How Russian tennis star became huge Reds fan

Plus: Rookie has best arm in the Majors?

Tuesday, August 18 View Online 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.   How in the world does a Russian tennis superstar become a Cincinnati Reds superfan? That's what we're trying to get to the bottom of today.    Daniil Medvedev has thrown us all for a loop with his love of -- and, apparently, his encyclopedic knowledge about -- the Reds, of all teams.    Medvedev, who's currently ranked the No. 7 men's tennis player in the world, attended his first-ever baseball game last year at Great American Ball Park, after an early-round exit from the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament.    He's been a Reds fan ever since.     "I was like, 'Why haven’t I gone before?'" Medvedev told the Cincinnati Enquirer last week. "I started watching baseball more than any other sport, except tennis. Since they were the first team I saw live, why not be a Cincinnati Reds fan?"   Since Medvedev is back in town to play the 2026 Cincinnati Open this week, the Reds brought him out to the ballgame yesterday to throw out the first pitch. He threw a perfect strike, naturally.    And don't you dare question Medvedev's ball knowledge. This guy brings receipts.   Medvedev was put to the test on his Reds fandom in a recent Tennis Channel interview -- and he passed with flying colors.     Medvedev got a series of trivia questions on 2026 Reds stats, and he nailed every single one. Team record? Check. Home run leader? No problem, Sal Stewart. Batting average? That'd be Elly De La Cruz. Wins? "Chase Burns, it's too easy."    Not only did Medvedev know the answer to every question, he knew Stewart's home run total and Burns' record exactly, plus De La Cruz's batting average and Burns' ERA to within a few points.   "I know pretty much every player and every stat," Medvedev told the Enquirer. "When I'm a fan of something, I like to really be into it. That's my team."   Next he'll be telling us he eats Skyline Chili between sets. GAMES OF THE NIGHT Here are three games to keep an eye on tonight.    Yankees at Orioles (6:35 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)    Carlos Rodón returns for tonight's series opener against the Yankees' AL East rivals after missing about a month and a half with left elbow inflammation. His return comes at an opportune time for the Yankees, who just had to put Max Fried back on the injured list with a bone bruise in his pitching elbow. Rodón has a 3.30 ERA in nine starts this season, with 52 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings.   Mariners at Brewers (7:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV)    The Brewers just showed the Dodgers who's boss, taking three of four games from the reigning champs to clinch the season series against L.A. Milwaukee has a series against the other top dog in the National League, the Braves, coming up later this week, but the Brew Crew can't look past a Mariners team hoping to get back into the playoff race after taking two of three from the Astros.   White Sox at Cubs (8:05 p.m. ET, TBS / MLB.TV)    After the show these two crosstown rivals put on last night, what will they do for an encore? Pete Crow-Armstrong was the star of the series opener, bookending the Cubs' victory with a leadoff homer AND walk-off homer that also just so happened to make the MVP favorite the first 30-30 player in MLB this year. But even on the losing end, the White Sox could appreciate the electric atmosphere at Wrigley Field for this clash of playoff contenders. THE BEST ARM IN THE BIG LEAGUES? What's Carson Benge gonna do next, throw out two guys on the same play?    Actually, what the Mets rookie did last night -- throw out two Padres runners at the plate on back-to-back plays, that is -- might have been even more impressive than Paul Lo Duca's famous double-tag in the 2006 playoffs.    That's because of the mustard Benge put on those throws. The first one was 99.9 mph. The second one? 103.9 mph.   Heck, with throws like that, we think Benge just might have the best arm in the whole league. But let's see what the numbers say …    By average arm strength, he's "only" fourth   Benge's average arm strength on max-effort throws this season is 96 mph on the dot, which ranks behind only Jac Caglianone (98.5 mph), Oneil Cruz (97.8 mph) and fellow rookie Cole Carrigg (96.8 mph) among players with at least 100 throws this season.    But by MAX arm strength, he's No. 1    That 103.9 mph assist from last night, though? That was the hardest throw by any fielder this season. Even Caglianone hasn't broken the 103 mph mark. Benge's high-end arm strength is second to none.  Plus, we haven't seen an assist like that one in a while   Benge's 103.9 mph throw home was the third-fastest tracked outfield assist in the entire Statcast era, which goes back to 2015. And it's the fastest one in nearly a decade.   Benge is the only player with multiple 100-plus mph outfield assists this season -- since he also had one at exactly 100 on July 24.   Let alone two in the same inning   Benge is also the first player with two 99-plus mph outfield assists in a single inning since Statcast started tracking, and only the second to do so in a single game (Bradley Zimmer did it in 2017).   If there was an arm strength contest between all the best outfielders in the Majors, we definitely like Benge's chances. CALLING ALL COMIC BOOK LOVERS Here's a cool collectible: Three iconic baseball franchises are getting the comic book treatment.     All Baseball Comics is debuting a collection of officially licensed comic books for the Yankees, Dodgers and Cubs, and they look awesome.    All three issues are available for preorder now on baseballcomics.com.    Standard printed versions of the limited-run comic books are listed at $19.99 apiece, while a signed variant cover is also available for $49.99.   See more details here >> 250 FOR 250: 'PUT 'EM ON YOUR BACK' MOMENTS For today's 250 for 250, we've got a fun category: the best "put 'em on your back" performances.   What do we mean by that? Well, here are a few of the entries.     No rest? No problem for Yamamoto    We'll start with a recent one: Yoshinobu Yamamoto coming out of the bullpen on zero days' rest to win Game 7 of last year's World Series for the Dodgers.   CC carries the Brew Crew to October    CC Sabathia was a beast for the Brewers after they traded for him at the 2008 Deadline -- including a complete game to beat the Cubs in the regular-season finale and clinch Milwaukee's first postseason appearance since 1982.   Aces wild in the desert    Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson's performances to carry the D-backs to their upset victory over the Yankees in the 2001 World Series are still legendary.   See the full top 10 list here >> © 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners. Please review our Privacy Policy. 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