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. Part of the fun of MLB Players’ Weekend, which begins tomorrow, is that big leaguers are encouraged to “showcase their favorite hobbies, interests and passions.” Perhaps no one has a hobby as heartwarming as Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who, thanks to his daughter Vlaimel, has stepped up his game for handcrafting friendship bracelets. Here’s an excerpt from Keegan Matheson’s excellent piece on the wonderful bond shared between father and daughter:
It’s Vlaimel’s birthday. Guerrero’s daughter is turning 8 today, and on the table inside sits a floral cake bursting with every shape and color. There are balloons with “Princess” written across them, a big, purple bear and every candy you could imagine, mixed in with the purple streamers and purple confetti. Then comes the star of the show, Vlaimel, in her purple dress with a purple bow in her hair. Her mother, Nathalie, is smiling right behind her, getting everyone ready for the big day. Vladdy’s moment is coming later tonight, but this one is Vlaimel’s. Her father is sitting down by the pool, waiting for her. They’re going to make friendship bracelets together. It’s so quiet here. Look around, and you wouldn’t know the address ended in “Toronto” at all. You can’t see another house, no condo towers or cranes, only the trees and Guerrero’s family all around him. Tonight, a million people will watch him, but this is where the other side of Guerrero lives. |
By the time Vlaimel bounces down across the lawn and jumps on her father, it’s all laid out in front of them. There are spools of elastic string and trays filled with beads, letters, shapes, hearts and little baseballs. There’s something so unique about the bond these two have. Guerrero says it’s almost like they’re brother and sister sometimes. He’s still dad -- the man the entire Guerrero family and much of Toronto orbits around -- but in a way that just has to be seen and heard to really understand, they’re in this together. When Guerrero is told that some questions will be coming in English today, Vlaimel jumps in.
“I got it, I got it,” she says, and she’s already beaming. There are cameras to Vlaimel’s left and right, but she’s a natural with this.
Besides, Vladdy has always credited Vlaimel for helping him with his English, which they speak at home with one another. They’re in this together. Read the full article here. |
- Phillies at Nationals (6:45 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Bryce Harper has always enjoyed raking at Nationals Park, where he’s produced a slash line of .331/.456/.566 in 46 games since leaving D.C. The Phillies still boast a five-game lead over the Mets in the division, but they’ll look to avoid their first three-game losing streak since late June.
- Braves at Mets (7:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): The Braves have had the Mets’ number all year, playing spoiler in New York’s quest for a playoff spot. But Mets starters aren’t doing the club any favors, having thrown just 594 1/3 innings (27th in the bigs). The Mets are 13-5 in Kodai Senga starts this season, but what the team really needs from him is length tonight to save a weary bullpen.
- Tigers at Twins (7:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Tarik Skubal, who continues to lead the Starting Pitcher Power Rankings, aims for a bounce-back performance after tossing his shortest start of the season (4 2/3 innings). Thirteen shy of back-to-back 200-K seasons, Skubal has gone 4-0 with a 1.22 ERA in his past six starts against Minnesota.
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Manager Pat Murphy famously dubbed his Brewers club the “Average Joes” long before they stormed to the best record in the big leagues. Perhaps no player better exemplifies the underdog moniker than Isaac Collins. The reigning NL Player of the Week, Collins isn’t even the best-known rookie on his own team, not with flamethrowing righty Jacob Misiorowski taking the baseball world by storm on the way to an All-Star berth after just five big league appearances. Just like his team, however, slowly but surely, the 5-foot-8 Collins is getting the recognition he deserves. After hitting .307/.411/.467 with five homers, five steals and 23 RBIs in 44 combined games in June and July, Collins is off to a scorching .364/.431/.705 start in August, along the way moving up to No. 3 in the NL in our latest Rookie of the Year polling. Collins has been a driving force in helping the Brewers become just the 14th team since 1900 to have two streaks of at least 11 wins in the same season, but the 28-year-old is certainly no overnight sensation. A ninth-round pick of the Rockies out of Creighton in 2019 who was picked up off waivers by Milwaukee in 2022, Collins has more than 450 games of Minor League experience under his belt, including 204 alone at Double-A. “I was never really a top prospect, never really a priority,” Collins told MLB Network on Wednesday. “It’s been a long journey for me to get here. I’ve had to fight at every single level. I think those experiences in the Minor Leagues are helping me out at this level.” An underdog player leading a bunch of “Average Joes” to their first championship seems like a script right out of Hollywood. We’ll all be keeping an eye out for a storybook ending in October. -- Ed Eagle |
Ten years ago, a legend was born. "Dan from Warwick" called into New York sports radio station WFAN and asked a question of host Mike Francesa: Do the San Francisco Giants and the New York Giants ever get together when they find themselves in the same city? Francesa's sardonic reply in the affirmative included tales of a picnic in Totowa, N.J., and a shared breakfast the next morning. Imagine Francesa's shock last month when he stumbled upon four Giants -- Eli Manning and Shaun O'Hara from the gridiron; Logan Webb and Matt Chapman from the diamond -- having brunch. "They really do get together,” deadpanned Francesa. "Really" was doing a lot of work there, as the get-together was part of promotion for Season 5 of “The Eli Manning Show." Giants beat reporter Maria Guardado has all the details of the convivial confab, including a clip of Manning's "encouraging" assessment of Webb's QB highlights from high school. -- Ismail Soyugenc |
The Brewers aren’t just the best team in baseball. They just won the entire city of Milwaukee free burgers. See, local Milwaukee restaurant chain George Webb has a long-running promotion: If the Brewers go on a 12-game winning streak, they give out free hamburgers to all of Milwaukee. And guess what? The Brew Crew just won lucky No. 12 in a row yesterday. So it’s time for George Webb Restaurants to fire up the grills. This tasty tradition goes back to the 1940s, when George Webb himself started predicting long winning streaks for the Brewers (who were just a Minor League team back then). Eventually, those predictions turned into free burger giveaways from his restaurants anytime the Brewers won 12 straight games. But it’s only happened twice -- in 1987 and 2018. Until now. Bring on the burgers. -- David Adler |
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