With baseball all day, we all want to know who is going to crack one deep.
Lucky for you, I've canvassed the board for some advantageous matchups for hitters across Major League Baseball, including MVP candidate Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles.
In addition to Henderson, I'm eyeing two other hitters that are in line ofr home runs, find out who below!
Henderson is seeking his 20th home run of the season, and I love it to come on Wednesday.
Ranking in the 95th percentile or better in xSLG, average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage, per MLBStatcast. Henderson is rightfully inside of +400 to go deep against Jose Berrios, who has allowed hard contact on more than 44% of balls put in play, which is in the 18th percentile.
15 of his 19 homers have come against righties, and Berrios' looming regression due to hard contact makes Henderson a prime candidate to go deep on Wednesday.
Jeimer Candelario
Candelario is swinging a sweet bat at the moment, hitting .368 over his last 19 at bats with a home run while slugging .579. He draws a favorable matchup against Dakota Hudson of the Rockies at the hitter friendly Coors Field.
Hudson is struggling this season, posting a 5.02 ERA that balloons at home to a 7.43 ERA in five starts while allowing two home runs.
Candelario is slugging .444 against righties, far higher than his .397 mark against lefties while mashing six of his seven homers against righties, I'll back him in a good spot on Wednesday afternoon in Colorado.
Jake Cronenworth
A lefty batter, Cronenworth is a dangerous hitter against right handed pitching, mashing all of his eight home runs against that side while slugging .528. He is a disciplined hitter who is barreling up nearly nine percent of balls in play, which is in the 63rd percentile.
With the wind blowing out at Angel Stadium at about eight miles per hour, and a soft-tossing Jose Soriano set to start for the Halos, I like Cronenworth to crack his ninth dinger of the year.
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The 2024 NFL season is fast approaching, so it’s time to look at fantasy positional “tiers.” Unlike my PPR player rankings, tiers group players of similar value. So, if you miss out on a particular player on a tier in your draft, you can see other players on that same tier who are good alternatives.
I’ve covered the quarterback teirs, so now let’s look at the running backs. With the number of true featured runners dwindling, backs have lost some of their past luster in drafts. This should change strategies, as managers can wait and still land productive runners in rounds 4-5 and beyond.
Tier 1 – The Elite
Christian McCaffrey, 49ers
McCaffrey has a chance to finish his career as one of the best fantasy running backs ever, even on the same level as greats like LaDainian Tomlinson and Marshall Faulk. For that reason, I have him on his own tier. He’ll be the consensus top overall pick in the majority of drafts too, making McCaffrey the most valued asset in fantasy football once again.
Robinson had a good but not great rookie season, finishing ninth in PPR points. Still, I can see him pushing into the top three in Year 2, as he’ll no longer be “handcuffed” under new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. Hall finished second in points among runners last season, and that was after coming off a serious knee injury. Barkley, who finished as the RB12 in 2023, should push into the top five or 10 behind a solid Eagles offensive line. Gibbs will continue to split work in Detroit with David Montgomery, but he has top-five upside.
Tier 3 – Mid RB1s
Jonathan Taylor, Colts Travis Etienne, Jaguars Kyren Williams, Rams
Taylor had his ups and downs last season, but he finished strong with 17-plus points in three of his last four games. He also won’t lose work to Zack Moss, who is now with the Bengals. Etienne, last season’s No. 3 runner, will be picked in Round 2 or 3. Williams was a superstar last year, scoring 15 touchdowns in 12 games. He does lack durability, however, and the Rams drafted Blake Corum. That makes Williams a bit of a risk, but he's still a top-25 pick.
Jacobs is coming off a bad season, especially compared to what he accomplished in 2022, but signing with the Packers is a positive for his fantasy appeal. Henry is entering his age-30 season, but he still finished as the RB8 last year and has little competition for touches in Baltimore. White might struggle to duplicate the RB4 finish he had last year, but he’ll remain a top-50 overall fantasy selection. White is also a strong pass catcher, which benefits his value. Pacheco is the featured back in Kansas City and could push into the top 10.
Achane was a fantasy superstar at times as a rookie, but his ceiling could still be limited with Raheem Mostert in the Miami backfield. Still, he has RB1 potential. Cook was solid once Joe Brady took over the Bills offense last season, averaging more than 16 points. He should remain the team’s lead back, even with the addition of rookie Ray Davis. Kamara averaged almost 20 touches per game last season and should still be in the RB1/RB2 mix. Walker hasn’t truly busted out in the stat sheets, but he’s been a steady No. 2 option.
Tier 6 – Mid RB2s
Joe Mixon, Texans Zack Moss, Bengals D'Andre Swift, Bears Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots James Conner, Cardinals
Mixon’s move to Houston could affect his touches to a degree, but he’s still a solid No. 2 option. Remember, he finished as the RB6 last season. His replacement in Cincinnati, Moss, will be a popular breakout candidate. I can see him easily finishing in the top 15-20 runners as their featured back. Swift was the RB20 with the Eagles in 2023, and he’ll push for that sort of finish now that he’s in Chicago. Stevenson didn’t put up great totals last season, but he also missed five games. In PPR formats, he should push back into the RB2 range even with Antonio Gibson in the mix. Conner was a league winner for managers at the end of last season, but he missed four games and could lose some work to rookie Trey Benson.
Tier 7 – Low RB2s
Zamir White, Raiders Jonathon Brooks, Panthers Nick Chubb, Browns Aaron Jones, Vikings Raheem Mostert, Dolphins David Montgomery, Lions
This tier includes sleepers/breakouts White and Brooks, who could see a featured role for their respective teams. Chubb is coming off a serious knee injury, so it’s tough to project him as more than a No. 2 fantasy runner. If he can re-claim his previous form, however, Chubb could be a major bargain. Jones missed six games a season ago, but he was a star down the stretch and figures to be the top back in Minnesota. Mostert is coming off a career year that saw him score 21 touchdowns, so regression is imminent. Montgomery was the RB17 in 2023, but he’s likely to play second fiddle to Gibbs.
Tier 8 – High RB3s/Flex
Najee Harris, Steelers Tony Pollard, Titans Austin Ekeler, Commanders Javonte Williams, Broncos Brian Robinson Jr., Commanders
Harris hasn’t been able to return to the elite fantasy status he enjoyed as a rookie, and the emergence of Jaylen Warren makes him hard to trust as more than a flex. Pollard, coming off a disappointing final season in Dallas, could find himself in a committee with Tyjae Spears. Ekeler and Robinson Jr. will share the work in Washington, limiting both their ceilings, and Williams finds himself in a crowded Denver backfield that could limit his upside.
Singletary could be a nice bargain in fantasy drafts, as he knows Brian Daboll's offense well and has little competition for touches. Warren was more efficient than Harris last season, so he’s not too far behind his teammate in the rankings. The Titans will use both Pollard and Spears in their backfield, and I wouldn’t be shocked if the latter was more effective in the stat sheets. Zeke is back in Dallas, but he’ll be part of a committee with Rico Dowdle and others.
This tier includes handcuffs and backs who will compete for depth-chart positioning in camp. Benson, Allgeier and Ford will all be valuable insurance, while Edwards and Dobbins will compete for the top spot in Los Angeles (though a committee is imminent). Charbonnet, Brown and Corum will also be seen as handcuffs, though all three could push for standalone value.
Tier 11 – Mid to Low RB4s/Handcuffs
Ty Chandler, Vikings Rico Dowdle, Cowboys Chuba Hubbard, Panthers Antonio Gibson, Patriots Alexander Mattison, Raiders Kendre Miller, Saints
This tier is also full of committee backs and potential fantasy handcuffs, including guys like Chandler, Dowdle and Hubbard. Each of them, and Gibson, could also push for standalone flex value. Miller could be a deep sleeper if Kamara is forced to miss some playing time.
Welcome to the “dart throw” tier! This group includes potential handcuffs and several young running backs competing for touches with their respective teams. Vidal is an interesting option, as he’ll have the one-dimensional Edwards and the injury-prone Dobbins ahead of him on the Chargers depth chart. Fellow rookies Lloyd, Davis, and Wright are late fliers, but none of them will open the season higher than second on their teams.
Joe Sterling, a 4-star 2026 basketball prospect in Southern California, is transferring from Encino Crespi to Studio City Harvard-Westlake, Wolverines coach David Rebibo confirmed with SBLive Sports.
Sterling has been Crespi’s top scorer the last two seasons. The skilled sharpshooter averaged 18.8 points per game as a freshman and poured in 20.9 points per contest as a sophomore. He shot 48% from the field and 43% from downtown this past season.
Sterling led the Celts and first-year coach Derek Fisher on a spirited run in the Mission League end-of-season tournament. His game-winning three-pointer with no time remaining to defeat Sierra Canyon on the road, 64–61 in overtime, put Crespi into the tournament final where it fell to Harvard-Westlake, 72-54.
The 6-foot-5 guard has a mild demeanor, a relentless work ethic and a polished jumpshot. Those attributes have helped him garner offers from Washington, UC Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Colorado State.
Harvard-Westlake, the two-time CIF State Open Division champions of boys basketball in California, lost McDonald’s All-American Trent Perry and Harvard University commit Robert Hinton to graduation.
All eyes will be on 2025 star Nik Khamenia, who’s currently competing in the FIBA World Championships with the U18 USA team. Khamenia is a 4-star recruit as of now, but could be a 5-star prospect by the winter. Gonzaga, Kansas, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, among many others, have already offered the 6-foot-8 forward.
Khamenia and Sterling will lead a spattering of unproven role players and underclassmen that will have to step up in the upcoming 2024-25 season. Isaiah Carroll (2025), Dominique Bentho (2026) and Amir Jones (2026) played significant minutes on last year’s Harvard-Westlake team that won the CIF treble—the Southern Section championship, Southern California regional crown, and state title.
Does the WNBA hate rookies? An anonymous poll on X may tell one controversial story, but a recent video shared by Las Vegas Aces players tells a very different one.
Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Emma Cannon posted to their Instagram Stories on Tuesday evening showing the team bus pulling out of a restaurant parking lot.
Both of their Instagram videos featured a small blonde-haired figure in the distance running toward the bus, desperately trying to catch up and wave her teammates down. That figure turned out to be rookie Kate Martin, who was nearly left behind in the parking lot as part of a hilarious team prank.
shoutout to emma for showing the ending to this thrilling saga
“Don’t be late to the bus,” Wilson captioned her video.
“Hurry up @katemartin the bus leaving!!” Cannon wrote in hers.
WNBA fans will remember the wholesome moment captured between Martin and the Aces when the former Hawkeyes guard was gifted a Hello Kitty backpack during her rookie initiation earlier in the season.
This team bus prank was just pure comedy.
If I'm Kate I'm rocking a No Child Left Behind shirt next game
😂😂😂 the nba needs to go back to giving rookies the rookie treatment lol i hope someone is documenting all of these teams and creating a documentary!!!! @WNBA
— Nathan Allen Pirtle (@Nathanapirtle) June 5, 2024
The Aces (4-2) will play the Dallas Wings on the road on Wednesday. Kate Martin is averaging 5.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in five appearances this season.
Iga Świątek has responded to a slow start to the French Open to looking like the outright favorite she was listed before the start.
Świątek has demolished the competition since a close call in the second round against Naomi Osaka, winning three straight matches while dropping eight games across them, including a 6-0, 6-2 quarterfinals win against No. 6 Markéta Vondroušová.
Świątek faces No. 3 Coco Gauff in the semifinals in hopes of making a fourth semifinals in five years.
The No. 1 player in the world has owned this head-to-head matchup against the U.S. Open champion Gauff, winning 10 of 11 matches, will that continue on Thursday?
It’s staggering to see Świątek listed as a -850 favorite against the No. 3 player in the world, but that is the gap between Swiatek and the top players on clay right now. The winner of three of the last four French Open titles is playing at her peak and should have little issue overpowering Gauff yet again.
So, what’s the best way to bet it?
I believe it’s the under on games.
Gauff hasn’t put her first serve in at greater than 60% since the first round, but no player has made the No. 3 player pay. However, that’ll be a different story against Świątek, who is converting 53% of her break point opportunities.
When the two players met in Rome a few weeks ago, a 6-4, 6-3 win for Świątek, Gauff was able to fend off seven of 11 break points. However, given Świątek’s prowess on return, I believe she will be able to convert at a far higher clip if Gauff isn’t able to raise her first-serve percentage.
While that meeting on May 16th squeaked over the total of 19.5 games, I believe that the current form of Świątek is even better and she can find more separation on the scoreboard.
The signing follows the Detroit Lions' release of Sutton on March 21, after police in Hillsborough County, Florida indicated they were had unsuccessfully been looking for him for two weeks.
Sutton surrendered on March 31 and was eventually booked on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge; Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Pressreported that he was "released (from jail) on his own recognizance."
The Tennessee product started every game for the Lions in 2023, registering an interception and 65 tackles. As many reporters noted Wednesday, it is still possible that Sutton could face league discipline to begin the 2024 season.
Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese was ejected for the first time in her career Tuesday night during the team's 88–75 loss to the New York Liberty.
Lonzo Ball saw the play unfold from his seat at Wintrust Arena and posted to social media shortly after the ejection to support the 22-year-old rookie.
Ref that threw out @Reese10Angel is weak btw… You know who you are (Keep ya money Angel I got you)
Reese was ejected with 2:31 remaining in the fourth quarter after an exchange with referee Charles Watson that led to two technical fouls. After the game, lead official Maj Forsberg told the Chicago Tribune's Julia Poe that Reese was given her first tech for "disrespectfully addressing" the official and the second tech for waving off the referee.
Angel Reese was ejected from tonight's game after being given a double technical on this exchange with the ref
The $400 fine marks Reese's second financial penalty she has faced this season. Reese was fined $1,000 this past weekend for not speaking to the media after the Sky's 71–70 loss to the Indiana Fever on Saturday.
Reese registered 13 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes before getting ejected, notching her second double-double through eight games to start her WNBA career.
Angel Reese was sent back to the Chicago Sky locker room early during the team's 88–75 loss to the New York Liberty on Tuesday at Wintrust Arena.
Reese was ejected from the game with 2:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. She was whistled for a personal foul after trying to grab a rebound. Reese argued the call and was quickly given two technical fouls by WNBA referee Charles Watson and ejected from the game.
Angel Reese was ejected from tonight's game after being given a double technical on this exchange with the ref
The Sky trailed the Liberty 82–71 at the time of Reese's ejection and went on to lose 88–75.
Despite the early exit, Reese tallied the second double-double of her career, scoring 15 points on 3-of-12 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds in 24 minutes.
Reese and the Sky return to the floor Thursday to host the Washington Mystics at Wintrust Arena.
It appears the three contestants on Tuesday's episode of Jeopardy! need to watch a little more ball.
The. contestant trio of Travis Kissire, Christina Paul and Adriana Harmeyer were all stumped by a few trivia questions asked by Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings from a category dubbed "21st century sports."
"In 2007, this NL squad became the first team with 10,000 losses; in 2008 they won the World Series behind Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard," Jennings said as he read the clue for the category's $400 option.
"Who are the Chicago Cubs?" Paul answered. Nope, it was the Philadelphia Phillies.
It's not often that diehard sports fanatics get to poke fun at Jeopardy! contestants for lacking knowledge. Fans took advantage of the situation on social media:
There is nothing better than when the incredibly smart people on Jeopardy don’t know something that all of us unwashed sports slobs know. https://t.co/CuLqMFz4Db
I find it hilarious these jeopardy contestants can know the strangest scientific facts or the most random passage of literature, but throw them a sports question and they choke https://t.co/jViShc3zTq
The most memorable moment from John Calipari’s introductory news conference with the Arkansas Razorbacks was a classic Calipari quip.
“There is no team,” Calipari said, holding himself back from going through the traditional first news conference diatribes about “the first team meeting” that every other new coach in America seems to use.
The reloading job Calipari walked into at Arkansas isn’t exactly unprecedented in the modern transfer portal. The Kentucky Wildcats, the job he left, also retained no scholarship players, and several other high-profile jobs barely had enough players returning to play two-on-two, let alone five-on-five, in spring workouts. But it was quite the undertaking, one that appears largely over in the first week of June after the Hogs announced talented forward Trevon Brazile would be returning to Arkansas after testing the NBA draft and transfer portal.
Technically, the Brazile addition is a “retention” for Arkansas, since he spent the last two seasons there under Eric Musselman. Practically, though, this was a complete re-recruitment, with Brazile diving headfirst into the draft process for most of the time Calipari spent building his roster and then serendipitously becoming available late when the Razorbacks needed a starting-caliber power forward.
Once thought of as a potential first-round pick, an ACL tear early in the 2022–23 campaign and general ineffectiveness on a dysfunctional Arkansas squad last season left Brazile’s pro stock shaky. Instead, he’ll become the ninth piece of the puzzle for Calipari’s team, which features an intriguing mix of players following from Kentucky, top transfers and a few freshmen from Kentucky’s fall signing class. Calipari has said in interviews he plans on having nine core pieces and rounding out the remaining four scholarships with developmental players he termed as new-age “walk-ons.” While nothing is ever definite in this day and age of roster building, here’s a look at what Calipari’s first Arkansas team will look like.
Wagner had long been thought of as a surefire one-and-done, but a middling first college season at Kentucky overshadowed by teammates Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard’s explosions left Wagner’s stock such that a second year of school made sense. After considering other options, he eventually followed Calipari to Arkansas, where he’ll be the presumed starting point guard. He’ll benefit from a fully healthy season after dealing with nagging injuries throughout 2023–24, but improving as an outside shooter is essential. Fland, a talented freshman from New York, should provide some bench shot-creation.
The headliner here is Davis, thought of as perhaps the best transfer in the portal this spring and a legitimate potential NBA player. Davis led the FAU Owls to the Final Four in 2023 and averaged over 18 points per game a season ago, shooting 41% from three. He is capable of creating his own shot in ball screens, scored 25 or more points six times last season and seems like the early favorite to lead this team in scoring.
Then there’s Knox, a bruising freshman wing out of the Overtime Elite program who’s a natural three-level scorer. Being consistent from beyond the arc and on the defensive end will be a must for him, but he has a chance to be a highly efficient slasher for the Hogs.
The other Kentucky transfer on the roster, Thiero, could be classified either as a wing or a forward, a jack-of-all-trades type whose biggest strength is on the defensive end. While not a floor-spacer, Thiero provides a good deal of utility with his ability to guard multiple positions, handle the ball and push the pace in transition.
The talent within this frontcourt unit is immense. Arkansas’s rim protection should be elite, with Aidoo, Brazile and Ivisic all posting well above average block rates at their positions last season. They each possess the ability to stretch the defense some, with Brazile and Ivisic being traditional “stretch bigs” and Aidoo continuing to expand his range after flashing that part of his game some with the Tennessee Volunteers. This group could allow Calipari to deploy more of the four- and five-out lineups he used with great success offensively early a year ago.
The primary concern here: physicality. The Hogs seriously lack an interior “enforcer” who can deal with more physically dominant players down low. Aidoo really struggled with those types of bigs at Tennessee, but had cover in backup Tobe Awaka, a bruising force down low. Brazile and Ivisic won’t provide that same relief. If there’s one glaring hole on this Arkansas team, it’s a sturdy backup center, though even backup big men are hard to come by at this point in the transfer portal cycle.
With the resources committed to make the Calipari hire a reality, expectations in Fayetteville, Ark., will be high … especially given that his predecessor made the NCAA tournament’s second weekend three times in the same five-year stretch that saw Calipari win only one tournament game and soil his good favor in Lexington, Ky. Given the challenges of essentially starting from scratch, it’s hard to argue with the roster Calipari built, one that has the talent to push for a spot near the top of the SEC and a trip to the second weekend. In some ways, though, having to build from nothing had its benefits, forcing Calipari to be more transfer heavy and embrace some of the modern roster-building concepts he had been resistant to adopt at Kentucky.
But is this group a title contender? In my estimation, no. Meshing together a completely new group has its challenges, and the talent, while strong, isn’t going to blow away anyone at the top of the sport. Plus, Calipari has a lot to prove after two embarrassing early NCAA tournament exits in three years and no trips to the second weekend, let alone the Final Four, since pre-pandemic.
