
A guide to LSU-Georgia, Kansas State-TCU and the rest of the conference title games
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ESPN staff
The college football regular season may be over, but don’t fret, the sport has saved some of the best matchups for conference championship week.
Beginning on Friday night in Las Vegas, teams will battle for not only conference bragging rights but spots in the College Football Playoff field as well.
USC is just one win away from a likely berth in the playoff but will have to get through Utah in the Pac-12 title game Friday night. The Utes handed the Trojans their only loss of the season back on Oct. 15, so revenge and a spot in the top four leave Lincoln Riley’s squad with plenty to play for in Las Vegas.
Speaking of plenty to play for, the surprising TCU Horned Frogs are one win away from a spot in the CFP after closing out the regular season 12-0. If the Frogs are able to beat Kansas State in the title game, they will become the first Big 12 team to break into the playoff field since the 2019 season.
Georgia is already in the playoff, and LSU is out after last week’s loss, regardless of what happens in the SEC title, but the teams will meet in Atlanta for the conference title. Georgia lost in last year’s SEC championship game before going on to win the national title.
In the night window, Michigan, in pursuit of its second straight Big Ten title, faces Purdue while Clemson and North Carolina meet for the ACC crown.
The Tulane Green Wave and UCF Knights also meet in a conference championship game on Saturday for who likely gets to represent the American Athletic Conference and the Group of 5 in a New Year’s Six bowl.
This is our last week of action before bowl season, so get all the top storylines from the best matchups below.
Pac-12 championship: No. 11 Utah (9-3) vs. No. 4 USC (11-1)
(Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Friday, 8 p.m. ET, Fox)
Caleb Williams may be on the brink of winning the Heisman Trophy, but the last time these two teams met, Williams and his five touchdowns during the game somehow didn’t make him the most unstoppable player on the field. For at least one night in Salt Lake City, that honor belonged to Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid.
Over the course of 60 minutes, Kincaid pulled off his best Rob Gronkowski performance and dominated the USC defense to the tune of 243 receiving yards on 16 catches and one touchdown. The Utes’ offensive game plan became simple: When in trouble, target Kincaid.
“Anytime someone has their career game against you, there’s a level of embarrassment about it,” defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said this week. “If he makes big-time catches and we don’t tackle him … I know exactly what’s gonna happen on Friday. It’s gonna be the same damn thing.”
A lot has happened for both teams since that game. USC’s defense has continued to cover any weaknesses with its takeaways and red zone stops, while USC’s offense has skyrocketed as Williams has. Utah, on the other hand, is banged up. Cam Rising is dealing with an unspecified injury, while Kincaid himself missed the game against Arizona with a shoulder injury and was banged up again in last week’s win over Colorado.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham said he expects Kincaid to play on Friday night, but the Utes will likely have to rely more on the run game, just as they have in recent weeks. Until last week, the Trojans’ defense had struggled to limit teams on the ground, but last week’s game against Notre Dame was a different story — the Irish had only 90 rushing yards.
“Everybody doing their job and communicating and being on the same page, when we do that, we’re a hard defense to go up against,” linebacker Shane Lee said.
Lee is among several players who have pointed to that loss at Utah as a pivotal point in USC’s season. The way the loss landed but didn’t linger appeared to give everyone in the locker room the motivation to ensure they didn’t lose again.
“The vibe inside the room was completely different from times when I’ve lost before in college so far,” Williams said. “There were a lot more smiles.”
It is difficult, at this point in the season, to imagine Williams having an off game. And so, USC’s chances — to make it to the playoff and have a chance to win there — will likely come down to how effective, how “on the same page” and how consistent their defense is in these tougher, tighter games. After all, Utah was the one team all season that did something nobody else could: outscore USC.
The optimistic approach after the Utah loss proved to be fortuitous for the Trojans. They knew what they needed to do to bounce back, and so far, they have aced every test since. As they stand just 60 minutes from a conference title and a playoff berth, the question is: Can they keep it going? — Paolo Uggetti
Big 12 championship: No. 10 Kansas State (9-3) vs. No. 3 TCU (12-0)
(AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, Saturday, noon ET, ABC/ESPN app)
Kansas State entered the season as a sleeper pick to win the Big 12. TCU was picked seventh in the conference. After one of the most unlikely seasons in recent history, this game could now be a referendum on TCU’s chances to make the College Football Playoff.
The No. 3 Horned Frogs are one of three undefeated teams in the FBS and, before a blowout win over Iowa State last week, survived a streak of seven straight wins by 10 points or fewer, which tied 1975 UNLV for the longest such string in the AP Poll era dating back to 1936.
So the Horned Frogs know how to win. And none of their five second-half comebacks were bigger than against Kansas State in Week 8, a 38-28 TCU win in Fort Worth after the Wildcats jumped out to a 28-10 lead in the second quarter. The 18-point comeback was TCU’s largest this season.
“We can say all we want about ‘We didn’t do this or didn’t do that,'” K-State coach Chris Klieman said this week. “Give TCU credit. They came back from being down and stayed the course and stayed in the fight. … The biggest thing I think that disappointed us is we couldn’t get off the field on defense. Thus our offense just never had the ball much in that second half.”
This is the eleventh time that the Big 12 title game features a rematch of a regular-season game. Of the 10 previous instances, the winner of the first game won six of them.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes said on Tuesday that he considers this similar to a different season, saying last year’s results don’t affect this season.
“There will be lot of cat and mouse stuff, probably a little more than you normally have, because of the familiarity,” Dykes said.
He said the K-State offense has “taken off” in the past four or five weeks as Will Howard has become more comfortable after coming in for an injured Adrian Martinez (including in the TCU loss), and he’s impressed with how offensive coordinator Collin Klein has utilized the many talents of running back Deuce Vaughn.
Vaughn currently has 1,295 rushing yards and 348 receiving yards this season after 1,404 rushing and 816 receiving yards last year. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, in the past 15 seasons, only one Power 5 running back, Christian McCaffrey, has had multiple seasons of 1,300 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards.
The Wildcats have a chance to play spoiler on Saturday. In the eight years of the CFP, there have been six times when a top-four team was going into the final week and didn’t make the final field. Five of those lost in conference championship games. The other was 2014 TCU, which was notably jumped by Ohio State when the Big 12 did not have a title game.
Dykes knows he won’t have home-field advantage this time, and said he’s always been impressed with Klieman’s team.
“They’re just a good football team. And physical,” he said. “That was a very physical football game. I think that’s a trademark of their program, and it has been for a number of years going back to Coach [Bill] Snyder, and Coach Klieman has kind of kept that tradition alive.”
They’ll need to be physical against TCU running back Kendre Miller, who ranks third in the Big 12 with 650 rush yards after contact this season. He had a season-high 113 against Kansas State earlier this season.
But Klieman knows they’ll have to watch for an explosive TCU team.
“Offensively, defensively, special teams … Collectively, they’re the fastest team we’ve played,” he said. “It’s going to come down to can we win some of these one-on-one matchups because we didn’t win enough one-on-one matchups [in] October, especially in the second half.” — Dave Wilson
0:47
Heather Dinich breaks down TCU’s chances to reach the College Football Playoff even if it loses to Kansas State.
SEC championship: No. 14 LSU (9-3) vs. No. 1 Georgia (12-0)
(Mercedes-Benz Dome, Atlanta, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, CBS)
Harold Perkins Jr. has been a revelation for LSU this season. His 7.5 sacks rank third in the SEC, despite rushing the passer only 105 times. For comparison, the league leader, Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr., has 10 sacks on 310 pass-rush attempts.
And did we mention that Perkins is only a freshman? The former five-star linebacker from Texas was the jewel of coach Brian Kelly’s first recruiting class.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart remembers evaluating Perkins as a high school prospect.
“He was probably one of the most talented linebackers coming out that season on tape,” he said.
As the season’s gone on, Smart said, “He’s proven that.”
“He’s extremely explosive, athletic,” Smart added. “They do a very good job of utilizing his skill set.”
But, ahead of Georgia and LSU competing in the SEC championship game on Saturday, is it fair to look at Perkins’ production and wonder whether he’s the key to neutralizing the Tigers’ defense?
As LSU made a late-season push, Perkins was dominant. He had five tackles and a sack in a win over Ole Miss, and eight tackles and a sack in a win over Alabama. And during a slugfest at Arkansas in which the LSU offense struggled, Perkins single-handedly carried the team to victory with what might have been the game of the year, racking up eight tackles, four sacks and two forced fumbles.
Then you look at LSU’s losses, and there’s a common thread: Perkins didn’t fill up the stat sheet and didn’t affect the quarterback. In losses to Texas A&M, Tennessee and Florida State, he had no sacks and averaged two tackles per game.
But it wasn’t just Perkins who didn’t get after the quarterback in losses. The defense as a whole, which averaged 2.8 sacks and 11.7 quarterback hurries in nine wins, had no sacks and 15 total pressures in three losses.
The loss to the Aggies last week was especially embarrassing for LSU. Giving up 38 points to a lackluster offense was surprising. It was no secret what A&M wanted to do: hand the ball to Devon Achane. Still, Achane rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns.
Kelly reflected on the loss and felt that the team had gotten away from what led it to a berth in the conference title game: marrying traits with talent.
Perkins, Kelly said, has to do the same thing.
“He’s very, very talented,” Kelly said. “But, like I said, I mean, it’s both: he’s got to bring his traits and talent together. If he brings both of those, he is an elite and special player.”
It will be an uphill battle on Saturday. Georgia, which is a heavy 17.5-point favorite, has given up the third-fewest sacks in the FBS this season (seven).
To have a chance of pulling off the upset, Perkins and LSU will have to find a way to get in the backfield and affect quarterback Stetson Bennett. — Alex Scarborough
ACC championship: No. 23 North Carolina (9-3) vs. No. 9 Clemson (10-2)
(Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN app)
Clemson has made its way back to the ACC championship game, but that is not exactly the major talking point headed into its matchup against North Carolina.
For the second straight year, the Tigers will be left out of the College Football Playoff, and questions about quarterback DJ Uiagalelei have begun to mount once again after he threw for 99 yards in a shocking 31-30 loss to South Carolina last week.
Though Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has once again defended Uiagalelei, saying he was “a long way from being the reason we lost the game,” it is fair to wonder which version of Uiagalelei we will see on Saturday. Especially since North Carolina has first-team All-ACC quarterback Drake Maye on the other side.
In addition, Swinney has also faced questions about whether running back Will Shipley has been given enough carries. Despite averaging 8.8 yards per rush against South Carolina, Shipley only had 15 carries — including just two on the final four drives of the game. Afterward, he candidly said, “As a competitor, hell yeah, I want the freaking rock with five minutes to go and the game on the line against our rival. That is me as a competitor, but that is not how it shakes out all the time.”
But beyond those questions, there are others about the overall program now that Clemson has missed the playoff for two straight seasons. Swinney told reporters Sunday that winning the national championship is not among its list of goals when the season begins.
“Our goals are win the opener, win the division, win the state, win the ACC and win the closer,” Swinney said. “Our goals are set up to allow us to compete at the highest level, but the reason that it doesn’t say win the national championship on there is because we don’t control that. We could win all of our games and somebody could say no, you don’t qualify. We do have an opportunity still to hit four out of five, and if we do that, we’re going to have another great year here and keep moving forward.”
Though there may not be national implications, the game is an intriguing one considering not only the story lines but their recent history. In 2018, North Carolina nearly upset No. 1 Clemson but opted to go for a 2-point conversion and failed with 1:17 left, losing 21-20. When the teams previously met in the ACC championship game in 2015, a disputed offside call on an onside kick allowed No. 1 Clemson to hold off the Tar Heels and win 45-37.
While playing in the ACC championship game is old hat for Clemson, North Carolina has not won an ACC football title since 1980. Only NC State has a longer conference title drought among current ACC schools.
“We’re trying to take steps in our program,” North Carolina coach Mack Brown said. “Four years ago, we won five games in two years, so every step that we take is a step closer to North Carolina football being relevant again. I thank (our guys) for getting us to this point. There’s only 10 teams that will play in Power 5 championships this weekend, and they’re one of 10 out of 131. So that’s pretty cool.” — Andrea Adelson
Big Ten championship game: Purdue (8-4) vs. No. 2 Michigan (12-0)
(Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Fox)
Purdue is 3-0 against AP top-5 teams under Jeff Brohm, which is an incredible mark.
Brohm and the Boilermakers have another opportunity to face a top-3 opponent on Saturday against No. 2-ranked Michigan in the Big Ten championship game. Purdue is the underdog in the game as the Wolverines are undefeated and coming off of a win against then-No. 2 Ohio State.
Brohm said there isn’t a secret formula to the success he and his teams have had against highly ranked opponents, but he knows it’s going to take a lot to take down Michigan.
“When you play those type of teams, you have a little luck on your side, you’ve got to play your very best,” Brohm said. “A lot of things got to go your way. You know, I do think that we will prepare hard, I do think that we will give it our best shot. I do think that as coaches, we got to put in a plan that has a couple of wrinkles here and there, that gives us an edge.”
Brohm has been watching the film and saw the Michigan team that came out and attacked Ohio State, outscoring the Buckeyes 28-3 in the second half of their game.
“Michigan’s played lights out this week. Very well coached, tremendous defense. I think their front four plus, basically, their front seven will be the most talented team we played to date,” Brohm said. “They’re big, they’re stout, they will rotate a lot of guys in, good in the secondary, just statistically one of the best defenses in the country. And on offense, the running game, the tight ends, the O-line, and now a really athletic, dynamic quarterback who can make plays outside the pocket.”
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said it finally sunk in that his team beat Ohio State and finished the season undefeated when he was traveling back home from the game. He said he tried to answer as many text messages as he could from supporters after the win, but he is focused on this game and what it means for the program.
A second Big Ten championship in a row, a berth in the College Football Playoff for the second year in a row and it seems like the Wolverines have been playing in must-win games like this for the past three weeks.
“The week before was the biggest game in the world, past game was the biggest game in the world to us,” Harbaugh said. “Now this game is the biggest game in the world to us and going about the preparation, the study of our opponent, the meetings, the practices and getting ready for this game. So, we can have the same feeling of winning and thrill of victory.”
Because Michigan has been in so many high-pressured situations, and because Purdue is the underdog, Brohm is looking at this game as one that Purdue doesn’t have to stress about. His team knows that no one picked them to play in this game and that there is a lot riding on it for the Wolverines.
“There’s going to be more pressure on Michigan, of course,” Brohm said. “They’ve got a chance to really do something special this year, they’re in a great position to do that. So, for us, this is a one-game shot to play in a championship game and roll the dice and see what we can do.” — Tom VanHaaren
American Athletic Conference championship: No. 22 UCF (9-3) vs. No. 18 Tulane (10-2)
(Yulman Stadium, New Orleans, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN app)
The first time Tulane hosted UCF this season, the Knights jumped out to a 24-7 lead and never relinquished it, winning 38-31.
However, Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt saw something out of his team that game. He told ESPN the following week, “I think the one thing that we need to take from [that loss], I think that everyone fought. There was no quit in anyone.” He added that they’d need to show a sense of urgency in the following week.
They had urgency… and then some. Pratt responded by going 9-of-14 passing for 141 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 70 yards on the ground and three more scores from there in a 59-24 win over SMU. The week after, they knocked off then-No. 24 Cincinnati on the road.
Now comes the rematch against a UCF team that rebounded this past week in the War on I-4, after a surprising 17-14 loss against Navy in Orlando. Quarterbacks Mikey Keene and John Rhys Plumlee have shared snaps the last couple of games, giving the Knights a variety of looks offensively, with no shortage of playmakers surrounding them.
The Knights ran for a then season-high 336 yards (176 of which came from quarterback Plumlee) in their first matchup with the Green Wave, which was the most Tulane has allowed all season. UCF’s 38 points in that game was also the most Tulane’s defense has allowed this year.
The Knights have won the previous five games against the Green Wave. In a season where Tulane has been one of the best and most surprising stories, the Green Waves’ next chapter becomes this second chance they’re being given against a UCF hurdle that they haven’t been able to clear.
There won’t be a better time to do it than Saturday afternoon, but as the Knights have established in the past, it’s not going to be easy. — Harry Lyles Jr.
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Midseason grades for all 30 MLB teams: ‘A’ is for Astros, ‘F’ is for …?
Published
4 hours agoon
July 10, 2025By
admin
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David SchoenfieldJul 9, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close- Covers MLB for ESPN.com
- Former deputy editor of Page 2
- Been with ESPN.com since 1995
We’re past due to hand out some midseason grades, so let’s hand out some midseason grades.
As we pass the 90-game mark in the 2025 MLB season, my team of the first half isn’t the well-rounded Detroit Tigers, who do get our highest grade for owning MLB’s best record, or the explosive Chicago Cubs or Shohei Ohtani‘s Los Angeles Dodgers, but a team most baseball fans love to hate: the Houston Astros. They lost their two best players from last season and their best hitter has been injured — and they’re playing their best baseball since they won the 2022 World Series.
Let’s get to the grades. As always, we’re grading off preseason expectations, factoring in win-loss record and quality of performance, while looking at other positive performances and injuries.
Jump to a team:
AL East: BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR
AL Central: CHW | CLE | DET | KC | MIN
AL West: ATH | HOU | LAA | SEA | TEX
NL East: ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH
NL Central: CHC | CIN | MIL | PIT | STL
NL West: ARI | COL | LAD | SD | SF
Tarik Skubal is obviously the headline act, but the Tigers are winning with impressive depth across the entire roster.
Javier Baez is putting together a remarkable comeback season after a couple of abysmal years and will become the first player to start an All-Star Game at both shortstop and in the outfield. Former No. 1 overall picks Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson have put together their own comeback stories, while Riley Greene has matured into one of the game’s top power hitters.
Given their deep well of prospects and contributors at the MLB level, no team is better positioned than the Tigers to add significant help at the trade deadline.
I heard someone refer to them as the Zombie Astros, which feels apropos. Alex Bregman left as a free agent, they traded Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez has been injured and has just three home runs, and the Jose Altuve experiment in left field predictably fizzled.
But here they are, fighting for the best record in the majors and holding a comfortable lead in the AL West. They’re getting star turns from Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez and Jeremy Pena, while the risky decision to start Cam Smith in the majors with very little minor league experience has paid off, as he has now become their cleanup hitter.
If we ignore the COVID-19 season, the Astros look on their way to an eighth straight division title.
This could be at least a half-grade higher based on everything that has gone right: Pete Crow-Armstrong‘s attention-grabbing breakout, Tucker doing everything expected after the big trade, Seiya Suzuki‘s monster power numbers and Matthew Boyd‘s All-Star turn in the rotation. The Cubs are on pace for their most wins since their World Series title season in 2016.
There have been a few hiccups, however, especially in the rotation with Justin Steele‘s season-ending injury and Ben Brown‘s inconsistency, plus rookie third baseman Matt Shaw has scuffled, and the bench has been weak aside from their backup catchers.
Still, this is a powerhouse lineup, and the Cubs will seek to improve their rotation at the deadline.
They just keep winning of late, going from 25-27 and seven games behind the Yankees on May 25 to taking over first place from the slumping Bronx Bombers, a remarkable turnaround over just 36 games. They went 27-9 over a 36-game stretch ending with their eighth win in a row on Sunday.
George Springer‘s recent surge has been fun to watch, a reminder of how good he was at his peak, and Addison Barger has been mashing over the past two months.
Some of the stats don’t add up to the Blue Jays being this good — they’ve barely outscored their opponents — but there might be more offense in the tank from the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a healthy Anthony Santander, and the bullpen, a soft spot, is the easiest area to upgrade.
Their success is best summed up by the fact that Freddy Peralta is their lone All-Star, but they have a whole bunch of players who have contributed between 1 and 2 WAR.
Brandon Woodruff looked good Sunday in his first start in nearly two years, so that could be a huge boost for the second half.
I’m curious to see how Jackson Chourio performs as well. While his counting stats — extra-base hits, RBIs — are fine, his triple-slash line remains below last season, especially his OBP. He had a huge second half in 2024 (.310/.363/.552), and if he does that again, the Brewers could find themselves back in the postseason for the seventh time in eight seasons.
The Rays started off slow, with a losing record through the end of April, but then went 33-22 in May and June to claw back into the AL East race — as the Rays usually do, last year being the recent exception.
Two key performers have been All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero, who has a chance to become just the third player to hit 40 home runs in his age-21 season, and All-Star first baseman Jonathan Aranda.
Due to the league wanting the Rays to play more home games early in the season, the July and August slate will be very road-heavy, so we’ll see how the Rays adapt to a difficult two-month stretch, especially since their pitching isn’t quite as deep as it has been in other seasons.
No, they’re not going to be the greatest team of all time. But they might win 100 games — even though Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, their huge offseason acquisitions, have combined for just two wins in 10 starts.
The lineup, of course, has been terrific, with Ohtani leading the NL in several categories and Will Smith leading the batting race. By wRC+, it’s been the best offense in Dodgers history.
If they can get some combo of Snell, Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow healthy, plus Ohtani eventually ramped up to a bigger workload on the mound, the Dodgers still loom as World Series favorites.
They are on pace for 95 wins, mainly on the strength of Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez, who are a combined 23-7 with 11.8 WAR. Jesus Luzardo‘s ERA is bloated due to that two-start stretch when he allowed 20 runs, but he has otherwise been solid as well.
But, overall, it hasn’t always been the smoothest of treks. The bullpen has imploded a few times and the offense has lacked power aside from Kyle Schwarber. Bryce Harper is back after missing three weeks, and they need to get his bat going. Look for some bullpen additions at the trade deadline — and perhaps an outfielder as well.
The Cardinals have been a minor surprise — perhaps even to the Cardinals themselves. St. Louis was viewing this as a rebuilding year of sorts — not that the Cardinals ever hit rock bottom and start completely over. They had a hot May, winning 12 of 13 at one point, but the offense has been fading of late, with those three straight shutout losses to Pittsburgh and six shutout losses since June 25.
The starting rotation doesn’t generate a lot of swing and miss, with both Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas seeing their ERAs starting to climb. Brendan Donovan is the team’s only All-Star rep, and that kind of sums up this team: solid but without any star power. That might foretell a second-half fade.
All-Star starting pitchers Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, plus a dominant bullpen, have led the way, although after starting 12-4, the Giants have basically been a .500 team for close to three months now. Rafael Devers hasn’t yet ignited the offense since coming over from Boston, and the Giants have lost four 1-0 games.
These final three games at home against the Dodgers before the All-Star break will be a crucial series, as Los Angeles has slowly pulled away in the NL West.
This was an “A-plus” through June 12, when the Mets were 45-24 and owned the best record in baseball, even though Juan Soto hadn’t gotten hot. Soto finally got going in June, but the pitching collapsed, and the Mets went through a disastrous 1-10 stretch.
The rotation injuries have piled up, exacerbating the lack of bullpen depth. Recent games have been started by Justin Hagenman (who had a 6.21 ERA in Triple-A), journeyman reliever Chris Devenski, Paul Blackburn (7.71 ERA) and Frankie Montas, who has had to start even though he’s clearly not throwing the ball well. The Mets need to get the rotation healthy, but also could use more offense from Mark Vientos and their catchers (Francisco Alvarez was demoted to Triple-A).
At times it has felt like Cal Raleigh has been a one-man team with his record-breaking first half. But he will be joined on the All-Star squad by starting pitcher Bryan Woo, closer Andres Munoz and center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who made it on the strength of his defense, as his offense has been a disappointment.
The offense has been one of the best in the majors on the road, but the rotation has been nowhere near as effective as the past couple of seasons, with George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller all missing time with injuries. They just shut out the Pirates three games in a row, so maybe that will get the rotation on a roll.
They’re just out of the wild-card picture while hanging around .500, so we give them a decent grade since that exceeds preseason expectations. It feels like a little bit of a mirage given their run differential — their record in one-run games (good) versus their record in blowout games (not good) — and various holes across the lineup and pitching staff.
But they’ve done two things to keep them in the race. One, they hit a lot of home runs. Two, they’re the only team in the majors to use just five starting pitchers. The rotation hasn’t been stellar, but it’s been stable.
The Padres are probably fortunate to be where they are, given some of their issues. As expected, the offensive depth has been a problem.
Not as expected, Dylan Cease has struggled while Michael King‘s injury after a strong start has left them without last year’s dynamic 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation (although Nick Pivetta has been one of the best signings of the offseason). Yu Darvish just made his season debut Monday, so hopefully he’ll provide a lift.
The Padres haven’t played well against the better teams, including a 2-5 record against the Dodgers, but they did clean up against the Athletics, Rockies and Pirates, going 16-2 against those three teams.
For now, the Reds are stuck in neutral. Leave out 2022, when they lost 100 games, and it’s otherwise been a string of .500-ish seasons: 31-29 in 2020, 83-79 in 2021, 82-80 in 2023, 77-85 in 2024 and now a similar record so far in 2025.
The hope was that Terry Francona would be a difference-maker. Maybe that will play out down the stretch, but the best hope is to get the rotation clicking on all cylinders at the same time. That means Andrew Abbott continuing his breakout performance, plus getting Hunter Greene healthy again and rookie Chase Burns to live up to the hype after a couple of shaky outings following an impressive MLB debut.
Throw in Nick Lodolo and solid Nick Martinez and Brady Singer, and this group can be good enough to pitch the Reds to their first full-season playoff appearance since 2013.
The Yankees have hit their annual midseason swoon — which has been subject to much intense analysis from their disgruntled fans — and that opening weekend sweep of the Brewers, when the Yankees’ torpedo bats were the big story in baseball, now seems long ago.
Going from seven up to three back in such a short time is a disaster — but not disastrous. Nonetheless, the Yankees will have to do some hard-core self-evaluation heading to the trade deadline.
The offense wasn’t going to be as good as it was in April, when Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice were all playing over their heads. So, do they need a hitter? Or with Clarke Schmidt now likely joining Gerrit Cole as a Tommy John casualty, do they need a starting pitcher? Or both?
From the book of “things we didn’t expect,” page 547: The Marlins are averaging more runs per game than the Orioles, Padres, Braves and Rangers, to name a few teams. They’re averaging almost as many runs per game as the Mets, and last time we checked, the Marlins weren’t the team to give Soto $765 million.
An eight-game winning streak at the end of June has the Marlins going toe-to-toe with the Braves for third place in the NL East even though the starting rotation has been a mess, with Sandy Alcantara on track to become just the fourth qualified pitcher with an ERA over 7.00.
Heading into the season, I thought that if any team was going to challenge the Dodgers in the NL West, it would be the Diamondbacks. The offense has once again been one of the best in the majors, but the pitching issues have been painful.
After the aggressive move to sign Corbin Burnes, he went down with Tommy John surgery after 11 starts. Meanwhile, Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt each have an ERA on the wrong side of 5.00. Rodriguez was better in June before a shellacking on July 4, while Gallen remains homer-prone, so it’s hard to tell if improvement is on the horizon. Their playoff odds are hovering just under 20%, so there’s a chance, but they need to get red-hot like they did last July and August.
It feels like it has been more soap opera than baseball season in Boston, with the Devers drama finally ending with the shocking trade with the Giants.
If you give added weight that this is the Red Sox, a team that should be operating with the big boys in both budget and aspirations and instead seemed to only want to dump Devers’ contract, then feel free to lower this grade a couple of notches, even if the Red Sox are close in the wild-card standings.
On the field, the heralded rookie trio of Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer hasn’t exactly clicked, with Campbell returning to the minors after posting a .902 OPS in April. A big test will come out of the All-Star break, when they play the Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Twins and Astros in a tough 15-game stretch.
After last season’s surprise playoff appearance, it’s been a frustrating 2025 — although I’m not sure this result is necessarily a surprise.
There were concerns about the offense heading into the season and those concerns have proven correct. They were getting no production from their outfield, so they rushed Jac Caglianone to the majors to much hype, but he has struggled and might need a reset back in Triple-A. Even Bobby Witt Jr., as good as he has been (on pace for 7.5 WAR), has seen his OPS drop 140 points.
On the bright side, Kris Bubic emerged as an All-Star starter and Noah Cameron has filled in nicely for the injured Cole Ragans, so maybe they trade a starter for some offense.
Coming off a catastrophic 2024 season, nobody was expecting anything from the White Sox. Indeed, another 121-loss season loomed as a possibility. While they’re on pace to lose 100 again, they’ve at least played more competitive baseball thanks to their pitching.
Rookie starters Shane Smith and Sean Burke have shown promise, while rookie position players Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero and now Colson Montgomery are getting their initial taste of the majors.
There has been the mix of calamity: Luis Robert Jr. has been unproductive and is probably now untradable, and former No. 3 overall pick Andrew Vaughn hit .189 and was traded to the Brewers.
The Twins are one organization that might like a do-over of the past five seasons. It feels like they’ve had the most talent in the division, but all they’ve done is squeeze out one soft division title in 2023. Now, the Tigers have passed them in talent and other factors, such as payroll flexibility.
There’s still time for the Twins to turn things around in 2025, but outside of that wonderful 13-game winning streak, they haven’t played winning baseball.
Overall, it’s been yet another bad season, despite Paul Skenes‘ brilliance. Really, do we talk enough about him? Yes, we do talk about him, but he has a 1.95 ERA through his first 42 career starts. Incredible.
Here’s an amazing thing about baseball. The Pirates are not a good team, but they recently put together one of the best six-game stretches in history. That’s not stretching the description. First, they swept the Mets — a good team — by scores of 9-1, 9-2 and 12-1. Then they swept the Cardinals — a good team — with three shutouts, 7-0, 1-0 and 5-0. They became the first team since at least 1901 to score 43 runs or more and allow four runs or fewer in a six-game stretch. And then they promptly got shut out three games in a row, making them the first to win three straight shutouts and then lose three straight shutouts.
Eighteen of our 28 voters picked them to win the AL West before the season, but it’s looking more and more like the 2023 World Series might be a stone-cold fluke in the middle of a string of losing seasons. That year, nearly everyone in the lineup had a career year at the plate, and the pitching got hot at the right time.
This year’s Rangers, though, have struggled to score runs, and while some have pointed to the offensive environment at Globe Life Field, they’re near the bottom in road OPS as well. It’s been fun seeing Jacob deGrom back at a dominating level, and Nathan Eovaldi should have been an All-Star.
Put it this way: If the Rangers can somehow squeeze into the postseason, you don’t want to face the Rangers in a short series. Indeed, if any team looms as an October upset special, it might be the Rangers.
The Nationals received superlative first-half performances from James Wood and MacKenzie Gore, while CJ Abrams is on the way to his best season. But there remains a lack of overall organizational progress, which finally led to the firings on Sunday of longtime GM Mike Rizzo and longtime manager Dave Martinez. A 7-19 record in June sealed their fate, as the rotation has been bad and the bullpen arguably the worst in baseball.
Until the Nationals figure out how to improve their pitching — or, better yet, find an owner who wants to win — they will be stuck going nowhere.
That fell apart in a hurry. Sunday’s loss was Cleveland’s 10th in a row, a stretch that remarkably included five shutouts. Indeed, the Guardians have now been shut out 11 times; the franchise record in the post-dead-ball-era (since 1920) is 20 shutouts in 1968.
There’s nothing worse than watching a team that can’t score runs, so that tells you how exciting the Guardians have been. Last year, the Guardians hit exceptionally well with runners in scoring position, keeping afloat what was otherwise a mediocre offense. That hasn’t happened in 2025 (trading Josh Naylor didn’t help either). Throw in some predictable regression from the bullpen, and this season looks lost.
We can’t give this a complete failing grade due to the emergence of All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson (the Athletics’ first All-Star starter since Josh Donaldson in 2014) and slugging first baseman Nick Kurtz, who have a chance to finish 1-2 in the Rookie of the Year voting. Plus, we have Denzel Clarke‘s circus catches in center field.
But otherwise? Ugh. The Sacramento gamble already looks like a disaster, three months into a three-year stay. The team is drawing well below Sutter Health Park’s 14,000-seat capacity, with many recent games drawing under 10,000 fans. Luis Severino bashed the small crowds and the lack of air-conditioning.
The A’s had a groundbreaking ceremony for their new park in Vegas, renting heavy construction equipment as background props. Maybe they should have spent that money on more pitching help.
Based on preseason expectations, the Braves have clearly been the biggest disappointment in the National League — fighting the Orioles for most disappointing overall.
What’s gone wrong? They haven’t scored runs, as the offense continues its remarkable fade from a record-setting performance just two seasons ago. The collapses of Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies lead the way, with lack of production at shortstop and left field playing a big role as well. Closer Raisel Iglesias has struggled, and the team is 11-22 in one-run games. Spencer Strider hasn’t yet reached his pre-injury level and Reynaldo Lopez made just one start before going down.
The Braves haven’t missed the playoffs since 2017, but that run is clearly in jeopardy.
The Orioles have a similar record to the Braves but have played much worse, including losses of 24-2, 19-5, 15-3 and two separate 9-0 shutouts.
They will spend the trade deadline dealing away as many of their impending free agents as possible, and then do a lot of soul-searching heading into the offseason. After making the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, will this season just be a blip? While the pitching struggles aren’t necessarily a big surprise, what has happened to the offense? Are some of their young players prospects or suspects?
After two months of Cleveland Spiders-level baseball, it would be easy to make fun of the Rockies. Especially since they recently announced Walker Monfort — son of the owner — was promoted to executive VP and will replace outgoing president and COO Greg Feasel.
On the other hand, the Rockies are doing something right: They just drew 121,000 for a three-game series against the White Sox.
Sports
Ramirez, Brown out of ASG; McKinstry among subs
Published
4 hours agoon
July 10, 2025By
admin
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ESPN News Services
Jul 9, 2025, 05:52 PM ET
The Detroit Tigers have the best record in the majors. Now they are tied for having the most All-Stars, too.
Zach McKinstry was picked Wednesday to replace Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena, who has been dealing with a rib injury. The infielder-outfielder will join Detroit second baseman Gleyber Torres and outfielders Javier Baez and Riley Greene — all AL starters — and staff ace Tarik Skubal, who also is among the candidates to start the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta.
The five All-Stars for Detroit is tied for the most with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who have DH Shohei Ohtani, catcher Will Smith and first baseman Freddie Freeman starting for the NL along with pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Clayton Kershaw.
Yamamoto is scheduled to start Sunday for Los Angeles, so Cincinnati Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott has been picked to replace him.
Meanwhile, Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes was chosen for the AL team in place of starting third baseman Jose Ramírez, the seven-time All-Star who wants to spend the week rehabbing an Achilles injury; Twins right-hander Joe Ryan was selected as the replacement for Astros pitcher Hunter Brown; and Brewers closer Trevor Megill was added to the NL team in place of teammate Freddy Peralta, their scheduled starter for Sunday’s game.
The shuffling of replacements gives the Astros four All-Stars in Paredes, Peña, Brown and pitcher Josh Hader. The Brewers have two in Megill and Peralta. And the Twins have two with Ryan joining two-time All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton.
“This was the goal in the offseason,” said Megill, who struck out Freeman, Andy Pages and Tommy Edman in order in the 10th inning to secure the Brewers’ 3-2 win over the Dodgers on Wednesday. “Just worked my butt off for it, and here we are.”
Ramírez was hit by a pitch in a game against Toronto on June 26 and has struggled at the plate since. The seven-time All-Star was still hitting .299 with 16 homers, 44 RBIs and 24 stolen bases through 87 games for the Guardians.
“Everybody wants to go to the All-Star Game and especially for the support from the fans,” Ramírez said. “But I feel the best thing for the team is to be able to be resting (those) days and be able to contribute to the team in the second half.”
McKinstry, Paredes, Megill and Ryan make six total replacements and 71 players between the two All-Star teams. The other substitution was Rays third baseman Junior Caminero for Boston‘s Alex Bregman, who has been dealing with a strained right quadriceps.
The Tigers have been one of the surprise stories of the first half of the season. After going 86-76 and tying for second in the AL Central last season, they were 59-34 through Tuesday — the best record in the majors.
Along with playing every infield position besides catcher, and both corner outfield spots, McKinstry entered Wednesday hitting .283 with seven homers and 27 RBIs. The 30-year-old needs just three more homers and nine RBIs to set career highs.
Peña, who is hitting a career-best .322 with 11 homers and 40 RBIs in 82 games for the Astros, has been out since June 28 with a fractured rib. He had hoped to return by the All-Star break, but he has not been cleared to resume baseball activity.
Paredes, his teammate, is headed to his second straight All-Star Game in his first season in Houston. He’s hitting a career-best .255 with 19 homers and 49 RBIs for the Astros, who lead the AL West.
“My main focus is to work hard for the team and be able to give the most I can for the team,” Paredes said, “but as you can see now with the results that I’m getting … those results allow me to get to the All-Star Game, so it feels good.”
Megill earned his first career All-Star selection by going 2-2 with a 2.41 ERA, 21 saves and 43 strikeouts in 33⅔ innings.
The 29-year-old Ryan, whose name has surfaced in plenty of trade talk recently, was one of the biggest snubs when the initial All-Star Game rosters were announced. The right-hander is 8-4 with a career-best 2.76 ERA across 18 starts, and he’s struck out 116 against just 21 walks over 104 1/3 innings for the Twins.
“The last couple years, I’ve had really good numbers at voting, then I’ve kind of scuttled the last two outings or so. I can see why optically it might not look as good,” Ryan said. “But putting it together, it was kind of a shock not to be in (this year).
“At the same time, there’s so many good pitchers in the league right now. You’ve just got to hang with them and if you don’t like it, play better. That was kind of the mindset I was trying to shift into, but to get the news and be excited to go, it makes everything kind of go away and you just think about the future and going forward.”
The Associated Press and FIeld Level Media contributed to this report.
Sports
Yankees DFA LeMahieu after ‘hard conversations’
Published
4 hours agoon
July 10, 2025By
admin
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Jorge CastilloJul 9, 2025, 04:54 PM ET
Close- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
NEW YORK — The Yankees designated two-time batting champion DJ LeMahieu for assignment Wednesday, presumably ending the infielder’s seven-year tenure with the organization despite being owed $22 million through next season.
“Tough decisions,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “In the end, it ultimately comes down to how this roster sits and what’s best. You want to provide your manager with enough chess moves to deal with on a day-in and day-out basis in-game.”
Manager Aaron Boone explained that the move resulted from “an evolving conversation” in recent days that included multiple meetings with LeMahieu, a respected veteran in the Yankees’ clubhouse.
It comes a day after Boone announced that Jazz Chisholm Jr. would shift back to playing second base every day from third base, bumping LeMahieu from the team’s everyday second baseman to a bench role. Boone acknowledged LeMahieu took the demotion “not necessarily great” but emphasized that LeMahieu did not ask for his release.
“It’s been a tough couple of days,” Boone said. “Some hard conversations. And then ultimately coming to this decision, conclusion, obviously not easy for [who’s] been a great player. He’s done a lot of great things for this organization. So, difficult, but at the end [we] feel like this is the right thing to do at this time.”
LeMahieu, who turns 37 on Sunday, batted .266 with a .674 OPS in 45 games this season after starting the season on the injured list with a strained calf. He has been better since June 1, hitting .310 with a .754 OPS in 96 plate appearances as the Yankees’ primary second baseman, but Cashman ultimately decided the production wasn’t enough to offset his defensive liabilities.
The Yankees signed LeMahieu to a six-year, $90 million contract before the 2021 season — fresh off LeMahieu hitting .364 during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign to become the first player to win a batting title in both leagues in the modern era — envisioning him as an everyday utility player bouncing between infield positions.
LeMahieu made 36 of his 55 starts last season at third base before going on the injured list in early September with a right hip impingement for the remainder of the year. That injury, according to Cashman, inhibited LeMahieu’s ability to play third base, and led to LeMahieu informing him that he couldn’t physically handle playing the position anymore.
“He was always just sharing that the recovery was really difficult,” Cashman said. “The physical toll on him to tee up at that position was a problem and so therefore that position is a problem.”
The limitation was cemented during spring training when LeMahieu strained his left calf in his first Grapefruit League game playing third base, forcing the Yankees to conclude that LeMahieu was no longer an option at the position. He only played second base in his nine rehab games before making his season debut May 13 as a second baseman with Chisholm on the injured list with an oblique strain.
Three weeks later, Chisholm, who started the season as the team’s everyday second baseman, came off the injured list to play third base despite LeMahieu’s range at second base being glaringly limited. Chisholm, who feels most comfortable at second base, accepted the assignment and returned to third base, a position he picked up last season after the Yankees acquired him from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline through the World Series.
The calculus changed Sunday when Chisholm, with the Yankees in the midst of a six-game losing streak, told reporters that he hurt his shoulder making a throw from third base three weeks earlier and the injury impacted his throwing. Two days later, Chisholm, who had made three throwing errors in his final four starts at third base, was the Yankees’ starting second baseman again.
With Chisholm, an All-Star this season, stationed at second base, former MVPs Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger entrenched at first base and Giancarlo Stanton occupying the DH spot, playing time would have been sparse for LeMahieu.
Factoring in that the Yankees’ options at third base behind Oswald Peraza, who is also the team’s backup shortstop, would have been catcher J.C. Escarra, Cashman determined that LeMahieu’s presence hampered the team’s flexibility to an extent that would have handcuffed Boone’s in-game decision-making. Infielder Jorbit Vivas, a light-hitting versatile defender, was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace LeMahieu on the roster.
“I wouldn’t say he’s unwilling to still make the attempt and maybe spell over there,” Cashman said of LeMahieu. “But it was something that he was without sharing that was steering clear of to the extent he could.
“Because, again, like anything else, he’s got a lot of pride. He’s a great player. He wants to contribute to the team. He loves this team. He loves this organization. But he felt that was an avenue that was no longer a realistic avenue and that kind of ties our hands a little bit more moving forward.”
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