFBWFZSVEFnQUhBUUJmQUFBRlZWRUFWMUFIQWdGV0NRb0RBZ1pV.mp4 One reason for the Twins' willingness to let Keaschall play so deep, manager Derek Shelton indicated, is so he can feel less fear and be at less risk when going back toward the wall. That benefit hasn't materialized, though. More than once, Keaschall has gotten too close to the wall and had the ball carom past him. More than once, he's short-armed possible catches as he nears the wall, bracing for impact rather than making the play. Meanwhile, he's been forced to charge in an out-of-control way on liners in front of him, often with disastrous results. The coaching staff needs to intervene, rather than passively waiting for Keaschall to get more comfortable and move in a few steps. They need to address this issue immediately, to clean up their defense at a vital spot while Byron Buxton remains on the injured list. Unless and until they do, Sizemore's capacity to influence his pupils will go to waste where Keaschall is concerned. View the full article

As the trade deadline dust settled on Monday night, the Minnesota Twins couldn't be blamed for lack of trying in 2026. But more importantly, Tom Pohlad made good on his promise from this spring. Money went out of his pocket and into the team. In all, an estimated $8.5 million was added to the team's payroll, bringing the total up to $113 million. That might not seem like much in the long run, and given some of the names bandied about, it’s less than some fans might want. But this is still ultimately a .500 team in an evenly competitive fight among not just two other AL Central teams, but a handful of Wild Card hopefuls. With no reason to cash in all the chips, it did what a normal team with a normal payroll would do: quietly buy, but not by running straight to the bargain bin. During Joe Pohlad’s tenure (not to mention Jim's), the trade deadline became a nonsensical spectacle. Despite working with much higher payrolls then than they are right now (adjusted for baseball inflation, at least), the deadline always became an awkward moment where the team asked fans to look the other way. That resulted in two near-silent deadlines, despite the potential of the team, followed by an event that's still scarring much of the fanbase. Not for Tom’s pesky Twins. They got a big infusion of talent, via a big infusion of money. So how big was this trade deadline? I put the numbers together, looking at not just how much more money was taken on, but the actual percentage of payroll added during the season over the last decade. (Some numbers are rough estimates, but the results are largely in the same range.) Player Acquired Player Sent Out Money In Money Out 2017 Jaime Garcia Prospect $4,500,000 Anthony Recker Prospect $800,000 $100,000 (Provided by Braves) Zack Littel + Dietrich Enns Jaime Garcia $75,988 (Twins Covered Garcia's Salary) Prospect + $500,000 International Bonus Pool Money Brandon Kintzer $1,506,992 Total Payroll Added $3,768,996 Total Payroll $108,102,500 Percent Gain 3.49% 2019 Sergio Romo Prospects $873,665 Sam Dyson Prospects $1,639,802 Total Payroll Added $2,513,467 Total Payroll $119,651,933 Percent Gain 2.10% 2022 Tyler Mahle Prospects $1,828,544 Michael Fulmer Prospects $1,740,672 Jorge Lopez Prospects $527,488 Total Payroll Added $4,096,704 Total Payroll $134,408,190 Percent Gain 3.05% 2023 Dylan Floro Jorge Lopez $1,383,888 $1,999,168 Total Payroll Added -$615,280 Total Payroll $153,713,740 Percent Gain -0.40% 2024 Trevor Richards Prospect $693,540 Total Payroll Added $693,540 Total Payroll $129,080,051 Percent Gain 0.54% 2026 Dean Kremer Prospect $1,752,693 AJ Minter Prospect $3,411,792 Jeff Hoffman (Assuming 60 IP+) Prospects + Intl Bonus Pool Money $3,727,160 $250,000 Total Payroll Added $8,641,645 Total Payroll $113,000,000 Percent Gain 7.65% (For this calculation, I included Hoffman’s first pitching incentive, which begins at 60 IP. He currently sits at 48, and as long as the team remains competitive, he should reach it easily. If he goes 70 somehow, the team will kick in another $500,000.) As shown, the Twins have never before increased their payroll by over 5% of their current setup. (Obviously, we're not looking back at all of team history, but the previous clubs were even more skinflint than they've been lately, and these are the winning teams (therefore, the ones worth adding money to) since Derek Falvey took over.) Just as starkly, the raw dollars spent doubled even the biggest increase before this, in 2022. Of course, much of this began with payroll sitting so low in comparison, but neither Hoffman nor Minter came cheaply. They came at standard reliever prices that previous administrations would have likely balked at. Even with the $3 million and change covered by Toronto for 2027 (as reported), Hoffman is now the biggest acquisition by the Twins at the deadline. He actually ranks quite high compared to the biggest payroll splashes made by other teams, too. Just look at the money spent on big names over the years in comparison: Year Twins' "Big" Deal Money In MLB's Biggest Deal Money In 2017 Jaime Garcia $4.5 Million Justin Verlander to Astros $40 Million 2019 Sam Dyson $1.63 Million Zack Greinke to Astros $53 Million 2022 Tyler Mahle $1.83 Million Eric Hosmer to Red Sox $39 Million 2024 Trevor Richards $0.69 Million Jorge Soler to Braves $30 Million 2025 Jeff Hoffman $11 Million Luis Castillo to White Sox $30 Million In the past, the Twins have usually spent less than 10% of what was spent on the most expensive player league-wide. This year, they're on the high side of 30% of that figure; they took on a big bill for Hoffman. Another way to think about this: the Dodgers are spending about $9.58 million—the largest of any player's annual average value—to acquire Tarik Skubal at the deadline, along with some mostly waiver pick-ups. The Twins might be far behind in payroll, but they're not far away from having spent more at the deadline than the Dodgers did. As one of the long-tenured Pohlad skeptics, I've always questioned what Tom Pohlad might do. You might scoff at the Twins not getting Zack Neto or otherwise landing a bigger name, but the most important thing happened in Twins trade deadline history: money was not the impediment to the goal. Jeremy Zoll set out to buy relievers, and buy relievers he did. Now, the rest is up to the team. View the full article

Well, that was fun. What an insane, fast-paced, chaotic trade deadline 2026 delivered. As many observed during the heat and smoke of it, the day felt virtually the opposite of the way the 2025 deadline did. That day, though the Cubs technically made a couple of fine moves, no one was blown away. No one was even especially moved. This year, when the dust settled, the Chicago Cubs came away with five new players: Clay Holmes, Ryan Zeferjahn, Braxton Garrett, Kevin Gausman and Tyrone Taylor. With the additions will come roster moves that must eventually be made, and roles will be shifted up and down the roster for the remainder of the season. Let's dive into what will change for the final two months of the season, and what it all means for the team's chances. Starting Rotation Let's start with the rotation. Three starting pitchers were added, but it will only be Gausman and Holmes who go straight into the starting rotation. Garrett has pitched to a 14.54 ERA in 4 1/3 innings in the majors this season and was working at the Marlins' Triple-A affiliate; he'll start at Iowa and get a chance to work with Cubs coaches outside the limelight. Along with incoming roster moves for Gausman and Holmes, the Cubs could also soon be getting Edward Cabrera back. Holmes has made three rehab starts already in his return from a broken leg, throwing 51 pitches on July 23; 59 on July 28; and 73 on August 2. He'll meet with the team before deciding on the next steps, but it's likely that he'll be ready for reinstatement and to pitch in the majors at the end of this week. Gausman is tabbed to start Thursday against the Blue Jays (his former team), when Toronto is likely to send Jameson Taillon to the bump at Wrigley Field against the Cubs (his former team). Cabrera, meanwhile, threw 43 pitches in his first rehab start after a major muscle strain suffered back in late June; he's likely to come back closer to the end of this month. As each hurler joins the squad, who will be pushed into a new role, or off the roster altogether? The most likely scenario would be Javier Assad being optioned back to Triple-A. That would be a bitter pill for Assad to swallow, as he's consistently proved he's a capable starter at the big-league level and has generally answered admirably when his number has been called. Unfortunately, though, after he makes his scheduled start on Tuesday, Assad will not have a path to stay in the rotation or the bullpen, barring further attrition somewhere in the pitching staff. By the beginning of next week, the rotation should include Gausman, Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, David Peterson, and Holmes. Bullpen Zeferjahn was the only bullpen move made, meaning the decisions there will be a bit easier. When Holmes joins the rotation, though, Rea will slide from the rotation to the bullpen, so the team needs to create two new openings. Jacob Webb, Caleb Thielbar, Zeferjahn, Ryan Rolison and Rea have safe places on the depth chart. Everyone else's place is in peril for a while. Trent Thornton will probably survive the first round of cuts, because he's not optionable. Neither are Aaron Civale or Jake Woodford, but those two came to the Cubs as flotsam and could rapidly become jetsam. However, since Antoine Kelly and Tyler Ferguson are both optionable, they might be bumped to Iowa rather than lose any member of the team from the organization. The roster decisions will get tricky when everyone is healthy and ready to come back. Some tough decisions will ultimately have to be made, especially upon the relatively imminent returns of Daniel Palencia and Hoby Milner. More pitchers might hit the injured list, but the team now has so much starting and relief depth that they could face a roster crunch at some point in the latter part of August. Lineup Taylor was the lone bat the Cubs added at the deadline, and Monday's lineup may give a clear indication of what his role will be. Chicago was up against left-hander Justin Wrobleski, and it was the freshly-recalled Kevin Alcántara who got the start in left field over Ian Happ. Alcántara is in his final year of eligiblity to be optioned, and since he wasn't traded, the Cubs now need to get a meaningful look at him in the majors before the offseason. Taylor's playing time might be sparse, especially once the team finishes cycling through days off for each regular amid a long stretch between off days on the schedule. Alcántara will have to get some reps, and the Cubs affirmed their commitment to do that by calling him up at the expense of Justin Dean. Taylor, then, will take on Dean's vacated role, filling in as a backup across the outfield and spelling any of several Cubs hitters against left-handed pitchers. That's a good gig for him; his slash line of .301/.311/.589 against lefties is worlds better than Happ's line of .158/.232/.298. We could immediately see James Triantos sent back to Iowa. Unlike Alcántara, Triantos can still be optioned to the minors next season, and more importantly, it's not clear that Triantos is needed. With Pedro Ramírez around to back up multiple infield positions, the team can option Triantos and use Alcántara, Taylor and Michael Conforto to play matchups at designated hitter and in the outfield. Matt Shaw is making material progress toward a return from his second injury of the year. Eventually, he might return, too, forcing Alcántara (or Triantos, if he's the one kept up after Taylor's arrival) back to Iowa. In any case, though Taylor gives the team more depth and more danger against left-handed pitchers, as well as another athlete in the outfield. Two days ago, the Cubs were desperate for better depth. They're now a much, much deeper club, ready to challenge for a deep run in the postseason. The roster is bursting at the seams. Injuries will erode that excess quickly, but for now, the team can luxuriate a bit in its newfound multitude of options. View the full article

He's faced plenty of well-earned criticism throughout his tenure, but Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has occasionally been able to flip the narrative in his favor. We saw it when he traded for Kyle Tucker prior to the 2025 season. We saw it manifest in a different way with the signing of Alex Bregman, followed by the acquisition of Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins. An executive known for being among the game's most conservative was willing to push the chips in if he felt the fit was there. Moves of that magnitude have reshaped perception of Hoyer a bit recently. Additional criticisms have persisted, though. Chief among them is Hoyer's tendency to go conservative on the other end of the roster. Rather than address the shortcomings of a group with surefire solutions, his reign atop the front office hierarchy has been marked by half-measures. The 2024 team acquired Isaac Paredes, Nate Pearson, and a couple of minor-league fliers for a team that finished middle-of-the-pack in their production from the mound. Last year, it was Willi Castro, Michael Soroka, Andrew Kittredge, and Taylor Rogers. Needs were addressed, but in a way that spoke to more of an on-paper sense and allowed Hoyer to preserve his farm system above all. It's the type of trend we've seen from Hoyer in working to fill out the fringes of a roster. He's made a bad habit of building bad benches. On the mound, he's chased reclamation projects, rather than paying top dollar for established entities. He took a step toward dispelling both critiques, however, with an uncharacteristically aggressive approach to this year's trade deadline. The Cubs entered the 2026 trading frenzy with extremely clear needs. A rash of injuries has left them depleted in the rotation all year, with those woes spilling over into the relief corps. Starting pitching was the focus above all, with innings coverage needed and playoff-caliber upside still in short supply. Relief help was a secondary but major need, too. The Cubs bullpen has stabilized in the wake of myriad injuries, but further help was needed. At the bottom of the list (but still noteworthy) was a right-handed bat to combat the volume of left-handed pitchers they'd be liable to face come playoff time. Hoyer was able to strike to address all three in the most impactful ways possible. While he didn't morph into an executive from the same stratum as someone like A.J. Preller and sell the farm entirely, he stood far less on sentiment here. Prospects with actual name recognition in the system—Jefferson Rojas, Moisés Ballesteros, Jonathon Long, Brett Bateman, and Mason McGwire among them—were sent out for players who can help the Cubs immediately. In Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes, and Braxton Garrett, Hoyer addressed his team's need for starting pitching almost entirely. Gausman is an innings-eater with actual playoff experience. Holmes, upon his return from a broken leg, offers additional stability in the middle of the rotation. Garrett has flashed upside as recently as 2023, though injuries have derailed him. He offers medium-term team control, and can still be optioned to the minor leagues while he tries to unlock his fujl skill set again. He's the least exciting of the three, but he adds additional flexibility to a starting group that sorely needed it. From there, you get into how this could lead to arms currently starting transitioning into relief roles. Javier Assad or Colin Rea could extend their value by working out of the bullpen. That alone adds depth, in addition to the acquisition of Ryan Zeferjahn, who should see his strong peripherals play up to the front of the stat sheet with an elite defense behind him. And in Tyrone Taylor, the Cubs get a lefty masher that can compensate for Ian Happ's absence of productivity against pitchers of that handedness (and work as a solid bench bat in a general sense). These aren't half measures. All told, Hoyer moved four prospects from our top-20 list and another that had just graduated from it. The players acquired aren't the types we've grown accustomed to seeing from Jed Hoyer this time of year. There's actual value in what they can provide down the stretch in 2026. The change of tack is not necessarily indicative of a change in philosophy for Hoyer himself. More than anything, it speaks to the faith Hoyer has in this year's group. This is a roster that features one of the league's most productive offensive groups and a defense that far exceeds that of its peers across the league. The jury very much still may be out on the quality of Jed Hoyer as an executive. But good executives move in a shrewd fashion when things are aligned correctly within their organization. Hoyer just did a thing that good executives do. View the full article