Can Drew Allar be the elite quarterback who gets James Franklin and Penn State into the playoff?
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Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior Writer
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford approached coach James Franklin in the fourth quarter of January’s Rose Bowl and implored, “Do not take me out of this game.”
Franklin smiled this spring at the memory, remembering how his sixth-year senior didn’t want the moment to end as his team closed in on a decisive victory against Pac-12 champion Utah. But Franklin was also cognizant of an opportunity for the program’s future. So Franklin called timeout with 2:30 to play and handed his offense to baby-faced backup quarterback Drew Allar, a true freshman.
It marked a symbolic quarterback transition many Penn State fans have been clamoring for. While Allar, who turned 19 in March, hasn’t been anointed the starting quarterback just yet, Franklin said this spring his staff “intentionally worked hard at trying to get him as much experience as possible” last fall with an eye on this season.
If Allar — or another contender — can play at a consistently elite level, this could be Franklin’s best team since 2016, when Penn State won the Big Ten but was left out of the College Football Playoff. Penn State’s playoff potential is a familiar storyline this time of year in State College, where Franklin is still aiming for his first CFP appearance in his 10th season as head coach. But the returning talent this year — from a deep, veteran offensive line and dependable running game to staff stability — lends credence to that potential.
In a conference that has been top-heavy with rivals Ohio State and Michigan’s seesawing supremacy, Penn State could make the East Division race one of the most entertaining and unpredictable. Penn State’s games against Ohio State and Michigan will determine whether the Nittany Lions are a serious contender in their own division, let alone the CFP.
Since Franklin arrived in Happy Valley, Penn State is a combined 4-14 (.222) against Michigan and Ohio State, compared to 45-16 (.738) against the rest of the Big Ten. There have routinely been specific shortcomings against those opponents, including in the running game, but one of the most glaring disparities has been the turnover margin. Penn State is minus-six against Ohio State and Michigan and plus-20 against the rest of the league.
The biggest issue, though, might be that it never has had the right quarterback at the right time.
“Although we’ve had some good ones here, that’s probably been the difference between us winning three New Year’s Six bowl games and getting into the playoff and winning a national championship,” Franklin said, “is having an elite quarterback that can make the plays that change games.”
This season, they might.
WHEN FRANKLIN WAS hired in 2014, Christian Hackenberg was the starting quarterback for two seasons, followed by Trace McSorley for three years and Clifford for four. They were respectable players who won more than they lost, but CFP quarterbacks have historically played at a different level. A total of 20 quarterbacks have been drafted following CFP appearances, including 12 in the first round, with six No. 1 overall picks (Alabama’s Bryce Young, LSU’s Joe Burrow, Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield, Florida State’s Jameis Winston and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence). Penn State’s Hackenberg was drafted in the second round, while McSorley went in the sixth and Clifford in the fifth.
A total of 23 quarterbacks have been Heisman finalists during the CFP era, and more than half of them (15) also reached a semifinal. Penn State has not had a finalist in the CFP era — though running back Saquon Barkley finished fourth in 2017 — and has only had one winner in school history: running back John Cappelletti in 1973.
While there has been a strong correlation between elite quarterback play and semifinal appearances, it also doesn’t guarantee one (See: 2022 Caleb Williams and USC; 2016 Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma; or 2016-17 Lamar Jackson).
It’s far too early to link Allar — who hasn’t even picked his major or started a game yet — with any Heisman hype. Franklin said it’s not a necessity to have a Heisman-winning quarterback, but any team looking to contend for the national title needs to have one of the best in college football.
“People have compared us to some other programs, and you get that quarterback that changes your program and all of a sudden the next quarterback comes, and the next quarterback comes, and the next quarterback comes,” he said. “Some of it is luck, and some of it is development and identification through the recruiting process.”
Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich recruited Allar, a four-star recruit and the No. 2 pocket passer in the 2022 ESPN 300. He said Allar has “far exceeded” his expectations “from a cerebral standpoint,” but also has other “elite traits.” It’s also Allar’s second season in the same offense, as this is the first time since 2019 Penn State has had both coordinators return for a second season.
“He’s hard to bring down,” Yurcich said. “You need three arms on him, at least. He can stand in there and he doesn’t need much space. Those are the elite traits that he has — the ability to be accurate with things around him, he’s got really good vision. He keeps his eyes downfield incredibly well for a young guy. He’s getting better every day with pre-snap duties, which are protection, run checks, seeing the defense.”
Clifford walked off to a roaring ovation at the Rose Bowl, but as ceremonious as it was, some critics wanted it months earlier. The calls for Allar grew louder in October after Clifford accounted for four turnovers in Penn State’s 44-31 home loss to Ohio State. The loss doomed the Nittany Lions’ chances of winning the Big Ten East after also losing at Michigan two weeks earlier.
Yurcich said Clifford gave Penn State the best chance to win last year. The staff didn’t want Clifford looking over his shoulder — or to start Allar before he was mentally ready for it.
“I think the worst thing you can do is make a knee-jerk reaction or be influenced by outside sources and not trusting the minds that are within this building,” Yurcich said. “The worst thing you can do is play a guy when he’s not fully ready. … you can ruin the confidence. That’s a huge mistake I think a lot of coaches make. When there’s pressure on a staff to play a certain guy based on outside sources — whether that’s the higher-ups, the fan base, whatever — those are pitfalls you see organizations fall into at the highest levels.”
While Franklin stayed loyal to Clifford last year, he was also methodical in finding playing time for the 6-foot-5, 242-pound Allar, who appeared in 10 games, including the Rose Bowl, the season opener against Purdue and at Michigan.
“I think what was probably pretty obvious to everybody is, he gets in the game as a true freshman against Purdue to open the season, and he’s just got a sense of poise,” Franklin said. “He’s calm. And you watch him stand in the pocket, and there’s really no panic, and I think that’s when people were like, ‘OK, this guy may be different,’ which is unusual as a true freshman on that stage.”
IT’S NAIVE TO assume that Allar or any other rookie quarterback will enter the starting lineup this fall and do what his predecessors could not — beat Ohio State and Michigan — without significant help.
Penn State appears to have it.
It starts with the offensive line led by projected top-10 tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu and running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who became the first true freshmen teammates in Big Ten history to each have 700 or more rushing yards in a single season. Singleton (1,061 rushing yards) set a school freshman record with 12 rushing touchdowns and Allen (867 rushing yards) followed with 10.
“Neither one of them played like true freshmen,” Franklin said.
It was an eye-opening improvement that coincided with the development of the offensive line, which is perhaps the deepest and most experienced it’s been during Franklin’s tenure. At 6-foot-6, 323 pounds, Fashanu looms large even without his pads on. He played 520 snaps at left tackle last season and didn’t allow a single sack. Fashanu said he chose to return to Penn State instead of entering the NFL draft so he could begin his master’s degree in the fall, and because he felt “this year we could go a lot further than going to just the Rose Bowl.”
“We have the size and the talent, but something that’s a lot more noticeable than in years before is we have a lot of depth,” he said of the offensive line. “Last year going into every game there were probably like seven or eight guys that we could play in a game, but this year it’s looking more like 11 or 12.”
The evolution of Penn State’s running game is a critical component to the Nittany Lions’ attempt to rise from top-10 to top-four. According to ESPN’s Stats & Information research, Penn State has averaged more than a yard fewer against Michigan or Ohio State (3.27) than the rest of the Big Ten (4.28).
In 2016, when Penn State won the Big Ten but was excluded from the CFP, the selection committee could never quite forgive the Nittany Lions’ ugly 49-10 loss at Michigan. It was a flat finish to a 2-2 September that also included a Week 2 loss at Pitt.
Since 2013, Penn State has faced both Ohio State and Michigan every season and has never gone 2-0 against them, only defeating the Buckeyes once during that span. Penn State doesn’t have to go 2-0 against Ohio State and Michigan to reach the CFP, but it can’t lose ugly and it certainly can’t lose to both. The Nittany Lions are unlikely to face a ranked opponent before their Oct. 21 game at Ohio State.
“There’s a game that you win and then you see yourself in a different way, and you’ve got to win that occasion against somebody to begin to see yourself differently,” defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. “I think that’s our next step. We have the right group of people to do it, but you have to go out there and do it.”
With a nonconference schedule that includes West Virginia, Delaware and UMass, Penn State’s strength of schedule will be an issue in the committee meeting room if PSU doesn’t win the Big Ten — especially if the one-loss Nittany Lions are being compared against a one-loss SEC team.
According to ESPN Analytics, the SEC (97%) and Big Ten (94%) are the most likely conferences to put a team in the playoff and the most likely to have multiple teams finish in the top four. Last year, Michigan finished No. 2 and Ohio State finished No. 4 heading into the playoff.
If Penn State beats Michigan at home but doesn’t win at Ohio State, the win against the Wolverines would by far be the most impressive on its schedule. Last year, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 7 Penn State were the only Big Ten teams ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25. Penn State would benefit from teams like Illinois, Iowa, Maryland and Michigan State playing their way into the top-25 this year.
If Penn State can finish as a one-loss Big Ten champion, it’s hard to envision the selection committee snubbing the Nittany Lions again.
And Allar said the team is driven to be better than last year’s 11-2 finish.
“We definitely want to build off that and not take a step back or be in the same place that we were last year,” Allar said. “Guys recognize that and the talent we have from top to bottom on this team is definitely some of the best in the country. [They] have that self-belief and self-confidence that we can really do this thing.”
PENN STATE CORNERBACK Kalen King, a Detroit native, grew up a Michigan fan, watching the Wolverines with his dad. He said Charles Woodson was one of his favorite players, and he loved watching reruns of old Rose Bowl games. So when the time came to actually play in one — and win — he couldn’t help but scoop up a few roses off the field from the postgame celebration as a souvenir.
“It only benefits us because now we know how to win at a high level,” he said. “We can only build on that. Since we made it that far last year, we have to be better than last year. We can’t drop off. We can’t be worse. We’ve already seen what it was to win the Rose Bowl, so now we’ve got to explore bigger and better things.”
It was as King and the Nittany Lions’ defense took the field for the final time against Utah that Franklin told Allar to warm up.
It was only one pass attempt. Only four against Purdue. Ten against Michigan. Slowly, though, they add up.
“As soon as I got into more games,” he said, “I definitely felt more comfortable going into those situations because of how well they prepared me to be in those situations.”
Penn State’s most difficult game of the regular season will be in Allar’s home state on Oct. 21 at Ohio State, where the Nittany Lions haven’t won since 2011. Franklin described Allar as an “old-school, prototypical quarterback” with a strong arm who “can make all the throws on the field.” He said Allar has more mobility than people might realize (he ran for 52 yards and one touchdown last fall on 18 carries). Allar can step up in the pocket, he said, extend plays, run through arm tackles.
But Franklin stopped short of saying Allar is the answer.
“I don’t like to make statements like that,” he said. “These guys have way too much pressure already.”
Fair. But if Penn State is going to win the Big Ten East — or at least force a three-way tie with Ohio State and Michigan — pressure is like part of the uniform, and it is as familiar as the storyline.
Every week, we gather a panel of our MLB experts to rank every team based on a combination of what we’ve seen so far and what we knew going into the season. Those power rankings look at teams as a whole — both at the plate and in the field.
But, how different would those rankings be if we were to look only at major league offenses?
We’ve seen a number of offensive explosions so far in the 2025 season — from torpedo bats taking the league by storm on opening weekend thanks to the Yankees’ barrage of home runs to Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani each putting together yet another all-time campaign at the plate.
The latest offensive shake-up came in the form of a blockbuster trade, with the Red Sox sending All-Star slugger Rafael Devers to the Giants in a deal that reverberated around the league. How did it impact the two teams’ offensive outlooks?
Our MLB power rankers came together to sort baseball’s lineups based on what they’ve seen so far and where teams currently stand. We also asked ESPN MLB experts Jeff Passan, David Schoenfield and Bradford Doolittle to break down the top 10 offenses in baseball, from each team’s catalyst to the lineup’s biggest weakness.
Top 10 lineups
Why it’s so fearsome: You start with the second-best hitter in the world in Shohei Ohtani, add in the National League’s leading hitter for average in Freddie Freeman and the NL’s OBP leader in Will Smith, mix in Mookie Betts, and finish with power up and down the lineup — and you might have the best lineup in Dodgers history. Indeed, their current wRC+ of 124 would be the highest in franchise history. There is just no room for opposing pitchers to breathe, and the Dodgers have a nice balance of left- and right-handed hitters who make it difficult for opposing managers to optimize their bullpen matchups.
One weakness: Michael Conforto has been a big disappointment as a free agent, hitting .170 with only four home runs while playing nearly every game so far. The bench was weak to start the season, but the Dodgers jettisoned longtime veterans Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes and called up Hyeseong Kim and top prospect Dalton Rushing. Kim has been outstanding, hitting .382 in his first 30 games, while Rushing has played sparingly as the backup catcher.
Player who makes it all click: As the leadoff hitter, Ohtani’s presence sets the tone from the first pitch of the game — and he already has hit seven first-inning home runs in 2025. With 73 runs in the Dodgers’ first 72 games (he sat out two of them), Ohtani is on pace for a remarkable 164 runs scored, which has been topped only twice since 1900 — once each by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. (They also each have the only other seasons with at least 160 runs scored.) With Ohtani making his 2025 pitching debut Monday, we’ll see if that affects his offense, but it didn’t during his final season with the Angels in 2023 when he posted a 1.066 OPS while pitching. — Schoenfield
Why it’s so fearsome: The Yankees homer more than any team in the American League. They walk more than any team in all of MLB. They don’t strike out excessively. They punish fastballs. Judge, the best hitter in baseball, anchors their lineup. Seven other regulars are slugging at least .428 in an environment where the leaguewide slug is under .400. There are 100 more reasons the Yankees’ lineup induces such anxiety in opposing pitchers, but it can be encapsulated this way: It’s a lineup without a real weak link, filled with professional hitters who take quality at-bats, at a time when so few make that a priority.
One weakness: Calling this a weakness is a stretch, because the most important point about the Yankees’ lineup is that it doesn’t have a weakness, but they have been worse with runners in scoring position than in situations without runners on second or third. The Marlins have more home runs with players in scoring position than the Yankees. New York’s slugging percentage in such situations dips from .451 to .407 — good for 13th in MLB. It’s also 140 points below the Dodgers’ mark. But fear not: Slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who epitomized clutch for the Yankees last postseason, is back after sitting out the season’s first 2½ months. As if the rich need to get any richer.
Player who makes it all click: What, were you expecting J.C. Escarra? The answer, of course, is Judge, the two-time AL MVP whose combination of power and plate discipline is gifting the Yankees another potential all-time season. It’s not simply the .378 batting average — which is 56 points higher than his career best — or the resplendent home runs he hits, to left and center and right, making the whole field his playground. Even after a miserable series against the Red Sox over the weekend, there is an expectation that Judge will rebound because he hits the ball so hard and so consistently makes contact. The Yankees without Judge are good; the Yankees with him are undeniable. — Passan
Why it’s so fearsome: The lineup depth has been ridiculous, and that trait has been even more stark since Matt Shaw returned from an early-season demotion and began contributing. The Cubs’ collective OPS from spots seven through nine in the batting order is more than 50 points better than the second-best team. Some of that stems from Pete Crow-Armstrong hitting seventh early on, but Chicago has maintained its top-to-bottom consistency all season. This keeps the plate full for run-producers Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki.
One weakness: The Cubs have been good at just about everything that goes with producing runs. They rank in the top 10 in all three slash categories, are fifth in homers and second in steals. You really have to squint to find a weakness. You can point to a big disparity in road production (.808 OPS) compared to what the Cubs have done at Wrigley Field (.702 OPS). But that too might even out as the weather factors in Chicago work more consistently in favor of hitters.
Player who makes it all click: Crow-Armstrong might be the Cubs’ best MVP candidate, but Tucker is the best hitter and the best exemplar of Chicago’s good-at-everything attack. Tucker leads the team in runs created and OPS+, and though he’s not Crow-Armstrong on the bases, he has swiped 18 of 19 bags. None of this is out of scale with Tucker’s track record. This is who he is — except maybe a little better, as he has walked more than he has struck out. If Tucker’s power bat heats up with the summer weather, look out. — Doolittle
Why it’s so fearsome: The Diamondbacks do a little bit of everything. They already have two 20-homer hitters in Corbin Carroll and Eugenio Suarez, plus Ketel Marte, who sat out a month because of injury but could still reach 30 home runs. They are fourth in the majors in walks and fifth in on-base percentage, so they get on base. Geraldo Perdomo has been a solid contributor the past two seasons but has added some power. He has more walks than strikeouts and has already established a career high in RBIs, adding depth. Josh Naylor is hitting around .300 while replacing Christian Walker’s production at first base.
One weakness: Center fielder Alek Thomas is the only regular with a below-average OPS+, and even then, he’s not awful. The bench is a little thin beyond Tim Tawa and Randal Grichuk, as backup catcher Jose Herrera has provided little offense. The Diamondbacks’ biggest potential weakness is their struggle against left-handed pitchers. (They have an OPS more than 100 points lower than against right-handers.) Carroll, Naylor and the switch-hitting Marte have each been significantly better against righties.
Player who makes it all click: As explosive as Carroll has been at the top of the order, Marte is the team’s best all-around hitter. Like Perdomo, he has more walks than strikeouts, making him a tough out with his ability to put the ball in play and also take free passes. He has the power (36 home runs in 2024) to clear the bases, but he also excels as a baserunner and can have Naylor and Suarez drive him in. When the Diamondbacks reached the World Series in 2023, Marte was the offensive leader, hitting .329/.380/.534 that postseason. — Schoenfield
Why it’s so fearsome: The Mets’ lineup runs sneaky deep, boasts a combination of average and power, and has the fourth-lowest strikeout rate in the major leagues. Low strikeouts often equate to decent batting averages, but the Venn diagram with contact orientation and power is sparsely populated. Beyond the overall numbers, the Mets’ lineup is packed with stars: Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor and the team’s best hitter this season, Pete Alonso. A resurgent Jeff McNeil deepens a group that hasn’t received quite the expected output from Soto. He’s starting to find his rhythm, though, and once that happens, the Mets are bound to be even better.
One weakness: Considering the Mets have multiple options at third base, the quest for an internal solution isn’t banking on the fortunes of a single player. It could be Mark Vientos, the postseason star last year who’s set to begin a rehab assignment next week after a disappointing start to the season. It could be Brett Baty, who has shown plenty of power but still sports a .267 on-base percentage. It could be Ronny Mauricio, the rookie whose pop — and allergy to getting on base — is similar to Baty’s. Regardless of who it is, manager Carlos Mendoza has time to figure out how to maneuver his lineup so that other offensive holes at catcher and center field (when Jeff McNeil isn’t playing there) aren’t nearly as glaring.
Player who makes it all click: The Mets have been clicking without the best version of Soto, so it’s no surprise that in the past 16 games — in which Soto has hit .333/.507/.685 with five home runs — they have scored at least four runs 15 times. As good as New York is without Soto performing, he is their double-click — the catalyzer who brings about action. Even at his lowest points this season, he was managing to get on base, and that’s what makes Soto such a transformative player: His floor is extremely high. When he’s feeling his swing and unleashing shots to all fields, he’s capable of reaching a ceiling higher than all but a handful of hitters in the game. — Passan
Why it’s so fearsome: The Phillies have veterans with big names who have all been productive hitters at various points in their careers — although not necessarily in 2025. Kyle Schwarber has been the lynchpin so far, moved out of the leadoff spot and leading the team in home runs, runs scored and RBIs. Trea Turner is having his best season since joining the Phillies in 2023, with a .364 OBP that would be his highest since 2021. Alec Bohm has been on his usual roller coaster — homerless in April but hitting .331 with seven home runs since the beginning of May.
One weakness: Catcher J.T. Realmuto has carried a huge workload through the years but is now 34 years old and showing some signs of age with career lows in batting average, slugging and OPS. Bryson Stott was an above-average hitter in 2023 before dipping last season, and he has been even worse in 2025 with an OPS+ of just 75. Part-time center fielder Johan Rojas provides speed and defense, but not much offense, and as usual, the bench is pretty weak. Yes, that’s more than one weakness.
Player who makes it all click: As important as it is to have Turner getting on base, this lineup will always revolve around Bryce Harper and his ability to go on hot stretches. He hasn’t had one yet this season and is currently on the injured list because of a right wrist injury. His .446 slugging percentage and .814 OPS are his lowest since 2016. Harper has always been an outlier of sorts — he ranks in the second percentile in swing-and-miss rate in 2025 but in the 67th percentile in strikeout rate — so these aren’t necessarily signs of a decline. Philly just needs him to get hot once he returns. — Schoenfield
Why it’s so fearsome: It’s not. That’s the thing about the Tigers. One gander at their lineup cards — manager AJ Hinch has used 60 different variations over 71 games — and it doesn’t exactly strike fear. And yet that’s the beauty of the 2025 Tigers: They’re managing to score oodles of runs without a single hitter sporting a slugging percentage higher than .500. It’s not like the Tigers are particularly good at avoiding the strikeout (24th in MLB) or taking walks (18th). They don’t hit home runs in bunches (10th) or steal bases at all (30th). They’re simply solid, almost from top to bottom, replete with enough hitters who are league average or better to cobble together runs.
One weakness: The strikeouts are problematic — and a third of Detroit’s regulars struggle to counterbalance them with walks. Kerry Carpenter (52 strikeouts, seven walks), super-utility man Javier Baez (48 strikeouts, eight walks) and catcher Dillon Dingler (56 strikeouts, five walks) constitute one-third of players in all of MLB with at least 48 punchouts and fewer than 10 walks. Riley Greene’s 93 strikeouts lead MLB. And in the postseason, where the pitching gets better and every out is valuable, giving away at-bats by swinging and missing too much is a distinct no-no. Even with the strikeouts, the Tigers won’t be an easy out in October. But among the teams with legitimate playoff aspirations, only Boston punches out more, and it’s the sort of thing that could haunt Detroit.
Player who makes it all click: There isn’t one player, per se. One night it might be outfielder Greene, and another one first baseman Spencer Torkelson, and sometimes outfielder Carpenter, and maybe even infielder Zach McKinstry or outfielder Wenceel Perez. But if there’s one player whose skills differ from his teammates’ and set the table, it’s second baseman Gleyber Torres. Operating on a one-year deal, Torres has been the Tigers’ most consistent hitter this season, getting on base at a .377 clip and walking more than he strikes out. He exemplifies Detroit’s lineup — its team, really — in that nothing he does is particularly sexy but it’s unquestionably effective. — Passan
Why it’s so fearsome: “Fearsome” might be a stretch, but after a horrible April (.656 OPS), the Blue Jays did follow up with a strong May (.785 OPS). June has so far split the difference (.709 OPS), so maybe that’s the true level here, which makes this more of a league-average offense — and, indeed, that’s where the Jays currently stand in runs per game. But there is potential for more here, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Anthony Santander, Bo Bichette and Andres Gimenez all capable of more offense than they’ve offered so far.
One weakness: Power. George Springer leads the team with 10 home runs, and the Jays have been outhomered by their opponents 99-70. Left field has been a problem all season, as seven different players have started there, combining to hit .223 with only four home runs. Gimenez was acquired for his defense at second base, but he has been a flop at the plate, hitting .212/.291/.327 with four home runs (and that’s after homering three times in the first five games). Lately, he has even been benched against left-handers.
Player who makes it all click: The $500 million man is hitting more like a $50 million man right now (.275/.375/.414, eight home runs) — but when he’s hot, the offense runs through him. Guerrero had a monster season in 2021 — but that was the year the Jays played more than half of their games in minor league parks because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Guerrero had a 1.418 OPS in their spring training park and a 1.180 OPS in Buffalo (and a .935 at Rogers Centre). He was great again last season — thanks to a .342 BABIP. This season, it’s back down to .299, right around his career mark, but even that doesn’t explain the decline in power. The Jays need Guerrero to start mashing. — Schoenfield
9. Athletics
Why it’s so fearsome: They hit home runs and they hit for average, ranking in the top 10 in the majors in both categories. Jacob Wilson has been the breakout star with a .362 average in his rookie season, Brent Rooker is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season, Lawrence Butler is heating up and looking like the hitter he was in the second half of 2024, and rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz has also added another power bat to the lineup (after a slow start, he has hit .286 with six home runs in his past 11 games). What we don’t fully know yet, based on a small sample size, is how Sutter Health Park is helping. The A’s have hit for a higher average at home (.268 to .240) but have hit more home runs on the road (53 in 38 games compared to 39 in 36 games at home).
One weakness: JJ Bleday had a solid 2024 season, with 20 home runs and a 120 OPS+ in 159 games, but struggled out of the gate in 2025, earning a short demotion to Triple-A. Rookie Denzel Clarke replaced him, and though he has been a defensive wunderkind, he has been overmatched at the plate, hitting .209 with 34 strikeouts and one walk. Overall, the A’s rank 29th in the majors in OPS from their center fielders, ahead of only the Guardians.
Player who makes it all click: Wilson has been amazing, showcasing rare bat-to-ball skills with only 18 strikeouts in 289 plate appearances. The big surprise has been the 23 extra-base hits, including eight home runs, after going homerless in 92 at-bats during last season’s call-up. He has also been drawing a few more walks after beginning the season without one in his first 22 games, so his OBP is over .400. Now that he appears entrenched in the No. 2 spot, he’s going to give the middle of the order a lot of RBI opportunities. — Schoenfield
Why it’s so fearsome: In the Cardinals’ case, the fear factor is probably pointed in the wrong direction — as in their own fear of regression. I suspect their ranking is more a product of what they’ve done than what they are likely to do going forward. Ultimately, a team like the Braves, or even the reshuffled Giants or Red Sox, might be better placed here — but you never know. It’s a lineup with batting average and baserunning as the standout traits. The average part of it can be a house of cards — no pun intended — but the underlying expected stats backstop St. Louis’ offense so far.
One weakness: Only six clubs have a lower secondary average than the Cardinals — mostly a who’s who of the worst offenses in the majors. Secondary traits tend to be more stable than BABIP-related indicators, so St. Louis will need to continue to churn out its admirable strikeout and line-drive rates — a good formula for an average-based offense. But if the average falls, the Cardinals don’t draw enough walks or mash enough homers to make up the difference.
Player who makes it all click: Brendan Donovan‘s career year serves as an avatar for what the St. Louis offense is all about. He leads the Redbirds in runs created, and because he’s doing that while mostly playing in the middle of the infield (which boosts positional value), he’s far and away the team leader in offensive bWAR. The question is will it last? On one hand, even though Donovan has a career BABIP of .319, his 2025-to-date figure of .355 is going to be tough to maintain. On the other hand, Donovan’s 31% line drive rate is tied for second in the NL with teammate Willson Contreras. — Doolittle
Teams 11-30
11. Boston Red Sox
12. Seattle Mariners
13. San Francisco Giants
14. Atlanta Braves
15. Tampa Bay Rays
16. San Diego Padres
17. Cincinnati Reds
18. Minnesota Twins
19. Houston Astros
20. Baltimore Orioles
21. Milwaukee Brewers
22. Los Angeles Angels
23. Washington Nationals
24. Cleveland Guardians
25. Texas Rangers
26. Kansas City Royals
27. Miami Marlins
28. Chicago White Sox
29. Pittsburgh Pirates
30. Colorado Rockies
PITTSBURGH — The Texas Rangers placed first baseman Jake Burger on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a strained left oblique.
Burger was injured on a swing during Friday night’s 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Infielder Justin Foscue was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock and was in uniform for Saturday’s game.
Utility player Ezequiel Duran is expected to be the primary first baseman while Burger recovers.
“I want to give Zeke some runway here,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.
This is the third straight season that Burger has gone on the IL with a side injury. However, Burger is optimistic that he will not be sidelined long.
“I’ve dealt with this before, and it’s been quick [to heal],” Burger said. “My mind is on coming back on the 11th day, getting back as soon as I can.”
Burger was acquired from the Miami Marlins in an offseason trade. He is hitting .220 with 10 homers in 65 games after going deep 29 times last season. He was demoted to Triple-A for a week in May.
Also Saturday, Nathan Eovaldi threw a simulated game of 50 pitches and three innings and Jon Gray had a 35-pitch bullpen session. Eovaldi and Gray are coming back from injuries.
Eovaldi could rejoin the rotation next week when Texas plays a three-game series at Baltimore that begins Monday night. He has been on the injured list since June 1 due to right posterior elbow inflammation. Eovaldi has a 4-3 record and 1.56 ERA in 12 starts this season.
“Everything went well,” he said. “I threw all my pitches. I feel like I’m ready to come back.”
Gray has yet to pitch this season after fracturing his right wrist during spring training. There is no timetable for his return.
Center fielder Wyatt Langford was out of the lineup for a second straight game because of back spasms. Bochy expects him to play Sunday in the finale of the three-game series.
Foscue made his major league debut last year and hit .048 in 15 games with Texas. At Round Rock this season, he was batting .269 with 10 homers in 50 games.
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