How to watch the Yankees at Padres series: League-leading Aaron Judge's team hosts surging San Diego
Interleague play gives us a winning combination to start our week, with the first-place New York Yankees hosting a sweltering San Diego Padres squad. Aaron Judge leads the big leagues in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging. The Pads are No. 1 in team ERA and shutouts. This three-game set could be a memorable one.
There's a cool matchup going on here: San Diego's pitching is top-shelf stuff, and New York's offense is undoubtedly fearsome. The visitors open this week on a five-game winning streak, trailing the defending champion and incumbent World Series favorite Dodgers by just half a game. Perhaps not quite at Judge's level, Fernando Tatis Jr. is still off to a thoroughly ridiculous start: .328/.399/.574 lines with eight home runs and eight stolen bases, right on pace for a 40-40 season.
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Padres manager Mike Shildt hasn't needed all that much from Tatis and Co., because San Diego's mound work has been filthy. Monday's probable, RHP Nick Pivetta, hits the Bronx with a 5-1 record and a minuscule 1.78 ERA. Fellow righty Michael King (4-1, 2.09 ERA) returns to his home state and his original pro club for Tuesday's outing. King won 13 games in five pinstriped seasons, mostly as a reliever, then matched that mark in last year's debut Padres effort.
San Diego rolls out a third right-hander on Wednesday. Dylan Cease has allowed two runs in each of his last four starts, but he's still working off a nine-run implosion against the Athletics on April 8.
The Yanks counter with the power bats of Judge and Paul Goldschmidt. This week's hosts still lead everyone in home runs, despite a recent cooling out and an IL stint for Jazz Chisholm Jr. New York scored just 10 combined runs in a three-game series against Tampa Bay. The Yankees have lost two series in a row. Similarly, this lineup was held in check for two of three tries against Baltimore, but broke through with 15 runs last Tuesday.
Aaron Boone's ballclub leads the AL East, though it doesn't have to chase a juggernaut like the NL West's Dodgers. Tuesday and Wednesday both feature struggling right-handers with inflated ERAs, but Carlos Rodón gets the call Monday on the heels of an impressive strikeout streak. The 32-year-old lefty has at least seven Ks in each of his last five starts, and four of those five starts were on the road. He's going for his fourth straight W this time out.
Most homers in both jerseys: Dave Winfield (205 NYY, 154 SD)
Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo of Aaron Judge: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)
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USA Today
33 minutes ago
- USA Today
Seth Hernandez wins Gatorade National Player of the Year, ready for MLB draft day
Seth Hernandez wins Gatorade National Player of the Year, ready for MLB draft day Show Caption Hide Caption Watch baseball player's emotional reaction to surprise MLB promotion During a minor league baseball game in Tacoma, Washington, Cole Young was pulled aside and informed he'd been called up to play in the big leagues. Seth Hernandez has not yet thrown a professional pitch. Yet he's already getting pretty good at slowing the game down. Hernandez will hear that phrase a lot over the next, say, decade or two, as he progresses from prep baseball phenomenon to first-round draft pick and, in just a few weeks, the projected future ace of a major league franchise. But things are already coming quickly. Thursday, Hernandez fulfilled a longtime goal when he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, joining a group that in the four decades of the honor has gone on to combine for four MVPs, 42 All-Star appearances and 27 first-round draft selections. Come July 13, Hernandez will join that group. With a 100-mph fastball and a mature three-pitch mix, Hernandez is by far the best prep pitcher in this draft and remains on the periphery of consideration for the No. 1 overall pick. With significant volatility among the projected top 10 – thanks to prep stars like Hernandez, his Corona High School teammate Billy Carlson and Oklahoma prep shortstops Ethan Holliday and Ei Willits along with a bevy of elite college arms – Hernandez could go anywhere in the first dozen names called. MLB DRAFT PROSPECTS: Players to watch in NCAA super regionals He's already going through the ringer of interviews and visits with clubs, as they probe his hobbies (golfing, though not particularly well) and off-field demeanor (chill, it seems). All while his decorated high school career came to a dramatic end and graduation looms. 'It's a game,' Hernandez told USA TODAY Sports after All-Star and World Series champion Dexter Fowler surprised him with the Gatorade honor, 'and you just got to be able to take in the special moments because not everybody's privileged to do this stuff. 'And really just taking it day by day. The draft is something super special and it's going be a surreal moment, but I know that it's just going to be the starting point and something new and a new chapter in my life. 'So it's going to be exciting.' It's already been an exciting couple years for Hernandez. His Corona Panthers put together an epic two-year run, beginning in 2024 when they won the National High School Invitational in Cary, North Carolina and capped a 30-3 season with a CIF-Southern Section Division I championship. Their 5-0 victory over Harvard-Westlake – the powerhouse that's produced Lucas Giolito, Max Fried, Jack Flaherty and Pete Crow-Armstrong – made them the first team in history to claim bot the NHSI and the crown at the highest level of California baseball. How does one top that? Well, Hernandez could be the first of three Panthers to come off the board in round one. Shortstop Carlson is also pegged to go in the first dozen or so picks, while infielder Brady Ebel should land in the first two rounds. The trio did all right this year, too, going 28-3 before falling in the Division I semifinals to St. John Bosco. And Hernandez certainly did his part. He gave up just one earned run all season before Bosco's 3-0 semifinal victory. Hernadnez finished with a 105-7 strikeout-walk ratio. 'It was awesome. They're going to be my brothers for life,' Hernandez said of his teammates. 'Obviously, we didn't take it home this year, but we did take it home last year. And the group that we had this year was super special. Once in a generation type of team. And it was great just because we gelled so well together and really just brothers – not only on the field, but off the field as well. 'With the team we had this year, it's kind of hard to look back and say it was a failure just because our team was so special. And like I said, it was once in a generation type of thing. No hard feelings.' Oh, and Hernandez slammed seven home runs and drove in 30, leaving a strong impression on Fowler, the 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series champ. 'I've watched his videos and he's got a nice swing on him. I didn't know!' says Fowler. 'Is this the next Shohei? What are we doing?' Quipped Hernandez: 'I'm not stealing 50 bags.' Nope, not when he's expected to receive a bonus in the high seven figures. Hernandez, who committed to Vanderbilt, first drew the strong attention of scouts as a high school sophomore, when he hit 96 mph on the radar gun at an Area Code Games event at Dodger Stadium. He has improved his pitchability as his frame filled out, and pushed his fastball to triple digits. Come mid-July, that progress will pay off, and soon after, Hernandez will be a professional. Things will change, as a game becomes a business. With that, Fowler had some words of advice to keep Hernandez grounded. 'My parents always asked me, 'When do you think you'll be done playing?'' says Fowler, who played his last game in 2021 and retired with 1,306 hits and a .358 on-base percentage over 14 seasons. 'I said, 'When I stop having fun.' When it becomes a job, I'm going to be done. 'So keep this same attitude, keep this same energy. It'll take take you where you need to go.'
New York Times
39 minutes ago
- New York Times
Old friends Scott Harris, Jed Hoyer find themselves in first place again
CHICAGO — Last season, when the Chicago Cubs hosted the Detroit Tigers, it wasn't exactly a stress test for the friendship of the teams' respective presidents of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer and Scott Harris. The two friends, former co-workers and now professional equals, could instead commiserate over their sub-.500 teams. Advertisement After losing two of three at Wrigley Field on Aug. 22, Harris' Tigers were 62-66 and in front of just the lowly White Sox in the AL Central. Meanwhile, Hoyer's Cubs were treading water at 63-65. It was a long way from 2016, but one of their teams was about to take off. After the series, the Tigers traveled crosstown to play those aforementioned lowly White Sox, and they swept them to start an unexpected 24-10 run to the playoffs, where they won a wild-card series against Houston before losing to Cleveland in five games in the divisional round. Detroit sold at the trade deadline and somehow found itself a game away from the ALCS. Hoyer had plenty of time to watch the Tigers' playoff surprise because his Cubs finished 83-79, six games behind the third wild-card spot. Fast forward to today where the Tigers (41-23) have the best record in the American League and the Cubs (39-23) have the best record in the National League, and now maybe this fraternal rivalry has taken on a little edge as the Cubs head to Detroit for a three-game weekend series. I'm not saying it's a World Series preview, but it's not out of the question either. Both of these teams are playing like legit contenders. 'He's gonna be rage texting me during the games,' Harris predicted. 'I don't know that I'm going to respond.' 'I love it,' Hoyer said with a laugh. 'I'm such a 'rage texter.'' Chris Getz, the general manager of the White Sox, likes to joke that Hoyer thinks everyone is watching Cubs games, a personality quirk that Harris doesn't dispute. 'Sometimes it feels like he treats me as if I still work for him, which I do not,' he said. 'I'm actually two stops beyond working for him at this point. But he's obsessed with making the Cubs better, and that's the way his mind works. I think that's one of the reasons why they're successful.' Harris grew up in the business emulating Theo Epstein and Hoyer, so his approach to the job is not dissimilar. That is why he got a president of baseball operations gig before he turned 40. He was hired at 25 by the Cubs in the fall of 2012 to be their director of baseball operations. Seven years and one World Series ring later, he was an assistant GM when the San Francisco Giants hired him as their general manager. Three years after that, Detroit made him its president of baseball operations at 36. He brought along former Cubs assistant GM Jeff Greenberg, who was working for the Chicago Blackhawks. Advertisement Harris became nationally known during the Cubs' World Series run when ESPN's Wright Thompson profiled savior-in-chief Theo Epstein and included a scene from the front office suite where Harris was force-feeding himself bread at Epstein's behest for rallying purposes. 'I'm an easy target,' Harris said at a 'Pitch Talks' event in 2017. 'Just being the young guy, you can't really say no to anything. But I think the best part about Theo and Jed is they really create a fun and inclusive environment.' In reality, Harris wasn't just the kid in the room. He was an important part of the team's baseball operations department. Hoyer said they hired him knowing he'd be a GM one day soon and wanted to benefit from his services. 'It wasn't that Scott was just learning from us,' Hoyer said. 'I think he was contributing a ton as well. He's super curious, and I think that's probably one of his greatest strengths. He was always asking questions, always trying to advance and broaden his skill set. That's served him incredibly well, because I think he certainly learned a lot in his time in Chicago, but I think he learned a lot (in) his time in San Francisco from Farhan (Zaidi) as well. I think he's combined what he's learned at an exceptional level.' Reporters could never get much out of Harris in Chicago. He was friendly, sarcastic and was game to talk about anything … except the secrets we tried to pry out of him. His loyalty was with his bosses. 'I had two of the best mentors anyone could ask for in Theo and Jed,' he said. 'I learned about leadership and how to build a whole organization, as opposed to just a major-league team that's winning baseball games. I think Theo and Jed were both hyper-focused on that. I also really benefited from the experience of seeing the whole cycle in Chicago. Advertisement 'When I first started, I think we lost 96 games that year, and a few years later, we were on buses in a parade down Michigan Ave. And so seeing that whole cycle, you know, play out helps me collect a set of experiences that allow me to use some pattern recognition, like 'I've seen this before.' I've seen this player get to this level before. I've seen what it can do if you challenge a player to elevate a certain aspect of this game.' Whatever he's doing is working. The Tigers broke a nine-year playoff drought last season. This year, they are second in the AL in runs scored and are in the top 10 in most pitching stats. PECOTA projected them fourth in the AL Central before the season and now they're atop the entire AL. In March, the MLB Pipeline crew ranked Detroit as having the top farm system in the game. The Athletic's Keith Law ranked it seventh in January, which was down a spot from the year before. These are the prospects drafted and developed by Harris, Greenberg and their front office. Law ranked the Tigers' system 30th going into Harris' first season in charge, but the team's big-league roster is now full of players drafted in the Al Avila regime, led by the best pitcher in baseball in Tarik Skubal (who starts Friday against the Cubs) and hitters like Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Dillon Dingler and Kerry Carpenter. What the Tigers seem to be doing well now, as opposed to before, is player development, the secret sauce to any successful organization. The young Tigers are improving and thriving. The farm system, headlined by A-ball hitters Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle, has time to mature. 'We set out to build a team full of young players that can win big-league games in different ways,' Harris said. 'I think that's the team that we have right now. This is a really fun team to watch, and it's a team that is just scratching the surface.' Meanwhile, Hoyer's vision for the Cubs is finally taking shape. He has a mix of veterans and young players, powered by a pair of MVP candidates in Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Like the Tigers, the Cubs are just a fun watch. They score a lot of runs in a variety of ways. Advertisement 'I think the longer I do this, the more I root for people as opposed to teams,' Harris said. 'There's a lot of good people in that organization. Jed is certainly one of them. When we're playing each other this weekend, I'm not going to pull for them. But I pull for a lot of these guys because I want them to be successful, and they built a hell of a team this year.' I joked with Hoyer that the Tigers are his 'AL team,' like when kids have a second-favorite team to root for. 'You don't spend that much time with people over a 10-year period and you develop real friendship,' Hoyer said. 'I've spent more time with Jeff and with Scott than probably any two people other than my wife during that period. I love how hard they work there, and obviously, watching their success at the end of last year and then this year, they deserve all of the credit.' Hoyer is also close friends with Detroit manager A.J. Hinch from their San Diego days, and the Cubs' former media relations guy, Peter Chase, landed in Detroit this season. And of course, there's Javy Báez, who has reinvigorated his career this season after hip surgery last year. Báez's last game of 2024 was that Aug. 22 loss in Chicago. He finished the season with a .184/.221/.294 slash line, and it looked like a DFA could be in his future. He had 'sunk cost' written all over him. That the team took off when he went on the shelf didn't go unnoticed. Much like his former star teammate in Chicago, Kris Bryant, Báez hadn't done much since signing a six-year, $140 million contract in Detroit before the 2022 season (and before Harris got there), making Hoyer look prescient, if not a little late, for his 2021 dismantling of the World Series core. In 216 total games in 2023-24, Baez hit just 15 homers and slugged .315. He came into spring training and said he'd play wherever Hinch wanted, but who would've thought he'd play such a big role on a first-place team again? Advertisement When Parker Meadows got hurt, Báez moved to center field. He thrived. 'A.J. knows I like playing outfield and I shag good in BP out there,' Báez said. 'With so many injuries that we had in spring training, he came to me and mentioned it, and I started smiling. So he knew it was a yes from me.' With Meadows back, Báez returned to the infield during the White Sox series and reminded people he's still El Mago. #JavierBáez — Javier Báez Page (@ElMagoJavy28) June 4, 2025 'For me, the best version of Javy is the one that's playing free and loose, the one that is just finding ways to help a team win,' Harris said. 'He's such a gifted athlete with elite baseball instincts, and when you surround him with a good baseball team, I think he finds ways to enhance the overall position playing group.' Báez was always one of Hoyer's favorite players, and if not for the pandemic, they might have nailed down a deal to keep him in Chicago. But Hoyer is doing more than fine with the guy Báez was traded for, Crow-Armstrong. It's looking like one of the best trades in Cubs history. Watching both on the same field this weekend should be a treat for baseball fans and executives. While Harris traveled to the North Side last season for the series, Hoyer won't be able to make the trip. 'Tell him I'll get him a signed Javy jersey if he comes,' Harris said. The message was passed along. But maybe Hoyer and Harris could find themselves in the same stadium again this fall with the biggest stakes imaginable. (Photo collage of Scott Harris and Jed Hoyer: Allison Farrand / Detroit Tigers; Griffin Quinn / Getty Images)
New York Times
39 minutes ago
- New York Times
Mets' Griffin Canning opens up on career revival in New York, struggles with Angels
LOS ANGELES — It was the very first day of the offseason — when players can finally exhale after a grueling eight months of non-stop baseball. That, however, was not the case for Griffin Canning. The then-Angels pitcher of six years, and lifelong Orange County, Calif., resident, found his life and career upended by a trade to the Braves just hours after the World Series ended. Advertisement 'It was a little shocking,' Canning said on Thursday. 'But I didn't have a great year last year, so I wasn't super surprised to see it.' To say he didn't have a great year in 2024 is an understatement. Canning allowed 99 runs, the most in the American League. His strikeout rate took a massive dip, from 9.9 per nine innings in 2023 to just 6.8 in 2024. It was a bad season. But he's more than made up for it with the Mets. After the Braves traded for the 29-year-old righty, he was non-tendered. New York subsequently signed Canning to a one-year, $4.25 million deal, taking a chance on a once-promising arm. He now has a 2.90 ERA over his first 12 starts and is one of the top starting pitchers in the National League, amid a full-scale turnaround of his career. Speaking in front of his locker inside the Mets clubhouse at Dodger Stadium — the morning after he shut out the defending champions over six innings — he reflected on why things have worked better for him in New York than they ever did in Anaheim. 'You see it with a lot of guys, just a change of scenery,' said Canning. 'I was in Southern California my whole life. It's nice to get out and experience something new.' It wasn't just the scenery that changed for Canning. It was the team culture, the strategic plan implemented by his new coaches, and the technology available to him. Most importantly, he changed his pitch sequencing. Canning's best pitch is his slider, but he didn't throw it as much in his final season with the Angels. Its usage has gone from 24.1 percent in 2024 to 32.9 percent this year. With that has come a dip in his four-seam fastball usage, which has gone from a primary option to a more strategic one. 'It was difficult. We had four or five different managers and four or five different pitching coaches with the Angels,' Canning said. 'Sometimes a new guy comes in and maybe doesn't necessarily know you as well. Or just different organizational philosophies when people come in and out.' Advertisement The results speak for themselves. His fastball is resulting in whiffs on 19.5 percent of swings, compared to 14.8 percent last year. The hard-hit percentage has decreased to 44.4 percent, compared to 51.4 percent in 2024. The batting average against and slugging percentage against have steeply declined. All while his slider effectiveness has increased across all the same metrics. Canning said there's nothing different about his slider. Just a few mechanical tweaks to his delivery, and, more importantly, he's changed what pitches he throws in what counts. 'It starts with him buying into what we offered him, and also giving credit to our pitching department that is able to not only provide the information, but get to know the player,' said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. 'We knew he had a good slider. … Last year, he threw his four-seamer a lot. I think it's more increasing this pitch, not so much of that one.' Canning also said the Mets utilize technology differently. For example, he said he utilizes a KinaTrax machine, which allows him to see his skeletal movements and subsequently improve them. Canning said the reliance on technology with the Mets is more than he was used to with the Angels. 'We had it, but I never saw it,' Canning said of the KinaTrax. 'I think the Angels have all the similar things. I don't think it's a bad thing — sometimes they don't want guys to go down that rabbit hole, and worry about those kinds of things.' On Wednesday night, Canning had his best start of the season. Six shutout innings, seven strikeouts, no walks, just three hits. On the season, his home runs per nine innings dropped to 0.9 from 1.6. Hard contact against him has been fewer and farther between. 'Much different,' said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. 'Obviously, he's healthy. The stuff is playing up. The velocity is up. There's a cutter, the slider is good, there's a changeup. He's a much better pitcher, more weapons than he's had in the past.' Advertisement The Angels have long struggled to develop starting pitching, particularly pitchers that they drafted. Their recent history is littered with examples of arms who haven't evolved in the way they hoped. Canning is arguably the most concrete example of this. He was drafted in the second round in 2017. By 2019, he was the organization's top pitching prospect, behind only Jo Adell on the overall leaderboard. There was hope he'd be a legit ace-level pitcher. Instead, it was a half-dozen years of injuries and ineffectiveness. Culminating in his worst season, and a career inflection point. Now, Canning is that ace-level starter on the best team in the National League. He's a pending free agent, and if he continues to pitch well, he will command a haul on the open market. New York is a different animal from Anaheim. It's a younger and more lively crowd, Canning said, with a great knowledge of the game. But it also invites a ton of pressure — a demand for success that isn't matched anywhere else. The good news for Canning is that he's satisfied and exceeded every expectation. To save his career and be a critical piece of what the Mets hope is a historic season. 'They thought they could bring me in and see some success,' Canning said. 'I think it's a testament to the culture. A big aspect of it is being on more of a winning team. Not playing for yourself as much, but playing for the 25 other guys, has been helpful for me in particular.' The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya contributed reporting to this story. (Top Photo: Harry How / Getty Images)
