Happy Monday, everyone! We’re fully into the second half of the season now. With that, we will be hearing a lot about the trade deadline and which teams seem poised for a potential postseason run. It’s wild to think that we are already thinking about that, but such is the course of the season. We wait and wait until the baseball season starts, and then before we have a chance to even think about it, the season is halfway over.
To lead off our Monday, we’re looking at some injury updates from Aaron
Judge and Shohei Ohtani, a sad update from what was meant to be a very happy weekend in Toronto, and looking at some trade deadline questions and speculation.
Let’s just jump right into it!
- Jay Jaffe continues his replacement-level killers series by focusing on right field.
- Ian Brown shares that the Red Sox are on their first 13-game winning streak after sweeping the Rays.
- Aaron Judge’s ribs are healing, but he’s not ready to return to baseball just yet. Story by Bryan Hoch.
- Tom Dierberger talked to Mookie Betts about one rule he’d like to see changed (and it would end some games earlier).
- Pirates rookie Esmerlyn Valdez has hit 12 home runs in just 31 games. (AP)
- Ken Griffey Jr is passionate about creating more opportunities for Black players in baseball. Story by Tyler Kepner. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Very sad news out of Toronto.
- Michael Baumann looks at the contract extension for Chase Burns.
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto has shown himself to be the newest ace for the Dodgers, especially after a shutout against the Yankees. Story by Sonja Chen.
- Sonja Chen reports that Shohei Ohtani will not make his next anticipated start due to knee issues, his next start is TBD.
- Rintaro Suzuki has opted to forego his pro career in Japan to join the Marlins. (AP)
- Jim Bowden looks at the six teams that appear most likely to be sellers at the trade deadline. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- Talk about a lucky find.
- Aiden Stepansky looks at Paul Skenes’ reemergence with a 7-inning gem.
- A few fresh trade rumors to keep you up to date ahead of the trade deadline. (MLB)
- Is Brandon Pfaadt an ace now? Tom Verducci thinks he might be.
- Hunter Goodman is the first Rockies player to have 2 3-run games in the same season. (AP)
- 12 questions that will define the trade deadline. Story by Ken Rosenthal. (The Athletic subscription required.)
- If you aren’t on the Jimothy side of the internet, I’m sorry for this niche joke. But also, everyone should be on the Jimothy side of the internet.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.
