LAS VEGAS - The Mets' bullpen just got even thinner.According to general manager Billy Eppler, the Mets have declined their half of a mutual option for relief pitcherMychal Givens.This means Givens,
Jeffery Simmons Jersey who the Mets acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline, is now a free agent.During his time with the Mets, Givens posted a 4.79 ERA
Tennessee Titans Jersey acro s 20.2 innings. In the postseason, Givens had a 13.50 ERA in two appearances in the Wild Card round.After re-signing elite closer Edwin Diaz to a record-setting five-year, $102 million contract, the Mets now must addre s how they're going to fill out the rest of their bullpen.With Givens becoming a free
Cameron Wake Jersey agent, he will join Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor May, Tommy Hunter, Trevor Williamsand Joely Rodriguez on the open market.At the moment, the Mets' bullpen features Diaz and Drew Smith, as the only two relievers under contract.Scroll to Continue"There's some
Adam Humphries Jersey other internal candidates. Some you saw this year and some that could emerge," general manager Billy Eppler said at GM meetings.Eppler also cited rehabbing reliever John Curti s as a potential bullpen candidate as well. The Mets signed Curti s
Tajae Sharpe Jersey last spring while he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery. New York will have to make a decision tomorrow regarding whether they're going to pick up his club option or not.-- -
The Yankees have had plenty of succe s recently snagging right-handed pitchers that have a past in the Pirates organization.Could this signing be the next move that pans out at the big-league level?New
Jarran Reed Jersey York has signed reliever Richard Rodrguez to a minor league contract, sending the right-hander to the Florida Complex League Yankees, one affiliate below Low-A Tampa.News of the signing on Wednesday, but according to on MLB.com, Rodrguez agreed to his deal with New York back on June 21. He was activated by the FCL Yankees on Monday and is now listed on their Rodrguez has five years of MLB experience under his belt. He debuted with the Orioles
Tedric Thompson Jersey back in 2017, spending the next three-plus seasons in the Pirates' bullpen. In 2021, he was traded from Pittsburgh to the Braves. He didn't factor into Atlanta's bullpen during their World Series run last fall.Over those five years, Rodrguez has posted a 3.28 ERA (in 228 relief appearances), striking out 230 batters in 228 innings pitched. He recorded 14 saves with Pittsburgh before he was dealt last summer, pitching to a 2.82 ERA in 38 outings in a Pirates uniform to start that campaign.The reason Rodrguez hasn't pitched in 2022 is he was suspended 80 games after testing positive for Boldenone, a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of Major League Baseballs Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. He was a free agent at the time. Atlanta him a contract after the 2021 season.Scroll to ContinueAs much as this seems like an inconsequentialaddition, New York has a tremendous track record in recent years when it comes to former Pirates pitchers. Just under a
Mike Iupati Jersey year ago, the Yankees sent two prospects to the Pirates for right-hander Clay Holmes. Since then, Holmes has blo somed into one of the best relievers in the sporthe's allowed just two earned runs all year in 2022 after pitching to a 5.57 ERA over four years in Pittsburgh. New York has also acquired starters Gerrit Cole (in free agency) and Jameson Taillon (via trade), who began their careers as top-ranked prospects with Pittsburgh.Rodrguez is his own situation and it goes without saying, he's a way away from producing in New York's bullpen down the road. Certain numberslike his strikeoutsdropped off a cliff when he was traded from Pittsburgh to Atlanta last summer and his inability to limit hard contact
D.J. Fluker Jersey (91.5 average exit velocity in 2021) is a red flag as well.Still, it can't hurt to take a flier on a pitcher that has some upside based on some of his numbers out of the bullpen these last few years. Who knows what pitching coach Matt Blake and the organization's pitching department can bring out of Rodrguez if he ends up sticking around and climbing through the system.The 27-year-old isn't the first veteran arm that New York has signed to a minor league deal this year either. Former Yankee Shane Greene has been along
Cassius Marsh Jersey with ex-White Sox reliever Jimmy Cordero. Former All-Star starter Danny Salazar is also currently in the Yankees organization after , although he was placed on the 60-day injured list last month.MORE:
The Dodgers began the season as the betting favorites to win the World Series. The
Marshawn Lynch Jersey handicapping made some sense. LA started the year with a loaded lineup featuring All-Stars up and down the lineup that had just added 2020 NL
Michael Dickson Jersey MVP Freddie Freeman to the mix.Even in the face of a in the month of June, the Dodgers have remained the favorites to win the Fall Cla sic.However,
Duane Brown Jersey entering the month of July, the scorching-hot Yankees are now the World Series favorites at +400 and Caesars Sportsbook.Scroll to ContinueThe Dodgers are narrowly behind the Yankees (+450), but it's the first time in nearly two years that LA has not bee the World Series favorite during the regular season.It's evidence of the
Jarran Reed Jersey Dodgers struggles and the fact that the Yankees are 37 games above .500 through Saturday.LA has plenty of work to do to regain the top spot, but in the end, the World Series is won on the
Rashaad Penny Jersey field, not the betting window.
The got a lucky break on Monday evening when rain postponed World Series Game 3 until the following night. Ranger Surez, their number three starter, would be rested enough to start Game 3 instead of waiting until Game 4. But while the Phillies are glad to have Surez on the mound, that doesn't mean things will be easy for him far from it. The Houston Astros have one of the best lineups in
Mark Bavaro Jersey baseball, and they've been particularly fearsome against left-handed pitching. Surez has his work cut out for him.As if pitching against the Astros in the World Series wasn't stre sful enough, Surez will also be throwing the first pitch of the first World Series game in Philadelphia since 2009. It will be a momentous occasion, and expectations will be high. Tens of thousands of home fans will be there to watch the Phillies win.For another thing, Surez will be asked to
Jabrill Peppers Jersey succeed where Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler both failed. Perhaps "failed" is a little harsh, but they each allowed the Astros to get out to an early five-run lead not exactly what you want from your aces in the World Series. Now, the number three starter will hope to keep Houston's powerful offense off the board
Will Hernandez Jersey and give the Phillies a chance to build a lead.Scroll to ContinueTo makes things even more stre sful for the 27-year-old left-hander, he will be facing a lineup that completely shelled him in his last start of the regular season. He lasted just three innings and gave up six runs, including three homers. Itwas almost certainly the worst outing of his career, and it was a terrible way to finish his first full season as a starting pitcher. It's hard to imagine he won't be a little rattled as he starts against the Astros once more.It should help that Surez has already pitched in the series, having thrown an inning in relief during Game 1. He faced the middle of Houston's order Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, and Kyle Tucker and performed admirably, especially
Eli Manning Jersey against Alvarez. On the other hand, that means Alvarez, Tucker, and Bregman are all a little more familiar with his stuff.Every matchup against a hitter of their ilk is its own battle, and that battle gets a little bit harder in each subsequent plate appearance.With all of this in mind, it's clear this start won't be a walk in the park for Surez. It will be the hardest outing of his young career, bar none. Then again, if he succeeds, it will also become the greatest
Kyle Lauletta Jersey game he's ever pitched. The stakes have never been higher.Ranger has a mountain to climb on Tuesday night. All we can do is hope he has what it takes to reach the top.More From SI's Inside The Phillies:
Well, that was certainly something. The Kansas City Royals went through as many ups and downs in their first series as one could expect. The Cleveland Guardians have owned the Royals the past few seasons so being able to get out of the first set of the year with a split isnt disastrous, but it is disappointing after Kansas City took the first two games. is a new series on in which I'll be going through the Royals' most recently-completed series of games and providing commentary and analysis on the performance of the team.With that being said, here's the good, meh and bad from the first one.Andrew Benintendi is well on his way to playing
Dexter Lawrence Jersey his way right out of Kansas Citys price range, as the left fielder is having a monstrous start to the season with a slash line of .538/.625/.769. If it wasnt for the Royals discovering Steven Kwan, Benintendi wouldve easily been the best player on the field. The Royals can ill afford to lose Benintendi, as his prime (at the plate) could very well be better than that of Alex Gordon.Big props also have to be given to Brad Keller, who put up a scorele s opening appearance on Saturday while allowing his team to come through and walk things off in extra innings. recently and I said that the club would most likely be held back by its lack of starting pitching. If Keller can produce like this, that might help solve the i sue.Nicky Lopez also had a solid start to the season, as Royals' second baseman got a hit in every single game while racking up a series slash line of .400/.455/.500. Its strange how Kansas City sees a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop that led the team in batting average and OBP last year and immediately moves him to second base and buries him at the bottom of the order. Lopez should be leading off end of story and Whit Merrifield should be the one
Daniel Jones Jersey relegated to the slums of the lineup.Bobby Witt Jr. showed all the potential in the world in the first two games of the series, collecting the game-winning hit in game one and making the game-saving defensive play in game two. He also showed why he is still a rookie, as his batting average after one series is .125 and like most Royals players, he seems to have developed an allergy to drawing walks.Scroll to ContinueSo for everyone penciling in Witt Jr. for the American League Rookie of the Year award, just take a moment to simmer down. There are going to be more series like this one for the youngster as he tries to tread water at the big league level. Hunter Dozier was also the only player other than Lopez to record a hit in each game this series, so at least thats something positive to build around. On the other hand, there
Mark Bavaro Jersey was very little in the way of power and he failed to draw a walk the entire series, so his OPS is nothing special to look at. At least early on, it seems like Dozier has adapted himself to his new designated hitter role quite well. Only time will tell if hell be able to stick around.Everything about game number three was bad and part of that trickled over to the finale in which the starters and the bullpen were unable to muster the slightest bit of resistance against a Cleveland offense that was no-hit multiple times last season. Quite frankly, Jackson Kowar should not see the major leagues again this season unle s he is putting up Bob Gibson-like numbers in Omaha because it is very apparent that he is not a major league-caliber pitcher at this time.Brady Singer, Kowar and Kris Bubic exemplify the shortcomings of the Royals organization when it comes to developing
Odell Beckham Jr Jersey starting pitching. Again, its only one series, but these three pitchers have shown little over their entire careers that suggests they deserve to be in the club's future plans. The Royals'pitching staff as a whole could not put Cleveland batters away with two outs. The Guardians scored 27 runs in the final two games of the series, and 15 of those runs came with two down in the inning. The ability to walk the tightrope the Royals had shown in the first two games of the series quickly vanished, as they consistently fell off it and plunged into the bottomle s pit of two-out walks, infield singles and home runs surrendered. The offense
Oshane Ximines Jersey , as a whole, was spotty to put it nicely. To put it more accurately, it was pathetic for every game except the final one and even that effort was propped up by Benintendis two-run shot in the ninth. Half of the order is hitting below .200 with Lopez and Benintendi being the only players to po se s an OPS. above .700. While it is only one series, there doesnt appear to be any change to the Royals' woefully inconsistent approach to the plate.Series Grade: C+Kansas City was outscored in the series 28-14, but the optimists will look at the series split and ignore the glaring red flags with the team. Through one series, the starting pitching was a me s and the offense was an inconsistent wreck. When a team gets outplayed as bad as the Royals did and can still find a way to grind out a split, things are not completely terrible. However, if the Royals dont get their act together, theyll find themselves closer to the first overall pick than they will to the first AL Wild Card spot.
While the New York Mets didn't reel in a big fish leading up to or on trade deadline day, they did make a slew of moves to round out their roster.Daniel Vogelbach, Tyler Naquin and Darin Ruf have all contributed
Nelson Agholor Jersey in their limited time in Queens thus far, as the picture general manager Billy Eppler was painting starts to come into focus.Vogelbach, 29, was the first of the bunch to be acquired, back on July 22 from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for right-handed pitcher Colin Holderman.Coming into Friday night's game against the rival Atlanta Braves, Vogelbach was hitting a robust .333/.474/.600 with two home runs in 10 games.The two home runs came in back-to-back games: Wednesday afternoon in Washington, which was a
Brian Westbrook Jersey grand slam, and Thursday night, a home run one at-bat after Pete Alonso clubbed one himself.Brought in to mash right-handed pitchers as a designated hitter, Vogelbach has thrived so far and will likely be one half of a platoon at the position with fellow newcomer, Ruf.As for Naquin and Thursday night home runs, the outfielder blasted two dingers of his own to
Ron Jaworski Jersey help the Mets to a 6-4 victory in the series opener.Naquin, 31, is a left-handed hitter just like Vogelbach. Also like Vogelbach, he will likely get a majority of reps against right-handers.His .277/.339
Miles Sanders Jersey /.522 slash line against righties in 2022 will likely land him in a platoon with Mark Canha in left field the remainder of the season. This, in cohesion with the DH platoon, will give the Mets the best matchups on paper on a nightly basis.Scroll to ContinueAs for the 36-year-old Ruf, he made his Mets debut on Friday night, and immediately got in on the action.While the Mets' rally efforts ultimately fell short as they lost 9-6, Ruf drove in two runs off the bench in
Ronald Darby Jersey a four run fifth inning.New York may not have had the flashiest deadline, but what they did do was make sure they balanced out their offense, from a daily lineup standpoint, and a bench standpoint.So far, that has come to fruition, as the Mets look to punch a ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.- - -
Another day, another day of testing for the
Brandon Graham Jersey young Indians.The club on Tuesday placed young pitcher Zach Pleasc on the injured list with what the team says is anon-displaced fracture of his right thumb.Now for the odd part.The injury took place according
Avonte Maddox Jersey to manager Tito Francona as Plesac was 'rather aggre sively ripping off his shirt.'Scroll to ContinuePlesac struggled in his last start, which came on Sunday at home against the AL Central rival Minnesota Twins.That day he lasted just
Mike Quick Jersey 3.2 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) and striking out one in the eventual 8-5 10 inning setback.With Plesac down, the team will likely go to a bullpen game for Wednesday. The team will need a pitcher for Wednesday, Friday and one
Andrew Sendejo Jersey game in Monday's doubleheader which is a Memorial Day holiday double dip against the Chicago White Sox.The 26-year-old pitcher from Indiana has had a solid 2021 to date.Last season in a shortened season Plesac went 4-3 with a 4.41 ERA, this after a 2019 season where he won 4
Shareef Miller Jersey games against two lo ses in his first season in the Majors with an impre sive 2.28 ERA.
Mookie Betts and the Dodgers were part of an entertaining on-field moment against the Giants at Oracle Park on Thursday. In the top of the sixth, Giants reliever Jarln Garca pitched a clean innings that included an inning-ending strikeout of Dodgers outfielder James Outman. After the strikeout, of
Luc Snuggerud Jersey Outman, Garcia stared down , who was in the on-deck circle and mocked the outfielder with the Dodgers signature helmet tap celebration.Betts at first seemed confused by Garca's actions, but wasted no time
Brent Seabrook Jersey in inviting Garca to walk over and talk to him face-to-face in close proximity. provided some more details after the game."Mookie Betts said he was surprised to see Jarln Garca pointing
John Hayden Jersey at him, especially since he was in the on-deck circle and hadnt done anything. Said hes never spoke to him in his life. Only thing he said after Garca pointed was ask, 'Whats your problem?'"Scroll to ContinueAfter the brief interaction, the umpire crew escorted both Betts and Garca back to their dugouts, but Giants manager didn't
Cam Ward Jersey take too kindly to their approach with Garca. Kapler lost it on the umpires and was ejected.After the game, Betts explained that he wasn't going to back down after being called out (quotes via ).You started it. Im not going to back down at that point. Im not going to run away from it. Im not going to encourage it, but Im not going to run away.Safe to say,
Jordan Schroeder Jersey the Giants-Dodgers rivalry is alive and well.
Talk about one of the best weeks to have as a player. Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez just had that and then some.He first received the largest contract ever given to a designated hitter, a six-year, $115 million extension from Houston on Friday.Then, on Monday, he's named the AL Player of
Nathan Noel Jersey the Week after hitting a ridiculous .565 with four home runs and a 1.847 OPS.Alvarez has had arguably the best start to any season in his career as entering Monday night, he's hitting .295/.391/.624 with a 1.015 OPS,
Martin Havlat Jersey a 192 OPS+, 16 home runs, 34 RBI and 35 runs scored.Over the past week, he hit those aforementioned four homers and drove in eight as the Astros went 5-1 in that stretch, out-scoring their opponents, 27-19.Though Alvarez was named AL
Keith Magnuson Jersey Rookie of the Month three times during his ROY-winning 2019 season, this was his first ever Player of the Week selection.It couldn't have come at a better time for him and for Houston, who is coasting right now in the American League West after the Los Angeles Angels have officially fallen below .500 in the midst of an 11-game losing streak.It's also worth
Tony Esposito Jersey mentioning that Alvarez hit three of his four longest home runs of the season over the past week, including a season-long 469-foot shot off Oakland Athletics starter Paul Blackburn last Monday.With Houston now tying the New York Mets with the largest divisional lead as of right now, this next week should be another week of dominance as the Astros
Brandon Manning Jersey welcome the Seattle Mariners and Miami Marlins to Minute Maid Park.
Miguel Andjar is on his way back to the Bronx.The Yankees called up Andjar to their big-league roster on Friday morning, replacing right-hander Albert Abreu, who was optioned down
Ross Stripling Jersey to Triple-A.Andjar played for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders for three games, during their opening series of the 2021 minor league season, starting in left field each time out. After an 0-for-4 night in his first game, Andjar has been red hot at the plate.Over his last two contests, Andjar has gone 6-for-11 with three home runs and five RBI. On Thursday night, Andjar went 4-for-5, slugging two long balls while driving in three runs in the RailRiders' 17-11 win over the Syracuse Mets.In the short term, as third baseman Gio Urshela works back from a knee injury sustained on Thursday afternoon, Andjar could get some reps at the hot corner.The
Mike Piazza Jersey Yankees considered calling up the 26-year-old after second baseman Rougned Odor was placed on the injured
Enrique Hernandez Jersey list with a left knee sprain earlier this week. Manager Aaron Boone explained that he'd rather have the slugger play every day in the minors rather than sit on the bench in the majors.Now, with Andjar getting brought up, it could signal a lo s of playing time for starting left fielder Clint Frazier. In Frazier's first 26 games of the season, the outfielder has slashed an anemic .151/.295/.315 with
Andre Ethier Jersey three home runs and five RBI.Scroll to ContinueThat said, Frazier has hit all three of his homers over the last seven games, perhaps a sign that he's starting to turn his season around.Andjar's best season came back in 2018 when he hit .297/.328/.527 with 27 home runs and 92 RBI as New York's starting third baseman. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year Award balloting behind Los Angeles Angels dual threat phenomenon Shohei Ohtani.Since then, Andjar suffered a major shoulder injury in 2019, which required season-ending surgery. Upon his return in 2020, the Yankees moved Andjar to left field, but optioned him back to the minors following a 1-for-14 start at the plate.With the 26
Fernando Valenzuela Jersey -year-old starting to rake again, while Frazier (and Brett Gardner) struggle, Andjar will get another opportunity to show the Yankees that he belongs.MORE:
