Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani finally made his grand return to Angel Stadium after leaving the Los Angeles Angels in the offseason.
While it had to sting that Ohtani left for the other major baseball franchise in L.A., Angels fans gave the baseball great a standing ovation as he stepped up to bat against his former team on Tuesday evening.
This was such a classy move by Angels fans to give one of the best players who ever sported an Angels jersey a warm welcome back home, as he undoubtedly gave them plenty of wonderful memories over the years.
While he’s now the competitor on the baseball diamond, it’s clear that Ohtani still has a special place in plenty of hearts at Angel Stadium.
In the midst of Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies critical NL East matchup against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, ESPN’s cameras captured an unimportant — but beautiful — moment.
During Sunday Night Baseball, with the Phillies down 2-0 to the Braves in the bottom of the fourth inning, Harper hit a lead-off line drive to center field. While the Phillies ultimately weren’t able to drive Harper in, let’s take a moment to appreciate the camera work on display here from ESPN.
Making use of their signature umpire cameras, the Sunday Night Baseball crew seamlessly transitioned from the ump cam during Harper’s follow through to the normal broadcast shot of it landing in center field for an overall flawless shot of the action.
Really great camera work there. Not only does it give fans a closer look at Harper’s view and swing, the camera then goes right back to the usual angle to give context to where the ball landed. Bravo!
Atlanta Braves star center fielder Michael Harris II came up with what may well be the catch of the year in the MLB on Saturday night in Philadelphia.
As his team was down 2-0 to the Phillies in the bottom of the seventh, Harris made an absolutely jaw-dropping catch over the wall on an Austin Hays hit that looked to go the distance for a run.
We have absolutely no idea how Harris got himself in the position to secure the out here, even if it wasn’t enough to prevent the 3-0 Phillies win.
Nevertheless, this is a special catch for Harris, one that shows how talented he is and may well be the best catch of the season.
Former Clemson pitcher Ryan Miller had an impressive outing in his Major League Baseball debut for the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.
Former Clemson Tigers pitcher Ryan Miller made his major league debut on the same day he was brought up from Triple A.
Miller, who pitched for Clemson from 2017-18, threw a perfect seventh inning in relief for the Los Angeles Angels during their 6-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Tuesday night.
The 28-year-old right-hander retired all three batters he faced, getting light-hitting Ryan Kreidler on a fly ball to right before striking out two batters — catcher Jake Rogers and leadoff man Parker Meadows — to end the inning.
Miller appeared in 34 games this season for the Salt Lake Bees, the Angels’ Triple A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. He compiled a 5-1 record and a 2.45 ERA in 61 2/3 innings. Miller struck out 61 batters and walked 14, holding opponents to a .212 average and 0.99 WHIP.
In two seasons at Clemson, Miller posted an 8-1 record and a 2.59 ERA. He struck out 75 while walking 19 over 81 1/3 innings before being selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth round (No. 189 overall) of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft.
Aside from the Diamondbacks, Miller also spent time in the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox organizations before the Angels selected him in Major League Baseball’s annual Rule 5 Draft last December.
In five minor league seasons, Miller is 19-13 with a 3.76 ERA over a span of 139 career games. He had 224 strikeouts in 225 innings pitched in that time.
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Ryan Miller, who spend two years at Clemson from 2017-18, will join the Los Angeles Angels from Triple A Salt Lake.
A former Clemson pitcher is headed to The Show.
Right-hander Ryan Miller was brought up by the Los Angeles Angels Tuesday and will get the chance to make his major league debut with the team this week.
Miller, who pitched for Clemson from 2017-18, appeared in 34 games this season for the Salt Lake Bees, the Angels’ Triple A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. In 62 1/3 innings, Miller compiled a 5-1 record and a 2.45 ERA. He struck out 61 batters and walked 14, holding opponents to a .212 average and 0.99 WHIP.
In two seasons at Clemson, Miller posted an 8-1 record and a 2.59 ERA. He struck out 75 batters while walking 19 over 81 1/3 innings before being selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth round (No. 189) of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft.
Miller also spent time in the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox organizations before the Angels selected him in Major League Baseball’s annual Rule 5 Draft last December.
Miller could make his big league debut this week in Detroit, where the Angels are currently playing a three-game series. The team returns to Anaheim this weekend for a three-game set against the Seattle Mariners beginning Friday at 9:38 p.m. ET.
The late summer storms in Minneapolis during Monday night’s Minnesota Twins game against the Atlanta Braves gave us one of the coolest scenes of the baseball season.
The stormy sky above Target Field was dark red, adorned with a rainbow and purple lightning in the sky. It genuinely looked like something out of a movie.
The Twins’ Twitter (X) account shared an absolutely mind-boggling image of the complete rainbow over the field with streaks of purple lightning all around it. It’s just an absolutely surreal scene.
If your jaw is on the floor, don’t worry. This is absolutely one of the coolest things we’ve seen all season in the MLB (or really, in nature this year).
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. I hope you’ve had an excellent weekend.
Aaron Judge certainly did. He hit his 50th and 51st homers of the season on Sunday, extending his homer lead over Shohei Ohtani (41) to ten.
Judge is having an incredible year. The stats tell the tale themselves. At the pace he’s currently at, he’ll probably be the AL’s MVP. His .333 batting average is only second to Bobby Witt (.347). His 1.201 OPS leads the Majors by quite a bit. The next closest player is his teammate, Juan Soto (1.035). Nobody is closing these gaps anytime soon.
At this point, you can’t really compare him to his peers. You can only compare him to himself and the legends before him.
He’s on pace to hit 63 homers this season, according to ESPN, which would break his own AL homerun record at 62. There’s more. With another 50-homer season, Judge is one of five players to hit 50 or more dingers in at least three seasons.
But what Judge is doing right now isn’t just about this year. It’s all-time stuff. He’s further cementing himself as one of baseball’s immortals and it’s super fun to watch.
A walk-off…bunt?!?!?
(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Florida beat Chinese Taipei in the Little League World Series on Sunday 2-1, but they did it in a way you’d never expect.
It was a walk-off BUNT, folks. Not a homer. Not a sac fly. But a bunt! I don’t think I’ve ever seen this at any level of baseball, softball or anything else that has to do with a ball and a bat. This is insane.
“With the runner on second thanks to the extra inning, Hunter Alexander put down a bunt in an attempt to move the runner to third. Chinese Taipei fielded it cleanly, but in the ensuing throw to first, no one was covering the base! The error allowed the runner on second to score the winning run, which caused Florida’s bench to erupt in celebration.”
Just a wild play. My heart breaks for Chinese Taipei. I’m also ecstatic for Florida. What a win. What a way to do it.
The ups and downs of the LLWS, folks. I wish all those kids could win. Alas.
The rookies are winning
Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
The tally of rookie quarterbacks starting for week 1 might be growing soon.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo hopped on the local radio station this morning in New England and all but named Drake Maye the team’s starting QB after an impressive performance against the Commanders on Sunday.
“What I will say this is a true competition and I would say, at this current point, Drake has outplayed Jacoby [Brissett]. Now, in saying that, we have to take in the full body of work, going all the way back to the spring and beginning of training camp,” Mayo said.
The official decision on the Patriots’ starting quarterback will come in the next few days. It certainly sounds like Maye here. Brissett’s shoulder injury is a complication that might make the decision a bit easier. But we’ll have to wait and see.
If Maye does get the nod, that would give us four rookie starters for Week 1 so far, including Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix.
The former Clemson pitcher got back on track Sunday.
Former Clemson pitcher Carson Spiers turned in a much-needed scoreless outing in his latest appearance for the Cincinnati Reds.
Spiers tossed four scoreless innings in the Reds’ 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Sunday. He scattered three hits without allowing a walk and struck out one.
The 26-year-old right-hander began the year primarily with the Reds’ Triple A affiliate, the Louisville Bats. After several back-and-forth stops between Triple A and the major league club, the Reds recalled Spiers on June 9. He has been in a big league uniform since then.
With his performance Sunday, Spiers’ ERA is at 5.13 through 16 games, including nine starts. Beginning on June 17, he made eight straight starts as a member of the Reds’ starting rotation before being shuffled back and forth between the rotation and bullpen.
In two of his last three starts, Spiers particularly had a rough go of things. He was roughed up for eight earned runs in five innings against Milwaukee on Aug. 9. Against the Blue Jays on Aug. 20, he yielded nine earned runs in 4 1/3 innings at Toronto.
Spiers pitched for Clemson from 2017-20. He signed with Cincinnati as an undrafted free agent in June 2020 and made his major league debut in 2023. In four seasons with the Tigers, Spiers had a 2.47 ERA in 109 1/3 innings across 71 relief appearances. He was named to the 2019 NCBWA Stopper-of-the-Year Watch List.
Carson Spiers said he got back to executing his pitches in his outing today.
He takes pride in competing and is ready to contribute in any role the team needs.
Spiers tossed four scoreless innings of relief against the Pirates Sunday, with no walks. pic.twitter.com/nv4LvgVjC0
So it’s not exactly a huge stretch to predict Ohtani will make an impactful play any time he comes to the plate. Because it’s expected.
Still, no one can deny MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger has impeccable timing.
While setting up a live cut-in to an Ohtani at-bat on Saturday night, Amsinger called the Dodgers’ generational icon the “greatest living player.” About 30 seconds later, the camera cut to Ohtani conveniently hitting a huge dinger to right field against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Amsinger didn’t predict Ohtani would hit a dinger while singing his praises. But let’s be serious. Calling him the best baseball player alive before he smacks another ball out of the park is effectively the same thing.
Knocking 40 home runs while stealing 40 bases is one of baseball’s most elusive milestones.
It’s fairly common for a Major League Baseball player to excel in either power or speed, but very few players are masters of both crafts.
One of baseball’s most elusive milestones is the so-called “40-40 club,” which is reserved for players who hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season. It’s such a rare feat that, in the nearly 150 years of organized MLB league play, only five players in history had accomplished it prior to 2024.
That changed on Friday, though, as Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani. knocked his 40th home run of the season, becoming the sixth player to join the exclusive club. He’s also the first player to do so since Ronald Acuna Jr. last year.
Here’s a look at the complete current list of players that comprise MLB’s 40-40 club.
