
Stetson Bennett looks to cap storybook college career before heading into unknown
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3 years agoon
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adminSTETSON BENNETT WAS — shall we say — not himself when he sat down for an interview with “Good Morning America” just hours after beating Alabama and winning the national championship a year ago. The conquering hero of Georgia football, who was the game’s MVP and led the program to its first title in 41 years, looked to be on the verge of falling asleep as Michael Strahan introduced him to a national television audience.
Bennett said he’d gotten little rest, so maybe that was the reason for his disheveled appearance. Or maybe it was the price of that long pull of Pappy Van Winkle from the night before. Whatever the case, he spoke to GMA about betting on himself as a former walk-on and how he’d learned about perseverance during the course of his college career.
But with a year of eligibility left, his time in college wasn’t necessarily over. Asked what his future held, Bennett said, “I’m going to play football next year. We’ll see where. We’ll see if I can trust the decisions made by the staff.”
It was an eye-opening moment, hearing a title-winning quarterback question his team’s commitment to him. But a year later, Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken can laugh about it. “Although he was drunk,” he said, “he was right in a lot of ways.”
Monken put himself in Bennett’s shoes back then, wondering whether former blue-chip prospect JT Daniels would return from injury or whether another quarterback would emerge and supplant him in the starting lineup. It had been a hotly debated question whether Bennett should play throughout the team’s postseason run. Was that finally over? Would the staff still have confidence in him next season?
“His heart was always to come back,” Monken said. “But it was just a matter of, ‘All right, if I do all this and come back, am I going to be the guy?’ Which makes a lot of sense.”
No one is wondering whether Bennett is “the guy” for Georgia anymore. As Monken said, he’s been even better this season, guiding the Bulldogs to an undefeated regular season, an SEC championship and the No. 1 seed in the playoff. On a decidedly not pass-happy team, Bennett has thrown for the ninth-most yards in the FBS (3,823) with 23 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He’s also rushed for eight touchdowns and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. On Monday, he’ll lead Georgia against TCU in the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T in Los Angeles (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
But the essential question about his future remains: What’s next? Now that he’s one game away from being out of NCAA eligibility, is his next step the NFL? In the GMA interview, he spoke about his interest in going to law school. But he said he had plenty of time for that.
Recent interviews make it clear Bennett isn’t ready to give up football. But is football ready to give up on him?
EVERYONE CAN APPRECIATE the Stetson Bennett story. It’s as close to a true underdog tale as you’ll find in modern college football. For a former walk-on to reach the heights he has is incredible.
“Because you’re not given the benefit of the doubt,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “You have to earn it. You have to beat guys out. We as coaches did everything we could to not give him the opportunity, but he kept banging away at the door and he was very persistent.”
But it’s been six years since Bennett paid his own way at Georgia and four years since he kicked down the door by coming back on scholarship, and the world won’t let him forget his humble beginnings. He’s become a starter, won a national championship and even been a Heisman Trophy finalist, and still he can’t shake the walk-on label.
“He has heart, the heart of a lion, just knowing all the adversity, all the criticism he has faced since he has been here,” Bulldogs receiver Kearis Jackson said. “I don’t understand why people don’t want to respect him yet, just look what he did. He led us to a national championship, led us to an SEC championship, led us to a Peach Bowl win this last weekend, now leading us to another national championship. When is going to be the point when people are going to start giving him his respect?”
Bennett’s height is part of the problem. At 5-foot-11(ish), he doesn’t fit the mold of a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning.
Never mind his arm strength and accuracy. Never mind his athleticism and intelligence. Never mind all the yards, touchdowns and wins he’s amassed over the years. There’s a ceiling when it comes to how much people are willing to believe in him. It happens the moment he’s anything less than perfect.
Take the Peach Bowl a week and a half ago. For three quarters, Bennett wasn’t himself. His aim was off and he threw only his seventh interception of the season as Georgia fell behind against Ohio State. Inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, you could feel a sense of doubt sweep through the stands. Online, the I-told-you-so crowd fired off their snarky tweets.
Trailing by 14 points with the third quarter about to end, Bennett started firing back. He got the ball rolling with a 12-play, 62-yard drive that ended in a field goal. And then, on the first play from scrimmage after an Ohio State punt, he hit a wide-open Arian Smith for a 76-yard touchdown before converting the 2-point attempt with a pass to Ladd McConkey.
Down 6 with one final possession remaining, Bennett spoke up in the huddle. They hadn’t played their best. “But we’re here now,” he said. “It’s in our hands.” The defense did its part, he said, then asked, “Where else would you rather be?”
After a short gain to Kenny McIntosh, Bennett took the snap and surveyed the field. Ohio State defensive lineman Zach Harrison beat the right tackle off the edge and was closing in fast. But just as Harrison swung at Bennett from behind, Bennett dropped his arm angle and zipped a sidearm pass to tight end Brock Bowers over the middle, fitting the ball in perfectly between the linebacker and safety for a gain of 15 yards.
It was an Aaron Rodgers-esque throw, which is no wonder considering Bennett studies the Green Bay Packers quarterback on YouTube.
Three plays later, Bennett found Adonai Mitchell in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
Against Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud — a prospective top-10 pick — Bennett more than held his own. Technically speaking, he threw for more yards (398 to 348).
Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was asked earlier in the week whether he saw a walk-on quarterback when he studied Georgia’s games. He was emphatic: “No, I don’t.”
“I haven’t thought about it once until you just brought it up,” he said. “You look at what a guy does — just look at the tape. The guy, he does a great job, you know, at handling all aspects of the game. One of the few guys in college football that can effectively make all those decisions on the field.”
Knowles said Bennett runs an offense that’s more pro-style than some pro teams.
“He has the mental capacity and he can make all the plays,” he said.
Knowles brought up a linebacker he once coached, Malcolm Rodriguez. The former Oklahoma State Cowboy was only 6-feet tall, so despite being an All-American with 408 career tackles, he fell to the sixth round of the NFL draft. And now he’s a key contributor for the Detroit Lions with 83 tackles this season.
“Stetson Bennett is the same kind of guy who’s gonna play wherever he goes, whoever takes a chance on him,” Knowles said.
CONSIDER THE LAST calendar year and all the future pro quarterbacks Bennett has watched from the opposing sideline. It’s not just Stroud’s Buckeyes that he found a way to beat. He did the same to Alabama and Bryce Young, Florida and Anthony Richardson, Tennessee and Hendon Hooker and Kentucky and Will Levis.
For those keeping track at home, that’s every one of Mel Kiper Jr.’s top-five quarterback prospects in the 2023 NFL draft. Nowhere to be seen on his or any other draft expert’s list is Bennett — granted he doesn’t have to play against the Georgia defense.
One NFL scout who saw Bennett in-person at the Florida-Georgia game said it was no contest. He’d take Bennett over Richardson. But another scout was less bullish. “He’s an athletic kid,” the scout said, “but he’s not built to last. He’s 5-foot-11 and 186 pounds. It’s just not big enough.”
Jim Nagy, a former scout with the Seattle Seahawks who now runs the Senior Bowl, thinks there’s a “self-fulling prophecy” when it comes to how Bennett is viewed in relation to the draft. Because everyone knows his story so well — the “Mailman” nickname and the fact he started out as a walk-on — it leads to a first impression that’s hard to shake.
“Most guys get embraced for that overachiever, underdog thing,” Nagy said, “and for some reason he hasn’t.”
Bennett’s arm strength is “above average” and “good enough to play at the next level,” according to Nagy. While he’d like to see more consistent ball placement, “he can run around and he can buy a second chance.”
“If you’re an NFL scout … if you put a franchise-level grade on Bryce Young and you put a free agent grade on Stetson Bennett, in my opinion you’ve really hurt your argument for Bryce Young,” Nagy said. “Because the size is a drawback on both of those players. Now Bryce has a stronger arm, no question about that. But from talking to those guys there, Stetson’s going to run [the 40-yard dash] in the 4.5’s, which is rolling for a quarterback. So the kid can legitimately run. He’s very efficient. Has full command of that offense. Could potentially win back-to-back national championships. So if one guy is a franchise quarterback and a top-five pick, this other guy at least you have to give a seventh-round grade.”
Nagy concedes Bennett doesn’t “look like” an NFL quarterback. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, there have been only three quarterbacks drafted since 2006 that measured shorter than 6 feet and less than 200 pounds: Michigan’s Denard Robinson, Appalachian State’s Armanti Edwards and Navy’s Malcolm Perry. All of them moved to receiver in the pros.
“But you put on the tape and you look at his actual football résumé, shoot, he deserves to get a chance,” Nagy said of Bennett, “and he will get a chance.”
Bennett’s 85.6 Total QBR ranks seventh in the FBS. Among the top 10, his 68.1 completion percentage trails only Hooker, who played in three fewer games.
Big picture, he’s 28-3 and trying to become the eighth starting quarterback in AP Poll history to win back-to-back national titles.
Smart believes Bennett has “earned” a shot at the NFL. If there’s one trait that will translate to the next level, he said, it’s Bennett’s ability to quickly process information.
“So much of the NFL game is what you can do pre-snap and what you can do post-snap,” he said. “He’ll be as good as anybody at the pre-snap. He just has to continue that into the post-snap.”
But if Bennett never truly gets the chance to start — if he’s drafted late and can do little more than hold a clipboard as a backup — how will he accept it? Some scouts wonder if that chip on his shoulder will be OK sitting on the bench.
“If he didn’t have that, he wouldn’t be who he is,” one scout said.
BENNETT IS COMFORTABLE talking about the past. He’ll tell you all about growing up in Blackshear — a small town in the middle of Nowhere, Georgia — and why none of the 120-plus FBS programs offered him a scholarship coming out of high school. He put up good numbers but was only second team all-state. Not only was he not a prized recruit, he said, “there was really no threat of me ever becoming one.” After one season at Georgia, five-star Justin Fields was brought in and it was clear Bennett didn’t figure into the competition. “Well, that’s all right,” Bennett decided. “You got your guy, but I’m out of here.”
So he went to a junior college in Mississippi and proved he could play, scoring 20 touchdowns and leading the school to an appearance in the MACJC conference championship game. The University of Louisiana was going to be his next stop, but Smart swooped in at the last minute with an offer to come back to Athens on scholarship. If that doesn’t happen, if Bennett goes to Lafayette or transfers somewhere else, does this college football fairytale ever come to fruition?
“Who knows?” Bennett said. “But that’s why it’s so cool, right? Like how can you have stories if you end up exactly where you wanted to go, right? Or with following the exact plan that you planned out, right? It’s life, man, and it’s a lot more interesting that way.”
Bennett has perspective, that’s for sure. It’s clear he’s thought a lot about his journey and what it all means. He said he used to make throws in practice and think to himself, “Man, there’s no way that’s not good.” But people kept telling him he wasn’t good. He said he’d look around and wonder, “Am I dumb?”
Monken confirmed last week that after Daniels aggravated an oblique injury against Clemson in the 2021 opener and couldn’t play against UAB the next week, coaches were ready to go with Carson Beck. But then Bennett outplayed Beck in practice that week — and it wasn’t close. “Stetson played his ass off,” Monken said.
Bennett played his rear off against the Blazers, too. He threw for 288 yards with five touchdowns in a 56-7 rout. Still, Georgia’s coaches went back to Daniels the next week. Bennett took over for good when Daniels was injured again during a 62-0 victory at Vanderbilt.
Bennett admitted last season he was playing not to get benched. He still wasn’t sure his coaches had his back. Maybe that’s why when Smart was asked about the obstacles Bennett had overcome in his career, he said, “He overcame us.”
This season, Bennett is more loose, more confident, more himself. He’s thrown for nearly 1,000 more yards and increased his completion percentage by 3.6 points. He said he’s no longer trying to prove anyone wrong. He stays in the moment, just trying to win football games.
But when he was asked about his future — Where do you see yourself in five years? — he paused for what felt like an eternity. Earnestly, he said, “I don’t know.”
“I want to be …” he said before sighing and cutting himself off for another moment of reflection. “I have no clue.”
But speaking of getting cut off …
“I will not be making the call to cut off my football career unless my leg gets cut off,” he said. “That will be somebody else’s call.”
Never mind the scouts. Does he believe he can play in the NFL?
“I’m not going to go over my résumé right now,” he said. “But, yeah, I do. I think I’ve got the skill set.”
Monken, who spent eight seasons as an assistant in the NFL, believes Bennett’s intelligence and knowledge of pro concepts would be an asset at the next level. Unlike some other backup quarterbacks, Monken said, Bennett could add value without taking reps.
Bennett, for his part, doesn’t see it the same way.
“I don’t think that would be my best attribute on the team,” he said. “I think my football playing skills would probably be my best attribute.”
But he concedes Monken’s point.
“Who knows,” he said. “You’re getting me sidetracked here, thinking about the NFL and I’ve got a game to think about.”
Whether he beats TCU or not, Bennett’s place in college football history is safe. And maybe that’s enough.
But if he does win back-to-back championships and he’s invited on “Good Morning America” again in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the question will be asked: What’s next?
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Zilisch breaks collarbone in scary Victory Lane fall
Published
59 mins agoon
August 10, 2025By
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Associated Press
Aug 9, 2025, 10:02 PM ET
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch broke his collarbone after a hard fall in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International.
After his series-leading sixth victory, Zilisch was climbing onto the roof of his No. 88 Chevrolet to celebrate. He slipped after apparently getting his left foot caught in the driver’s side window netting and tumbled awkwardly onto the asphalt.
Zilisch, 19, was taken on a backboard to the trackside medical center and then transported to a hospital for further evaluation. He posted on X about two hours later that he had a broken collarbone and that CT scans showed no head injury.
“Thank you everybody for reaching out today,” Zilisch posted. “I’m out of the hospital and getting better already. Thankful for all the medics for quick attention and grateful it wasn’t any worse.”
Thank you everybody for reaching out today. I’m out of the hospital and getting better already. Thankfully, CT scans for my head are clear, I just have a broken collarbone. Thankful for all the medics for quick attention and grateful it wasn’t any worse.❤️
— Connor Zilisch (@ConnorZilisch) August 10, 2025
Zilisch will not be available for the Cup race Sunday at Watkins Glen. After racing in the Truck and Xfinity Series the past two days at the road course, he was scheduled to complete a tripleheader by making his fourth Cup start this season for Trackhouse Racing.
The scary incident capped an eventful day for Zilisch, who drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team.
After starting from the pole position, Zilisch wrecked teammate Shane van Gisbergen’s car while battling for the lead on Lap 65. After being bumped from the lead to fifth on a restart, Zilisch retook first and led the final four laps.
“He did such a great job of getting back through the field and getting the lead,” crew chief Mardy Lindley told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race. “Praying for Connor right now that he’s OK. I think he’s going to be fine.”
Zilisch missed a race earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway after suffering a back injury during a crash at Talladega Superspeedway. He has 11 consecutive top-five finishes and five wins since his return.
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Bring on the reinforcements! Returning players who could swing MLB’s playoff races
Published
2 hours agoon
August 10, 2025By
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Alden GonzalezAug 7, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
Max Muncy returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ lineup on Monday, Aaron Judge was back in the New York Yankees‘ batting order on Tuesday, and with that, the two teams that met in last year’s World Series — and had been underperforming to varying degrees in recent weeks — received valuable reinforcements for the stretch run.
They’re far from alone.
Now that the trade deadline has passed and less than two months remain in the regular season, contending teams throughout the sport are counting on key players returning from injury in the days and weeks ahead, hoping they might make the difference between missing out on October and winning it all. And given the landscape, which many consider as wide-open as ever, they just might.
Below is a look at some of the most impactful players on their way back.
Expected return date: The injury to Álvarez’s right hand has featured plenty of drama and required a lot of patience. The Astros initially diagnosed it as a muscle strain in early May and began the process of ramping him up by late June. Then came lingering pain, prompting a visit to a specialist and the revelation that the outfielder was dealing with a fractured bone. Perhaps, though, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Álvarez resumed hitting off a tee and taking soft toss a couple weeks ago and hit on the field at the team’s spring training facility on Tuesday. The Astros are going to be really careful this time around, but there is hope he can help them down the stretch.
What he means to the team: The Astros lost Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker over the offseason and have received just 121 plate appearances from Álvarez — and a paltry slash line of .210/.306/.340 — yet they’re on pace for their eighth American League West title in nine years. You would be hard-pressed to find a more impressive development this season. When healthy, Álvarez is on par with Judge and Shohei Ohtani among the game’s most imposing hitters. Given how well the Astros have pitched, plugging Álvarez back into the middle of their lineup — with an ascending Jeremy Peña, a better-of-late Jose Altuve and what they hope is a rejuvenated Carlos Correa — could put them in the conversation for the best team in the AL, if not all baseball.
Expected return date: Right-hander Assad, out all year with a left oblique injury he reaggravated around late April, made his third rehab start on Wednesday, looking sharp while pitching into the fifth inning. His next step could be joining the rotation. Taillon is right behind him. The 33-year-old right-hander has been dealing with a right calf strain for a little more than a month but pitched three innings in a Triple-A rehab start on Sunday. He gave up seven runs, but he also came out of it feeling healthy. That’s all that matters at this point. Cubs starters not named Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga have combined for a 4.63 ERA this season. And at this point, there is no outside help coming.
What they mean to the team: The Cubs did not land the controllable front-line starter they desired before the trade deadline. The starter they did acquire, Michael Soroka, pitched two innings in his debut on Monday, then landed on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort. Now, the Cubs need to make up for what they lack in their rotation internally. Assad fashioned a 3.73 ERA in 29 starts last year and was effective both out of the rotation and in the bullpen in 2023. Taillon, a proven innings eater who consistently pounds the strike zone, is probably as good a complement to Boyd and Imanaga as the Cubs can get.
Expected return date: Bieber, who had Tommy John surgery, has not taken the mound in a major league game since April 2, 2024, but the former Cy Young Award winner’s return is approaching. The right-hander made his fifth rehab start — and first since being acquired by the Blue Jays — on Sunday, striking out six batters across five innings. He’ll make another start on Saturday, then perhaps one more after that. Then the Blue Jays will see if they can get the front-line starter they envisioned when they unloaded promising pitching prospect Khal Stephen to pry Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians last week.
What he means to the team: The Blue Jays are counting on several offensive contributors returning in the not-too-distant future, including George Springer, Andrés Giménez and, they hope, Anthony Santander. But Bieber is the wild card. If he’s close to what he was even after winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2020 — a guy who put up a 3.13 ERA and struck out 459 batters in 436⅔ innings from 2021 to 2024 — he can join Kevin Gausman and José Berríos to form a really solid rotation trio in October. But the initial returns from Tommy John surgery can be tricky. Just ask Sandy Alcántara.
Expected return date: Bohm took a sinker to his left side on July 12 and later learned he had suffered a fractured rib, but the 29-year-old third baseman has been hitting ground balls and taking batting practice and will now venture out on a rehab assignment. He could return to the Phillies’ lineup this month. Nola went on the injured list for the first time in eight years because of a sprained right ankle in mid-May, then was diagnosed with a stress reaction in one of his ribs a month later. Now, Nola is finally on his way back. He went 3⅔ innings in his second rehab start on Wednesday and will make one or two more before rejoining the rotation.
What they mean to the team: Bohm and Nola have served as catalysts while these Phillies have ascended to near the top of the sport in recent years, and it’s hard not to see them having a massive say — good or bad — in October. The Phillies need them to be healthy, but they also need them to be better. Bohm was slugging just .391 before going down. Nola, meanwhile, carried a 6.16 ERA through his first nine starts — one year after receiving Cy Young votes. The Phillies’ rotation has been one of the game’s best this season, and it can handle an ineffective Nola if it absolutely has to. But the offense needs Bohm’s production.
Expected return date: Burger is navigating his second stint on the IL this season, this time because of a left quad strain, but he has played in a couple of rehab games and could return before the end of the Rangers’ current homestand. Carter, an outfielder, was shut down with back spasms on Saturday, and though there’s currently no reason to believe it’s a serious injury, it’s worrisome when you consider how back issues plagued him in 2024.
What they mean to the team: The 2025 Rangers do everything well except the one thing they felt they could do best: hit. And while the offense has been a lot better lately, the Rangers could use more production from Burger and Carter in hopes of grabbing a playoff spot in a wide-open AL. Burger has slashed just .228/.259/.401 in his first year in Texas, but could at the very least platoon with fellow first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who has been a godsend since signing a minor league deal in early July. Carter, a rookie sensation during the stretch run of the team’s championship season in 2023, was slashing just .238/.323/.381.
Expected return date: Gasser, the 26-year-old left-hander who excelled in his first five major league starts last year, is in the late stages of his recovery from Tommy John surgery. His fourth rehab start came Sunday, during which he threw 16 pitches in the game and 19 in the bullpen. The Brewers are building him back up as a starter, so he still needs to increase his pitch count. But he’s on track to join a loaded Brewers pitching staff before the end of August. So is rookie All-Star Jacob Misiorowski, who suffered a bruised left shin last week but isn’t expected to miss much more than the minimum amount of time. Outfielder Jackson Chourio, who landed on the IL with a hamstring strain last week, could be back by the end of the month, too.
What he means to the team: The Brewers acquired Gasser as part of the package that sent former closer Josh Hader to San Diego in summer 2022 and watched him shine as a rookie in 2024, putting up a 2.57 ERA with one walk in 28 innings. But then his ulnar collateral ligament gave out, triggering a long rehab that is finally reaching its conclusion. The Brewers see him as a starter long term, but there might not be room for him in the 2025 rotation. If that’s the case, he can be an impact lefty out of the bullpen. The Brewers acquired only one traditional reliever in Shelby Miller before the trade deadline, largely because they believe starters like Gasser, Chad Patrick and Tobias Myers can help them out of the bullpen when it matters most.
Expected return date: It has been a long, slow climb back for Greene and the right groin strain he suffered, for a second time, on June 3. The right-hander seemed to be approaching a return in July, but he experienced lingering pain and had to shut it down once more. Now, though, his return seems imminent. Greene navigated a third rehab start on Sunday, during which he struck out seven batters in 3⅓ innings, and is scheduled to ramp up to 80 pitches on Friday. After that, he could rejoin the rotation. With Nick Lodolo shut down with a blister that materialized on his left index finger in his Monday start, the Reds need Greene now more than ever.
What he means to the team: Here’s what Greene has done since the start of last July: 1.92 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 133 strikeouts, 30 walks, 112⅔ innings. Those are the numbers of not just a traditional front-line starter, but of one of the best pitchers in the game. The Reds have hung around all year, getting better starting pitching than they probably anticipated, but less offense than they hoped. They’ve underperformed their projections, but they still sit just three games back of a playoff spot. Greene — and Lodolo, who might require only a minimum stint on the injured list — could make the difference.
Expected return date: For the better part of two months, questions swirled around the state of King’s health and whether he would pitch at all this season. The 30-year-old right-hander was dealing with a thoracic nerve issue in his right shoulder, an exceedingly rare injury for a pitcher. He simply had to wait for the pain to subside, with no idea when it would. Now, though, he is on the doorstep of returning to the major leagues. King threw 61 pitches in 3⅓ innings in a rehab start on Sunday, allowing six runs but also striking out five batters. His next start is expected to come this weekend against the Boston Red Sox.
What he means to the team: Padres general manager A.J. Preller put together an epic trade deadline, upgrading at catcher, adding two competent bats to the lineup and, most notably, landing another impact arm for the bullpen. His starting-pitching additions, though, were depth players; JP Sears and Nestor Cortes are not expected to make playoff starts. What the Padres need is for King — their Game 1 starter in last year’s postseason, their Opening Day starter this year and owner of a 2.59 ERA in his first 10 starts — to join Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish and Nick Pivetta in the rotation to truly make this one of the most well-rounded teams in the sport. It seems that will happen.
Expected return date: Kopech, nursing a right knee injury, has been throwing bullpen sessions and is expected to be activated once he’s eligible to come off the 60-day injured list in late August. Left-hander Scott, dealing with elbow inflammation, has also been throwing off a mound and doesn’t seem far off, either. Yates’ situation, though, is a little hazier. The 38-year-old right-hander had been dealing with lower back pain for a couple weeks before landing on the IL at the start of August. There is no timetable for his return, though it seems possible that he, too, can be back before the end of the month.
What they mean to the team: The Dodgers have once again absorbed a slew of injuries throughout their staff, having already deployed 38 pitchers — one year after setting a franchise record by using 40. Their bullpen has led the majors in innings for most of this season. At the deadline, though, the front office acted conservatively, adding just one bullpen arm, right-hander Brock Stewart, along with reserve outfielder Alex Call. The approach showed confidence in the arms the Dodgers have coming back, especially in the bullpen. But Scott and Yates, their two big offseason signings, have combined for a 4.21 ERA this season. Right-hander Kopech, meanwhile, has appeared in just eight games. They’ll have a lot to prove.
Expected return date: Optimism around Meadows emerged on Monday, with some light running in the outfield — a subtle sign he is progressing once again toward a rehab assignment. Meadows, 25, missed the first two months of the season with inflammation in his upper right arm that he later learned was a product of issues with his musculocutaneous nerve. He spent most of June and July in the lineup, then landed on the injured list once more, this time because of a right quad strain. The hope is that he can be back playing center field before the end of August.
What he means to the team: Meadows accumulated 11 outs above average in center field from 2023 to 2024 despite playing in only 119 games. In that stretch, he also stole 17 bases, provided a .729 OPS — with fairly even splits against lefties and righties — and accumulated 3.1 FanGraphs wins above replacement. As the Tigers march toward their first division title in 11 years and vie for a first-round bye, they find themselves longing for Meadows in several ways. The hope is that he’ll be a much better hitter than he showed earlier this season, when he slashed .200/.270/.296 in 137 plate appearances.
Expected return date: Megill has been absent from the Mets’ rotation since the middle of June because of a right elbow sprain but threw 20 pitches in a simulated game at Citi Field on Sunday. He is expected to extend to two innings in another session on Thursday. A rehab assignment will follow shortly thereafter, putting Megill on track to potentially rejoin the Mets’ rotation later this month. Megill was solid before going down, posting a 3.95 ERA in 14 starts, and the Mets’ rotation could really use some of that right now.
What he means to the team: When Megill got hurt on June 14, the Mets’ rotation easily led the majors with a 2.82 ERA. Since then, the group has posted a 5.12 ERA, ranked 26th. Lately, it has only gotten worse. The Mets have lost eight of their past nine games, and in that stretch, the starters have allowed 34 runs (32 earned) in 43⅔ innings. Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga have all had their struggles, to varying degrees, of late. And though Megill certainly can’t fix that alone, another capable starter would certainly be welcomed.
Expected return date: Miller, limited to just 10 starts this season, cruised through his first rehab start on Friday, tossing four scoreless innings, and is scheduled to stretch to five innings on Thursday. Given that he has gone on the IL because of right elbow inflammation twice this year, requiring a cortisone shot and a platelet-rich plasma injection, the Mariners will play it safe — Miller will make two more rehab starts before being activated. Robles dislocated his left shoulder while making an incredible catch in San Francisco on April 6 and is way ahead of schedule. He’s expected to begin a rehab assignment next week and could return before the end of August.
What they mean to the team: Robles is the Mariners’ leadoff hitter and spark plug. Over a 77-game stretch after Seattle signed him as a free agent last summer, he slashed .328/.393/.467. And if he can produce something close to that, a Mariners offense that added Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez before the trade deadline and has received a dominant season from Cal Raleigh will be as deep as it has been since Jerry Dipoto took over baseball operations 10 years ago. The Mariners haven’t received as much from their rotation as they would have expected this year, but a staff of Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryan Woo, George Kirby and Miller — 12-8 with a 2.94 ERA while healthy last year — still rivals the best in the game.
Sports
At Old-Timers’ game, Clemens talks Piazza toss
Published
2 hours agoon
August 10, 2025By
admin
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Associated Press
Aug 9, 2025, 03:06 PM ET
NEW YORK — Roger Clemens came back to Yankee Stadium on Saturday, and so did the questions about his bat-throwing incident with Mike Piazza in the World Series 25 years earlier.
Piazza was batting against Clemens in the first inning of Game 2 of the 2000 World Series when his bat shattered along the first-base line. Clemens picked up part of it and fired it toward the Hall of Fame catcher.
Clemens made his debut in the Yankees’ Old-Timers’ Day game Saturday and faced four batters in the first exhibition game of the event since 2019. His manager on the 2000 championship team defended the pitcher’s actions in that at-bat against Piazza.
“There’s still a question with the broken bat, with Piazza and the whole thing in Game 2,” Joe Torre said at the podium right as Clemens walked in. “I think if Mike knew that the ball was foul, he wouldn’t have been starting to run to first base. That ball went over the first-base dugout, was foul right away. He didn’t know where it was, so he started running.”
Clemens made his first appearance as the Yankees honored the 2000 team, the last team to win three straight titles. Clemens heard a nice hand from the crowd as a montage of his highlights played on the center-field video board — omitting his notorious toss at Piazza.
“I didn’t know he was running, and Mike said that same thing, too,” Clemens said. “He didn’t know where the baseball was. So my first instinct when I shattered that bat in about four pieces, I thought it was a baseball coming at me.”
The Yankees went a combined 22-3 in the 1998 and 1999 postseasons but struggled at times in 2000, losing 15 of their final 18 regular-season games, before outlasting the A’s by winning a Game 5 on the road in their division series. After beating Seattle in a six-game ALCS, the Yankees beat the Mets in a five-game Fall Classic where every game was decided by two or fewer runs.
Clemens joined the Yankees in a trade with Toronto during spring training in 1999. He was 14-10 with a 4.60 ERA in 1999 and then 13-8 with a 3.70 ERA in 2000. During the postseason, Clemens won three games, including Game 2 against the Mets.
“When he was on the other team, you didn’t like him very much,” Torre said.
After two seasons of an on-field Q&A session with radio broadcaster Suzyn Waldman, the game has returned, and Johnny Damon hit an RBI single off Clemens.
Clemens was among several 2000 Yankees at the event, which did not feature former captain Derek Jeter. Jeter delivered a taped video message after Mariano Rivera was the final player introduced.
“He was in spring training,” fellow pitcher Andy Pettitte said of Clemens. “So it was good to see him in spring training and then of course here. A huge part of our 2000 team, and it was good.”
The only former player not introduced was current manager Aaron Boone, whose team entered Saturday with six losses in seven games.
A seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens went 354-184 with a 3.12 ERA and 4,672 strikeouts, third behind Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Randy Johnson (4,875). In two stints with the Yankees, Clemens was 83-42 with a 4.01 ERA and retired after the 2007 season.
He was named in the Mitchell report in December 2007 but has denied PED usage. In his final year on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot in 2022, Clemens received 257 votes (65.2%).
Besides members of the 2000 team, Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Ron Guidry, Bucky Dent and Mickey Rivers were introduced as members of the 1977 and 1978 World Series teams.
The widows of five-time manager Billy Martin, captain Thurman Munson and player-then-broadcaster Bobby Murcer were also introduced as part of an event that began in 1947, when Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth first appeared.
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