Thursday, July 23
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.
No team is having more fun than the White Sox. And we’re having just as much fun watching them.
We’re over 100 games into the season now, and Chicago just keeps winning. The White Sox might be one of baseball’s biggest surprises, but right now, they’re just good.
If the playoffs started today, the White Sox would be the No. 2 seed in the American League, behind only the Rays. They’re seven games over .500 at 54-47, and they’re in first place in the AL Central.
Coming off three straight 100-loss seasons, they’re an honest-to-goodness postseason contender. It would be a great story if they can pull it off.
So what’s their secret? How did the Sox turn things around so fast?
Their winning formula is hitter development. Travis Sawchik takes a deep dive into that today.
He explains how the White Sox unlocked the potential of players like Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas. They’re helping different players get better in their own way, and everyone on the team is buying in.
“They give us all the research and information so we can try to be at 100 percent,” Vargas said.
For him, the adjustments were about adding bat speed. Vargas has added 3.5 mph of bat speed with the White Sox this season — the most of any big leaguer.
“We focused on bat speed last offseason. I think this year it’s helped me a lot,” said Vargas, who became a first-time All-Star this season. “It was about bat speed and having all the tools I can use to help me with my swing and help me be more aggressive at the same time.”
For Montgomery, the adjustments were about getting the ball in the air more. And by now, he hits the ball in the air — and pulls the ball in the air — at one of the highest rates in the Majors. That’s how he’s been able to hit a team-high 24 home runs this year.
The energy is just different around the White Sox now. Even their hitter meetings are more engaging, thanks to hitting coach Derek Shomon.
“It’s hard to describe, but it’s like being in school,” said catcher Kyle Teel. “You’re sitting in class and you start zoning out, but then you have that one science teacher who’s hilarious and keeps you locked in the whole time. It’s like that in our hitter meetings.”
Read more about the building blocks of Chicago’s turnaround here >>
BANDITS VS. CASCADE, WIN OR GO HOME
The Chicago Bandits meet the Portland Cascade tonight with a spot in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League Championship Series on the line.
The AUSL Play-In Game starts at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. The winner of the game advances to the league finals to face the top-seeded Utah Talons in a best-of-three series. The Talons defeated the Bandits last year to win the AUSL’s inaugural championship.
We have a full preview to get you ready for tonight’s matchup at Davis Diamond in College Station, Texas, including the Bandits and Cascade’s head-to-head results this season and the keys to the game for both teams.
The Bandits went 16-9 in the regular season, including winning four of their five games against Portland. The Cascade finished the year 14-11, but they’ll have to play their best game of the season tonight against a team that had their number.
For all the info on the 2026 AUSL postseason, go here. And for complete AUSL coverage, go here.
A NEW TOOL FOR 1 OF BASEBALL’S BEST
When one of the best hitters on the planet starts swinging a new bat, you pay attention.
The bat is an extension of the hitter, after all. So when Juan Soto, after eight-plus seasons using one type of bat, started swinging a completely different stick this season, we had to find out why.
In mid-May, Soto started experimenting with a “hockey puck knob” bat. And he kept using it through the All-Star Game.
“I think the balance of it helps me a lot,” Soto explained to us. “Definitely I’m all about balance with my bats. We started talking [with the Mets] about how we can get more balance in my bat, but so it actually doesn’t lose the thickness and how hard the ball can jump off of the bat. So we’ve been just messing around with it and it feels great.”
If you don’t know the type of bat we’re talking about … Here, we’ll show you:
We asked Soto if he’d ever experimented with his bat like this before, and he gave us an emphatic “No.“ Never.
His bat had always been the same, traditional, 34-inch/31-ounce construction, no matter what team he played for.
But this season, the Mets superstar decided it was time to try something new. But why the hockey puck knob? And more importantly, did switching bats pay off for Soto?
TRADE RUMORS: SLUGGING SS AVAILABLE
We’re bringing you the latest trade rumors up to the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline. Today we look at a shortstop who could provide a nice offensive upgrade.
The Angels are reportedly expected to make starters Reid Detmers and José Soriano available before the Trade Deadline, but that’s not all. Shortstop Zach Neto could also be dealt.
According to ESPN, people who have spoken with interim general manager John Mozeliak in recent days say he is “very open to trading controllable players if the right offers materialize.” That includes Detmers and Soriano as well as Neto.
Neto’s limited range at shortstop is a drawback, but he could fetch the Angels an impressive haul as a power-hitting middle infielder with three-plus years of control remaining, especially in a trade market short on right-handed bats.
Per Baseball Reference, the 25-year-old ranks fifth in WAR (13.4) among players who have played at least 50% of their games at shortstop since the beginning of 2024. He’s swatted 19 homers this season, third most at the position behind CJ Abrams and Colson Montgomery with 24 apiece.
Read the rest of today’s trade rumors here >>
TRIPLE CROWN WATCH FOR YORDAN
Yordan Alvarez has a real chance to be the first hitter to win a Triple Crown since Miguel Cabrera in 2012. So we’re keeping track of his quest to make history.
Right now, the Astros superstar leads the American League in all three Triple Crown categories, with a .328 batting average, 34 home runs and 77 RBIs.
Alvarez is 20 points ahead of Yandy Díaz in batting average, and four home runs and six RBIs ahead of Ben Rice.
He also has a chance to win an MLB Triple Crown. Alvarez leads Kyle Schwarber by one home run for the Major League lead, and CJ Abrams and Jordan Walker by one RBI. He trails Otto Lopez by just four points in batting average.
The last MLB-wide hitting Triple Crown was by Mickey Mantle in 1956.
Only 10 different hitters have won a Triple Crown since RBIs became an official stat in 1920. And before Miggy in 2012, the last hitter to do it was Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. The other legends on the list: Frank Robinson (1966), Mantle (1956), Ted Williams (1942 and ’47), Ducky Medwick (1937), Lou Gehrig (1934), Jimmie Foxx (1933), Chuck Klein (1933) and Rogers Hornsby (1922 and ’25).
Follow along with Yordan’s Triple Crown quest >>
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RJ Hamster 