Thursday, May 29, 2025

A historic announcement

Thursday, May 29

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A collage of softball players who will play in the AUSL

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.

A brand new professional softball league hitting the field this summer got a big league boost today through a historic partnership with Major League Baseball.

MLB announced a strategic investment in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, a first-of-its-kind commitment to a women's professional sports league, which has former Marlins general manager Kim Ng at the helm as AUSL Commissioner.

"I think this is an incredible step for both sports," Ng said in an appearance on CBS Mornings. "Having worked at Major League Baseball for 10 years and having led that softball division, we were always trying to connect with the women's side, with women's college softball. And so, to now be able to come and have Major League Baseball support women's pro softball and that landscape, just is so meaningful to me, and to so many other young women and girls playing the sport."

Supporting that growth of softball at all levels was a primary goal in the partnership.

"During this extraordinarily exciting time for women's sports, we want softball to thrive," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "MLB is committed to help build a sustainable and impactful league that drives fandom, serves the softball community and benefits all female athletes."

A collage of professional softball players

That softball community is growing at a rapid pace thanks to players both at the collegiate level and beyond with serious star power, including Maya Brady (you might recognize that name), Bri Ellis (who has received the Barry Bonds treatment as a premier slugger at Arkansas) and Lexi Kilfoyl (a dominant pitcher who was picked No. 1 overall in the inaugural AUSL draft).

The more recent collegiate portion of the draft, which became a viral sensation for its golden ticket selection process, added players like Ellis to rosters of the four teams in the league. Some of them, like Oklahoma's Sam Landry and Florida's Korbe Otis, are still alive in the Women's College World Series, which began today and continues throughout the weekend.

"When you look at the Women's College World Series, it routinely outdraws the men," Ng said. "So I think that's an important fact. And [softball] is fun to watch, it's a great game."

Now with the backing of MLB, it's a game many more fans will have the chance to appreciate and enjoy when the AUSL season opens on June 7.

-- Scott Chiusano

ACE-ING ON THE CAKE

Paul Skenes coming off the field in Arizona

As the legend Sarah Langs is quick to remind us, birthdays are important. And today is a big one. Pirates ace Paul Skenes turns 23 years old, making it a perfect time to take stock of his ridiculous big league career so far.

After going 6 2/3 scoreless innings against the D-backs last night, Skenes' season ERA sits at a paltry 2.15. That also lowered his career ERA to 2.03, which as Langs informs us, is the second-lowest mark for any pitcher before turning 23 (minimum 200 innings) since earned runs became official in 1913. The only pitcher above Skenes on this list is two-time World Series champion Dutch Leonard, who was born in … 1892.

And the pitcher right behind Skenes? Someone by the name of Babe Ruth, who at that time was still known more as a hurler than a hitter. Skenes is probably going to stick exclusively to this whole pitching thing, but don't forget, he was a two-way star at Air Force, where he hit .410 as a freshman.

Maybe by next birthday he'll have a pinch-hit appearance under his belt.

GAMES OF THE NIGHT

• Braves @ Phillies (6:45 p.m. ET, MLB.TV and MLB Network Showcase): The nightcap of today's doubleheader features a must-see rematch between the reigning NL Cy Young winner and the runner-up. Zack Wheeler, who will celebrate his 35th birthday tomorrow, enters with a 22 2/3-inning scoreless streak. Chris Sale has started to look more like himself of late, although the last time he faced the Phillies on April 8, he allowed a season-high five runs.

• Rays @ Astros (8:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV): The Astros have won five of their past six games and are all of a sudden just a half-game back in the AL West. The Rays have won seven of their last eight to get back above .500 but still have a lot of ground to make up in their division. Houston native Shane Baz gets the start for Tampa Bay and will have a nice contingent of fans behind him.

• Nationals @ Mariners (9:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV, FS1): The Mariners are once again feeling footsteps behind them out west, though they should soon be getting pitching reinforcements. Cal Raleigh and the offense face a tough test against young Washington ace MacKenzie Gore, who leads the Majors in strikeouts and is having a breakout season three years after coming to D.C. in the Juan Soto trade. Speaking of which …

DO THE HASSELL

Robert Hassell III hits his first big league home run

When Robert Hassell III made his big league debut on May 22, he became the fourth of five prospects from the 2022 megadeal that sent Soto from the Nats to the Padres to join the big league club. And last night Washington got a glimpse of how talented its young outfield can be.

The man nicknamed Bobby Barrels hit his first Major League homer as part of a three-hit game, and burgeoning superstar James Wood – another key piece in the Soto trade – went deep as well. Wood's 435-foot blast was his 15th of the season, and his second clout of 400 or more feet in as many days.

Hassell is 23 years old and Wood is 22, so expect this combo of barrel and lumber to be doing damage in D.C. for many years to come.

PLAY SPINBALL

Welcome to Spinball, where baseball meets spin the wheel. You'll have nine spins to put together your roster of four hitters and one pitcher. See how your team stacks up among the leaderboards at the end of each week! If you haven't created your roster yet, here's a team name suggestion nobody asked for: Vada Spinson. Play free >>

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