Latest news with #ALCyYoungAward
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rangers Make Big Nathan Eovaldi Announcement After Injury News
Rangers Make Big Nathan Eovaldi Announcement After Injury News originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Throughout the 2025 season, the Texas Rangers haven't been all too impressive, as they sport a 29-31 record, putting them in third place in the AL West, while having just a plus-three run differential. Advertisement Things have the opportunity to get worse, too, because on Sunday, the team revealed that starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi would be hitting the 15-day injured list (retroactive to May 29) due to right triceps fatigue. What makes this loss even worse is that on Monday, the team announced Eovaldi has been named the Rangers Player of the Month for May, a distinction voted on by media members and broadcasters who cover the team. It's a well-deserved honor, too, because through the entire month, he started five games, accumulating 26.2 innings, 27 strikeouts, an opponent batting average of .168, a 0.68 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. Advertisement Throughout the entire season, he has been extremely dominant, tied for the 24th-most innings pitched (69.1), the second-best ERA (1.56), tied for 16th in strikeouts (73), tied for the fifth-highest WAR (2.2), and has the second-lowest opponent batting average (.183) among qualified starting pitchers. Other than now dealing with an injury, Eovaldi has been exactly what the Rangers could have hoped for after signing him to a three-year, $75 million contract before the season started. Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17)© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images His performance has put him in the position to potentially earn some serious personal accolades with the Rangers, as ESPN BET currently gives him the seventh-best odds (+3000) to win the AL Cy Young Award. Advertisement If Eovaldi were able to pull that off, it would be a huge boost to his career, considering that he's only made two All-Star appearances and been inside the top four for Cy Young voting once in his first 13 seasons at the MLB level. Related: Mariners Turn Heads with Major Randy Johnson Announcement This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Jac Caglianone, Shane Bieber & Thairo Estrada
FANTASY BASEBALL WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS Jac Caglianone (1B Royals): Rostered in 20% of Yahoo leagues Let's wish this into existence. The hope was that the Royals were calling up Caglianone when they dropped Cavan Biggio from the roster on Sunday, but they chose John Rave instead. Three days earlier, they cut Hunter Renfroe but replaced him with an infielder in Nick Loftin. Whether it's offense or, more likely, defense, the Royals don't think Caglianone is quite ready, at least not as an outfielder. He has to be close, though. Advertisement Caglianone was the sixth overall pick in last year's draft after a stellar run at the University of Florida. While he was also a legitimate prospect as a pitcher, there was no doubt he was being drafted for his bat, which produced 68 homers in 137 games in his final two years in school. He opened this year in Double-A and hit .322/.394/.553 in 38 games. The Royals just recently promoted him to Triple-A Omaha, where he's opened up 12-for-37 with five homers. Overall, he's hit .323/.389/.593 with 14 homers in 216 plate appearances. Never having played anywhere other than first until this year, Caglianone remains a novice in the outfield, He's started two games in left and 10 in right, where his excellent arm should help make up for his lack of range. Obviously, he still needs more work out there. He needs it almost as much as the Royals need his bat in the middle of their lineup. Caglianone should be a future 30-homer guy for the Royals, even while playing half of his games in arguably MLB's toughest home run park for lefties. Kauffman is actually a fine hitter's park on the whole, but because homers are the biggest part of his game, it will probably take away from Caglianone's numbers some. Still, Caglianone isn't a big strikeout guy for as hard as he swings; he's fanned just 20.4 percent of the time this season. He should be worth using in mixed leagues as soon as he's promoted. Shane Bieber (SP Guardians): Rostered in 29% of Yahoo leagues Making his way back from last April's Tommy John surgery, Bieber is set for his first of several rehab starts Saturday. He probably won't make his return to the Guardians rotation until the end of June, but it'll likely be too late by then to add him in mixed leagues. Advertisement Of course, we don't know exactly which Bieber we'll be seeing this year. The 2023 version was a far cry from the AL Cy Young Award winner of 2020, as his strikeout rate dropped significantly for a third straight year and he wound up with a 3.80 ERA. It looked like a turnaround was in store last year, as he followed up an impressive spring by pitching 12 scoreless innings with 20 strikeouts in his first two starts. But that's when his elbow gave out. That Bieber worked hard to reclaim some of his lost velocity probably played a role in last year's injury. It's certainly too much to expect him to come out firing now like he did last spring, though anything is possible. If he's in 2023 form, that's still a useful pitcher, too. Pitching in Cleveland helps limit his homer totals, and he's always done well in terms of WHIP. There are no guarantees with a pitcher returning from surgery, but Bieber's a good enough bet to be worth the roster/IL spot a month ahead of his debut. Thairo Estrada (2B Rockies): Rostered in 6% of Yahoo leagues Signed over the winter to replace Brendan Rodgers at second base in Colorado, Estrada is finally ready to make his Rockies debut 10 weeks after a Kumar Rocker pitch left him with a broken wrist. That he'll play regularly isn't in doubt. How much running he'll do will be the determining factor in whether he proves useful in mixed leagues. Advertisement Never much of a basestealer in the minors, Estrada surprised everyone by swiping 21 bases in 27 tries while emerging as a useful fantasy infielder with the Giants in 2022., He followed that up with an even better 2023 in which he was 23-for-30 stealing bases, even though he missed nearly a quarter of the season. Last year, though, everything came crashing down for Estrada. He hit just .217/.247/.343 and was 2-for-4 stealing bases in 96 games before finishing the year in the minors. The two reasons for optimism now is that Estrada's exit velocity numbers last year were basically the same as the previous two seasons, and he's gone from a tough park for hitters to the best in baseball in Coors Field. He's still probably not going to make more than modest contributions in the non-SB categories, but if he gets back to doing some running -- and there's really no reason for him not to on a team as bad as the Rockies are -- he'll probably be helpful as an MI in 12-team leagues. Waiver Wire Quick Hits - Camilo Doval remains available in 46% of Yahoo leagues after being returned to the closer's role by the Giants this week. He's probably going to be a top-20 and maybe a top-10 RP the rest of the way. - Gavin Lux probably isn't a long-term guy in mixed leagues, but the Reds have six home games next week, with at least five of those coming against righties, and Lux is hitting in the cleanup spot with Austin Hays on the IL. As a one-week option, he makes plenty of sense.
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Jac Caglianone, Shane Bieber & Thairo Estrada
FANTASY BASEBALL WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS Jac Caglianone (1B Royals): Rostered in 20% of Yahoo leagues Let's wish this into existence. The hope was that the Royals were calling up Caglianone when they dropped Cavan Biggio from the roster on Sunday, but they chose John Rave instead. Three days earlier, they cut Hunter Renfroe but replaced him with an infielder in Nick Loftin. Whether it's offense or, more likely, defense, the Royals don't think Caglianone is quite ready, at least not as an outfielder. He has to be close, though. Caglianone was the sixth overall pick in last year's draft after a stellar run at the University of Florida. While he was also a legitimate prospect as a pitcher, there was no doubt he was being drafted for his bat, which produced 68 homers in 137 games in his final two years in school. He opened this year in Double-A and hit .322/.394/.553 in 38 games. The Royals just recently promoted him to Triple-A Omaha, where he's opened up 12-for-37 with five homers. Overall, he's hit .323/.389/.593 with 14 homers in 216 plate appearances. Never having played anywhere other than first until this year, Caglianone remains a novice in the outfield, He's started two games in left and 10 in right, where his excellent arm should help make up for his lack of range. Obviously, he still needs more work out there. He needs it almost as much as the Royals need his bat in the middle of their lineup. Caglianone should be a future 30-homer guy for the Royals, even while playing half of his games in arguably MLB's toughest home run park for lefties. Kauffman is actually a fine hitter's park on the whole, but because homers are the biggest part of his game, it will probably take away from Caglianone's numbers some. Still, Caglianone isn't a big strikeout guy for as hard as he swings; he's fanned just 20.4 percent of the time this season. He should be worth using in mixed leagues as soon as he's promoted. Shane Bieber (SP Guardians): Rostered in 29% of Yahoo leagues Making his way back from last April's Tommy John surgery, Bieber is set for his first of several rehab starts Saturday. He probably won't make his return to the Guardians rotation until the end of June, but it'll likely be too late by then to add him in mixed leagues. Of course, we don't know exactly which Bieber we'll be seeing this year. The 2023 version was a far cry from the AL Cy Young Award winner of 2020, as his strikeout rate dropped significantly for a third straight year and he wound up with a 3.80 ERA. It looked like a turnaround was in store last year, as he followed up an impressive spring by pitching 12 scoreless innings with 20 strikeouts in his first two starts. But that's when his elbow gave out. That Bieber worked hard to reclaim some of his lost velocity probably played a role in last year's injury. It's certainly too much to expect him to come out firing now like he did last spring, though anything is possible. If he's in 2023 form, that's still a useful pitcher, too. Pitching in Cleveland helps limit his homer totals, and he's always done well in terms of WHIP. There are no guarantees with a pitcher returning from surgery, but Bieber's a good enough bet to be worth the roster/IL spot a month ahead of his debut. Thairo Estrada (2B Rockies): Rostered in 6% of Yahoo leagues Signed over the winter to replace Brendan Rodgers at second base in Colorado, Estrada is finally ready to make his Rockies debut 10 weeks after a Kumar Rocker pitch left him with a broken wrist. That he'll play regularly isn't in doubt. How much running he'll do will be the determining factor in whether he proves useful in mixed leagues. Never much of a basestealer in the minors, Estrada surprised everyone by swiping 21 bases in 27 tries while emerging as a useful fantasy infielder with the Giants in 2022., He followed that up with an even better 2023 in which he was 23-for-30 stealing bases, even though he missed nearly a quarter of the season. Last year, though, everything came crashing down for Estrada. He hit just .217/.247/.343 and was 2-for-4 stealing bases in 96 games before finishing the year in the minors. The two reasons for optimism now is that Estrada's exit velocity numbers last year were basically the same as the previous two seasons, and he's gone from a tough park for hitters to the best in baseball in Coors Field. He's still probably not going to make more than modest contributions in the non-SB categories, but if he gets back to doing some running -- and there's really no reason for him not to on a team as bad as the Rockies are -- he'll probably be helpful as an MI in 12-team leagues. Waiver Wire Quick Hits - Camilo Doval remains available in 46% of Yahoo leagues after being returned to the closer's role by the Giants this week. He's probably going to be a top-20 and maybe a top-10 RP the rest of the way. - Gavin Lux probably isn't a long-term guy in mixed leagues, but the Reds have six home games next week, with at least five of those coming against righties, and Lux is hitting in the cleanup spot with Austin Hays on the IL. As a one-week option, he makes plenty of sense.
Fox Sports
5 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Tarik Skubal wants to be an inning-eating workhorse, even if MLB has changed
Tarik Skubal enjoyed his first taste of throwing a complete game as a professional and the Detroit Tigers ace is hoping to be a rare starting pitcher who is regularly on the mound late in games. In this era, teams usually depend on relievers to pitch at least a few innings and the reigning AL Cy Young and league Triple Crown winner would love to buck the trend for manager A.J. Hinch and the AL-leading Tigers. "The game's changed a little bit because these guys that come in are the best they've ever been, but my goal is to make it as difficult as I can on A.J. to take me out of a game," Skubal said Wednesday before Detroit wrapped up a series at home against San Francisco. "I want him thinking a lot about it. I don't want it to be an easy decision. "That's kind of that's what starting pitching is — you take the ball and you eat innings. There's probably been a little bit of less value in that in today's game as it was five, 10 years ago." Justin Verlander laments that fact. "Most guys are getting pulled in the fifth or sixth inning," he said. Verlander, a three-time AL Cy Young Award in his first season with the Giants, understands clubs try to limit innings starters pitch in part to avoid injuries. The 42-year-old right-hander, though, is grateful Jim Leyland was his manager early in his career with the Tigers and allowed him to have 120-pitch outings and 200-inning seasons. "Even at that time, that was a little old school," Verlander said. "Had he not been my manager, I might not have had the opportunity to show what I can do. I think what separated me from a lot of guys was my ability to throw that many pitches and get stronger as game went on, and do it every five days." When Skubal makes his next start on Saturday at Kansas City, the hard-throwing lefty wants Hinch to see plenty of reasons to keep him in the game longer than usual. "I want to be out there for the sixth, seventh and eighth inning," he said. "There's going to be five-inning outings. Those are grinder games. I'm not too proud of those ones. I'm proud of ones I'm in the seventh, eighth and handing the ball off to the back end of our guys." [Related: Last Night in Baseball: Tarik Skubal goes Maddux, historically so] In Skubal's last start, he gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts in a 94-pitch performance that included just 22 balls and no walks. It was just the fifth individual shutout this season in the majors, and a complete-game shutout thrown in under 100 pitches is nicknamed a "Maddux," in honor of Greg Maddux, a leader in efficiency in an era of inflated pitch counts. That kind of efficiency is also what allowed Skubal to throw a record 102.6 mph, per Statcast's measurement, on his final pitch of the game. Which was also the fastest recorded velocity of any pitch 75+ pitches into a start. Skubal has yet to surpass 96 pitches in a start in 2025, and exceeded the 100-pitch mark just four times in 31 starts a year ago, while averaging over six innings per start – Skubal made it to the seventh inning throwing between 74 and 91 pitches on nine occasions in 2024. He's averaging nearly 6.1 innings per start in 2025, with the same level of pitch efficiency. If he or any other Detroit starter is as efficient as Skubal was on Sunday, then Hinch plans to keep them in for the final inning. "If guys want to enter the ninth inning with 85 pitches, I promise you I will leave guys in," Hinch said. Hinch said it's not an indictment on starters when they don't last deep in games, adding it's not a "healthy badge of honor," to just leave pitchers on the mound because they're having a good day. Simply put, he said the stuff a fresh reliever has to throw at teams is going to be better than one of the last pitches from any starter. "As starters fatigue, is their 120th pitch better than Will Vest's first pitch? Or, Tommy Kahnle's first pitch? Or, Brant Hurter's first pitch?" Hinch asked. "The answer is no." The Associated Press contributed to this report. 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! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Tarik Skubal Major League Baseball Detroit Tigers recommended Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Tarik Skubal hopes to make it tough for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch to take him out late in games
DETROIT (AP) — Tarik Skubal enjoyed his first taste of throwing a complete game as a professional and the Detroit Tigers ace is hoping to be a rare starting pitcher who is regularly on the mound late in games. In this era , teams usually depend on relievers to pitch at least a few innings and the reigning AL Cy Young and league Triple Crown winner would love to buck the trend for manager A.J. Hinch and the AL-leading Tigers. 'The game's changed a little bit because these guys that come in are the best they've ever been, but my goal is to make it as difficult as I can on A.J. to take me out of a game,' Skubal said Wednesday before Detroit wrapped up a series at home against San Francisco. 'I want him thinking a lot about it. I don't want it to be an easy decision. 'That's kind of that's what starting pitching is — you take the ball and you eat innings. There's probably been a little bit of less value in that in today's game as it was five, 10 years ago.' Justin Verlander laments that fact. 'Most guys are getting pulled in the fifth or sixth inning,' he said. Verlander, a three-time AL Cy Young Award in his first season with the Giants, understands clubs try to limit innings starters pitch in part to avoid injuries . The 42-year-old right-hander, though, is grateful Jim Leyland was his manager early in his career with the Tigers and allowed him to have 120-pitch outings and 200-inning seasons. 'Even at that time, that was a little old school,' Verlander said. 'Had he not been my manager, I might not have had the opportunity to show what I can do. I think what separated me from a lot of guys was my ability to throw that many pitches and get stronger as game went on, and do it every five days.' When Skubal makes his next start on Saturday at Kansas City, the hard-throwing lefty wants Hinch to see plenty of reasons to keep him in the game longer than usual. 'I want to be out there for the sixth, seventh and eighth inning,' he said. 'There's going to be five-inning outings. Those are grinder games. I'm not too proud of those ones. I'm proud of ones I'm in the seventh, eighth and handing the ball off to the back end of our guys.' In Skubal's last start, he gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts in a 94-pitch performance that included just 22 balls and no walks. It was just the fifth individual shutout this season in the majors. If he or any other Detroit starter is as efficient, Hinch plans to keep them in for the final inning. 'If guys want to enter the ninth inning with 85 pitches, I promise you I will leave guys in,' Hinch said. Hinch said it's not an indictment on starters when they don't last deep in games, adding it's not a 'healthy badge of honor,' to just leave pitchers on the mound because they're having a good day. Simply put, he said the stuff a fresh reliever has to throw at teams is going to be better than one of the last pitches from any starter. 'As starters fatigue, is their 120th pitch better than Will Vest's first pitch? Or, Tommy Kahnle's first pitch? Or, Brant Hurter's first pitch?' Hinch asked. 'The answer is no.' ___ AP MLB:
