Tigers bolster bullpen and perhaps pitching chaos with righties Finnegan, Morton, Sewald and Heuer
Detroit bolstered its bullpen, and options in games without a traditional starting pitcher, with a series of moves to add a trio of right-handers in the hours before the trade deadline on Thursday. Then they added a starting veteran starter, too.
The Tigers acquired Washington's Kyle Finnegan, Cleveland's Paul Sewald and Texas minor leaguer Codi Heuer for prospects and cash, and also announced a deal shortly after the deadline for 41-year-old Charlie Morton from Baltimore.
Detroit made the trades — and one earlier this week — hoping to increase its chances of winning a World Series for the first time in more than four decades.
The AL Central-leading Tigers won their fourth straight game with newly acquired starting pitcher Chris Paddack on Wednesday, two days after he was added in a trade with the Minnesota Twins. Later that day, they acquired right-handed reliever Rafael Montero from Atlanta for minor league infielder Jim Jarvis.
Detroit has nearly a double-digit game lead in a division suddenly filled with rebuilding teams, including the defending AL Central-champion Guardians, and is vying with Toronto and Houston for the best record in the league.
The Tigers, trying to take advantage of ace Tarik Skubal and a balanced lineup, are aiming for their first World Series title since 1984.
Morton headlines Thursday's additions. The two-time World Series winner has won 145 games over 18 big league seasons. He's 7-8 with a 5.42 ERA this year, although he's been sharper lately with a 3.98 ERA in 10 starts since June 1.
Detroit earned a spot in the playoffs last year for the first time in the decade after a late-season surge, using Hinch's unconventional approach to using relievers to start and pitch in games for an inning or two.
The 33-year-old Finnegan was an All-Star in 2024, but his velocity has been down this season. He has 20 saves with a 4.38 ERA in 2025.
In the trade for Finnegan, the Tigers sent minor league pitchers Josh Randall and R.J. Sales, Detroit's third and 10th round draft picks from 2024, respectively, to Washington.
The 35-year-old Sewald is eligible to return from the injured list on Sunday after being shut down with a strained right shoulder, but he isn't expected to pitch until September. He is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA in 18 games this season, averaging more than one strikeout each inning.
The 29-year-old Heuer, who will report to Triple-A Toledo, was 3-2 with a 3.43 ERA and four saves in 35 games at Triple-A Round Rock this year and pitched in one game for the Rangers.
Detroit opens a three-game series Friday night at Philadelphia.
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Chicago Tribune
18 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Providence's Kris Honel, a Chicago White Sox first-round pick, pitches in for Beecher Muskies. ‘Until I'm 50.'
Former Providence right-hander Kris Honel and his father, Mike, have gone through a lot together and are close, but even Mike didn't know how long his son planned to stay on the mound. Honel — a pitcher who was drafted in the first round, 16th overall, by the Chicago White Sox in 2001 — had Tommy John surgery in 2005 and never made it to the major leagues. But after being away from the game for more than 10 years, he's giving baseball another shot with the Beecher Muskies. 'I plan on pitching until I'm 50,' the 42-year-old Honel said before a July 31 pool-play game in the National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series. 'As long as my arm and my body hold up, I'm going to pitch.' Mike, who has seen the highs and lows of his son's career, was surprised to hear that. 'He wants to go to 50?' Mike said. 'He said that? If he can do it, God bless him. I think 50 is a stretch. But he still likes going out there and loves competing. 'I guess until they tear the uniform off you, you might as well do it.' The 6-foot-4 Honel is not ruling out a return to professional baseball, either. But he knows there's a long way to go if he could pull off such an improbable feat. 'My velocity is in the mid-to-upper 80s again,' Kris said. 'That's crazy. Every outing I pitch, I'm getting better and better. 'It's not my immediate plan. But if I start throwing in the low-to mid 90s again, maybe I'll start thinking about it. We're not quite there yet.' Honel, meanwhile, is having fun playing with the Muskies, an amateur team that won the NABF Major Division World Series on Aug. 3 in Naperville. In the Aug. 2 quarterfinals, Honel threw a seven-inning, complete-game victory in a 6-1 win over the Addison Braves. He gave up only one run on five hits. The Muskies beat the Berea Ohio Blue Sox 10-6 the next day to win their second NABF World Series title, the first coming in 2010. Bremen alum Marty Coyle and Bryce Shafer were named co-MVPs. Andrew graduate AJ Le had 12 hits and 12 RBIs for the Muskies in the World Series. Honel, who lives in the Kankakee area, threw in a handful of games for the Muskies in 2024 after contacting Hall of Fame coach Fred LeSage before the season began. Honel said he worked hard during the offseason as if he were heading to spring training. 'It's coming around for him,' LeSage said of Honel. 'His stuff is really good. His fastball is good, but his breaking ball is really good, and when his breaking stuff is on, he is unhittable.' Honel said he has been coaching young players as well as mentoring high school players. That helped pique his interest in returning to the mound competitively. After the 2001 draft, Honel played in affiliated ball from 2001 to 2008 but never rose above the Double-A level. He was 5-7 with a 6.56 ERA in Double-A Birmingham before he opted for surgery. He played in independent leagues from 2009 to 2011 before hanging it up the first time. He said he's proud of his career. 'I lived out my dreams,' he said. 'Did I get to that mountaintop where I wanted to be? No. But at the same time, I was pretty high up there. I was on the big-league roster when they won the World Series. 'I rubbed elbows with and got to play with some of the best players of this generation. I competed against them and did well against them. That's something I will always cherish and never take for granted.'
Fox Sports
18 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer Illustrious Careers By The Numbers
National Football League Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer Illustrious Careers By The Numbers Published Aug. 8, 2025 12:23 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link Clayton Kershaw, 37, and Max Scherzer, 41, are two of the greatest pitchers MLB has seen. They were once teammates briefly in 2021, but on Friday the future Hall of Famers, on the first-place Dodgers and Blue Jays respectively, will face off for a fifth time. Here's a look at the numbers behind each of their illustrious careers. 1. Scherzer and Kershaw are separated by just one regular-season win, with Scherzer having recorded 218 and Kershaw getting 217. Kershaw has led MLB in wins twice, while Scherzer did so once. 2: The number of seasons in which Scherzer and Kershaw both hit a home run and won a Cy Young award: both of accomplished this once, which is all the more incredible because they each have just one career dinger. 2.85: The combined ERA of Scherzer and Kershaw, across over 5,700 innings, is just 2.85 – Kershaw leads all active players at 2.52, but Scherzer has been no slouch himself, at 3.18 despite pitching in plenty of offense-heavy parks in his career. ADVERTISEMENT 3: Between Kershaw and Scherzer, they've led the league in strikeouts on three occasions: Kershaw in 2015 when he logged his lone 300-strikeout campaign with 301, and Scherzer in 2016 with 284, and in 2018 with his own 300-K showing, with exactly that many. The two have also led at least their respective league in strikeouts a combined six times, three each. 4: Kershaw has two World Series rings – 2020 and 2024 – and Scherzer has a pair to match, from 2019 with the Nationals and 2023 with the Rangers after a midseason trade from the Mets. 6. Kershaw and Scherzer have each won three Cy Young awards, for a total of six. They won the award in the same season in 2013, which was Scherzer's first and Kershaw's second. Kershaw won it the following year, too, and then Scherzer went back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. 7. The number of teams Scherzer has played for across his 18-year career. Those seven teams include Arizona, Detroit, Washington, the Dodgers, the Mets, Texas and now Toronto. Kershaw is the opposite, having played all 18 of his seasons with the Dodgers, who also drafted him. 8. Scherzer is an eight-time All-Star, and seven of those appearances came consecutively between 2013-2019. He made the Midsummer Classic as recently as 2021. 11. Kershaw is an 11-time All-Star and made his latest appearance during the 2025 season, as commissioner Rob Manfred's "Legend Pick" for the game. 18. Both Kershaw and Scherzer have played 18 seasons each in MLB. 21. The highest number of wins both Kershaw and Scherzer have achieved in a single regular season. Kershaw hit that mark twice in 2011 and 2014, while Scherzer did it in 2013 while with the Tigers when he led all of MLB in wins and winning percentage (.875). 2008: The year that both Kershaw and Scherzer broke into MLB. They were also selected in the same MLB Draft, 2006, though Kershaw was picked out of high school and Scherzer out of college – hence their age discrepancies. 3,000: Kershaw and Scherzer are two of the three current MLB pitchers to have eclipsed the 3,000-strikeout mark, with the other being another former teammate of Scherzer's, Justin Verlander. This is a testament to both their consistent greatness and the longevity of their careers. Scherzer actually achieved this when he was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021, and four years later is up to 3,451 strikeouts, good for 11th all-time. Kershaw surpassed 3,000 earlier this season, during the Dodgers game against the White Sox on July 2nd, and is now at 3,010 Ks. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! share
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
2025-26 college football betting preview: One bet I like for (almost) every week this season
Soon we'll get our reprieve from Coldplay/CEO memes, and Week 0 and Week 1 in college football will be here before you know it. Spreads and totals for all those games have been up for a while. If you've already perused the offerings for the 10-day stretch at the end of August (before the NFL season divides attentions), your thumb might have gotten a little frisky, scrolling down the oddsboard at BetMGM to find there are more than a handful of games for the rest of the season that are available to bet on already. These are commonly referred to as Game of the Year markets — a list of high-profile (or rivalry) games the most ardent college football fans may have already circled on their calendars. Be sure to shop around, as different books will have different numbers on games — and some will have more offerings than others. Why bet Games of the Year now? While waiting to bet on things like the 'Red River Rivalry' or 'The Game' between Michigan and Ohio State allows bettors to see the participants' season play out, it gives oddsmakers a chance to catch up too. Last summer, Florida State and Clemson were supposed to be, as usual, the cream of the ACC crop for 2024. In advance of hosting the Tigers, the Seminoles were 3.5-point favorites in the GOTY market. By the time they faced each other on Oct. 5, the 'Noles' season was already in the tank, and Clemson closed as a 16-point favorite. For bettors who bet the Tigers late, their tickets pushed when Clemson won 29-13. However, for those on the Tigers early, they cashed easily. Admittedly, we've cherry-picked the best possible example of buying a ticket on a side early, but with a GOTY line of FSU -3.5, what was more likely: The line would come back across the key number of -3, or the Seminoles would be so impressive in September they'd jump up to -6.5 or -7.5 (the next set of key numbers in college football spread betting)? In some cases, using the GOTY market to get the best of the number doesn't matter. Texas was -8.5 over Oklahoma last summer, and closed as 16.5-point favorites. They won 34-3 in the Cotton Bowl, covering all numbers. Ohio State, the eventual national champion, was -9.5 more than three months ahead of its game with Michigan in Columbus. By the time the regular season finale kicked off, the Buckeyes were three-TD favorites. Like the Red River Rivalry, it didn't matter, but for the opposite reason: Michigan pulled off the upset, and those bettors who beat the market with the Buckeyes were rewarded with a losing ticket. But in the long run, getting such significant closing line value will result in far more winners for you as a bettor. Heisman value bets | Four bets to make right now | Biggest College Football Playoff wagers 2025 Game of the Year best bets As we prepare for the season, the GOTY market provides another layer of information as to how the betting market rates each of college football's most prominent teams. Conceptually, two teams matched up in Week 1 might be lined at a pick'em on a neutral field (or around -3 for the home team), but we don't know if oddsmakers rate both teams as equally good, bad or average. However, the more data points available, the better our understanding of where teams stand in the overall hierarchy. Using this compare-and-contrast methodology, there are some curious lookahead lines in the GOTY market. Starting in Week 2, we've got one bet worth making for each week until the end of the regular season. While no one has a crystal ball giving us a glimpse into the future on the field, the goal is to be holding a more valuable ticket than when the market closes at kickoff of each game. For simplicity, we compare teams on a rating scale out of 100 at THE WINDOW — using regular-season win-total markets and cross-referencing GOTY spreads in order to land on an estimated market rating for each team. Week 2: Iowa at Iowa State (-1.5) Projected line: Iowa State -4 For a state known for its tone-setting caucuses in the national election process, it's appropriate the Iowa teams play arguably their biggest game of the season so early on. I have both Iowa and Iowa State rated on the cusp of the betting market's top 25, at 70 out of 100. With the CyHawk played in Ames this season, the simple equation of four points of home-field advantage should make this line Iowa State -4. Iowa will have its fair share of fans, the weather should be neutral, and the travel isn't arduous. All of that might have something to do with the Hawkeyes winning five straight in Ames, so we'll excuse oddsmakers for not giving Iowa State full credit for home field, but, crossing the key number of -3 is too far. If oddsmakers were so enamored by the Hawkeyes, Iowa wouldn't be a 10.5-point underdog at home to Penn State and 2.5-point 'dogs at Nebraska in other lookahead matchups. The Hawkeyes seemed headed for their eighth CyHawk win in nine, until the Cyclones flipped last season's game in Iowa City, with a 12-point comeback in the second half. Rocco Becht returns for the Cyclones, while Iowa has its annual question mark at quarterback. Historically, we like Matt Campbell in the role of underdog, but being undervalued at less than a field goal favorite is fine too. Securing the Cyclones under a field goal is the ticket to have in hand. Bet: Iowa State -1.5 Week 3: Clemson (-8.5) at Georgia Tech Projected line: Clemson -2.9 Admittedly, the exercise of estimating Georgia Tech in the market has me confused. The Yellow Jackets are lined at 7.5 wins, and you're paying extra juice if you like the over — their best preseason outlook in a decade. With this game, and their annual tilt with Georgia, the schedule isn't particularly soft either, so this should be a team with a top-25 rating. From that viewpoint, Tech opens the season as fair 4-point favorites at Colorado. While the Buffaloes have lost key household names, cross-referencing some of their other big games (Utah, Arizona State), we have a conservative rating for Deion Sanders' 2025 group. Maybe the thought is that, while winning on the road against a mediocre team would be seen as a modest accomplishment, any step up in weight class for Georgia Tech means it should be a bigger 'dog than we think? The Ramblin' Wreck are not getting much respect against the Bulldogs either (+13.5, with our projection closer to +8). Lastly, are oddsmakers not familiar with Brent Key's work? In 2024, Tech won as big underdogs against Florida State and Miami, and pushed Georgia to all of the overtimes (eight, to be exact). With Haynes King and Jamal Haynes, the Jackets should again be pesky underdogs, and if they come in 2-0 and Clemson loses to LSU in the opener, this line should re-open under a touchdown — and still could, regardless of the first two week's results. Bet: Georgia Tech +8.5 Week 4: Florida at Miami (FL) (-4.5) Projected line: Miami -4 Last year's schedule was so rough for Florida I had to give them a 60% boost from their win total to their EMR. They were lined at 4.5 wins, won seven and went from a rating of 60 to 75. It doesn't get much cozier this year, as a really good Gators team is lined at 6.5 wins, but has games at LSU, at Miami, Texas, at Texas A&M, Georgia, at Kentucky, at Ole Miss and Tennessee, before hosting an allegedly rejuvenated Florida State. If we're backing the Gators, we want to do it early, before the mileage piles up. In Week 3, Florida is just a 6.5-point underdog in Baton Rouge, and while it's possible that's short, putting Miami (and its home-field advantage) just two points shy of LSU is setting a high bar for a Miami team that was dragged as far it could go last season by the NFL's first overall draft pick, Cam Ward, and even that wasn't enough to make the ACC title game. A Florida loss at LSU will be excused, but if Miami gets beat up by Notre Dame in the opener (it's a 2.5-point home underdog), we won't be getting as many as 4.5 points with the Gators in Week 4. Bet: Florida +4.5 Week 5: Alabama at Georgia (-4) Projected line: Georgia -6.3 Speaking of Florida State, new quarterback Thomas Castellanos was talking that talk ahead of its season opener with Alabama. That might be a mistake, given the Seminoles are 12.5-point underdogs in that game, but at least my estimated market rating of 60 leaves room for improvement for FSU. However, Alabama's rating — apparently on par with Georgia given the 4-point line in Week 5 — is setting a high bar for Kalen DeBoer's second season. Georgia's favored by a touchdown or more at Tennessee and Auburn, versus Florida (in Jacksonville) and at home to Ole Miss, but the telling comparison is it's -2.5 at home to Texas. Maybe Bama ends up being on the same tier as the title-favorite Longhorns, but we'll believe it when we see it. Bet: Georgia -4 Week 6: Miami (FL) (-7.5) at Florida State Projected line: Miami (FL) -6.1 We've hinted maybe Florida State will have a fresher outlook this season and outright questioned what Miami will be capable of with Carson Beck replacing Ward. So, it should come as no surprise the opportunity to bet those two opinions in conjunction comes when the teams converge in Tallahassee. The Seminoles' season won't be lost if they get beat at home by Alabama, since getting their in-state ACC rival Miami at home will give them a decent chance to stay in the conference title conversation. Of course, we won't even need the 'Noles to win here, as we can lock-in a point spread of over a touchdown by doing the market entry work early. Bet: Florida State +7.5 Week 7: Oklahoma vs. Texas (-10.5) Projected line: Texas -8.8 We referenced Red River as a good example of when taking an underdog in a rivalry game goes bad, but by the time that game was played in 2024, Oklahoma didn't have a legitimate quarterback. Historically, when both teams have a viable option at the pivot, things tend to come down to the wire at the Texas State Fair. While the Longhorns are right at the top of college football's market ratings, the Sooners are getting enough respect to be favored over Michigan early in the season. Perhaps scarred by a couple of embarrassing performances, Oklahoma went out and grabbed QB John Mateer from Washington State and RB Jaydn Ott from California in the transfer portal, and it won't take much for them to show that this lookahead line is a little high. Plus, Texas will be coming off a tough trip to Gainesville, while the Sooners tune up the week before against lowly Kent State. Bet: Oklahoma +10.5 Week 8: Penn State (-10.5) at Iowa Projected line: Penn State -6.7 How do you know you're estimating a team fairly? When you have a bet on and against it at the same rating point. Hawkeyes fans mad that we're fading them at +1.5 in the CyHawk, can take a deep breath now that we're on their side against a national contender. Price is everything in betting, and the high expectations for a Nittany Lions team that brings back almost everyone from coming a play or two away from the College Football Playoff Championship game has caused Penn State to be a 10.5-point favorite on the road. You can talk me into Penn State as a 4.5-point favorite in Happy Valley against Oregon in Week 5, and a line inside of a touchdown at Ohio State is reasonable, but Kinnick Stadium should be primed to give the Lions everything they can handle, and buying a line in the double digits now will likely show some value midway through the season. Week 9: Kansas State (-4) at Kansas Projected line: Kansas State -2.9 Cross-referencing point spreads means you have to look at a game like this, and ask, 'Are we too high on Iowa State?' No, the Cyclones aren't directly involved in this game, but assessing its opener with Kansas State (Wildcats are 3.5-point favorites) as a fair line means we have a decent beat on the Wildcats' rating. Should we estimate the Cyclones lower, the Wildcats have to come down, too. The CyHawk point spread tells us we shouldn't go much higher on Iowa State, so there's no way this line should be up to -4 unless Kansas is getting a huge downgrade from where it finished last year. The Jayhawks were rated around 70 out of 100 by the end of last season, and if QB Jalon Daniels can take another step in the offense for head coach Lance Leipold, they could end up favored here by the time Week 9 rolls around. Bet: Kansas +4 Week 10: Texas Tech at Kansas State (-4.5) Projected line: Kansas State -7.2 Here's another situation where we're off a team one week and on it another, but flipping in back-to-back weeks is a rare occurrence. If we think we have a pretty good handle on K-State's market rating (around 75 out of 100), then this is more about the perception of Texas Tech. In the last two seasons, the Red Raiders have hung out in the 60s (67 in 2023, 62 in 2024). Going into the 2025 season, I have their market rating estimated in the low-70s. The increased regard for Joey McGuire's team is due to an offseason shopping spree on defense and at offensive tackle to help support returning QB Behren Morton. Although, it seems just as likely the 'best team money can buy' strategy goes poorly as it goes well. As usual, the Red Raiders won't be testing themselves in the non-conference, so we won't have a better idea of how things are going in Lubbock until they leave West Texas for games at Utah and Arizona State. Those games are available in the lookahead markets, and spreads of just over a field goal look about right. This only gives more credence to our estimation that a trip to Manhattan should be lined closer to a touchdown than a field goal. Bet: Kansas State -4.5 Week 11: Indiana at Penn State (-16.5) Projected line: Penn State -14.5 Hand up — I was among those baffled by the congregation that didn't seem to notice Indiana was skating to last season's CFP without actually beating a good opponent in 2025. Frankly, having a non-conference schedule of Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State this September is both embarrassing and transparent in the Hoosiers' efforts to make the playoffs by trying to convince the CFP committee that being the fourth-best team in the Big Ten is good enough for inclusion. Since there's no room for personal affronts in sports betting, we put that irritation aside, because it doesn't mean Curt Cignetti can't coach football and that he's not building a program in Bloomington. We would just like our playoff teams to be more proven. The Hoosiers have to go to Oregon as two-touchdown underdogs in Week 7, where they will either show they can hang with a top team or, like in 2024, they won't. If it's the latter, a 16.5-point spread shouldn't change much since it's built off Indiana getting beaten soundly by Ohio State and Notre Dame last year. However, if it's the former, and the Hoosiers can compete, this line could easily trickle down under two touchdowns. Bet: Indiana +16.5 Week 12: Oklahoma at Alabama (-13.5) Projected line: Alabama -9.7 Here's another case where there's a convergence of two teams we think might be headed in different directions, at least relative to their market rating before the season. For Alabama to warrant status as a two-touchdown favorite, it will need one of its three quarterback options to emerge. Ty Simpson seems the most likely option, but isn't the natural but raw talent Austin Mack and Keelon Russell are. With a better quarterback and possibly the better defense, we'll take the 13.5 points with OU, even if waiting for this line to creep up to two touchdowns is tempting. Bet: Oklahoma +13.5 Heisman value bets | Four bets to make right now | Biggest College Football Playoff wagers Week 13: Arizona State (-4.5) at Colorado Projected line: Arizona State -6.1 Arizona State and Colorado have come up tangentially throughout our perusal of Weeks 2-12, but we don't have a bet on/against either team. Our projection suggests some value on the Sun Devils, but there's some art to go along with the science. Coach Prime has had one constant throughout the mayhem of going from the reality TV show set of Jackson State to the weekly visits from Fox and ESPN's pregame shows at Boulder: He's always had his son at quarterback (plus duel-threat superstar Travis Hunter). Now, Sanders has already acknowledged his health issues, but he's being asked to keep up the level for a team that had little more than a passing game and a star corner and went 13-12 in two seasons. If Colorado doesn't measure up, will Sanders even be on the sideline for Week 13? Will he be heading out the door? Meanwhile, Kenny Dillingham may get a mega-offer to leave Tempe, but watching his rebuild at Arizona State, it seems like the Sun Devils will give their best effort until the final whistle blows. Given these two diametrically opposed coaching circumstances, and the math giving a small edge to ASU, locking in the Sun Devils at anything under a touchdown seems like a good idea. Bet: Arizona State -4.5 Week 14: Ohio State (-5.5) at Michigan Projected line: Ohio State -2.37 Some of these are Game of the Year in name only, and then there's Ohio State-Michigan. No matter the state of the season, The Big House is always fired up for this one. Michigan spent big on an incoming freshman quarterback, and while it may take some time for Bryce Underwood to get up to full speed, the Wolverines also picked up veteran college QB Mikey Keene just in case. By the way, they beat the Buckeyes essentially without a quarterback last season. There's no scenario in which Michigan is intimidated by Ohio State, and the Buckeyes have had to replace a ton of talent from last year's championship team. If it turns out that the 2.0 version of the 'best team money can buy' Buckeyes isn't measuring up to expectations, this game might be lined closer to pick'em by the last Saturday in November. Bet: Michigan +5.5 You can find more valuable bets and analysis from Yahoo Sports betting contributor Matt Russell at THE WINDOW.
