Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today's games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here. With two weeks left in the regular season and playoff spots up for grabs in both leagues, it feels like an ideal time for some teams to bring in reinforcements. That's exactly what the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants are doing with the callups of their top prospects from the Minors.
The Blue Jays enter Monday on a four-game winning streak and four games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East as they look to seal their first division title since 2015. So, what better time to bring in MLB Pipeline's No. 25 overall prospect, Trey Yesavage, for his Major League debut. And it doesn't sound like he'll be overwhelmed joining the playoff chase: "There are five-year-olds who play this game. I think that me, at 22 years old, I can do it just fine."
Selected 20th overall last year out of East Carolina, the 6-foot-4 right-hander has dominated every level of the Minors in his first full season – that is not a typo, he played for every full-season affiliate in 2025. He recorded 160 punchouts in only 98 innings, sixth-most in the Minors. His 41.1 percent strikeout rate is tops among full-season pitchers (min. 90 IP), and he owns a 3.12 ERA and 0.97 WHIP over that span as well.
In his most recent outing -- a start on Wednesday in Rochester -- Yesavage twirled his best Triple-A outing to date: He retired all nine batters (including four by K) he faced, throwing 28 of 34 pitches for strikes and getting 10 whiffs on 23 swings (43 percent). It may be safe to say that this gem was all Toronto needed to see to give the former ECU ace the final push up the ladder.
Also set to make his debut in The Show when he is expected to join San Francisco today is Pipeline's No. 13 prospect, Bryce Eldridge. There may not be a hotter hitter in the game right now than the 20-year-old, who has also put his 70-grade power on full display in the process. Eldridge has at least one hit in 10 of his past 12 games -- including seven games in a row. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound slugger also clubbed his 25th home run of the season on Saturday night (his 18th at the Triple-A level). After hitting his first Triple-A home run back in June -- a go-ahead grand slam -- Eldridge certainly sounded like a player who has what it takes to succeed at the highest level: "Every time I go out there, in my mind, I'm the best guy. I'm the better man of the matchup and I think that's just what's gotten me to the point I'm at now. I'm confident no matter who's on the mound."
Selected 16th overall in the 2023 Draft by the Giants, Eldridge was a two-way star at Madison High School in Vienna, Va. San Francisco shifted him to first base full time during his first full pro season in 2024, and Eldridge has been making strides at the position ever since.
Across three levels of the Minors this season, Eldridge has appeared in 102 games and is slashing .260/.333/.510 with 46 extra-base hits, 84 RBIs, 46 runs and 42 walks. He is joining a Giants team that enters Monday just 1 1/2 games out of the third and final NL Wild Card spot. And there's a chance we see Yesavage and Eldridge in October: Both players would be eligible for postseason rosters, but only as injury replacements. -- Rob Terranova |
• Cubs at Pirates (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): The spirit of "The Great One" will be felt throughout PNC Park on Roberto Clemente Day. The Pirates will wear No. 21 in honor of the Hall of Famer, and the club will have its first live Spanish-speaking broadcast, with Clemente's son handling play-by-play duties. • Rangers at Astros (8:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): The Silver Boot Series may decide who captures the AL West or the final AL Wild Card spot. Both clubs open a critical week of games, with the Astros set to face the first-place Mariners after this three-game set against the Rangers. Heading into the opener, Texas, which saw its six-game winning streak end yesterday, holds the tiebreaker (6-4) over Houston in the season series. • Phillies at Dodgers (10:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV and MLB Network): With a victory, the Phillies can capture their second straight NL East title, while the Dodgers look to add to their NL West lead over the idle Padres. A matchup of NL heavyweights will also see two sluggers battle for the NL homer title, with Kyle Schwarber leading Shohei Ohtani, 52-49. |
Cal Raleigh continued his march into baseball's record books yesterday, tying Mickey Mantle for most homers by a switch-hitter in a season (54) and passing Javy Lopez with his 43rd dinger while playing catcher, a new all-time mark. But that wasn't the biggest highlight of the weekend for the Mariners, who ran their win streak to nine in the same game and now stand alone as AL West leaders. If the division's volatility has your head spinning, you're not alone. Here's a look back at the winding paths Seattle, Houston and Texas have taken to get to this point. Elsewhere over the weekend ... • Nick Kurtz's teammates are "going to have to make up a new word" for the rookie sensation, whose 493-foot slam on Saturday was MLB's longest homer since June 2023, and the longest by any A's player under Statcast tracking (since 2015). • A few days after announcing his retirement, Anthony Rizzo took in a Cubs game in Wrigley's bleachers and proved the adage that the ball always has a way of finding you. • Salvador Perez put himself in an exclusive group on Saturday night by securing his 300th career homer and 1,000th RBI -- with one swing. • Pirates prospect Brandan Bidois surrendered a hit yesterday for the first time since July 29, a span of 18 innings and 64 batters.
• Of course Ozzie Albies is taller than Jose Altuve ... right?
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SCHWARBER'S TRICKY FREE-AGENCY CASE |
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber presents one of the most fascinating cases of the upcoming free-agent class: a profile with virtually no precedent on the market. On one hand, Schwarber will be entering his age-33 season in 2026, and he doesn't bring any defensive or baserunning value as a slow-footed, full-time DH. On the other hand? Homers, and lots of them. Schwarber went deep two more times over the weekend, adding to his National League-leading totals in home runs (52) and RBIs (127, also the most in MLB). Philadelphia clinched a playoff spot on Sunday, and its magic number to win the NL East sits at one. Since he joined the Phillies prior to the 2022 season, Schwarber ranks second in the Majors in homers, third in RBIs and third in walks. He's added 12 postseason homers in that time, bringing his career playoff figure to 21 -- the fourth most all time. Schwarber is also a beloved teammate and clubhouse figure, and he appears to be getting better with age, setting new career highs in a number of categories this season.
How do you value a player like that? MLB.com senior national reporter Mark Feinsand posed that question to executives across the game, and the consensus was clear: Schwarber's free-agent market is one of the toughest to project.
-- Thomas Harrigan |
CLEMENTE AWARD NOMINEES REVEALED |
Beginning today, fans can vote for the Roberto Clemente Award presented by Capital One (in both English and Spanish). The winner of the fan vote, which ends Sunday, Sept. 28, will count as one vote among those cast by the blue-ribbon panel. The Roberto Clemente Award, considered baseball's most prestigious individual honor for Major Leaguers, annually recognizes the MLB player who best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions both on and off the field. Last year, Salvador Perez was the winner, the first time the Royals organization earned the coveted award. |
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