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USA Today
21-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Braves get reinforcements in ace Strider, MVP Acuña after riding out ugly 0-7 start
Braves get reinforcements in ace Strider, MVP Acuña after riding out ugly 0-7 start Show Caption Hide Caption Yankees 19-year-old prospect turning heads in minors USA TODAY Sports profiles Yankees top prospect George Lombard Jr., the 19-year-old who is already turning heads in the minors. SportsPulse WASHINGTON — Spencer Strider climbed the mound in a major league game for the first time in 29 days, and just the second time in 13 months, and no, he was not wearing a cape. There was no 10-gallon hat to signify a new sheriff in town, just a sleeveless dude on a chilly night aiming to fortify an Atlanta Braves roster that's grown accustomed to not waiting around. On this Tuesday night, Strider - a 20-game winner and 281-strikeout man just two seasons ago – was not particularly good. A month-long layoff after a right hamstring strain that followed a yearlong absence due to a second elbow reconstruction surgery will do that to a guy. MLB POWER RANKINGS Red Sox get pummeled as Devers powers up Yet it was not a particularly dire development that Strider had little command for his pitches early on, nor that his fastball averaged 95 mph, a half-tick slower than a month ago and 3 mph less than peak Strider of old. No, Strider is not expected to be a savior. Nor is 2023 MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., who is expected back this weekend following a 12-month absence due to an ACL tear in his right knee. See, the Braves are getting used to a by-any-means necessary ethos, which saved them from a slump-laden and injury-plagued 2024 season that ended with their seventh consecutive playoff berth, clinched on the final day of the season. For their latest trick? How about starting the season 0-7, losing their key offseason acquisition to a PED suspension four games into the season and holding casting calls for both corner outfield spots as if they're running a middle school play? Yet the Braves continued workshopping solutions until they found a combination that works. If there's a Braves Way that can define this period of sustained success, perhaps it's the ability to take a punch – and find a way to counter. 'Being in organizations that expect to win, the biggest thing is even if your big guys are either not performing well or are hurt, no one feels sorry for themselves,' says Alex Verdugo, the former Yankee, Red Sox and Dodger signed off the unemployment line at the end of March to eventually solve their left field conundrum. 'It's having that next guy up, man. Having that mindset of constantly battling, whether it's good at-bats, productive at-bats, getting guys over, the smaller things. 'As you do that, bigger results come from that and that's what we're seeing.' Right now, the 24-24 Braves are a .500 team, but that doesn't look too bad after seeing 0-7 and 5-13 next to their name in the standings. It is Atlanta, and so starting pitching has kept them above water even without Strider, with a National League-best 2.70 ERA led by burgeoning ace Spencer Schwellenbach. But after two years of strange underperformance and unfortunate circumstance, the Braves remain irrepressible. 'They don't let anything get 'em down, I know that,' says manager Brian Snitker. 'They don't sit around and do the 'Woe is me' type thing. They just keep working and preparing and organizationally we did a good job in the depth. 'They seem to come together. I look at it as an opportunity for someone to do something really good. Fortunately, over the last few years, we've had guys do just that.' Even if it takes a minute. A dash of Dugie Acuña's loss could have spoiled each of the past two seasons. The Braves mixed and matched as best they could last year and won 89 games; this offseason, not wanting to rush Acuña's return, they signed journeyman Bryan De La Cruz to hold things down. And then Jurickson Profar got popped with an 80-game ban for a fertility drug. De La Cruz and left fielder Jarred Kelenic did not rise to the occasion, to say the least. They needed just 39 combined games to produce negative-1 wins above replacement, and a quartet of left fielders before Verdugo joined the club combined for a .200/.268/.231 slash line. Right field was almost as grim, with Kelenic's .167/.231/.300 putridity earning the veteran a trip with De La Cruz to the minor leagues after just 23 games. Stuart Fairchild, old friend Eddie Rosario, hey, everyone come on down. Yet Verdugo, with no spring training under his belt, made his debut April 18, batting leadoff with the club mired at 5-13, and for whatever reason, it was go time. Atlanta won eight of 10 as Verdugo started 23 of the next 28 games; Eli White, a 31-year-old who'd received just 59 plate appearances the previous two seasons, settled into right and has produced a .783 OPS with 11 extra-base hits. Whatever it takes. 'Dugie has come in and fit in very nicely,' says All-Star third baseman Austin Riley. 'You always talk about a lineup with depth and being able to flip a lineup and get it to your middle of the order guys – and they're doing that. Batting in the two hole, I feel like Eli's on base a lot, Nick Allen's on base a lot, Dugie's on base a lot.' Says Snitker: "Alex didn't have spring training and he comes here, and it kind of coincided with us getting off the mat a little bit. When you get veteran guys like that, it helps. And you need that.' Before April 18, Verdugo's last game was Game 5 of the World Series, where he started in left field for the Yankees. But they turned the job over to rookie Jasson Dominguez, and everyone else decided they didn't need his services. But Profar's suspension changed all that. And Verdugo appreciated a shot with yet another perennial power. 'This is a good organization and a team that just won it in '21,' says Verdugo, 29. 'They're not too far out from being world champions, and I still feel like they hold themselves to a certain standard. A lot of guys here have contracts and have some stability, and it's still cool to see them preparing and focusing on the things they should be to give themselves the best opportunity to win. 'All the big organizations I've been on, including this team, that's what they do - they find a way to win that day.' Not fade away The Braves should want for very little very soon. Acuña is hitting 420-foot home runs on his rehab assignment and should be back in time for the Braves' return to Truist Field this weekend against San Diego. Strider beat him to it, though giving up four runs in 5 ⅓ innings – including a home run and two hit batters – was far from a glorious return for the notorious perfectionist. 'I take no joy,' he says Tuesday night, 'in not giving us a chance.' Still, he returns to a club well within the NL East race, with the rival Mets and Phillies confronting issues of their own. There's still plenty to play for as the weather warms up and Strider presumably adds some more fuzz to his fastball. 'I think they were forced to acknowledge where they were, and obviously they weren't happy with it and credit to them for remaining confident and seeking out solutions and trying to get better,' says Strider. 'And you know, it takes time. It's not like one day everything just magically got better for everybody. So that came from deliberate work. 'That's an amazing testament to those guys and what they were able to do and where they put themselves now.' With an MVP return just around the corner.
Newsweek
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
Dodgers' Freddie Freeman Gets Injury Update After Early-Season Setback
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the season with one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the history of the sport, and that's proven to be a good thing. With superstars like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto leading the way, the Dodgers seem to have virtually no weaknesses. But in the marathon baseball season, injuries can threaten to derail the highest championship hopes, even for a team with this much talent. The Dodgers have already seen the likes of Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Teoscar Hernandez, Tommy Edman and several others go down with persistent injuries. And Freddie Freeman has been no exception. Freeman suffered an ankle injury during the Dodgers' World Series run last fall and opted for offseason surgery shortly after. Then, in April, he was placed on the 10-day injured list following a setback on that injury after he reportedly slipped in the shower. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 15: Freddie Freeman #5 of the Los Angeles Dodgers stands in the dugout before their game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on May 15, 2024 in San... SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 15: Freddie Freeman #5 of the Los Angeles Dodgers stands in the dugout before their game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on May 15, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by) More Shaw/Getty As Freeman posts a National League-best .376 batting average and .734 slugging percentage this season, Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reported the extent of Freeman's ongoing ankle treatments. "Every day, Freeman said he gets 'about an hour and a half' of pregame treatment on his ankle," Harris wrote. "In games, he tapes it up for stability and wears heel lifts in his cleats to prevent it from getting jammed as he runs." Freeman has insisted on playing every day and his production at the plate so far certainly justifies it. But amid all of the other injuries it's seeing, the team is hoping he can completely recover as soon as possible. Now, it has given Freeman an update on when his ankle might stop giving him problems. "Perhaps by the All-Star break, Freeman has been told by the team's training staff, his ankle will be back to relative normal — or, at least, to the point where, 'I might not have to do as much treatment,' he said," per Harris. As the Dodgers look to repeat as World Series champions, they'll need as many healthy players as they can get. More MLB: Yankees Get New Bad Break as Rehabbing $18 Million Righty 'Can't Get Over Hump'
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cardinals' Donovan Projected to Start for NL All-Star Team
As the month of May begins, so too do discussions about the MLB All-Star Game. We're still about two and a half months away from this year's game, which will take place on July 15 in Atlanta, but Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter predicts that Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan will start for the National League in this year's Midsummer Classic. With a slash line of .333/.386/.483 through 31 games, Donovan is off to a scorching-hot start. In addition to predicting Donovan to start in the all-star game, Reuter also recently ranked him as the best second baseman in baseball for 2025. Reuter included starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore as one of his 'worthy snubs', but Donovan was the lone Cardinal on his projected roster. Advertisement While he's primarily a second baseman, Donovan is a true utility man. He's played six different positions in his MLB career and is a two-time utility gold glove award finalist, winning the first edition of the award in 2022. This season, he's filled in at shortstop while Masyn Winn was injured and has also spent 61 innings in the outfield. Cardinals second baseman Brendan DonovanPaul Rutherford-Imagn Images On the offensive side, Donovan leads all qualified Cardinals hitters in hits, doubles, batting average and slugging percentage, among other categories. His 40 hits are tied for a National League-best. Donovan, who is in his fourth MLB season, finished third in rookie of the year voting in 2022. He is yet to make an all-star appearance. If selected as a starter, Donovan would be the first Cardinal second baseman to start in an all-star game since Tom Herr in 1985. Advertisement Related: Cardinals' Liberatore Leading MLB in Important Category Related: Cardinals Provide Encouraging Update on Rising Young Slugger
