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Good morning! Please donât try to smell like mayonnaise around me.
Resets: Yes, the Guardians are this good
The Olympic haze has officially passed. Did you know we have just two months of baseball left? Itâs time to reset the table. And we should start with the biggest surprise of all: the Cleveland Guardians.
The Guardians â not the Dodgers, Yankees, Orioles or Phillies â are MLBâs best team through 120 games.Itâs not hyperbole to say zero people expected this coming into the year. Advanced projection models like PECOTA and ZiPS liked Cleveland coming into the season, but still saw a finish right above .500.
Cleveland sits 22 games above .500 right now. How did this even happen?Zack Meiselwrote a great featurethis morning about that exact question, and I want to highlight two points:
- It is almost shocking to see a team with a new manager (Stephen Vogt) play so well â especially a team that bid goodbye last season to the legendary Terry Francona. This crew won 76 games last year, and instead of falling into an inexperience trap, theyâve simply overprepared for every game. Being honest with yourself is a good thing, I guess.
- The bullpen has been this teamâs savior.Guardians relievers lead the majors with a 2.76 ERA, and as Zack detailed, it may be the biggest surprise about this surprising team. Even if you account for advanced stats like xFIP, the Guardians have the best bullpen in baseball by a significant margin.
Read Zackâs full story, which is worth your time, particularly for the clubhouse anecdotes. I always love when a team is winning while being able to have fun, instead of the classic story about a coach coming in and removing all the ping-pong tables to let the team know things are Serious now.
Anyway. Letâs just recap where we are in the standings right now:
- AL division leaders: Yankees, Guardians, Astros
- In contention: Orioles, Twins, Royals, Red Sox, Mariners
- NL Division leaders: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers
- In playoff contention: Diamondbacks, Padres, Braves, Mets, Giants, Cardinals, Reds, Cubs
See the full standings here. A fascinating thing to watch, as Levi Weaver highlighted in The Windup yesterday: All four NL West teams could make the playoffs this year, which would be an MLB first.
News to Know
McCarthy to have surgery
Vikings rookie QB J.J. McCarthyneeds surgery to repaira torn meniscus in his knee, Minnesota coach Kevin OâConnell announced yesterday, a day after McCarthy reported soreness. Itâs a bummer for Minnesota, which had high hopes for the first-year signal caller despite having Sam Darnold ahead of him on the depth chart. Thereâs no timetable yet for McCarthyâs return but, as Alec Lewis wrote, this delaymay not be the worst thingfor the No. 10 pick â or for the Vikings.
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Add Chase to the hold-in list
Bengals star wideout JaâMarr Chase was absent from practice yesterday as the 24-year-old negotiates a long-term deal with the team, something Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor called âday to day.â Chase has been with the team throughout training camp, watching practice every day until his absence yesterday.Expect this negotiation to last until the end of camp.
Will Levis, big mayonnaise guy
Titans quarterback Will Levis is partnering with Hellmanâs Mayonnaise to produce a ⌠mayonnaise-inspired fragrance, aptly titled âWill Levis No. 8, Parfum de Mayonnaise,â which is apparently a real thing you can purchase. Levis infamously said in college that he adds mayo to his coffee sometimes. Itâs just a lot.Read more about the mayo man here.
More news
- Police arrested Browns rookie Mike Hall Jr. following an alleged domestic dispute Monday night.
- Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was supposed to serve as honorary captain for the Wolverinesâ season opener against Fresno State, but canceled yesterday. Hm.
- Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez reportedly broke the Raysâ scoreboard with a batting practice home run. I wonder who pays for that.
Tick, Tock: Sidney Crosby and the Penguinsâ long wait
Claus Andersen / Getty Images
By all accounts, Sidney Crosby wants to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin. The 37-year-old franchise icon couldâve forced his way out when the team flagged last year. He didnât.
And yet, as Josh Yohedetailed yesterday,Crosby has been eligible to sign a new deal for more than a month now.Weâve heard little about any progress. The team wants Crosby to stay. Crosby wants to remain a Penguin.
So whatâs the holdup?Two interesting layers from Joshâs story:
- Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is in a tough spot. Pittsburghâs roster is aging and expensive. But this is Sidney Crosby. This isnât someone you toy with in negotiations. Crosby has one year left on his deal, and it feels impossible that he enters this season without a new deal.
- Imagine the media circus if this doesnât get done before training camp in September.Questions every day about giving a franchise legend the boot. Endless stories about possible landing spots for the two-time Hart Trophy winner, whoâs still excellent, by the way. None of this sounds fun for anyone involved.
Read Joshâs full story here, and keep an eye out between now and Sept. 18.
Watch This Game
All times Eastern
MLB: Royals at Twins
1:10 p.m. on MLB Network
The rest of the AL Central isnât half bad, either. As indicated above, both these teams currently hold AL wild-card spots with multiple other teams nipping close behind. Every win is important in this race.
MLB: Yankees at White Sox
8:10 p.m. on MLB Network and Prime Video
I am still flabbergasted the Yanks lost to the majorsâ worst team â maybe the worst team in MLB history â Monday night by 10 runs. They say itâs just one game, but yikes. New York did win last night, so letâs see if this series is cursed for the 71-50 Yankees or not.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
Yesterday, we discussed UCLAâs ridiculous travel. Stewart Mandel hasa full primeron everything else thatâs new this year incollege football. Iâm scared, but ready.
Earlier this week, Matt Brown wondered if the AP Top 25 rankings could actually predict the 2024 college football season. Interesting data in there.
The English Premier League returns Friday. Mark Carey wrote a detailed preview of how sides like Tottenham and Arsenal could evolve this season. Weâll have more EPL for you later this week.
And, maybe more importantly, Nick Miller ranked this yearâs EPL kits. Tough scene for Chelsea.
In this weekâs MLB Power Rankings, our writers chose one potential 2028 Olympic baseball candidate from each team. Fun.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Brody Millerâs column on the Matt Kuchar situation, which was still rippling through the golf world yesterday.
Most-read on the website yesterday: Chad Graffâs story on the legend of Deion Sanders â âThe best athlete ever known to manâ â at Florida State. Worth a read if you missed it.
Top podcast in The Athletic network: The Totally Football Show has one big question for the EPL season: Can anyone beat Manchester City?
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(Top photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
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Chris Branch is a staff writer for The Athletic's daily newsletter. Before joining The Athletic, he covered the Phillies for The News-Journal and worked as a content strategist for various industries. He graduated from LSU, where he worked for The Daily Reveille. Follow Chris on Twitter @cbranch89
