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. After a run to the World Series last year, Juan Soto is well aware how deafening the Bronx can be when it’s really rocking. But when he returns to Yankee Stadium tonight for his first installment of the Subway Series as a member of the Mets, he’ll be hearing something he’s not particularly accustomed to.
Boos are basically an inevitability, and Soto is ready for it. In fact, he’s even looking forward to it, saying the thing he’s most anticipating for this three-game set is the crowd. It’s a crowd that a little over a year ago was showering Soto with love on his first homestand in the form of roll calls and M-V-P chants. A crowd that as recently as a few months ago was chanting “Please sign Soto!”
It’ll be a slightly different message tonight as Major League Baseball's inaugural Rivalry Weekend begins, though with equal decibels, for the man who left the Yanks to join the Mets on a record $765 million contract. Soto’s slow start this season (by his lofty standards) and his honest admission that he’s being pitched differently in a lineup that does not include Aaron Judge have only given Yankees fans more bulletin-board material. It all makes for a welcome injection of drama into this rivalry, which has been somewhat tame in recent years but should be anything but this time around. |
That has a lot to do with Soto but is also a product of these teams being two of the best in baseball, each leading their divisions coming into this meeting, which has not been the case since their two-game set in late August of 2022. The Mets swept all four Subway Series games last year -- meaning Soto has not yet been on the winning end of this crosstown clash -- and they have won six of the last eight over the past two seasons. The stakes never seem to faze Soto, though, the type of player who thrives under pressure. “He enjoys the moment,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “He also doesn’t make more of it than it is, and he understands he’s got to keep himself focused and centered.” His return to Yankee Stadium will certainly be one of those seminal moments, with a realistic chance to join the long list of iconic Subway Series memories, from the Mike Piazza-Roger Clemens clashes to a lazy pop fly glancing off Luis Castillo’s glove to Dae-Sung Koo somehow doubling off Randy Johnson. The first time Soto steps to the plate tonight, the Bronx crowd will be ready to burst. But knowing his decorated history and flair for the dramatic, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear his bat talk back.
-- Scott Chiusano
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Braves @ Red Sox (7:10 p.m. ET, FREE on MLB.TV): Coming off a sweep at the hands of the Tigers, the Red Sox return home looking to right the ship, but they’ll have to do so against reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale and the Braves. After taking on Detroit ace Tarik Skubal on Wednesday, Boston will be the first team to face the latest Cy Young winners in both leagues in consecutive games, as noted by the great Sarah Langs courtesy of Elias Sports. The Sox will send their own Cy Young contender Garrett Crochet to the mound opposite Sale.
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• The Dodgers have lost three members of their Opening Day rotation to the injured list, but they’re about to get another mound mainstay back. And he comes with potential Hall of Fame pedigree. Clayton Kershaw -- the 2014 NL MVP, three-time Cy Young Award winner and 10-time All-Star -- is set to start Saturday against the Angels at Dodger Stadium, beginning what will be his 18th Major League season. After re-signing with the only club he’s ever known in Spring Training, Kershaw has been recovering from offseason surgeries on his left toe and left knee. The 37-year-old left-hander has a big round number to look forward to in 2025: He’s only 32 strikeouts away from 3,000 for his career. Only the greatest pitchers in Major League history have reached that mark; Kershaw would become the 20th member of the 3,000-strikeout club. |
• Position players pitching is one of those unconventional scenes that make any day at the ballpark just a bit more enjoyable. That was especially true Thursday, when A’s backup catcher Jhonny Pereda was tasked with facing Shohei Ohtani, who had already homered twice on his bobblehead night in L.A. Pereda was, perhaps surprisingly, undaunted by the matchup against the back-to-back MVP; in fact, he said that Ohtani was “the only batter I want to face.” Pereda didn’t just face him, though. In his third pitching appearance this season and the fourth of his career, the second-year big leaguer struck Ohtani out on a foul tip into the glove of Shea Langeliers. And, yes, he held on to that ball. |
• One of the greatest managers in baseball history moved another notch up the all-time ranks on Thursday, as Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy recorded his 2,195th win against the Astros at Globe Life Field. Bochy passed Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson for sixth place on the all-time wins list, which he shared was especially meaningful for him after growing up a Reds fan during their two-time World Series-winning “Big Red Machine” days. Next in Bochy’s sights is four-time World Series-winning manager Joe Torre, who is 131 wins ahead at 2,326. -- Betelhem Ashame | Hot off the presses, the Red Sox just released their new Nike City Connect jerseys, inspired by Fenway Park itself. I personally think they’re terrific -- however, while I consider myself a jersey aficionado, I happen not to be a Red Sox fan. So I reached out to someone who is both: Michael Clair, our International Content czar and a contributor for MLB Network Inside Stitch. “I have loved the Boston Bees-esque marathon yellow unis, but this is the perfect idea,” Clair said. “What do people think of when they think of the Red Sox? They think of the Green Monster. Nailing that exact shade of green is so important. … And the yellow number on the front of the uni really pops. “For a city that often dons green for the Celtics, this will be the perfect crossover shirt for Celtics fans going to Red Sox games and Red Sox fans going to the Garden.” We do need to specify: He meant TD Garden. We wouldn’t necessarily advise you to wear a green Red Sox jersey to Madison Square Garden tonight for Game 6 against the Knicks … -- Bryan Horowitz |
Can you guess today’s mystery player using clues like age, league, division, position and place of birth? You’ll have nine tries to get it right. Good luck! Play here >> |
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