Here are three things we’ll be watching around baseball today:
1. Cristian Javier makes his return:
Cristian Javier was a key piece of the Astros’ World Series-winning squad in 2022, earning himself a five-year, $64MM contract extension with his performance that year. He followed that up with his first qualified season as a full-time starter in 2023. While he wasn’t as sharp as he’d been the year before, he was still an important innings eater, tying for the team lead in starts (31) and starting another three contests in October. Unfortunately for Javier and the Astros, he wasn’t able to participate in the team’s next postseason push. The right-hander suffered a UCL injury in May 2024, ultimately requiring Tommy John surgery after just seven starts.
Over the offseason, Javier suggested he’d be back at some point following the 2025 All-Star break, while GM Dana Brown said he could be pitching for the Astros again as soon as late July. On Sunday, manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) that Javier would take the ball tonight against the Red Sox. If late July was the original goal, a mid-August return is only slightly behind schedule. Considering how long and difficult the road to come back from Tommy John can be, Javier’s timely return is a good sign for Houston. With the Mariners breathing down their necks in the AL West and a serious lack of rotation depth behind co-aces Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown, the Astros are surely glad to have Javier back in the fold. They’ll hope he can rediscover his 2022 form, but even the 2023 version of Javier would be a much-needed reinforcement for this club.
2. Will the Twins activate Byron Buxton today?
On Sunday, The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman reported that oft-injured superstar Byron Buxton was likely to rejoin the Twins during their upcoming series against the Yankees, possibly as soon as tonight. Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune offered a similar update, noting that Buxton is traveling with the team to New York and could be activated for the series opener.
The center fielder has been on the shelf since just before the trade deadline with inflammation in his left rib cage. Prior to his injury, he was enjoying arguably the best season of his career to date, and Minnesota will hope to see him pick up right where he left off. Despite selling big before the deadline, the Twins have been playing well in August, taking their last two series against the Tigers and Royals – a pair of division rivals with playoff aspirations. While their playoff chances are still slim, they’re now only five games below .500. Having a healthy Buxton for the final seven weeks of the schedule could perhaps help them to salvage something from a highly disappointing season.
3. Can the Brewers make it 10 in a row?
The Brewers have yet to lose a game in August. After sweeping the Nationals, Braves, and Mets, they’re 9-0 on the month and comfortably ahead of the Phillies for the best record in MLB. Tonight, they’ll go for a 1oth consecutive win, this time against the Pirates. Staff ace Freddy Peralta was originally expected to take the bump, but he’s been swapped out for former Pirate Jose Quintana, who will face off against Andrew Heaney in a battle of veteran left-handers. Peralta will take the ball tomorrow instead, when he’ll face fellow 2025 All-Star Paul Skenes.
After winning 11 in a row from July 6-21, Milwaukee already boasts the longest winning streak in the NL this year. They’re still four wins away from tying the Twins for the longest winning streak in MLB this season (Minnesota won 13 straight in May), but with a win tonight, the Brewers will become the only team with multiple 10-game winning streaks in 2025. The Red Sox and Blue Jays are the only other clubs with double-digit win streaks so far.
I’m not entirely convinced Javier wasn’t through some sort of issue in 2023. He looked like the same pitcher in 2024 before the injury. And knowing how Houston handles injuries, it sadly wouldn’t surprise anyone.
*wasn’t pitching through
Twins won 13 straight …. just goes to show you shouldn’t get too excited about hot streaks, nearly every team has them. Lots of factors go into them including strength of schedule, opposing starting pitchers, injuries on both sides, etc.
I’m rooting for the Brew Crew though!
I think we are past the point, with the Crew, being on a hot streak. They are something like 52-19 over their past 71 games. This hot streak has gone on for half a season (ironically when some of their staff got healthy).
We’re talking about a Brewers streak lacking the presence of Jackson Chourio and Rhys Hoskins, as well as a prolonged cold spell by Christian Yelich. The resilience and depth this team has shown since mid-May has been otherworldly. Huge amount of credit belongs to pitching coach Chris Hook for the wealth of talent he keeps sending to the mound. The Brewers’ upcoming five-game series against the Cubs will test both teams’ pitching depth.
Miz has also been on reduced innings, pitching only 3-4 innings when he starts, and even he has been shelved with an injury to his leg allowing for extra rest.
Miz was shelved as much to limit his innings during a soft spot in the schedule as to allow his shin bruise to heal. During his time off, some of the other kids get to show how they’re progressing.
Dont forgey that William Contreras has been a shell of himself until very recently as well!
Is it too early to dream about a Brewers/Mariners WS? Former Seattle Pilots team moves to Milwaukee…
Perhaps Brewers/Tigers? Battle of two northern Midwest industrial powerhouses back in the day.
Just fun that they’re playing so well right now. Enjoy it!
k-b
To DREAM of it? Of course not.
Definitely to early to think it has any substantial chance of happening. FanGraphs gives it around a 3% chance of happening.
Any specific World Series matchup is unlikely simply because there are so many potential pairings.
Well then, how about the Reds and Padres?
GBS
Right
kripes: I would LOVE a Brewers/Mariners WS. Last year’s WS teams aren’t looking like their 2024 selves.
The lowest grossing World Series in history!?
USA Today is running a story that an unprecedented number of MLB fans across the nation are demanding that the owners of their teams sell. What could have possibly triggered that? Could it be a small-market team with a $115M payroll that has been taking the measure of fatcats and small-market revenue pirates alike?
The only thing that article shows is that fan bases are never happy. If they owner doesn’t spend they are “cheap”. If they spend big money and the player sucks they are “incompetent”. Win the World Series one year and finish poorly the next the team needs a new owner. There really is no winning no matter who owns what
Brewers have been amazing, they are definitely my second favorite team just behind the Whitesox. Brewers all the way in 2025!!
Can’t help wonder what the careers of Sale, Trout, Acuna jr. and Buxton would look like if they would have stayed healthy. I’m sure there are others on that list.
1. Welcome back. Good luck helping your team win the world series again.
2. Isn’t it a bit early for Buxton to be removed from the IL?
3. Should be able to win, as they will be facing the Bucs for 3 games.
“oft-injured superstar Byron Buxton”
Superstar?!?
I applaud for get a $15M / yr contract. Brilliant.
“I applaud for get…” – also brilliant
RR
“I applaud for get a $15M / yr contract. Brilliant.”
He’s almost certainly going to outproduce that contact
Brilliant contact by the Twins.
@RockinRobin: You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. Even with his current contract at $15M/year he consistently out performs his contract, even with his injuries.
Here is a direct quote from a 2024 article on his contract:
“In 2024, he has already been worth $14.1 million, and the season is only a little over half over. Minnesota has paid him $51 million to this point in his career, and Buxton has provided the Twins with nearly $163 million in total value. Buxton is living up to his contract, even if his performance declines in the second half. There are limits to what a team can get with $15 million per season on the market these days, and the Twins can get plenty of excess value when Buxton is playing at his current level.”
twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/minnesota-twins/byron-b…
I can vouch for that as a Brewers fan living in the Twin Cities. Buxton would have been a perfect trade-deadline fit for Milwaukee due to his blend of foot speed and slugging, not to mention his terrific personality. But he’s firm on his no-trade clause, and I wish him well.
If Buxton could stay healthy he would indeed be a superstar in this league. There’s no harm in recognizing that
He spent too much time crashing into unpadded walls in Cedar Rapids.
As a Brewer fan from waaay back, they are heartbreakers.
`1981 and 1982 you just felt they had a shot.
Then 2011 and 2018 teams–I thought maybe, just maybe.
This 2025 has the vibes of “maybe this is it”.
But they are my heartbreakers for a reason.
This is the year of the Brewers,
The Brewers are heartbreakers until they aren’t. They are not stagnating by any means, and because they don’t overspend on second contracts for aging players, they don’t have to rebuild. Their org is flush with great prospects, and they’re finally growing their own corner infield sluggers. As Lou Brown once said, “It’s all coming together.”
If my Phils don’t get there, I will be rooting for the Brewers. There is just so much to respect about how they continue to compete in the smallest of markets. And the fanbase deserves it as well.
Brewers are kicking it up a notch at the right time, plus you guys don’t have Devin Williams bombing games for you. Meanwhile the Cubs are sputtering to possibly a third year in a row of them falling apart at the end…
Buxton has been in the majors 11 yrs
Only once had over 355 atbats, Career high is 462. Might be the most talented often injured player of all time . Perennial 30-20 if he stayed healthy
Love watching the Brewers play. Their hitting coach says “We want to make people play the game and we want to drag them through hell doing it.” and they sure do. The bats are going to make contact and will make every team play great defense the entire game. Good things happen when you put the ball in play.
Exactly. And that’s why the Brewers flourished after Stearns and Counsell left — and why the Mets and Cubs are slumping. The Brewers lead MLB in infield hits and forced errors.
The Brewers behaved poorly during the last series. Karma will sort them.