The Dodgers and Padres squared off this week in their first of four 2025 regular-season series and the first rematch since the Southern California foes faced off in last year’s NLDS. With the Dodgers holding a one-game lead on both the Padres and Giants atop the NL West entering the series, the stakes were readily apparent.

The back-and-forth series opener — an 8-7 Dodgers victory in 10 innings — was an appropriate reintroduction to this rivalry, offering a much more elevated and dramatic contest than what you’d expect on a Monday in June. The second game Tuesday was far less compelling, as L.A.’s bullpen game went awry in a hurry and San Diego cruised to an 11-1 blowout. A more competitive atmosphere resumed in Wednesday’s rubber match, with a three-run homer from Teoscar Hernández in the sixth providing the necessary cushion for a 5-2 Dodgers victory.

Here are four takeaways from the first edition of Dodgers-Padres in 2025:

Dodgers’ rotation carousel continues

The ever-evolving enigma that is the Dodgers’ rotation provided its latest round of plot twists this week. Dustin May, one of just two L.A. starters along with Yoshinobu Yamamoto to take the ball every turn through the rotation, scuffled Monday, surrendering six runs across five innings and mustering just one strikeout, tied for a season low. On Tuesday, veteran reliever Lou Trivino became the 14th pitcher to start a game for the Dodgers this season, putting Los Angeles atop a leaderboard on which it surely would prefer not to be featured. Sure, Trivino took the ball as an opener, but his joining the list of L.A. starters is emblematic of what the Dodgers have been navigating with pitcher injuries this season — for the second straight year. Last season, the Dodgers used 17 starting pitchers, which was tied with the White Sox and Brewers for third-most in baseball, behind only the Marlins (20) and Angels (18).

In Game 3, the Dodgers pivoted from their originally announced starter, Justin Wrobleski, and gave the ball to another rookie in Ben Casparius, whom, manager Dave Roberts revealed before the game, the organization is considering stretching out as a starter to help cover the missing innings on the injured list. Casparius has excelled as a reliever since getting called up late last season, including in multi-inning stints, but he was developed as a starter in the minors, making him an ideal candidate to transition back to a rotation role. Casparius allowed one run across four innings Wednesday; his 54 pitches were tied for the second-most he has thrown in a game this season.

Of course, the Dodgers’ most important developments on the mound this week did not take place during any of the games at Petco Park, but rather, in the hours before Tuesday’s contest. The Dodgers received a pair of encouraging updates on two of their highest-profile pitchers working their way back: Blake Snell, who signed a $182 million free-agent contract over the winter and made two starts before going on the injured list due to a shoulder issue, and Shohei Ohtani, who hasn’t pitched in a big-league game since Aug. 23, 2023, but has 23 home runs as the Dodgers’ DH. You know, those guys.

Snell threw his first bullpen session since April on Tuesday and came out of it feeling great, seemingly marking the first substantial step toward his return to the rotation amid what has been a frustrating and prolonged absence from his new team. Then Ohtani participated in another live bullpen session and looked sharp enough to warrant an intriguing suggestion from Roberts that the international sensation could perhaps resume his two-way exploits for the Dodgers before the All-Star break.

It’s still unclear when Snell or Ohtani will take the mound again in an official capacity, but any notable progress toward their returns counts as major news for L.A. as the team continues to search for enough innings on a nearly daily basis.

Dylan Cease delivers his best start of the season

With ample run support from the Padres’ bats against the Dodgers’ wayward bullpen game, Dylan Cease didn’t need to be perfect to secure the win in Tuesday’s 11-1 victory. Nevertheless, the 29-year-old right-hander turned in an especially excellent outing. He struck out a season-high 11 across seven scoreless innings while allowing just three hits, albeit with a season-high five free passes.

With some of the nastiest stuff in the league, Cease has been the epitome of effectively wild for much of his career, with his ability to rack up whiffs counterbalancing his occasionally shoddy control. Tuesday represented the good version of this genre of pitching, as Cease coaxed a ridiculous 24 swing-and-misses from Dodgers hitters to stifle run-scoring opportunities even when the walks enabled some traffic on the bases. Cease is one of just two pitchers to tally at least 24 whiffs in a game multiple times this season; Tarik Skubal is the other.

It was a refreshing showing from Cease, whose value to San Diego this season has been rooted more in durability than dominance. A complete clunker on April 8, in which he allowed nine runs in four innings in Sacramento, has sullied his overall season statline — remove that start, and Cease’s ERA would be 3.39, not 4.28 — but we also haven’t seen that many impressive pitching lines from the righty this year. Tuesday was Cease’s first scoreless outing of the season, which makes this showing against a stellar Dodgers lineup very encouraging. He remains a pivotal character for the Padres in their quest to dethrone the Dodgers atop the NL West and make serious noise in October. And on an individual level, each Cease outing carries weight considering his status as one of the best starting pitchers scheduled to hit free agency this winter.

Manny Machado’s days as an MVP candidate are not over

For the first month of the season, Fernando Tatis Jr. appeared to be the likeliest Padre to be included in NL MVP discussions, with his power, speed and defense contributing heavily to San Diego’s success. But Tatis has quietly faded recently, while Machado has reemerged as the undisputed face of the franchise and is once again producing like one of the best players in baseball, right when it seemed his decline might’ve begun.

Over the previous two seasons, Machado’s 6.9 fWAR and 118 wRC+ ranked eighth and seventh, respectively, among third basemen. Those were respectable marks but hardly commensurate with the MVP-caliber production he demonstrated from 2020 to ’22, when Machado’s 14.2 fWAR and 140 wRC+ ranked second among third basemen, behind only José Ramírez.

This year, Machado has reclaimed his rightful spot in the inner circle of hot corner excellence, once again ranking second in WAR behind Ramírez and currently boasting a 154 wRC+, which would be the best mark of his celebrated career. With two hits Monday, plus another three hits and five RBI on Tuesday, Machado has 24 multi-hit games this season; only Aaron Judge, Jacob Wilson, Freddie Freeman and Ramírez have more.

It took a few years for the Padres to start winning after Machado’s landmark signing in 2019, but there is no doubt that his steady and constant presence at third base has fundamentally defined this golden era of Padres baseball. That reality is as true as ever in 2025.

Where does Michael Conforto fit on this Dodgers team?

“There’s no such thing as a bad one-year deal,” the saying goes, but it’s difficult to deny that Michael Conforto has been a downright disappointment since joining the Dodgers on a one-year, $17 million pact this past offseason. A strong first couple of weeks suggested that the veteran outfielder could provide a boost to the bottom of the L.A. lineup, but he faded fast: Conforto registered as many extra-base hits in his first eight games as a Dodger (6) as he did over his next 52, with his 80 wRC+ ranking 151st out of 174 hitters with at least 200 plate appearances. This extended cold streak serves as valuable context for what we saw from Conforto this week against the Padres, as the series offered reason to be modestly optimistic about Conforto’s role moving forward.

On Monday, Conforto did not start against Padres starter Nick Pivetta, marking just the second time this season that he didn’t start against a right-handed pitcher. Instead, the Dodgers started Andy Pages in left field, with rookie Hyeseong Kim in center and Tommy Edman at second. With the emergence of Kim, the return of the versatile Edman and Pages proving that he belongs in the lineup every day, the Dodgers have three seemingly superior options to Conforto at their disposal.

Then again, Conforto was right back in the lineup Tuesday and Wednesday, and he launched his fourth homer of the season in the series finale, so perhaps it’s too early to assume the Dodgers are ready to relegate Conforto to bench bat duties. Still, these four players and how they fit into three lineup spots (LF, CF, 2B) are certainly a roster-construction subplot worth monitoring.

Detroit Tigers right-hander Jackson Jobe entered 2025 as the top pitching prospect in baseball and will exit the year as a Tommy John surgery patient.

The rookie, already on the 15-day IL due to a flexor strain, will undergo surgery on his right UCL and miss the remainder of the 2025 season, the team announced Wednesday. The timing of the injury makes it likely that Jobe will miss a large chunk of the 2026 season as well.

The Tigers hold the best record in baseball at 44-24 entering Wednesday, but Jobe’s injury is a significant blow for the team’s present and future. He was a unanimous top-five prospect entering the season and the top pitching prospect if you don’t count Roki Sasaki, who played at the top level in Japan for years before joining the Los Angeles Dodgers.

MLB Pipeline grades Jobe, the third pick of the 2021 MLB Draft, as having four plus pitches, anchored by a fastball that can touch the high 90s. He made the Tigers’ big-league club out of spring training and held a 4.22 ERA in his first 10 starts.

Jobe’s rookie season was put on hiatus at the end of May, after a start in which his fastball velocity was noticeably down. He was shut down and placed on the IL due to what was called a Grade 1 strain of the flexor tendon in his right elbow. Further testing apparently revealed more damage.

Jobe shares a last name with Dr. Frank Jobe, the inventor of Tommy John surgery, but there’s no relation.

Without Jobe, the Tigers’ rotation has been anchored by Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize, with promising right-hander Reese Olson also on the IL.

Hunter Dobbins inserted himself into the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry in a bizarre way this week. It did not work out well for him.

The Red Sox pitcher made his first start against the Yankees last weekend but made more headlines with what he said going into the game. The right-hander, a Red Sox fan growing up, certainly said what his fan base wanted to hear, claiming that he would retire rather than sign a contract with the Yankees. 

But then he added a couple of other claims, via the Boston Herald.

Dobbins mentioned that his father, Lance Dobbins, was “really good friends” with Yankees great Andy Pettitte and had a short career with the team before becoming a die-hard Sox fan:

“He was actually drafted twice by the Yankees,” his son said. “Signed with them his last year, and then he got traded over to the Diamondbacks.”

That story went off the rails Tuesday after some fact-checking by the New York Post’s Joel Sherman. The Post could not verify any of Dobbins’ claims, with no record of a draft pick under that name. 

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who has held the position since 1998 and has been with the team’s front office since 1986, said he has no memory of drafting Lance Dobbins, and a check with the amateur department revealed no record of such a pick.

There appears to be a Lance Dobbins who played professional baseball, but only in the independent leagues in 1996 and 1997, according to Baseball Reference. B-Ref’s database of draft picks also contains nobody by the name of Lance Dobbins, and a scan through the website of Alabama baseball, where Dobbins claimed his father played before going pro, reveals no mention of a Dobbins since 1995.

With all of this flying around, Hunter spoke with the media Wednesday and didn’t directly repudiate his father but admitted he didn’t double-check any claims, either:

“The whole backstory is stuff that I had heard growing up and seeing pictures from my dad. At the end of the day, it’s just from my dad and what kind of grew my love for the game. At the end of the day, I don’t go and fact-check my dad or anything like that.”

When asked how the fallout of the Post’s story affected him, Dobbins dismissed it:

“Doesn’t phase me. Doesn’t bother me. I love working with the media and everybody here. Everybody’s been great, so my focus is performing for the guys here in the locker room, for the fans of Boston. Something that’s a few hours away doesn’t phase me.”

While Dobbins said he doesn’t mind what New York is saying, he is scheduled to make another start against the Yankees on Saturday, the day before Father’s Day.

One other oddity of the story is that while Lance Dobbins’ apparent narrative didn’t hold up, there is record of a Chris Dobbins who was drafted by the Yankees in the 28th round of the 1999 MLB Draft, from a community college in Alabama (though not the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, as the Herald story indicated). It could be nothing, given that Hunter didn’t correct any part of the record Wednesday, but it’s at least quite a coincidence. 

The Red Sox drafted Hunter Dobbins out of Texas Tech in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut this year and holds a 4.20 ERA in 49 1/3 innings so far in his career.

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The Boston Red Sox are struggling and sure could use some help. That help might have been sitting in their farm system this whole time, and now the world is about to join the Red Sox in finding out. MLB’s number one prospect, Roman Anthony, has been called up. After struggling in his first game as a major leaguer, Anthony finally notched his first hit in his second game with Boston. Jake and Jordan break down the infancy of Anthony’s career, why exactly he was the top prospect and what to expect going forward.

The A’s center fielder, Denzel Clarke, has not been in the MLB for very long, but he already gave us the catch of the year on Monday night. Might this home run robbery be the greatest catch of all-time? The guys sure seem to think so. They break down what exactly happened when the A’s faced the Angels and where this catch ranks all-time.

Shohei Ohtani was has returned to the mound again. While it was still just practice, he appears to be inching closer to his MLB return to pitching. Jake and Jordan talk about how close he may actually be, Dave Roberts’ comments on the situation and what a return would mean for the Dodgers.

Plus, ESPN analyst, and former major leaguer, Chris Burke joins the show to talk about the Men’s College World Series.

Join us for a jam-packed Wednesday episode of Baseball Bar-B-Cast.

Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images

(1:48) – Denzel Clarke catch

(16:30) – College World Series with guest Chris Burke

(53:23) – Roman Anthony call-up

(58:01) – Shohei Pitching

Follow the show on X at @CespedesBBQ

Follow Jake @Jake_Mintz

Follow Jordan @J_Shusterman_

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Roman Anthony, baseball’s No. 1 prospect, is officially a big leaguer.

After two months of speculation, fan base frustration and Triple-A moon shots, the Red Sox called up the 21-year-old outfielder on Monday. Anthony, born on May 13, 2004, is now the youngest player in The Show, taking that title away from fellow 2004 baby and Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio.

Through his first two games, Anthony has already offered a tantalizing glimpse of what made him such a highly touted prospect. That includes blistering a ball at 111.2 mph, which signaled that from a skill standpoint, Anthony is ready to compete at the highest level.

Why is he a big the biggest deal?

Anthony is MLB’s top prospect because his offensive ceiling is stratospheric.

Drafted 79th overall in 2022 but given a signing bonus commensurate with a late-first-round slot, Anthony was well-known as a high schooler, but he wasn’t a “can’t-miss” prospect. Talent evaluators worried that the young Floridian might be something of a tweener — an outfielder who doesn’t hit enough to start in a corner but doesn’t have an elite glove in center field. Think Hunter Renfroe, Will Benson, late-career Jason Heyward or the current scuffling version of Brandon Marsh.

But upon entering pro ball, Anthony shed the tweener label almost immediately. His power potential, contact ability and swing decisions were all well beyond expectations. He shined in 2023, carving up High-A pitchers despite being 3.3 years younger than the average player. And the real breakout came a year later, when Anthony slashed .291/.396/.498 between Double-A and Triple-A. That propelled him to the top of prospect lists this past winter, with nearly every public prognosticator having the Boston basher slotted in at No. 2 behind the older and more professionally established Roki Sasaki.

Anthony is by no means a butcher in the grass or a plodder on the bases; he remains passable in center field and recorded an 82nd percentile run time in his MLB debut. But the value here is tied up in the bat, which has a chance to be special. He’s a supreme in-box athlete, with a wonderful combination of looseness and power. That juice comes more from his arms, wrists and hands than from his lower half, but Anthony’s far from pushy. He’s able to generate amazing pop without selling out completely.

And the numbers back up the eye test.

Just last week, while still a member of the Worcester Red Sox, Anthony launched a 497-foot grand slam, the longest home run in pro baseball this year. Earlier in the season, he smoked one 116 mph, something that only 19 players have done in the bigs this season. Through his first two MLB games, Anthony’s tracked bat speed already ranks in the 87th percentile, alongside guys such as Elly De La Cruz, Bryce Harper and Bobby Witt Jr.

What type of player could he become?

The ceiling is somewhere around Kyle Tucker or peak Christian Yelich. Both of those players were active on the bases, something Anthony has been during his time in the minors.

Like Yelich, Anthony occasionally struggles to lift the baseball. In Triple-A this year, he posted a 52.2% ground ball rate, a mark that would be eighth-highest among qualified MLB hitters this year (Yelich, at 58.3%, ranks first). There are multiple successful players in this range — Fernando Tatis Jr., De La Cruz, Jacob Wilson, James Wood and Gunnar Henderson are all over 50% — but bashing the ball into the turf so often gives Anthony a much smaller margin for error. Thankfully, Anthony, like that group, hits the ball hard enough to have success while running such a high ground ball rate.

If Anthony hits the ground running — no pun intended — it might look a lot like Detroit’s Riley Greene. If it takes a bit more time for his average to stabilize and the contact ability to show, it could be more along the lines of Yankees outfielder Jasson Domínguez. If Anthony fills out more than expected, loses a step or two and doesn’t hit for as much average as is anticipated, Jay Bruce or the older version Brandon Nimmo might be reasonable comparisons.

One last note about Anthony’s offensive profile: He rarely swings. His swing rate the past three seasons has hovered between 35% and 38%, an incredibly low figure that would place him in MLB’s bottom five. The only player with a lower swing rate than the 35.6% Anthony posted in Triple-A this year? Juan Soto.

How does he fit on the current Red Sox roster?

That it took so long for Boston to call upon its top prospect says more about the state of the team’s big-league roster than it does about Anthony. The Sox entered the season with all three outfield positions spoken for: Jarren Duran in left, Ceddanne Rafaela in center, Wilyer Abreu in right. An oblique issue for Abreu was the catalyst for Anthony’s promotion.

How Anthony fits in once Abreu, who is also a left-handed-swinging right fielder, returns from the IL depends on multiple factors. How long will Abreu be sidelined? How does Anthony look in his absence? Do the Red Sox move Rafaela to the infield and send scuffling rookie second baseman Kristian Campbell to Triple-A for a refresh? Does another club construct an appealing trade package for Rafaela or Duran, opening a spot in the grass?

The immediate future for Boston’s much maligned defensive alignment remains murky and complicated. But with Anthony in the fold, the long-run dreaming begins to feel more tangible.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Tarik Skubal pitched seven shoutout innings, Parker Meadows hit a three-run homer and the Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 Thursday night.

Dillon Dingler also homered for the Tigers, who rebounded from a 10-1 defeat on Wednesday night to win the deciding matchup of the three-game series.

Showing the form that enabled him to unanimously win the 2024 AL Cy Young Award, Skubal (7-2) allowed three hits and permitted just one runner past second base. The lefty struck out six, walked two and lowered his ERA to a sparkling 1.99.

American League-leading Detroit scored all its runs in the fourth inning against Dean Kremer (5-7). Dingler hit a drive to center that cleared the wall and the glove of Colton Cowser, who was shaken up from colliding with the barrier.

The next two batters singled before Meadows hit his first homer of the season, a drive deep into the right-field seats.

Kremer was originally slated to start, but interim manager Tony Mansolino opted instead to use Keegan Akin as an opener. Kremer entered in the second and gave up four runs and five hits in seven innings.

Baltimore’s lone run came on an eighth-inning homer by Dylan Carlson off reliever Tommy Kahnle.

Will Vest pitched the ninth for his 12th save.

Key moment

Meadows fell into an 0-2 hole, then hit a foul ball and took a pitch before launching a four-seam fastball into the right-field seats. With Skubal on the mound, the 4-0 lead was essentially insurmountable.

Key stat

In 12 starts since April 2, Skubal is 7-0 with 101 strikeouts and five walks. In addition, he’s given up just one earned run in his last four outings.

Up next

Tigers: Following this unusually brief three-game road trip, the Tigers return home to face the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.

Orioles: Charlie Morton (2-7, 6.59 ERA) starts against the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Friday night in the opener of a three-game set.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

With a 2-1 lead in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final over the Edmonton Oilers, the Florida Panthers entered Thursday night’s game hoping to inch a little bit closer to hoisting the trophy. The Panthers — who won the Stanley Cup last year after defeating, you guessed it, the Oilers — already had high excitement for Game 4.

Well, the excitement ratcheted up a little bit more as celebrity super couple Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift were in the house at in Sunrise, Florida to take in the game. The 14-time Grammy winner and 3-time Super Bowl champ have been dating since summer of 2023, and the duo has frequently attendedsporting events in the Chiefs’ offseason.

Kelce, who had golfed in Fort Lauderdale earlier in the day, wore an all-red get up while the The Tortured Poets Department singer donned a cream-colored shorts ensemble with booties. The pair were filmed entering the arena hand-in-hand just after the game started.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are in the house for Game 4 of the #StanleyCup Final! 🫶 pic.twitter.com/o1pLOwcxYp

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 13, 2025

The couple was seen taking the game in, cuddled up together in the stands and looking at something on Kelce’s phone.

TAYLOR SWIFT AND TRAVIS KELCE ARE IN THE HOUSE FOR GAME 4 👀 pic.twitter.com/N6HA5eJOWo

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 13, 2025

With the history between these two teams and the stakes of the game, it seems like Swift and Kelce have chosen the best possible time to take in their first hockey game together.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce stun hockey fans at Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final

The Golden State Warriors have had over 600 players don the more than 60 jersey numbers used by their players over the more than 75 years of existence the team has enjoyed in its rich and storied history.

Founded in 1946 during the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) era, the team has called home the cities of Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland, and even San Diego.

 To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Warriors Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. For this article, we begin with the 12th of 13 players who wore the No. 14 jersey for the Warriors.

That player would be Golden State big man alum Woody Sauldsberry. After ending his college career at Texas Southern, Sauldsberry was picked up with the 60th overall selection of the 1957 NBA draft by the (then) Philadelphia (now, Golden State) Warriors.

The Winnsboro, Louisiana native would play the first three seasons of his pro career with the Dubs, coming to an end when he was dealt to the (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks in 1960.

During his time suiting up for the Warriors, Sauldsberry wore only jersey No. 14 and put up 12.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Warriors jersey history – No. 14 – Woody Sauldsberry (1957-60)

The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.

Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.

To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. The 19th of those 52 different numbers is jersey No. 17, which has has had a total of seven players wear the number in the history of the team.

The fourth of those players wearing No. 17 played in the Brooklyn Nets era, guard alum Rashad Vaughn. After ending his college career at UNLV, Vaughn was picked up with the 17th overall selection of the 2015 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Minneapolis, Minnesota native would play parts of the first three seasons of his pro career with the Bucks, coming to an end when he was dealt to Brooklyn in 2018. His stay with the team would span a single game before he was dealt again, this time to the Orlando Magic for his last stop at the NBA level.

During his time suiting up for the Nets, Vaughn wore only jersey No. 17 and put up 1.0 assists per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets jersey history No. 17 – Rashad Vaughn (2018)