The Seattle Mariners retired Ichiro Suzuki’s No. 51 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Park, following up his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame two weeks ago. As he did in Cooperstown, Suzuki entertained the crowd and fans watching with another gracious and rousing speech. 

“Whose idea was it to have me give two speeches in English in two weeks?” Suzuki began. “It’s one of the toughest challenges of my career.”

Suzuki then quoted, as he put it, “the great philosopher George Kenneth Griffey Jr.,” saying, “I am damn proud to be a Seattle Mariner.”

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]

Suzuki shares the No. 51 in Mariners history with fellow Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, and thanked the pitcher for allowing him to wear the number when he joined the team in 2001. 

“Without his generosity, I could not have worn that number here,” he said. That number was assigned to Suzuki by the Orix BlueWave, and he wore it for nine years. 

“I’m grateful to Randy for attending my ceremony today,” he added, “It will be my great honor to attend his next season.”

After thanking the Mariners executives who signed him and worked with him throughout his career, Suzuki acknowledged the other team Hall of Famers who were in attendance, including Alvin Davis, Edgar Martinez, Dan Wilson, Jay Buhner and Felix Hernandez, in addition to Jamie Moyer and Lou Piniella, who could not attend. 

Suzuki then singled out the ceremony’s emcee, radio broadcaster Rick Rizzs, crediting him for his call on April 11, 2001, in Oakland that “helped to establish my identity.” Since the Mariners’ radio voice wasn’t in attendance for Suzuki’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, when an impersonation of Rizzs was part of his acceptance speech, Suzuki offered to do it again. 

“Holy smoke! A laser-beam strike from Ichiro!” Suzuki imitated, to the delight of Rizzs and the crowd. 

Suzuki wrapped his speech by crediting former teammates Martinez and Wilson — now the hitting coach and manager for the Mariners, respectively — for the job they’ve done with the 2025 club, Their 2001 team tied an MLB record with 116 wins and advanced to the American League Championship Series, success that Suzuki believed would be easily repeated. 

“But as Edgar and Dan know, winning is tough,” he said before telling the current players in the dugout they have “a great opportunity” and asking them not to take their talent for granted. At 65-53, the Mariners are a half-game behind the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West. 

“The thing about winning is it is always tough and never comes without pressure,” Suzuki said. “Accept the pressure and figure out how you can perform at your best under pressure.” 

The 2025 Mariners went on to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, 7-4, behind two home runs from Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh’s MLB-leading 44th homer. Raleigh is five homers away from tying the single-season high by a catcher, which is 48 by Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals. 

The Mariners later announced a Suzuki statue would be unveiled outside T-Mobile Park next season, with the monument depicting the Hall of Famer in his signature batting stance.

You can view Suzuki’s entire speech here, in addition to the entire No. 51 jersey retirement ceremony. 

With the National League MVP race in full swing, Shohei Ohtani is doing what he usually does this time of year.

The Los Angeles Dodgers star clubbed his 40th homer of the year on Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays, putting his team up 3-0 in a clash of first-place teams (and Ohtani suitors a couple years ago). The Dodgers won the game 9-1, their first time winning back-to-back games at Dodger Stadium since a sweep of the Chicago White Sox on July 1-3.

There aren’t many players who can hit a home run like this one, 417 feet to dead center field:

It’s Ohtani’s third straight 40-homer season, making him the first player to accomplish that kind of streak since Khris Davis did it with the Oakland Athletics in 2016-18. It’s become a rare feat, with even mashers like Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber falling just short.

Ohtani is doing this while coming back as a pitcher. He’s been slowly ramping up on an MLB mound since June, progressing from single-inning starts to four innings in his most recent appearance. He’s been highly effective in that abbreviated action, with a 2.37 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 19 innings across eight starts.

Even 25 punchouts keeps Ohtani in a class of his own, as Babe Ruth never posted 40 homers as a hitter and 25 strikeouts as a pitcher in a single season, something Ohtani has now done three times.

That pitching performance could be what swings a highly competitive MVP race, as Ohtani is facing challenges from Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who has been great on both sides of the ball, and Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber, the only NL player with more homers than Ohtani, with 41. 

The Dodgers also got what they wanted to see from starting pitcher Blake Snell in his second start since returning from the injured list (shoulder inflammation). Snell struck out 10 Blue Jays in five shutout innings, allowing only three hits.

Both Ohtani and Snell were two of the best players in baseball in the second half of last season. The Dodgers might need a repeat performance from each to stay ahead in a competitive NL West, where the San Diego Padres entered Saturday only three games back for first place.

The Seattle Mariners are immortalizing franchise legend Ichiro Suzuki even more. The team announced Saturday that it will be creating a statue of Ichiro that will sit outside T-Mobile Park, with the statue set to be unveiled next season.

Mariners chairman John Stanton made the announcement during a jersey retirement ceremony for Ichiro, where the Mariners retired the right fielder’s No. 51 in conjunction with him becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Ichiro was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame last month as part of the Class of 2025.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]

Per the release, the statue will feature Ichiro in his signature batting stance, with his left hand on his right shoulder and his right hand holding the bat aloft.

Ichiro will become the fourth Mariners player to have a statue outside T-Mobile Park, joining sportscaster Dave Niehaus, and franchise legends Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez. Niehaus’ statue was put up first, in 2011, followed by Griffey in 2017 and Martinez in 2021.

On Saturday, Ichiro followed up his memorable Hall of Fame speech with a similarly heartfelt speech in front of the Seattle crowd. Griffey Jr. and Martinez, the only other Mariners with their numbers retired, were present for the event.

Ichiro’s 51 will be joined by another No. 51 next year, as the team retires the number of pitcher Randy Johnson. Johnson sported the same number as Ichiro a decade before the right fielder joined the Mariners.

Roki Sasaki was back on the mound at Dodger Stadium this week and will be taking another step next week.

The Los Angeles Dodgers rookie threw a three-inning simulated game before Friday’s game, with 46 pitches against outfielder Alex Call and some of the team’s minor leaguers. Per Dodger Blue, his fastball velocity reached 96-97 mph, with some 95 mph pitches as well.

A day later, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Sasaki would begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday, with a target of three innings.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]

Sasaki has been on the injured list since mid-May with a right shoulder impingement. It was unclear if he would pitch again this season, but he’s now trending toward a return later this month.

Roberts said after the sim game that Sasaki’s delivery was looking cleaner, while also noting that he was still figuring some things out:

He’s more physical, I know he’s gained some weight. The throw wasn’t as shoulder-y, I think it’s a little bit more clean. He was still kind of searching, as far as asking the pitching coaches and things, and that’s what people do. We’re waiting for him to get to a point where he feels really comfortable and confident in his delivery and where he’s at, so he can attack the hitters. We’re not there yet, but I thought for a three-inning situation, solid.”

Roberts also said Sasaki’s next step would depend on how he felt after the sim game. He apparently checked that box enough that the team was comfortable beginning his rehab assignment.

Sasaki joined the Dodgers last offseason as one of the most-hyped young arms in recent memory and the NL Rookie of the Year favorite, but the results lagged far behind the expectations in his first eight starts with the team.

Beyond the question of when he comes back is how different of a pitcher he will be. He had two major problems in his first run: an enormous lack of control and a fastball that hitters crushed when he did manage to land it in the zone (they slugged .494 against it in total). His 14.3% walk rate would be the worst of any qualified pitcher in MLB this season, and his 15.6% strikeout rate would be the fourth-worst.

At an average of 96.0 mph, Sasaki’s fastball wasn’t nearly the triple-digit monster he showed back in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, when he threw 26 of his 29 fastballs for at least 100 mph. His velocity was trending down when he was pitching as well, with an average of 94.8 mph in his last two starts.

This has been a concern for Sasaki for a while, as his velocity was diminished in Japan last year and he reportedly asked every team interested in him why they thought that happened. He will almost certainly be trying to throw harder when he comes back, and he will also reportedly be throwing a new fastball.

As Roberts said Thursday, Sasaki has spent some of his rehab time working on a two-seam fastball:

“I think it’s probably a combination of the pitching coaches, probably watching Shohei [Ohtani], probably watching Major League hitters,” Roberts said. “To have two separate fastballs, one that potentially could miss a bit and one that could put a ball on the ground, those are two good weapons.

“I appreciate that Roki is open to the two-seamer as well.”

Sasaki has a fairly limited arsenal, with a four-seamer, slider and his famous splitter, which remained effective during his struggles. We’ll see if he’s ready to deploy it in games as he nears a return, and if it’s the missing piece that could unlock his still sky-high potential.

As the gambling investigations into Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz continue, the state might be cracking down on the kind of bets that raised suspicions in the first place. Ohio regulators are drafting a rule to ban some micro-bets, including MLB first pitches, per ESPN’s David Purdum.

Matt Schuler, the executive director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC), told Purdum the organization is reviewing the types of micro-bets currently allowed in the state. If drafted, the rule would likely take a while to go through and would have to be approved by the Commission and the Ohio legislature before taking effect.

Ortiz, who was placed on leave July 3, had two pitches from June flagged after a large amount was placed on micro-bets related to the first pitch of the inning. Both of the suspicious pitches took place on the initial pitch of the inning, and both pitches were significantly outside the strike zone.

The review is being done at the request of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who sent out a a news release July 31 that called on the OCCC to remove certain types of bets. DeWine’s primary issue was with micro prop bets, which he called “highly specific events within games that are completely controlled by one player.”

“The harm to athletes and the integrity of the game is clear, and the benefits are not worth the harm. The prop betting experiment in this country has failed badly,” DeWine said in the release.

For the investigation into Ortiz, there were two specific pitches flagged, with one on June 15 and another on June 27. In both incidents, an unusual amount of money was placed on Ortiz either throwing a ball or hitting a batter on the first pitch of the inning, with both pitches hitting the dirt well outside the zone.

Per Purdum, MLB has had ongoing conversations about how to approach micro-bets. During the MLB All-Star break, league commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters he considers some bets “unnecessary and particularly vulnerable.”

Clase was placed on leave July 28 in connection with a sports betting investigation, though the exact nature of that connection is still unknown. Ortiz was originally set to return from leave July 17, before his leave was extended to Aug. 31, the same as Clase. Both players have had their lockers cleared by the team in the meantime.

Nearly 70% of the MLB calendar has passed as we’ve moved past the All-Star Game and the trade deadline. The 162-game marathon is now a two-month sprint to October. In that sprint to the postseason, there are storylines that really begin to take shape in August. They often include races for major awards as frontrunners pull away from the pack or dark horses emerge from the shadows.

Historically, August is pivotal in determining those awards. In 2016, Angels superstar Mike Trout hit .349 in August, the highest average of any month that season, leading to his second of three AL MVP awards. During August of his 2017 NL MVP campaign, Giancarlo Stanton carried a 1.332 OPS and mashed 18 home runs, placing him firmly in the driver’s seat on his way to an MVP award.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]

Most recently, a strong August put Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill into a legitimate race with Pirates ace Paul Skenes for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. While Skenes ultimately won the award, Merrill’s hot month helped propel him to a runner-up finish in balloting.

This year, there are multiple awards that will come down to the wire. The most compelling might be the race for NL MVP. Shohei Ohtani, the game’s best player, has again been the front-runner for NL MVP all season. The Dodgers’ unicorn has an NL-leading .987 OPS entering Friday with 39 homers. He’s also returned to the mound in dominant fashion with a 2.37 ERA in eight starts, although in short stints as he builds up from elbow surgery.

The Cubs’ electric Pete Crow-Armstrong was once a strong candidate for NL MVP, but he and Chicago’s recent struggles have quieted that talk. But former Cub and current Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber has pushed himself into the conversation with Ohtani for NL MVP.

Schwarber has been consistent and productive for Philadelphia throughout this season, ranking second in the NL with a .965 OPS entering Friday and leading the NL with 40 homers. And even during times when the Phillies’ offense struggled, Schwarber carried them, including when superstar Bryce Harper was out of the lineup for three weeks with a wrist injury.

The Phillies’ DH is having his best season of his career and is on pace to set career-highs in nearly every offensive category including hits, home runs, RBI, OPS and stolen bases.

One of the biggest questions about the NL MVP race: In any season when Ohtani is healthy and he’s hitting at an elite level and pitching, is there anything a player can do outside of a historic season that would wrestle MVP awards away from him?

While Ohtani has swung the bat well and is turning into an ace again on the mound, the Dodgers haven’t played their best baseball despite their unicorn’s individual success. But Schwarber and the Phillies have taken off, and after being in the NL wild-card race, they are now firmly entrenched atop the NL East. And with Schwarber’s impact in the middle of their lineup, is that enough to overtake Ohtani?

While the AL MVP race is also compelling with front-runners Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh still leading the pack, the combination of Judge’s recent stint on the IL and Raleigh’s cold stretch since the All-Star break is likely leading to a photo finish in September.

The NL Cy Young Award is starting to look like Skenes’ to lose. The 2024 NL Rookie of the Year has pitched to even better levels than he did last season when he had a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts. This season, Skenes has a 1.94 ERA in 24 starts. The Phillies’ duo of Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler could find a way to upend Skenes, but it will be tough with the Pirates’ right-hander dominating at this level. And with Pittsburgh having no plans to shut him down, he’ll have the body of work to go along with the production.

Subscribe to Baseball Bar-B-Cast

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

By the time Roman Anthony is 30 years old, he will have made well over $100 million on MLB contracts alone. This stems from the Boston Red Sox latest extension which the 21-year-old rookie signed for eight years and $130 million. That number could go even higher if he hits certain markers. The earliest Anthony would be able to hit free agency is 2034, when he is 30, so the Red Sox will have their rookie star for the foreseeable future. Jake and Jordan give their thoughts on the deal and what it means for the future of the Red Sox.

Andrew Vaughn has stepped into the spotlight in his new home of Milwaukee. The former 3rd overall pick struggled during his time on the White Sox. It got so bad that at the time of his last game with Chicago he had a -1.4 WAR, good for the worst in MLB. Since being traded to the Brewers, not only has his WAR turned around, but he also has an NL leading 1.146 OPS. Jake and Jordan dive into what sparked this turn around, if Vaughn can keep it going and what his career looks like going forward.

A major league debut is happening on the diamond this weekend, but this person won’t be wearing a glove. Jen Pawol is debuting as MLB’s first female umpire in a regular season game. She is scheduled to be behind the plate for the series finale of the Marlins vs. Braves on Sunday, August 10. The guys discuss this historic moment.

It’s that time of the week. The Good, The Bad & The Uggla! A legendary pitching matchup happens one last time, Boston fans are able to reuse an old sign and the Cubs trade acquisition gets hurt after two innings. Check out the best stories of the week in baseball.

Close out your week the right way with us on Baseball Bar-B-Cast.

AP Foto/Robert F. Bukaty

(1:56) – Roman Anthony Extension

(15:03) – Andrew Vaughn

(29:54) – Nathan Eovaldi, Gavin Williams & Josh Naylor

(41:55) – Jen Pawol making history

(45:23) – Heart & Hustle pt. 2

(53:36) – The Good, The Bad & The Uggla

(1:07:34) – Weekend Preview

Follow the show on X at @CespedesBBQ

Follow Jake @Jake_Mintz

Follow Jordan @J_Shusterman_

🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts