logo
Daulton Varsho returns for Blue Jays, while concussion sends George Springer to IL

Daulton Varsho returns for Blue Jays, while concussion sends George Springer to IL

Yahoo4 days ago
With the trade deadline behind the team, things are moving rapidly for the Toronto Blue Jays in advance of a three-game weekend series against the Kansas City Royals.
For starters, outfielder Daulton Varsho has returned from a lengthy 52-game stint on the injured list due to a hamstring strain and was activated for Friday's series opener at the Rogers Centre.
As well, right-handed reliever Louis Varland — who was acquired just prior to Thursday's Major League Baseball trade deadline — has made it to the downtown dome and will be active for Friday's contest.
On the downside, after taking a pitch to the head in Baltimore, George Springer has been diagnosed with a concussion and has been placed on the seven-day injured list, retroactive to July 29.
On some levels, it will be a relief for Jays players to have the deadline behind them, knowing that the roster basically is set for the final two months of the regular season.
The return of Varsho, a popular teammate and an elite centre fielder, also is a huge injection into the clubhouse and has the possibility of feeling like another trade-deadline acquisition.
The Jays certainly will be looking to resume their recent hot run that has seen them sprint out to a 64-46 record and first place in the American League East, 3.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees.
Blue Jays make late deal with Twins for reliever Louis Varland and first baseman Ty France
Did Blue Jays do enough at trade deadline? It's in Shane Bieber's right hand now
General manager Ross Atkins believes the influx of new players at the deadline will fill some needs for the team as they look to cement home-field advantage and a first-round bye for the post-season.
The biggest of the deadline acquisitions, right-handed starter Shane Bieber, also made it to Toronto on Friday and had a busy afternoon schedule discussing what his next step will be as he continues to rehab from last year's Tommy John surgery.
Also on hand is first baseman Ty France, who came to the Jays with Varland, in the deadline day deal with the Minnesota Twins.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

How Manchester City and Pep Guardiola have influenced rugby's future
How Manchester City and Pep Guardiola have influenced rugby's future

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

How Manchester City and Pep Guardiola have influenced rugby's future

Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are widely recognised as innovators within football. They have helped to advance sports science with strategies ranging from ultra-individualised nutrition and rehydration. Through the use of data analytics for load and injury management. This approach, combined with Guardiola's tactical expertise, has helped guide the club to unprecedented success since he took over as manager in 2016, including winning six Premier League titles. What is less well-known is the impact that Pep Guardiola and Manchester City's approach is having on other sports. In particular, rugby is making strides to become a more data-driven and evidence-based sport. Where pure athleticism has to be supplemented with analytics and sports science to achieve marginal gains. In this post, we will take a closer look at how Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are indirectly influencing rugby's future. 'I came out of that session embarrassed.' Eddie Jones said after watching a Pep Guardiola side train. The clearest evidence that Pep Guardiola has had a direct impact on rugby as a sport comes from Eddie Jones. Jones is a highly decorated former coach of the England and Australia rugby union national teams. Jones has spoken publicly about the influence that Pep Guardiola has had on his coaching. That influence began when he read the book Pep Confidential: The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola's First Season at Bayern Munich, written by Martí Perarnau. Martí Perarnau's book on Pep Guardiola had a profound impact on Eddie Jones. Jones admitted the book had a strong impact on him. It also helped to shape his selection policy during his time managing England's national team. The impact was actually so profound that he even arranged to visit Pep Guardiola in 2015. Pep Guardiola was still in charge of Bayern Munich. His team was taking the German Bundesliga by storm. 'It changed the way I coach. I came out of that session embarrassed about how I had been coaching.' Jones admitted. 'It was just really enlightening how hard they worked…they had sweat pouring off them.' Eddie Jones had previously faced criticism in his own coaching career for working players too hard. Yet, during his visit to Bayern Munich, he found a committed team, working at a completely different level of intensity. Even in temperatures of around -5°C. He also found common ground in terms of what teams are actually trying to achieve in both football and rugby. 'Rugby and soccer are very similar. In that you always want to move the ball into space.' Jones explained, outlining some of the other lessons he learned during the visit. 'The principles are exactly the same.' Interestingly, it is also well-known that Pep Guardiola's football philosophy was partially influenced by other sports too. In particular, rugby and handball. In this sense, the cross-sport inspiration has actually come full circle. Pep Guardiola has helped to inspire professionals working in one of the sports he was once inspired by. Rugby's Growing Adoption of Data Analytics. For many decades, rugby has been a highly tactical sport. There is an intense focus on preparation, set-piece planning and analysis of opposition patterns of play. It is widely recognised that Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have helped to push data analytics in sport to a new level. Pep Guardiola's all-conquering side capitalises on the latest scientific research. City also builds strategic partnerships with technology companies. They have also begun making effective use of the latest AI systems. While other football teams have been quick to adopt the same approach, rugby has generally been slower on the uptake. Partly because the amount of money in football exceeds the amount of money in rugby league and rugby union combined. However, in recent times, there has been a clear shift within the rugby world to a more data-driven approach. They are now relying on complex analytics to understand player performance, passages of play and opposition tactics. Rugby is adopting football's approach to analytics. Traditionally, rugby, much like football has relied on experts who understood the game. They would use that understanding to analyse how a game panned out. It also helped understand what needed to change for next time. This remains a key component of both sports. But there has been a fundamental shift to relying on actual evidence and raw data. Rugby teams, much like Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, now make use of sophisticated models to anticipate the probability of winning a game. These models may even be cross-referenced with rugby betting odds and real-life outcomes over time, in order to explore the possibility that there may be gaps in existing modelling. AI-powered analytics can also be used to better understand the performance of a team in a rugby game, regardless of the result. This works similarly to performance metrics like xG (expected goals) in football, where the quality of scoring opportunities is identified. This kind of analysis helps both rugby and football teams to understand the types of patterns in play that are likely to lead to goals, tries and conversions, while discarding anomalies. Analysing Fitness, Wellbeing and Injury Risk Manchester City is globally viewed as being at the very forefront of tracking the well-being of footballers. This includes everything from monitoring the workload of players and understanding their risk of injury. Through to creating specific rehydration plans for each player, based on their unique sweat profile, including sweat rates and sodium concentrations. It is another crucial area where the team's sports scientists have broken new ground. Given the club's immense success under Pep Guardiola and even before his arrival, it comes as little surprise that this approach is now commonplace throughout football and is creeping into other sports. For rugby, in particular, teams like the England national team and the All Blacks are now known for their use of wearable technology to track biometric information. GPS tracking and inertial measurement units (IMUs) are more widely deployed. This helps teams to understand everything from the amount of distance a player has covered in a match or training session. It also helps monitor the frequency of collisions with other players and the level of intensity behind those collisions. Player load management is a key component in rugby. Load monitoring is a particular point of interest in rugby. They tend to focus on the level of physical exertion and physiological stress a player experiences in training and in matches. This can be crucial for team selection and organising training sessions. The data from wearable technology can help coaches to understand which players need a rest, which players should be working harder in training and which players are at an increased risk of injury. There is a huge amount of money wrapped up in modern rugby, from financial rewards connected to winning major competitions, to sponsorship deals and money put on outcomes through Sportsbet and other platforms. With this being the case, every decision a rugby team and coach makes can have huge repercussions. Teams are increasingly willing to invest in technology that can help them to make good long-term decisions for the benefit of the team and in the interests of player wellbeing. Again, much of this can be traced back to the strategies implemented by teams managed by Pep Guardiola over the years, including Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Manchester City's Impact on Women's Rugby One of the most exciting developments of the last decade or so has been the increased attention women's rugby has received. This not only includes increased television coverage and rising live attendances. But it has also meant a greater amount of sports science research investment and improvements to performance analytics – all of which are helping to move women's rugby away from being a niche interest and closer to the mainstream. Again, it can be argued that Manchester City, as a club, has played a role in pushing development forward. In this case, it shows how the club is contributing to improvements in sports science even beyond Pep Guardiola's own work. Manchester City's women's team have helped study women's sport. In 2021, for example, Manchester City Women took part in pioneering research with the English Institute of Sport. They trialled techniques like saliva testing to better understand changes in hormone levels. This research has helped the team to tailor nutrition, training and rest periods to individual women's menstrual cycles. It represents another example of Manchester City's approach to wellbeing and marginal gains and the findings are making their way into rugby. Both Manchester City and the Sale Sharks rugby union club have worked closely with the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, helping to study topics like anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in female athletes. It is hoped that the findings of this kind of research can assist with advances in footwear technology, resulting in both football and rugby boots that better accommodate women's frames and weight distribution. Manchester City's women's team have contributed to the wider ecosystem of women's sports science in and around the city. It is hoped this can have far-reaching benefits for understanding in areas like menstrual health and musculoskeletal development, which could prevent injuries and create serious gains across all women's sports. Final Thoughts The impact that Pep Guardiola and his team of experts have had on football is beyond any doubt. As a consequence, Manchester City is now recognised around the world as a pioneer in sports science. They have also helped to inspire teams from every top league. What is less immediately obvious, however, is the impact that the manager and the club have had on other sports. Including rugby union and rugby league. Yet, this impact has actually been profound. Guardiola has helped to inspire individual coaches, like Eddie Jones. Not only through tactics but also through his approach to pushing athletes in training. The club, meanwhile, has served as a clear and obvious role model during rugby's shift towards a more data-driven and evidence-based approach to training, tactics and performance reviews. Furthermore, Manchester City's Women's team have established itself as pioneers in female sports science too. The club's work alongside sports institutes and universities could help to prevent injuries and help to manage menstrual health.

Comparables for Oilers prospect Ike Howard offer encouragement for the future
Comparables for Oilers prospect Ike Howard offer encouragement for the future

New York Times

time3 hours ago

  • New York Times

Comparables for Oilers prospect Ike Howard offer encouragement for the future

The newest impact prospect on the Edmonton Oilers depth chart is winger Ike Howard. Acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning for prospect centre Sam O'Reilly, fans of the team have been projecting the youngster's boxcar numbers in the NHL for 2025-26. It's a difficult projection. Unlike fellow rookie Matt Savoie, who has a full season of pro hockey behind him (plus a few games with the Oilers a year ago), Howard has no professional track record. Advertisement One of the ways we can predict future production is by using players who delivered similar results in the same league at the same age in previous seasons. Since Howard's primary skill is as a goal scorer, it's best to look at players his age (20 a year ago) who played in the same league (Big Ten) and posted similar shot volume, shooting percentages and overall totals. I'm using a 10-year window. There is no clear comparable for Howard, owing to the fact that most impact college scorers turn pro before their age-20 seasons. The Lightning were eager to sign him, but the two sides couldn't come to an agreement. His resume (impact player at World Juniors, Hobey Baker winner) is impressive, and his numbers in the Big Ten during his 20-year-old season are top drawer. Thus, the problem in finding a perfect comparable. There are three. Howard and Jimmy Snuggerud have a lot in common based on math. Both men were drafted in the first round in 2022 and have similar scoring and volume numbers. Both played in the Big Ten in the same season. Snuggerud scored 20-plus goals in three consecutive seasons, while Howard only had one. However, Howard's points per game were superior in both of his Big Ten years. Both men will hit the ice as NHL rookies next year. Snuggerud did play for the St. Louis Blues during the regular season (1-3-4 in seven games) and the playoffs (2-2-4 in seven games); an encouraging early indication about a possible future for Howard. Matt Coronato is well-known to Oilers fans, as he has established himself as one of the best young Calgary Flames players over the last 18 months. Coronato scored sparingly at age 21 in the NHL (3-6-9 in 34 games) before blossoming as a scorer (24-23-47 in 77 games) at age 22. In his age-21 season, Coronato was over a point per game in the AHL. If Howard takes the same route to the NHL and has similar success, the organization should consider the trade a success. Advertisement Adam Gaudette played his 20-year-old college season for Northeastern (Hockey East) in 2016-17, which is a hockey lifetime ago. However, he's an interesting comparable for two reasons: the comps are close, and we have over 300 NHL games of progress to digest as it pertains to a possible future for Howard. Gaudette has taken the long way to NHL success, but found it last year with the Ottawa Senators. His 19 goals in 2024-25 represent a career high and serve as a reminder that goal scorers get more chances than any other player type. It's the hardest thing to do in hockey. Every prospect's deployment is unique, and it can have an enormous impact on performance. When Snuggerud arrived in the NHL, he played on a line with Oskar Sundqvist and Zack Bolduc. By the playoffs, his most common linemates were Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. Skill flourishes with skill, and the Blues found Snuggerud a spot where he could succeed. There should be no surprise that it was on a skill line, at or near the top of the depth chart. The Oilers' situation and the opportunity Howard is about to step into will be similar this fall. There's every chance Howard will start on a depth line, as the coaching staff looks to get a feel for what Howard can do on the ice (with and without the puck). A player like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Adam Henrique may serve as his centre and mentor the young winger through the early weeks of his NHL career. When projecting Howard, it's impossible to ignore the possibility that one of Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl emerges as the centre on his line. If that happens, comparables take a powder, and we're in uncharted territory. Getting 'the push' has been a decade-long experience for wingers who arrive in Edmonton. Trades are made, fringe wingers arrive, and not long after, Pat Maroon is signing a contract for more money than anyone thought possible. The list of wingers helped along the way by both McDavid and Draisaitl is long and impressive. Maroon, Zack Kassian, Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto, Ty Rattie, Alex Chiasson, James Neal, Evander Kane, Warren Foegele and many others have benefited over the years. After the Puljujarvi and Yamamoto experience, the organization faded rookies and players with a lack of experience as skill wingers. However, with Howard's arrival and the exits of several veterans, the opportunity is there. Advertisement The best comparable for Howard is Snuggerud. He doesn't give us much runway in projecting an NHL career for Howard, but even in a small sample, there was success. Coronato is also encouraging; he is a player who was a first-round selection, a famous college product and now a successful young NHL winger with a quality future in Calgary. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman made the deal for Howard in order to speed up the timeline and secure a plug-and-play option. In the past, that has hurt the Oilers, with names like Puljujarvi and Griffin Reinhart getting the push from management at the detriment of the team. It's unlikely that will be the case with Howard. He will arrive in Edmonton to a great deal of fanfare and anticipation. However, this version of the Oilers possesses enough skill to cover for the young winger if he needs some time in Bakersfield this fall and winter. Howard's comparables are quality. He could exceed all of them, but there is no guarantee of immediate success. If he delivers a strong rookie season, chances are it will be in a complementary role with an impact centre leading the way.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store