Panthers' Zavala has knee injury
Offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer was heading east to spend time at home with his family in Atlanta. Before departing, though, Salyer had a conversation that might change the trajectory of his football life.
Chargers executive director of player performance Ben Herbert challenged Salyer to lose weight.
'It's for your career. It's for you,' Herbert said, as Salyer recalled. 'This is what I would like for you, but it's up to you. It's your career. You control it. It's your destiny.'
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Chargers training camp, Day 10: Jamaree Salyer working with first team after weight-loss 'journey'
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New York Times
a minute ago
- New York Times
Braves takeaways: Why their approach to situational hitting must improve in 2026
ATLANTA — Assuming the Atlanta Braves bring back hitting coach Tim Hyers next season, since firing the hitting coach in consecutive years wouldn't reflect well on organizational stability, there will be plenty of work to do in terms of changing many players' approach to situational hitting. That was apparent yet again during the series loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, which ended Wednesday. The Braves stranded 14 of their 16 runners who reached base in Tuesday's 7-2 loss, when they went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Advertisement They lost 5-4 on Wednesday to complete the sweep, the Braves' 13th loss in 17 games since the All-Star break. Their woeful RISP work in the series continued a trend that began early in 2024 under previous hitting coach Kevin Seitzer. It's remained a major flaw for Hyers' hitters in 2025 — a season that's been disappointing on so many levels for Atlanta, a popular preseason pennant pick that now has the majors' fourth-worst record (47-66). #Braves' Chris Sale will throw live batting practice Thursday. No set plan after that, re: whether he'd throw another live BP, but Snitker said he would probably make at least one rehab start before returning. — David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 6, 2025 An injury-depleted rotation. A worn and fading bullpen. And hitters who fail to capitalize on scoring chances again and again. Add it up, and the result is a debacle of a season, hardly the way Brian Snitker hoped to go out in what is expected to be the 69-year-old manager's final season at the helm. The Braves are not good at advancing runners into scoring position, or at getting them in from third with less than two outs, or at most anything else involving situational hitting. They swing for the fences. They don't shorten swings with two strikes or put the ball in play when a strikeout is the one thing they need to avoid. They have the third-fewest sacrifice flies in the majors. And on and on. But arguably their most glaring offensive deficiency is hitting with runners in scoring position. Only a few Braves have been good at it, and too many of them cost the team repeatedly in close games when merely decent RISP hitting would make a difference. Just look at the Braves' record in games decided by one or two runs: 19-38. That's not just a product of shaky relief pitching. Because the bullpen was good for much of the season before faltering under an increased workload, injuries, and reliance on journeymen signed on the cheap to plug holes. Advertisement But the RISP hitting has been bad since the team's 0-7 start to the season. The fact that the Braves used to do it so well not long ago has only made it more exasperating for fans to see them flounder repeatedly in those key situations for the past couple of seasons. During a span of nearly 900 games from the beginning of the 2018 season through April 30, 2024, the Braves hit a robust .271 with a .355 OBP and .462 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position, the average and OPS (.817) both third-best in MLB in that span behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros. But beginning May 1 last season, the Braves hit .236 with a .310 OBP and .383 slugging (.693 OPS) with runners in scoring position in 246 games before Wednesday. Their average in those situations was third-lowest in the majors, ahead of only the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox. In their 65 losses this season before Wednesday, the Braves hit an anemic .171 with a .505 OPS in RISP situations. Their .699 OPS with runners in scoring position this season is eighth-lowest in the majors, one spot behind the Minnesota Twins, who just blew up their team at the trade deadline by dealing away 11 players. And that's with four Braves — Austin Riley, Sean Murphy, Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies — hitting a combined .290 with a .374 OBP and .453 slugging in RISP situations before Wednesday, which is solid if not consistent work from that group. All other Braves had a dreadful .204 combined average and .612 OPS in 549 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Eleven days after Grant Holmes exited a start with elbow pain diagnosed as a partial tear of the UCL, the Braves pitcher on Wednesday discussed his decision to opt out of surgery and enter a program of rest, treatment and rehab in hopes of returning a year or more sooner than he might from a Tommy John or internal-brace procedure. Advertisement 'If everything goes well, I'll be throwing simulated games at the beginning of November,' said Holmes, who would be out 12-16 months if he had surgery, but could be ready well before spring training if this program works. Holmes, 29, met with two orthopedic surgeons, including renowned Los Angeles surgeon Neal ElAttrache and the Braves' team doctor, to get opinions. He said two of the three were more optimistic than the other about his chances of recovering from the partial tear without surgery. There have been plenty of pitchers who've continued to compete at a high level after partial UCL tears and no surgery. Among the more notable ones were late Hall of Famer Roy Halladay, who won his second Cy Young Award four years after a partial UCL tear, Masahiro Tanaka and Ervin Santana. Holmes said the doctors didn't cite specific pitchers who've thrived without surgery, but he said he found their stories. 'They didn't really point them out, but I obviously did my own research and saw some of those guys that had success with it,' he said. 'That was good, reading those articles. Obviously there are articles (about pitchers who) didn't have success. But I like to think I recover pretty well. And I've always had a rubber arm. 'So, I feel like I've got a pretty good chance. I mean, some people have pitched with a blown-up UCL. And mine's not blown up.' Holmes was shown the MRI and partial tear. By then, it had been a few days since he left his July 26 start at Texas with discomfort, but not the numbness or tingling that pitchers typically describe after fully tearing the UCL. Holmes said at that point, he was already feeling much better. He also never felt a pop in the elbow that pitchers describe from a complete tear. After getting the MRI, Holmes began asking whether avoiding surgery was an option. After hearing it was, he decided that's the route he'd take. Advertisement Whether he had Tommy John surgery now or in a few months, he was going to miss the entire 2026 season anyway. If in a few months the elbow is not progressing, Holmes said he could have surgery then. But for now, he likes the idea of not missing any of next season, of being fully recovered well before spring training. 'If I can avoid the knife as long as possible, that's the route I want to take,' he said. 'I haven't had any surgeries yet, thankfully, and I'm trying to keep it that way.' Besides doctors, Holmes also talked to three fellow Braves starting pitchers, all of whom have had Tommy John surgery years ago: Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider, who had TJ surgery in 2019 and internal-brace surgery in April 2024, the latter sidelining Strider for 12 months. 'They said there's no harm in just waiting it out, seeing what happens,' Holmes said. 'So it was nice hearing that from other guys as well.' Holmes said for now, he's mostly resting and getting treatment in the training room. The next step will be slowly working to strengthen the flexor and forearm muscles, and if all goes as planned, he'll resume throwing in six weeks. Sale will throw live batting practice Thursday at Truist Park, the next step in his return to the rotation after being sidelined seven weeks with rib fractures. The news wasn't nearly as positive for set-up reliever Joe Jiménez, who has spent the season on the IL recovering from October knee surgery. He had soreness in the knee during a recent bullpen session at the Braves' spring training headquarters in Florida and has been shut down for an undetermined period until the knee improves. That decreases the chances of Jiménez returning to pitch at some point in late August or September, as he had hoped. Advertisement With Sale, provided there are no setbacks, he could be back by late August. He might throw another live BP after Thursday, or move directly to a minor-league rehab start. Snitker said Sale likely would make at least one minor-league rehab start before returning to the Braves' rotation. The 36-year-old lefty, who won the NL Cy Young Award last season in his first year with the Braves, was placed on the 60-day IL retroactive to June 19, so the earliest he's eligible to return is a couple of weeks. (Top photo of Marcell Ozuna: Dale Zanine / Imagn Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
32 minutes ago
- New York Times
Astros didn't add pitching at the deadline; their latest loss underscores that risk
MIAMI — They are going to need everyone, any available arm within a Houston Astros organization starved for pitching stability. They sought some of it during the trade deadline, only to be spooked by the steep cost of acquiring Dylan Cease or anyone of his ability. 'The asking prices were too high,' general manager Dana Brown acknowledged in the immediate aftermath, 'and we know that we have a bunch of starters coming back.' Advertisement The first of them emerged from loanDepot Park's visiting clubhouse at 4:21 p.m. ET on Wednesday afternoon. Spencer Arrighetti watched each of the 106 games a freak accident caused him to miss, a miserable four-month existence for the man himself and a pitching staff he could not help. Seven weeks into Arrighetti's absence, two of his rotation mates underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery. Two others, Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia, opened the season recovering from the reconstructive elbow operation. Neither were scheduled to re-join the Astros' rotation until after the All-Star break. Fill-ins far exceeded expectations to keep the Astros afloat atop the American League West, but sustainability concerns persisted. The past eight weeks substantiated them. Houston's rotation awoke on Wednesday with a 4.38 ERA since June 15. Of the 10 teams with a higher one in that span, only the New York Mets entered play on Wednesday in possession of a playoff spot. Acquiring leverage relievers Gregory Santos, Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers at the trade deadline should minimize the Mets' malaise, shortening games to take pressure off of the rotation. Brown and his baseball operations team opted against a similar strategy. They augmented Houston's lineup with Jesús Sánchez, struck a sentimental salary dump of Carlos Correa and called their cavalry of rehabbing pitchers sufficient. Pressure for them to perform is obvious. 'If anything,' Arrighetti said on Tuesday, 'it's internal pressure and it's a standard I hold myself to to make sure those guys are going to be put in the best spots and I'm just giving the team a chance to win every time I take the ball.' On Wednesday, he did not. Arrighetti allowed 11 hits, collected 11 outs and surrendered five earned runs during a 6-4 loss against the Miami Marlins. Some underlying metrics painted a more favorable portrait than those numbers may indicate, but Arrighetti still appeared every bit a pitcher making his first major-league start in 123 days. Advertisement 'Just a little rusty there,' manager Joe Espada said. That is fine for a nondescript day in May, when enough of a runway exists for someone like Arrighetti to re-acclimate after such a long absence. That luxury no longer exists. Forty-seven regular-season games remain, a stretch in which the Astros have accepted there could be circumstances like this. Whether they're equipped to overcome them is a legitimate question. Houston's loss on Wednesday dropped its division lead to 2 1/2 games over the surging Seattle Mariners. With two more wins against the woebegone Chicago White Sox, Seattle could sneak to within 1 1/2 games before the Astros open a weekend series at Yankee Stadium on Friday. If it occurs, cliches, calls for patience or proclaiming these are 'growing pains' will fall on deaf ears. 'I wouldn't call it 'rusty' necessarily, just growing pains of getting back out on the mound,' Arrighetti said. 'Obviously, that was only my fourth game since getting hurt. Rehab starts are good for building stuff up but not necessarily for putting a game plan together … I wouldn't call it rust, just more of a growing pain thing.' Failing to fortify the pitching staff with any external additions will magnify each start Arrighetti, Javier or Garcia may make across the next two months. Anything Lance McCullers Jr. can contribute would be appreciated, too, but his season has already demonstrated the danger in expecting excellence from pitchers returning from significant injuries. Garcia has not pitched in a major-league game in 27 months. His recovery from Tommy John surgery has included a slew of setbacks and has shortened his arm slot on the mound. After his most recent rehab start, Garcia told 'I think I'm not moving quite as explosively as I was in the past,' and 'I'm feeling a little weird.' Advertisement Javier's comeback from Tommy John has been more linear. He underwent the operation last June and hasn't pitched in a major-league game since May 21, 2024. Javier has made five minor-league rehab starts with scattered results. His command is iffy. So is his ability to miss bats with his disappearing fastball. All of it is to be expected. The Astros know firsthand. Their lineup lit up Sandy Alcantara on Monday night in Miami, inflating his ERA to 6.44 across 116 innings this season — his first since undergoing Tommy John surgery on Oct. 6, 2023. Alcantara returned to the mound after a 17-month recovery. On Wednesday, Espada indicated that Javier's next start could be as part of Houston's major-league rotation. If it is, Javier will have had 14 months between major-league outings. Perhaps Javier prospers in ways Alcantara couldn't. Houston has gambled its entire season in hopes that he will. Arrighetti, at least, only missed four months. He made two starts in April and didn't require the same reconstructive surgery his teammates underwent. That alone should inspire more hope than any of Javier, Garcia or McCullers. Wednesday still showed a gap that remains. 'I want to give the team more of a chance,' Arrighetti said. 'Obviously it's not how I drew it up. I feel like I made some pretty good pitches for the most part. Obviously, I had some mistakes in there, some weird baseball stuff. It just is what it is.' Four of the 11 hits Arrighetti allowed on Wednesday did not leave the infield. Six of them were struck softer than 83 mph, but seven other batted balls were hit harder than 98 mph. Five of those were hits and another was a sacrifice fly. Poor luck plagued him, but ascribing all of this outing to misfortune is misguided. During a three-run first, though, Gold Glover Mauricio Dubón did not keep Liam Hicks' shift-beating groundball on the infield. It trickled through for a single. Two batters later, Sánchez seemed unsure of the spin on a sinking line drive from Jakob Marsee. Advertisement In lieu of diving, Sánchez allowed the baseball to bounce in front of him, a fifth single of Arrighetti's frustrating first inning. When it ended, Arrighetti yelled into his glove before exiting the mound. 'I thought he was spinning the ball well and the shape of his pitches were pretty good,' Espada said. 'Just missed where they were able to get some barrel on it.' Miami swung 45 times against the 86 pitches Arrighetti threw. Sixteen of them were whiffs. Arrighetti has only had three major-league starts where he's generated more. Nothing he did on Wednesday felt more important. At his best, Arrighetti is a bat-missing machine who struck out 10.6 per nine as a rookie. Is there enough time for him to harness that form? 'He threw the ball well enough (to) where I felt encouraged,' Espada said. 'Like, OK, he's healthy. His next outing is going to be better.' Houston has no choice but to hope it is. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Associated Press
32 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Perkins and Vaughn each homer, Brewers beat Braves 5-4 for 6th straight win
ATLANTA (AP) — Blake Perkins doubled, hit a homer and drove in two RBIs, Andrew Vaughn also homered and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight win. Vaughn extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games and is batting .435 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in that span. Jose Quintana (9-4) allowed three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts in six innings. Jared Koenig and Abner Uribe each threw a scoreless inning of relief. Trevor Megill earned his 26th save despite giving up a solo homer to Michael Harris II in the ninth. The Brewers (70-44) are 26 games above .500 for the first time since finishing the 2021 season 95-67. They set a franchise record for fewest games played (114) to reach 70 wins. The previous mark was 116 set in 2021. Sean Murphy and Eli White each had an RBI and Jurickson Profar hit a solo homer for Atlanta. Braves starter Spencer Strider (5-9) took the loss after giving up five runs on 11 hits over 4 2/3 innings. Key moment Isaac Collins singled, Christian Yelich doubled and Collins scored on a groundout in the fifth by Vaughn before Perkins hit a two-out homer to right field to make it 5-1 and chase Strider. Key stat Milwaukee is a Major League-best 33-24 and is 10-7-2 in series play on the road this season. The Brewers have won a season-high seven straight, 12 of 13 and 24 of 30 away from home. Up next The Braves have yet to announce their starter for Thursday against Miami's Eury Pérez (4-3, 2.70 ERA). Brandon Woodruff (3-0, 2.22) is set to take the mound for the Brewers against Kodai Senga (7-3, 2.31) and the New York Mets on Friday. ___ AP MLB:
