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Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Royals' pitching staff dealt concerning injury
The post Royals' pitching staff dealt concerning injury appeared first on ClutchPoints. With the Kansas City Royals fighting to remain in the mix of the AL Central, the club received some concerning news regarding one of their starting pitchers. Reports indicate that Cole Ragan's injury is potentially more serious than previously thought, and the club is currently waiting for test results. Advertisement Ragans is dealing with a rotator cuff strain, according to Anne Rogers of Manager Matt Quatraro claims the club has yet to determine how long the 27-year-old pitcher will be out for, but it sounds like Ragans will be on the injured list for quite some time. 'Royals didn't provide many details about the severity of Ragans' rotator cuff strain. Quatraro said that they were waiting for a few test results to come back before determining severity and timeline. Doesn't sound like it will be a quick IL stint like last time, though.' Rogers reports that the Royals had originally hoped for Cole Ragans to return to the mound soon after initially injuring his shoulder in the previous week. But Ragans felt something wrong with his shoulder despite Kansas City giving him a few extra days to rest to manage the injury. 'Ragans felt shoulder soreness after his start last week against STL. Team had pushed Ragans back a few days in the rotation to see if it would go away. He was feeling OK, then it popped up again, playing catch [Tuesday]. That led to getting scans/testing.' Advertisement The Royals will continue to monitor Ragans' status closely. In an ideal world, Ragans avoids a tear in his rotator cuff and only needs to be on the 10 or 15-day IL. But a trip to the 60-day IL is certainly in play. It's been a rocky season for the 2024 All-Star, as Ragans has not been as effective this season as he was last year. Through 48.2 innings pitched, the Royals' starting pitcher owns a 5.18 ERA and 1.295 WHIP while recording 76 strikeouts. Related: Jac Caglianone's 'super fired up' admission for Royals' home debut
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Athletics Announce Jacob Wilson News Before Angels Game
Athletics Announce Jacob Wilson News Before Angels Game originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Athletics (26-42) and the Los Angeles Angels (31-34) will face off again on Tuesday in a battle of the losing California MLB teams. They're each well behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (40-27), San Francisco Giants (38-28), and the San Diego Padres (37-28). Advertisement However, the Athletics are the worst of the five clubs in their first season in Sacramento, thanks largely to their 0-5 record vs. the Angels this season. The Athletics hosted Los Angeles in May and got swept in four games. They also lost 7-4 to the Angels on Monday, and now they'll have to play them without infielder Jacob Wilson on Tuesday, via their social media. Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) and Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson (5)© Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images The Athletics announced that Wilson had been scratched just hours before the game, and no reason was given at the time. It has since been revealed Wilson is dealing with left hamstring tightness (via Martín Gallegos of Fellow infielder Luis Urías replaced the 23-year-old. Advertisement Wilson is slashing .366/.402/.520 with eight homers and 38 RBI in 64 games thus far. The 6-foot-2-inch, 190-pounder's batting average ranks second in baseball, and he's 11th with a .922 OPS. Wilson played his first 28 MLB games in 2024, slashing .250/.314/.315 with three RBI. The Athletics are in last place in the AL West and are 11.5 games behind the first-place Houston Astros (36-29). After they finish their Angels series, they'll continue their road trip vs. the Kansas City Royals (34-32) before hosting the Astros and the Cleveland Guardians (34-31). They will then hit the road again to play the Detroit Tigers (43-24), New York Yankees (39-25), and Tampa Bay Rays (36-30). Advertisement Related: Red Sox Trade Idea Lands Former Yankees 2.05 ERA Starter Related: MLB Makes Angels Mistake on Friday This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert gets big injury update as return draws near
The post Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert gets big injury update as return draws near appeared first on ClutchPoints. Injured Seattle Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert is about to take his next step toward a Major League return. Advertisement The right-handed starter will make his second rehab start at Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday night, Seattle manager Dan Wilson announced on Tuesday. The plan was always for Gilbert to get at least two rehab starts before the Mariners activated him, Daniel Kramer noted. Gilbert has been on the Injured List since April 26 with a right elbow flexor strain. He made his first rehab start on May 29, also for the Rainiers, allowing two hits, two walks and a hit batsman over 1.2 innings. He also struck out three and threw 45 pitches. 'I felt fine, my arm feels pretty good, solid,' Gilbert said after the game. 'It kind of feels like Spring Training a little bit. We talked about it. The stuff feels fine. A couple of close misses, and just need to be in the zone a lot more. Just like spring, it takes a couple to get synced up. It's kind of how it feels. But the arm felt good.' Gilbert's fastball hit 96.8 mph that night, according to Kramer, who also noted that the righty threw only five first-pitch strikes to 10 batters. Advertisement If all goes well on Wednesday, he could be activated and available to pitch next week when the Mariners face the Arizona Diamondbacks. Before his injury, Gilbert was off to a sparkling start to 2025 with the Mariners. In six starts, he had a 2.37 ERA with 44 strikeouts over 30.1 innings and a 0.791 WHIP. When he returns, he will join a Mariners team that currently sits in first place in the AL West at 32-26. Bryan Woo and Luis Castillo have combined to form a formidable front-end of the rotation, while Logan Evans was excellent in six big league starts before returning to the Minor Leagues. The Mariners will have a decision to make when they ultimately activate Gilbert. Emerson Hancock (5.64 ERA) may be the odd man out at that point.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tampa Bay Rays' Offense Led By Surprising Player
Things have not gone as the Tampa Bay Rays would have hoped upon entering the 2025 season. They enter Saturday with a 20-24 record, fourth in the American League East, and have dropped six of their last 10 games. One of the biggest issues for the team this year has been finding consistent success offensively. The Rays rank 23rd in MLB with their OPS of .677, and have hit only 39 home runs through their first 44 games. Those 39 home runs also rank 23rd in MLB. Advertisement While the offense as a whole has struggled, one player in particular, surprisingly, has not. Jonathan Aranda has been on a tear this season, and it is not one that anyone expected. Now in his fourth Major League campaign, this has been the first that has seen him get consistent playing time. Aranda entered 2025 with a career .222/.309/.382 line with 10 home runs, 33 RBI, and a 97 OPS+ across 333 plate appearances in 110 games. This year, the first baseman has powered his way to a .315/.404/.523 line with six home runs, 20 RBI, and a 165 OPS+ across 151 plate appearances in 40 games. "It's been a rough season for the Rays' offense -- six of the 10 Tampa Bay players with at least 90 plate appearances are below league average (100 wRC+), and only one has a wRC+ higher than 111. That would be Aranda," writes Thomas Harrigan in a recent article for "who is in the midst of an impressive breakout campaign. The 26-year-old ranks fifth among qualifiers with a 177 wRC+ and has the underlying metrics to back it up, including a 58.7% hard-hit rate (98th percentile), a .310 expected batting average (93rd percentile) and a .420 expected wOBA (96th percentile)." It has been a fantastic, albeit unexpected, performance from the first baseman. If he can keep this up the rest of the way, it will be a major boon to Tampa Bay's playoff chances in the unexpectedly weak American League East.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
6 bold predictions for the rest of the 2025 MLB season: Pete Alonso wins the triple crown, Riley Greene tops Aaron Judge for MVP and more
They say you can't predict baseball. But if you're going to try, why not go big? We asked six writers from and Yahoo Sports to dig deep and come up with one bold prediction for the rest of this season. Are these predictions that are likely to come to fruition? No, probably not. But if any of them do, you can say you read about them here first. Stats cited below are entering play Thursday. By Jordan Shusterman, Yahoo Sports Alonso was always going to be an intriguing character this season, regardless of how he was playing. His lengthy free agency that culminated in a short-term deal to stay in Queens was one of the bigger storylines of the winter, and it set the stage for Alonso to either prove all the uninterested teams wrong or validate their concerns by continuing to trend in the wrong direction. So far, Alonso has done more than just reestablish his offensive credentials after what might've been his worst season in 2024 — he looks better than ever. This is most evident in his sky-high batting average (.328!), which is the key ingredient of this bold prediction. The notion that Alonso could lead the league in home runs and/or RBI is hardly an ambitious proclamation and seems highly plausible at this point. But entering this season, it would've been far-fetched to expect a career .249 hitter to compete for a batting title in tandem with his usual power production. Yet here we are! What's most compelling about Alonso's sensational start to the year is that the gaudy surface-level stats are fully supported by a vast improvement in his underlying metrics. Alonso has always hit the ball exceptionally hard, but now he's making markedly more contact, with career-low whiff (21.6%) and strikeout (17.2%) rates while walking at a career-best 15.4% clip. With elite power already in place, this uptick in on-base ability has enabled a huge spike in his overall production, which has Alonso in the thick of the NL MVP race — no small feat considering he has Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto as teammates. By Mike Petriello, OK, hear me out: That great three-way race we thought we'd have between Houston, Texas and Seattle? It's not happening. The Rangers are already in full-on fire-the-hitting-coach panic mode; the .500 Astros now have Yordan Alvarez health concerns; the Mariners are hitting surprisingly well, but how long are we betting on Jorge Polanco slugging over .700? The point is, the door to the division title is open. To this point, the 20-18 A's are doing a lot more than hanging in there. They're making a race out of it, which is an incredible statement given that Mason Miller (4.61 ERA) and Lawrence Butler (103 OPS+), two players who are supposed to be their stars, haven't exactly delivered all you'd expect yet. We figured the offseason addition of Luis Severino would help (it has); we assumed Brent Rooker would provide power (he has); we … OK, we didn't think Tyler Soderstrom would do his best Mark McGwire impression or that Justin Sterner would pretend he's Dennis Eckersley. But those moments count, and so do the wins they helped fuel. Imagine, then, if Miller and Butler perk up. If Jeffrey Springs (4.81 ERA) looks more like the mid-rotation starter he was with Tampa Bay. If Jacob Wilson really is 'Luis Arraez, but can play solid shortstop.' If the end of the Astros' reign really has arrived. FanGraphs gives the A's a 5% chance to pull this off. It's not impossible. By Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports Ohtani became a household name because he could do both. No player, in more than a century of baseball history, had ever pitched and hit simultaneously, let alone at an All-Star level. That was the schtick. Ohtani's singular two-way ability earned him superstar status, two MVP Awards and a $700 million contract. Then, in September 2023, an injury changed everything. Ohtani, then an Angel, underwent reconstructive elbow surgery, the second such procedure of his career. And with his pitching life on hold, Ohtani found a way to elevate his offensive game to an even higher stratosphere. Now he's Mr. 50-50, a power-speed unicorn who just won his third MVP Award based on the prowess of his bat and his legs. Ohtani is, indisputably, a top-three hitter in the sport. That reality puts his employer in a tricky situation. As October approaches and Ohtani continues inching through his pitching recovery, the Dodgers will face a first-world problem. Because here's the cold, hard truth: A full-gas return to pitching increases the likelihood of an injury that could sideline Ohtani for a significant stretch. If such an issue arises in October, it would leave L.A.'s lineup undermanned at the worst possible time. And so there's a compelling argument that utilizing Ohtani, the pitcher, in the postseason represents an unnecessary risk — a risk that, in a worst-case scenario, could sink this Dodgers juggernaut. Because while L.A.'s starting staff has been decimated by injuries in 2025, there remains a strong chance that the Dodgers enter October with enough healthy, competent starters. So while everyone — except for opposing hitters — would love to see Ohtani on the bump in the postseason, what the people want and what's optimal for his team might be two very different things. By Anthony Castrovince, The headline here should probably be 'Aaron Judge will NOT be the AL MVP' because, let's face it, right now the voting would look something like this: Judge Judge Judge's newborn baby daughter Judge Bobby Witt Jr. Regardless, last winter, in my annual way-too-early award picks (in which I generally try to stray from repeat winners such as Judge), I went with Greene, the Tigers' outfielder, which means I am contractually bound to that pick, for better or worse (please disregard that my NL Cy Young pick is already done for the year). Judge is completely lapping the field right now, but that was also the case around this time in 2023, before he dealt with a midseason foot injury. I don't wish injury upon him (not even to help me stumble upon a correct prediction for once), but it is a part of his career profile, unfortunately. Stranger things have happened. Anyway, if nothing else, here's an opportunity to pump up the 24-year-old Greene, who rebounded from a sluggish start to post Player of the Week production last week. The improved swing decisions he showed last year have not totally carried over to this season, but he shook off a dreadful slump at the start of the season and is back to being the best every-day player on a Tigers team that truly looks ready to roar. Or, you know, maybe Judge just keeps making me and opposing pitchers look really bad. By David Adler, Is this bold enough? Should I go for 15 strikeouts? 10? After all, Arraez is the king of not striking out, and this year, the Padres' first baseman is somehow striking out even less than usual. Arraez has exactly three Ks this season — in 30 games and 131 plate appearances. That's an absurd 2.3% strikeout rate. He's currently on pace to play 135 games, take 590 plate appearances … and finish with 14 strikeouts. The last hitter to qualify for the batting title in a full 162-game season — Arraez has won three in a row, by the way — and strike out fewer than 20 times was Padres legend Tony Gwynn. Gwynn is the only hitter to do that in the past 30 years; he actually had five of those sub-20K seasons in his career, the last of which came in 1998, when he had 18 Ks in 505 plate appearances. This will be a difficult pace to maintain all season, even for Arraez. The Padres' star would have to exceed even his best seasons. Arraez's career low for strikeouts in a full season is 29 (last year), and in his three batting title seasons, he averaged 35. To cut his strikeouts down even that last bit, from 29 to 20, is a tall order. But if anyone can do it, it's him. Remember, Arraez went on a 141-plate-appearance strikeout-less streak just last year. He hasn't struck out more than three times in a month since June. And he's Gwynn's spiritual successor in San Diego — the lone player in today's game who could approach the Hall of Famer in the skill of making contact. By Russell Dorsey, Yahoo Sports We're not yet at Memorial Day, and it already looks like this Orioles season is beginning to wind down. Things have not gone well for Baltimore in what was supposed to be a big season for this organization after it won 90-plus games and made the playoffs in both 2023 and '24. And so far in 2025, the Orioles' weakness remains the same: starting pitching. Following the departure of Corbin Burnes in free agency, the Orioles did very little to improve their rotation, and it shows. Baltimore currently ranks 28th in MLB in starter ERA (5.77). Of the six teams that finished 25th or worse in starter ERA last season, five lost at least 90 games. The other was the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had the best offense in the league, something the Orioles decidedly do not have. It feels like Baltimore's window is beginning to close, which is hard to believe.
