Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Farris to make MLB debut:
The Angels selected the contract of left-hander Mitch Farris yesterday when rosters expanded to 28 players. Farris will make his MLB debut when he takes the ball today against the Royals and veteran right-hander Michael Lorenzen (4.62 ERA). Farris has spent the entire 2025 campaign at Double-A after being acquired from Atlanta in the Davis Daniel trade during the offseason. He has a 4.27 ERA in 116 innings of work at that level to go with an impressive 28.0% strikeout rate. Anaheim has long been aggressive when promoting its prospects, and the 24-year-old Farris will now get the opportunity to impact the big league level before ever setting foot at Triple-A.
2. Orioles 40-man move incoming:
The Orioles are set to welcome Tyler Wells back from the injured list today as they move towards a six-man rotation. With Wells set to start today’s game against Yu Darvish (5.66 ERA in ten starts) in San Diego, Baltimore will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate the 31-year-old right-hander’s return from the injured list. That could mean moving an injured player like right-hander Colin Selby to the 60-day injured list. If they’re confident all of their players on the 10- or 15-day IL can make it back before season’s end, the O’s could designate someone from the back end of their 40-man roster for assignment.
3. Series Preview: Yankees @ Astros
A potential postseason preview is set to begin today when the Yankees kick off a three-game set against the Astros in Houston. The series starts with an exciting pitching matchup: southpaw Framber Valdez (3.18 ERA) takes the mound for the Astros as the Yankees counter with fellow lefty Max Fried (3.06 ERA). Fried has struggled for much of the second half but will look to keep the good times rolling after back-to-back quality starts against the Red Sox and Nationals. Tomorrow’s game will feature rookie Will Warren (4.30 ERA) against swingman Jason Alexander (4.61 ERA in 54 1/3 innings), while the series finale will pit Carlos Rodon (3.18 ERA) against Cristian Javier (3.38 ERA in four starts) in the latter’s fifth start back from Tommy John surgery.
Cool series in Houston, playoff atmosphere. See if the Yanks can actually play well against a good team.
Fact. Both teams need to step it up in this series sometimes more often it turns out to be a bit disappointing in lopsided affairs. I’m hoping it’s close enough in all these final season series to be truly entertaining. Yankees finish this month playing something like 12 games against top contenders. Astros,,tigers,jays and Boston. Astros play the Yankees and the Jays then mostly their own division who plays well enough against them most under 500 except the mariners.
Tigers almost the same competitive schedule as the Astros. Sox too. Mets ,Phillies,Padres,dodgers can all change leads. Only the brew crew who seem like a shoe in. Excitement September.
Anaheim???
“Anaheim has long been aggressive when promoting its prospects”. Yes because pulling up pitchers before their time has worked so well for the Angels.
Well they certainly aren’t Los Angeles.
They certainly are in LA Megalopolis. Besides, they are LA’s original team.
Yes, annoying that this writer can’t call them by their name. I’m sure the writer also refers to the Rangers as “Arlington” or the Rays as “St. Petersburg”, etc.
Yankees haven’t played well in general, and certainly not against good teams. I’d not be surprised at all to tune in after the 6th and see they were trailing 6-1, with more errors than hits. Hope I’m wrong, but…
Well Mike, I hope you are right!!!
hmm…see your handle…
They could sure use a guy like Juan Soto right now.
The bid enough on Soto to lose out to the Mets. Quite possibly by design. But adding back Soto doesn’t make them championship caliber.
These next twelve games will probably be a good test for the Yankees..
The Yankees have already been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
They’d have to go like 7 and 5 in that stretch to be taken more seriously when it comes to playoff teams. I don’t see it happening though…
So sick of the East Coast disrespect calling the Angels “Anaheim.” It’d be like calling the Yankees “Bronx” or the Mets “Queens’
Get it right, man.
Kinda had a ring to it. Bronx and Queens
No it wouldn’t. It’s an honest mistake since they used to be the Anaheim angels
And before that the California Angels, in the days of Nolan Ryan
They were least known as “Anaheim”. They’ve been long known as “California” or “Los Angeles”.
Going by an Angels reddit thread, the vast majority of that demographic thinks that the LA rebrand was ludicrous and want the Angels to be Anaheim again.. It’s ultimately the Angels’ fault for so many rebrands
They were originally known as the California Angels
@RoyalsFan Incorrect. They were originally known as LA Angels.
Sorry to disagree but they were originally the Los Angeles Angels when they started play in 1961.
I mean, they are in Anaheim.
So? That’s not their name. When were the LA Rams referred to Anaheim Rams?
Only they weren’t idiotic enough to call themselves the New York Mets of Queens. Which the angels did
Only because Disney signed a moronic contract that required Anaheim to be in the team name as part of their push to make Anaheim a sports & entertainment destination. They ended up abandoning that idea and selling both the Angels & Ducks less then 10 years laters.
Our AAA park sits over 4000 feet higher than our MLB and AA ballparks.
It’s a horrible situation for player development. It creates a Coors Field hangover effect for hitters and makes pitchers tweak pitches that work fine closer to sea level.
Beyond lack of organizational depth, this is another reason Angels players skip AAA.
Wish they could move to Tempe.
When all the AAA teams moved around a few years ago I was hoping they would land in Fresno or Sacramento.
Just somewhere closer to sea level.
I think Bakersfield is a large enough market to support a AAA team. They could build a park near CSUB and sell suites to oil and ag companies.
It’s like an AAAA team
Agreed. Some orgs like the Angels structure their AAA team as an extended MLB bench and rehab facility due to them being in the PCL. The real youth development and training is in AA.
farris buehlers day off?
If Farris is on the mound in a bunting situation, they must run the wheel play.
Anaheim fans getting upset that Orange County isn’t in Los Angeles is crazy. They used to be so proud of that but once their owner wanted part of a larger market, even if extremely close, they became so sensitive.
Someone’s been on Reddit a little too much. Most fans outside of Orange County hated the disneyfication of the team and wanted the team to stay California.