Latest news with #NLcentral
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Series Preview: Cardinals look to right the ship vs. Nationals
The St. Louis Cardinals keep making us believe only to snap us back to reality quickly thereafter. An amazing May and strong second half of June put the Cardinals in striking distance in the NL Central while also holding onto the final Wild Card spot. However, an embarrassing three-game sweep at the hands of the Pirates and two more terrible pitching performances against the Cubs put the Cardinals back on the outside of the race. With two more series until the All-Star break, the Cardinals look to get back on track and force John Mozeliak to make some difficult decisions at the Trade Deadline. Mo recently stated that the team could look to add at the deadline and ownership would be on board with a little payroll expansion, but St. Louis will have to get on a major hot streak to make that happen. This upcoming series could provide that first launching point as the Cardinals return home to face the Washington Nationals. Advertisement The Nationals are struggling in their own right and just fired their GM and manager as they sit in last place in the NL East despite an exciting crop of young players. Former Cardinals Miguel Cairo will move from bench coach to interim manager for the Nats, a role he had previously filled with the White Sox. Hopefully, the turmoil the organization is going through will bring them to Busch Stadium in shambles and the Cardinals can take care of business and sweep the Nationals for the second time this season. Series Preview: Nationals @ Cardinals 7/8 - 7/10 GAME ONE 6:45pm: Jake Irvin (7-3, 4.71 ERA) vs. Sonny Gray (8-3, 3.51 ERA) Late last night, Katie Woo and others reported that the Cardinals rotation was going through a little bit of a shuffle but it was not the personnel change that fans were hoping for. Woo noted that Cardinals ace Sonny Gray was moved up a day to start the first game of the Nationals series to give him the opportunity to start twice this week. Gray has been solid his last few times out and his stat line from his last start does not tell the full story as two runs scored when a reliever was brought in. Over his last seven starts, the veteran is 3-2 with a 2.86 ERA, covering 44 innings. Over that span, he has struck out 46 batters and only walked 5, a welcomed change from the backend of the rotation. Advertisement The Nationals will send right-hander Jake Irvin to the mound, who is going the opposite direction as Gray despite the 7-3 record. Irvin has given up at least three earned runs in six of his last seven starts with a 28-to-14 strikeout to walk ratio while allowing 10 homers over that span. He has pitched two games against the Cardinals in his career and is 1-0 in 8.1 innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits and two homers. GAME TWO 6:45pm: MacKenzie Gore (3-8, 3.11 ERA) vs. Andre Pallante (5-4, 4.10 ERA) Taking the mound at Busch in game two is Andre Pallante, who has settled into his mid-rotation role after an up-and-down season thus far. Over his last three outings, Pallante has given up just two runs in 18 innings including seven shutout innings against the Pirates last time out. Unfortunately, the Cardinals faced Paul Skenes that day and were unable to score a single run to back the great start by Pallante. Offense may be an issue again for the Cardinals as they face All-Star lefty MacKenzie Gore. The last two lefty starters the Cardinals faced were Andrew Heaney, who flirted with a no-hitter and began the Cardinals scoreless streak as their struggles against lefties continue, and then followed up by getting beat by Matthew Boyd. Despite the eight losses, Gore has been spectacular this season with 131 strikeouts in 104.1 innings and is just 1-3 over his last seven starts while putting up a 2.57 ERA. The Cardinals have done well against Gore in his career as he is 0-2 with an 8.57 ERA in 21 innings against St. Louis. In his start against the Cardinals this season, Gore took the loss after allowing four earned runs over 6.1 innings. Advertisement GAME THREE 6:45pm: Michael Soroka (3-6, 5.40 ERA) vs. Miles Mikolas (4-6, 5.26 ERA) Miles Mikolas and his no-trade clause will be sent back out to the mound in the series finale on Thursday as he tries to not only eat innings, but eat quality innings this time out. In his last start, Mikolas was another Cardinals pitcher to make history on an Apple TV+ broadcast, but unfortunately it was due to the fact he gave up six homers in his first three innings. While he managed to save the bullpen with his six innings of work that day, Mikolas has been plain bad since June. He went into the month with a 3.90 ERA but he has seen that number skyrocket to 5.26 after giving up 27 earned runs on 12 homers over his last 32 innings. He has allowed just four walks but has given up 44 hits over that stretch. Michael Soroka heads to St. Louis looking to forget his last start against the Red Sox where he allowed seven runs and get back to his strong June stuff. In June, Soroka put up a 3.49 ERA and struck out 36 batters in 28.1 innings and has a career high 9.95 K/9 so far this season. He is also doing a nice job limiting walks as he is putting together his best season since he went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA while pitching with the Braves in 2019. This will be Soroka's first outing against the Cardinals since 2023 and he is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA against S. Louis in his career. NOTES Brendan Donovan was named the Cardinals lone All-Star The Cardinals are hitting just .211 as a team in July and have struck out 42 times in five games. Willson Contreras has been the team's best hitter over the past 15 games and is the only one hitting over .300 in that span. Nolan Gorman has an .848 OPS and seven homers over his last 30 games. Jordan Walker is rehabbing in Springfield and Ivan Herrera could be starting his rehab assignment this week. Advertisement More from
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski, Chase Burns part of an influx of talented young pitchers in the NL Central
Chase Burns arrived in the big leagues with a flourish, striking out the first five hitters he faced for Cincinnati in his debut against the New York Yankees. He's just the latest young pitcher in the NL Central to show his impressive potential. Advertisement Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes, of course, finished third in the National League Cy Young race as a rookie last year. More recently, Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski threw 11 straight hitless innings to start his career and then beat Skenes in a head-to-head matchup. Now Burns, the No. 2 pick in last year's draft, has reached the majors, and Skenes could have some help in his own rotation whenever Bubba Chandler — MLB Pipeline's No. 2-ranked prospect — is promoted to the Pirates. These pitchers have given the NL Central quite a shot in the arm after the Chicago Cubs have appeared in control of the division at various points. Milwaukee has won 22 of its last 31 and trails the Cubs by just two games now. Cincinnati has won 14 of its last 21. Even the last-place Pirates have played better than .500 baseball for over a month, and they just swept three straight from the New York Mets by a combined score of 30-4. Four teams in the NL Central are at least four games over .500, and every team has an ERA under 4.00 — the only division that can say that. These young starters, who have joined more established pitchers like Freddy Peralta of the Brewers and Hunter Greene of the Reds, suggest the future is bright in the division — as long as you're not a hitter. SF slump The Giants dropped two of three to the lowly Chicago White Sox immediately after losing three in a row to Miami. San Francisco is now 7 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and has gone 4-8 since its big trade for Rafael Devers. Advertisement Devers has hit .217 since arriving from the Boston Red Sox. Trivia time Washington's James Wood became the first player since Barry Bonds to be intentionally walked four times in a game. But which Hall of Famer drew five intentional walks in a game in 1990? Line of the week Sonny Gray — another NL Central pitcher — was sensational in St. Louis' 5-0 win over Cleveland, throwing a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts. Gray had not thrown a complete game since 2017 and hadn't thrown a shutout since 2015. Gray did not have a walk, faced one batter over the minimum and threw only 89 pitches. Comeback of the week Miami trailed Arizona 7-3 before scoring three runs in the eighth, one in the ninth and one in the top of the 10th to win 8-7. Dane Myers stole second and third in the ninth before scoring the tying run on a sacrifice fly, and Agustín Ramírez put the Marlins ahead in extra innings with an RBI single. Advertisement Arizona's win probability peaked at 97.4% in the bottom of the seventh, according to Baseball Savant. Honorable mention: Baltimore fell behind 6-0 in the second before blowing out Tampa Bay 22-8. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles became the first American League or National League team to win by at least 14 runs after trailing by six. Trivia answer Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs was intentionally walked five times on May 22, 1990, against Cincinnati. The Cubs won that game 2-1 in 16 innings.
Associated Press
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Skenes, Misiorowski and Burns are part of an influx of talented young pitchers in the NL Central
Chase Burns arrived in the big leagues with a flourish, striking out the first five hitters he faced for Cincinnati in his debut against the New York Yankees. He's just the latest young pitcher in the NL Central to show his impressive potential. Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes, of course, finished third in the National League Cy Young race as a rookie last year. More recently, Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski threw 11 straight hitless innings to start his career and then beat Skenes in a head-to-head matchup Wednesday. Now Burns, the No. 2 pick in last year's draft, has reached the majors, and Skenes could have some help in his own rotation whenever Bubba Chandler — MLB Pipeline's No. 2-ranked prospect — is promoted to the Pirates. These pitchers have given the NL Central quite a shot in the arm after the Chicago Cubs have appeared in control of the division at various points. Milwaukee has won 22 of its last 31 and trails the Cubs by just two games now. Cincinnati has won 14 of its last 21. Even the last-place Pirates have played better than .500 baseball for over a month, and they just swept three straight from the New York Mets by a combined score of 30-4. Four teams in the NL Central are at least four games over .500, and every team has an ERA under 4.00 — the only division that can say that. These young starters, who have joined more established pitchers like Freddy Peralta of the Brewers and Hunter Greene of the Reds, suggest the future is bright in the division — as long as you're not a hitter. SF slump The Giants dropped two of three to the lowly Chicago White Sox immediately after losing three in a row to Miami. San Francisco is now 7 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and has gone 4-8 since its big trade for Rafael Devers. Devers has hit .217 since arriving from the Boston Red Sox. Trivia time Washington's James Wood became the first player since Barry Bonds to be intentionally walked four times in a game Sunday. But which Hall of Famer drew five intentional walks in a game in 1990? Line of the week Sonny Gray — another NL Central pitcher — was sensational Friday night in St. Louis' 5-0 win over Cleveland, throwing a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts. Gray had not thrown a complete game since 2017 and hadn't thrown a shutout since 2015. Gray did not have a walk, faced one batter over the minimum and threw only 89 pitches. Comeback of the week Miami trailed Arizona 7-3 before scoring three runs in the eighth, one in the ninth and one in the top of the 10th to win 8-7. Dane Myers stole second and third in the ninth before scoring the tying run on a sacrifice fly, and Agustín Ramírez put the Marlins ahead in extra innings with an RBI single. Arizona's win probability peaked at 97.4% in the bottom of the seventh, according to Baseball Savant. Honorable mention: Baltimore fell behind 6-0 in the second Friday night before blowing out Tampa Bay 22-8. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles became the first American League or National League team to win by at least 14 runs after trailing by six. Trivia answer Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs was intentionally walked five times on May 22, 1990, against Cincinnati. The Cubs won that game 2-1 in 16 innings. ___ AP MLB:
New York Times
25-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NL Central deserves some shine. Plus: Why deadline sellers remain elusive
The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic's MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox. It's a very NL Central-heavy newsletter today. Why? Because have you looked at their rosters lately?! They're super fun, and they deserve a little shine. Plus: Year 5 of the seller drought is here. I'm Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup! It brought them to their feet, alright. When Aaron Judge swung through Chase Burns' 91 mph slider to end the first inning last night, the baseball world had to admit: the 22-year-old kid looked legit. A few minutes later, when Burns struck out Paul Goldschmidt in the second inning, he became the first MLB starting pitcher in the expansion era (since 1961) to start his big-league career by striking out the first five batters he faced. Advertisement A young NL Central starting pitcher making history? Sound familiar? In Milwaukee, 23-year-old Jacob Misiorowski recently started his career by pitching 11 no-hit innings, something no starter had ever done in the modern era (since 1900). In Pittsburgh, Paul Skenes started last year's All-Star Game almost exactly one calendar year after the Pirates took him with the first pick of the 2023 draft. He leads all of baseball with a 1.85 ERA this year, and turned 23 last month. (These two young pitchers face off at 2:10 ET today, in fact.) The NL Central was once defined by the teams' bitter hatred of each other. Rivalries are fun, for sure. But this level of young talent, set to face off for the foreseeable future? That's special. More young pitchers: Eno Sarris projects the futures for Misiorowski, Burns, Mick Abel and other young starters. From my latest column: The sense of urgency for the Chicago Cubs does not simply stem from the prospect of right fielder Kyle Tucker leaving after one year. The Cubs could lose five more important players to the open market after 2026, making an aggressive push at this year's trade deadline all the more imperative. The potential members of the free-agent class of 2026-27 are left fielder Ian Happ, designated hitter Seiya Suzuki, second baseman Nico Hoerner, right-hander Jameson Taillon and left-hander Matt Boyd. That group, combined with Tucker, accounted for 37 percent of the team's fWAR entering Tuesday. And while the Cubs might retain some of those players, they are unlikely to keep all of them, Tucker in particular. Their situation is not now or never, not with the emergence of center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong giving the 2026 roster a formidable look even if Tucker departs. But ownership's reluctance to sign players long-term, coupled with the possibility of a work stoppage in 2027, adds to the perception of a shrinking window. Or, to use a more dire analogy, walls closing in. Advertisement The Cubs' biggest need, after losing left-hander Justin Steele to season-ending elbow surgery and righty Javier Assad to a strained left oblique, is a pitcher who could start a postseason game. That type of pitcher almost certainly will be in scant supply at the deadline. But the Cubs, according to sources briefed on their plans, already are canvassing the market, making inquiries on Miami Marlins right-handers Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera, among many others. Alcantara, owed the balance of his $17 million salary this season and $17 million next season with a $21M club option for 2027, would require a significant payroll boost. Cabrera, earning $1.95 million with three more years of arbitration remaining, would be a better financial fit — no small consideration for a team that reduced its Opening Day payroll from $214 million in 2024 to $191 million in '25. But the additional club control would make the cost in prospects perhaps even higher. The Marlins are certain to listen on both pitchers. A number of potential free-agent starters, from Arizona's Zac Gallen to Baltimore's Zach Eflin, also could become available. The Cubs might find one of them more palatable, considering the limited salary commitment and reduced cost in prospects. But this is not a time for the team to go halfway. Not if owner Tom Ricketts is serious about winning a World Series in one of the next two years. Which, of course, is an open question. And with the Cubs' lead over the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central down to 2 1/2 games, it's becoming more pressing. More here. Time — particularly now, after a pandemic put the entire concept through a cement mixer — is a funny thing. On one hand, it feels like it has been a few decades now of Andrew McCutchen playing the role of baseball's Cool Dad. On the other, it was just 10 years ago when McCutchen was putting the finishing touches on a five-year stretch in which there weren't many better players in the game. From 2011-2015, McCutchen hit .302/.396/.509 (.905 OPS) with 123 home runs and 99 stolen bases. He was the 2013 NL MVP (and finished in the top five three other times), won a Gold Glove and four Silver Slugger awards, and was an All-Star all five years. The Pirates' only three playoff appearances since 1992? McCutchen led the way in 2013-15. Advertisement He hasn't won any awards or made any All-Star teams since. The Pirates have returned to perennial irrelevance. But after a five-year sojourn with the Giants, Yankees, Phillies and Brewers, McCutchen has been back in Pittsburgh since 2023. The dreadlocks are gone. He has stolen double-digit bases just once since 2019 (he peaked with 33 in 2010). But he hasn't been a charity case, either. On a team that can't seem to score at all, McCutchen, now 38, has still posted an OPS+ mark of over 100 each of these three most recent seasons (100 is league average). Cody Stavenhagen spoke to McCutchen about how he views his career, the passing of time, and why he came back to a city that has become home. More 'Baseball Dads': The Blue Jays anticipate finding out what Max Scherzer still has in the tank — he'll come off the IL tonight to start against the Guardians. All you old heads will remember a time — all the way back in 2011 — when just four teams per league made it to the playoffs. Even in 2012, with the 'expanded wild card' format, it was just one additional team per league, with the two wild-card teams facing off in a one-game elimination. That changed temporarily in 2020 (because of the shortened season, eight teams per league made the playoffs) and permanently in 2021, when six teams from each league — 40 percent of the league — found themselves in the postseason tournament. One thing we've observed in the years since: The 'sellers' are harder to come by at the trade deadline. Take the 2023 Diamondbacks, who made it to the World Series after winning just 84 regular-season games. They were 57-50 at the deadline. Perhaps a more instructive example would be the Angels, who were 56-51. Not only did they not sell, they were buyers, acquiring Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López at the deadline (they later dumped both on waivers). Advertisement Anyway, if 84 wins can sneak you into the playoffs, a lot more teams have hope. It's a factor that this year's Trade Deadline Tiers story takes into account, as they scour the league, from the should-be aggressive buyers to the should-be aggressive sellers. The deadline is just over a month away, and Chad Jennings, Aaron Gleeman and Tim Britton do a good job painting a league-wide picture of where everyone stands. Three-time All-Star Whit Merrifield has announced his retirement at 36. It's time to ask: Is Cal Raleigh going to upset Aaron Judge for the AL MVP award? Jim Bowden follows up his AL version with one trade suggestion for each NL wild-card candidate. Tyler Kepner tells us how the Phillies' Cristopher Sánchez developed the league's most devastating changeup. On the pods: Phillies president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski is on 'Starkville,' while over on 'Rates and Barrels,' the crew fires up the Trademaster 3000. Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Hayes' Twins Q&A, which touches on whether it's possible Carlos Correa would be traded (highly unlikely). 📫 Love The Windup? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cardinals Continue Chase of NL Central-Leading Cubs in Pivotal Series
Cardinals Continue Chase of NL Central-Leading Cubs in Pivotal Series originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Having won five of their last six games, the Cardinals are set to take on the NL Central-leading Cubs in a four-game series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Advertisement This series marks the first time the Cardinals and Cubs have met this year. With a record of 46-31, the Cubs hold a 3.5 game lead over the Brewers in the NL Central. The Cardinals enter the series with a record of 42-36, putting them 4.5 games out of first place in the NL Central. They trail the Brewers by one game for the final wild card spot. Cardinals second baseman Brendan DonovanJoe Puetz-Imagn Images Monday, June 23, 6:45 p.m. CT How to watch/listen: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, KMOX 1120 AM/104.1 FM Probable starters: Cubs: Ben Brown (4-5, 5.57 ERA) Cardinals: Matthew Liberatore (4-6, 4.08 ERA) Tuesday, June 24, 6:45 p.m. CT How to watch/listen: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, KMOX 1120 AM/104.1 FM Advertisement Probable starters: Cubs: Jameson Taillon (7-4, 3.84 ERA) Cardinals: Michael McGreevy (1-1, 2.70 ERA) Wednesday, June 25, 6:45 p.m. CT How to watch/listen: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, KMOX 1120 AM/104.1 FM Probable starters: Cubs: TBD Cardinals: TBD Thursday, June 26, 1:15 p.m. CT How to watch/listen: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, KMOX 1120 AM/104.1 FM Probable starters: Cubs: TBD Cardinals: TBD What to watch for: 1. Can Alec Burleson stay hot? Alec Burleson may be the hottest hitter in baseball. He's slashing .367/.375/.733 with three homers in his last seven games and has a .981 OPS in the month of June. Burleson also has a .303 average against the Cubs in his career. Advertisement 2. How will the Cardinals bullpen fare? The Cardinals have played five games in the last four days, and two of those games went to extra innings. With that, the bullpen is pretty taxed. Cardinals starting pitchers being able to go deep into games could prove to be a deciding factor in the series. It'll be a tough task, though, as the Cubs have one of the best offenses in baseball. 3. Shota Imanaga returns for the Cubs? Over the weekend, Cubs manager Craig Counsell hinted at LHP Shota Imanaga rejoining the team's rotation during the trip to St. Louis. Imanaga, who has been out since early May with a hamstring injury, made a rehab assignment last Friday where he threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. The Cubs have yet to announce their starters for games three and four of the series. Advertisement Related: Cardinals Expected to Recall Pitching Prospect Ahead of Crucial Cubs Series Related: Cardinals' Donovan off to Surprisingly Slow Start in All-Star Voting This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 23, 2025, where it first appeared.
