Connect with us

Published

6 months ago

on

  • Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterJan 14, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

    Close

      College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Of all the players gathered outside Notre Dame‘s locker room late Thursday night recapping a historic win, offensive lineman Charles Jagusah might have been the unlikeliest to be standing there.

Jagusah wasn’t supposed to be in uniform at Hard Rock Stadium, recounting his performance in Notre Dame’s 27-24 victory against Penn State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. After he tore a pectoral muscle early in training camp, his season had been declared over before it could truly begin. The injury to Jagusah, projected as the team’s starting left tackle, was Notre Dame’s first major health setback, but would be nowhere near its last.

The only way Jagusah would have a chance to contribute this season would be for Notre Dame to reach the CFP and make a deep run. For that to happen, the Irish would need to overcome a staggering amount of injuries, some season-ending, to players who, unlike Jagusah, would have no chance of returning. The injury wave didn’t spare the offense or defense, and it hit some of the team’s biggest stars as well as important role players.

“Losing-sleep injuries,” defensive coordinator Al Golden called them. “You’re talking about massive players.”

But none has been massive enough to divert Notre Dame from its playoff push, which will continue Monday night in Atlanta against Ohio State in the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T.

Most teams that make a run as deep as Notre Dame’s point to a decent-sized dose of good fortune. But when it came to injuries, the Irish had very little luck on their side. So how did they get all the way to the national championship game?

AFTER A TUESDAY practice in November, ahead of Notre Dame’s game with Army at Yankee Stadium, Golden knew he was seeing a first in his 30-year coaching career.

“I have not been a part of anything where we lost the caliber of guys that we’ve lost,” he told ESPN. “It just speaks to the leadership of Coach [Marcus] Freeman, the leadership of our captains and the unity of the group. Obviously it’s been next man up for quite some time.”

Every player and coach in college football cites a “next man up” mentality, recognizing its necessity and inevitability in a violent sport, but also making the reference with their fingers crossed. Those same coaches and players know that most injury-plagued teams are eventually sunk, unable to plug all the holes.

Jagusah was the first significant setback for Notre Dame, but others followed. The team responded to its Week 2 home loss to Northern Illinois by thrashing Purdue 66-7 in West Lafayette, but the victory came at a cost. Starting center Ashton Craig tore his left ACL, while Jordan Botelho, a starter at the vyper defensive end spot, suffered a right knee injury. They went out on consecutive series in the second quarter.

Boubacar Traore stepped up in Botelho’s absence and led Notre Dame in sacks (three) and tackles for loss (five) by the end of September. But the redshirt freshman injured his left knee in a Week 5 win over Louisville and was lost for the season.

The biggest injury loss came two weeks later, as cornerback Benjamin Morrison, a freshman All-America selection in 2022 who earned second-team AP All-America honors in 2023 and was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award, sustained a hip injury against Stanford. He also needed surgery and would be out for the season.

“You’re talking about some of the best at their positions,” Golden said. “And then some of the younger guys, you don’t know how good they’re going to be, but they’re going to be good, Boubacar and obviously Jordan Botelho.”

As the injuries on defense piled up, linebacker Jack Kiser felt a mix of sympathy and resolve. Some units would melt down, or at least regress, after losing a playmaker like Morrison, but not Notre Dame.

“I don’t think that’s ever even been an option for this program,” Kiser said. “It’s always been, ‘Hey, we’re devastated if someone got an injury, but someone has an opportunity. Can you elevate this team and make this team better and take advantage of that opportunity?'”

The answer, repeatedly and resoundingly, has been yes. True freshman cornerback Leonard Moore, a three-star recruit, entered the lineup for Morrison and now leads the team in pass breakups, while adding two forced fumbles and two interceptions.

Junior Tuihalamaka and Donovan Hinish, who each had only 10 tackles in 2023, stepped into bigger roles on the line. They have combined for 68 tackles, 7.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.

“There really wasn’t a point where someone went down, where I was like, ‘Ah, we’re done,'” standout safety Xavier Watts said. “I’ve got the confidence in all of my teammates.”

A Notre Dame defense hammered by injuries has been the biggest reason behind the team’s national title push. The Irish lead the nation in takeaways with 32 and rank second nationally in points allowed at 14.3 per game, trailing only Ohio State.

“Just press forward,” Golden said of the team’s philosophy. “Don’t bitch, don’t make excuses, and next guy, carry the flag.”

SHORTLY BEFORE SURGERY to repair his pectoral muscle, Jagusah met with Freeman, who told the second-year player that he could be available for a potential CFP run if Notre Dame made the field for the first time in four seasons.

“At first it kind of didn’t feel realistic, but as I got closer and closer, I just kept pushing, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I can do this,'” Jagusah said. “It’s a credit to everybody for keeping me engaged.”

As the team played into mid-December, then late December, then early January, Jagusah’s chances to not just see the field but log meaningful snaps increased. There he was at the Orange Bowl, playing guard instead of tackle, filling in for injured starter Rocco Spindler. Like others had done in replacing those lost to injury, Jagusah stepped up, pulling to clear out defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton on quarterback Riley Leonard‘s touchdown run, and decleating Penn State safety Jaylen Reed on another pull.

“It shows you how much credit my teammates deserve,” Jagusah said. “In the grand scheme of things, I didn’t really do much today. They got us here. They did all the heavy lifting, everybody, all year long, grinding, and I get to reap the rewards.”

Jagusah’s preseason injury began what has been a season-long shuffle for Notre Dame’s offensive line. Craig started the first three games before his injury, which prompted Pat Coogan, who started throughout the 2023 season at left guard but entered this fall as a backup, to take over at center. At guard, Billy Schrauth has started games at both spots, with Spindler and Sam Pendleton also earning starts.

Notre Dame had stability at tackle with Aamil Wagner on the right side and Anthonie Knapp, a true freshman who emerged following Jagusah’s injury, on the left. Jagusah made his season debut on special teams against Georgia in the CFP quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl, then replaced Spindler against Penn State.

“Coach Freeman always says the future is uncertain, so you can’t worry about the future,” Jagusah said. “Sure, we’ve had weeks where a lot of guys are banged up and you’re thinking, ‘Oh, crap, how are we going to make this work?’ But it’s about preparing every single day. Whatever five guys we put out there, they’re all going to do great.”

Jagusah’s story underscores how Notre Dame’s roster depth and resilience have been tested, even during the CFP. Notre Dame’s first highlight came from Jeremiyah Love, who raced 98 yards to the end zone in a first-round game against Indiana. Love had injured his right knee in the regular-season finale at USC and had been battling an upper-respiratory bug in the days leading up to the Indiana contest. But he still delivered the longest run in CFP history.

The Irish beat Indiana 27-17, a score closer than the game actually was, but also lost defensive tackle Rylie Mills, their leader in sacks (7.5) and tackles for loss (8.5), to a season-ending knee injury. Mills had propped up a line that had lost Botelho and Traore, as well as starting tackle Howard Cross III, a second-team AP All-America selection in 2023, for most of November.

In the CFP semifinals, Notre Dame trailed Penn State 10-0 when Leonard’s head hit the turf, sending him to the injury tent to be evaluated for a potential concussion. Backup quarterback Steve Angeli, who hadn’t played outside of mop-up time all season, came in and hit his first five pass attempts, helping set up a field goal before halftime.

Love’s status for the semifinal had been in doubt after he aggravated his knee injury against Georgia and left the game in the third quarter. Despite wearing a brace, Love gave Notre Dame its first lead with one of the more iconic runs in recent school history, wrestling free of four Penn State defenders and reaching the ball across the goal line. He later showcased his signature hurdle in elevating over Penn State’s Kobe King.

play

0:40

Jeremiyah Love refuses to go down on a Notre Dame TD

Jeremiyah Love breaks multiple tackles to give Notre Dame a 17-10 lead over Penn State.

Notre Dame fittingly won the game on a field goal by Mitch Jeter, who played through a hip injury for much of the season, missed two attempts in the Northern Illinois loss and hit just 1 of 5 attempts in the final five regular-season games.

“I don’t think that me or this team would be where we are without all those trials and tribulations, injuries and sicknesses and all that type of stuff,” Love said. “Everybody on this team is relentless. [Me] playing through injury, playing when I was sick, anybody on this team will do that same thing because we love each other.”

EVERY TEAM EMPHASIZES relentlessness and resilience, and players stepping up for each other. But what separates the Irish, who have actually delivered on those promises, from teams that can’t follow through?

“It’s because we’ve been at the very bottom of the bowl,” Kiser said. “We’ve been as deep as you can be, and felt the biggest pain that a team could feel, and it brought us closer. We understand how to face adversity now because of it.”

Notre Dame’s loss to Northern Illinois was a setback that, during the four-team playoff era, almost certainly would have eliminated the Irish from consideration. The result also brought back memories of Freeman’s first season, which included home losses to Marshall and Stanford.

But rather than letting the NIU loss carry over, or fretting about what it could mean down the line, Notre Dame strung together wins, even while losing key players.

“You better live your life six inches in front of your face,” offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. “Coach Freeman brings it up a lot: Win the interval. Just win this interval — this, right here. We’ve been able to maintain that mentality, regardless of the amount of chaos that’s going around.”

In the afterglow of the Penn State victory, Golden said Notre Dame “needed every little bit of that mettle to win that game.” The Irish will need more, though, to beat an Ohio State team with a talent edge and few major injuries outside of its offensive line.

Knapp sustained a high ankle sprain against Penn State that will keep him out for the championship game. Spindler’s outlook is more promising but not fully known, Freeman said Sunday. Jagusah likely will have a significant role against Ohio State, perhaps at the position he was pegged to play back in the summer.

The Irish are used to playing without a full deck. Whoever takes the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will, in their eyes, be enough to win a championship.

“This is a tough football team,” Denbrock said after the Penn State win, standing several feet from Jagusah. “They just keep playing. They don’t flinch, they don’t care what the circumstances are. God bless ’em, it’s fun to be a part of.”

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Sports

Who has the edge for MVP, Cy Young and more? MLB Awards Watch at the All-Star break

Published

8 hours ago

on

July 16, 2025

By

Who has the edge for MVP, Cy Young and more? MLB Awards Watch at the All-Star break

  • Bradford DoolittleJul 16, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

    Close

      • MLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com
      • Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com
      • Been with ESPN since 2013

Judge. Ohtani. Skubal. Wheeler.

A little more than halfway home, four of baseball’s titans have established themselves as the front-runners in the major awards races, at least according to ESPN BET. A lot can happen between now and the balloting late in the season, but when you have established stars and perennial awards favorites atop the leaderboard, their competitors can’t count on any kind of a drop-off.

In other words: Barring a major injury to Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Tarik Skubal or Zack Wheeler, it’s going to take a strong second half by anyone hoping to overtake them. It can happen, and if any of these races tighten up, it’ll be something to behold.

Awards Watch agrees with many of the assessments made by the betting markets, but if the season ended today, there would be a few disagreements, according to AXE. That doesn’t mean the voters would fall in line with the numbers, but the debate would be robust.

As we check in with our midseason Awards Watch, let’s see how things stack up for the favorites.

Most Valuable Player

American League

Front-runner: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (162 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (148); 3. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (138); 4. Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros (134); 5. Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins (133); 6. Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians (130); 7. Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox (129); 8. (tie) Randy Arozarena, Mariners, J.P. Crawford, Mariners (124); 10. Julio Rodriguez, Mariners (122).

Leader trend: Judge has retained a comfortable lead in this category all season. Raleigh drew fairly close in late June, but the gap has since widened again. That’s not Raleigh’s fault; it’s just Judge being Judge. At the time of our last Awards Watch, Judge had a 1.234 OPS. Since then, he has managed a meager 1.141. Yeah, that’s still pretty good.

The shape of Judge’s numbers has changed a bit. When we convened in late May, he was hitting .395, and he has posted a mortal .297 average since. But he has picked things up in the slugging category. Last time, he was mashing homers at the rate of 54 per 162 games. Since, that number is 66. Raleigh might be having the greatest catcher season of all time, and it’s possible that if there is any kind of Judge fatigue among the voters, that could impact the ballot. But what isn’t likely is any kind of prolonged drop-off by Judge.

Biggest mover: Buxton wasn’t in the top 10 last time out, but he has entered the top five based on several weeks of elite production and good health. During an 11-year career marked as much by injury as spectacular play, the first half featured Buxton at his best and most available, putting him on pace for his first 30/30 season at age 31. It keeps getting better: Since the last Awards Watch, Buxton has a 1.025 OPS with rates of 48 homers and 39 steals per 162 games.

Keep an eye on: Last time, there were two Red Sox in the top 10. Both have dropped out, with Alex Bregman hitting the IL and Rafael Devers hitting the airport for a flight to join his new team in San Francisco. But Boston is still represented by the overlooked Rafaela. No, he isn’t going to overtake Judge in the MVP race, but one of baseball’s most unique players deserves a little run.

After splitting time between shortstop and center field in 2024, Rafaela has played almost exclusively on the grass this season, and his defensive metrics have been off the charts. That’s driving this ranking, but Rafaela also has made tremendous strides at the plate. After entering the season with a career OPS+ of 83, he has upped that number to 118 in 2025 and is on pace for a 20/20 campaign.

National League

Front-runner: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (144 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs (143); 3. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres (136); 4. Kyle Tucker, Cubs (135); 5. James Wood, Washington Nationals (134); 6. Will Smith, Dodgers (131); 7. (tie) Pete Alonso, New York Mets, Juan Soto, Mets (129); 9. Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds (128); 10. Francisco Lindor, Mets (127).

Leader trend: Crow-Armstrong just won’t go away. He has lurked behind Ohtani on the AXE leaderboard for most of the season, but a quiet series from Ohtani in Milwaukee paired with another outburst from Crow-Armstrong flipped the top spot. Ohtani is still the favorite — the leaderboard flipped again over the weekend and, besides, he’s Ohtani — but at this point, we have to come to grips with the reality that Crow-Armstrong can mount a legitimate challenge.

Like Rafaela, Crow-Armstrong’s defensive metrics are top of the charts and, in fact, those two are in a duel for the MLB lead in defensive runs saved metrics among outfielders. But Crow-Armstrong’s bat continues to fuel his rise to superstar status. He entered the break on pace for 42 homers and 46 steals.

Ironically, if the offensive numbers between Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong are tight, it could come down to very different forms of run prevention. Crow-Armstrong is at 15 defensive runs saved as a center fielder. Meanwhile, Ohtani is at three runs above average during his nine innings on the mound. As the pitching side of Ohtani’s record grows, that gap might narrow considerably.

If that happens and it comes down to a straight-up comparison at the plate, it’s going to be tough for Crow-Armstrong, whose 140 OPS+ currently is dwarfed by Ohtani’s 174.

Biggest mover: Wood continues to cement his arrival as a right-now star player, and his pace has been accelerating even after an excellent start. Despite a subdued week before the break, Wood has a .908 OPS and 162-game rates of 42 homers, 127 RBIs, 19 steals and 100 runs since the last Awards Watch. Overall, he has a .381 OBP and is on pace for 100 walks, so those numbers aren’t driven by a short-term power surge. At 22, Wood simply is already an all-around offensive force.

Keep an eye on: Tucker overtook Crow-Armstrong for the No. 2 slot (and the Cubs’ team lead) in AXE late in June, before Crow-Armstrong reasserted himself. But Tucker’s production is metronomic: His AXE at the last Awards Watch was 130, and he is now at 135. Tucker has an .839 OPS at Wrigley Field as compared to .905 on the road, where 12 of his 17 homers have been hit. But if warmer weather and outward-blowing winds become consistent in Chicago, a Tucker power surge could be in the offing. If that happens, look out.

Cy Young

American League

Front-runner: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers (151 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Garrett Crochet, Red Sox (149); 3. (tie) Framber Valdez, Astros, Joe Ryan, Twins (138); 5. Hunter Brown, Astros (137); 6. Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers (136); 7. Kris Bubic, Royals (134); 8. Max Fried, Yankees (133); 9. Jacob deGrom, Rangers (132); 10. Bryan Woo, Mariners (126).

Leader trend: Skubal was fourth in AXE among AL pitchers last time out, though he was still the clear front-runner to repeat as AL Cy Young. A few more weeks have brought AXE in line with reality, as Skubal has gone to that magical place few pitchers ever reach.

Skubal’s blastoff actually began when we posted the last Awards Watch, as he was coming off a complete-game, two-hit shutout against Cleveland. Perhaps the most impressive part of that outing is that he recorded 13 strikeouts on just 94 pitches. Well, since then, Skubal did the same thing to Minnesota: 13 whiffs on 93 pitches on June 29.

In eight outings following the last Watch, Skubal has gone 5-1 with a 1.89 ERA, thrown at least seven innings five times and posted an absurd ratio of 61 strikeouts to nine walks. This race isn’t over, but it’s clearly Skubal’s to win.

Biggest mover: DeGrom missed the top 10 last time, but since then, he has shown every indication of ramping back up to his historic level of stifling run prevention. He’s doing it a little differently than he did in his Mets heyday, emphasizing pitch efficiency to a greater extent.

DeGrom’s 26% strikeout rate is his lowest in nearly a decade, and he has reached double digits in whiffs just once this season. But he has a sparkling 2.32 ERA and has been at 2.20 over eight starts since the last Awards Watch. He had a string of five straight starts when he threw at least six innings, reaching seven twice, all without hitting the 90-pitch mark.

Keep an eye on: Crochet has been coming on like gangbusters, as has the team around him. He finished his first half with a complete-game, three-hit shutout of Tampa Bay, closing the AXE gap between him and Skubal. Crochet leads the AL in innings pitched (129⅓), strikeouts (160) and ERA+ (185). We’ve seen Skubal do this for a full season; now, it’s up to Crochet to prove he can match the reigning Cy Young winner start for start in what’s shaping up as a great race.

National League

Front-runner: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates (150 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies (148); 3. Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies (143); 4. MacKenzie Gore, Nationals (135); 5. Nick Pivetta, Padres (133); 6. Ranger Suarez, Phillies (132); 7. (tie) Andrew Abbott, Reds, Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers (131); 9. Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants (130); 10. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers (128)

Leader trend: The numbers between Wheeler and Skenes are so close, it’s hard not to fixate on the disparity in the win-loss columns: Wheeler is 9-3, while the criminally under-supported Skenes is 4-8. Recently, I re-pitched the notion of a revised win-loss record based on game scores, so that’s worth taking a fresh look at to see if the difference in the traditional records is misleading.

Well, it is and it isn’t. Skenes has suffered a string of hard-luck game score losses of late and now sits at 11-9 by that method. Wheeler, meanwhile, is an MLB-best 16-3. Wheeler also has a solid edge in average game score at 65.2, as compared to 63.2 for Skenes. For now, Wheeler has the edge.

Will it last? Consider another byproduct of that game score work: pitcher temperature. You win a game score matchup, the temp goes up. You lose, it goes down. Each starter begins his career at the average temperature of 72 degrees, and it goes back and forth from there. The hottest starter in baseball by this method: Wheeler, at 127.2 degrees. Because of his recent bad run, Skenes has cooled to 68.7 degrees.

Biggest mover: For now, Sanchez has seized the spot just behind Wheeler, which of course makes him a mere No. 2 in his own rotation. Sanchez was overlooked when the NL All-Star rosters were released, and it was a true oversight. Like Wheeler, Sanchez has been fiery hot, with a string of excellent outings since the last Awards Watch. Over nine starts during that span, Sanchez has 1.77 ERA and 2.11 FIP, while pitching seven innings or more six times.

Keep an eye on: Let’s just stick with our Phillies theme and keep our eyes on their whole rotation. Wheeler (second), Sanchez (third) and Suarez (sixth) are entrenched in the top 10. Meanwhile, Jesus Luzardo (126 AXE), who led this category last time out, just missed giving the Phillies four rotation members in the top 10. Philadelphia leads the majors in average game score and is second in the NL (behind Cincinnati) in game score win-loss percentage.

Rookie of the Year

American League

Front-runner: Jacob Wilson, Athletics (121 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Carlos Narvaez, Red Sox (120); 3. Cam Smith, Astros (116); 4. Noah Cameron, Royals (115); 5. Nick Kurtz, Athletics (108); 6. Jake Mangum, Tampa Bay Rays (107); 7. (tie) Mike Vasil, Chicago White Sox, Will Warren, Yankees, Jasson Dominguez, Yankees (106); 10. Roman Anthony, Red Sox (105)

Leader trend: Wilson has come back to the pack on the AXE leaderboard, perhaps inevitably after his remarkable start to the season. He was hitting .348 at the last Awards Watch then went out and pushed that number to .372 on June 8. Since then, Wilson has hit just .222 and has just three extra-base hits over 24 games. Wilson’s quick beginning turned enough heads to get him voted as the AL’s starting shortstop in the All-Star Game. But he has been replaced by Smith as the AL Rookie of the Year favorite at ESPN BET.

Biggest mover: Smith has mashed his way into prominence, but he’s proving to be a well-rounded young hitter despite just 32 games of minor league experience. Alas, his surprising .277 batting average is driven by a .378 BABIP that doesn’t seem likely to hold up. However, Smith has just seven homers, and if his game power starts to match his raw power, he can easily replace any loss in average with a gain in slugging.

Keep an eye on: Kurtz has been picking up the pace, especially in the power category, manifesting what was his calling card prior to reaching the majors. Kurtz hit the IL with a hip injury on the day the last Awards Watch went out. He had just started to drive the ball before getting hurt, and he has gone right on slugging since he came back. After homering just once over his first 23 games, Kurtz has since gone deep 16 times in 35 contests while slugging .713 in the process.

National League

Front-runner: Caleb Durbin, Brewers (113 AXE)

Next nine: 2. (tie) Chad Patrick, Brewers, Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves (112); 4. (tie) Hyeseong Kim, Dodgers, Isaac Collins, Brewers (109); 6. (tie) Jack Dreyer, Dodgers, Brad Lord, Nationals (105); 8. (tie) Liam Hicks, Miami Marlins, Lake Bachar, Marlins, Yohel Pozo, St. Louis Cardinals (104)

Leader trend: The race remains tepid. One of those players tied for second — Patrick, the leader in this category last time out — is back in Triple A, joining Logan Henderson (not listed here, but who ranks 11th) in the rotation at Nashville. It’s not because of failures on their part, though, it’s just because Milwaukee is so flush with starting pitching. Speaking of which …

Biggest mover: Jacob Misiorowski had yet to debut when we last convened, but he has since become a must-watch big league starter and, amazingly, an All-Star.

He won his first three starts while posting a 1.13 ERA, then put up his first stinker in a loss to the Mets. He followed that with a head-turning six innings of dominance against the defending champion Dodgers, whiffing 12 L.A. batters and beating future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. The end result: Misiorowski has become ESPN BET’s new front-runner for top NL rookie.

Keep an eye on: Kim has been as good as advertised for the Dodgers, matching the elite defense and baserunning we knew he had with a surprising 137 OPS+ over 119 plate appearances. Now, in the wake of Max Muncy‘s knee injury, Kim should be more of a lineup fixture, at least for a few weeks.

Manager of the Year

American League

Front-runner: A.J. Hinch, Tigers (112 EARL)

Next four: 2. Joe Espada, Astros (109); 3. Ron Washington, Los Angeles Angels (108); 4. John Schneider, Toronto Blue Jays (107); 5. Dan Wilson, Mariners (103)

Overview: It’s bittersweet to see Washington on the leaderboard now that we know he won’t be back this season because of a health issue. That leaves a pretty good battle between Hinch and Espada, his bench coach with the Astros. The Tigers’ historic pace with such a young team has Hinch in front. But Houston’s surge despite injuries and underperformances is the kind of thing that will catch a voter’s eye.

National League

Front-runner: Pat Murphy, Brewers (108 EARL)

Next four: 2. (tie) Oliver Marmol, Cardinals; Bob Melvin, Giants (106); 4. (tie) Craig Counsell, Cubs; Clayton McCullough, Marlins (105)

Overview: This is a hard race to read. Marmol is a classic candidate, guiding a low-expectation team to a good record and playoff contention. But the Cardinals might be on the verge of dropping back. Meanwhile, the Brewers have become the NL’s hottest team, nudging Murphy, last year’s NL Manager of the Year, into the lead at the break. But in both manager categories, these stories are very far from being written.

Continue Reading

Sports

MLB betting: Top storylines for the season’s second half

Published

8 hours ago

on

July 16, 2025

By

MLB betting: Top storylines for the season's second half

Coming off his second American League MVP season in 2024, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge opened as the favorite to repeat for the award. He has only helped his argument by posting the AL’s best average (.355) as well as its second-most home runs (35) and RBIs (81) at the All-Star break. However, as excellent as his season has been, a stunning breakout campaign from Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is closing the gap in the odds.

Judge currently shows -600 odds to win the AL MVP in 2025, a major improvement from his leading +300 at the start of the season, according to ESPN BET lines. However, Raleigh now has the second-best odds +325, a remarkable shortening from his opening 100-1 price.

Judge’s short odds all season — which reached an incredible -1,000 in mid-May — dictated that he was never going to be an attractive option for bettors, with BetMGM reporting 5.2% of the bettors backing him for the award, fifth best in the market.

Raleigh, on the other hand, made a slow progression up the odds board, allowing bettors to take advantage of his long plus-pricing for some time. Caesars Sportsbook baseball lead Eric Biggio said many of the sportsbook’s customers grabbed the Mariners backstop at 90-1 back in early May. Judge’s excellence actually helped keep Raleigh at a long price, according to another bookmaker, since Judge’s extremely short price needed to be balanced.

BetMGM said Raleigh holds a leading 33% of the handle for AL MVP, the book’s largest liability in the market. His laidback attitude, Home Run Derby win and amusing nickname could continue to fuel his MVP narrative … and make trouble for sportsbooks.

“As much as I like him, as much as I enjoy rooting for the Big Dumper, he’s a pretty big liability for us,” Biggio told ESPN. “We’ve got some pretty big tickets on Raleigh to win the MVP and for the home run leader.”

The latter market is also an intriguing one: Even as Raleigh (38) holds a three-homer lead over Judge, the Yankees slugger is still the solid favorite to sock the most dingers this season, showing -140 odds to Raleigh’s +130 at ESPN BET. Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani holds +800 odds to accompany his 32 home runs.

“If Raleigh wins either one of those two awards, we’re not going to be in as good of shape with him as we are with those other two guys,” DraftKings Sportsbook director Johnny Avello told ESPN.

Ohtani is also the solid favorite for National League MVP at -700, but Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is putting some degree of pressure on him at +750. BetMGM reports PCA as its biggest liability in that market.

World Series favorites

Ahead of the 2025 season, the Dodgers were an astounding +160 to win the National League pennant and +275 to win the World Series, per ESPN BET lines — the shortest odds to win MLB’s championship since the 2003 Yankees. At the All-Star break, not a whole lot has changed, with L.A. now a +140 favorite to take the NL crown and a +240 favorite for the World Series.

Things have not gone as expected on the American League side, however. After opening the season at +1200 to win the AL and +3000 to take the World Series, the Detroit Tigers now display the best record in baseball, bringing their pennant odds to a favorite’s +250 and their championship odds to +700, tied with the Yankees for second best.

The underdog story resonated with the betting public, who began backing the Tigers at the first indications that they could make some noise not only in the AL Central, but in the league at large. Biggio said Detroit is Caesars’ second-largest liability, behind only the San Francisco Giants.

“We had some longer prices, and the public spotted it early that they’re a legit squad,” he said. “So some big prices on the Tigers to win it all, and they are for real.”

“They’ve become a popular futures selection, now our second-most bet World Series winner by total bets, and third-most popular pick by handle,” ESPN BET’s VP of sportsbook strategy and growth Adam Landeka said via email. “Given their relatively longer price earlier in the season, we already know we’ll be a fan of almost any team the Tigers face in the postseason.”

While Detroit’s concern will be coaching its relatively inexperienced core to a postseason run, L.A.’s will be staying healthy. Bookmakers remark that the Dodgers’ ability to keep winning games despite several significant injuries is a testament to their depth, thus keeping them a favorite in the long run.

Young arms

The eyes of the baseball world turned to Milwaukee for a seemingly random matinee game June 25. It was the first head-to-head matchup between Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes and Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski, two of the brightest future pitching stars in baseball. It would prove to be significant for at least one of them.

Prior to his MLB debut on June 12, Misirowski was +2500 to win NL Rookie of the Year. That day he moved to +1000, then to +175 after his second start, before finally becoming the odds-on favorite at -120 after getting the better of Skenes, according to ESPN BET’s Landeka. At the break, “The Miz” is -220 to take home the award. Sportsbooks were able to stay on top of his rapid ascendancy, limiting their liability.

“We were able to move this guy pretty quickly,” Avello said. “That’s one that didn’t get hit, could have had some good value there. We’re in pretty good shape with him actually.”

Skenes, meanwhile, is having another remarkable season after taking home ROY honors last year, but his disappointing record (4-8) for a dismal Pirates team could be keeping him from being the NL Cy Young favorite. He currently shows -105 odds at ESPN BET, trailing Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler at -130.

It’s largely a two-man race — Wheeler’s teammate, Cristopher Sanchez, is next closest in the odds at +2000 — but sportsbooks aren’t too worried about liability given the short prices on Skenes and Wheeler all season.

“We’ve seen comparable action on both, but as it stands now Skenes would be a better result for us,” Landeka said.

Continue Reading

Sports

NHL schedule release: Bruins, Penguins, Maple Leafs and more lead top reveals

Published

9 hours ago

on

July 16, 2025

By

NHL schedule release: Bruins, Penguins, Maple Leafs and more lead top reveals

The 2025-26 NHL season is slowly approaching and teams checked another offseason box on Wednesday by revealing their schedules for the upcoming campaign.

Creativity abounded as squads looked to show off their upcoming calendar in distinctive ways. The Boston Bruins enlisted comedian Bill Burr to help unveil their schedule. The Pittsburgh Penguins went with a hospital theme. Dogs were brought in to help out the Toronto Maple Leafs with their reveal.

Headlined by those and more, here’s a look at the social media schedule release posts from each NHL team.

Boston Bruins

Pittsburgh Penguins

Toronto Maple Leafs

Continue Reading

Trending