John Pak holes out for eagle on 392-yard 10th to start round at Colonial
John Pak calls it his best putting day of the year and kicks off his round with an eagle on No. 10.
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New York Times
18 minutes ago
- New York Times
How three MLB pitchers, including Spencer Strider, are faring in their returns from injuries
A little over two months into the season, pitchers are returning from injury and working to reestablish themselves in their respective rotations. In this column, I'll focus on three starters — Lance McCullers Jr., Spencer Strider and Tony Gonsolin — who are coming back from surgery. I'll check in to see how they've looked so far and explore what lies ahead for them in 2025. Advertisement McCullers returned to the majors this year for the first time since the end of 2022. He underwent right elbow surgery and experienced a setback in his recovery, delaying his return to the mound. Through six games started this season, he has a 3.93 FIP, 29% strikeout rate, and 11% walk rate. The two major differences I am seeing from McCullers are in his velocity and command. Starting with his velocity, his fastball average has decreased from 93 mph in 2022 to 91-92 mph. His cutter and changeup are back at about 87 mph, and his slider is down from 85 mph to 83 mph. His slider is his primary weapon against right-handed hitters, followed by his sinker. He has not been as effective against righties this season compared to pre-injury (5.31 FIP vs. 3.81 FIP in his career). This is likely due to command inconsistencies, which may be related to mechanical adjustments made after surgery. This has impacted his ability to locate both the sinker and the slider effectively, as well as the results of each pitch, leading to huge reverse splits. McCullers is throwing his slider 6% less against righties so far this season, but it is still his go-to pitch. Despite adding movement on the pitch (+2 inches of depth and sweep), it is getting … To understand why the slider isn't performing as well, we also need to examine McCullers' other major weapon against righties — his sinker. The sinker is getting more chase this season compared to pre-injury results. However, it has resulted in the most damage, with a poor 68% hard-hit rate and a .597 xSLG. One thing McCullers did really well pre-injury was use both sides of the plate. Looking at his heat maps from 2022, he mixed the location of his sinker and focused on the outer edge with the slider. This season, his slider is ending up higher and middle more frequently, and he is not throwing his sinker inside at the same rate. A good sign, however, is that during his June 3 start, he showed better command of his sinker. He was throwing it inside more frequently, like he had pre-injury: An interesting observation from that start is that McCullers also avoided throwing the sinker to the bottom of the zone. Pre-injury, sinkers to the bottom third of the zone resulted in ground balls. However, McCullers has not been generating ground balls at the same rate. The heat map below shows the location of the sinkers that were hard-hit so far this season, most of them being in the lower third: My theory for the reduction of ground balls is that the velocity is impacting the effectiveness of the pitch lower in the zone, allowing hitters to square the ball up better. Adjusting this location based on the results is a step in the right direction for McCullers. His slider command is still a work in progress, but ideally, he'll get it back to the lower, outer edge, as he has in years past. Advertisement Against lefties, he is throwing his knuckle curve 21% less. This is a big change because the knuckle curve was his go-to pitch against lefties pre-injury. It is a strong pitch with above-average movement, above-average velocity and good results throughout his career. Despite its limited usage, McCullers is still doing very well against lefties, with a 2.44 FIP (vs. 2.91 in his career). Additionally, in his June 3 start, McCullers threw the knuckle curve a season-high 40% of the time. This is a good sign that he is starting to feel more confident in the command of this pitch. McCullers still has work to do in terms of regaining his command, but he is showing signs he is on the right track. If he can remain healthy, he can continue to have the same success and return to a reliable mid-rotation starter. Strider missed most of the 2024 season and the beginning of this season due to undergoing arm surgery (UCL) and experiencing a setback. As a result, he's been limited to only four starts so far this season with a 6.39 FIP, 23% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate. Strider's fastball has always been his go-to pitch against both righties and lefties, and that hasn't changed. At 98 mph with plus ride in 2023, the pitch was among the best in baseball. His secondary was the slider to both hands, with an occasional changeup to lefties. He was able to get away with throwing the two pitches the majority of the time due to their exceptional velocity and shape. Post injury, Strider has a lower arm slot (going from high three-quarters to three-quarters), and his pitch shapes look a little different. He's added movement to all of them: He's also added a curveball and has been mixing it in rarely against lefties. The two areas Strider needs to continue working on are his velocity (which has decreased by 2 mph across the board) and his command. As a mainly two-pitch pitcher, command is vital to Strider's success, especially now that he has lost velocity. His game plan this season remains very similar to years past and is predictable. Looking at the tables below, we can see Strider relies on his four-seamer in every count against righties, and most counts against lefties. Data from Baseball Savant Now that the pitches have declined in velocity and he is not commanding them as effectively, he is not getting the same results. His four-seamer is getting 17% less in-zone miss and 6% less chase. His slider is getting 15% less chase and 24% fewer ground balls. Both pitches are also getting hit harder and resulting in more damage. Advertisement His control and command are integral to his future success. In terms of control, his zone rate and first pitch strike rate are at career lows. In terms of command against righties, he is still doing a good job of locating his four-seamer up in the zone, but the same cannot be said for his slider. His slider is missing its location and breaking out of the zone. He is not getting chase on the pitch as a result. He needs to tweak the location and land it in-zone for it to start getting swings again. Against lefties, he is locating the slider well in the lower third of the zone. He is also locating his four-seamer well on the outer edge of the zone, but he is leaving too many over the middle. In 2023, when the pitch was better, he was able to get away with pounding the zone (even the heart) with the pitch, as it would still generate miss. This season, the four-seamer has a poor .571 xSLG allowed. Strider is still in the beginning stages of his return from injury. Looking ahead, he can no longer rely only on dominant stuff to be successful. If he can get the velocity back to where it was, or at least start locating better, there is a path to better results. Gonsolin was placed on the injured list on Saturday, June 7, due to right elbow discomfort, which is likely the reason he has struggled in his past few starts. However, I wrote this section about three days before his injury and still believe it is relevant for why he has not performed as hoped so far. After missing the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery and having a delayed 2025 start due to a back injury, Gonsolin has a 5.96 FIP, 24% strikeout rate, and 12% walk rate through seven starts. Gonsolin's velocity is back to where it was in 2022, which is great news. He's also added some movement on his pitches. His four-seamer now has more run, his curveball more sweep and his splitter more depth. His primary areas for improvement are in his mechanics/pitch tunneling and his command and control. Starting with his mechanics, Gonsolin's arm slot is down 5 degrees from a high three-quarters slot to his three-quarters slot of 2022. He also threw from this slot in 2023 but struggled that season with an ankle injury and forearm inflammation. Advertisement This slot adjustment is affecting his control and his pitch tunneling. In terms of control, Gonsolin's below-average 12% walk rate is up from his average 7% walk rate in 2022. In terms of tunneling, Gonsolin has not been able to tunnel his pitches as effectively. Tunneling pitches provides deception and makes it more challenging for hitters to read pitches out of hand. This season, we are seeing a greater separation between his pitches on the way to the plate. Looking at the graphics from Baseball Savant below, the pitches had a much tighter tunnel in 2022 (left) before reaching the plate. Diving into his mix, Gonsolin's been throwing his slider less this season against righties and increased the usage of his splitter and curveball. The reduction in the usage of the slider makes sense, as the splitter is proving to be more effective. Looking at the slider location this season compared to 2022, the locations are much more inconsistent, and he is not getting the pitch up as frequently. As a result, the slider is generating 38% fewer ground balls than in 2022, has a poor 50% hard-hit rate and a .539 xSLG. The splitter, on the other hand, is getting 14% more in-zone miss compared to 2022 and has maintained the same ground ball rate. It also has an elite 0.033 xSLG and 47% whiff rate. This is because Gonsolin has been able to command it consistently: This change in pitch usage is helping Gonsolin stay competitive against right-handed batters. His 4.51 FIP this season against righties is very close to his career 4.42 FIP. The same cannot be said against lefties (7.36 FIP this season vs. 3.90 in his career). Looking at his usage, Gonsolin is throwing the four-seamer slightly more and the splitter less against lefties this season. While the four-seamer and curveball are still getting chase, the splitter is being chased 20% less. Many of the splitters are ending up too far below the zone to fool hitters. That being said, the contact quality of all three pitches has been well below average. While the tunneling and command remain components of why these results have not been better, for the most part, the pitch locations have been competitive. After reviewing video of the hard-hit balls Gonsolin has given up to lefties, it becomes clear that they are limited to above-average hitters such as Juan Soto, Ben Rice and Kyle Stowers. While ideally, Gonsolin could get every hitter out, this is not as big of a red flag as the command and tunneling issues discussed earlier. There are some promising pieces here, but reestablishing pitch tunneling and improving control and command are key steps required before Gonsolin returns to his pre-injury success. (Top photo of Spencer Strider: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
Fox News
18 minutes ago
- Fox News
NBA legend Don Nelson wears Luka Doncic shoes to protest 'tremendous mistake' by Mavericks
Don Nelson, the former Dallas Mavericks head coach, accepted the Chuck Daily Lifetime Achievement Award before Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday. Nelson, who has been living in Hawaii since being away from the game, carried a message with him for the franchise he used to lead on the court. During his press conference, Nelson made sure everyone in the building knew that he was wearing Luka Doncic's new shoes from Nike. Why? He thinks the Mavericks and GM Nico Harrison made a "tremendous mistake" trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers. "I want everybody to know I'm wearing Luka's shoes, his new shoes from Nike…and I'm wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas," Nelson told the crowd. "I think it was a tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him. I want everybody to know that." Nelson is a part of a mass group that believes Harrison made the wrong move in trading Doncic to Los Angeles, which was one of the most shocking trades in recent memory anywhere in professional sports. Mavericks fans let Harrison know it, too, as chants filled stadiums home and away, while a group of fans even held a fake funeral outside American Airlines Center days after the deal went down in February. Dallas, though, may have gotten bailed out after the NBA Draft Lottery saw them win the No. 1 overall pick. The Mavericks will presumably take Duke's Cooper Flagg later this month. Still, Mavericks fans weren't happy to see Doncic, who helped lead the team to the NBA Finals last year, moving out west. While the Lakers didn't make a deep NBA Playoffs run, Doncic had similar numbers with the Lakers compared to the Mavericks. He averaged 28.2 points per game (28.1 in Dallas) with 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game over 28 contests. Nelson and many others have their opinions, but what's done is done now for the Mavericks. Time will tell who exactly won the trade. Nelson is a Hall of Famer coach, and one of the best in league history with San Antonio Spurs legend Gregg Popovich being the only one with more coaching wins all-time. He had 1,335 regular-season wins and 75 more in the playoffs during his time coaching the Milwaukee Bucks (1976-87), Golden State Warriors (1988-94), New York Knicks (1995-96), Mavericks (1997-2005), and Warriors once more from 2006-10. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
Power conference commissioners voice confidence in House settlement: ‘Our schools want rules'
The leaders of college sports' most powerful conferences voiced their confidence in the recently approved House settlement Monday, shepherding in a new era of college athletics in which schools can begin directly paying college athletes on July 1. 'The decision (to approve the settlement) on Friday is a significant step forward toward building long-term stability for college sports while protecting the system from bad actors seeking to exploit confusion and uncertainty,' SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. Advertisement The newly formed College Sports Commission (CSC) held a news conference Monday morning featuring commissioners of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. Established in the wake of Friday's approval of the House settlement, the CSC will oversee the implementation and enforcement of settlement terms, shifting much of the responsibility away from the NCAA. Bryan Seeley, the former head of investigations for Major League Baseball, has been announced as CEO and will report to a board comprised of the power conference commissioners. Those commissioners addressed a settlement that intends to reshape the college sports industry and install guardrails on name, image and likeness (NIL) payments that have become unregulated and sparked repeated legal challenges in recent years. 'Ultimately, it is incumbent upon everyone involved in college sports … to make the terms of this settlement work. We must be committed and embrace both the realities and opportunities ahead,' said Sankey, who acknowledged that there will be 'challenges and growing pains.' 'While this settlement does not solve every issue, it establishes a solid foundation for stability and a sustainable future,' Sankey said. The CSC has been tasked with oversight of the settlement's new revenue-sharing pool, which will be capped at roughly $20.5 million per school in the first year, as well as third-party NIL deals via the new NIL Go clearinghouse. NIL Go, which will evaluate any third-party NIL payments worth at least $600, is expected to be up and running this week and will determine whether those deals represent a valid business purpose and fall within an approved range of compensation. Those that don't fit the criteria will be flagged and forced to be adjusted or taken to arbitration. The aim is to stamp out the unchecked 'pay-for-play' deals popularized by NIL collectives. Advertisement The power conference commissioners did not offer specifics Monday on what the enforcement and penalties might look like under the CSC, but ACC commissioner Jim Phillips stated that Seeley will have a lot of input on those areas moving forward. Even prior to Friday's approval, there has been no shortage of questions or doubts from those inside and outside college sports about the viability of the settlement terms and the CSC's ability to enforce these new rules. 'It all sounds great in theory, but how will it actually work?' one power conference athletic director recently posited to The Athletic. The commissioners made clear in no uncertain terms Monday that they expect strict adherence and buy-in from their member schools. 'It's progress over perfection,' Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said. 'Our schools want rules and we're providing rules and we will be governed by those rules. And if you break those rules, the ramifications will be punitive.' Part of that process includes 'participation agreements' in which the schools agree to comply with the terms of the settlement and not seek legal action, regardless of any differences and discrepancies with state laws. Yormark, who said that the agreement 'codifies the rules of settlement,' described it as a 'work in progress' within the Big 12 but one that has received no pushback and that he plans to execute in short order. Sankey stated at the SEC spring meetings last month that all 16 conference members approved of the agreement. 'We want oversight, we want guardrails, we want structure. (Administrators and coaches) don't have the luxury to just say that in meeting rooms. They don't have the luxury to just be anonymous sources,' Sankey said. 'They have a responsibility to make what they've sought, what they've asked for, to make it work.' Advertisement Buy-in from schools and conferences won't necessarily prevent continued legal battles from outside parties — part of the potential challenges that were referenced. There could be future lawsuits or complaints on the basis of Title IX or antitrust violations. (The commissioners did state that decisions on how the revenue sharing pool will be distributed will be made on a school-by-school basis.) To that end, the NCAA and power conferences, as part of the College Sports Commission, will continue to lobby Congress for things like antitrust exemptions and federal legislation that preempts state laws and addresses athlete employment status. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said he hopes the settlement will provide a foundation that encourages Congress to take action, and Sankey acknowledged that he and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua played golf with President Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss some of these same issues. There is no timetable for if or when Congress will take action, but lobbying efforts will continue in Washington, D.C.'I don't know if there is an exact timeline, but there is a sense of urgency, for sure,' said Yormark. 'I don't think we have to sell them on the topic, we just have to land in the right place that works for both parties on the Hill, and I think we're getting closer.'
