Brewers face the Cubs looking to end road skid
Chicago; Thursday, 2:20 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Brewers: Quinn Priester (11-2, 3.48 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 100 strikeouts); Cubs: Shota Imanaga (8-5, 3.06 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 85 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cubs -137, Brewers +115; over/under is 7 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Milwaukee Brewers hit the road against the Chicago Cubs looking to end a three-game road losing streak.
Chicago has a 73-54 record overall and a 41-24 record at home. The Cubs have hit 173 total home runs to rank third in the NL.
Milwaukee has a 37-28 record in road games and a 79-48 record overall. Brewers hitters are batting a collective .258, the second-best team batting average in MLB play.
The teams meet Thursday for the 13th time this season. The Cubs lead the season series 7-5.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Tucker has 18 home runs, 79 walks and 62 RBIs while hitting .261 for the Cubs. Nico Hoerner is 10 for 35 with a double and two RBIs over the last 10 games.
Christian Yelich has 14 doubles and 26 home runs while hitting .264 for the Brewers. Brice Turang is 13 for 37 with three doubles and three home runs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 6-4, .195 batting average, 2.97 ERA, outscored by one run
Brewers: 6-4, .274 batting average, 3.03 ERA, outscored opponents by 30 runs
INJURIES: Cubs: Cade Horton: day-to-day (finger), Miguel Amaya: 10-Day IL (ankle), Mike Soroka: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Eli Morgan: 60-Day IL (elbow), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Brewers: D.L. Hall: 15-Day IL (oblique), Logan Henderson: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jackson Chourio: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jordan Montgomery: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Bauers: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Rhys Hoskins: 10-Day IL (thumb), Garrett Mitchell: 60-Day IL (oblique), Rob Zastryzny: 15-Day IL (ribs), Connor Thomas: 60-Day IL (elbow), Robert Gasser: 60-Day IL (elbow)
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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a few seconds ago
- Associated Press
How MLB's upcoming deals will change how you watch out-of-market, Sunday night and Wild Card games
When ESPN opted out of its contract with Major League Baseball in February, the network was hoping to get a reworked package at a lower cost while Commissioner Rob Manfred thought the sport could optimize its rights in the short term for Home Run Derby and Wild Card round. In the end, both parties may get what they want. According to people familiar with negotiations, ESPN is nearing a deal to distribute out-of-market games while NBC/Peacock, Netflix, Apple TV are in talks for regular-season packages, the Wild Card round and Home Run Derby. All sides hope to have everything finalized by the end of the regular season next month, three people told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contracts have not been finalized or announced by either side. The negotiations around the three-year deals is complicated due to the fact that MLB is also trying not to slight two of its other rights holders. MLB receives an average of $729 million from Fox and $470 million from Turner Sports per year under deals which expire after the 2028 season. While ESPN would be losing the playoffs and Home Run Derby, it would be gaining something it considers more valuable — the streaming package of out-of-market games as part of the direct-to-consumer service that launched on Thursday. ESPN would also sell the in-market rights to the five teams whose games are produced by MLB — San Diego, Colorado, Arizona, Cleveland and Minnesota. 'We are engaged. We are having healthy conversations with them. Nothing to announce today, but we're very interested in baseball in general,' ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said on Tuesday during a presentation about the network's DTC service. ESPN, which has carried MLB games since 1990, opted out of the final three years of a seven-year deal in February. The package averaged $550 million per season and also included the Home Run Derby and Wild Card games. Baseball would be the second league that would have its out-of-market digital package available in the U.S. on ESPN's platform. The NHL moved its package to ESPN in 2021. It would also be a win-win situation for MLB and ESPN. Manfred wrote in a memo to owners after ESPN opted out of its contract: 'While ESPN has stated they would like to continue to have MLB on their platform, particularly in light of the upcoming launch of their DTC product, we do not think its beneficial for us to accept a smaller deal to remain on a shrinking platform. In order to best position MLB to optimize our rights going in to our next deal cycle, we believe it is not prudent to devalue our rights with an existing partner but rather to have our marquee regular season games, Home Run Derby and Wild Card playoff round on a new broadcast and/or streaming platform.' The moves keep ESPN involved in baseball, but at a point where it can benefit while MLB could benefit from other partners in a short-term deal. There is a possibility that ESPN would still air 30 regular-season games, but not Sunday nights. That package of games would go to NBC/Peacock, along with the Wild Card round. NBC, which celebrates its 100th anniversary next year, has a long history with baseball, albeit not much recently. The network carried games from 1939 through 1989. It was part of the short-lived Baseball Network with ABC in 1994 and '95 and then aired playoff games from 1996 through 2000. Peacock had a Sunday streaming package of early-afternoon games in 2022 and '23. The addition of baseball games would give NBC a year-around night of sports on Sunday nights. It has had NFL games on Sunday night since 2006 and will debut an NBA Sunday night slate in February. NBC would likely do Sunday Night Baseball from May through Labor Day weekend. Fox's Saturday nights have been mainly sports the past couple years with a mix of baseball, college football, college basketball and motorsports. Netflix is in discussions for the Home Run Derby, which would align with its strategy of going for a big event in a major sport. The streamer will have an NFL Christmas Day doubleheader this season for the second straight year. Apple TV, which has had 'Friday Night Baseball' since 2022, remains involved in negotiations. The deals would also accomplish another of Manfred's goals. He has said for three years that he would like to see MLB take a more national approach to its rights instead of a large percentage of its games being on regional sports networks. 'We're blessed with a huge amount of content: 2,430 games. Because of the amount of content, I think there will be some local component but I think the strategy needs to be more national and our reach needs to be more national,' he said during a panel discussion last September at the CNBC x Boardroom's Game Plan event. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Shane Bieber, in a new uniform and finally back on the mound, is ready to make his mark on the Blue Jays
Shane Bieber strolled back in from the bullpen on Monday at PNC Park, offering head nods and fist bumps to a handful of teammates and Blue Jays staff members on his way to the dugout. On the surface, it was a familiar pregame scene, one featuring a veteran starting pitcher going about his business, completing the necessary work in the days between outings to ensure he's prepared to compete at the highest level. But for Bieber, who is still getting used to his new threads after being acquired by Toronto from the only organization he'd ever known in Cleveland, these seemingly banal moments carry notably more weight. Monday's session was a final tune-up for a day he's been working toward for quite some time. On Friday against the Marlins, Bieber will make his first start for the Blue Jays and his first appearance in the majors since he underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2024. A highly anticipated return from elbow surgery might not make Bieber especially unique in an era when so many top arms endure injury-related interruptions to their careers. But not all rehabs are created equal, and Bieber's journey has featured more than its fair share of plot twists. As such, his first pitch on Friday is not just the final chapter in his road to recovery but also the triumphant and exciting culmination of so much more. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] 'Threw definitely a new little wrinkle in there, moving to a new country, getting my family acclimated and all the things that come with a midseason trade,' Bieber told Yahoo Sports of the latest phase of his journey. 'I'm grateful for this group. They've made it super easy for me, personally. And for my family, it's gone as easy as it possibly could.' 'The goal doesn't change ... It's just the city' At the beginning of 2024, Bieber appeared on track to reassert himself as one of the premier aces of the American League. Shoulder and elbow injuries had limited him in two of the previous three seasons, casting doubt that the right-hander would reclaim the ace form he exhibited during his Cy Young campaign in 2020. But Bieber looked especially sharp in spring training 2024 and in his first two outings of the regular season, in which he struck out 20 batters and walked just one without allowing a run across 12 innings. Those tantalizing outings made it all the more disappointing when Bieber went down with a season-ending elbow injury, bringing his apparent resurgence to a screeching halt. What followed over the next year and a half was a whirlwind of ups and downs both on and off the field. Bieber underwent Tommy John surgery on April 12. He watched from the dugout as his Guardians won the division title and embarked on a memorable run to the ALCS. He became a free agent for the first time and attracted lucrative offers from other teams, only to re-sign with Cleveland in December, citing his comfort with the only organization he has ever known and a desire to complete his rehab with the Guardians and help them win in 2026. In March 2025, he and his wife, Kara, welcomed a baby boy, Kav, their first child. He made his first official rehab appearance in the Arizona Complex League on May 31 but then was temporarily shut down from throwing after reporting soreness — a normal development during the rehab process but a setback nonetheless. Then, with a return to the Guardians' rotation seemingly within reach in mid-July, Bieber was traded. Sent to Toronto in exchange for stellar pitching prospect Khal Stephen, Bieber was one of just a few starters moved at the deadline, further amplifying the spotlight on his impending return. By any measure, it has been a lot. But now, finally on the precipice of returning to a big-league mound, Bieber is appreciative of the winding path he took to get here and eager to finally resume doing what he does best. 'For me, the baseball stuff is easy. That's what comes natural, and you're able to work your way back to it,' he said. 'The goal doesn't change from a baseball perspective. It's just the city.' For all the significant changes that have unfolded in Bieber's life throughout his rehab process, he has remained laser-focused on the task at hand. 'It's easy to keep things compartmentalized,' he said, 'because ultimately, it's the same game, the same job.' 'Even in Triple-A, he looks like an elite big leaguer' For a first-place Blue Jays team trying to secure its first AL East title in a decade, Bieber represents an injection of impact talent that is rarely available at this time of the season. "You can allow yourself to get pretty excited, adding a guy of that caliber,' manager John Schneider said. 'He's the definition of a pro. I think he fits right in with the guys that we have already in our rotation. Really, really smart. Understands what he's good at, what he's trying to do, and he's confident right now. Looking forward to seeing him in action.' Unlike most modern frontline starters, Bieber has never been known for his velocity. The highest fastball velocity of his career (96.3 mph) came in 2020, and he hasn't crested 95 mph since 2021. Across his three Triple-A rehab starts this month, Bieber's fastball averaged 92.8 mph and topped out at 94.4 mph. But even with below-average velocity, especially for a right-hander, Bieber's precise command and understanding of his arsenal separate him from his peers and enable him to dice up the best batters on Earth. 'You put him in a category of some pretty good pitchers, where they're dominating areas with different pitches, and it makes it really tough to sit on one pitch,' Schneider said. 'He's adjusting as he's going, too, with what he's seeing from hitters. When you have a guy with good stuff, and then you have a guy with really, really good awareness, in real time, I think you get a Cy Young-caliber pitcher.' [Get more Toronto news: Blue Jays team feed] Without the ability to overwhelm opponents with pure power, Bieber deftly deploys his four-seamer around the zone to set up his two primary whiff-inducing weapons, a low-80s knuckle-curve and a sharp, mid-80s slider. Add a cutter and a change-up to assist in neutralizing left-handed batters, and Bieber wields a deep array of offerings that makes for an ultra-uncomfortable at-bat. 'He gave us fits from the other side, always a tough matchup for us,' Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said. 'He's got tremendous stuff, he's got a repeatable delivery, he executes his fastball and his breaking stuff with the best of them. Very cerebral, smart pitcher who recognizes swings and has a good game plan. And I think you recognize that right away when you watch him pitch.' Bieber has yet to throw an inning for the Blue Jays, but Toronto's coaching staff has already gained a deeper appreciation for the pitcher and the person. 'I've admired him from afar for a number of years,' Schneider said. 'And just in talking to him, you can see why he is as accomplished as he is.' 'He's got an easy personality, an easy way about him. He's an intellect, but he also finds a way to keep things simple,' Walker said. 'He's thrown some really good bullpens here. We've watched all of his rehab games. He's executing his pitches well. He just carries himself like a pro. 'And you know when you watch him pitch, even in Triple-A, he looks like an elite big leaguer.' 'These guys, they're animals' Beginning Friday, Bieber joins a Blue Jays rotation that is in an interesting spot. It's a unit with five established and (currently) healthy hurlers but also one that ranks 20th in ERA and 27th in fWAR on the season. It's a group that includes four accomplished right-handers in Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios and Max Scherzer, plus a surprise contributor in lefty Eric Lauer. For as effective as he has been since joining the rotation in mid-June (3.05 ERA in 62 innings across 12 starts), Lauer appears to be the most obvious candidate to return to his prior role as a swingman, but the Blue Jays insist that roles could be fluid in the coming weeks as the team figures out the best way to accommodate Bieber's schedule while covering as many innings as possible. However the rotation shakes out over the next few weeks — and, even more intriguingly, once October arrives — Bieber is eager to give his new team a boost, albeit in a different role than the one he filled with the Guardians. In Cleveland, Bieber had comfortably achieved veteran status — 'old and salty,' he joked — and would've been rejoining the starting staff as the most senior member at the age of 30. Instead, with the Blue Jays, not only will Bieber be the new guy, but he'll also be the young gun of sorts, even as his return marks his eighth major-league season. Berrios (31, 10th season), Gausman (34, 13th), Bassitt (36, 11th) and Scherzer (41, 18th) have combined to pitch 7,608 ⅓ innings across 1,265 regular-season starts in their careers. It's an astonishing wealth of experience to draw upon and share, an advantage that is not lost on Bieber. 'It's fantastic,' he said. 'I've had the pleasure of competing against them from the other dugout, so now I get the privilege of getting to know them as teammates and friends. And then also on top of that, just picking their brains on how they like to do things. … I'm eager to ask questions and learn from them as much as I can.' It's a dynamic that Toronto's coaching staff has seen manifest in positive ways even before Bieber's arrival. "When it comes together like that and you got some of the names that we have right now, and the experience, it's a luxury,' Walker said. 'We've got different personalities … but the one variable that's the same is, between the lines, these guys, they're animals,' he continued. 'It's very competitive, a controlled aggression. … They're coming after you. And that rubs off on the teammates. Max [Scherzer], in a way, has rubbed off on his teammates in that aspect. And we expect Shane to do the same.' Beyond the staggering track record of pitching at the highest level, there's an ambitious mentality that separates this group even after all the years — and that's a trait that Bieber clearly exhibits. 'Sometimes guys can be around a long time and lose a little bit, or become a little complacent. This group has zero complacency,' Walker said. 'And you can tell they've all turned it up a notch. In a way, it's a healthy competition. They want to pick each other up. They want to pitch just as well the next time out as the previous starter. And I think that's contagious, and it's very healthy.' 'He's looking forward to Friday as much as we are' Yet for all the justified excitement about Bieber joining the fold, it's quite possible this will be a temporary partnership. If he pitches well down the stretch, it seems likely he'll opt out of the $16 million he's slated to make in 2026, becoming a free agent for the second winter in a row; a fully healthy Bieber would surely secure a more lucrative deal on the open market. On the other side, the Blue Jays' aging rotation faces some long-term questions, with Bassitt and Scherzer both also set to hit free agency. But regardless of the duration of Bieber's run as a Blue Jay, what matters is the here and now. Friday at loanDepot Park marks the first step in his personal quest to regain ace status and the first opportunity for him to make an impact for a team that bet big on his resurgence in the thick of a pennant race. 'He's been chomping at the bit,' Schneider said of his new starter. 'Pitchers know how they feel, and I think especially pitchers of his caliber, they know what their stuff is doing. So he's excited, and I think that he's looking forward to Friday as much as we are. 'It's a long road to get back from that injury — days at the complex, minor-league game after minor-league game on such a strict schedule. He's enjoyed just being in the dugout and being part of it now, not even pitching. I'm sure getting back on a big-league mound will be good for him.' As his return to a big-league mound has neared, Bieber's confidence has only increased. But he fully understands the challenge that lies ahead — and that looking sharp in rehab outings can tell you only so much. 'As great as being built up to 90 pitches in the minor leagues is,' he said, 'big-league innings are different. 'So it's exciting to be able to experience that here soon."
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
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What does SEC's move to 9-game conference schedule mean for future of CFP?
We can all breathe a giant sign of relief: Finally, the SEC is moving to a nine-game conference football schedule. Stop the presses! It only took them four years of debating, arguing and posturing. But what does this move mean for the greater landscape of college football? For one, it means fewer SEC games against non-power conference opponents in FBS and those in FCS, as the league will retain its requirement for schools to play at least one non-conference game against a fellow power league team or Notre Dame (yes, that means 10 power league games). But the move's most notable impact may lie with the future of the College Football Playoff format. Let's first start off with a fact: This may not mean anything immediately for the CFP format, and there is unlikely to be any agreement on a future format very soon. Yes, the SEC's decision may ease and make more productive conversations with Big Ten officials over a future format, but it doesn't mean Big Ten leaders will jump to agree with the proposed '5+11' format that the SEC, ACC and Big 12 have openly supported. In fact, on Thursday, one Big Ten official told Yahoo Sports that while the SEC's move is a positive step, the league has more concerns, most notably related to the CFP selection committee's criteria of choosing what would be 11 at-large playoff teams. Remember, according to an agreement that all the FBS conferences signed last year, the Big Ten and SEC hold authority over future CFP formats as long as they have 'meaningful' conversation with the ACC and Big 12. The disagreement between the two conferences lingers. One wants more at-large selections and another wants more automatic qualifiers. The Big Ten proposed 16 and even 28-team formats that grant an unequal number of AQs to specific leagues, as many as four to each the SEC and Big Ten in a 16-team model circulated this past season and seven AQs for the two leagues in a model that emerged last week. The ACC and Big 12, along with the SEC, have thrown their collective weight behind the 5+11 model, and so have the Group of Six conferences plus Notre Dame. It's put the Big Ten on an island and has resulted in an impasse in CFP format negotiations. The SEC's desire for a 5+11 format 'remains' after the move to a nine-game conference schedule, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told Paul Finebaum on his show on Thursday. 'There are other ideas that have been talked about. We haven't taken positions on those. Lot of work to be done,' he said. The most recent 'other' idea is a 24 or 28-team format circulated last week by Big Ten leaders. While some SEC school executives are interested in exploring such a model, many others — especially the league's room of presidents — are turned off by such a large postseason field, to the point that one quipped recently, 'It's a non-starter.' Is the SEC's move to nine games a compromise to the Big Ten to get that conference on board with the 5+11 model? After all, Big Ten administrators and coaches have made it clear that they were against a move to a format with such a big at-large pool if the SEC remained at eight conference games. They believe the league would have an advantage in landing those at-large spots (they were probably right on that thinking, by the way). But it may take weeks or months for the Big Ten to gather enough support to push aside its administrators and coaches' desire to have a more NFL-like field with automatic qualifiers. However, the SEC's move to nine wasn't only for CFP reasons, of course. Money is at play here. As previously reported, the schools are in line to receive additional revenue from ESPN to play an extra conference game, as much as $5 million a school annually. At the most financially stressful time in college sports, any new money is welcomed. There's something else, too. The shift to nine provides the league with the ability to sell tickets to another SEC game, to include such a game in season ticket packages and to generate more sponsorship and advertising dollars for that game. They'll play one another more too. The nine-game schedule will follow a '3-6' model, where each school plays three permanent opponents and six rotating each year, assuring each of the 16 schools play the other at least once in a two-year span. By the way, the SEC, at least years ago when this '3-6' model was selected, planned to choose each school's permanent opponents based on three considerations: (1) primary and secondary rivalries; (2) geography; and (3) equity. How do you solve the equity consideration? It's pretty simple actually: The SEC's original plan was to use the last 10 years of win-loss records to create tiers and then pair schools that way. But the most important component, probably, is historic rivalries. Anyway, back to the impact nationally. Thursday's decision, for many, came as a surprise. 'That came out of nowhere,' said one SEC leader. 'I wonder what changed?' pondered another. Momentum grew in the spring for a nine-game schedule, coinciding with the Big Ten and SEC's discussion over the '4-4-2-2-1' CFP format that leaned heavily on automatic qualifiers. However, SEC coaches in May rejected the format, and many believed that the league would likely remain at eight conference games. What changed this week? The CFP announced an adjustment to its selection committee criteria in choosing at-large teams, more heavily weighing games against top programs. Was it enough to tip the scales among a split room of athletic directors debating, for four years, between eight and nine games? Perhaps. Either way, they got there. And now the question lingers: Will the Big Ten come around on the 16-team format that everyone else wants?
