Connect with us

Published

on

Dre’lon Miller, a four-star wide receiver, committed to Colorado on Sunday, adding to the Buffaloes’ rebound on the 2024 recruiting trail under coach Deion Sanders.

“Just the relationship [with Sanders],” Miller told ESPN about what stood out most. “And I felt the connection instantly. You know, I feel like that was God giving me the sign.”

Miller (No. 85 in the 2024 ESPN 300), who went on an official visit to Colorado last weekend, is the second ESPN 300 prospect to commit to the program since Thursday, when five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton (No. 19 overall in 2024) committed.

Seaton and Miller give Sanders and his staff a much-needed boost with the early signing period looming Dec. 20. Athlete Aaron Butler (No. 70 overall in 2024), wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. (No. 87 in 2025 ESPN 300, and quarterbacks Danny O’Neil (2024) and Antwann Hill Jr. (No. 46 in 2025 ESPN 300) all decommitted from the Buffaloes since early November.

The addition of Miller, who had initially committed to Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M on June 29 before eventually decommitting in mid-October, is important because it comes less than 24 hours after Butler decommitted after pledging in May to Sanders, his father, Robb-Davon’s, former teammate with the Baltimore Ravens.

Miller, at 6-foot and 205 pounds, had a solid senior season for Silsbee High School (Texas), catching 52 passes for 1,010 yards and 11 touchdowns in 13 games. That followed a junior campaign when he had 59 receptions for 1,399 yards and 21 scores in 14 games.

He’ll provide quarterback Shedeur Sanders another prominent target to go along with Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn.

“I feel like I’ll be a good part of their offense,” Miller said. “Just get the ball in my hands to make plays, open up other receivers like Travis and Jimmy and have an explosive offense with the best quarterback.”

Miller added that he spoke to quarterback Shedeur Sanders, Deion’s son, on Sunday morning.

“He was just congratulating me and let me know to get ready. ‘This thing about to be fun,”’ Miller said of Shedeur Sanders’ message.

The season-opening road upset of TCU highlighted a 3-0 start for Deion Sanders’ tenure. But Colorado (4-8, 1-8 Pac-12) lost eight of its final nine games, and now heads back to the new look, highly competitive Big 12, a league the Buffaloes played in from 1948 (known then as the Big Eight) through 2010.

The Buffaloes’ offense finished 80th in the FBS and ninth in the Pac-12 with 363.6 yards per game while their offense ended the year 59th in the country at 28.2 points a game (eighth in the Pac-12).

After decommitting from Texas A&M, Miller visited LSU last month and took trips to Miami and USC in June. The Aggies replaced Fisher with former Duke coach Mike Elko last month.

“I had the feeling that the coach was going to change,” Miller said of his decision to alter course in October. “I love Jimbo to death and I love Coach Elko, too. But he wasn’t Jimbo Fisher for me.

“Honestly, [my visit to Boulder] gave me that feeling. I went to a lot of visits and a lot of places. I had the feeling, but this visit just gave me the feeling like in my heart that this was the one. Me and my family talked about it. They had the same feeling. They went on every visit with me and we just realized that this was the school for me and my family.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

Published

on

By

Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

The San Francisco Giants are acquiring All-Star slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday evening.

The Giants are sending starter Jordan Hicks and 23-year-old lefty Kyle Harrison, among others, to Boston in exchange, sources said.

Devers, 28, is in just the second season of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed to stay in Boston in January 2023, however his relationship with the team suffered a significant blow after the star third baseman was reportedly blindsided by a move to designated hitter in the spring.

Tensions flared again last month after Devers refused an offer from the team to move him to first base after starting first baseman Triston Casas was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.

It reached a point where Red Sox owner John Henry met with the disgruntled star, making a rare trip to meet the team on the road and smooth things over after Devers’ pointed comments about the request to switch positions again.

Hicks and Harrison give a pitching-starved Red Sox team more depth on their staff while Devers provides a huge boost to a middling Giants offense.

Devers has more than 200 career home runs to his name and has a .894 OPS for Boston this season.

The deal was first reported by Fansided.

Continue Reading

Sports

Ohtani’s pitching return might be coming soon

Published

on

By

Ohtani's pitching return might be coming soon

Shohei Ohtani‘s pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers might be quickly approaching.

Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday that Ohtani would throw another simulated game in the coming days that could “potentially” be his last one, and a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney that Ohtani should join the Dodgers’ rotation “sooner rather than later,” potentially within the week.

Ohtani took a big step forward during his most recent simulated game at Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three innings against a couple of lower-level minor league players. Ohtani’s fastball reached the mid- to upper-90s, and he exhibited good command of his off-speed pitches in what amounted to his third time facing hitters. Afterward, Roberts said there was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could join the rotation before the All-Star break.

Because of his two-way designation, the Dodgers can carry Ohtani as an extra pitcher, which means he can throw two to three innings and have someone pitch after him as a piggyback starter. At this point, it seems that is the Dodgers’ plan.

The Dodgers’ pitching staff has again been plagued by injury, with 14 pitchers on the injured list, including four starting pitchers the team was heavily counting on for 2025 — Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin, Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow.

If Ohtani returns in July — the likely outcome at this point — he will be 22 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament.

The update isn’t as optimistic for Sasaki. He paused his throwing program and is set for a lengthy layoff. Sasaki has not pitched in a game since May 9 and is not part of the team’s long-term pitching plans this season.

“I think that’s what the mindset should be,” Roberts said. “Being thrust into this environment certainly was a big undertaking for him, and now you layer in the health part and the fact he’s a starting pitcher, knowing what the build-up [required to return] entails … I think that’s the prudent way to go about it.”

Sasaki, 23, went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts after joining the Dodgers from the Pacific League’s Chuba Lotte Marines, averaging less than 4⅓ innings per start. He walked 22 and struck out 24 in 34⅓ innings, and his fastball averaged 95.7 mph, down 3-4 mph from his average in Japan.

Roberts said Sasaki was pain free when he resumed throwing in early June, but the pitcher was shut down after feeling discomfort this past week. Sasaki recently received a cortisone injection in the shoulder; Roberts said no further scans are planned.

“I don’t think it’s pain,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s discomfort, if it’s tightness, if he’s just not feeling strong, whatever the adjective you want to use. That’s more of a question for Roki, as far as the sensation he’s feeling.

“He’s just not feeling like he can ramp it up, and we’re not going to push him to do something he doesn’t feel good about right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

Published

on

By

Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

BOSTON — Aaron Judge blamed himself for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone as the New York Yankees were swept in a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

“You got to swing at strikes,” Judge said after going 1-for-12 in the series, which Boston completed with a 2-0 victory on Sunday.

Judge struck out three or more times in three straight games for only the third time in his major league career.

“That usually helps any hitter when you swing at strikes,” Judge added. “Definitely some pitches off the edge or off the edge in, you know, taking some hacks just trying to make something happen.”

Judge had a tying solo homer in the opener Friday night but struck out nine times as the Yankees were swept in a series for the first time this season.

New York scored only four runs in the three games, matching its fewest in a three-game series at Fenway Park, on June 20-22, 1916 and on Sept. 28-30, 1922.

“It’s very hard,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of facing Judge. “He’s so good at what he does. We used our fastballs in the right spots, we got some swing and misses.”

“Throughout the years we’ve been aggressive with him,” Cora added. “Sometimes he gets us, sometimes we do a good job with that. It’s always fun to compete against the best, and, to me, he’s the best in the business right now.”

Judge’s major league-leading average dipped to .378.

“I don’t think much of it,” teammate Ben Rice said. “If I could have that guy hitting every single at-bat even if he’s not at his best, I would do it. I’m sure he’ll bounce back. He’ll be all right.”

Judge faced Garrett Whitlock with two on in the eighth Sunday and bounced into an inning-ending double play.

“He’s one of the greatest hitters in the world,” Whitlock said. “It’s special to watch him play and everything. We tried to execute and had some execution this weekend.”

Continue Reading

Trending