[jksander]

July 28, 2025: Early this morning we made a huge trade with the Diamondbacks, sending 27-year-old catcher Jorge Alfaro and $17,500,000 cash to Arizona in exchange for 26-year-old right handed starter Brandon Pfaadt! Pfaadt has a 6-10 record so far this year for Arizona, but has a 4.68 ERA through 130.2 innings, 144 strikeouts, and a 1.22 WHIP. He’s also got all his arb years remaining, though he may become eligible for arbitration after this season. We’re calling up 24-year-old defensive catcher Brandon Valenzuela from AAA Charlotte to back up Kyle Teel, and have brought up Pfaadt into the starting rotation while waiving / DFA’ing Jacob Junis, who we’re hoping to be able to keep as a backup option in the minors if he clears waivers. Pfaadt just pitched yesterday, so he’ll take the fifth spot in our rotation for now while he rests. But he should be a solid addition to our roster immediately with his excellent control of his arsenal, and gives us hope as we build our rotation for the coming seasons.

Yu Darvish (8-7, 3.67 ERA, 117.2 IP, 113 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) started against Philly’s Christopher Sanchez (5-5, 3.56 ERA, 103.2 IP, 93 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) this evening, and though the Phillies took the lead in the top of the first with an RBI single by Bryce Harper, Brooks Lee hit a two-run blast in the bottom of the second to get us our first lead in what seemed like weeks! Chase Meidroth hit an RBI double that got us another run with no outs in the bottom of the sixth, and a sac-fly by Miguel Vargas got Meidroth in to score, putting us up three runs. Martin Perez took over on the mound in the top of the seventh, and immediately the Phils got a homer off the bat of Brandon Marsh to cut our lead to two ... but Perez held his own, and kept us in the lead, as we went into the stretch ahead by a 4-2 margin. Brooks Lee hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, and a wild pitch allowed him eventually to score from third as we expanded our lead again, and with a four-run lead Noah Syndergaard took the ball in the top of the ninth. He did manage to get an out in there somewhere, but it came between a two-run blast by Edmundo Sosa and a solo bomb by Trea Turner that turned this into a one-run game with Bazardo frantically warming in the pen. Bazardo took over with two outs, nobody on, and A.J. Realmuto hit one to short, for a quick throw out to first as we held on to the 6-5 win by the skin of our teeth. Darvish got the win in a six inning effort with seven hits, six strikeouts and a single earned run, and Bazardo got the save with one out on three pitches, his sixth of the season. Philly outhit us 12-9, our bats led by newcomer Brooks Lee, who had two hits, two runs and three RBIs, as he made himself right at home with our team in his second game.
 
June 29, 2025: Noah Schultz (5-1, 2.09 ERA, 51.2 IP, 51 K’s, 0.85 WHIP) pitched against Philly’s Aaron Nola (3-11, 4.87 ERA, 114.2 IP, 112 K’s, 1.22 WHIP). It didn’t start out great ... Trea Turner hit a leadoff homer in the top of the first to spark the Phils. But Schultz kept his head, and Michael A. Taylor answered with a homer of his own in the bottom of the second to tie it up. Brooks Lee got us the lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, and Schultz got us through five. Shane Smith took the ball in the top of the sixth, getting us through two more scoreless innings, and Merryweather came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, the lead still at just one run. Eduard Bazardo came out in the ninth, and he pitched around a single by Realmuto to hold this one as a 2-1 win! Schultz, pitching on four days’ rest, made it through five innings with six hits, two strikeouts and the one earned run, improving to 6-1 with a 2.06 ERA, while Bazardo saved his seventh game and kept his ERA at 2.16. They outhit us 8-6, but Tauchman had three hits and a run, while Brooks Lee had a hit and the RBI that put us into the lead for good.

June 30, 2025: Our starters are exhausted, so today we’re hoping to get into the off day using our long relievers to craft a full game without having to start anyone on short rest again. Noah Syndergaard (5-5, 1 SV, 3.86 ERA, 79.1 IP, 58 K’s, 1.01 WHIP) started us out against Philly’s Ranger Suarez (5-7, 5.04 ERA, 105.1 IP, 87 K’s, 1.43 WHIP), and for the second game in a row their leadoff hitter (this time Justin Crawford) hit a homer in the team’s first at-bat. Syndergaard only lasted 1.2 innings but Shane Smith got the final out in the second to keep us within a run, and our bats got going in the bottom of the inning -- Starling Marte hit an RBI double to tie the score, Brooks Lee hit an RBI double to give us the lead, and after a wild pitch, an RBI single by Otto Lopez let Lee score from third to give us a 3-1 lead! Smith got us through the fourth inning, and Jonathan Cannon took over in the fifth to help keep our lead protected. Mike Tauchman hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to add on, extending our lead to three runs as Cannon stayed in to get us safely through the sixth.

Penn Murfee took over in the seventh, and with two outs and runners on the corners we brought out Martin Perez, who let the runner on third score off a wild pitch. But we went into the stretch still leading 4-2. With two outs and Bryce Harper on first, Otto Lopez got hurt sliding to make a catch and had to be pulled from the game ... thankfully we had Brooks Lee as our DH, fully capable of taking over in the field. But we were shaken up when Brandon Marsh hit an RBI double to cut the lead to one, sending us into the bottom of the inning with a much more tenuous 4-3 lead. Unable to add any runs on, Craig Kimbrel came out to pitch with the game on the line in the top of the ninth. With Trea Turner on second and Bryson Scott on first, two outs in the bag, Kimbrel faced down Bryce Harper and got him to strike out swinging as we got out of here with the 4-3 win and the sweep! Shane Smith got the win, improving to 5-3 with a 2.1-inning effort, allowing just one hit and three strikeouts with no earned runs as he improved his ERA to 3.84. Murfee and Perez each got holds, and Kimbrel saved his first game of the year (his 441st of his career!) as he improved his ERA to 6.17 in his 42nd appearance this season.

We did not do any further trading ahead of the deadline, and will focus on getting through the final two months of this season with class and composure. Our record is now 47-62 heading into the road trip through Houston and Seattle, and we still have an outside chance of finishing with 70 wins, which is something that would have been inconceivable four months ago.