Boston’s latest run kept rolling last night with a 9-4 win over the Dodgers, capping a July that looked almost unreal. The Red Sox went 21-4 for the month, and that .840 winning percentage stands as the best month in the franchise’s 126-year history. Today, Los Angeles will hand the ball to ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in an effort to slow things down, while Boston counters with Payton Tolle.
With the trade deadline set for Monday at 5pm CT, clubs are already treating some scheduled starts like they might be the last ones. The Blue Jays still have Kevin Gausman lined up to pitch today, and the Angels still have Jose Soriano penciled in, but neither outing feels locked in.
Freddy Peralta and Casey Mize were scratched from their planned starts on Friday, a sign that teams are willing to protect pitchers who could be moved before the deadline. Gausman is heading toward free agency, and he told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi yesterday that there haven’t been extension talks between him and Toronto.
Soriano is under team control through 2028, which makes a deal less straightforward, but the Angels’ willingness to listen on him and other controllable players leaves the door open.
Detroit’s deadline picture is moving in a different direction. The Tigers didn’t miss a beat after scratching Mize, rolling past the Athletics 13-1 on Friday behind a four-pitcher bullpen game that held Oakland to one run on three hits.
The biggest headline belonged to Max Clark, who made a loud big league debut and matched the A’s hit total by himself. He finished 3-for-4 with a walk, doubled twice, and picked up his first career RBI in his first game in the majors.
Detroit sits at 52-58 and is 3.5 games out of the final AL wild card spot, but the expectation is that the club will mostly sell before Monday. That puts impending free agents like Mize and superstar Tarik Skubal in the center of the rumor mill, with pitching-needy teams surely circling.
Houston, meanwhile, has turned its season on its head. The Astros dropped to 20-37 after a 4-1 loss to the Twins on May 20, but since then they’ve gone 36-18, climbed back over .500, and taken control of the AL West after an 11-2 win over the Rangers yesterday.
They’re riding a four-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 10, which puts them in strong position to add at the deadline. The Astros are known to be hunting outfield help, with a left-handed hitting outfielder - or even two - seen as the ideal fit to balance a lineup that leans heavily right-handed.
But first they have to stay in front of Texas, which can jump right back into first place with a win today. Jacob deGrom will start for the Rangers, while Ronel Blanco will make his third start of the season for Houston as he continues his return from Tommy John rehab.
In Other News...
Former Tiger Jake Rogers Lands In A Deadline Twist Fans Will Feel
Jake Rogers deadline day turned into a whirlwind, and for Tigers fans, it was a reminder of how fast baseball can move. After spending several seasons in Detroit, the catcher was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles and then quickly flipped to the Boston Red Sox in the same sequence of moves tied to a larger deal centered on Adley Rutschman.
Now Rogers lands in a situation where his role could be far more immediate than anyone expected when the day began. With Rutschman currently on the injured list, the former Tiger is in position to help Boston right away, giving his new club a short-term answer while leaving Detroit followers to track one more familiar name in a very different setting. [Read more 🡒]
Casey Mize Just Became A Tougher Tigers Deadline Call
The pitching market keeps narrowing, and that matters for the Tigers as the deadline approaches. Toronto just added starter Jos Soriano from the Angels in a deal that sent shortstop prospect Arjun Nimmala, outfielder Eddie Micheletti and right-hander Angel Rivero back the other way, another notable move after the Blue Jays had already dealt Kevin Gausman to the Cubs. For Detroit, every starting arm coming off the board changes the backdrop around a roster that is still trying to decide how aggressive it wants to be.
Casey Mize sits right in the middle of that conversation. There has been speculation that the Tigers could move the right-hander, and interest around him has been building as clubs hunt for rotation help. With one more name gone and the supply shrinking, Detroits choice gets tougher by the day: hold onto a pitcher it still values, or see whether the market gets strong enough to justify listening. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Suddenly Have One Deadline Need They Can't Ignore
Casey Mizes name is back in the rumor mill at the exact moment the Tigers are trying to keep their division lead steady, and now his next start has been scratched as a precaution. The timing only adds to the sense that Detroit could be weighing a bigger-picture decision with a pitcher who is nearing free agency, even if the Tigers would prefer the focus stay on the pennant race rather than the deadline.
Houston has emerged as one of the clubs watching closely because of its rotation injuries, and that need is hard to miss with the deadline approaching. For the Tigers, the question is whether holding onto Mize for a run at October is worth more than the kind of prospect package a contending club might be willing to put on the table, which is exactly the sort of call front offices hate making when the standings say one thing and the long view says another. [Read more 🡒]