Baseball

In a 21-guest salute to Shohei Ohtani commerce hypotheticals, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by a large number of associates for a role-playing train in convincing the Angels to commerce Ohtani to the opposite 20 contending (or quasi-contending) groups. Ben and Meg start by explaining the way it will work, after which the sport begins (14:22). After the decision (1:09:04), Ben and Meg talk about the result, adopted by a Future Blast from 2036 (1:23:41). Listeners: Please Vote on the commerce proposals! Audio intro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to vote on commerce proposals! Link to first Morosi tweet Link to second Morosi tweet Link to Ben C.’s commerce worth rating Link to...

WASHINGTON — CJ Abrams and Lane Thomas homered, rookie Jake Irvin struck out a career-high 9 and the Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Friday night time. ...

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays performed almost 100 video games this season whereas claiming sole possession of first place within the American League East standings. They let the Orioles spend solely sooner or later alone on the prime. Starter Zach Eflin bounced again from his worst begin of the season by pitching seven excellent innings, snapping the Rays’ five-game dropping streak with a 3-0 win over the Orioles on Friday evening earlier than a crowd of 19,703 at Tropicana Field. Eflin allowed 5 runs in three innings in opposition to the Royals on Sunday as he battled his mechanics all through an outing that made him wish to “flush it down the toilet and move on to the next one.” And transfer on he did, placing collectively one in all his finest begins in a Rays uniform to drag Tampa Bay (6...

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Génesis Cabrera modified feathers on Friday, as he was traded from St. Louis to Toronto for teenage catching prospect Sammy Hernandez a couple of days after Cabrera was designated for project. The hard-throwing 26-year-old southpaw had spent elements of 5 unstable seasons with the Cardinals. While he has loved a major bat-missing rebound in 2023 in comparison with final season (he’s again into the 26% Okay% space, up from 16.5% in 2022), Cabrera was within the midst of one more rocky, homer-prone 12 months earlier than he was DFA’d. He launched an upper-80s slider/cutter to his repertoire this 12 months and has been utilizing it a ton (36%), whereas his fastball velocity has slipped a bit. All of Cabrera’s non-fastball pitches generate above-average swing...

SEATTLE — The few occasions George Kirby has stumbled by means of a subpar begin this season, his rebound efforts have been excellent. Chalk it as m...

CHICAGO -- Cody Bellinger’s future with the Cubs is a little bit of a query mark with the Trade Deadline lower than two weeks away. But amid any hypothesis and rumors, the previous MVP is placing collectively his greatest month of the season. Bellinger, whose title has popped up on the rumor mill lately because the Cubs have misplaced floor within the NL Central race, has been considered one of MLB’s hottest hitters in July. He entered Friday first in baseball with 27 hits, whereas carrying a .443/.478/.738 slash line this month. His scorching stretch goes again farther, nonetheless. Bellinger missed a couple of month with a left knee damage. He got here off the injured listing June 15, and in 32 video games since (coming into Friday) hit .366 (37-for-101) with a .970 OPS, 5 doubles, 5 res...

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports Tonight is a giant evening for Zach Eflin. When he takes the mound, he’ll be making his nineteenth begin, and when he earns his second out of the night, he’ll have retired his 318th batter, good for 106 innings on the 12 months. Those aren’t information or good spherical numbers, however they’re significant for this explicit pitcher; he hasn’t surpassed these totals since 2019, his first and solely certified season. The Rays took a chance on the righty this winter (by their very own requirements, at the least), signing the oft-injured starter to the biggest free-agent deal in franchise historical past. When Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Springs every went down with season-ending accidents, the stakes for Eflin grew greater. But with every subsequent begin he...

CHICAGO — Jordan Walker and Paul DeJong every hit a two-run homer, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2 on Thursday night time for his or her sixth straight victory. ...

With the Trade Deadline lower than two weeks away, the Blue Jays picked up a reliever from the Cardinals on Friday. Left-handed reliever Génesis Cabrera, who had been designated for task on Monday, heads to Toronto within the deal, with St. Louis getting Minor League catcher Samuel “Sammy” Hernandez, Cabrera appeared in 32 video games for the Cardinals this season, posting a 5.06 ERA whereas hanging out 38 batters throughout 32.0 innings. Signed by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2013, the reliever was traded to St. Louis as a part of the Tommy Pham deal in 2018 and made his Major League debut with the Cardinals the next season. The native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has saved a 4.14 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP over 174 profession video games. Hernandez, 19, has cut up this season between the Flor...

D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports I'm an enormous fan of buying and selling for reinforcements nicely forward of the commerce deadline. If you may add a bit that can make even a small distinction, then do it early if the deal is sensible. That is precisely what the Orioles have accomplished in buying Shintaro Fujinami from the A’s, including to what was already a league-best bullpen led by Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano. In return, Baltimore despatched 26-year-old prospect Easton Lucas to Oakland. Before leaping into Fujinami’s profile and potential, let’s study a bit about Lucas. He initially got here to Baltimore’s system from Miami in a commerce for veteran infielder Jonathan Villar in December 2019. Since 2021, he has labored his means from High-A to Triple-A as a reliever, peakin...