Here are three things to keep an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. Trout approaching milestone:
Angels franchise face Mike Trout is in the midst of his healthiest season in years, even as he’s been relegated to DH-only duties by knee issues. He’s made it into 87 games this year and clobbered his 20th home run of the season in his last game on Wednesday night. Trout’s .240/.364/.471 (126 wRC+) slash line this year isn’t quite on the level of his previous MVP-caliber performances, but that hasn’t stopped him from progressing towards major career milestones.
Trout currently sits at 398 home runs for his career, leaving him just two long balls away from joining the 400 homer club. He’d be the 59th member of the club in MLB history and join Giancarlo Stanton as the second active player to reach the 400-homer plateau. He’ll have his work cut out for him in tonight’s game against the Tigers given that reigning AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal (2.18 ERA) is poised to take the mound for Detroit. Trout and the Angels will face Charlie Morton and Casey Mize on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. He’s had three multi-homer games this season, most recently against the Rangers on July 9, so fans can be on milestone watch for any of the three-time MVPs upcoming games.
2. Naylor day-to-day:
Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor has been everything fans in Seattle hoped he would be in 13 games with the club so far. He’s slashed .261/.320/.478 with three home runs, a double, and a shocking ten-for-ten record on the basepaths since arriving in the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately, his impressive start may be slowed somewhat going forward. As noted by MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer, Naylor exited yesterday’s game in the top of the fourth inning due to shoulder soreness. Manager Dan Wilson told reporters (including Kramer) yesterday that he believes the injury to be “just a day-to-day kind of thing,” so perhaps the 28-year-old won’t require a trip to the injured list. Losing Naylor would be a particularly significant blow to the Mariners given the fact that the depth options behind him have dwindled substantially recently. Luke Raley is already on the IL himself, while Tyler Locklear was traded to the Diamondbacks as part of the Eugenio Suarez deal.
3. Future Hall of Famers face off in L.A.:
Today’s contest between the Blue Jays and the Dodgers figures to be a very special one, as a pair of future Hall of Famers will be battling it out on the mound. Max Scherzer is taking the ball for Toronto in his eighth start of the 2025 season, while Clayton Kershaw is poised to suit up for the Dodgers in his 13th start of the year. Neither veteran is exactly in top form in 2025. Both have missed significant time due to injuries, and neither’s rate numbers are where they used to be. Scherzer’s 4.39 ERA is the second-highest of his storied career, while Kershaw’s 3.29 is (impressively) the third-highest figure of his own 18 years in the majors. Even though both hurlers are in the twilight of their careers, a duel between a pair of three-time Cy Young winners who’ve combined for 19 All-Star appearances and four World Series rings is sure to be one worth watching.
Scherzer Kershaw that is an instant classic.
Yeah in 2015 maybe
Kershaw is still pretty good overall, even if no longer elite.
Scherzer’s overall numbers aren’t great, but he was clearly knocking off some rust and gaining confidence in his stuff after the injury in his earlier starts. In the last 2 starts, he went 7 innings, 3 earned runs with 11 K’s and no walks, and 6 innings, 1 earned run with 5 K’s and no walks. Starting to see a little of the old Max again.
If they both bring their ‘A’ game, it could be a long night for the hitters.
No doubt, but instant classic is a stretch.
Kershaw is doing it with smoke and mirrors. He’s lost a lot of velocity on his “fast ball”.He pitches more like Zach Greinke now.
Gradual Good One?
A bit sad to watch father time do its thing, but enjoy it while we can!
Who gets the win?
They’re both 4th starters right now.
Who would have guessed that Josh Naylor would have more SB than HR?
He’s going to start stealing members of the Chandler Simpson fan club
Ikr. Naylor’s 21 SB (Sea 10, AZ 11) would probably lead many teams. His sprint speed is a well below average, 24.4. At some point, opposing teams may want to keep an eye on Naylor.
His lead feet are good for the 3rd(!) percentile in MLB. Didn’t run much in tbe minors either. Good to see a slow guy develop a new skillset.
Does Sprint speed actually contribute to relevant stole base success, or are those guys simply more likely to run.
I mean, obviously if you run faster you get to 2B/3B quicker. But the distance is so short that I assume it’s really just timing the pitcher + running on the right pitch and then the catchers pop time/accuracy.
It sure helps but knowledge and observation are equally important as you’ve noted.
Angels: It could be teams aren’t watching him too closely because he doesn’t look like a typical base stealer.
I wonder how many of those 10 SB’s his helmet came off? If you are a SD fan remembering the early days of JN, you know what I’m saying.
Naylor’s helmet comes off at the plate when he swings. In his defense, he takes a mighty rip.
I get it. Two classic pitchers going head to head.
3rd percentile sprint speed and 21 stolen bases lol. Must be really good at catching pitchers and catchers off guard.
Josh Naylor has been everything the restaurant owners in Seattle hoped he would be.
Golden Tate says hello! Free donuts for everyone!
It’s probably a bigger indictment of how bad Catchers are at throwing out runners than a testament to Naylor’s new found baserunning skills
Can be the C but more likely the combination of a preparedness on the runner and a slow / lackadaisical delivery on the P (especially a BP guy where a runner isn’t a big deal.
Boggie is 17/18 this year and he is no speedster!
1/2 a step extra due to situation and slow delivery and an average arm C – adds up if you take them.
Reminds me of 2016 Paul Goldschmidt
24 HR
32 SB
Trout for breakfast, reminds me of our honeymoon.
Naylor for lunch ?
You dog you
Naylor has been carrying the team so it’s no surprise he has shoulder soreness.
Speaking of baserunning, a manager once yelled at his player for being so slow around the bases. “Look, I don’t mind if you’re carrying the piano on your back, but you don’t have to stop and play it.”
Hayzee wasn’t it Tito?? I think on Sean Casey…LOL!!
He has had the shoulder issue since about June when he played for the D”Backs, they said then he was day to day.
You know it’s bad when 87 games is considred a lot.
On the year it’s 75% of games played. It isn’t like they are saying he is only playing 87 out of 162 (well, not yet).
75% at his age with knee issues, etc. isn’t really that bad.
You know what was bad and considered a lot? Darren Dreifort’s contract.
Chump change in 2025.
Chump change is worth your total amount of comments and criticisms you’ve been making for a while.
I speak the truth and not everyone can handle that.
Speak your truth, anonymously on a sports blog?
Who do you think that you are?
So you’re another guy that doesn’t know the difference between a fact and an opinion. Got it.
Just like your comments as always.
As always, we await developments.
I like to bring up Mike Hampton. It’s a while back so the amounts don’t look as high but they were back then. There are just so, so many contracts that didn’t pan out that it blows my mind that so many claim the Bog deal (which is paying for itself via $$ to WAR value so far), gets so much attention.
It’s not like it’s their money!
At least wait for the tipping point to happen.
There is no such thing as a long-term, big money contract that has ever truly worked out from beginning to end. You buy what you hope will be a few good years while also knowing you bought the declining years as well.
Verlander’s 7/$180M extension worked out pretty well….but yeah, I’m cherry picking
RSox – I agree with how you got there totally but, with that being the basis, if you hang a flag (maybe even just got there a couple of times) the team will call those contracts “worth it”.
It’s why they do them is the point – increase a chance at a window for a ring.
Like them or not is a different discussion.
Rsox, Agree, and it’s the price of doing business. Any team unwilling to pay for those declining years aren’t going to get the productive ones either. Some other team will. There will always be a team willing to pay for those declining years to sign the guy they want.
@Rsox: Freddie Freeman’s $135M 8 year deal in 2014 w/Atlanta worked out extremely well. At the time, it was the largest contract in franchise history. 30.6 WAR during the length of the deal (2014-2021).
Ok. Lets look at it from a different perspective; a player who signs a big money deal while in their early 20’s is more likely to work out in full than a player signing a big money deal in their 30’s
Meant that FF was an exception to the big money, long term concept, but yeah……..signing these guys to big money deals in their 30’s is pretty much what you said. Teams hoping for value for a few years and expect player decline in the latter part of the deals.
And most guys don’t reach free-agency until they’re 30, or close to it. That’s why guys like Harper and Soto who became FAs at age 26 cashed in big (well, big at the time for Harper).
That’s like 75% of this season so far. If he plays 80% of the remaining games, he’ll make it into about 125 contests.
Guess Seattle wasn’t paying attention..Naylor has been playing through various ailments but always has powered through and avoided the IL only missing i think one 5 game stretch or a game here and there ie pulled early etc.that said it has been all season so it makes sense these things might hamper him more down the stretch
Man if trout had stayed healthy would he approaching 500 instead of 400 homers?
Trout would be well over 500 if he had stayed healthy these past few seasons. The guy was cranking 40 bombs a season.
Still a hall of famer though and has a shot at some more homers. Schmidt who was injured in the tail end of his career managed to get to 500 by 1987 then hit 20 some the next two seasons to end with 548. At one time Schmidt was like 6th or 8th on the all time list. Lol, that list has grown tremendously. Mike Schmidt stopped playing at 39. Trout is currently 33. If Trout can stay somewhat healthy for the next 6 years or until age 40, he has a chance to hit 500 homers. Both are three time MVPs though which is impressive. Regardless, Trout will be HOF first ballot.
Yeah my son and I were doing napkin math the other day and we figured Trout would be approaching 600 HRs this season. Injuries suck.
Griffey, Jr. is in that injuries suck category. Then you look at the old timers that lost years to military service like Willie Mays and see that if he didn’t lose time he could have maybe had 700 and challenged Ruth’s record before Aaron. But respect to Willie for serving our country.
He could have clobbered over 500 home runs.
Anyone remember in 2008 when Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux were both scratched from their starts for rookies Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw?
When Max was with the Diamondbacks? That was a long ago, barely even remember his time in Arizona. That’s amazing, two Hall of Fame pitchers being replaced by two future Hall of Fame pitchers. That’s just a cool story.
I was at the game when the D’Backs called him up from the minors, he came in around the 6th to pitch struck out all three batters they let him pitch the 7th and struck out the side in the seventh. Not bad for making a first impression with 6 K’s in a row.
With Play by play by Vin Scully
@Moff_Nick
If only we could all stay healthy!
Most of us are day to day with the occasional flulike symptoms.
Mike Trout the modern day Ernie Banks
The Athletic released a cool article earlier in the week, a recap of Scherzer/Kershaw first head to head matchup and what it was supposed to be.
nytimes.com/athletic/6531078/2025/08/06/clayton-ke…
My how time flies. When Ohtani was a rookie Trout had 227 hRs. Ohtani now has 265.
Okay I’m not clueless just haven’t really followed NL nor Kershaws career.. I knew first ballot and all but a 3.29 is his third worst in 18 years!! I tip my hat sir!!
Kershaw lowered his career ERA every year from 2008 to 2017. The first year his career ERA went up? It was because he posted a 2.73 ERA for the 2018 season.
Career ERA went from 2.36 to 2.37 because of that year.
2019 was even worse, Kershaw had his first ERA that started with a 3. A whopping 3.03 in 2019, and people started saying he was past his prime.
Of course, it’s some years later and his career ERA is now 2.52. People want to say the likes of Scherzer or Verlander are his equal, but Scherzer has three seasons and Verlander only two with a lower ERA than Kershaw’s career ERA.
Thank you for history lesson.. again I knew he was great but that’s definitely first ballot.. I know it’s crazy but when I think of most dominant in my lifetime it’s Big Unit and Pedro… That’s dominating for a long time!!!
Technically, Kershaw’s ERA was over 4 his rookie year, but in terms of seasons where he started the season with the MLB team, his first season with an ERA over 3 was in 2019.
Most people just don’t understand how good and dominant Kershaw has been in his career. Here is another stat that might surprise some. His career K/9 is about a full strikeout higher than Nolan Ryan. Think about that one for a minute, lol.
For more stats like that about him, you can watch this video by former MLB pitcher Trevor May:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=_XYYXd5bIGE
That’s why I said “started with a 3”. His rookie year was the only year he wasn’t Kershaw as we know him, and from that second year on he had a 2.xx or even a 1.xx ERA.
398 home runs. The exact number Dale Murphy has for his career and a two time MVP but not a hall of famer. If Trout stopped playing today, he’d be first ballot with similar numbers. Trout’s great and one of the all time greats. I’m just saying right now, their numbers are not so far off. And for what it’s worth Murphy should be in the hall.
stathead.com/baseball/versus-finder.cgi?player_id2…
Absolutely… didn’t he also start as a catcher back in the day?? Him and Dewey Evan’s.. can’t understand it??
Yeah, he played catcher and first base. He had major throwing issues at those positions. In the outfield his arm played up very well. He could make strong and accurate throws from center field.
Yeah, a great mystery and a nice man. I met him as a kid when he was traded to the Phillies. Hope he gets in before he leaves this world. Also, Dick Allen deserved to be inshrined in the hall and see it happen before he died. If he was a veterans committee pick, what’s the hold up?
Where do people think naylor will sign as a FA?
Boston
my guess is another al east tm
the yanks
I say maybe shot would be either Houston or St. Louis. for Naylor.
Also am kind of wondering if Seattle ends up resigning either Suarez or Naylor next season, especially if they don’t win or make it to the WS. You may be looking at those two making between 2 to 3 year contracts between 60 to 75 mil contracts.
@dawg
I was thinking mayb houston but they got walker.
Eug & naylor will get 4-5 yr deals, considering the power suarez has displayed. And naylor has been on 3 tms in both leagues in the last 12 months & does well anywhere he goes
Not sure Naylor is a good fit in Boston. He’s a lefty pull hitter that rarely goes to the opposite field. Fenway ranks 24th in HRs for LHHs. It’s good for 3Bs and 2Bs for lefties, but Naylor doesn’t possess the foot speed to take full advantage of that.
Toronto
Wherever Schwarber does not sign.
He clobbered that ball.
I wanted the Pirates to get Naylor and they buffed at it. Instead, they got Spencer Horwitz *sighs*. Pirates would have giving up Bubba Chandler/Thomas Harrington, Luis Ortiz, and some other prospect in the Pirates 15-20 ranked. BC wouldn’t budge with that type of trade. As of right now, I feel Pittsburgh would have won that trade. Instead, we get prospects who never make it to the majors and/or some bum that is a utility player at best. I wonder what a real ownership and GM would feel like *deep sigh*
I really don’t think the Pirates would have won any trade that involved Bubba Chandler for a rental, unless they put up some Juan Soto 2024 type-numbers. Naylor is good, but a 120 OPS+ below average defensive 1B is worth much less than Chandler. Plus, Horwitz has really not looked bad recently. He is hitting .276/.345/.414 since the start of June. Naylor isn’t hitting significantly better, with a .276/.357/.431 line in the same time frame. Both have been worth 0.7 fWAR in that time in nearly identical playing time.
The unmentioned (until now) factor in Naylor’s sb success is the thought every 2b & ss has Do I really want to risk my life by stepping even near the path of a charging bull?