The Orioles placed Jackson Holliday on the minor league injured list Friday. Despite the lack of impact on the club’s active roster, the move nonetheless raised eyebrows thanks to Holliday’s status as the consensus No. 1 overall prospect in the sport. Fortunately, club GM Mike Elias told reporters (including MASN’s Melanie Newman) that Holliday is dealing with a “barking” shoulder but that the issue isn’t serious and that he’s expected to need only a “few weeks” of rest before he returns to action.
That’s surely a relief for fans in Baltimore, as Holliday figures to join fellow youngsters like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez as a key part of the core for the Orioles going forward once he establishes himself at the big league level. The 20-year-old infielder got his first taste of big league action earlier this year but struggled badly with a with just two hits in 36 trips to the plate across ten games. That tough stretch led the Orioles to send Holliday back to the minors, and he’s continued to hit well at the Triple-A level since his return with a .252/.418/.429 slash line in 189 trips to the plate.
That being said, Holliday has struggled (at least by his own lofty standards) in the month of June so far, hitting just .212 with a 26.7% strikeout rate and a .394 slugging percentage, although his proclivity for drawing walks has allowed him to remain productive over all. Between the youngster’s relative struggles and his apparent elbow issue, it’s hardly a surprise that the Orioles have decided to play it safe with their prized prospect. Fortunately for fans in Baltimore, the Orioles lineup has played incredibly well to this point in the season and is hardly in need of reinforcements. The club’s 116 wRC+ is the third best figure in baseball this year, and Jorge Mateo has posted a decent .236/.281/.441 (103 wRC+) slash line while getting the lion’s share of playing time at Holliday’s likely long term position of second base.
In other news around the Orioles, southpaw John Means recently underwent his second Tommy John surgery in just over two years after making four starts for Baltimore late in the 2023 campaign and another four starts this year. Despite the surely frustrating physical setbacks, however, Means recently told reporters (including Rich Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball) that he fully intends to return to pitching after he completes his post-surgery rehab, which will sideline him for the entire 2024 season and much of 2025.
“I still want to pitch, honestly,” Means said (per Dubroff). “I’d like to fail on the field before I give it up. I feel like if I go there, I can still pitch and get outs. I still feel really confident about my ability. I have to have my elbow keep up.”
For all of Means’ struggles in terms of staying on the field, he’s certainly been effective when healthy. The southpaw has a career 3.68 ERA with a 4.56 FIP across his 401 innings of work in the majors, and although he’s managed just ten starts since the beginning of the 2022 campaign he’s been nothing short of excellent in them with a 2.75 ERA and 3.99 FIP in 52 1/3 innings of work. Given those strong results, it’s not hard to imagine Means, 31, returning to action as an effective and valuable starter once he’s finally healthy. It’s unclear whether or not that return will come in a Royals uniform, however, as the lefty is set to become a free agent after the 2024 campaign.
With Means and Tyler Wells both sidelined by UCL surgery and ace righty Kyle Bradish dealing with UCL issues of his own, the Baltimore rotation is in a bit of a tough spot. While Corbin Burnes and Rodriguez combine to form a strong top of the rotation, the club has been left to rely on Cole Irvin, Cade Povich and Albert Suarez to round out the group due to a number of injuries. Fortunately, help could be on the way soon for the club as MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes that right-hander Dean Kremer is expected to begin a rehab assignment with a “40-ish” pitch outing Sunday.
MLB.com goes on to note that it remains up in the air whether or not Kremer will need another rehab start before returning to the Orioles, meaning the 28-year-old could potentially return to action for the club as soon as sometime late next week. The return of Kremer, who has been on the injured list for a little less than a month due to a triceps strain, would provide reliable innings for the Orioles pitching staff. Since the start of the 2022 season, Kremer has pitched to a solid 3.83 ERA (103 ERA+) with a 4.30 FIP in 348 innings of work for Baltimore.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!
The Milwaukee Brewers looked as though their hot stretch was going to end on Sunday, when the New York Mets jumped to a 5-0 lead. It was certainly not one of Quinn Priester’s best starts, as the right-handed hurler allowed six earned runs on 10 hits (including two home runs) while recording only two strikeouts and issuing a walk across 4 1/3 innings of work on the mound. It was an especially frustrating individual performance for Priester, considering how great he was in a previous start. Last Monday, Priester went seven innings long and gave up just an earned run on two hits in a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on the road. That was his 10th straight pitching win, and the streak appeared to be on the verge of getting broken in the Mets game. Fortunately for Priester, Milwaukee’s bats came alive just in time to secure another team victory — and keep Priester’s streak going. Priester speaks up on Brewers’ thrilling win against the Mets The Brewers managed to pull off a come-from-behind 7-6 victory, capped by a solo, walk-off home run by rookie sensation Isaac Collins. “It’s indescribable,” Priester said after giving up a season-high 11 hits (h/t Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). “They definitely made up for a lot of my miscues today, but it’s a team game. I love being a part of this team, because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to smile right now.” On the season, Priester is 11-2 with a 3.49 ERA and 1.24 WHIP through 22 appearances (17 starts). The Brewers have now won their last three series via sweeps, and they will look to keep it going with a three-game set coming up against the National League Central division cellar-dwelling Pittsburgh Pirates at home.
Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is supposed to remain in charge of the team for years even after the sale. Given what just happened with the Boston Celtics, it might only be months. When the Grousbeck family sold the Celtics for $6.1B in March, ESPN reported that Wyc Grousbeck would stay on as the Celtics CEO and governor through the 2027-28 season. Now, new owner Bill Chisholm will take over once the sale is final. That should concern current Lakers team governor Jeanie Buss, whose family sold a majority interest in the Los Angeles Lakers to investor Mark Walter. Buss is supposed to stay on as team governor for "at least a number of years," according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, but new NBA owners haven't been keen on waiting to take control of teams recently. Mark Cuban thought he would continue running the Dallas Mavericks when he sold a controlling interest to the Adelson family in November 2023. Before the end of that season, when Dallas advanced to the NBA Finals, new team governor Patrick Dumont, the son-in-law of Miriam Adelson, was firmly in charge. General manager Nico Harrison reported directly to Dumont, which is how Luka Doncic ended up traded to the Lakers despite Cuban's objections. It might be different with the Lakers. Walter has owned a minority share in the Lakers since 2021, so he's had a working relationship with Buss. Her role as team governor may be a condition of the sale itself. With the team preparing for a long-term future with Doncic, Walter and his fellow owners might opt for continuity in the team governor role. But in general, people do not spend billions of dollars on a professional sports team so that someone else can be in charge. Buss is in charge of the Lakers now. Recent history says she won't be for long.
Oregon wide receiver Jurrion Dickey has struggled to live up to expectations in his first two seasons with the Ducks, and he is now in a terrible position heading into 2025 as well. Dickey has been suspended indefinitely by Oregon, head coach Dan Lanning announced on Tuesday. Lanning also suggested that Dickey may not play for the Ducks again. "We have two team rules; that’s respectful, be on time,” Lanning said, via James Crepea of The Oregonian. “There’s some pieces of that where I felt like he needed a break from us and we needed a break from that so we could focus on what’s in front of us right now. "Wishing him nothing but the best, as far as success and want to see him get back to where he can be a contributor somewhere; that might be here that might be somewhere else.” Dickey was a five-star recruit and rated as one of the top wide receivers in the country when he came out of Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California in 2023. He suffered an injury his senior year in high school and redshirted as a freshman at Oregon. Dickey has two catches for 14 years during his time with the Ducks. Oregon went 13-1 in Lanning's third season with the program last season. The Ducks lost to eventual national champion Ohio State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
We all know Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer on the planet by a fairly large margin, but what makes him so much more consistent than other stars in professional golf? Bryson DeChambeau, one of Scheffler's biggest rivals in major championships, thinks he knows the answer. In Tuesday's appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," DeChambeau detailed how Scheffler dominates the PGA Tour weekly. "He's got the best spin and distance control I've ever seen," DeChambeau said. "He controls the golf ball from a spin perspective so much better than everybody else. Like, if you're 175 yards out, and it's 10 miles [an hour] into the wind, he knows how to control the flight and spin to get that ball to land right next to the hole every time. Probably since Tiger [Woods], he's the best that we've seen." The stats confirm DeChambeau's breakdown. Scheffler has ranked first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained on approach in three straight seasons. He also ranks first in proximity to the hole and greens in regulation percentage over the last four years. Iron play is Scheffler's superpower, but it wasn't always that way. "I played with him in college a bunch, and I've said it before, but he's definitely improved since college for sure," DeChambeau said with a chuckle. "It's impressive to see what he's done, and we're all aspiring to do that. That's something I've gotta get better at. I can hit it farther than him. I can hit it probably straighter than him. I can make just as many putts as him, but, really, it's about my iron play right now and wedges to get a little more consistent." Iron play is the biggest indicator of success in professional golf. If you're giving yourself more birdie chances from close range than anyone in the field, you're going to have the best chance to win by Sunday afternoon. No one is better at hitting specific distances more consistently than Scheffler. Just look at how accurate he is. DeChambeau has the best chance to catch Scheffler as the best player in the world because he's elite off the tee and on the greens, but that won't happen unless he makes a major improvement to his iron game.