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Coaches like to preach worrying about the things a team can control and setting aside all the rest, which is a good message — right up until the moment the skies open and lightning strikes in the middle of a football game.

Or before the game begins if you’re the New Mexico Lobos. While traveling to play Auburn for a date on Saturday, New Mexico’s plan was diverted from Montgomery to Mobile. From Mobile, the Lobos used buses borrowed from the University of South Alabama. The Jaguars even sent food.

“[New Mexico] just said they needed some help, and so [South Alabama deputy athletics director Daniel McCarthy] was able to rally the troops quickly,” South Alabama athletics director Joel Erdmann told AL.com. “And it’s pretty admirable that people responded in the manner that they did. [Football chief of staff] John Clark … got them some pizzas for the road. They landed at [Mobile’s] Brookley [Field], got on four South Alabama buses and had pizzas waiting for them.”

On Saturday, the start of the Miami Hurricanes game against the visiting Ball State Cardinals was delayed more than two hours due to weather. North of Florida’s Coral Gables, in Gainesville, the Texas A&M Aggies led the Florida Gators 10-0 when the contest was paused at the end of the first quarter due to lightning.

Every program has a plan. During the offseason, operations managers crisscross the country for site visits then meticulously piece together flow charts for any conceivable contingency, including bad weather. But when the rain or lightning or remnants of a hurricane blow through, all those best-laid plans are still at the mercy of Mother Nature and, more practically, the often miserable conditions of the visitors locker room.

“You’re stuck in this crappy locker room,” said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, “and you don’t want to be in a crappy locker room more than you have to be.”

So, what do teams do when they’re squeezed into tight quarters for an indeterminate delay, sweaty and exhausted and hungry? Players try to sleep. Coaches attempt to refine the game plan. Operations staffers might even head to the concourse in search of a few dozen pizzas. In other words, it’s an all-hands-on-deck effort to keep 80-some players happy and comfortable in an utterly unpleasant situation. NCAA guidelines stipulate a 30-minute delay if there is a lightning delay within an eight-mile radius of a stadium; if there is another lightning strike during that time period, the clock restarts.

In 2024, we’ve seen other extended delays in Minnesota, West Virginia and Virginia during the early weeks of the season, and more interruptions are all but guaranteed.

“It does take its toll because players and coaches are used to a rhythm and a routine of a game day,” said Paul Federici, football operations director at the University of Iowa, “and this is one that is part of that disruption of rhythm that can’t be controlled. You talk through and plan for contingencies, most of which you may never use, but it’s good planning.”

There’s no perfect blueprint for handling the inevitable, but teams that have endured it at least leave with a good story to tell.

Chris LaSala remembers standing in the press box at Stillwater’s Boone Pickens Stadium in February 2016, looking out at the sprawling expanse of land that seemed to stretch endlessly outward toward an unreachable horizon.

LaSala, University of Pittsburgh’s associate athletics director for football administration, looked at his counterpart from Oklahoma State in amazement.

“It’s really flat out there,” he said.

“Oh, yeah,” the Cowboys operations manager responded. “When it storms, you can see it coming from miles away.”

Seven months later, with Pitt and Oklahoma State tied at 38 entering the fourth quarter of their Week 3 showdown, LaSala stared out toward that same horizon.

It was a wall of black, interrupted regularly by immense flashes of lightning — “dark and scary,” LaSala said.

Scary enough for the game to be delayed, with officials sending both teams off the field — the Cowboys to the cozy confines of the home team’s locker room, and the Panthers to a broom closet.

“I just remember crawling over people,” Pitt coach Narduzzi said. “Guys laying on the ground. There’s nowhere to walk. You’re crawling between people’s legs just to get to the next player.”

Pitt’s coaches were trying to go over plays and keep the players focused for the resumption of play, but that’s an impossible task in such cramped conditions.

“Most athletes during those times get completely cold and lose adrenaline,” said former Pitt wideout Tre Tipton, who was a freshman on that 2016 team. “And when your adrenaline goes down, you really understand what your teammates and you smell like.”

LaSala said his job was largely about keeping players comfortable — finding snacks and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches leftover from halftime or simply clearing enough space so it’s possible to stretch out and rest.

In this case, however, LaSala said matters were made worse because of how late in the game the delay occurred. Staff members already had started packing up the locker room for a quick postgame exit, and now equipment managers were busy unpacking the truck again to get players fresh undershirts and socks.

For Oklahoma State, the experience was a bit better.

Before the delay, Pitt had been red hot, erasing a 31-17 deficit with two long touchdown runs and a scoop-and-score on defense. But when the game resumed after a nearly two-hour delay, the Cowboys had a little extra spring in their step as compared with the downtrodden Panthers, who had four straight drives end in a punt before a late interception.

Rennie Childs scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Cowboys up 45-38 with 1:28 to play, and after securing the victory, coach Mike Gundy credited the delay with sparking Oklahoma State.

“I’ll be real honest with you: The delay saved us,” Gundy said in his postgame news conference. “We got a lot of coaching out of it. When the delay happened, I was OK with it, because I felt like we needed it to make some corrections. I felt like this was a good thing for us.”

That’s a summation Narduzzi agrees with, though he remembers it a little differently.

“It’s against the rules, but from everything I heard, Oklahoma State was sitting in their team room watching the first, second and third quarter of the game,” Narduzzi said. “I don’t want to throw Gundy under the bus. But Gundy knows.” — David Hale

The scene inside Iowa City’s Kinnick Stadium after midnight on Sept. 18, 2022, was strange in several ways.

First, a football game was still being played between Iowa and Nevada, after three lightning delays that totaled 3 hours, 56 minutes. The game began on Sept. 17 and concluded at 1:39 the following morning with the Hawkeyes prevailing 27-0. Iowa had been prepared for delays, but as the night went on, some stadium security staffers went home and some new fans showed up.

Paul Federici, University of Iowa’s longtime director of football operations, saw students walking in with 12-packs of Twisted Tea. Another student brought his dog into the stadium and sat behind the Iowa bench. A fan found a massive bag of popcorn that concession workers normally divide into smaller portions.

“This young fella had the full-size clear plastic bag of popcorn on the seat next to him behind the bench,” Federici recalled. “It had to be like a cubic yard of popcorn, but he was just crushing it in the last part of the game.”

The food rations for the teams were a bit less accessible, especially as the evening dragged on. Both Iowa and Nevada had “burned through” their in-game and postgame food, Federici said, due to the repeated delays, so they partnered up and used the vendor Aramark to restock both locker rooms. Iowa also contacted a Hy-Vee grocery store for ready-made sandwiches and wraps.

Any delay interrupts routines for teams, but multiple delays can add stress, especially for players debating whether to remove their pads and for those going through multiple warmup sessions, only to be called back.

“We came back out at one point and maybe ran a play or two, and we’re sent right back in again,” Federici said. “That on again, off again is not desirable, for sure, but we’re dealing with weather, so it’s not a great certainty.”

Iowa worked with the National Weather Service and game operations staff to keep both coaching staffs informed as the night went along.

“It’s tough being on the road, and selfishly, I get a good feeling making sure that teams we host have the information and service and attention they need to get in and out, keep all their kids safe and have a good, competitive game,” Federici said. “Everybody, step by step, was kept really well-informed.

“That was a long evening.” — Adam Rittenberg

The state highway patrol in Iowa is called upon to clear congested routes for VIPs, including college teams traveling to and from games. On this afternoon, troopers were given a different assignment: getting the University of Iowa’s student managers from Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium in Ames to a local Hy-Vee grocery store and other eateries and back again as quickly and as safely as possible.

The Hawkeyes needed food after players ate their post-game meal during the first of two lightning delays at rival Iowa State. When the second delay arrived, during the second quarter, Iowa launched its food plan. Every week, Iowa’s Federici begins tracking weather six days before kickoff then takes a closer look 48 hours beforehand. The Hawkeyes knew bad weather was possible and had contingency plans, but they didn’t reach out to Hy-Vee and other places until the delay hit.

“We knew which stores were closest to campus,” Federici said. “We did not preorder anything. That’s a balance between making a purchase and committing to something that you don’t need and then having a lot of waste versus having a solid contingency plan.”

Federici contacted a “short list” of options, targeting places that had ready-made cold sandwiches or wraps.

“We made the calls and quickly figured out who could help us and who couldn’t,” Federici said. “Then we put people in the car and sent them along their way, with the university credit card.”

They returned with about 60 sandwiches or wraps, which helped Iowa players refuel during the long delay. There were other adjustments, including a shortened halftime. Federici had no complaints about the visitors locker room at Jack Trice Stadium, which was climate-controlled and allowed Hawkeyes players to remain “relaxed, hydrated and fueled.”

The game took 5 hours, 53 minutes to complete, but Iowa came away with an 18-17 triumph, making the wait worthwhile.

“It’s minute by minute,” Federici said. “We’re all improvising as we go.” — Rittenberg

As the season opener neared, Penn State football chief of staff Kevin Threlkel and Patrick Johnston, West Virginia’s assistant athletic director for football operations, tracked an ominous weather pattern.

There were projections ranging from a quarter of an inch of rain to two inches. They concluded that an afternoon storm was likely in Morgantown, and they began preparations for a moderate delay.

“What made this one different is we didn’t know how long it was going to be,” Johnston said. “If it’s going to be an hour, two hours or longer, have them take off pads, get off their feet and stay semi-locked in.”

Penn State, the visiting team, faced more obstacles. Threlkel made sure to stock up on socks, pants and other dry clothes if the players got drenched. The team placed a sandwich order at a local restaurant, which would deliver boxes during the first half. The visitors locker room at Milan Puskar Stadium is tight, and the Nittany Lions put benches and chairs in a covered tunnel just outside so that players could stretch and review film on tablets — which is permitted during games for the first time this season.

“We had a good game plan,” Threlkel said.

The storm came just after halftime, an ideal spot for a delay. Penn State didn’t even need its dry clothes.

When the delay began, West Virginia spread out, putting its offensive players in the weight room and the defense in the locker room. Haley Bishop, WVU’s director of sports nutrition, sprang into action, making sure players loaded up on protein and carbs, especially those prone to cramping. Bishop worked with a caterer to order sandwiches and had smoothies, beef jerky, fruit and even some junk food available for the pickier in-game eaters.

“Once [the delay] was announced, I told them it would be a while, ‘Here are three options, pick two,'” Bishop said. “I have a couple guys who really like Sour Patch Kids and Pop-Tarts. That’s not something I would normally give them, but I was definitely passing those out. They’re quick carbs and make it a little more fun.”

Players and others huddled around Johnston’s laptop, tracking the radar. At one point, staff from both teams and game operations officials met and outlined the logistics around a restart, but a nearby lightning strike pushed things back 30 minutes.

“That’s what makes it miserable, thinking that you’re going but then you’re not,” Johnston said. “I had a pretty good feeling it would be out between 3:50 and 4 [p.m.], based on what we were seeing on the radar, unless we caught one random [strike].”

After 2 hours, 19 minutes, the second half finally kicked off. Penn State maintained a comfortable lead and won 34-12, as the game ended at 5:59 p.m.

“We were really happy with how the players handled the situation, how we responded after it,” Threlkel said. “In those situations, we try to stay positive, instead of getting down.” — Rittenberg

When severe weather stopped the game in the second quarter, Cavaliers director of football operations Lindsey Morris knew exactly what to do.

The previous year, against James Madison, Virginia had learned a hard lesson during a weather delay that lasted more than an hour. The Cavaliers had Uncrustables sandwiches and pretzels to feed their players during the break but eventually ran out of snacks. When it returned to play, Virginia blew a fourth-quarter lead and lost. Coach Tony Elliott was adamant that the next time Virginia faced a weather delay, he wanted to be prepared with much more food.

So, as Virginia headed to the locker room against Richmond, Morris and the team nutritionists figured they would hop in their cars and go pick something up. But they soon discovered all roads coming back to Charlottesville’s Scott Stadium were closed.

Morris quickly called Virginia deputy athletics director and chief financial officer Steve Pritzker, who phoned Aramark, the company that provides food for the stadium’s concessions stands. Morris said she would take anything they had. Within 30 minutes, Aramark delivered to the Cavaliers’ locker room pulled chicken, baked beans, French fries, hot dogs, buns and sauces — food that had already been made but would have been thrown out with the concession stands closed during the delay.

If that was not enough thinking on the fly to solve a problem, Morris quickly had another one to solve. The hallway where the Cavs generally set up the tables for their snacks and postgame meal was being used by the coaching staff to go over plays from the first half and discuss the game plan. The locker room itself was so crowded with players, cheerleaders, support staff and others taking shelter from the storms that there was only one available space to set up the meal.

The bathroom.

“Before you get into our locker room, you walk through the bathroom — not the stalls, per se, but right around the corner there are stalls,” Morris said. “So, you walk through and that’s where we set the food up, which was absolutely disgusting. But when you’re hungry, you’ll do it.”

Morris said one player made his plate of food and sat on a toilet to eat it.

“It was just a really crazy experience, and I wish that I would’ve gotten it on video because people won’t believe you when you say that you set up a meal outside of urinals to make sure that they’re getting fed for a rain delay,” Morris said with a laugh.

Aramark brought so much food, players were able to have seconds. Morris said the company is still calculating how much the Cavaliers owe. But the plan to feed the team during the 2 hour, 17-minute delay worked. Virginia won 34-13.

“Everybody was trying to make sure these guys were fed,” Elliot said in his postgame comments. “They stayed very upbeat, stayed very engaged. Many times, you don’t get a shot at redemption. Really proud of the staff and guys for finding a way to finish.” — Andrea Adelson

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Hard-throwing rookie Misiorowski going to ASG

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12 hours ago

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July 12, 2025

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Hard-throwing rookie Misiorowski going to ASG

  • Associated Press

Jul 11, 2025, 11:17 PM ET

Hard-throwing rookie Jacob Misiorowski is a National League All-Star replacement, giving the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander a chance to break Paul Skenes‘ record for the fewest big league appearances before playing in the Midsummer Classic.

Misiorowski was named Friday night to replace Chicago Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd, who will be unavailable for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta because he is scheduled to start Saturday at the New York Yankees.

The 23-year-old Misiorowski has made just five starts for the Brewers, going 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA while averaging 99.3 mph on his fastball, with 89 pitches that have reached 100 mph.

If he pitches at Truist Park, Misiorowski will make it consecutive years for a player to set the mark for fewest big league games before an All-Star showing.

Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander getting ready for his second All-Star appearance, had made 11 starts in the majors when he was chosen as the NL starter for last year’s All-Star Game at Texas. He pitched a scoreless inning.

“I’m speechless,” said a teary-eyed Misiorowski, who said he was given the news a few minutes before the Brewers’ 8-3 victory over Washington. “It’s awesome. It’s very unexpected and it’s an honor.”

Misiorowski is the 30th first-time All-Star and 16th replacement this year. There are now 80 total All-Stars.

“He’s impressive. He’s got some of the best stuff in the game right now, even though he’s a young pitcher,” said Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is a starting AL outfielder for his seventh All-Star nod. “He’s going to be a special pitcher in this game for a long time so I think he deserved it and it’s going be pretty cool for him and his family.”

Carlos Rodón, Carlos Estévez and Casey Mize were named replacement pitchers on the AL roster.

The New York Yankees‘ Rodón, an All-Star for the third time in five seasons, will replace teammate Max Fried for Tuesday’s game in Atlanta. Fried will be unavailable because he is scheduled to start Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.

In his final start before the All-Star game, Rodón allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight innings in an 11-0 victory over the Cubs.

“This one’s a little special for me,” said Rodón, an All-Star in 2021 and ’22 who was 3-8 in his first season with the Yankees two years ago before rebounding. “I wasn’t good when I first got here, and I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t to going to give up and just put my best foot forward and try to win as many games as I can.”

The Kansas City Royals‘ Estévez replaces Texas’ Jacob deGrom, who is scheduled to start at Houston on Saturday night. Estévez was a 2023 All-Star when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.

Mize takes the spot held by Boston‘s Garrett Crochet, who is scheduled to start Saturday against Tampa Bay. Mize gives the Tigers six All-Stars, most of any team and tied for the franchise record.

Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia will replace Tampa Bay‘s Brandon Lowe, who went on the injured list with left oblique tightness. The additions of Estévez and Garcia give the Royals four All-Stars, matching their 2024 total.

The Seattle Mariners announced center fielder Julio Rodríguez will not participate, and he was replaced by teammate Randy Arozarena. Rodríguez had been voted onto the AL roster via the players’ ballot. The Mariners, who have five All-Stars, said Rodríguez will use the break to “recuperate, rest and prepare for the second half.”

Arozarena is an All-Star for the second time. He started in left field for the AL two years ago, when he was with Tampa Bay. Arozarena was the runner-up to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 2023 Home Run Derby.

Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, a first-time All-Star, is replacing Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who is scheduled to start Saturday night at Arizona. Rasmussen is 7-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 18 starts.

San Diego added a third NL All-Star reliever in lefty Adrián Morejón, who replaces Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler. The Phillies’ right-hander is scheduled to start at San Diego on Saturday night. Morejón entered the weekend with a 1.71 ERA in 45 appearances.

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Midseason grades for all 30 MLB teams: ‘A’ is for Astros, ‘F’ is for …?

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July 12, 2025

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Midseason grades for all 30 MLB teams: 'A' is for Astros, 'F' is for ...?

  • David SchoenfieldJul 9, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

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    • Covers MLB for ESPN.com
    • Former deputy editor of Page 2
    • Been with ESPN.com since 1995

We’re past due to hand out some midseason grades, so let’s hand out some midseason grades.

As we pass the 90-game mark in the 2025 MLB season, my team of the first half isn’t the well-rounded Detroit Tigers, who do get our highest grade for owning MLB’s best record, or the explosive Chicago Cubs or Shohei Ohtani‘s Los Angeles Dodgers, but a team most baseball fans love to hate: the Houston Astros. They lost their two best players from last season and their best hitter has been injured — and they’re playing their best baseball since they won the 2022 World Series.

Let’s get to the grades. As always, we’re grading off preseason expectations, factoring in win-loss record and quality of performance, while looking at other positive performances and injuries.

Jump to a team:

AL East: BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR
AL Central: CHW | CLE | DET | KC | MIN
AL West: ATH | HOU | LAA | SEA | TEX

NL East: ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH
NL Central: CHC | CIN | MIL | PIT | STL
NL West: ARI | COL | LAD | SD | SF

Tarik Skubal is obviously the headline act, but the Tigers are winning with impressive depth across the entire roster.

Javier Baez is putting together a remarkable comeback season after a couple of abysmal years and will become the first player to start an All-Star Game at both shortstop and in the outfield. Former No. 1 overall picks Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson have put together their own comeback stories, while Riley Greene has matured into one of the game’s top power hitters.

Given their deep well of prospects and contributors at the MLB level, no team is better positioned than the Tigers to add significant help at the trade deadline.

I heard someone refer to them as the Zombie Astros, which feels apropos. Alex Bregman left as a free agent, they traded Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez has been injured and has just three home runs, and the Jose Altuve experiment in left field predictably fizzled.

But here they are, fighting for the best record in the majors and holding a comfortable lead in the AL West. They’re getting star turns from Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez and Jeremy Pena, while the risky decision to start Cam Smith in the majors with very little minor league experience has paid off, as he has now become their cleanup hitter.

If we ignore the COVID-19 season, the Astros look on their way to an eighth straight division title.

This could be at least a half-grade higher based on everything that has gone right: Pete Crow-Armstrong‘s attention-grabbing breakout, Tucker doing everything expected after the big trade, Seiya Suzuki‘s monster power numbers and Matthew Boyd‘s All-Star turn in the rotation. The Cubs are on pace for their most wins since their World Series title season in 2016.

There have been a few hiccups, however, especially in the rotation with Justin Steele‘s season-ending injury and Ben Brown‘s inconsistency, plus rookie third baseman Matt Shaw has scuffled, and the bench has been weak aside from their backup catchers.

Still, this is a powerhouse lineup, and the Cubs will seek to improve their rotation at the deadline.

They just keep winning of late, going from 25-27 and seven games behind the Yankees on May 25 to taking over first place from the slumping Bronx Bombers, a remarkable turnaround over just 36 games. They went 27-9 over a 36-game stretch ending with their eighth win in a row on Sunday.

George Springer‘s recent surge has been fun to watch, a reminder of how good he was at his peak, and Addison Barger has been mashing over the past two months.

Some of the stats don’t add up to the Blue Jays being this good — they’ve barely outscored their opponents — but there might be more offense in the tank from the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a healthy Anthony Santander, and the bullpen, a soft spot, is the easiest area to upgrade.

Their success is best summed up by the fact that Freddy Peralta is their lone All-Star, but they have a whole bunch of players who have contributed between 1 and 2 WAR.

Brandon Woodruff looked good Sunday in his first start in nearly two years, so that could be a huge boost for the second half.

I’m curious to see how Jackson Chourio performs as well. While his counting stats — extra-base hits, RBIs — are fine, his triple-slash line remains below last season, especially his OBP. He had a huge second half in 2024 (.310/.363/.552), and if he does that again, the Brewers could find themselves back in the postseason for the seventh time in eight seasons.

The Rays started off slow, with a losing record through the end of April, but then went 33-22 in May and June to claw back into the AL East race — as the Rays usually do, last year being the recent exception.

Two key performers have been All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero, who has a chance to become just the third player to hit 40 home runs in his age-21 season, and All-Star first baseman Jonathan Aranda.

Due to the league wanting the Rays to play more home games early in the season, the July and August slate will be very road-heavy, so we’ll see how the Rays adapt to a difficult two-month stretch, especially since their pitching isn’t quite as deep as it has been in other seasons.

No, they’re not going to be the greatest team of all time. But they might win 100 games — even though Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, their huge offseason acquisitions, have combined for just two wins in 10 starts.

The lineup, of course, has been terrific, with Ohtani leading the NL in several categories and Will Smith leading the batting race. By wRC+, it’s been the best offense in Dodgers history.

If they can get some combo of Snell, Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow healthy, plus Ohtani eventually ramped up to a bigger workload on the mound, the Dodgers still loom as World Series favorites.

They are on pace for 95 wins, mainly on the strength of Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez, who are a combined 23-7 with 11.8 WAR. Jesus Luzardo‘s ERA is bloated due to that two-start stretch when he allowed 20 runs, but he has otherwise been solid as well.

But, overall, it hasn’t always been the smoothest of treks. The bullpen has imploded a few times and the offense has lacked power aside from Kyle Schwarber. Bryce Harper is back after missing three weeks, and they need to get his bat going. Look for some bullpen additions at the trade deadline — and perhaps an outfielder as well.

The Cardinals have been a minor surprise — perhaps even to the Cardinals themselves. St. Louis was viewing this as a rebuilding year of sorts — not that the Cardinals ever hit rock bottom and start completely over. They had a hot May, winning 12 of 13 at one point, but the offense has been fading of late, with those three straight shutout losses to Pittsburgh and six shutout losses since June 25.

The starting rotation doesn’t generate a lot of swing and miss, with both Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas seeing their ERAs starting to climb. Brendan Donovan is the team’s only All-Star rep, and that kind of sums up this team: solid but without any star power. That might foretell a second-half fade.

All-Star starting pitchers Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, plus a dominant bullpen, have led the way, although after starting 12-4, the Giants have basically been a .500 team for close to three months now. Rafael Devers hasn’t yet ignited the offense since coming over from Boston, and the Giants have lost four 1-0 games.

These final three games at home against the Dodgers before the All-Star break will be a crucial series, as Los Angeles has slowly pulled away in the NL West.

This was an “A-plus” through June 12, when the Mets were 45-24 and owned the best record in baseball, even though Juan Soto hadn’t gotten hot. Soto finally got going in June, but the pitching collapsed, and the Mets went through a disastrous 1-10 stretch.

The rotation injuries have piled up, exacerbating the lack of bullpen depth. Recent games have been started by Justin Hagenman (who had a 6.21 ERA in Triple-A), journeyman reliever Chris Devenski, Paul Blackburn (7.71 ERA) and Frankie Montas, who has had to start even though he’s clearly not throwing the ball well. The Mets need to get the rotation healthy, but also could use more offense from Mark Vientos and their catchers (Francisco Alvarez was demoted to Triple-A).

At times it has felt like Cal Raleigh has been a one-man team with his record-breaking first half. But he will be joined on the All-Star squad by starting pitcher Bryan Woo, closer Andres Munoz and center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who made it on the strength of his defense, as his offense has been a disappointment.

The offense has been one of the best in the majors on the road, but the rotation has been nowhere near as effective as the past couple of seasons, with George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller all missing time with injuries. They just shut out the Pirates three games in a row, so maybe that will get the rotation on a roll.

They’re just out of the wild-card picture while hanging around .500, so we give them a decent grade since that exceeds preseason expectations. It feels like a little bit of a mirage given their run differential — their record in one-run games (good) versus their record in blowout games (not good) — and various holes across the lineup and pitching staff.

But they’ve done two things to keep them in the race. One, they hit a lot of home runs. Two, they’re the only team in the majors to use just five starting pitchers. The rotation hasn’t been stellar, but it’s been stable.

The Padres are probably fortunate to be where they are, given some of their issues. As expected, the offensive depth has been a problem.

Not as expected, Dylan Cease has struggled while Michael King‘s injury after a strong start has left them without last year’s dynamic 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation (although Nick Pivetta has been one of the best signings of the offseason). Yu Darvish just made his season debut Monday, so hopefully he’ll provide a lift.

The Padres haven’t played well against the better teams, including a 2-5 record against the Dodgers, but they did clean up against the Athletics, Rockies and Pirates, going 16-2 against those three teams.

For now, the Reds are stuck in neutral. Leave out 2022, when they lost 100 games, and it’s otherwise been a string of .500-ish seasons: 31-29 in 2020, 83-79 in 2021, 82-80 in 2023, 77-85 in 2024 and now a similar record so far in 2025.

The hope was that Terry Francona would be a difference-maker. Maybe that will play out down the stretch, but the best hope is to get the rotation clicking on all cylinders at the same time. That means Andrew Abbott continuing his breakout performance, plus getting Hunter Greene healthy again and rookie Chase Burns to live up to the hype after a couple of shaky outings following an impressive MLB debut.

Throw in Nick Lodolo and solid Nick Martinez and Brady Singer, and this group can be good enough to pitch the Reds to their first full-season playoff appearance since 2013.

The Yankees have hit their annual midseason swoon — which has been subject to much intense analysis from their disgruntled fans — and that opening weekend sweep of the Brewers, when the Yankees’ torpedo bats were the big story in baseball, now seems long ago.

Going from seven up to three back in such a short time is a disaster — but not disastrous. Nonetheless, the Yankees will have to do some hard-core self-evaluation heading to the trade deadline.

The offense wasn’t going to be as good as it was in April, when Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice were all playing over their heads. So, do they need a hitter? Or with Clarke Schmidt now likely joining Gerrit Cole as a Tommy John casualty, do they need a starting pitcher? Or both?

From the book of “things we didn’t expect,” page 547: The Marlins are averaging more runs per game than the Orioles, Padres, Braves and Rangers, to name a few teams. They’re averaging almost as many runs per game as the Mets, and last time we checked, the Marlins weren’t the team to give Soto $765 million.

An eight-game winning streak at the end of June has the Marlins going toe-to-toe with the Braves for third place in the NL East even though the starting rotation has been a mess, with Sandy Alcantara on track to become just the fourth qualified pitcher with an ERA over 7.00.

Heading into the season, I thought that if any team was going to challenge the Dodgers in the NL West, it would be the Diamondbacks. The offense has once again been one of the best in the majors, but the pitching issues have been painful.

After the aggressive move to sign Corbin Burnes, he went down with Tommy John surgery after 11 starts. Meanwhile, Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt each have an ERA on the wrong side of 5.00. Rodriguez was better in June before a shellacking on July 4, while Gallen remains homer-prone, so it’s hard to tell if improvement is on the horizon. Their playoff odds are hovering just under 20%, so there’s a chance, but they need to get red-hot like they did last July and August.

It feels like it has been more soap opera than baseball season in Boston, with the Devers drama finally ending with the shocking trade with the Giants.

If you give added weight that this is the Red Sox, a team that should be operating with the big boys in both budget and aspirations and instead seemed to only want to dump Devers’ contract, then feel free to lower this grade a couple of notches, even if the Red Sox are close in the wild-card standings.

On the field, the heralded rookie trio of Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer hasn’t exactly clicked, with Campbell returning to the minors after posting a .902 OPS in April. A big test will come out of the All-Star break, when they play the Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Twins and Astros in a tough 15-game stretch.

After last season’s surprise playoff appearance, it’s been a frustrating 2025 — although I’m not sure this result is necessarily a surprise.

There were concerns about the offense heading into the season and those concerns have proven correct. They were getting no production from their outfield, so they rushed Jac Caglianone to the majors to much hype, but he has struggled and might need a reset back in Triple-A. Even Bobby Witt Jr., as good as he has been (on pace for 7.5 WAR), has seen his OPS drop 140 points.

On the bright side, Kris Bubic emerged as an All-Star starter and Noah Cameron has filled in nicely for the injured Cole Ragans, so maybe they trade a starter for some offense.

Coming off a catastrophic 2024 season, nobody was expecting anything from the White Sox. Indeed, another 121-loss season loomed as a possibility. While they’re on pace to lose 100 again, they’ve at least played more competitive baseball thanks to their pitching.

Rookie starters Shane Smith and Sean Burke have shown promise, while rookie position players Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero and now Colson Montgomery are getting their initial taste of the majors.

There has been the mix of calamity: Luis Robert Jr. has been unproductive and is probably now untradable, and former No. 3 overall pick Andrew Vaughn hit .189 and was traded to the Brewers.

The Twins are one organization that might like a do-over of the past five seasons. It feels like they’ve had the most talent in the division, but all they’ve done is squeeze out one soft division title in 2023. Now, the Tigers have passed them in talent and other factors, such as payroll flexibility.

There’s still time for the Twins to turn things around in 2025, but outside of that wonderful 13-game winning streak, they haven’t played winning baseball.

Overall, it’s been yet another bad season, despite Paul Skenes‘ brilliance. Really, do we talk enough about him? Yes, we do talk about him, but he has a 1.95 ERA through his first 42 career starts. Incredible.

Here’s an amazing thing about baseball. The Pirates are not a good team, but they recently put together one of the best six-game stretches in history. That’s not stretching the description. First, they swept the Mets — a good team — by scores of 9-1, 9-2 and 12-1. Then they swept the Cardinals — a good team — with three shutouts, 7-0, 1-0 and 5-0. They became the first team since at least 1901 to score 43 runs or more and allow four runs or fewer in a six-game stretch. And then they promptly got shut out three games in a row, making them the first to win three straight shutouts and then lose three straight shutouts.

Eighteen of our 28 voters picked them to win the AL West before the season, but it’s looking more and more like the 2023 World Series might be a stone-cold fluke in the middle of a string of losing seasons. That year, nearly everyone in the lineup had a career year at the plate, and the pitching got hot at the right time.

This year’s Rangers, though, have struggled to score runs, and while some have pointed to the offensive environment at Globe Life Field, they’re near the bottom in road OPS as well. It’s been fun seeing Jacob deGrom back at a dominating level, and Nathan Eovaldi should have been an All-Star.

Put it this way: If the Rangers can somehow squeeze into the postseason, you don’t want to face the Rangers in a short series. Indeed, if any team looms as an October upset special, it might be the Rangers.

The Nationals received superlative first-half performances from James Wood and MacKenzie Gore, while CJ Abrams is on the way to his best season. But there remains a lack of overall organizational progress, which finally led to the firings on Sunday of longtime GM Mike Rizzo and longtime manager Dave Martinez. A 7-19 record in June sealed their fate, as the rotation has been bad and the bullpen arguably the worst in baseball.

Until the Nationals figure out how to improve their pitching — or, better yet, find an owner who wants to win — they will be stuck going nowhere.

That fell apart in a hurry. Sunday’s loss was Cleveland’s 10th in a row, a stretch that remarkably included five shutouts. Indeed, the Guardians have now been shut out 11 times; the franchise record in the post-dead-ball-era (since 1920) is 20 shutouts in 1968.

There’s nothing worse than watching a team that can’t score runs, so that tells you how exciting the Guardians have been. Last year, the Guardians hit exceptionally well with runners in scoring position, keeping afloat what was otherwise a mediocre offense. That hasn’t happened in 2025 (trading Josh Naylor didn’t help either). Throw in some predictable regression from the bullpen, and this season looks lost.

We can’t give this a complete failing grade due to the emergence of All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson (the Athletics’ first All-Star starter since Josh Donaldson in 2014) and slugging first baseman Nick Kurtz, who have a chance to finish 1-2 in the Rookie of the Year voting. Plus, we have Denzel Clarke‘s circus catches in center field.

But otherwise? Ugh. The Sacramento gamble already looks like a disaster, three months into a three-year stay. The team is drawing well below Sutter Health Park’s 14,000-seat capacity, with many recent games drawing under 10,000 fans. Luis Severino bashed the small crowds and the lack of air-conditioning.

The A’s had a groundbreaking ceremony for their new park in Vegas, renting heavy construction equipment as background props. Maybe they should have spent that money on more pitching help.

Based on preseason expectations, the Braves have clearly been the biggest disappointment in the National League — fighting the Orioles for most disappointing overall.

What’s gone wrong? They haven’t scored runs, as the offense continues its remarkable fade from a record-setting performance just two seasons ago. The collapses of Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies lead the way, with lack of production at shortstop and left field playing a big role as well. Closer Raisel Iglesias has struggled, and the team is 11-22 in one-run games. Spencer Strider hasn’t yet reached his pre-injury level and Reynaldo Lopez made just one start before going down.

The Braves haven’t missed the playoffs since 2017, but that run is clearly in jeopardy.

The Orioles have a similar record to the Braves but have played much worse, including losses of 24-2, 19-5, 15-3 and two separate 9-0 shutouts.

They will spend the trade deadline dealing away as many of their impending free agents as possible, and then do a lot of soul-searching heading into the offseason. After making the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, will this season just be a blip? While the pitching struggles aren’t necessarily a big surprise, what has happened to the offense? Are some of their young players prospects or suspects?

After two months of Cleveland Spiders-level baseball, it would be easy to make fun of the Rockies. Especially since they recently announced Walker Monfort — son of the owner — was promoted to executive VP and will replace outgoing president and COO Greg Feasel.

On the other hand, the Rockies are doing something right: They just drew 121,000 for a three-game series against the White Sox.

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White Sox unveil Buehrle statue: ‘Well-deserved’

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July 12, 2025

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White Sox unveil Buehrle statue: 'Well-deserved'

  • Jesse RogersJul 11, 2025, 09:12 PM ET

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      Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.

CHICAGO — Former White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle was forever immortalized inside Rate Field as the team unveiled a statue in his honor Friday.

Buehrle, 46, played 16 years in the majors, including the first 12 with the White Sox, who he helped win a World Series in 2005. He won 214 games and pitched 200 innings or more in 14 consecutive seasons from 2001 to 2014.

“I can’t put it into words,” Buehrle said after the unveiling. “You don’t play the game for any of this. You never think of number retirements or statues. I can’t even wrap my head around it. It doesn’t make sense.”

The statue is an action shot of him throwing a pitch.

His wife and kids were in attendance and helped pull off the cover to unveil the statue while his 2005 teammates looked on. The event kicked off a weekend reunion for the World Series team which went 11-1 in the postseason, beating the Houston Astros in four games to take home the title.

Buehrle was a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, finishing fifth in Cy Young voting in 2005.

“Well-deserved,” former right fielder Jermaine Dye said of the statue. “Great teammate. Great leader. Definitely someone you want on a ballclub to lead a pitching staff.”

The White Sox rotation — led by Buehrle — threw four complete games in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox in 2005, missing a fifth complete game by two-thirds of an inning. It’s an unheard of accomplishment in today’s game since starters infrequently go the distance.

Besides being an innings-eater on the mound, Buehrle was a fast worker — a favorite trait of his catcher, A.J Pierzynski. And he wasn’t someone who threw a lot of different pitches. He caught it and threw it without much input from behind the plate.

“He was fast,” Pierzynski said. “We had Jermaine Dye calling pitches from right field some games. We did come crazy things you wouldn’t recommend to people to do nowadays.”

Buehrle is a notoriously low-key guy who hates the spotlight but even he was moved by the team’s decision to honor him with a statue, which joins former slugger Harold Baines in the right-field concourse.

“I joked with him when I saw him,” Dye said. “I told him ‘Man it takes you getting a statue to get you out of the house.'”

Buehrle added: “I was literally nervous as can be today. This is not my comfort zone but by no means am I taking it lightly. This is incredible.”

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