Buckeyes QB battle still unresolved; both to play
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Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Staff Writer
Ohio State coach Ryan Day remained steadfast in the approach that quarterback Kyle McCord will start against Youngstown State, but Devin Brown will play for the Buckeyes on Saturday as well.
Neither quarterback emerged from a postseason competition as the clear-cut winner, but McCord was named the starter against Indiana and it was made clear Brown would also get playing time throughout the game.
McCord went 20-for-33 for 239 yards with no touchdowns and an interception in the 23-3 win over the Hoosiers. Brown threw the ball only three times, completing one pass for minus-2 yards.
“I’m trying not to draw too many hard lines when it comes to this right now,” Day said. “Our goal is to be a really good quarterback room and win games, and as these first few games start to develop, we get a better feel for what that looks like. Learned some things about Kyle on Saturday; saw some things that were really good.
“Saw some things that he’s got to improve on. Again, disappointed that we couldn’t get more on the field with Devin, but hopefully this week we can and continue to evaluate it.”
Day said part of the reason Brown took as few snaps as he did had to do with opportunities and having only 11 drives throughout the game. He’d like to continue to get more game reps for Brown to be able to evaluate the quarterbacks in real time and in real situations to make a better assessment of who gives the offense the better shot at winning.
“I would have liked to get Devin in the game, but like I mentioned after the game, I wanted to do what was best to win the game. At the time, that was the first goal,” Day said. “I felt like that was the right thing to do. A little bit was gut, honestly. I can’t sit here and tell you the analytics and the right way to do that, but this week we’d like to get Devin in more.”
Part of that gut decision was Day still working through the right method for allowing one quarterback to get into his rhythm during a game. The execution from the offense as a whole wasn’t where the coaches want it to be, and part of that has to do with the play from the quarterback.
Day said he would love to be at a point where he could say McCord is the starter and Brown won’t play, but the coach said Brown has played well enough to play. Until one quarterback separates himself from the pack, the coaches are going to continue playing both and letting them sort it out on the field.
“I do not have a crystal ball, I don’t know it’s gonna look like,” Day said. “I wish I did, I know everybody wants to know what it’s going to look like. We’ll just keep grinding on this thing and keep trying to find wins because we know it’s a long season. Ultimately, we have to find what’s best for our team.
“We felt like we had to go get a win on Saturday. I wish it was cleaner across the board. It wasn’t, but we got the win. Now we identified the things we have to get better at and see what it looks like this week.”
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was placed on the injured list on Friday with a right calf strain, the team announced before its game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s expected to miss “more than a month,” according to manager Craig Counsell.
Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his last wind sprint after a bullpen session on Thursday.
“He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time,” Counsell said.
Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season who just got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury. Now they’ll have to navigate at least the rest of this month without one of their other key starters.
“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our advantage and we’ll go from there.”
The team recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, though he won’t go directly into the rotation. Instead, the Cubs will throw a bullpen game on Saturday against the Cardinals and “go from there,” according to Counsell.
Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his past five starts dating to May 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, compared to just three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting average.
The team might also consider a bigger role for righty Chris Flexen who has been fantastic for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 games, including a four inning stint late last month.
“He’s a candidate to be stretched out for sure,” Counsell said. “He’s prepared to do a little bit more.”
Cubs brass have already stated they are looking for starting pitching before the trade deadline later this month. Counsell was asked if Taillon’s injury increases that need. He didn’t take the bait.
“The trade deadline isn’t until July 31,” he said. “I’m focused on the next week or 10 games before the All-Star break.”
ATLANTA — Jordan Westburg didn’t have to be fully recovered from a finger injury to move back into Baltimore’s lineup and make an immediate impact.
Westburg had three hits, including a homer, in the Orioles‘ 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.
The Orioles received another boost as Tyler O’Neill came off the injured list with a single and a walk.
“I think they gave us two of the three runs,” said Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino, referring to O’Neill scoring on Cedric Mullins‘ two-run homer off Spencer Strider.
“Those are two really good players,” Mansolino said. “We’re still short. We’re still missing Adley [Rutschman], but a lot of credit to the guys. They went out there and put up three runs against probably one of the great pitchers in the game.”
Rutschman, Baltimore’s primary catcher, has been out since June 20 with an oblique strain.
Westburg has tried to play through his sprained left index finger. He left a game at the New York Yankees on June 21 before returning four days later against Texas and then having to leave a game after aggravating the injury on June 27.
“Is he 100%? Probably not,” Mansolino said before the game. “But I think he’s probably close.”
Close was good enough. When asked how he feels after his three-hit game, Westburg said, “Pretty good.”
“I’m willing to play through whatever I have,” Westburg said. “It just was at a point where I wasn’t able to swing a bat. As soon as I’m able and can, I want to be on the field as much as they’ll let me.”
O’Neill was the Orioles’ designated hitter in his return from a left shoulder impingement. He was placed on the injured list for the second time this year on May 16 after missing time earlier in the season with neck inflammation.
The contributions from Westburg and O’Neill, who combined to reach base five times, helped support Charlie Morton, who allowed six hits and two runs in 5⅓ innings in his return to Atlanta, where he pitched the past four seasons. Morton also began his career with the Braves.
Morton (5-7) improved to 5-0 in 10 appearances, including seven starts, since May 10.
“I spent basically half my career here,” Morton said. “Being drafted here, I spent seven years in the system, went to the big leagues, made my debut, got to play for Bobby Cox, got to play with some of the pillars of this organization and … come back and win a World Series here. Yeah, it’s a special place for me.”
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