Monday, July 06

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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 newsletter is brought to you by David Adler.

The top pitching prospect in this year’s Draft class is also its foremost expert on … fried chicken sandwiches? 

Meet Jackson Flora, the 21-year-old righty with a big fastball and an even bigger passion for delicious sandos. 

Flora rates every fried chicken sandwich he eats. And he eats a lot of them — the UC Santa Barbara ace keeps a long list on his phone of all the chicken sandwiches he’s ever had, ranked from best to worst.  

Speaking of lists … Flora is also MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 overall prospect for the 2026 Draft, which kicks off this Saturday in Philadelphia. And he’s the consensus No. 1 pitcher available. But he’s definitely the No. 1 chicken sandwich guru available.

As Flora boasted at the MLB Draft Combine recently: “I know more about fried chicken sandwiches than any player here.”

Flora is far from the first baseball player to be an aspiring foodie. Austin Wells, for example, blew up on Instagram last season when the Yankees catcher started ranking breakfast burritos. Mark Canha chronicled his own global food journey throughout his career, too.

But lest you think that Flora has no (crispy) skin in the sandwich game — he’s not just an eater. He’s also a master chef who makes a delicious fried chicken sandwich himself. 

“I spent about a year perfecting my own fried chicken sandwich,” Flora said. 

Flora’s homemade chicken sandwich ranks all the way up at No. 3 on his list. And we can see why. 

So what sandwich is Flora’s No. 1? That honor belongs to Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, a chain with locations in California, Arizona and Nevada. No. 2 is Egg N Bird, with locations in Plano, Texas, and Cypress, Calif., which Flora visited during a team trip to nearby Long Beach. 

 

GAME OF THE NIGHT: SCHLITTLER VS. CAMINERO

The Yankees and Rays open a big four-game rivalry series tonight that could swing the momentum in the AL East just before the All-Star break. 

And right off the bat, we get a marquee matchup, with Cam Schlittler on the mound for New York fresh off being named to his first career All-Star Game, and Junior Caminero leading the charge for the Rays fresh off being named the AL’s starting All-Star third baseman.

• Yankees at Rays, 6:40 p.m. ET (MLB.TV) 

Caminero is on an unreal heater. His recent stretch of 11 home runs in 11 games has helped the Rays surge back to the top of the American League standings at 52-35. Tampa Bay holds a four-game lead over the Yankees entering this week’s series.

Caminero, who celebrated his 23rd birthday yesterday, ranks second in the AL with 26 home runs this season, behind only Yordan Alvarez (29).

Schlittler will look to stop Caminero … and the Yankees’ own slide. New York has lost nine of its last 10 games, although the Bronx Bombers still hold the top AL Wild Card spot. 

Schlittler himself is coming off the worst start of his young career last week against the Tigers, but he’s still The Man in the Yanks’ rotation and the first-half AL Cy Young frontrunner. The 25-year-old leads the league with a 2.08 ERA and has 123 strikeouts in 104 innings this season. 

5-GAME CLASH OF NL CONTENDERS

While the Yankees and Rays clash in the AL, another big rivalry series begins in the NL. The Brewers and Cardinals play a five-game series in St. Louis starting today. 

The two NL Central foes are both in playoff position entering tonight’s series opener (7:45 p.m. ET, MLB.TV), with the Brewers leading the division at 55-33 and the Cardinals in the third NL Wild Card spot at 47-40.

St. Louis trails Milwaukee by 7 1/2 games in the Central (the Cubs are also between them at 50-40), but five games could go a long way toward tightening the race as we approach the second half of the season. 

The Cardinals, led by first-time All-Star Jordan Walker, are in the middle of a schedule gauntlet right now. Their final 14 games of the first half are all against the Braves, Cubs and Brewers — three of the best teams in the NL. But that stretch has gotten off to a good start, with series wins over both Atlanta and Chicago.

The Brewers will hope their All-Star battery, ace Jacob Misiorowski and catcher William Contreras, can lead the way against the Cards. Misiorowski, who leads the Majors with a 1.47 ERA and 156 strikeouts, will pitch the second game of the series — Game 1 of a doubleheader tomorrow (2:15 p.m. ET, MLB.TV). 

SKUBAL NOT ONLY TIGER TO WATCH AT DEADLINE

Tarik Skubal is going to be the biggest name in trade rumors over the next month. But he’s not the only Tigers starting pitcher to watch ahead of the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline. 

Casey Mize is having a career year, and he looks like a pitcher who could make a major impact on the 2026 playoff race if he’s dealt.

And as always, there are plenty of teams that need pitching.

Thomas Harrigan broke down the key numbers for Mize entering the weekend — and that was before the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 Draft turned in yet another strong start to beat the Rangers yesterday. 

Mize now has a 2.64 ERA in 13 starts this season, with 72 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings. His ERA is fourth best among AL pitchers who have thrown at least 70 innings.

Mize’s great year stems from big improvements against left-handed hitters, who he’s attacking on the outside part of the plate with his fastball, slider and splitter. Read more here >>  

AROUND THE LEAGUE

• Happy belated birthday to Shohei Ohtani, who turned 32 yesterday and smacked an RBI single in the Dodgers’ series finale against the Padres. The two-way superstar is batting .288 with 18 home runs and a .926 OPS as a hitter this season, and is 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 85 2/3 innings as a pitcher, as he seeks his fourth straight MVP Award.

• The Padres did manage to snap an eight-game losing streak in that series finale against L.A., with Manny Machado blasting a clutch home run for the Friars. Afterwards, Machado reflected on the ups and downs of a season by saying: “It’s baseball, man. … It’s a beautiful game. And we’re all stupid to be playing it.”

• An electric Eury Pérez pitched seven perfect innings for the Marlins yesterday against the A’s … only to be removed from the game with the perfecto bid intact. That’s because the upstart Marlins are “looking to play beyond the regular season,” manager Clayton McCullough said after making the decision to go to the bullpen. Miami is now seven games over .500 at 49-42 and just percentage points behind the Cardinals for the last NL Wild Card spot.

• One of the other biggest surprises of the 2026 season, the White Sox, retook the AL Central lead with a win over the rival Guardians in yesterday’s series finale. But that division race is just getting started. “This whole series has felt like a playoff series,” star shortstop Colson Montgomery said after the game. “But then I look at the calendar and we are not even past the All-Star break yet. It’s a good learning experience for down the road.”

• Yordan Alvarez had yet another monster game on Saturday, crushing two home runs — including a walk-off — to reach an American League-leading 29 for the season. Alvarez was named an All-Star that same day, and today he was named AL Player of the Week for the third time this season.  

• Aroldis Chapman set the MLB record for strikeouts by a reliever, recording his 1,364th career K on Friday against the Angels. The record was previously held by Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm. See the full list here. 

MLB.TV ALL-STAR SALE

The All-Star Game is right around the corner, and it’s time to bring in midsummer savings to your wallet. For a limited time only, MLB.TV is now only $47.99! Stream every out-of-market game live or on demand.

• Subscribe to MLB.TV Seasonal for $47.99

New subscribers who purchase MLB.TV can get a free one-month trial of ESPN Unlimited. Subscribers will receive an email to redeem their trial. Rest of season pricing offer valid through 7/12/26. After initial purchase, ESPN subscription is not required to maintainMLB.TV subscription. Blackouts & terms apply. 

 

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