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. Thanks for being here.

 

Two-way Ohtani is back. Tonight.

Shohei Ohtani will pitch tonight for the Dodgers, starting Los Angeles’ series opener against the Padres at Dodger Stadium.

Ohtani’s Dodgers pitching debut is going to be must-see TV — and tonight’s Dodgers game is the MLB.TV Free Game of the Day. So baseball fans can watch Ohtani take the mound at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

This is the moment we’ve been waiting nearly two years to see. Baseball’s only two-way superstar is finally ready to pitch and hit again.

“I do feel like just being the two-way player I used to be is the norm,” Ohtani said Saturday through his interpreter, Will Ireton. “Last year was the abnormal year for me, and it’s about getting back to what I used to do.”

Ohtani will be pitching in a Major League game for the first time since Aug. 23, 2023, when he was still with the Angels. He’ll be more of an “opener” at first as he builds up to full-length starts. But Ohtani’s recovery from right elbow surgery is finally complete.

That means the reigning National League MVP is ready to take his game to new heights for the Dodgers, who have yet to see Ohtani at full power — even after his 54-homer, 59-steal, World Series-winning season for them last year.

Ohtani the hitter is an MVP player all on his own. But two-way Ohtani? Two-way Ohtani is a baseball unicorn. And he exists again, starting tonight.

 

— David Adler

Pick one of the day’s games, open up your board and see if you can get bingo with these baseball occurrences. Play free >>

The first 2025 PRO SPIRIT MLB All-Star Ballot update is in, and to the surprise of no one, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are dominating the voting. For a detailed breakdown of the early returns, click here — but first, we’ve got some quick takeaways.

1. The Devers trade has upended the AL DH voting
Rafael Devers has received 796,382 votes so far, leading the AL DH field by a significant margin. The thing is, Devers now plays in the NL, with the Red Sox shockingly trading the slugger to the Giants on Sunday night. As a result, Devers has been moved to the NL side of the ballot and took his votes with him, and the Orioles’ Ryan O’Hearn is the new AL leader in DH voting.

2. Fans have taken notice of PCA’s emergence
It’s not just the North Side of Chicago that’s buzzing about Pete Crow-Armstrong. The Cubs center fielder’s breakout season has turned heads all across the baseball world. While the NL is overflowing with worthy outfield options, PCA has pulled well ahead of the pack and is one of the top vote-getters overall.

3. Fans really want to see Trout in the All-Star Game
Mike Trout’s 2025 performance hasn’t quite lived up to his usual standards, but that isn’t stopping fans from backing him. While the three-time MVP picked up 10 straight fan-vote wins from 2013-23, he hasn’t appeared in the Midsummer Classic since ’19 due to injuries. He’s back near the top of the AL outfield ballot in 2025, however, potentially setting the stage for his long-awaited return — and a chance to add to his impressive All-Star Game résumé.

4. Wilson grabs early lead over Witt in AL shortstop voting
Coming off a 2024 season in which he finished second in the AL MVP Award voting and cemented himself as one of baseball’s biggest superstars, Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. entered ’25 as the front-runner to earn the starting shortstop spot for the AL. However, Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson has had other ideas. Hitting .367, Wilson narrowly leads Witt in the closest race on either side of the ballot.

5. A first for Lindor?
Francisco Lindor is a four-time All-Star, but he has never started the Midsummer Classic. He also hasn’t earned a single All-Star nod during his time with the Mets. But based on the early voting results, Lindor could be poised to end both droughts in 2025.

 

— Thomas Harrigan

• Phillies @ Marlins (6:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Trade Deadline darlingSandy Alcantara has looked much more like himself in his last two starts (two runs, 10 K’s in 12 innings). The flip side is those two starts came against the bottom two offenses in the NL (Rockies, Pirates), but he can prove the change is for real against the Phillies.
• Angels @ Yankees (7:05 p.m. ET, MLB.TV, MLB Network): The AL leaders in runs and homers are adding a potentially significant boost to their lineup tonight, with Giancarlo Stanton making his 2025 debut in pinstripes after battling tennis elbow in both of his arms. Stanton’s arrival comes at an opportune time for the Yankees, who were just handed their first sweep of the season — at the hands of their bitter rivals, no less. And you probably would anyway, but keep an eye on Mike Trout, who enters with a 1.072 OPS in 26 career games in the Bronx.

• Red Sox @ Mariners (9:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): Boston’s first game of the post-Devers era won’t be easy. Seattle just finished a series sweep of the Guardians and gets All-Star right-hander Logan Gilbert back from the injured list to start the opener.

One of the best things about being a baseball fan is that every time you go to the ballpark, there’s a chance you’ll see something for the first time.

 

Sunday’s White Sox-Rangers game was the latest example, unless you’ve happened to see “pickle juice chugging” and “bat boy mound visits” before. Rangers beat reporter Kennedi Landry broke down the scene, and we’ll try our best to explain:

With scheduled starter Tyler Mahle on the injured list due to shoulder fatigue, the Rangers called up Kumar Rocker, who responded by tossing the first scoreless outing of his career in what henceforth will be known as The Pickle Juice Game (not to be confused with MLB Pickle).

With one out in the fifth, Rocker jumped ahead of Josh Rojas, 1-2, before his legs began to cramp up, prompting a visit to the mound from manager Bruce Bochy, pitching coach Mike Maddux and trainer Matt Lucero. First baseman Jake Burger soon ran over with two bottles of pickle juice that he got from the dugout (yes, they actually have this on hand), which Rocker quickly chugged. After a bit of stretching and a few warmup pitches, he was back on the hill.

When Rojas drilled the very next pitch he saw up the middle for a single, it was obvious that more of the magic elixir was needed. This time it was the bat boy who delivered it to Rocker, and after an umpire consultation, he was charged with a mound visit.

Yes, you read that right. The Rangers were charged with an official mound visit on a trip by the bat boy. Thankfully, Rocker didn’t need Captain the mascot or anyone else to bring him another bottle of pickle juice or he’d have been forced to leave the game (two official visits!) before wrapping up a scoreless frame and picking up his second win of the season.

 

Elsewhere …

 

• “I got thrown out of the game for you.” Nick Lovullo, manager of the High-A South Bend Cubs and son of D-backs skipper Torey Lovullo, gave his dad a unique Father’s Day gift.

• Nationals beat reporter Jessica Camerato shares all you could want to know about Bruce the Bat Dog’s MLB debut.

• Here’s what happened on Willson Contreras’ wild Saturday: A collision, a hit-by-pitch, a testy exchange with Rhys Hoskins and a historic home run with a big-time staredown. John Denton breaks it down.

• An early “game of the year” candidate in the AUSL featured an 11-run comeback (!) in a 26-run slugfest between the Talons and the Blaze in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

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