NL West

It appears Madison Bumgarner could be available ahead of the August 2 trade deadline.

The Arizona Diamondbacks would field offers for the veteran left-hander, a rival executive told Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The team would also entertain offers for outfielder David Peralta and right-hander Zach Davies.

While the Diamondbacks will entertain offers for Bumgarner, one general manager told Heyman that the veteran's salary "may make him untradeable." He is making $23 million this season and will also make the same amount in 2023 before earning $14 million in 2024.

Arizona's pitching staff hasn't been great this season, posting a combined 4.22 ERA, which is one of the worst marks in the league. In addition, the Diamondbacks have dipped below .500 at 30-35 and are losing ground in the NL West standings, meaning a playoff run is unlikely with the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants leading the division.

That said, Bumgarner is having a solid season, which makes him an interesting trade candidate. While the 32-year-old is 2-6 in 13 starts, he's in the midst of his best season since 2019, posting a 3.50 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 45 strikeouts in 64.1 innings.

It's unclear which teams might be interested in acquiring Bumgarner. However, MLB Network's Jon Morosi mentioned last week that the St. Louis Cardinals, or a number of other contending teams, could be a fit for the veteran.

If Madison Bumgarner keeps pitching like this, where could he land at the @MLB Trade Deadline? I discussed that subject and more with @LaurenShehadi this morning on @MLBNetwork. pic.twitter.com/RmgHBssTC9

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 6, 2022

The Cardinals lead the NL Central with a 37-28 record, just 1.5 games ahead of the second place Milwaukee Brewers. If they want to make a deep postseason run, they could use another proven veteran arm behind Adam Wainwright.

Bumgarner could be that guy with more than 100 innings of postseason experience and three World Series titles to his name, all of which came during his 11 seasons with the Giants.

That said, there's still plenty of time until the trade deadline, and a lot could change over the next month and a half. We'll just have to wait and see if the Diamondbacks part ways with Bumgarner.

Nate Tomlinson, the home plate umpire for Tuesday's game between the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers, left the field in the ninth inning after being struck in the face by a shard from Mike Trout's broken bat.

"In the mask, the broken part of the bat, that was really scary," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "I heard that it hit his nose, Nate. And so that's, I guess, the best-case scenario. A very scary moment."

Scary moment in LA.

The home plate umpire is struck in the face by Mike Trout's broken bat 😳 https://t.co/8pieLT7mKB

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 15, 2022

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported further information Wednesday:

Home-plate umpire Nate Tomlinson was taken to the emergency room Tuesday night after being struck in the face by Mike Trout's broken bat, with a piece flying between bars of his mask, cutting his face just above his eye and nose. He managed to avoid serious injury, his crew says.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 15, 2022

His departure came with one out in the top of the ninth. Crew chief Laz Diaz moved from second base to behind the plate.

Trout recorded a broken-bat single on the play as the Angels tried to rally from a 2-0 deficit. Shohei Ohtani followed with a double and Matt Duffy walked to load the bases, but Dodgers closer Craig Kimbrel struck out Jared Walsh and Max Stassi to secure the win.

Mookie Betts hit his 17th home run of the season for the Dodgers, while starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin tossed 6.1 scoreless innings to improve his record to 8-0.

"Felt good," Gonsolin said. "I definitely wanted to stay out there. When it's my day to pitch I've got to go as long as I can."

The L.A. teams wrap up a two-game series Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

In a typical rotation, Tomlinson would be the third base umpire if available.

Robinson Cano is back with the San Diego Padres.

Eight days after the team released him, the Padres signed Cano to a minor league contract Friday.

The #Padres have signed Robinson Canó to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A El Paso.

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 10, 2022

"I think he wants to get some consistent at-bats and see what's there," Padres manager Bob Melvin said. "I talked to him for a little while, and he wasn't getting consistent at-bats in New York, he wasn't here. He loved being here with our guys. He fit in really well."

Bob Melvin on the Padres signing Robinson Cano to a Minor League contract earlier today: pic.twitter.com/xpRtB7frVW

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) June 10, 2022

Cano has had a tough season. The 39-year-old was released by the New York Mets in May after he appeared in just 12 games, hitting .195 with one homer and three RBI. The Mets still owed him $44.7 million of the 10-year, $240 million deal he signed with the Seattle Mariners after the 2013 season.

The Padres signed him later in May, though he didn't fare better, hitting .091 with an RBI in 12 games. Per R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, the Padres "requested Cano's permission to option him to the minors [June 2], but Cano had enough service time to reject any optional assignment and elect free agency instead."

Cano, an eight-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner and a 2009 World Series champion, was one of the game's preeminent offensive second baseman during his prime, hitting 25 or more homers six times, including in five of his nine seasons with the New York Yankees.

He was suspended 80 games for a failed performance-enhancing drug test in 2018 while with the Mariners and the entirety of the 2021 season for another failed test while with the Mets.

A third failed test would lead to a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball.

Cano hasn't been an All-Star since 2017 and has appeared in only 260 games since the start of the 2018 season. Now, he'll try to make his way back to the big leagues.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday that pitcher Clayton Kershaw will start Sunday against the San Francisco Giants, per ESPN.

It will be the veteran's first start since May 7.

Kershaw spent the past month on the injured list with inflammation in his right SI joint. He said he got an MRI that didn't show any structural damage.

The 34-year-old made one rehab start to prepare for his return, allowing one run in four innings for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.

Kershaw was dominant to start the year prior to the injury, going 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 32 strikeouts in five starts. His 0.73 WHIP would lead the majors if he qualified.

In his final start prior to the injury on May 7, the left-hander pitched seven scoreless innings in a win over the Chicago Cubs.

It's been a much-needed bounce-back for the superstar, who had a disappointing 3.55 ERA in 22 starts in 2021, his worst mark since his rookie year in 2008.

Among the best pitchers in baseball throughout his career, Kershaw has earned eight All-Star selections, three Cy Young Awards and one MVP. His 2.48 career ERA leads all active pitchers with at least 1,000 innings.

The only setback has been injuries, which have prevented Kershaw from reaching 200 innings in any season since 2015. An elbow issue held him to just 121.2 innings in 2021 and kept him out of the entire postseason.

Los Angeles will look for him to stay healthy as it tries to compete for another World Series title. The Dodgers entered Wednesday first in the NL West with a 35-20 record.

After being designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox last week, veteran pitcher Dallas Keuchel has reportedly found a new club.

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Keuchel has agreed to a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 34-year-old left-hander will report to Triple-A.

Through eight starts with the White Sox in 2022, Keuchel posted a 2-5 record with a 7.88 ERA. He wasn't much better in 2021, going 9-9 in 32 appearances (30 starts) with a 5.28 ERA. By signing him to a minor league deal, Arizona is minimizing any risk that would come with bringing in a struggling starting pitcher.

MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported that the Diamondbacks are only responsible for the pro-rated minimum salary for Keuchel. Arizona also has an out if he doesn't make it to the majors by a certain date, per Rosenthal.

The deal will reunite Keuchel with Diamondbacks pitching coach Brent Strom. They spent five seasons together with the Houston Astros (2014-18). Arizona surely hopes Strom will help Keuchel find the success of years past.

During his time in Houston, Keuchel made the All-Star Game twice and won the American League Cy Young award in 2015. He topped the AL in wins that year, posting a 20-8 record, 2.48 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 232.0 innings pitched. Keuchel helped lead the Astros to a World Series title in 2017.

The Diamondbacks are fourth in the NL West with a 26-29 record. The team has a collective ERA of 4.19, which ranks 22nd in the majors. If Keuchel can return to form, he will help improve that number.

Arizona begins a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.

If you want to catch a glimpse of Mookie Betts playing like arguably the best baseball player on the planet, you could hop in a time machine and go back to the summer of 2018 or the fall of 2020.

Or, you could simply watch him right now.

The Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder hasn't officially been named the National League Player of the Month for May just yet, but he deserves nothing less after going off for a .342/.411/.746 batting line and 12 home runs during the month. With the latter, he tied Aaron Judge for the league lead and matched Roy Campanella's club record.

Suffice it to say that Betts' supernova May did his overall record for 2022 some good. He's heading into June with a .298/.387/.601 slash line and NL-best marks with 15 home runs and 50 runs scored.

Betts has also accumulated 3.0 rWAR, putting him just 0.2 off the pace set by San Diego Padres rival Manny Machado.

As for whether this is the best the Dodgers have seen Betts play during his three seasons with the club, manager Dave Roberts put it this way:

“I think even in ‘20 there were snippets where he was playing good baseball. But over the last 30 days, it’s as good as anybody on the planet. Yeah, it’s as good as I’ve seen him. He’s scoring runs at a crazy clip. He’s on base. He’s slugging at a ridiculous clip, too. And he’s playing Gold Glove defense, too. He’s making the game look a lot easier than it is.”

Betts was indeed mighty good back in 2020, finishing second to future teammate Freddie Freeman in the NL MVP voting and putting his fingerprints all over the Dodgers' first World Series championship since 1988.

Offensively, however, the 133 OPS+ that he posted in his first two regular seasons with the Dodgers was essentially no different from the 134 OPS+ that he put up in six seasons with the Boston Red Sox. To this end, at least, Betts' performance this season more so resembles his MVP-winning peak from 2018.

His 173 OPS+ isn't far off from the 186 OPS+ that he had that year, in which he also became just the 13th position player in history to climb as high as 10.7 rWAR. That list includes luminaries like Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds, yet notably not standout contemporaries like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper or Juan Soto.

If it sounds like we're saying that Betts is back, well, we sort of are. Yet we hesitate to explicitly call this a comeback, as it's as much a simple reminder of what the 29-year-old is capable of when he's healthy.

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It's Good to Be Healthy

And healthy, of course, is something that Betts was very much not in 2021.

Not counting the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the 122 games Betts played last year marked a new personal low dating back to his first full season in 2015. He was bothered by inflammation in his right hip that necessitated trips to the injured list in July and August.

As Roberts later hinted as the Dodgers were gearing up for the playoffs, it's a small miracle that Betts didn't have to miss even more time:

#Dodgers Dave Roberts on Mookie Betts recovery from hip issue: “You look back a couple months — I can’t believe we’re here with him playing every day.”

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) October 6, 2021

By extension, it's also a miracle that Betts played as well as he did. Though last year ended up being his first full season in which he didn't get any MVP votes, he salvaged an All-Star nod and a stat line that included a 127 OPS+, 23 home runs, 10 stolen bases and the fifth-most rWAR among NL outfielders. Heck, he even hit .319 in the postseason.

After the Dodgers fell to Atlanta in the National League Championship Series, there was a brief window in which offseason hip surgery seemed to be on the table for Betts. Yet it didn't take long for the man himself to nix that idea.

"It feels great," he said of his hip on Nov. 17. "I have to get a checkup one more time to make sure everything is going good, but right now, yeah, everything is going great."

This made it possible for the Dodgers to dream about Betts getting back to his usual self in 2022, specifically to the extent that he would be able to run the bases, field his position and drive the ball better than he was as he was playing through pain in 2021.

Such lofty expectations were immediately tested after Major League Baseball returned from the lockout, as Betts struggled to the tune of a .348 OPS during spring training. So it went out of the gate after the Dodgers opened their regular season on April 8. Betts was hitting under .200 as late as April 26 and generally taking at-bats that had Roberts feeling puzzled.

"Certainly, the at-bats aren't Mookie typical," he told reporters on April 20. "I don't have an answer right now on why he's sort of scuffling."

You might have deduced as much from what Betts has done since then, but this has changed.

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It Also Helps to Be Locked In

For his career, Betts has struck out in only 13.4 percent of his plate appearances while also walking 10.5 percent of the time. Throw in a .522 slugging percentage, and you get a numerical portrait of a hitter who chooses his swings carefully and makes the most of them when he takes them.

Roberts was therefore right to be alarmed at seeing Betts have atypical at-bats in April. But then came May, and with it, a noticeable shift in the right-handed hitter's swing patterns. Throughout the first month of the season, Betts was doing a lot of reaching for pitches down and away from him. That's rarely a good idea for any hitter, but especially not a 5'9", 180-pound guy who only has so much reach.

His swings in May? Much better. There were more cuts at pitches in the middle of the zone, and the away pitches he hacked at were more up in the zone. Those are easier pitches to handle in theory, and reality bears that out.

Betts had the fourth-highest rate of contact within the strike zone in May and he punished a fair number of mistakes. For instance, take this hanging curveball from Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola on May 21:

Mookie! pic.twitter.com/vAsjppXdGz

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 21, 2022

That was one of seven extra-base hits that Betts had against breaking balls in May, and his overall performance in that department is eye-catching. His .673 slugging percentage against breaking stuff is currently 85 points higher than his previous career-high.

At 55.9 percent, Betts also had the 10th best hard-hit rate for the month of May. And while his overall hard-hit percentage this year (46.0) is shy of the career-high he set in 2018 (50.0), he's doing a better job of concentrating his hard-hit balls in the air.

Of the 72 batted balls that have left his bat at or over 95 mph, 51 of them have been either line drives or fly balls. That's 70.8 percent, which is a new personal best.

Apart from his excellence in the batter's box, Roberts is correct that Betts is also back to playing the kind of defense that won him Gold Gloves annually between 2016 and 2020.

His three defensive runs saved through 407.1 innings this year already just one away from what he had through 751.2 innings in right field last year. Statcast sees him as getting the best jumps on fly balls that he's ever gotten, and hitters really should know not to run on him by now:

MARKUS LYNN BETTS. pic.twitter.com/NlCiPd8SWh

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 22, 2022

The one area where Betts isn't yet all the way back is with his baserunning. At his peak in 2018, he stole 30 bases with an average sprint in the 76th percentile. This year, he's stolen only four bases with sprint speed in the 56th percentile.

Yet if the Dodgers could only choose two aspects for Betts to dominate, hitting and defense would be an easy choice over hitting and baserunning or defense and baserunning. In other words, what they're getting from Betts now is the best possible version of "good enough."

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Meanwhile, the Dodgers Are Good

Yeah, yeah. At this point, noting that the Dodgers are good is akin to remarking that it's a day ending in Y or a year ending in a number.

They are so good, though, that even their 33-16 record—the best in the National League and second only to the New York Yankees in all of MLB—doesn't do them proper justice.

The Dodgers' plus-116 run differential puts their Pythagorean record at 36-13. That's a .736 hypothetical winning percentage that's better than they've had at any point during their run of excellence over the last decade, including their championship season in 2020 and their 100-win efforts of 2017, 2019 and 2021.

It's hard to spot anything resembling a soft underbelly in a pitching staff that bears a league-best 2.76 ERA. And while Betts is such a standout that he has more than twice as many home runs as any other Dodgers hitter, the lineup as a whole is as dangerous as it comes.

Between Betts, Freeman and Trea Turner, the Dodgers are one of only three teams with three hitters who are hitting above .290 in what's thus far been the fourth-worst season in history for batting average. More broadly, the Dodgers offense is second in MLB in both on-base and slugging percentage.

In the context of all this, the role Betts is playing is shockingly similar to the one that he played when he won the American League MVP for a Red Sox team that won 108 games and the World Series in 2018. It's that of the best player on arguably the best team around.

If he continues to play it this well, perhaps his ultimate rewards will also be the same.

---

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham said he received a three-game suspension for slapping the San Francisco Giants' Joc Pederson during a dispute about fantasy football before Friday's game.

Pham told reporters Saturday that Pederson made "disrespectful" comments about the San Diego Padres, the Reds slugger's former team, in addition to their fantasy football issues, which he alleged came down to Pederson "messing with my money."

"I'm a big dog in Vegas," Pham said. "I'm a high roller at many casinos."

Pederson provided a detailed version of the events from his perspective after Friday's contest, a 5-1 Reds victory. He explained the pair were in disagreement about how he handled the use of injured reserve in their fantasy league:

Joc shares details of what happened in his fantasy football league that started his altercation with Tommy Pham today pic.twitter.com/d9NBTwPVoG

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 28, 2022

Earlier in the day, players from both teams had to intervene when things got heated between the outfielders during batting practice:

BREAKING: 96.3/92.5 The Big Jab has obtained exclusive rights to a never before seen video of Tommy Pham slapping Joc Pederson (via Chad McCormack’s sources) #JocPederson #Pham #tommypham #Joc @MorningJab @MannixBrothers @ThePMJab pic.twitter.com/0oXBwDDRdH

— Chad McCormack☎️ (@mccormack_chad) May 28, 2022

If Pederson's version of events is true—one of his players was ruled out before the start of the game and he then placed them on IR in an ESPN league—he's in the right, unless the league made a special rule about those instances prior to the season.

ESPN allows fantasy managers to utilize IR for any player who's ruled out in a given week, even if it's only a one-week injury.

Pham didn't say how much money he lost in the fantasy league, but MLB confirmed he'll pay an "undisclosed fine" for inappropriate conduct in addition to the suspension.

He sat out Friday's matchup while the situation was under review, so he'll be required to sit out the remainder of the teams' three-game series.

He'll be eligible to return Tuesday when Cincinnati visits Fenway Park for a two-game set.

Pederson played Friday, going 1-for-3 with an RBI, and didn't face discipline from MLB.

Cincinnati Reds left fielder Tommy Pham and San Francisco Giants left fielder Joc Pederson got into an altercation before the two teams faced off at Great American Ball Park on Friday night, but it reportedly didn't have anything to do with baseball. 

https://twitter.com/m_sheldon/status/1530279623447150593

According to The Athletic's C. Trent Rosecrans and Andrew Baggarly, the altercation stemmed from a fantasy football league disagreement. Pham slapped Pederson before the two were separated by teammates. 

Pederson confirmed he was slapped and offered a detailed explanation about the origin of Pham's frustration: 

Joc Pederson confirms Tommy Pham slapped him in the face over a fantasy football dispute

(via @NBCSGiants)pic.twitter.com/aJ5PH30K48

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) May 28, 2022

Pham sat out Friday's game as MLB investigates the incident, per The Enquirer's Bobby Nightengale. The 34-year-old agreed not to play. Pederson remained in the lineup. 

Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters the team is investigating the situation and that he won't comment on it further until he has "a clearer understanding" of what happened.

Pham and Pederson spent time as division rivals when they played for the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively, during the 2020 season.  

San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler will be skipping the national anthem before his club's games until further notice. 

Kapler told reporters Friday that he will not participate in the national anthem "until I feel better about the direction of our country" following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two adults. 

“I don’t plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel better about the direction of our country” – Gabe Kapler pic.twitter.com/J1MdlVL3XI

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 27, 2022

Kapler's comments come after he published a blog post on his personal website stating that he is "not okay with the state of this country" and noted that he considered taking a knee during the national anthem before the Giants' 9-3 win over the New York Mets on Wednesday, one day after the school shooting occurred: 

Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat, I’m participating in a self congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where these mass shootings take place. On Wednesday, I walked out onto the field, I listened to the announcement as we honored the victims in Uvalde. I bowed my head. I stood for the national anthem. Metallica riffed on City Connect guitars.

My brain said drop to a knee; my body didn’t listen. I wanted to walk back inside; instead I froze. I felt like a coward. I didn't want to call attention to myself. I didn't want to take away from the victims or their families. There was a baseball game, a rock band, the lights, the pageantry. I knew that thousands of people were using this game to escape the horrors of the world for just a little bit. I knew that thousands more wouldn't understand the gesture and would take it as an offense to the military, to veterans, to themselves.

Kapler also criticized how police officers in Uvalde, Texas, responded to the scene and put pressure on politicians to enact stricter gun laws, writing, "We aren't free when politicians decide that the lobbyist and gun industries are more important than our children's freedom to go to school without needing bulletproof backpacks and active shooter drills."

The 46-year-old is one of many sports figures to speak up in the aftermath of the shooting, including Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who gave an impassioned speech during his media availability ahead of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. 

Steve Kerr on today's tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/lsJ8RzPcmC

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 24, 2022

In addition, the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays used their social media accounts during their matchup on Thursday to raise awareness about gun violence and its impact in the United States. The Rays also made a $50,000 donation to Everytown for Gun Safety.

Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old from Uvalde Texas, killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday using an assault rifle after shooting and wounding his grandmother at her home.

Ramos was inside the school for over an hour before police officers rushed in to confront him. During a Friday news conference, Col. Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said that police at the scene made a series of missteps, including not immediately sending officers into a classroom where the shooter had barricaded himself. 

"From the benefit of hindsight where I'm sitting now, of course, it was not the right decision. It was a wrong decision. Period. There was no excuse for that," McCraw said. "There were plenty of officers to do what needed to be done, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

A Border Patrol agent eventually shot and killed Ramos, who purchased the weapons and ammo used in the shooting after turning 18 last week.