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Tyrone Taylor’s strong start has created an interesting Cubs outfield dilemma. With Matt Shaw nearing a return, what does that mean for Taylor, and could Kevin Alcántara once again be the odd man out? View the full article

The Boston Red Sox are 5-1 in the six starts since Ranger Suarez returned from the injured list on July 26. In his last three starts, he has started to increase his pitch volume to more than 80. Amid the adjustments during these outings, Suárez has seen his strikeout rate drop by 8.4%, while walks have increased by 2.7%. That lack of strikeouts and the increase in on-base percentage have pushed his FIP to 4.61 during this stretch, well above the 3.25 he recorded in his 17 starts before going on the injured list. Opposing hitters are taking advantage by attacking him more in the strike zone and have improved contact by a slight 3.3%. They are also chasing more (11.1%), due to the mix of his secondary pitches, the cutter, changeup, and curveball. However, there is a problem Suárez has to solve, and it does not exactly correspond to his return: his inconsistency with the sinker. Month/Year RHB% LHB% PA SO% HR xBA xSLG xwOBA Whiff% PutAway% 4 / 2026 68.2% 31.8% 53 17.0% 0 .294 .371 .334 11.1 27.3 5 / 2026 52.0% 48.0% 26 23.1% 1 .262 .377 .325 23.3 33.3 6 / 2026 38.4% 61.6% 28 21.4% 1 .300 .465 .358 13.6 23.1 7 / 2026 45.7% 54.3% 12 8.3% 0 .365 .439 .351 14.3 14.3 8 / 2026 47.8% 52.2% 21 9.5% 1 .398 .568 .446 3.8 11.1 Since last June, Suárez has been using his sinker much more against left-handed hitters. The results we see in this summary are general and show the combined adjustment of both profiles against his sinker. More contact, more power, and fewer swings and misses. The PutAway% from this last month gives us a preview that Suárez has stopped using the sinker as a weapon to finish his most important counts. Since returning from the injured list, the xwOBA has skyrocketed to another level. All of that is clear. But the big difference here is not being made by right-handed hitters. It is left-handed hitters who are getting most of the quality at-bats against Suárez. And that is not the worst part. Over the last four seasons, that trend has continued to increase against the sinker. Period L/R Pitches PA K% BB% HR% xBA xOBP xSLG xwOBA BABIP Whiff% EV (MPH) Hard Hit% Barrel/BBE% 2023-2026 LHP 825 265 13.2 2.6 3.0% .271 .307 .400 .311 .298 12.1 84.0 31.0 5.1 2026 LHP 203 63 17.5 1.6 3.2% .280 .302 .407 .309 .375 17.3 83.4 32.0 6.0 Difference LHP -622 -202 4.3 -1.0 0.2% .009 -.005 .007 -.002 .077 5.2 -0.6 1.0 0.9 This comparison better contextualizes the situation. The expected metrics remain in a similar range, but BABIP has skyrocketed from a not very consistent .298 to a dangerous .375. Suárez has stopped striking hitters out and getting swings and misses at a concerning rate this year, while hitters have made a small jump in the quality of their contact. Run Value/100 pitches probably summarizes it better, taking each of those situations into account. In 2021, the season when the sinker looked like the best pitch in his arsenal, Suárez recorded 2.6 RV/100 with a .202 xBA allowed. Last year, it dropped to -0.3, and this year he is at -0.2, with a .312 xBA, the highest since 2020. That said, let’s look at the next part of the problem: where he throws his sinker and how the opposition is responding. Here we have the 2026 stretch (chart on the left) vs. 2023-2026 when he throws his sinker against left-handed hitters. I don’t think it is difficult to notice where Suárez is having problems: pitches located in the vertical middle part toward the inside of the strike zone. Hitters are destroying his sinker inside because of two key problems: he lost velocity and lateral movement, two characteristics that made it a more difficult pitch to decipher. In 2026, his sinker is averaging just 90.3 mph, and 89.9 since he returned from the injured list. On the other hand, he lost more than two inches of horizontal break toward the hitter’s hands, dropping from 16.0" between 2021-2023 to 13.8" this year, below average. Added to that loss of bite is greater induced vertical break (6.2" IVB), which takes away depth from the “sinking” action. The result of what might look like a slight loss in velocity and break is making a big difference in favor of the hitters, who are taking advantage of the sinker, which now stays in the strike zone for longer periods of time. Ranger Suárez’s next start will be against the Yankees, and it'll be fascinating to see if he tries to buck this recent trend. If he continues to take pressure off the sinker in key situations, he will have to find another way to compensate for it. For the Red Sox, the best news would be for his adjustments to begin giving him the necessary turn to bring back the best version of his arsenal. View the full article

Since Zac Thornton came back from the injured list, he has pitched to a 3-3 record with a 2.42 ERA in 10 starts with the New York Mets. He has achieved part of that dominance with a strikeout rate of 6.4 K/9, the second-lowest among the 14 starting pitchers who have accumulated at least 50 innings and a 2.40 ERA or lower in the same span. Only Brandon Pfaadt, the right-hander of the Arizona Diamondbacks, has had a lower strikeout rate (5.5). I’ll start by saying that I love Thornton and value what he has done to recover and return to the mound. He has personality, attacks the strike zone, and possesses an interesting combination in his stuff. However, although I want to be optimistic, I think he has lived on the tightrope for too long. His four-seam fastball and his sinker do not impose themselves enough to garner tremendous respect. That makes him a vulnerable pitcher and, at the same time, dependent on his defense, which is fatal in many situations where he needs to avoid contact. I firmly believe that this version of dominance that we are seeing will not remain for long if Thornton does not begin to make immediate adjustments. During August, he has thrown fastballs 72.6% of the time when batters have been ahead in the count. What has been the result? He has allowed a .561 xSLG in 25 plate appearances. The distribution of his repertoire reveals a contradiction. Thornton is building his strategy based on the cutter and the four-seam fastball, but those have been the pitches that are generating the fewest swings and misses. Instead, the sweeper and the curveball, which he usually uses to attack the corners and try to get ahead in the count, are his pitches with the best results. That said, there is something very clear here: batters know that Thornton does not have high velocity on his fastball, which gives them some margin of error to better identify his pitches. Where Thornton has the advantage is in the command of his pitches. The +10 run value that Thornton has gotten in the heart of the zone also helps to understand how he is surviving with so few strikeouts. He has generated +6 runs of value when batters swing and another +4 when he decides to attack the zone without being punished, which is allowing him to move ahead in counts. However, we have a bigger problem here: the disadvantage in his profile against right-handed batters. While Thornton has held left-handed batters to a line of .194/.239/.239 and .218 BABIP, right-handers are doing the most damage with a .273/.325/.424 slash and .308 BABIP. The following graphic better describes where his pitches have been more exposed against right-handed batters. Thornton is working the edges of the zone better, where he has limited the average. But in the middle is the warning: they have hit him at just .227, while the xBA is .401. He is getting very favorable results in an area where the quality of the contacts should be favoring the batters much more. He has also had luck when they hit the pitches in the high corners, inside and outside, with differences of .128 and .198, respectively. Once the pitches move away at the edges of the strike zone, the expectations change noticeably. Frequently, right-handed batters are being more aggressive against Thornton the first time they see his pitches in the game. They are also producing more frequently, recording a rate of 16.0 HR/FB%. Then, they have adjusted their swing and, for the second time they face him, their O-Swings% rate has fallen by 8.0%. They hit more line drives as well, yielding a quality in the contact that has also caused the reduction in the K/BB rate from 3.00 to 1.86. So, it is clear that Thornton is not going to overcome most of the problems with his fastball with much more velocity. Although it was good news that his four-seam fastball reached the highest peak in velocity (93.1 mph) during his most recent start, when he threw six innings and left the Milwaukee Brewers at one run this past Tuesday, Thornton will have to redefine his attack strategy, especially against right-handed batters. He has a good reason to trust more in the consistency of his secondary pitches, which could prove the next stage in his evolution as an MLB starter. View the full article

There is no way to know whether Walker Jenkins would have changed the Minnesota Twins' season. That is the uncomfortable part of this conversation. Maybe he would have arrived at Target Field and struggled. Maybe the transition to the majors would have exposed areas of his game that haven't been tested at Triple-A. Maybe he would have needed a few weeks to adjust before becoming the impact hitter everyone expects him to be. Or maybe he would have helped the Twins win just enough games to change the shape of their season. At this point, that possibility is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The Twins entered Thursday 64-70, four games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the American League's final Wild Card spot. Their playoff odds have fallen to roughly 10 percent after Minnesota was swept by San Diego and dropped two of three games to the Athletics. And while there are plenty of reasons for the collapse, the Twins' decision to leave Jenkins in Triple-A is one that deserves another look. Not because Jenkins was guaranteed to be a superstar immediately. Because Minnesota had a glaring need for an impact bat, and its best option happened to be putting together one of the best offensive stretches in the organization. The Situation Changed When Jeremy Zoll explained earlier this month why Jenkins had not been promoted, his reasoning was understandable. The Twins wanted to make sure there was a legitimate opportunity for Jenkins to play every day. Calling up a top prospect only to have him sit on the bench isn't particularly beneficial for his development. Zoll also pointed to Kaelen Culpepper's promotion as an example of how opportunity matters when deciding when to move a prospect to the majors. That is a reasonable philosophy. But baseball seasons don't stay static. The situation changed. By the middle of August, Byron Buxton was dealing with another hip issue. The outfield mix became less stable. Minnesota needed offense, and suddenly the theoretical opportunity for Jenkins was sitting right in front of the organization. At the same time, Jenkins was making the decision harder with virtually every game he played. In the first 16 August games, he hit .415/.493/.800 with a 1.293 OPS, seven home runs and six stolen bases. He followed that by continuing to produce during the final week of the month, including another home run on Thursday. At some point, keeping a player in Triple-A stops being about whether he has something left to prove. Jenkins reached that point. Development Matters, But So Does Winning The Twins deserve credit for being deliberate with Jenkins. He missed a significant portion of the season after suffering a shoulder injury, and rushing him back would have been irresponsible. Player development should never be dictated solely by public pressure. But there is a difference between rushing a player and recognizing when a player has become ready. Jenkins' performance suggests he reached that stage. He had already been performing at Triple-A for months, and his August production was not simply a small sample fueled by a few fortunate games. He was showing power, plate discipline, speed and the ability to impact games in multiple ways. The Twins also weren't operating as a rebuilding team. They bought at the trade deadline. They added Jeff Hoffman, Dean Kremer and A.J. Minter because they believed this team had a chance to play meaningful baseball in September. They promoted Culpepper because they believed he could help them win now. That makes the decision to keep Jenkins in Triple-A more difficult to reconcile. You can't spend the final week of July and the first week of August behaving like a team trying to make the playoffs, then suddenly become entirely focused on preserving a prospect's developmental timeline when the roster needs help. Did Jenkins Cost the Twins a Playoff Spot? This is where the argument needs some restraint. Saying Jenkins definitely cost Minnesota a playoff berth would be impossible to prove. The Twins have lost games for countless reasons. Their pitching has been inconsistent. Their best players have dealt with injuries. The schedule hasn't always been kind. And Minnesota has simply played poor baseball for stretches. Jenkins alone cannot fix that. But the question isn't whether Jenkins would have single-handedly carried Minnesota into October. The question is whether he could have provided enough value over the weeks leading into this collapse to make a difference. That's a much more reasonable question. The Twins were sitting in the Wild Card picture just over a week ago. Now they are four games back, with their postseason odds falling from nearly 40 percent to roughly 10 percent in just over a week. When the margin is that thin, one or two wins can completely change the conversation. Maybe Jenkins gives them one extra hit. Maybe he makes one catch. Maybe he takes one extra-base hit away from an opposing pitcher. Maybe he doesn't do any of those things. But Minnesota had an elite prospect producing at a ridiculous level in Triple-A while its major-league outfield was dealing with injuries and inconsistency. At some point, the risk of calling him up becomes smaller than the risk of leaving him there. The Bigger Lesson The Twins shouldn't regret being careful with Jenkins. They should regret not recognizing when the circumstances changed. There is a difference between protecting a prospect and protecting yourself from making a difficult decision. Jenkins' long-term future is far more important than the final 30-plus games of the 2026 season. But the organization also spent much of the summer telling everyone through its actions that it believed this team could contend. That meant maximizing the roster. And Jenkins was becoming increasingly difficult to leave off it. Maybe the Twins eventually call him up and he struggles. Maybe they call him up next week and his arrival comes too late to matter. That's baseball. But when Minnesota looks back at a season that could end just short of the playoffs, Jenkins' time in Triple-A will be one of the obvious "what if?" questions. The answer may never be known. Still, watching the Twins stumble through an injury-plagued August while Jenkins tears apart Triple-A pitching makes one thing increasingly clear: The Twins probably didn't need Walker Jenkins to become a star this summer. They simply needed to find out whether he could help them win. And they may have waited too long to find out. Did the Twins wait too long to call up Jenkins? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

Walker Jenkins is officially a Twin, and he’s joining a group that could define Minnesota’s next era. With Kaelen Culpepper, Connor Prielipp, and Andrew Morris already making their mark, the future is arriving sooner than expected. View the full article

The Sounds and Shuckers grabbed victories. Not so for the Timber Rattlers and Warbirds, as those two squads hope to win their home game finales for 2026 on Sunday. We spotlight Rylan Mills at Wilson. Transactions: OF Luis Matos transferred to AAA Nashville’s 60-day injured list from 7-day injured list RHP Quinton Low transferred to High-A Wisconsin’s 60-day injured list from 7-day injured list Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes (unavailable) Final: Nashville 13, Jacksonville (Marlins) 5 Box Score and Game Log Via the Sounds, game details, and we encourage readers to always review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine: Sounds Crush Jumbo Shrimp in Lopsided Win As always, nobody competes with the Sounds for details provided. Outside of the "OurSportsCentral" link we provide here, when the summary isn't on the Nashville site, very few eyes have access to it. Please take advantage and complete your review. Always fun when the box score includes four taters: HR: Naylor, B (11, 3rd inning off Milbrandt, 1 on, 2 out); Baddoo (10, 3rd inning off Milbrandt, 2 on, 2 out); Garcia, E (4, 4th inning off Milbrandt, 1 on, 1 out); Quero (14, 9th inning off Miller, G, 1 on, 0 out). Couple of things on the home run video clips - at least three times the Jacksonville booth was in the midst of an interview, so that's always a risk and makes for an awkward replay. Also, Jeferson Quero took advantage of a position player. For this road game, the Sounds socials didn't include the visuals, so click on each name above to view the home runs beyond the one Spencer provides here: Additional Naylor and Ethan Murray RBI knocks were also of the position-player-on-the-mound variety, links provided if you're into the piling on scene. On the mound, RH reliever Kaleb Bowman helped keep LH starter Tate Kuehner's line in check. Eleven rehab appearances for RH reliever Joel Kuhnel, the last ten of them scoreless (game log). Even so, within the next couple of days, his status (likely DFA?) will be determined. For his sake, he's been pulling in MLB pay during the Nashville stint. RHP Tyson Hardin entered in the 6th and finished up, the exact thinking being what - limit innings, prepare for unlikely MLB postseason relief, too early in the AM to overthink it. NOTE: Why our "as it happens" Minor League Forum thread is often appreciated - brief note on 3B Luke Adams' exit as part of the action in the top of the first. Catch up with the latest Biloxi pre-game audio interview archives - Latest with Tech Ops. Intern Nate Sanchez Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Biloxi 4, Knoxville (Cubs) 3 Box Score and Game Log Shuckers Walk Off Smokies with Three-Run Ninth Inning - Smith, Hodges allow one run across 4.2 relief innings, Keith records multi-hit night Early, then a long drought, then late! VIDEO: The 9th inning rally included this unique Damon Keith RBI single. Then, this: Andrew Fischer, playing first base, walked and scored in the 9th. He did strike out in his other three at-bats, for those who follow (or choose to ignore) that aspect of his game. Guessing it's close to a 50-50 split on that among Brewers prospect followers. LHP J.D. Thompson has walked 31 and plunked three in 46.1 innings between High-A and AA in his debut season. Work to do this offseason to be sure... Love that the game summary gave proper credit to RH relievers Travis Smith and Garrett Hodges, deservedly so. Luis Pena back immediately after his Friday "funny bone" HBP exit. Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes (download link) Final: South Bend (Cubs) 7, Wisconsin 6 Box Score and Game Log Via the Timber Rattlers, game details: Rattlers Comeback Falls Short against South Bend - Cubs hold on for 7-6 win over Wisconsin Tough to see after the mind-numbing late blown lead the night prior - Tough to point this out on a night when Luis Castillo showed off the pop, but there's truth in both these comments as I quote my fellow Link Reporter brethren Joseph and Daniel - On base three times, CF Sawyer Strosnider has cruised to a .323/440/.500 line after his first 75 plate appearances. A June baby, he'll still be just 21 years old when the 2027 season opens. Speaking of youth on his side, fellow 21-year-old Eric Bitonti's OPS sits at .925. The linked game summary above provides additional background. Warbirds pregame audio interviews from this week's final home series of the season: Manager Eddy Morgan Carsten Sabathia III Special Advisor to Player Development and Scouting Julio Borbon Final: Hickory (Rangers) 10, Wilson 7 Box Score and Game Log Wilson Eliminated from Playoffs in 10-7 Loss to Hickory - Mills Hits Second Homer of Series 19-year-old Rylan Mills 11th home run in 204 AB's (slugging .500!), and we could have seen this coming. Via the July 25th, 2025 "Day Two Draft Recap" from @Spencer Michaelis - "Round 18: Rylan Mills, Oran HS (MO) A potential sleeper selection for the Brewers in the 18th round, Mills is a catcher from a small school in Missouri. He is committed to Southeast Missouri State. Mills has posted exit velocities of up to 110 MPH and shown bat speed of up to 83 MPH using Blast sensors. There is tremendous pop in the bat, and he showed it with his 1.794 OPS, and 1.145 slugging percentage in high school his senior year. He had 39 hits, 23 of which were the extra base variety. 10 of those were home runs. Defensively, he looks a little slow on the trigger to make throws but has a strong arm. Cleaning up the footwork and the exchange a bit could lead to consistent pop times under two seconds. The commitment to a smaller school would seem to make it more likely that he will be one of the players to sign from this group of 11-20 selections." Identifying Mills was simply incredible unearthing work by the Brewers scouting staff. "The most interesting story of The Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League related to the MLB Draft may have been when Flag City Sluggers catcher Rylan Mills was selected in the 18th round by the Milwaukee Brewers. Mills is a recent high school graduate, and an incoming freshman commit to Southeast Missouri State University. The Oran High School graduate from Dexter, Missouri is the first ever GLSCL draft pick coming straight out of high school. Mills was selected to participate in the GLSCL Prospect Showcase ahead of the GLSCL All-Star Game at Prasco Park coming up on July 22 (he'll join the Brewers instead)." Here's one of our favorite feature articles from 2026, via Paul Durham of the Wilson Times back on May 28th. Back to Saturday's game: Carsten Sabathia RBI single Moises Polanco sacrifice fly caps the scoring Hickory is now 42-17 in the second half, more impressive than their parent club at Am-Fam this weekend. The top row of highlights here spotlights the Crawdads work against the three Wilson pitchers, as your box score review will show, none shined (Cesar Espinal with two scoreless frames but four walks). Manager Eddy Morgan was ejected right after this Hickory home run, perhaps a strikeout call was missed just prior. August 30th?! How did that happen? You can check out the Shuckers after the big-league game today (5:05 Central start in Biloxi). Have a great Sunday, folks. Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

As the calendar is ready to flip over to September, Jacob Misiorowski has done everything the Milwaukee Brewers brain trust has hoped for in the young phenom’s sophomore campaign. The Miz has made 25 starts and will probably make four or five more, depending on how the Brewers want to set up their postseason rotation/manage the flame-throwing right-hander’s workload. His 222 strikeouts lead the majors, as does his ERA+ of 240, FIP of 2.14, WHIP of 0.76, and ERA of 1.73. Although pitcher victories aren’t the premier pitching stat anymore, Miz ranks tied for fourth in the bigs with 14 wins. By any pitching metric, he is near the top, if not the best, pitcher in baseball this year. Will he hear his name announced as the top pitcher in the National League in mid-November at the MLB award show in Las Vegas? Four or five more starts will tell the story. In the 56 years of Milwaukee Brewers baseball, three pitchers have captured the Cy Young Award in their respective league. The Brewers played in the American League before switching to the ‘Senior Circuit’ in 1998. The first hurler to win the award for Milwaukee has his number ‘34’ enshrined among the retired Brewers jerseys at Uecker Field. Four days after he was traded from the San Diego Padres to the St. Louis Cardinals in December 1980, Rollie Fingers came to the Brewers in a blockbuster deal with the Cards that included Ted Simmons, Pete Vuckovich, David Green, Dave LaPoint, Sixto Lezcano, and Lary Sorensen. There was a work stoppage in 1981, but that didn’t keep the mustachioed closer from compiling some stellar numbers in the shortened season. His 28 saves led all of baseball, besting runner-up Chicago’s Bruce Sutter’s total of 25. Not only did Fingers win the coveted pitching award, but he edged out Oakland’s Rickey Henderson for the American League Most Valuable Player honors. The Brewers earned their first postseason nod but lost in five games to the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Fingers lasted only two more seasons, after missing all of 1983 with forearm tendinitis. He retired with 341 career saves. The following season, Vuckovich, fresh off a fourth-place finish in the Cy Young race in 1981 behind Fingers, Oakland’s Steve McCatty, and Detroit’s Jack Morris, won 18 games, and although he posted rather pedestrian peripherals (1.50 WHIP and almost as many walks as strikeouts), earned his own Cy award over Baltimore’s Jim Palmer and Kansas City’s Dan Quisenberry. The Brewers won an exciting ALCS over the California Angels, winning the final three games at County Stadium before losing in seven contests to the Cardinals in their only World Series appearance. Like Fingers, ‘Vuke’ missed one season (1984) and pitched in just 28 games over the next two seasons and retired at the end of spring training in 1986. The third pitcher to be honored was right-hander Corbin Burnes in 2021. Burnes, after switching to a starting role during the shortened 2020 season, was arguably one of the best pitchers in baseball from 2021-2024 and was named to four All-Star teams and earned down-ballot votes in the Cy Young race four times in addition to winning the award in 2021. He also earned votes in the Covid season of 2020 despite only making nine starts among his 12 appearances. In 2021, Burnes posted a major league-leading ERA of 2.42, a FIP of 1.63, and a strikeouts/nine rate of 12.6, along with 234 strikeouts. After being traded to the Baltimore Orioles for DL Hall and Joey Ortiz in early 2024, Burnes won 15 games for the Orioles, was named to the AL All-Star team, and finished fifth in the AL Cy Young balloting. Ten other Brewer pitchers earned Cy Young votes in franchise history. In 1978, Mike Caldwell finished second to New York’s Ron Guidry after winning a franchise-high 22 wins. Throwing 293 1/3 innings, ‘Iron Mike’ tossed six shutouts among his 23 complete games. And just for kicks, he even posted one save across a trio of relief outings. Perhaps the most memorable Cy Young run was accomplished by CC Sabathia when he finished fifth in the NL CY voting in 2008 after coming to the Brewers in a trade from the Cleveland Indians. In just 17 starts over the last three months of the season, Carsten Charles went 11-2 with an ERA of 1.65 with seven complete games and three shutouts, leading the Brewers to the post-season for the first time since the 1982 season. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, the season workload—a career-high 253 innings—wore down the big lefty, and he was only able to last three and two-thirds innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of the NLDS in a 5-2 loss. Other pitchers that have earned votes were Freddy Peralta (2025), Josh Hader (2018), Jimmy Nelson (2017), Yovani Gallardo (2011), John Axford (2011), Ben Sheets (2004), Teddy Higuera (1986, 1987), and Jim Colborn (1973). Can The Miz add his name to the trio of Brewer legends? Time will tell. View the full article

On Fish Unfiltered, Tommy Hutton discusses the top players he has covered during a long career in the Marlins broadcast booth.View the full article

TRANSACTIONS The Saints activated Ian Daugherty from the Development List. RHP Jason Reitz was activated from the Injured List for the Mussels. In addition, OF Ricardo Paez was promoted from the FCL Twins to the Mussels. Kernels OF/1B Jayson Bass was placed on the temporary inactive list. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 8, Toledo 1 Box Score This was a low-scoring affair until the bottom of the fifth inning when Matt Wallner bashed a grand slam to give the Saints some space. They added more. Kala’i Rosario led off the top of the second inning with his fourth Saints home run. After two were out, David Banuelos hit his seventh home run of the season to make it 2-0. Jack Anderson started for the Saints. He gave up one run on four hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings. He hit 68 pitches and then Matt Bowman came on to get the final out of the fifth inning. He also worked a scoreless sixth inning.Garrett Acton tossed two innings and struck out four batters. Marco Raya pitched a perfect ninth inning to finish out the win. They didn’t need it, and obviously they didn’t know that they didn’t need it, so the Saints kept adding on. With one out in the fifth inning, Banuelos was hit by a pitch. Alan Roden singled, and Gabriel Gonzalez lined a single to left to load the bases. That brought Matt Wallner to the plate, and he took a 2-0 sinker on the inning third of the plate and deposited it over the wall in right field to make it a 6-1 game in favor of the Saints. It marked his 24th home run with the Saints this season as he continues to add to his franchise-leading single-season home run record. In the bottom of the seventh, Wallner came to the plate with Gonzalez at second base after a walk and wild pitch. Wallner lined a single to the opposite field to drive in Gonzalez and make it 7-1. In the bottom of the eighth, Kala’i Rosario came up and hit his second home run of the night and fifth with the Saints. It was a laser at about 112 mph. That gave the Saints an 8-1 lead that they held onto. Wallner was 2-for-3 with a walk, his 24th home run and five RBI (which gives him 70 for the season). Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with a walk. Rosario hit two homers over four at-bats. Banuelos was 1-for-2 with a walk, a hit by pitch, and his seventh home run of the season. Playoff Update: With 19 games left in the season, the Saints are 2.0 games out of the lone second half playoff spot. Home Run Record Update: The Saints have hit 228 home runs this season. The current International League record for single-season home runs by a team is 231. The Saints have 19 games left. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 1, Arkansas 11 Box Score Before the game, Andrew Cossetti was presented the Wind Surge 2026 Harmon Killebrew Award for Community Service. That truly is an honor. In the bottom of the second inning, Cossetti gave his team a 1-0 lead with his 17th home run of the season. After that, the Travelers scored the next, and final, 11 runs of the game. Cory Lewis started. In a season-high 4 1/3 innings, he gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts. Hunter Gregory came in and gave up two runs on three hits over 1 2/3 innings. Jaylen Nowlin came in for the seventh inning. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on two hits, three walks, and a hit batter. He recorded just two outs. Kyle Bischoff got the final out of the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth inning. Catcher Luis Hernandez came in to pitch the top of the ninth inning. He gave up two runs on four hits in the inning. Khadim Diaw was back in the lineup. He went 2-for-4 with his eighth double. It marks his 17th multi-hit game since joining Wichita. Garrett Spain went 2-for-4. He's had 25 multi-hit games. Kyle DeBarge went 2-for-4 and stole his 34th base on the season. DeBarge has 24 multi-hit games this season. With Kade Anderson called up by the Mariners, the clear top pitching prospect in the Mariners system is Ryan Sloan. He started this game for Arkansas. He gave up one run on five hits over six innings. He had six strikeouts to zero walks. Like Anderson, you can find Sloan among the top 10 prospects in all of baseball. Marek Houston was out of the Wind Surge lineup for the second straight game. He hasn't played since being ejected in the eighth inning on Thursday. Home Run Record Update: Cossetti's home run gave the Surge 171 homers this season. That ties the franchise's record for homers in a season. The Surge have seven more games to play. Did you Know? Walker Jenkins became the 50th former Wind Surge player to make his MLB debut. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Lake County 10 Box Score Kolten Smith has certainly not been himself since he joined the Kernels, but it’s been especially rough his past three starts. In this game. He tossed a scoreless first inning and completed the first inning for the first time in three starts. However, he gave up four runs in the second and four more runs in the third inning. In total, he gave up eight runs on seven hits (2 homers) and five walks in 2 1/3 innings. Just 36 of his 71 pitches were strikes. Ivran Romero came in and went the next 4 1/3 innings. He came in with the bases loaded and got out of the inning without allowing any of the inherited runners to score. He gave up two runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out two batters. Cleiber Maldonado got the next four outs, three of them on strikeouts. Catcher Irvin Nunez came in and pitched the ninth. He had a 1-2-3 inning with two ground balls and a line out to center. While they found themselves down 8-0 after three innings, the Kernels hitters didn’t give up. In the bottom of the fourth inning, JP Smith led off with a walk. Luis Fragoza singled him to center. The runners advanced on a balk. Following a walk, Byron Chourio and Ramiro Dominguez each drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-2. In the bottom of the sixth, Fragoza led off with a single. With two outs, a Dominguez single drove him in. That made the deficit 9-3. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Yasser Mercedes clobbered a 2-2 hanger beyond the wall in left field, and completely out of the stadium. It left the bat at 110 mph. Mercedes went 3-for-5, and that was his 10th home run with the Kernels. Fragoza went 2-for-4. Byron Chourio hit his fourth double. Tait fouled for the 23rd time this season. On Sunday, the Kernels will play their final home game of the 2026 season. They are scheduled to play six games in South Bend next week to close out their season. MIGHTY MATTERS Fort Myers, Bradenton (postponed) Box Score For the second straight night, conditions at Hammond Stadium, specifically the rain, caused an unplayable field. Friday’s game was cancelled. The two teams will attempt to play a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. They will be the final two home games for the Mussels this season. Fort Myers is scheduled for six games in Clearwater next week to conclude their season. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter(s) of the Day Matt Wallner (St. Paul): 2-for-3, BB HR(24), R, 5 RBI Kala’i Rosario (St. Paul): 2-for-2, 2 HR(5), 2 R, 2 RBI, K Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids): 3-for-5, HR(10), R, RBI, 2 K Pitcher(s) of the Day Jack Anderson (St. Paul): 4 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K Garrett Acton (St. Paul): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects. See how they did today. (Click on player links in this section to see Twins Daily articles that the player has been tagged in.) #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (Minnesota) - 1-for-3, 2B(1), RBI(1), SB(1) (batted ninth, played CF) #2 - C Vahn Lackey (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-4, BB, 3 K (batted second, placed catcher) #3 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (Minnesota) - 0-for-4, R, K (batted seventh, played SS) #8 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, 2B(23), K (batted third, played DH) #9 - 1B/OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 2-for-3, BB, 2 R (batted second, played LF) #12 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 0-for-4, K (batted third, played SS) #13 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 2-for-4, 2B(8) (batted second, played DHd) #19 - OF Yasser Mercedes (Cedar Rapids) - 3-for-5, HR(10), R, RBI, 2 K (batted first, played CF) UPCOMING PROBABLES Sunday, August 30 Toledo @ St. Paul (2:07 pm CT) - LHP Aaron Rozek (3-3, 3.94 ERA) Arkansas @ Wichita (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Riley Quick (0-2, 4.76 ERA) Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (1:05 pm CT) - LHP Cesar Lares (1-6, 11.45 ERA) Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (DH @ 11:05 am CT) - RHP Eric Hammond (1-4, 4.40 ERA), TBD CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 64-72 St. Paul Saints: 74-56 Wichita Wind Surge: 51-72 (Final Game 9/13) Cedar Rapids Kernels: 46-77 (Final Game 9/6) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 67-55 (Final Game 9/6) FCL Twins: 33-26 (Season Complete) DSL Twins: 19-35 (Season Complete) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View the full article

On a day in which one of the San Diego Padres' teams won the Dominican Summer League championship, the four full-season affiliates went 2-2 Saturday. The Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas were edged by Oklahoma City 3-2, the Double-A San Antonio Missions prevailed over Springfield 6-2, the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps fell to Dayton 7-3 and the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm triumphed over Rancho Cucamonga 4-2. But the biggest system news was Padres Gold repeating as DSL champions, winning 4-2 over the Reds. Padres Minor-League Transactions LHP Sean Fitzpatrick assigned to Lake Elsinore Storm from ACL Padres Ethan Salas Ties It Late, But Chihuahuas Tumble Carlos Rodriguez went 3-for-4 and Ethan Salas tied the game with an RBI single in the top of the eighth inning, but the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas gave up a run in the bottom half and dropped a 3-2 decision to the host Oklahoma City Comets. Rehabbing Padres left fielder Samad Taylor went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in perhaps his final rehab game following the injury to the Padres' Luis Rengifo. Former Padres right-hander Brent Honeywell made his return to the mound in nearly two seasons after signing a minor-league contract with the Friars this week. Chihuahuas left-handed starter Jagger Haynes, Padres Mission's No. 13 prospect, struck out five in five shutout innings, allowing just three hits. Right-hander Hans Crouse pitched a perfect sixth inning, then Honeywell made his first appearance since facing the Padres for the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the 2024 season. He gave up two unearned runs on a hit and a walk in one inning. Right-hander Logan Gillaspie pitched the eighth, giving up the go-ahead run. Nick Pratto gave the Chihuahuas an early 1-0 lead with a second-inning RBI single. It stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when the Comets scored twice. In the top of the eighth, Sung-Mun Song had a leadoff single. Two outs later, Marcos Castanon singled him to second and Salas, Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect, lined an opposite-field single to left-center off rehabbing Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski that tied the game 2-2. Salas has reached base in 21 of his 23 Triple-A games. But Gillaspie gave up a homer to begin the bottom of the eighth. EP_0829.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Sung-Mun Song, SS 5 1 1 0 0 1 Samad Taylor, LF 3 0 0 0 0 2 Kai Murphy, RF 2 0 0 0 0 0 Carlos Rodríguez, CF 4 0 3 0 0 0 Marcos Castañon, DH 4 0 1 0 0 2 Ethan Salas, C 3 0 1 1 1 1 Nick Solak, LF 3 1 0 0 1 2 Gage Workman, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 3 Nick Pratto, 1B 3 0 1 1 1 1 Bryce Johnson, PR 0 0 0 0 0 0 Clay Dungan, 2B 2 0 1 0 1 1 Mason McCoy, PH 0 0 0 0 1 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jagger Haynes 5.0 3 0 0 1 5 0 Hans Crouse 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Brent Honeywell 1.0 1 2 0 1 0 0 Logan Gillaspie 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 1 Missions Strike Early To Snap 7-Game Skid Braedon Karpathios banged the first pitch of the game off the left-field foul pole and Albert Fabian also went deep, while Ryan Jackson and Romeo Sanabria each had three hits as the Double-A San Antonio Missions beat the host Springfield Cardinals. The victory not only snapped a seven-game losing streak, but the Cardinals' 10-game winning streak as well. Missions left-handed starter Fernando Sanchez allowed only one run over a season-best 5⅓ innings, although he did walk six. Right-hander Johan Moreno went 2⅔ scoreless innings and right-hander Josh Mallitz allowed an unearned run in the ninth. Sanabria, who also doubled, had RBI singles in the first and fourth innings. Fabian hit his 11th homer in the third inning, a two-run shot that made it 4-0. Karpathios, Padres Mission's No. 9 prospect, has 15 home runs. SA1_0829.mp4 SA2_0829.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Braedon Karpathios, RF 5 1 2 1 0 1 Ryan Jackson, SS 4 2 3 0 1 0 Tirso Ornelas, LF 3 0 0 0 1 0 Romeo Sanabria, DH 4 1 3 2 1 1 Jack Costello, 3B 5 0 0 0 0 2 Albert Fabian, 1B 5 2 2 2 0 1 Kai Roberts, CF 4 0 1 0 0 1 Wyatt Hoffman, 2B 4 0 0 0 0 2 Brendan Durfee, C 4 0 0 0 1 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Fernando Sanchez 5 1/3 4 1 1 6 2 0 Johan Moreno 2 2/3 0 0 0 2 1 0 Josh Mallitz 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 0 Carlos Rodriguez's 3 Hits Not Enough For TinCaps Carlos Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, but the host High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps couldn't slow down the Dayton Dragons, who came out on top 7-3. The Dragons hit four home runs. Rodriguez had half of the TinCaps' six hits, while the Dragons had 12. It was the 13th multihit game for Rodriguez and third with three hits this year. TinCaps right-handed starter Kannon Kemp struck out seven, but gave up six runs on nine hits and two walks in four innings. Right-hander Carlos Medina went three innings, allowing a run and striking out three. Right-hander Bernard Jose pitched two hitless innings. FW_0829.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Ryan Gerety, LF 2 0 0 0 2 1 Kasen Wells, CF 4 0 1 1 0 0 Rosman Verdugo, SS 4 0 0 0 0 2 Luke Cantwell, 1B 3 1 1 0 1 1 Kerrington Cross, 3B 3 1 0 0 1 1 Carlos Rodriguez, C 4 0 3 2 0 0 Yoiber Ocopio, DH 3 0 1 0 1 1 Yimy Tovar, 2B 3 1 0 0 0 2 Robbie Lavey, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 Dylan Grego, RF 4 0 0 0 0 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Kannon Kemp 4.0 9 6 6 2 7 3 Carlos Medina 3.0 3 1 1 1 3 1 Bernard Jose 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Joe Tirloy Continues Power Surge With First 2-HR Game In Storm Win Seventh-round draft pick Joe Tiroly had the first two-homer game of his pro career and the bullpen pitched 5⅔ scoreless innings as the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm topped the host Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 4-2. Tiroly, who hit 16 home runs this spring at Virginia, hit solo homers in the third inning and fifth innings, one down the line in left and the second to center, to give him five home runs in 12 games with the Storm since his pro debut Aug. 11. He also homered Friday and has gone deep in three of his last five games. He homered in his very first game, too. Tiroly finished with three hits, also driving in a run with a sixth-inning single. Storm right-handed starter Tyler Schmitt gave up two runs in 3⅓ innings. But the Storm bullpen took over from there, allowing just four hits and no runs the rest of the way. Left-hander Andrew Wright, an undrafted free agent, went 1⅔ innings, while another lefty, eighth-rounder Sean Fitzpatrick, made his pro debut with a strikeout in one inning. Right-hander Jordan Valenzuela then struck out four in two innings and Yoesmerli Beltre pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save with the Storm. LE1_0829.mp4 LE2_0829.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Elliot Lascelles, 2B 3 0 0 0 1 0 Jorge Quintana, SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 Alex Conover, LF 4 0 1 0 0 1 Chris McHugh, RF 4 1 2 0 0 0 Ty Harvey, C 4 0 1 0 0 1 Nu'u Contrades, DH 4 1 1 1 0 0 Joe Tiroly, 3B 4 2 3 3 0 1 Dawson Willis, 1B 4 0 2 0 0 1 Qrey Lott, CF 4 0 3 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Tyler Schmitt 3 1/3 5 2 2 2 1 0 Andrew Wright 1 2/3 1 0 0 1 0 0 Sean Fitzpatrick 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Jordan Valenzuela 2.0 2 0 0 1 4 0 Yoesmerli Beltre 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Padres Gold Wins Second Straight DSL Championship Box score Padres Gold capped an incredible season by winning their second Dominican Summer League championship, beating the Reds 4-2 in the decisive Game 3. Padres Gold are the first DSL team to repeat since the Rangers in 2013-14. Padres Gold had the best record in the regular season at 40-16, while Padres Brown had the worst at 11-44. Center fielder Endy Rio went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while catcher Dayquer Alfonzo, left fielder Cristian Benavides and first baseman Jeanfranco Fernandez each drove in runs for Padres Gold. The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third innings before Padres Gold took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Third baseman Dawry Guerrero doubled to center and, after a pitching change, Fernandez followed with an RBI double to tie the game 1-1. Right fielder Gabriel Teran reached on a fielder's choice when the pitcher threw out Fernandez at third and moved to second on a wild pitch. Second baseman Yorvin Morla singled to the pitcher, who had a throwing error that allowed Teran to score the go-ahead run. Padres Gold added two runs in the eighth. Teran drew a leadoff walk and went to second on Rios' one-out single. Alfonzo singled to left to bring in Teran and send Rios to third. Alfonzo ended up on second due to an error by the left fielder. Designated hitter Sebastian Nadales walked to load the bases, then Benavides hit a sac fly to put Padres Gold up 4-1. The Reds got a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth, but right-handed closer Albieris Polanco picked up his third postseason save by retiring the final three hitters. Polanco had three saves in 23 regular-season appearances. Padres Gold right-handed starter Josias Figuereo allowed a run on two hits over three innings, while right-hander Wilfred Paca went 2⅓ scoreless. Right-hander Albert Perez, who was credited with the win, struck out three in 1⅔ innings. Left-hander Guillermo Romero got the first two outs of the eighth inning before giving way to Polanco. Padres Mission's Top 20 Prospect Performance Ethan Salas: 1-for-3, RBI, BB, K Ryan Wideman: On injured list Coleman Borthwick: In Arizona Kruz Schoolcraft: DNP Ty Harvey: 1-for-4, K Kale Fountain: Injured, out for season Jorge Quintana: 0-for-4 Alex McCoy: DNP Braedon Karpathios: 2-for-5, HR, RBI, K Lamar King Jr.: DNP Elliot Lascelles: 0-for-3, BB, SB Tucker Musgrove: On injured list Jagger Haynes: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR Jake Cunningham: DNP Truitt Madonna: DNP Eric Yost: DNP Winyer Chourio: DNP Jesus Castro: DNP Michael Salina: DNP Rosman Verdugo: 0-for-4, 2 K View the full article

The wait for the return of Roman Anthony and Trevor Story is almost over. Interim manager Jim Tracy said Saturday that the two Boston Red Sox stars will likely come off the injured list Sunday. Who comes off the roster is another question that the Red Sox brass will contemplate overnight. “They’re coming,” Tracy said after the Red Sox lost to the New York Yankees 9-2 to split a doubleheader. The Red Sox won the opener 6-0. The Red Sox remain the No. 2 AL wild card, three games behind the Yankees and six games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians. Anthony, the left fielder, and Story, the shortstop, have been out since May, Anthony with a partially tearing a ligament in his right hand and wrist and Story with a sports hernia that required surgery. Fitting Anthony in doesn't seem problematic as Tracy said he will be put in the leadoff position against right-handed starters. Trade-deadline pickup Eli White started both games Saturday in left field, while Jahmai Jones would bat leadoff vs. left-handers. Anthony had a slash line of .229/.354/.321 with one homer and five RBIs in 30 games before going on the injured list. Story is a little trickier. He will get the opportunity to re-establish himself, but if he continues his early-season struggles, Tracy could opt to go back to Andruw Monasterio, who has helped the Red Sox surge into postseason position. Story has a .206/.244/.303 with three homers and 19 RBIs in 41 games. Another injured player, infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, is expected to come off the IL on Tuesday when rosters expand by two. View the full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (August 27-28) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals): 1-1 Season Record: 63-64 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies): 1-1 Season Record: 55-65 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Spokane (Colorado Rockies): 1-1 Season Record: 58-64 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Palm Beach Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals): 1-1 Season Record: 57-61 FCL Blue Jays: Season Complete DSL Blue Jays Blue: Season Complete DSL Blue Jays Red: Season Complete Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 63-64 Series vs Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals) August 27: Rochester took the early lead against Buffalo on Thursday, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third inning. The Bisons answered Rochester, scoring two runs on an error in the top of the fifth inning and adding a third run on Josh Smith's bases-loaded walk. The game wasn't tied at three long, as Rochester countered with Trey Lipscomb ripping a ball to right for a three-run home run. Buffalo kept fighting though, getting three runs in the sixth, one on a fielder's choice and two on two RBI groundouts. Buffalo ultimately could not keep the game tied through nine, coughing up a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to Phillip Glasser. The Bisons fell 7-6 in a game they scored six runs without a single RBI base knock. August 28: Buffalo turned to Jameson Taillon to give their arms a boost, as he made a rehab start on Friday. For the first three innings, he was nearly perfect, only allowing a single in the bottom of the third inning. The fourth inning, however, would be a problem for Taillon. After a walk and a single, Cayden Wallace doubled off of Taillon and brought home one run. Following another walk that would load the bases, Taillon was removed for Sam Gardner, who promptly gave up a bases-clearing three-run double to the first batter he faced. The troubling frame for Buffalo surrendered the lead they had gained the prior half inning. In the top of the fourth, Jay Harry doubled home Yohendrick Piñango and Lenyn Sosa plated Harry on a single to left. In the fifth, with Buffalo down 4-3, Sean Keys ripped a 104.5 mph triple that scored Josh Smith and cut the Rochester lead to one. Rochester would answer the RBI triple with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the fifth inning. As the score sat 5-3, the second half of the game featured a few walks and just a single base-hit by both teams in what became a pitchers' duel by the respective bullpens. Buffalo lost this one 5-3, only managing to get five base knocks on the day. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 55-65 Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) August 27: Thursday night saw Johnny King take the mound for New Hampshire against Hartford. King was again masterful on the mound. Despite some baserunners in a few innings, he managed to work through the innings without allowing a run, while getting outs in the strike zone mixed with six strikeouts. He allowed just one hit, an infield single on a soft groundball. He did give up three walks in his four innings pitched, but they were on close pitches that could have gone either way. It was probably his most complete start at Double A. Aaron Parker gave the offense a boost in the first inning, when he launched a mammoth home run to put New Hampshire up three. In the third inning, Carter Cunningham added an RBI double and Mathieu Vallee drove in two runs with a single. New Hampshire held on and won this one 7-3. August 28: Friday night was a rough one for New Hampshire. They jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Hartford in the fourth inning, but things went south from there. Tucker Toman and Eric Snow had RBI singles, and Edward Duran added a sacrifice fly. From there it was almost all Hartford. They put up two runs in the fifth, one in the sixth, and three in the seventh inning. They capped their unanswered run with another one in the ninth inning. Hartford outhit New Hampshire 14-6 on the day, but New Hampshire did add 11 walks; they just couldn't drive them home. New Hampshire lost this one 8-4. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 58-63 Series vs Spokane (Colorado Rockies) August 27: Dasan Hill pitched into the fifth inning for the first time this season, as the lefty that was acquired in the Jeff Hoffman trade struck out six batters, only walking one batter and allowing a single unearned run in the first. The Canadians tied it up with a Jake Casey triple in the second inning, then Casey came up again in the fifth inning with two runners on with no outs, but struck out. In the seventh, Casey came up again with a runner on first and second, but drove in a run to take the lead with his second XBH of the night. That started a big inning, as Ryan Sprock drove in two runs on a single, then Jean Joseph drove in two more on a triple of his own. Casey had his third hit and third RBI of the night with a single in the eighth. Holden Wilkerson was awesome in relief, as he pitched 4.1 two-hit innings, striking out six batters with no runs allowed, allowing the Canadians to win this one handedly 8-1. August 28: This game was an absolute roller coaster, as it seemed like the Canadians would easily cruise to a victory, as they tacked on eight runs in the second inning, with Jaxson West blowing the game open with a grand slam. Spokane did not quit, however, as they halved the lead down to just four against Canadians starter Troy Guthrie. The Canadians' offense kept it pouring in the fourth inning, with another big inning, as they tallied five more runs, with West raising his RBI count to six in just this one game. Troy Guthrie was sent out in the fifth inning and struggled, allowing Spokane to score three runs, knocking him out of the game for Carson Myers, who was able to get out of it. Brandon Barriera’s debut in Vancouver did not go well, as his command lost him; he walked three batters and hit two of them. That resulted in a five-run seventh inning, and Spokane was within just one. Gilberto Batista allowed an RBI double in the eighth, and the game was tied, which resulted in the game going to extra innings. Game stayed even until the 10th inning, when Jack Eshleman allowed the automatic runner to score on a wild pitch, but in the bottom of the 10th, a throwing error from Parker Coddou allowed the ghost runner to score for the Canadians, then Bryce Chance laid down a sac bunt to put Austin Smith on third. This gave Max Viera the opportunity to walk it off, and he did it in absurd fashion, as Justin Loer committed a walk-off balk, for a 15-14 extra innings win. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 57-61 Series vs Palm Beach Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals) August 27: The D-Jays jumped out to an early lead with a three-run second inning, thanks to Dean West’s RBI single and Rhylan Thomas’s two-RBI double. The pitching could not withstand the Cardinals’ offense, however, as they tied it up with a three-run homer off the starter Miguel Pantoja. The Jays took the lead right back in the bottom of the second, as Brayden Martin drove in a run on a single and Jake Cook grounded out to score another run. Josbel Garcia got five straight batters out after replacing Pantoja, but then walked the leadoff hitter in the sixth, then allowed three runs to score as he threw a wild pitch, allowed a stolen base, and a couple of doubles. Nolan Higgins replaced him and allowed a homer in the eighth to make it a two-run lead for the Cardinals. That ended up being the final run as the Jays lost 5-7. August 28: Carson Messina was effectively wild, walking three batters in four innings, but only allowing a single run as Giaconino Lasaracina allowed a passed ball in the third inning. Messina’s fastball was great, with a 47.4% whiff rate on the night, as the righty struck out five batters with 14 whiffs total. Lasaracina had his second miscue in the fifth with a throwing error to allow the second unearned run to cross the plate. Rhylan Thomas drove in the first run for Dunedin with a double to bring it within one, but the Jays yet again gave up an unearned run thanks to a Juan Sanchez throwing error, his 27th error of the season, then Brayden Heidel walked in a run which put the Cardinals up three. Jake Bennett came up to the plate with runners on second and third and brought the game within one with a clutch two-RBI single, and Ryan Franden won the game with a two-run blast for his first homer as a professional, as the Jays won this one 5-4. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 38-20 Season Completed DSL Blue Jays Blue Season Record: 20-35 Season Completed DSL Blue Jays Red Season Record: 33-18 Playoffs (2-1) Season Completed View the full article

Under Jed Hoyer, the Chicago Cubs have rarely spent significant money on relief pitching in the offseason, rather preferring to spread that money among multiple smaller contracts hoping to hit on at least one. That was their plan this offseason as well, with Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner, and Shelby Miller all getting contracts between $2.5m and $7m while Jacob Webb and Trent Thornton got contracts at $1.5m and $1m respectively. Looking at that list, I am sure you are thinking what I am thinking: Maybe the Cubs should only give out ~$1m contracts? Maton didn’t pitch well and is done for the year, as is Harvey who barely pitched at all. Thielbar has struggled all year and has been dreadful in August. Shelby Miller was always expected to miss this season, the first of a two-year contract, but he may actually play a role down the stretch. Which leads us to the last mid-sized contract they gave out: Hoby Milner. The veteran southpaw pitched okay for the first couple months of the season, but most importantly he was available for the Cubs during their early season injury woes. Then, he went through them himself. Milner was nearly back from an injury that sidelined him for a couple of months when the Cubs put him on waivers. It was a very curious decision, so let’s investigate what it may mean. Milner has made 38 appearances this season for the Cubs, not enough to qualify for some leaderboards, but enough to see some trends. For the first time since 2022, Milner is throwing his sinker more than his sweeper, but both pitches have been at least average. Surprisingly, he has not increased his four-seam usage with a team that throws a ton of four seamers; he still throws his changeup more frequently. Either way, flipping his sinker/sweeper usage shows he bought into what the Cubs asked him to do. While Milner wasn’t elite by any stretch of the imagination, he sported a 3.53 ERA and issued just nine walks in 35.2 innings. He did outperform his FIP and saw a pretty drastic drop of 8-10 percentage points in K% and groundball rate. If he qualified, he would be near the very bottom of the league in strikeout rate, fastball velocity, expected batting average, and expected ERA. Not great! Yet even with those declines, there is still a real argument for the Cubs needing him as we round the final turn into September. The pitching lab's ability to get the most out of pitchers that have been discarded by other teams has been a key to their 2026 performance. The injuries stacked up early and often, yet the Cubs were able to lean on guys like Jacob Webb, Trent Thornton, Ryan Rolison, and Gavin Hollowell. Now with the additions of Ryan Zeferjahn and Aaron Civale and the recent return of Daniel Palencia, the Cubs may feel like they have cultivated some depth in the bullpen, regardless of how they have performed recently. With the way the injury bug has hit the roster all year long, it seems like a risky move to potentially jettison a usable veteran arm. While the Cubs do have many bullpen options, only Ryan Rolison and Caleb Thielbar throw from the left side. On the playoff roster, that list probably will also include David Peterson. Rolison certainly has earned a spot, but there is a strong argument to be made that maybe Caleb Thielbar should not be on the playoff roster, especially if his struggles continue into September. Even though Thielbar has a higher strikeout rate than Milner, he is near the bottom of the league in barrel%. When he doesn’t miss bats, he doesn’t miss barrels. Milner also gives opponents a very different look than the others. While Rolison (48°) and Thielbar (55°) are very over the top with their deliveries, Milner is a true sidearmer at -5°. In a National League where the Dodgers, Braves, and Brewers all have big left-handed bats, I would think the Cubs would want that extra southpaw option and different look. Putting Milner on waivers doesn’t mean he won’t play a role down the stretch. In fact, the very team the Cubs are playing this weekend (the Reds) already have two homers from players who were placed on waivers recently (Eugenio Suarez and TJ Friedl). If no team claims him, he will remain a part of the bullpen, unless he's designated him for assignment. The most likely answer is the Cubs don’t feel they need Milner and are attempting to do some cost saving. They might actually benefit if no team claims him and he remains on the roster. They don’t have an arm angle on the team like his, The way the bullpen is performing right now, they could use every arm they can get. View the full article

Box Score SP: Bailey Ober - 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (80 pitches, 53 strikes (72% strikes)) Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Kaelen Culpepper (-0.17); Brooks Lee (-0.15), Royce Lewis (-0.08) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Twins set out to try and get the same momentum during the day game on Saturday that they had Friday night. Bailey Ober, much like his teammate Dean Kremer, had a little trouble finding the strike zone early. He walked the first two hitters, and then Andrew Benintendi dropped a weak single that the infield couldn’t quite handle. The misplay allowed Sam Antonacci to come around and score, giving the White Sox an early 1-0 lead. Ober eventually got his wits about him and escaped the inning, but the White Sox made him work, driving his pitch count all the way up to 28 pitches in the first. Not exactly the start you draw up. The Twins offense, however, wasted no time answering back. Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee created some traffic for White Sox starter Erik Fedde, and then Fedde made a mistake at the wrong time. An 88-mph changeup landed right in Josh Bell’s sweet spot, and Bell sent a sacrifice fly deep enough to score Keaschall and tie things up at 1-1. Ober came back out for the second looking much more like himself, making quick work of the bottom of the White Sox lineup with a clean 1-2-3 inning. Then the Twins bats got rolling. Trevor Larnach fell victim to a force out, but Kaelen Culpepper and Victor Caratini followed with line drives into the right-field gap, putting runners on the corners for rookie Walker Jenkins. And Jenkins? He was ready for the moment. The rookie grounded to second for a fielder's choice. He hustled out of the box and easily beat the return throw to first base which allowed to score Culpepper. It also marked the first RBI of Jenkins career. The 21-year-old decided he wasn't done making noise, taking advantage of Fedde's timing to swipe his first stolen base. After two innings, the Twins had flipped the script and taken a 2-1 lead. The White Sox came alive in the fourth inning and said, “Not so fast.” A leadoff double by Benintendi set the tone, and a bobbled slow roller by Culpepper off the bat of Chase Meidroth brought Benintendi home. Just like that, a 2-2 ballgame. Ober’s day was officially done after five innings and 80 pitches. Andrew Morris came in to relieve him, but apparently nobody had informed him that Andrew Benintendi was having the game of his life. Like the pitchers before him—and frankly, like everyone for the previous five innings—Morris couldn't get around Benintendi's bat, surrendering a solo home run that gave the White Sox a 3-2 lead. As Derek Shelton noted after the game. It was a 95-mph cutter, three-to-four inches below the zone. All you can do is tip your cap to the cagey veteran. AJ Minter replaced Morris in the eighth, and with one out and two runners on, Benintendi stepped back into the box already 3-for-3 on the day. Naturally, that looked terrifying. But Minter said, not today. He struck Benintendi out, becoming the first Twins pitcher to retire him all afternoon. A much-needed out was followed by a smothered ball from Culpepper to Lee to end the inning and finally give Minnesota a chance to breathe. Unfortunately, the Twins offense spent the seventh and eighth innings doing what it had become far too comfortable doing: absolutely nothing. Every opportunity was squandered, every hit seemed to find a glove, and no matter how much the pitching staff tried to keep the Twins within striking distance, the offense remained on life support. One inning remained. One last chance to wake up. Yoendrys Gómez replaced Minter as the insurance policy—the guy brought in to make sure the White Sox didn't add anything the Twins couldn't overcome. He did his job. The offense, however? Yeah... they never woke up. Maybe Sunday? What’s Next? The Twins finish their second day game with the White Sox on Sunday 1:10 CST. The Twins will send Zebby Matthews (8-8, 4.86 ERA,) against a pitcher the White Sox will determine later. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Availability Chart View the full article

Let’s check in on the Red Sox farm teams through Friday's action. Triple-A Worcester Red Sox Series vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees): 2-2 Season Record: 2-0 The WooSox fell 2-0 as they struggled to generate offense. John Holobetz got the start on Friday night, looking to give the WooSox a series lead. He turned in a quality start, letting up two runs on five hits and issuing one walk. He struck out a pair before John Brebbia took over. Holobetz earned the loss despite the solid start. Brebbia threw a scoreless sixth inning as the bullpen gave the offense plenty of room to run. Brebbia allowed one hit and walked another. He struck out one before Angel Bastrado took the seventh and eighth in scoreless fashion. He K’d two and walked one before Hobie Harris took the final inning. Harris struck out the side, issuing one walk as he completed a great bullpen outing despite the loss. The WooSox reached base just five times on Friday, tallying three hits and drawing two walks in the loss. Franklin Arias accounted for one of the hits, a double in the ninth. Nate Eaton and Romy Gonzales recorded a single each as Worcester fell without much noise. Double-A Portland Sea Dogs Series @ Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants): 3-1 Season Record: 63-60 Portland dominated in a 9-3 win behind a solid start from Devin Futrell. Futrell had allowed two runs in his two previous starts entering Friday, and looked to match his solid outings. He did just that, allowing two runs on four hits in six frames of work. He issued one walk and notched seven punchouts before being replaced by Cooper Adams. Adams followed Futrell with a solid appearance of his own, allowing one earned run on three hits. He struck out four before Erik Rivera took over. Rivera was outstanding as he shut down Richmond, striking out two in a perfect ninth-inning close. The Sea Dogs’ offense was unstoppable on Friday, tallying 17 baserunners and taking control of the game early. In the first, Justin Gonzales scored Tyler McDonough on a line drive to right field before Ronald Rosario drove Gonzales home on a two-run blast. In the second, McDonough followed Rosario with a two-run shot of his own, giving Portland a 5-0 lead early. In the sixth inning, Brooks Brannon joined the two-run homer party, scoring McDonough as he touched them all for the 20th time this season. With a 7-2 lead, Will Turner gave Portland some cushion as he scored Brannon and Henry Godbout on a line drive double to right field. High-A Greenville Drive Series vs. Rome Emperors (Atlanta Braves): 3-1 Season Record: 55-66 A great day from the pitching staff helped Greenville to a 6-2 win on Friday night. Yordanny Monegro made his first appearance of the season on a rehab assignment from Portland. He threw one and ⅔ hitless innings, issuing three walks and striking out three more. Shea Sprague came in next in a bulk relief role. He hurled five and ⅓ innings to the tune of two runs on three hits. He issued a pair of walks and struck out six as he kept Rome’s offense in check, earning his fourth win of the season. Aaron Nixon took the final two innings of Friday’s game, allowing three hits but hindering Rome any further. He struck out three as he closed out the win. Owen Hull and Luke Heyman drove in two runs each as Greenville’s offense triumphed behind a combined effort. Heyman’s contributions came early as he crushed a two-run homer in the first inning, scoring Hull. Hull would follow in Heyman’s footsteps just two innings later, covering a two-run shot of his own with Jake Schaffner aboard. With a 4-1 lead, Yophery Rodriguez kept the inning going, scoring Maximus Martin on a double to right field. In the eighth, Isaiah Jackson added one more as he scored on a wild pitch. Low-A Salem RidgeYaks Series @ Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston Astros): 0-5 Season Record: 52-70 Salem’s losing streak reached five as the Yaks fell 6-2 on Friday evening. Leighton Finley turned in an excellent start to kick things off for Salem, shutting down Fayetteville over six frames. He allowed four hits and issued a pair of walks as he struck out nine, his second-most all season and most since late June. Trouble arose when Carson Revay entered the game. He let up four runs (three unearned) on two hits and a pair of walks as the Woodpeckers pulled ahead. Harry Blum entered to quell the storm but was unsuccessful. He allowed two runs on two hits and a pair of walks in just ⅓ of an inning as Fayetteville claimed a solid lead late. Kleyvar Salazar was responsible for both of the Yaks’ runs on Friday as the offense struggled. After being held scoreless for the first five frames, Salazar took one deep into left field, scoring D’Angelo Ortiz as Salem claimed the first lead of the game. Salem wouldn’t score again as they fell for the fifth straight contest. View the full article

There is a simple reality for prospects who are limited defensively to first base: they have to hit. First base is one of the positions where offensive production carries an especially high burden. A player doesn't necessarily need to be a Gold Glove-caliber defender, but he needs to provide enough at the plate to justify putting his name in the lineup every day. The Minnesota Twins have seen this dynamic play out with former first-round pick Aaron Sabato. Sabato has worked his way to Triple-A, but his offensive production hasn't developed to the point where he looks like part of Minnesota's long-term plans. That brings us to JP Smith. Smith doesn't have Sabato's draft pedigree, but the Twins saw enough offensive potential to select him in the 17th round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of California State University, Sacramento. His professional career got off to a relatively quiet start, but there are signs that Smith is beginning to figure things out. And that's exactly what the Twins need to see from a first-base prospect. MLB Draft and Professional Debut Smith spent three seasons at Sacramento State, where he hit .298/.372/.581 with a .953 OPS. His production was consistently strong during his first two seasons, with a wRC+ above 120 in each year. His final collegiate season wasn't quite as productive. Smith's wRC+ dipped to 105, which may have contributed to him remaining on the board until the 17th round. Still, Minnesota saw enough in the right-handed hitter to give him an opportunity. The Twins sent Smith to Fort Myers after he signed, allowing him to make his professional debut in the Florida State League. He appeared in 24 games and hit .237/.297/.344 with five extra-base hits, a 24.8% strikeout rate, a 6.9% walk rate and an 84 wRC+. Those aren't particularly eye-catching numbers. There was, however, one stretch that offered a glimpse of what Smith could become. At the beginning of August, he was named FSL Player of the Week after going 11-for-23 (.478) over a five-game stretch with five extra-base hits. His overall debut remained unspectacular, but there are some understandable challenges for college players transitioning into professional baseball. Smith had played a full collegiate season, stopped playing during the draft process and then had to ramp back up for his professional debut. A Better Approach Smith struggled out of the gate. Over his first 36 games, he hit .212/.319/.356 with nine extra-base hits. His .675 OPS wasn't what Minnesota wanted to see from a player whose future is tied heavily to his bat. Something started to click over his next 36 games. During that stretch, Smith raised his on-base percentage to .365 and his slugging percentage to .500. More importantly, he hit 10 home runs and four doubles. The power was beginning to show up. But one of the most encouraging developments wasn't necessarily found in his batting average or home-run total. It was his approach. During his professional debut, Smith posted a 34.1% O-Swing rate, meaning he swung at more than one-third of the pitches he saw outside the strike zone. In 2026, that number dropped to 24.3%. Smith was becoming more selective about which pitches he attacked. For a hitter whose value is going to be tied so closely to his offensive production, that development matters. The improved approach helped earn Smith a promotion to Cedar Rapids. Hitting the Next Level Smith hasn't exactly slowed down since arriving in High-A. Through his first 20 games with the Kernels, he's hitting .309/.435/.559 for a .994 OPS. His 145 wRC+ demonstrates just how productive he's been relative to the league. The plate-discipline improvements have continued as well. His walk rate has climbed from 14.7% in his time with Fort Myers to 17.8% in Cedar Rapids, while his strikeout rate has dropped from 20.1% to 15.6%. That's the kind of combination Minnesota wants to see. On August 25, Smith put those skills on display. He went 4-for-6 with a home run and four RBI, providing another reminder that the offensive tools that made him an intriguing draft pick are starting to translate. There is another interesting element to his success this season. Smith has faced older pitchers in more than 70% of his plate appearances, and he's posted a .929 OPS against them. That doesn't mean he's finished developing, but it provides some additional context for his production. He's not simply beating up on pitchers his own age. There is, however, one area where Smith needs to improve. Smith is a right-handed hitter, but left-handed pitching has given him some trouble. In 81 plate appearances against lefties this season, he's hitting .219/.346/.438 with four home runs and two doubles. The .783 OPS isn't terrible, particularly with the power production, but it's noticeably below his overall performance. That will be something to monitor as he continues moving through the Twins system. If Smith wants to become a regular first baseman at the major-league level, he needs to show that he can punish left-handed pitching. For Smith, that makes the progress he's made with his approach particularly important. What Comes Next? It's still far too early to make any definitive predictions about Smith's future. He's played just 20 games at High-A, and there are plenty of challenges ahead. Double-A will provide another significant test. Pitchers will attack his weaknesses more aggressively. His performance against left-handed pitching will be worth watching. The Twins will also want to see whether his improved plate discipline remains consistent as Smith faces better competition. But there is something different about Smith's profile now than there was a year ago. The 17th-round pick isn't just putting up better numbers. He's showing development in areas that can help make those numbers sustainable. He's chasing fewer pitches outside the strike zone. He's walking more. He's striking out less. He's producing power. And he's holding his own against older pitchers. That's a good foundation. Smith's path is also a reminder that prospect development doesn't always happen in a straight line. His first professional season didn't immediately scream future big-leaguer. His first 36 games in 2026 weren't particularly impressive, either. But he kept making adjustments. Smith will need to continue producing as he moves up the organizational ladder, and he'll need to find more success against left-handed pitching. The margin for error will become smaller at every level. Eventually, the Twins will need to determine whether his offensive ceiling is high enough to overcome the limitations of his defensive profile. For now, though, Smith is giving the organization reasons to keep watching. For a player whose future will almost certainly be determined by his bat, that's exactly the kind of progress the Twins want to see. What stands out about JP Smith so far in his career? Leave a comment and start the discussion. The photo of JP Smith at the top of this article is from Dee Malamut of Malamut Photography, specifically last night's Kernels game in Cedar Rapids. You will see Dee at most Kernels home games, and we are lucky enough to be able to use some of his great photos. And, if you're planning on going to Cedar Rapids, or maybe at Twins Fest, you can order some photos from Dee himself. Check out the home page and find links to the 2026 games (and further back). You can also use the search functionality and type in names of current or past Kernels players and find their photos. The current Kernels roster has Top 20 prospects like Vahn Lackey, Eduardo Tait, and Yasser Mercedes. Marek Houston, Riley Quick, Khadim Diaw, Enrique Jimenez, Brandon Winokur are Top 20 prospect who were with the Kernels earlier this year. Caden Kendle and Adrian Bohorquez were in Cedar Rapids until recently. Want to see more Cedar Rapids Kernels photos, check out Friday's Kernels game photos. View the full article

Chris Suero took a night off from catching on Friday, but not from producing offense for Double-A Binghamton. He slugged a three-run home run in the first inning and laced an RBI single in the third as the Rumble Ponies raced to a 5-1 victory at Reading. Suero made his eighth start of the season in center field. The 22-year-old prospect has also started six games in left field, four at first base and 19 at DH to go with 62 starts at catcher. He's splitting time behind the dish with Kevin Parada as the season winds down. The Ponies are moving him around to keep his bat in the lineup and help him develop as a hitter. In 447 plate appearances, Suero has 18 home runs, 40 extra-base hits and a .778 OPS (111 wRC+), The OPS is bolstered by an extreme 15.2 percent walk rate. Elsewhere in the organization: Syracuse lost 6-4 at Lehigh Valley on a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth. Billy Amick delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth and Ronny Mauricio went 3-for-4. Jack Wenninger struck out six in long relief. Brooklyn left 14 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the ninth, and lost at Hudson Valley 5-2. Yonatan Henriquez went 3-for-4 and drove in both Cyclones runs with a double in the third inning. St. Lucie blew a four-run lead and lost at Daytona 6-5. Yovanny Rodriguez drove in three runs and Branny De Oleo homered. New York Mets Transactions New York Mets transferred DH Jorge Polanco from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. New York Mets optioned RHP Xzavion Curry to Syracuse Mets. New York Mets selected the contract of RHP Chris Devenski from Syracuse Mets. Amick's Hit Goes For Naught In Syracuse Loss Amick put the Mets ahead 4-3 with his two-out hit to right. Nick Morabito led off the inning with a single, Émilien Pitre moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Mark Vientos walked. Ronny Mauricio singled to left to load the bases, MJ Melendez's flyout failed to get the run in from third, but Amick delivered, plating Morabito and Vientos for a 4-3 lead. The lead was short-lived. Lehigh Valley tied the game in the bottom half, The score stayed 4-4 until the ninth, when closer Ben Simon surrendered a leadoff single, got a strikeout, and then served up the game-ending homer. Jose Ramos hit his third homer of the year to put the Mets up 1-0 in the third. Mauricio finished 3--for-4. Vientos went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout in his latest rehab outing. He played six innings at third base and committed a throwing error that led to an unearned run. Rehabbing right-hander Justin Hagenman started a piggyback game. He went the first four innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits, with no walks and four strikeouts. He gave up a two-run homer one batter after Vientos' error. Wenninger followed and allowed two runs on three hits over three innings. He walked two to go with the six Ks, Zach Franklin kept the game tied with a scoreless eighth. Syracuse Batting Player AB R H RBI BB K Nick Morabito 5 1 1 0 0 0 Émilien Pitre 3 0 1 0 0 0 Mark Vientos 2 1 0 0 1 1 Nick Lorusso 1 0 0 0 0 0 Ronny Mauricio 4 1 3 0 0 0 MJ Melendez 4 0 1 1 0 0 Billy Amick 4 0 1 2 0 2 Jose Ramos 3 1 1 1 1 0 Hayden Senger 3 0 1 0 0 0 D'Andre Smith 4 0 1 0 0 0 Syracuse Pitching Player IP H R ER BB K HR Justin Hagenman 4 2 2 1 0 4 1 Jack Wenninger 3 3 2 2 2 6 0 Zach Franklin 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 Ben Simon 1/3 1 2 2 1 1 1 Binghamton's Early Runs Hold Up Suero drove in the Rumble Ponies' first four runs with his homer and single. He cleared the bases in the first after Marco Vargas led off with a double and Jacob Reimer walked with one out. He delivered his hit in the third after after Jefferson Rojas reached on a force out and moved to second on a single by Reimer. Eli Serrano III drove in Reimer with a groundout to put Binghamton up 5-1.. Will Watson started and went the first three innings, allowing a run on a hit, with two walks and two strikeouts. Bryce Jenkins was credited with the win for throwing a scoreless fourth. Garrett Stratton got four outs, two via strikeout, for his fifth save. Vargas also tripled and singled in a three-hit night. Binghamton Batting Player AB R H RBI BB K Marco Vargas 5 1 3 0 0 1 Jefferson Rojas 4 1 0 0 1 0 Jacob Reimer 2 2 1 0 2 0 Chris Suero 4 1 2 4 0 0 Eli Serrano III 4 0 0 1 0 3 John Bay 3 0 0 0 1 2 Corey Collins 4 0 0 0 0 2 Kevin Parada 4 0 1 0 0 2 JT Benson 4 0 1 0 0 0 Binghamton Pitching Player IP H R ER BB K HR Will Watson 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 Bryce Jenkins 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Gabriel Rodriguez 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 Douglas Orellana 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 Carlos Guzman 2/3 1 0 0 2 1 0 Garrett Stratton 1 1/3 0 0 0 1 2 0 Brooklyn Squanders Chances In Loss Brooklyn was 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, The hit was Henriquez's double, which brought in Sammy Stafura and Ronald Hernandez with two outs to give the Cyclones a 2-0 lead. Stafura doubled with one out and Hernandez walked with two down. Brooklyn stranded two runners in the seventh, two more in the eighth and the three in the ninth. Potential go-ahead runs Daiverson Gutierrez and Antonio Jimenez struck out to end the game. Jose Chirinos started and took the loss. He allowed three runs and six hits over four innings, walking two, striking out five and allowing a home run. Henriquez finished 3-for-4 with a walk. Brooklyn Batting Player AB R H RBI BB K Sammy Stafura 4 1 1 0 1 1 Trey Snyder 4 0 0 0 1 2 Ronald Hernandez 2 1 0 0 2 0 Yonatan Henriquez 4 0 3 2 1 0 John Spikerman 4 0 0 0 1 1 Daiverson Gutierrez 4 0 2 0 1 2 Antonio Jimenez 5 0 1 0 0 2 Chase Meggers 4 0 1 0 0 0 Heriberto Rincon 4 0 1 0 0 3 Brooklyn Pitching Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jose Chirinos 4 6 3 3 2 5 1 Luis R. Rodriguez 1 2/3 1 2 2 2 2 0 Calvin Ziegler 1 1/3 2 0 0 0 3 0 Hunter Hodges 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 St. Lucie Loses Four-Run Cushion In Daytona St. Lucie led 4-0 after four, only to give up five runs and the lead in the fifth. The Mets fought back to tie the game in the seventh, only to have the Tortugas retake the lead in the bottom half.. Rodriguez put the Mets up 2-0 in the first with a one-out single that drove in Jake Ogden and Kuhio Aloy. He made it 3-0 in the third with a sac fly to bring home Ogden. De Oleo belted his eighth homer of the year for a 4-0 Mets lead, but, of course, no lead is safe in Single-A. Daytona put up a five-spot in the fifth against Jonathan Jimenez, the Mets' fourth pitcher in a bullpen game. A single, a walk, a wild pitch, two more singles, another wild pitch, a single plus a throwing error by Aloy, and one last single did the damage. St. Lucie tied the game in the seventh when Ryan Tayman scored on a passed ball, but Brett Banks promptly served up a home run to put Daytona ahead for good. St. Lucie Batting Player AB R H RBI BB K Vladi Gomez 4 0 1 0 1 3 Jake Ogden 5 2 2 0 0 0 Ryan Tayman 4 1 1 0 0 0 Kuhio Aloy 2 1 1 0 3 0 Yovanny Rodriguez 4 0 1 3 0 1 Julio Zayas 4 0 0 0 0 2 Dylan Carey 4 0 0 0 0 0 Branny De Oleo 3 1 1 1 0 2 Wyatt Vincent 3 0 1 0 0 0 Jack Toomey 1 0 0 0 0 1 St. Lucie Pitching Player IP H R ER BB K HR Aidan Keenan 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Nate Isler 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 AJ Krodel 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Jonathan Jimenez 2 1/3 5 5 4 2 4 0 Brett Banks 1 2/3 1 1 1 1 2 1 Ernesto Mercedes 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Top 20 Prospect Performance Jonah Tong: DNP Jack Wenninger: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K Elian Pena: DNP Mitch Voit: DNP Ryan Clifford: DNP Nick Morabito: 1-for-5, R Jonathan Santucci: DNP Carson Wiggins: DNP Jacob Reimer: 1-for-2, 2 BB, 2 R Aiden Robbins: DNP Randy Guzman: DNP Wandy Asigen: DNP Chris Suero: 2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, R Jefferson Rojas: 0-for-4, BB, R Will Watson: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K Shane Sdao: DNP Eli Serrano III: 0-for-4, RBI, 3 K Antonio Jimenez: 1-for-5, 2 K Emilien Pitre: 1-for-3 Dylan Ross: DNP View the full article

Chicago Cubs Minor League Report Affiliate Overview Triple-A Iowa Cubs Series vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals): Cubs lead, 3-1 Season Record: 55–72-1 Double-A Knoxville Smokies Series at Biloxi Shuckers (Milwaukee Brewers): Tied, 2-2 Season Record: 66–57 High-A South Bend Cubs Series at Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee Brewers): Tied, 2-2 Season Record: 71–49 Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans Series at Augusta GreenJackets (Atlanta Braves): GreenJackets lead, 3-1 Season Record: 46–75 Triple-A: Iowa Cubs Season Record: 55–72-1 Series Opponent: Omaha Storm Chasers (58-69) Series Standing: Lead, 3-1 Aug. 28: The Iowa Cubs clinched at least a series split with a 4-3 walk-off victory, in 10 innings, over the Omaha Storm Chasers on Friday night at Principal Park. The two teams traded runs in the first, with the Cubs getting their run on a BJ Murray (2-for-5) solo shot, his 15th of the season. Iowa then went in front 2-1 in the second when Hayden Cantrelle (1-for-3) doubled home a run. The I-Cubs would keep that lead through six innings thanks to 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball from starter Jordan Wicks. Wicks, who would eventually take no decision, allowed seven hits to go along with two walks and two strikeouts. Relievers Shelby Miller and Luis Peralta then combined for 1 2/3 frames of shutout ball, did not allow a hit and whiffed two batters. Omaha would then tie it in the seventh and the game would go to the 10th as neither side found a breakthrough in the eighth or ninth. The Storm Chasers would score once in the 10th and the Cubs would load the bases with one out in their chance in the final frame. Iowa tied the game on a balk and then Ben Cowles (2-for-5) completed the comeback with an RBI-single to make it 4-3. Double-A: Knoxville Smokies Season Record: 66–57 Series Opponent: Biloxi Shuckers (58–62) Series Standing: Tied, 2-2 Aug. 28: The Knoxville Smokies evened their series at the Biloxi Shuckers with a 3-1 victory on Friday night at Keesler Federal Park. The Smokies would score first in the ballgame in the fourth when Ariel Armas (2-for-4) launched a solo home run, his sixth of the season. The Shuckers would tie the game in the fifth before Knoxville would go back in front in the ninth with a pair of runs to make it 3-1, thanks to Andy Garriola’s (1-for-4) two-run single. Garriola now has 80 RBI on the season, good for fifth most in the Southern League. Biloxi would bring the winning run to the plate in the ninth but Tyler Ras would come out of the bullpen to retire the lone batter he faced and earn his seventh save of the campaign and seal the win for the Smokies. Dawson Netz got the start on the mound for Knoxville and took no decision. Netz spun five innings of one-run ball, allowed four hits to go along with one walk and seven strikeouts. Marino Santy and Frankie Scalzo Jr. combined for 3 2/3 scoreless frames in relief, did not allow a hit and whiffed six batters. High-A: South Bend Cubs Season Record: 71–49 Series Opponent: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (64–55) Series Standing: Tied, 2-2 Aug. 28: The South Bend Cubs evened their series at the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers with a dramatic 10-7 comeback victory on Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field. The Timber Rattlers took an early 7-0 lead after plating three runs in the first and four more in the seventh. The Cubs started their rally with a run in the fourth on a Logan Poteet (2-for-5) RBI-single and then made it 7-4 when Josiah Hartshorn (1-for-4) launched a three-run shot, his 17th long ball at High-A on the season. Edwardo Melendez kept South Bend in the contest thanks to 2 2/3 scoreless frames in relief, allowing one hit and walking one. Trailing by three heading into the ninth, Brennan Hudson (1-for-2) would start the comeback with a two-out single to keep the Cubs alive. A Geuri Lubo (3-for-4) single and an intentional walk to Hartshorn would load the bases, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. Jose Escobar (0-for-4) and Angel Cepeda (0-for-3) would both draw walks to make it 7-6. Kade Snell (2-for-3) then gave South Bend the lead with a two-run single and Poteet would tack on some insurance runs with a two-run single of his own to make it 10-7. Cole Reynolds would turn in a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the win, improving to 4-2 on the season, and complete his 3 1/3 scoreless outing out of the bullpen. Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans Season Record: 46–75 Series Opponent: Augusta GreenJackets (67–56) Series Standing: Trail, 3-1 Aug. 28: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans dropped their third-straight contest as they were blanked by the Augusta GreenJackets, 8-0, on Friday night at SRP Park. The Green Jackets took a 3-0 lead in the second and never looked back, eventually scoring two in the fifth and three more in the sixth. The Pelicans were held to just two hits in the ballgame, with Jhoander Irigoyen (1-for-3) and Derik Alcantara (1-for-3) picking up the knocks. Myrtle Beach starter Luis Mata took the loss on the mound, falling to 0-2 on the season. Mata allowed three runs on two hits over two innings of work, walked three and struck out two. Sam Mettert was a bright spot out of the bullpen, allowing three hits over 1 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out three and walking none. View the full article

The San Diego Padres are poised to get a couple of regular contributors back into the mix soon. Samad Taylor is on rehab assignment while Miguel Andujar has begun a swinging progression on his way back from a broken wrist. That these two increasingly imminent returns are approaching adds a wrinkle to a roster that already featured another one earlier this week. When the Padres optioned Sung-Mun Song to Triple-A El Paso, they created a roster deficiency in the form of a lack of infield depth. The only supplemental infielder listed on the official roster is Gavin Sheets, who has been used only sparingly at first base for more than a month. Neither of Taylor or Andujar returning changes that calculus; Taylor hasn't appeared on the infield since 2023 and Andujar, while capable of handling an infield corner, is far from an ideal solution beyond the odd appearance once in a blue moon. Which means that the Padres have some additional decisions ahead of them following Song's option. That Taylor is a lock for the roster upon his return speaks to how strong a year he was turning in prior to his stay on the injured list with an oblique injury. He had wRC+'d 135 over a 102 plate appearance sample with six steals courtesy of 93rd percentile sprint speed. Andujar, meanwhile, was always figured to be a key bat as a doubles machine that doesn't strike out a whole lot. Obviously, the expansion of rosters in September does have an impact here. Taylor's return is closer and will likely ignite a decision before we flip the calendar, while Andujar's return could come once there's already more wiggle room with which to work. At the same time, the standard protocol is, generally, a position player and a pitcher get added, bringing the total to 14 each. Many teams are inclined to call up a catcher to provide that position group with a little relief given its intense demand. As such, there's no guarantee that the Padres will use the expansion to answer the questions surrounding the impending roster decisions. Which means that there's a couple of players that could be in danger of losing a roster spot in the coming days or weeks in the way that we just saw Song surrender his. The outfield picture is already particularly crowded, with six players listed on the roster for that position group. Of that group, you have your stars (Fernando Tatis Jr. & Jackson Merrill) and at least one player in Luis Rengifo that appears to have played his way into being a lock for the stretch run on the strength of a 139 wRC+ in the second half (to say nothing of his ability to jump to the infield in a pinch). That leaves Jase Bowen, Austin Hays, and the newly added Dustin Harris as those who could be at risk of finding their way off the roster upon the respective returns of Taylor & Andujar. Bowen has had the longest run on the Padres roster, largely due to his ability to hang in centerfield in Jackson Merrill's stead. Most of his work, though, has come as a late-inning replacement as the team has had to hide his bat as much as possible. His wRC+ is a paltry 32 with a walk rate under three percent against a strikeout rate over 36 percent. There just isn't much offensive upside at present, and the fact that he has options remaining likely means that he'll be the one sent to El Paso first upon the return of the team's two injured players. It's not as if Austin Hays has offered too much certainty either, though. Since his big pinch-hit homer to introduce himself in San Diego, Hays has gone on to hit .250 and reach base at a .308 clip in 24 plate appearances. The fact that he's a right-handed bat more capable of providing power than Taylor, however, could grant him a longer look. He's certain to stick around longer than Bowen, at the very least. Harris has been with the team for the shortest amount of time (two games, seven plate appearances), but was scorching in Triple-A prior to his selection to the roster. He'd slashed a gaudy .350/.422/.617 in 120 plate appearances for the Chihuahuas, which could offer enough intrigue to give him more staying power than even Hays, despite the team's need for a lefty killer off the bench. With Taylor himself a right-handed hitter, they at least wouldn't lose the balance that Hays offers off the bench. Assuming that September is used to recall a catcher or Song, at least two of these names are going to find their way off the roster in the short term. Bowen will, by all accounts, be the first to go. The decision between Hays & Harris isn't going to be an easy one, though, unless one separates himself from the other. Either would have to be designated for assignment and could seek their next bench gig rather than accept an outright assignment back to El Paso. Which means that the Padres have some very real decisions ahead of them as they work to sort out what's left of their outfield-heavy bench in the coming weeks. View the full article

The grind is going to affect you. There is no road from Game 1 to Game 162—let alone from Pitchers & Catchers to Parade Day—that avoids all the tolls and all the traffic jams that turn the dream job into a bit of a nightmare. There are going to be times when you’re hideously tired. There are going to be times when you’re either sidelined by an injury and fighting the mental battle of staying engaged with the game and your teammates, or playing through a nagging something and fighting the physical battle against the best competition on earth without being at your best. There are going to be times when off-field distraction or on-field frustration makes it impossible (or nearly so) to maintain the equanimity and the intensity that are required to succeed in this game. At certain points in the season, you can see the league feel the grind almost in unison. They get grumpier; they get sloppier. Arguments with umpires and tensions between teams rise. I notice this most in early June (when the campaign has been going for a while but real clarity about how it’ll go remains stubbornly out of reach) and around this time of year, just after the trade deadline. Checkpoints and milestones make the grind bearable; being just on the other side of one and knowing it’s a long way to the next one makes for tough sledding. Players might tell you they don’t pay much attention to trade rumors or care much what the front office does at the deadline, but they do pay attention, and they do care. Once the deadline passes, whether things went the way a given player wanted or not, they know that there’s no further transformation coming. Nothing is harder than living with yourself after you got what you wanted but didn’t feel the magical uplift you’d hoped for. We’re seeing some teams and players wear thin and start to strain over the last two weeks, as all of these effects have swirled together and the games and the miles traveled and the reps have piled up. Let’s do a little thought exercise together. If you were running a baseball ops department, and you acknowledged all of the above, how would you go about ameliorating it—not avoiding the impacts, but mitigating them, and maybe turning some of them from negatives into positives? I propose that if you start by trying to answer that question when you start to see the impacts, you’re already too late. The grind is going to affect you. Knowing that, what if you made a plan that addressed that eventuality and worked against it, in advance? This isn’t a problem unique to sports, so it’s not an area in which we have to wait and see what teams come up with. Without cleaving too closely to what could quickly become a fraught comparison, let’s look to another vocation in which big mental and physical hurdles are unavoidable and expected, and where lots of work has been done to move toward holistic handling of those issues: soldiers. The history of our world’s understanding of war trauma is too long and complicated to rehash here. Suffice it to say that an honest and non-judgmental approach to mitigating the damage war trauma can do is a relatively new thing under the sun. Since roughly the Vietnam War era, though, we’ve made steady and significant—you can never say ‘sufficient’ with something like this—progress, as a society. Greater empathy greets people who deal with post-traumatic stress; a wider array of treatment and growth opportunities await them. Over the last 20 years or so, there’s also been more work aimed not at reacting to war trauma, but at preparing oneself for it and handling it as it happens. “By 2008, soldiers received so-called Battlemind training before being deployed,” author Tom Roston wrote in his book The Writer’s Crusade: Kurt Vonnegut and the Many Lives of Slaughterhouse-Five. “Previously, the army only ran postdeployment health briefings.” Roston’s book is all about the Vonnegut book named in its title, but any book about that book is also about the Western understanding of war trauma and the sea change therein, especially since the publication of Vonnegut’s opus. It therefore spends a long time talking about “fully integrative” approaches to handling trauma, including attacking that trauma before, during and after soldiers’ deployment. The Battlemind training to which Roston referred there is no longer the state of the art, but it’s one tool in a box of them used by various branches of the military and non-governmental support organizations. It’s probably better rendered as BATTLEMIND, though, because it’s actually an acronym. BATTLEMIND stands for: Buddies: Connecting with fellow soldiers, rather than withdrawing Accountability Targeted Aggression, as opposed to inappropriate aggression Tactical Awareness, as opposed to hypervigilance Lethally Armed, responsible wielding of weaponry – Emotional Control, as opposed to anger or detachment Mission Operational Security, rather than secretiveness Individual Responsibility, rather than guilt Nondefensive driving, but not aggressive driving Discipline, not conflict These seminars and workshops were intended to prepare soldiers to balance the responsibilities of non-combat deployment, combat, and civilian life, by highlighting key areas in which generalizing from one of those contexts to the others could be dangerous. Some of the items in that list make little sense to someone who has never been anywhere near a combat zone. For instance, why is driving worthy of its own entry? Ask anyone with experience in such a place, though, and it becomes clear. You really do have to drive differently—not defensively, not predictably, but also not hyperaggressively—in many places where soldiers must go. It’s not one of the differences every young person preparing for a first deployment anticipates, and by making them aware of it in advance (as well as checking in on that item while they were in the field and in postdeployment debriefs), the program’s creators hoped to make soldiers more effective both in combat-zone settings and at home, afterward. It’s time for a crucial caveat: Plainly, being a ballplayer is not like being a soldier—not really. There is no meaningfully increased risk of death; nothing inherently and inescapably traumatic; and no more moral quandary in participating than in doing anything else for a living, really. Plenty of people will balk, with good reason, at any parallels drawn between one profession and the other. I don’t mean to imply that this model (again, at least partially abandoned by the army itself) is perfect for its own uses—let alone that it should be adapted to ballplayers and treated as a cure-all. However, I think an end-to-end plan to fight the grind could make more effective ballplayers, and perhaps turn the average ballplayer into a slightly more effective and upstanding person, to boot. Let’s begin by making a couple of tweaks to the acronym, by swapping out the items that matter to the military but not to baseball. While a ball in the hand of a talented pitcher or a bat in the hands of any big, strong adult can be deadly weapons, let’s take out the ‘L’, for Lethally Armed. Players don’t need specific training for the storage and contextualized use of their equipment. As you’d guess, we’ll also cut out the ‘N’, because line drives are neither defensive nor aggressive. In their place, though, we’ll add an ‘R’ after the ‘E’, for Rest and Recovery. Players already get lots of information and resources for dealing with injuries and maintaining their energy, but that should be incorporated into this kind of training, and it should be proactive, rather than reactive. We’ll also replace the ‘N’, this time with the phrase “Nasty on diamond, not away from it”. The resulting acronym works nicely; it’s BATTERMIND now. (Sorry, pitchers.) But what should this training look like? What form should it take; when should it begin; and how often should it take place? It would be ironic if training designed to moderate the effects of the grind actually added to them, by overloading players, so we’d better think this all the way through, even if it’s just a thought exercise. Here’s everything I’ve got. Sessions To do this right, you have to start by getting everyone together to introduce it. You hold a full-team meeting and seminar on what this training will be, early in spring training. Walking through each of the principles in a quick overview fashion, you give concrete examples and ask staff who had long playing careers to give brief statements on how their experience dovetails with a given principle. Be honest, right away, about how hard the long season is, but emphasize that this training is an opportunity to reduce the strain of it. For most of the season, though, the work is done in smaller groups. The staff in charge of leading it schedules sessions so that they’re seeing every player on a biweekly basis, but not all of them at the same time. That creates opportunities for styles of learning and teaching beyond simple lecture. Some sessions become roundtable discussions; others are prescribed and structured exercises. At the end of the year. Points of Emphasis Let’s walk back through the items of the acronym, with a baseball-specific lens fitted to them: Buddies: Soldiers become as much family to one another as friends, because of the bonding that takes place under the combination of such danger and constant proximity. Sport is one of the few areas of civilian life where a similar camaraderie develops between colleagues; these guys are together a lot and they have ample reason to think of things in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’. However, the grind of the season (just like the grind of deployment) can make for a sense of loneliness that must be combatted. Players whose families are in another country or who can’t stay with them in the team’s home city during the season are especially prone to that, and smart phones have had the same isolating effects in clubhouses as in society as a whole. This element of the training should focus on encouraging genuine connection between teammates. A voluntary roommates program for road trips would be an interesting idea. Get-to-know-you things that ensure everyone on the team knows their teammates’ family and living situation and can check in with those who are at risk of being siloed are crucial. Accountability: This happens to be in the news right now, as the sports pundits babble over whether it was proper for Pat Murphy to remove Cooper Pratt from a game after he failed to put a bunt down in one at-bat and didn’t run hard out of the box on a shallow fly ball in the next. Because that form of accountability is visible and somewhat embarrassing for the player, it’s become a hot-button issue, but the truth beneath that debate is that taking a player out of one game is a very small punishment. As long as the team is supportive of any player it thus disciplines afterward, it’s not damaging, and it affirms the constancy of the team’s commitment to intensity and execution. That’s why the players on the team were so supportive of Murphy’s handling of the Pratt situation. Accountability means communicating in advance on what basis a player might suffer various consequences for actions, but more importantly, it’s about making all involved understand that they’re accountable to one another; it builds upon the interconnectedness that should be fostered by the Buddies piece. Targeted Aggression: This is where the benefits of this kind of training begin to spread off the field and into the player’s real life, but it certainly still has value on the field. Do you remember the Bronx Zoo Yankees? The 1980s Cocaine Mets? The Late Carlos Zambrano Cubs? Those clubs all found some success that was fueled by the intensity and outright aggression of key figures, but they were also riven by those players’ irresponsible behavior both on and off the field. Being aggressive is important in baseball, and the tenacity that fuels that aggressiveness has to burn even between games; it’s usually not a switch that can be flipped on and off. However, a good training module on this subject should help players develop a dimmer instead of a simple switch. That reduces instances of inappropriate on-field outbursts or lapses in concentration that lead to losses. More importantly, though, it also reduces the likelihood of brawls between teammates in the clubhouse, shouting matches between manager and player, or—this, most important of all, to the person and the world if not to the team—violent or aggressive behavior toward loved ones or strangers when not at the ballpark. Tactical Awareness: This one maps only imperfectly onto baseball. A soldier has to learn to be extremely aware of their environment, and that can transform into damaging hypervigilance once they’re back home and the danger becomes perceived, rather than real. It’s not the same in baseball. Players have to pay acute attention on the field, but not in a way that becomes counterproductive away from it. One key to this, however, would be helping players discern important information from noise, both on and off the field. Being aware of opponents talking or sending signals while filtering out crowd noise is important; ditto for hearing valid criticism when it comes in public but tuning out knuckleheads and people in your DMs shouting about their parlays. Emotional Control: The balance between equanimity and intensity is always difficult to strike in baseball, be it within a game or over a month. It’s important to care about every outcome, but not to care so much that it destabilizes you in either the long or the short term. Giving players a wider variety of tools, from mindfulness meditation to testimonials and counseling by former players, could be a big help. Rest and Recovery: Every player thinks they know a ton about how to preserve their energy, recover from workouts and be ready for the game each day. Every player has more to learn in this area. BATTERMIND training on this principle should focus on scheduling rest and off days farther in advance than players are comfortable with, to emphasize to them that it’s a long season and a long-term plan is needed. Mission Operational Security: Teaching soldiers the distinction between preserving “opsec” and being overly secretive with loved ones is a vital part of preparing them for a return to civilian life. It’s easy to understand that loose lips sink ships; it’s harder to know which things have to be kept to oneself and which are safe to share. This problem has a clearer set of parallels to life as a ballplayer than you might think. Many players become unpopular with or distrustful of the media because they worry that they’ll say too much; that makes open clubhouse times a daily dose of discomfort and antipathy for them. Some also struggle to talk about their work with their families, the way we all need to do sometimes. There should be lots of training on how to say more to the media and to worry about that less, and on how to leave work at work even in this all-consuming career, so conversations can be freer at home. Individual Responsibility: This overlaps with accountability, but it’s not the same thing. For soldiers, this is about learning not to be crushed by guilt, whether as a survivor of something that killed a friend or because of a real failure that put someone in danger. Baseball’s stakes are lower, but the risks take the same shape. Players often kick themselves for letting the team down after a loss; that’s ok. However, it’s important to take a balanced mental approach to such moments, and to remember that no one player’s performance will determine the fate of a team’s season. This is one place where this training might actually incorporate public-facing baseball stats in a productive way; there’s no greater cure for the solipsistic guilt of a morose player than to teach them about Win Probability Added and the concepts of value over replacement. Once you have a firm handle on those precepts, it’s impossible to ignore how diffuse the responsibility for wins and losses in this sport really is. Nasty on Diamond, not Away From It: This is similar to the question of targeted aggression, but it’s more about mindset than behavior. High-level competitiveness is a prerequisite for success in the majors. It’s often self-defeating once you step outside the clubhouse, though. Teaching players to cultivate their competitiveness—that is, to grow it, but to do so in a confined space and keep it from taking over their whole personality or world—has to be a part of this kind of training. Discipline: Like most military operations, ball clubs are hierarchical organizations. Players have to learn the importance of the chain of command and of when and how it’s appropriate to push for changes thereto. Often, it simply isn’t, and the challenge to the player is to accept something unpleasant in one isolated situation so as not to disrupt the cohesion of the team and its structure. Discussion about a change a player feels is necessary might need to wait longer than they’d like, and be done in a smaller setting than they initially prefer. What soldiers face and what ballplayers face are not similar at all. In a sense, though, the paradoxes BATTLEMIND was most designed to address exist for all of us; they're like the day-to-day experiences of civilian workers, in macrocosm instead of microcosm. We all have to live in two worlds, or more. We all have to deal with stressors and compartmentalize traumas, although soldiers face greater and ghastlier versions of that challenge than most of us do. This program is an admirable effort to name and address the places where we feel torn between the two selves we need to be and the two constituencies we need to serve, and to make room for appropriate handling of stress and its scarier cousins. Not all workplaces, unfortunately, feel the same responsibility or have the same capacity to engender real cohesion and to follow up assiduously to ensure the ongoing mental health of their employees as does the military—and even the military too often lets down those to whom it bears this responsibility, often because it has too little capacity. Baseball teams, however, are multi-billion-dollar organizations, with every incentive to do long-range work with their employees and almost endless capacity. This is how a team might comprehensively plan to keep players more focused, more prepared and less weary by late August, beginning in early February. It needs to be a program implemented with the goal of supporting the whole person, understanding that some of the best benefits might accrue to the player and their family, rather than to the club. One reason the military has moved away from BATTLEMIND is that it was designed to make more effective soldiers in theater, rather than primarily to produce healthier citizens at home; it didn’t meet that standard. However, it might actually have done more for those who went through it after they did get home, so if a team is willing to stipulate that a happier and healthier player is more likely to play well in future seasons and to stick around, they should be willing to invest in the program even if it first benefits the person when they’re not at the park. View the full article

Connor Prielipp's season has been a roller coaster, and it might be reaching the top of the final hill. He got roughed up again in his last outing, and with Joe Ryan potentially nearing a return, it's fair to start wondering whether Prielipp's spot in the Minnesota Twins rotation is safe down the stretch. To be clear, this isn't a total surprise. We knew going in that a season like this was possible for a young arm still finding his footing at the big-league level. Prielipp has flashed real promise in a number of his starts, but he's also been knocked around more than the Twins would like, and there's more behind that than simple growing pains. Remember why the Twins were able to land him in the 2nd round of the 2022 MLB draft in the first place. Prielipp dealt with arm issues at Alabama, serious enough that a lot of evaluators thought of him as a future high-leverage reliever rather than a starter (if he was able to stay healthy at all). That path is still very much on the table; however, the Twins developed him as a starter, where he has shown promise. Early this season, there was a real question of whether he'd still be in the big-league rotation by the time September rolled around. While he’s shown that he could stick in the rotation, the bumps in the road have been real too. Unfortunately, we’re at the point where the innings conversation becomes impossible to ignore. Prielipp has thrown 99 innings with the Twins this year, already more than he's thrown in any professional season since joining the organization (and that's not even counting his innings with the St. Paul Saints). That workload alone had people speculating around the trade deadline about whether the Twins might shut him down or shift him to the bullpen to manage his innings. That combined with his roller coaster performance might force the Twins’ hand. Across 19 starts, Prielipp owns a 5.55 ERA, which looks rough on the surface. But dig a little deeper and there's reason for some optimism. His FIP sits at 3.98, suggesting the results haven't matched the underlying performance. He's also carrying a strikeout minus walk rate of 15.6%, which is a solid number for a starting pitcher but could be proved upon by limiting walks. The problem is his most recent stretch, aside from a 7.76 ERA (4.73 FIP), his primary pitch offering hasn't been getting smacked. Though his secondaries still look good (or at least okay), it's his fastball and that has suddenly lost its shine where hitters are batting .364 against the pitch. And when you connect that to the innings totals, it wouldn't be shocking if his arm is simply running out of gas as the season reaches its final month. So what happens next? Joe Ryan's return is reportedly on the horizon, and that changes the math for everyone in the rotation. The last time a starter had to make room for a returning arm, it was Zebby Matthews who got optioned to Triple-A St. Paul.. It'll be worth watching whether the Twins take a similar approach with Prielipp, sending him down to St. Paul for a reset and a chance to fine-tune his fastball and changeup before the season wraps up. That's not a demotion in the way it might sound. It could be exactly what he needs. There's also the bigger picture to consider if the Twins make a real push toward October. If we're talking about a playoff rotation, Ryan and Taj Bradley look like the top two options right now, with Dean Kramer as the likely third. That would put Prielipp in a bullpen role if he's part of an October roster at all. None of this means Prielipp is a bust or that his future in a Twins uniform is in doubt. Quite the opposite. A pitcher with a 4.11 FIP and a strong strikeout-to-walk rate has real things to like, even if the ERA doesn't show it yet. The bigger question is how the Twins manage him the rest of the way. Do they give him a reset in St. Paul, similar to what they did with Royce Lewis earlier this year? I lean toward thinking a reset makes the most sense. Prielipp has already blown past his previous career high in innings, his fastball and changeup have clearly taken a hit lately, and there's no reason to push a talented young arm further into the danger zone in a season that may not have much playoff value attached to it anyway. Better to protect the asset now than risk a bigger issue down the road. How do you think the Twins should handle Connor Prielipp over the next month? Should they option him down, shift him to the bullpen, or just ride it out? Join the conversation in the comments! View the full article

Coleman Picard turned in a quality start as Columbia edged Charleston 3-2, and Drew Beam won as Northwest Arkansas beat Frisco 5-3 behind Sam Kulasingam's two-run home run. Carson Roccaforte went 3-for-3 with a home run, though Omaha lost 4-3 in 10 innings. Kendry Chourio struck out four for Quad Cities, and Ben North homered to tie the game, but the River Bandits fell 7-6. Andy Basora closed out Columbia for his eighth save. Kansas City Royals Transactions No Roster Moves Cross And Roccaforte Homer, But Omaha Falls In Extras At Iowa Gavin Cross homered leading off the game, and Roccaforte tied it later with a solo shot, but Omaha dropped a 4-3 decision in 10 innings at Iowa. The Royals' No. 9 prospect finished 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and an RBI. Cross went 2-for-6 with a home run, an RBI, and three strikeouts. Peyton Wilson had a hit, a walk, and a hit by pitch. Omaha collected nine hits and drew six walks, but the Storm Chasers struck out 12 times and left 14 runners on base. Hunter Patteson worked four innings, allowing five hits and two runs while walking five and striking out three. Ben Sears followed with two innings, one hit, and one walk. Luke Little added an inning with a strikeout. Matt Moore retired all six hitters he faced and struck out three. Scott Alexander recorded one out, gave up a hit and a walk, and was charged with two runs, one of them earned. Omaha scored first. Cross opened the game with a home run to left-center. After Cross' 15th homer of the year, Wilson singled, Abraham Toro walked, and Roccaforte singled to load the bases, but the Storm Chasers did not add to the lead. Roccaforte's home run to right-center in the seventh made it 2-2. It was his second home run this year with the Storm Chasers. Drew Waters singled behind him, but two strikeouts ended the Omaha threat. In the 10th, zombie runner Waters scored when Omar Hernandez reached on a throwing error, putting Omaha ahead 3-2. Iowa answered with two runs in the bottom half off veteran reliever Scott Alexander, with the winning run scoring with one out. The Storm Chasers went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position. The loss dropped their record to 58-69. Player AB R H RBI BB K Gavin Cross, RF 6 1 2 1 0 3 Peyton Wilson, 2B 3 0 1 0 1 0 Brett Squires, 1B 5 0 0 0 0 1 Abraham Toro, 3B 4 0 1 0 1 2 Carson Roccaforte, CF 3 1 3 1 1 0 Drew Waters, LF 4 1 1 0 1 2 Colton Becker, SS 5 0 0 0 0 2 Brandon Drury, DH 3 0 0 0 2 2 Omar Hernandez, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 37 3 9 2 6 12 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Hunter Patteson 4 5 2 2 5 3 1 Ben Sears 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 Luke Little 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Matt Moore 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 Scott Alexander 1/3 1 2 1 1 0 0 Totals 9 1/3 7 4 3 7 8 1 Kulasingam's Two-Run Homer Lifts Northwest Arkansas Past Frisco Kulasingam's two-run home run put Northwest Arkansas ahead for good in a 5-3 win over Frisco. Kulasingam went 1-for-3 with the home run, two RBI, a walk, and two strikeouts. Javi Vaz was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Jorge Alfaro added two hits, including a double, and an RBI. Alberto Rodriguez also had two hits and scored a run. Luke Pelzer went 1-for-3 with an RBI double, a walk, and a run scored. The Naturals collected 10 hits, drew five walks, and left seven runners on base. Beam, the Royals' No. 13 prospect, took the win after five innings, giving up six hits and three runs with four walks and three strikeouts. Augusto Mendieta followed with three innings, three hits, no runs, two walks, and four strikeouts. Zachary Cawyer worked one inning for his fifth save. Northwest Arkansas scored twice in the first. Pelzer walked, stole second, and stole third before scoring during Spencer Nivens' at-bat. Nivens was hit by a pitch, Daniel Vazquez walked, and Alfaro singled to left to make it 2-1. The third inning provided the difference. Vaz doubled to right, and Kulasingam followed with a home run to right-center for a 4-2 lead. Alfaro doubled later in the inning, but the Naturals did not add to the total. Rodriguez and Angel Acosta opened the fourth with singles, and Pelzer doubled to center to score Rodriguez for a 5-2 lead. Frisco scored once more, and Mendieta and Cawyer combined for four scoreless innings to close it out. The Naturals went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Their record is now 52-70 this season. Player AB R H RBI BB K Luke Pelzer, CF 3 1 1 1 1 1 Javi Vaz, DH 4 1 2 0 0 2 Sam Kulasingam, 3B 3 1 1 2 1 2 Spencer Nivens, LF 2 1 0 0 1 0 Daniel Vazquez, SS 3 0 0 0 1 0 Jorge Alfaro, 1B 4 0 2 1 0 1 Canyon Brown, C 3 0 1 0 1 1 Alberto Rodriguez, RF 4 1 2 0 0 1 Angel Acosta, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 1 Totals 30 5 10 4 5 9 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Drew Beam 5 6 3 3 4 3 1 Augusto Mendieta 3 3 0 0 2 4 0 Zachary Cawyer 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 9 9 3 3 6 7 1 North's Tying Homer Wasted As Quad Cities Falls To Beloit Quad Cities twice came back from a deficit, then lost 7-6 to Beloit on a ninth-inning home run. The undrafted North went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and two RBI. Jose Cerice had a hit and two RBI. Nolan Sailors finished 1-for-2 with an RBI, two walks, and a stolen base. Derlin Figueroa had a double and a run scored, and Stone Russell added a double. The River Bandits managed seven hits, drew seven walks, struck out nine times, and left eight runners on base. Chourio, the Royals' top prospect, started and gave up three runs on three hits in three innings, walking none and striking out four. Rob Hensey followed with three innings, six hits, three runs, four walks, and three strikeouts. Kamden Edge worked two hitless innings with four strikeouts. Yimi Presinal took the loss, allowing a home run in his inning of work. Beloit scored three times in the first. Quad Cities answered with two in the bottom half. Asbel Gonzalez and Zion Rose walked, and Cerice lined a single to right that scored both. Blake Mitchell, the Royals' No. 4 prospect, singled and came home on an Erick Torres groundout in the third to tie it 3-3. Beloit pushed across three more over the next two innings, and Sailors singled home Figueroa to cut the deficit to 6-4. The eighth inning brought Quad Cities even. Sailors walked, and North drove a line drive to left-center for a two-run home run and a 6-6 tie. Russell doubled behind him, but a strikeout ended the inning. Beloit homered in the ninth to lead 7-6, and the River Bandits got a walk in their last turn at bat but did not score. The River Bandits went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. The loss dropped their record to 65-54. Player AB R H RBI BB K Asbel Gonzalez, CF 3 1 0 0 2 2 Zion Rose, LF 3 1 0 0 2 2 Blake Mitchell, C 4 1 1 0 1 2 Jose Cerice, 3B 4 0 1 2 0 0 Derlin Figueroa, 1B 5 1 1 0 0 1 Erick Torres, RF 4 0 0 1 0 0 Nolan Sailors, DH 2 1 1 1 2 1 Ben North, SS 4 1 2 2 0 1 Stone Russell, 2B 3 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 32 6 7 6 7 9 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Kendry Chourio 3 3 3 3 0 4 1 Rob Hensey 3 6 3 3 4 3 0 Kamden Edge 2 0 0 0 0 4 0 Yimi Presinal 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 Totals 9 10 7 7 4 12 2 Picard's Quality Start Carries Columbia Past Charleston Picard gave Columbia six innings, and the Fireflies came back to beat Charleston 3-2. Picard allowed four hits and two runs with one walk and two strikeouts, a quality start that earned him the win. Dalton Hill followed with an inning and a walk. Michael Braswell III worked an inning and issued a walk. Basora finished with one inning, one hit, and one strikeout for his eighth save. The three relievers combined for three scoreless innings. Henry Ramos led off and went 1-for-4 with an RBI. JC Vanek had a hit, a walk, and an RBI. Jhosmmel Zue had a hit, a run scored, and an RBI. Roni Cabrera had a hit, a walk, and a run scored. Columbia managed five hits, drew four walks, struck out 11 times, and left six runners on base. Charleston scored twice in the first. Columbia answered in the third. Zue singled to center, and after two outs, Ramos singled to center to score Zue. Vanek followed with a single to center that scored Ramos and tied it 2-2. The sixth inning decided it. Cabrera and Connor Rasmussen drew walks, and Zue lifted a sacrifice fly to right that scored Cabrera for a 3-2 lead. Columbia did not get a runner past first base over the final two innings, but the bullpen protected the margin. Hill, Braswell, and Basora allowed one hit and two walks the rest of the way, and Basora retired the last batter of the game on a ground ball. The Fireflies went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The win boosted Columbia's record to 62-61. Player AB R H RBI BB K Henry Ramos, CF 4 1 1 1 0 2 JC Vanek, 1B 3 0 1 1 1 2 Camden Johnson, SS 4 0 0 0 0 1 Sean Gamble, DH 4 0 0 0 0 1 Roni Cabrera, LF 3 1 1 0 1 1 Connor Rasmussen, 2B 2 0 0 0 2 0 Jhosmmel Zue, C 2 1 1 1 0 1 Jhonayker Ugarte, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 2 Daniel Lopez, RF 3 0 1 0 0 1 Totals 28 3 5 3 4 11 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Coleman Picard 6 4 2 2 1 2 0 Dalton Hill 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Michael Braswell III 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Andy Basora 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 9 5 2 2 3 3 0 Top-20 Prospect Performance Kendry Chourio: 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K David Shields: DNP Josh Hammond: DNP Blake Mitchell: 1-for-4, BB, 2 K Sean Gamble: 0-for-4, K Ramon Ramirez: DNP Zion Rose: 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 K Asbel Gonzalez: 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 K Carson Roccaforte: 3-for-3, HR, RBI, BB Taylor Rabe: DNP Yandel Ricardo: DNP Justin Lamkin: DNP Drew Beam: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K Michael Lombardi: DNP Jack Slightom: DNP Felix Arronde: DNP Angeibel Gomez: DNP Ben Kudrna: DNP Steven Zobac: DNP Blake Wolters: DNP View the full article

Brandon Lockridge shined in the farm's lone win. Dylan O'Rae is a theft merchant. Plenty of great visuals to take away from Appleton (but not the final score). Wilson was swept by a combined 20-6 tally. Transactions: Nashville Sounds transferred RHP Will Childers from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. (As of this post time, we are unaware of the nature of Childers' injury.) Although it has not landed officially on the MiLB transaction page, we learned of this - Also, not quite official yet, but LHP Wande Torres, who has had a fine season for the Timber Rattlers, particularly in the second half, is on his way to Biloxi. Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Nashville 8, Jacksonville (Marlins) 5 Box Score and Game Log Via the Sounds, game details, and we encourage readers to always review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine: Lockridge Posts Career Day with Five RBI to Solidify Sounds Win - Lockridge is the fifth different Sound to record 5+ RBI this season It was a rare Friday morning start in Jacksonville, which allowed us plenty of time to review the Lockridge highlights below and savor the details which are packed into the linked report above. Here are additional clips: 104.7 MPH off the bat for this Brock Wilken RBI single off old friend Bradley Blalock 102.6 MPH for this Bo Naylor ground ball RBI double, Lockridge showing off the wheels 366 feet on this Wilken oppo taco RHP Brandon Sproat only allowed one hit in four innings (it went a long way), three walks, seven K's, 3 R (2 ER). This was only the 4th home run RH reliever Blake Holub has surrendered this season in 48.2 innings. RHP Joel Kuhnel's rehab assignment (right shoulder impingement) began way back on August 2nd, and to ensure depth, the Brewers are milking every drop of the 30-day maximum stay. With no remaining options, Kuhnel will need to be activated (and likely DFA'd) within the next few days, barring other injury news on the big-league staff. Blake Burke singled twice in the cleanup spot as the DH but struck out in his other three at-bats (28 K's in 70 AAA plate appearances, 40% K rate). Is something else going on with Jeferson Quero? He last was behind the plate on Saturday and has only played in one game since, as the designated hitter on Thursday. Bo Naylor's presence has something to do with that. Catch up with the latest Biloxi pre-game audio interview archives In addition to those linked above, remember that historic June pattern of rain delays and postponements? This is an interesting chat - and naturally, Friday's game was delayed 22 minutes at the start. Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Knoxville (Cubs) 3, Biloxi 1 Box Score and Game Log O’Rae Sets Single-Season Stolen Bases Record in Shuckers Setback to Smokies - Biloxi Edged by Knoxville to Even Series at Two Each Jesús Made's 20th error of the season (this one throwing), with one out in the 9th, proved very costly as a 1-1 game turned into a deficit shortly after. Both runs charged to LHP Jesus Broca were unearned as Broca couldn't pick up his young teammate, giving up this two-out, two-run single. Like Brandon Sproat in Nashville Friday, Shuckers starter (and birthday boy, #24) Jaron DeBerry only gave up one hit. And like Sproat's knock allowed, it went a long way. DeBerry was fortunate no one was on base, as he walked five batters over 4.2 innings, having the fortune of LHP Anthony Flores stranding the two runners on base when he exited. RHP Edwin Jimenez pitched very well to get things to the fateful 9th. Darrien Miller raked over 23 games during his Nashville stay, but finds himself batting 9th in this Shuckers lineup, again thanks primarily to the Bo Naylor trade (and Ramon Rodriguez' return to health). Here's the lone Shuckers run on the night: With two outs in the 5th, you have to send O'Rae here on this Josh Adamczewski single, but the play at the plate wasn't all that close: Despite that base hit, it's been a rough August for Adamczewski compared to all the other months of 2026, as his splits page will show. Luis Pena was drilled by a 92 MPH pitch into his left elbow near the protective guard in the 4th. He initially remained in the game and would steal second base, all the while continuing to grab at his elbow. He was stranded and would not return to the field at third base in the 5th. MiLB.TV subscribers can watch the entire sequence at the 02:31:00 hour/minute mark here. Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes (download link) Final: South Bend (Cubs) 10, Wisconsin 7 Box Score and Game Log Via the Timber Rattlers, game details: Late Cubs Comeback Beats Rattlers - Six-run ninth inning hands South Bend a 10-7 win Plenty of individual highlights within that linked report, which is a must read, then just settle in for a great movie with a catastrophic ending - as punctuated by Voice of the Rattlers "Aw, nuts" call - From my fellow Link Reporter "Ro" (Daniel): Wisconsin led 7-4 with 2 outs and nobody on in the 9th inning. Jose Nova had gotten a ground out and strike out to nearly allow 5,656 Rattlers’ fans to go home to their loved ones. From that point, he went single, single, wild pitch, intentional walk (asking for trouble), run-scoring walk (see the trouble). 7-5 game, bases loaded, still 2 outs. Did we pull him? Nope. Let’s continue: run-scoring walk. 7-6 game. Pull him now? No. Onward we go: 2-run single, 2-run single, walk. Tough one. I’m sure the ‘pen was spent, with Yerlin the only remaining arm, so I’m not criticizing the manager. And Nova managed all of that within 35 pitches, so it’s not like there was an injury risk. Just really tough for him, the fans, the players and coaches, I’m sure. Timber Rattlers lose 10-7. *** RHP Jose Nova's age 24 season has been an abject disaster - the year-long figures confirm it, and his career-long numbers don't dazzle at all. We've seen Nova display really poor body language again and again, understandable as you visit his game log. The organization's commitment to Nova has been commendable from a person-perspective. From a pure baseball standpoint, others have deserved the opportunities he's received. Can't wait for Abner Uribe to hear about the Wisconsin Brats uniform from his Brewers teammates, but for me, the JoJo Romero Super Mario resemblance with the suspenders is even stronger: We can't link to each and every jersey auction among all the affiliates, but will make the effort to promote this one: If you wish to experience the full Joey Chestnut visit, up-front interview, then the competition, it's all here. Wilson Pre-Game Media Notes Final, Game One: Hickory (Rangers) 9, Wilson 5, seven innings as scheduled Box Score and Game Log Final, Game One: Hickory (Rangers) 11, Wilson 1, seven innings as scheduled Box Score and Game Log Warbirds Swept in Doubleheader - Hickory Clinches Division Title Game One long ball video clips, via Frederi Montero and Rylan Mills: Here's Juan Ortuno's 6th inning RBI double. The lone game two highlight, via Carsten Sabathia Should you wish to check out some of the unfortunate pitches of the evening, the Hickory highlight page has a dozen clips. Only four Wilson pitchers saw action, and five of the 20 runs allowed were unearned, but we'll leave it to your box score perusals to provide you the details. Evening action throughout the system on Saturday night. Enjoy your day! Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

Matt Shaw was reinstated on Friday from the injured list, and his return bears watching. Craig Counsell has alluded to both Michael Busch and Ian Happ's struggles vs. left-handed pitching; Shaw has an .845 OPS from that side of the plate. Furthermore, Seiya Suzuki's price tag this offseason looks larger than the Chicago Cubs might feel comfortable paying on either side of the upcoming lockout, and of course Happ is an impending free agent as well. In other words, Shaw needs to have a good September to solidify himself in the Cubs' plans for next season and beyond. He has only hit .217 against right-handed pitching this year, which needs to improve for him to be a viable full-time starter, and defensively his value and position are still to be determined. He played a solid third base in 2025, but Alex Bregman isn't leaving. Neither is Nico Hoerner, for that matter. So, where could Shaw land? A Ben Zobrist type utility role is possible if they bring the entire band back. Shaw can play multiple positions, allowing the starters a day off or chance to DH. Shaw also could man the designated hitter spot for a spell, at least against southpaws. There's already a path to 300-plus plate appearances right there, but he and the Cubs would want a steady position. What could that role be? One option would be a platoon partner for Michael Busch. Busch has been disappointing this year, and Counsell alluded to a new plan for backup first base. Shaw would be a better option than Justin Turner last year, for instance. One thing to look for with Shaw is if he plays some first base down the stretch; if he does, it might be fair to say the team is preparing him for a stronger focus on the infield, which could open the fourth outfielder job for someone like Kevin Alcántara. If Shaw instead continues to play capably in the outfield corners upon his return, perhaps the Cubs would feel more comfortable moving on from one or both of Happ and Suzuki. The 24-year-old is a cheap, controlled option, allowing funds to be allocated to the pitching staff which currently has few dependable members under contract next season. Though the playoff picture is most important, Matt Shaw's performance in September will be quite important for the Cubs' future plans. Depending on what he's asked to handle (and how well he performs in those duties), the winter plans could hinge on what he shows during the stretch run. View the full article

Travis Adams’ struggles have put his spot in the Twins’ bullpen in serious jeopardy, especially with Jack Anderson, Garrett Acton, and Kendry Rojas waiting in the wings. With September call-ups approaching, Minnesota may have no reason to keep waiting for Adams to figure things out. View the full article