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CORVALLIS, Ore. — DJ Uiagalelei picked Oregon State as his transfer destination, sight unseen, primarily because of an NFL-style offense that puts great responsibility on its quarterbacks.

Despite the demanding scheme, Uiagalelei, who started most of the past two seasons at Clemson, has felt even more liberated on the practice field this spring.

“I wanted to go somewhere where the scheme is going to fit me,” Uiagalelei told ESPN. “I wanted to go somewhere where they’re going to let me be who I am as a player, let me play free, and let me go out there and just cut it loose. Just somewhere where I can do what I wanted to do.”

Uiagalelei, ESPN’s top-rated pocket passer in the 2020 recruiting class, entered the transfer portal Dec. 5 and selected Oregon State 18 days later without visiting campus. Viewed as the next elite Clemson quarterback following Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson, Uiagalelei went 22-6 as the Tigers’ starter and showed improvement last season after a turbulent 2021 campaign, but was replaced by freshman Cade Klubnik early in the ACC championship.

The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Uiagalelei sought a return to the West Coast, closer to his home in Southern California. He extensively researched Oregon State’s offense, which had elements that he felt could best prepare him for an NFL career. Uiagalelei also noted the successful transfers of quarterbacks such as Will Levis, who left Penn State for Kentucky and could be a top-10 pick in next week’s NFL draft.

“I wanted to be able to do play-action, throw a lot of deep balls, deep posts, scheme-wise, a little bit more complex than I was doing at Clemson, a little more NFL-style,” Uiagalelei said. “I looked at Will Levis. A lot of people have him going first round, because he’s a good player, but also because he played in a pro-style system.”

Uiagalelei is competing this spring with redshirt sophomore Ben Gulbranson and freshman Aidan Chiles. Gulbranson went 7-1 as Oregon State’s starter as the team went 10-3 and finished No. 17 nationally. But the Beavers also ranked 104th in passing and wanted to add quarterback options. All three players worked with the first-team offense in Thursday’s practice in advance of Saturday’s spring game.

Coach Jonathan Smith praised Uiagalelei’s approach toward learning the offense and connecting with his new teammates. Uiagalelei hasn’t led an offense that huddles since the seventh grade.

“He’s been great, early on not trying to be showy or the face of the program from the get-go, but just fitting in with the guys,” Smith told ESPN. “He’s in this building every day, trying to digest. This is a new system. It’s drastically different from what he was doing, so it’s taken him reps to get comfortable with the calls, changing the play at the line of scrimmage, reading the signal, protections.

“From day one to where he’s at now, it’s night and day.”

Uiagalelei has adjusted well to Corvallis, a bigger college town than Clemson and one that offers more places to go and greater anonymity. He often sees his younger brother, Matayo, a freshman defensive end at Oregon, a 50-minute drive from Oregon State’s campus.

“It’s something different from Clemson where every player, they recognize you, come up to you, ask you for a picture,” Uiagalelei said. “Here, it’s nice, I just walk around, me and my girlfriend, go eat, no one knows who I am. It’s great.”

Uiagalelei spoke glowingly of his time at Clemson and the friendships he built with Bryan Bresee, R.J. Mickens, Tyler Venables and others. He hopes to apply everything that happened at Clemson — good and bad — to his next chapter at Oregon State.

“The biggest thing is if you don’t learn from your losses, you don’t turn that ‘L’ into a ‘W,’ then what’s the point?” he said. “Everything in life that you go through, it’s a lesson.”

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Cubs’ Taillon (calf) to miss more than month

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Cubs' Taillon (calf) to miss more than month

CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was placed on the injured list on Friday with a right calf strain, the team announced before its game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s expected to miss “more than a month,” according to manager Craig Counsell.

Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his last wind sprint after a bullpen session on Thursday.

“He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time,” Counsell said.

Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season who just got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury. Now they’ll have to navigate at least the rest of this month without one of their other key starters.

“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our advantage and we’ll go from there.”

The team recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, though he won’t go directly into the rotation. Instead, the Cubs will throw a bullpen game on Saturday against the Cardinals and “go from there,” according to Counsell.

Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his past five starts dating to May 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, compared to just three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting average.

The team might also consider a bigger role for righty Chris Flexen who has been fantastic for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 games, including a four inning stint late last month.

“He’s a candidate to be stretched out for sure,” Counsell said. “He’s prepared to do a little bit more.”

Cubs brass have already stated they are looking for starting pitching before the trade deadline later this month. Counsell was asked if Taillon’s injury increases that need. He didn’t take the bait.

“The trade deadline isn’t until July 31,” he said. “I’m focused on the next week or 10 games before the All-Star break.”

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Guardians OF Thomas reinjures foot, exits game

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Guardians OF Thomas reinjures foot, exits game

CLEVELAND — Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas left during the sixth inning of Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers due to mild plantar fascia symptoms with his right foot.

Thomas missed 11 games in late May and early June because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He is batting .160 this season and .197 (13-for-66) since coming off the injured list on June 9. He does have four homers in his past 10 games.

“We think he’s good. The plantar fasciitis flared up a little bit again and I just didn’t like the way he looked running around the outfield. So rather than take a chance, I got him out of there,” manager Stephen Vogt said after the 2-1 loss to the Tigers.

Thomas also missed five weeks due to a right wrist bone bruise after getting hit by a pitch during the April 8 home opener against the Chicago White Sox.

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Westburg sparks Orioles, homers in winning return

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Westburg sparks Orioles, homers in winning return

ATLANTA — Jordan Westburg didn’t have to be fully recovered from a finger injury to move back into Baltimore’s lineup and make an immediate impact.

Westburg had three hits, including a homer, in the Orioles3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

The Orioles received another boost as Tyler O’Neill came off the injured list with a single and a walk.

“I think they gave us two of the three runs,” said Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino, referring to O’Neill scoring on Cedric Mullins‘ two-run homer off Spencer Strider.

“Those are two really good players,” Mansolino said. “We’re still short. We’re still missing Adley [Rutschman], but a lot of credit to the guys. They went out there and put up three runs against probably one of the great pitchers in the game.”

Rutschman, Baltimore’s primary catcher, has been out since June 20 with an oblique strain.

Westburg has tried to play through his sprained left index finger. He left a game at the New York Yankees on June 21 before returning four days later against Texas and then having to leave a game after aggravating the injury on June 27.

“Is he 100%? Probably not,” Mansolino said before the game. “But I think he’s probably close.”

Close was good enough. When asked how he feels after his three-hit game, Westburg said, “Pretty good.”

“I’m willing to play through whatever I have,” Westburg said. “It just was at a point where I wasn’t able to swing a bat. As soon as I’m able and can, I want to be on the field as much as they’ll let me.”

O’Neill was the Orioles’ designated hitter in his return from a left shoulder impingement. He was placed on the injured list for the second time this year on May 16 after missing time earlier in the season with neck inflammation.

The contributions from Westburg and O’Neill, who combined to reach base five times, helped support Charlie Morton, who allowed six hits and two runs in 5⅓ innings in his return to Atlanta, where he pitched the past four seasons. Morton also began his career with the Braves.

Morton (5-7) improved to 5-0 in 10 appearances, including seven starts, since May 10.

“I spent basically half my career here,” Morton said. “Being drafted here, I spent seven years in the system, went to the big leagues, made my debut, got to play for Bobby Cox, got to play with some of the pillars of this organization and … come back and win a World Series here. Yeah, it’s a special place for me.”

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