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.

Baseball demands resilience, because failure is never far away. The Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen discovered that early on, in a Little League loss that has stuck with him decades later, even after an MVP Award, five All-Star nods and more than 2,000 big league hits.

McCutchen, 38, is the featured guest on the latest episode of No Easy Outs, a new MLB YouTube series for younger audiences that highlights how some of the game’s biggest stars overcame challenges on their way to Major League success. Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan appeared in the pilot episode, streaming now on YouTube. (Subscribe to MLB’s YouTube page to make sure you don’t miss an episode.)

As McCutchen recalls, one of his first brushes with failure came as a 12-year-old trying to pitch the Fort Meade, Fla., All-Stars to a championship. McCutchen seemed untouchable, until a sudden bout of wildness loaded the bases in the final inning. With two outs and a one-run lead, coaches urged him to “just lob it in.” The next pitch was ripped into the outfield for a game-winning hit, leaving McCutchen unsure of how to process the sting of letting his team down.

“That was probably the lowest moment for me as a 12-year-old kid. Feeling like you lost the game. ... Didn’t know if I should cry or could cry.” 

Granted, low moments like that were rare as McCutchen dominated the youth ranks on his way to establishing himself as one of the top high school players in Florida. Still, that Little League loss stuck with him, shaping his mindset as he reached the Minors and began facing tougher competition. Over time, McCutchen learned to take a day-by-day approach that kept him on an even keel after both good games and bad. He even came up with a memorable way to focus on the positives in any situation.

“The way to deal with failure is to address it, not shy away from it … but always backing it up with a “but” or a rebuttal,” he said. “I always call it a re-BUT-tal.”

-- Thomas Harrigan

• Yankees at Rays (7:35 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): The Yankees tied their own franchise record -- set earlier this year -- by clubbing nine homers last night at their Spring Training home. Can they tee off again tonight on Rays righty Drew Rasmussen, who's held the Bombers to a sparkling 0.85 ERA in 31 2/3 career innings?

• Brewers at Cubs (8:05 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Jacob Misiorowski couldn't escape the second inning in his last start, against the Reds, his first since returning from the IL with a shin contusion. The Cubs will try to pounce on the rookie sensation tonight to send Milwaukee to its first series loss since July 25-27 in Miami.

• Dodgers at Rockies (8:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Los Angeles has lost each of Shohei Ohtani's last three starts, and five of his last seven, despite his solid 3.47 ERA overall, albeit in just 23 1/3 innings. The Dodgers will try to snap that skid tonight against the Rockies, who have the same number of wins as the champs since the All-Star break (14).

More than three years after trading franchise cornerstone Juan Soto to the Padres in a blockbuster megadeal -- maybe the trade of the century -- at the 2022 Trade Deadline, the Nationals are still seeing the fruits of that decision. Not only did that trade yield Washington its current ace (MacKenzie Gore) and top two position players (James Wood, CJ Abrams), along with outfielder Robert Hassell III -- there is still more to come, if you can believe it.

Of the six players Washington acquired in that deal, five have reached the big leagues. The last holdout is Jarlin Susana, who was only 18 at the time. The right-hander, the Nats’ No. 3 prospect (No. 72 overall), is 21 now, and boy does he look big league ready. 

Susana put together one of the most impressive performances of the Minor League season on Tuesday at Double-A Harrisburg, flashing his fastball as high as 103 mph on his way to registering a career-high 13 strikeouts in only five innings against a Double-A Erie lineup regarded as one of the Minors’ best. Susana recorded his first six outs via punchout and held Erie to one run on two hits, including a solo home run from No. 2 overall prospect Kevin McGonigle.

It was a loud, standout performance for the 6-foot-6 hurler, but far from an aberration. A Grade 1 UCL sprain sidelined Susana earlier this year, but his velo has returned, to the point where Susana has racked up 82 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings at two levels this year, good for an otherworldly 14.9 K/9 rate. Batters are hitting just .131 off him in three August starts, two of which have come at Double-A.

Susana doesn’t turn 22 until next March and isn’t on the Nats' 40-man roster. Factoring in his early-season injury scare, he seems an unlikely candidate to reach the Majors this season. But if Tuesday’s performance was any indication, it may not be long before he becomes the sixth player from that famed Soto deal to get to the bigs, and don’t be surprised if he’s sending hitters back to the dugout shaking their heads for years to come.

-- Joe Trezza

Kids never tire of making their parents proud, and parents never tire of feeling that special pride. When it plays out on a stage as big as an MLB game, the thrill is even greater for all involved. Ask Kyle Karros and his dad about that.
 
Kyle, son of longtime big leaguer and 1992 NL Rookie of the Year Eric Karros, showed out for his dad on Tuesday at Coors Field, where the Rockies rookie clubbed his first MLB homer while pops watched proudly from the stands. The elder Karros, an occasional color commentator for the visiting Dodgers, wasn't working the game, which allowed him to be like any other parent, intently watching their kid perform.
 
As Rockies beat writer Thomas Harding points out, dad watched the homer from a special place: the top level of the stands on the first-base side, but lined up with the third-base line. That meant his son's home run trot would end with him running right toward his father, just like in his college days.
 
“That was my lucky spot,” Eric said. “That’s where I used to sit at UCLA. I used to sit and look directly. This was just a higher version of it. It’s crazy.”

Braves first baseman Matt Olson was in the lineup last night, just as he had been for each of his team’s games dating back to May 2, 2021.

Olson’s current run of 746 consecutive games played is not only nearly twice as long as any other active streak (the Mets’ Pete Alonso is currently at 379 straight games played), it’s the second-longest streak since 2000, trailing only Miguel Tejada’s 1,152-game stretch from 2000-07.

With his appearance yesterday, Olson passed Pete Rose for sole possession of 12th place on on the all-time consecutive games played leaderboard. Next up on the list at No. 11 is Nellie Fox (798 straight games), whom Olson could pass next April. The Atlanta slugger will need to play in another 77 games in a row to pass Gus Suhr (822 straight games) for sole possession of a spot in the top 10.

The all-time leader in consecutive games, of course, is Cal Ripken Jr., who famously surpassed Lou Gehrig’s seemingly unbreakable record of 2,130 straight games played before a national TV audience on Sept. 6, 1995, before ultimately bringing his streak to a close after a mind-blowing 2,632 games.

And in case you're wondering, if Olson hopes to pass Ripken for the all-time record, he'll need to play every game from now until sometime in June or July 2037, when he'll be 43.

-- Ed Eagle

The late, great Bob Uecker was many things: big leaguer, broadcaster, actor, "Saturday Night Live" host and even a World Series champion. But did you know "Mr. Baseball" was also an avid golfer who was interviewed by Golf Magazine and Golf Channel? 

In honor of Ueck's love of the links, the Brewers are giving away a Bob Uecker Golf Umbrella -- complete with a plaid flourish in a nod to the jackets he was known for -- to the first 25,000 fans for their contest vs. the Giants this Saturday.

So if you're in the area this weekend, it's a prime promotion that'll have the rest of your foursome green with envy. And while the umbrella may not help your handicap, this tip from Uecker might.

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