Saban mum on QB1 after Bama struggles vs. USF
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Alex Scarborough, ESPN Staff Writer
Alabama‘s quarterback competition took another sour turn during a 17-3 win on the road against South Florida on Saturday.
Jalen Milroe, the Crimson Tide’s starter through the first two games of the season, was benched after throwing two interceptions in a home loss to Texas last week, and he didn’t take a snap in Tampa.
Tyler Buchner, who transferred from Notre Dame following spring practice, got the start versus the Bulls and struggled, completing just 5 of 14 pass attempts for 34 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions before he was pulled.
Redshirt freshman Ty Simpson came on in relief of Buchner and played the rest of the contest, going 5-of-9 for 73 yards. Simpson scored on a 1-yard run, but he was sacked five times.
After the game, Alabama coach Nick Saban tried to preempt questions about the position.
“I know you’re going to ask about the quarterbacks,” he told reporters. “We’re going to evaluate the quarterbacks that played today and evaluate Jalen Milroe in terms of how he played and decide this week who gives us the best opportunity to be successful as an offensive team. And that’s the way we’ll go.”
Pressed for more details about what went into the decision to play Buchner and Simpson, Saban said it was an “internal” decision.
“Everybody has the opportunity to respond in the right way when things don’t go like you want them to,” Saban added. “And we play the guys that practice the best all week long.”
Saban told ESPN during the game that Simpson, a former four-star prospect, had the best week of practice.
“I thought he did OK,” Saban said of Simpson’s performance against USF. “Made a couple really good throws. Missed a couple big-play throws. … I thought he played well, managed the game well.”
Saban said it wasn’t Simpson’s fault he was under so much pressure from the defense. The coach was asked about the play of the offensive line and responded with a question of his own: “How many sacks did they have today?”
The answer: five.
“Based on that, I wouldn’t evaluate it very well,” Saban said. “Some of them were mental errors. We knew they were going to pressure a lot. They got a really good pressure package. We messed up the protections several times. We got beat a couple times.
“So we need to get that fixed, because that’s been an area that has been a consistent problem for us all year — last week with the sacks, this week with the sacks. And those are drive killers, and we got to eliminate that.”
Despite the offensive struggles, Saban tried to strike an optimistic tone. He said he was proud of the way the team competed during a hard-fought away game that featured an hourlong lightning delay. He noted there was adversity, including starting guard Tyler Booker being sidelined by back spasms, but that he liked the way his players “kept answering the bell.”
“We didn’t execute great, so I don’t feel good about that,” Saban said. “But the way we competed in the game, I thought, was outstanding.”
Alabama (2-1) will open SEC play at home against Ole Miss next Saturday.
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
The San Diego Padres have acquired second baseman Luis Arraez in a trade with the Miami Marlins for reliever Woo-Suk Go and prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella, the teams announced Saturday.
The Padres also received nearly $7.9 million in cash considerations, leaving them responsible only for the major league minimum salary for Arraez.
The transaction represents the first significant move for the Marlins since Peter Bendix took over as the team’s president of baseball operations in November after Kim Ng departed. It marks the beginning of the Marlins’ teardown of an underachieving roster that has produced the third-worst record in the majors at 9-25 with a minus-61 run differential after reaching the postseason in 2023.
On the other side, it’s another aggressive deal for A.J. Preller, the leader of the Padres’ front office since 2014. Arraez, one of the sport’s best contact hitters, will give the Padres a needed left-handed-hitting weapon after Juan Soto was sent to the New York Yankees in December. San Diego is 17-18 with a plus-6 run differential.
“It’s really amazing — that guy is a baller,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said about Arraez after the Padres’ win Friday night. “He’s probably the closest to Tony Gwynn right now, so looking forward to seeing him in our lineup. … The guy’s a pure hitter, and I can’t wait for him to help us.”
Miami is paying San Diego $7,898,602 of the $8,491,398 remaining for the final 149 days of Arraez’s $10.6 million salary. That left his cost to the Padres at $592,796 — exactly a prorated share of the $740,000 minimum.
Arraez, 27, was the Marlins’ best player, an All-Star and batting champion each of the past two seasons. This season, he is batting .299 with a .719 OPS in 33 games, all started at second base. He also has extensive experience at first base.
“When a guy like that is taken out of the lineup or potentially traded, you feel it, because he’s such a good kid and one of the leaders in that clubhouse,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said, “so there’s definitely a shock value.”
Arraez is expected to start games as the Padres’ designated hitter, but the club plans to cycle through the DH spot. Jake Cronenworth, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado could also get at-bats there. Bogaerts has been the club’s starting second baseman.
Go spent seven seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization before signing a two-year deal with a mutual option worth $4.5 million guaranteed during the offseason. The 25-year-old right-hander appeared in 10 games for Double-A San Antonio, posting a 4.38 ERA across 12⅓ innings after failing to make the Padres’ bullpen out of spring training.
Head was the Padres’ first-round pick (25th overall) last year out of high school. The 19-year-old center fielder is batting .237 with a .683 OPS and three stolen bases in 21 games in low-Class A.
Martorella is batting .294 with an .820 OPS in 23 games in San Antonio. The Padres selected the 23-year-old first baseman in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. Marsee, a 22-year-old outfielder, has spent the season in San Antonio batting .185 with two home runs. He was a sixth-round pick in 2022 out of Central Michigan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole threw off a mound Saturday morning for the first time since being shut down in mid-March, checking off another box in his road back from an elbow injury.
Cole took the mound in the Yankees’ bullpen at 10:40 a.m., hours before New York took on the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. He said he threw 15 pitches, 13 for strikes and all fastballs. He said the pitches averaged 89 mph.
“It was exciting,” Cole said. “This was a good day for me. I was fired up.”
Cole, 33, started the season on the 60-day injured list after being diagnosed with nerve irritation and edema in his pitching elbow following one spring training outing. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is eligible to come off the injured list May 27, but the Yankees have declined to share a timetable for Cole’s return.
On a scale from 1 to 10 — 10 being game ready — Cole reported he is “somewhere between 1 and 5.” He said how his body responds over the next 48 hours will decide when he throws off a mound again.
Cole’s injury was a significant blow to a club with championship-or-bust aspirations, but the Yankees’ starting rotation has been one of the best in the majors and a primary reason for the team’s 21-13 start. The rotation’s 3.43 ERA through Friday ranked ninth in the majors. Its 183⅔ innings pitched ranked fourth.
Luis Gil, Cole’s rotation replacement, logged the best start of his young career Wednesday, holding the explosive Baltimore Orioles scoreless on two hits over a career-high 6⅓ innings. Gil, 25, has recorded a 3.19 ERA in 31 innings across six starts despite leading the American League with 20 walks.
Earlier this week, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said neither the team’s nor the rotation’s success will impact Cole’s timeline. Asked whether the overall success has made his absence more “palatable,” Cole was unsure.
“I don’t really have anything unpalatable to compare it to,” Cole said. “You know what I’m saying? So I’m just kind of like, just like everybody else, just glad we’re playing well.”
Also on Saturday, the Yankees reinstated infielder Jon Berti from the 10-day injured list and designated former first-round pick Taylor Trammell for assignment.
Berti, 34, has been out of the Yankees’ lineup since April 10 with a left groin strain. The Yankees had selected Trammell off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 18, and he collected 1 hit, 1 walk and 2 runs in five games with New York.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.
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