Outside The Confines: Young guns

Wander Franco is sentenced. The injured lists keep growing. A look back at the first half and ahead to the second. And other MLB news.

Good morning. I think we have the All-Star Game balloting covered around here already. So I’ll skip that.

• Rays infielder Wander Franco was found guilty of the sexual abuse of a minor in the Dominican Republic and sentenced to five years probation. Franco has been on the restricted list without pay since the charges were announced. For those of you wondering if Franco avoiding prison time means he could return to MLB, experts generally agree that his conviction would make it close to impossible for him to get a work visa in the US.
• A White Sox fan was banned from Rate Field and all MLB parks indefinitely after taunting Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte about his deceased mother. The comments left Marte in tears.
• Dan Hayes profiles Twins director of security Charles Adams, a former Minneapolis cop who responsible for protecting the players from the many online threats that they are receiving after the legalization of sports gambling in most states. (The Athletic sub. req.) Minnesota isn’t even one of those states.
• Diego Segui, a Cuban-born pitcher who played 15 years in the majors, died at age 87 on Wednesday. Segui had the distinction of pitching three innings of relief in the first major league game for the Seattle Pilots and, eight years later, starting the very first Seattle Mariners game. He also led the league in ERA in 1970. Our condolences go out to his family, friends, former teammates and the Seattle baseball community.
• Time for the butcher’s bill. The Mets fear that starter Griffin Canning suffered an Achilles injury after breaking to first base on a infield grounder.
• Jay Jaffe looks at the impact of multiple injuries suffered by the Diamondbacks, especially to star Corbin Carroll.
• Chad Jennings constructs a roster of only players on the injured list. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Dayn Perry hands out mid-term report cards to each National League team.
• And Mike Axisa hands out semester grades for each American League team.
• Jackson Stone writes that it’s hard to complain about the Tampa Bay Rays first half of the season.
• However, MLB is meeting with the Rays about where they will play any possible postseason games. (The Athletic sub. req.) The Rays are quite happy with George M. Steinbrenner Field, but the league notes that it is too small to host a League Championship Series and definitely not a World Series. The Wild Card round would probably be OK there and maybe the Division Series.
• Then there’s this piece of theater:

• Groundbreaking ceremonies are always theater, but the Athletics held a groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas for a stadium that still doesn’t have financing or a start date. Neil DeMause has more.
• The Rockies have promoted Walker Monfort to the role of new executive vice-president from his old role as vice-president of corporate partnerships. Ownership is convinced that Monfort is the right man to turn around the historically-terrible Rockies because he’s the owner’s son of undisclosed reasons. He also is known to be able to work closely with other members of the front office like his little brother who is the Rockies’ pro scouting director who are definitely not members of his immediate family.
• The Rockies also dropped a routine pop up last night against the Dodgers, costing them two runs. To be fair to them, I don’t know how they were supposed to catch the ball in the pouring rain.

• Mike Axisa examines how the Angels have climbed back into the Wild Card hunt.
• Will Leitch projects some teams to play better and some to play worse in the second half. (The Cubs are on neither list, in case you were wondering.)
• Jeff Passan profiles Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson and his past to stardom, which, believe it or not, involves playing a lot of Fortnite.
• David Adler notes that the two candidates for the AL batting title, Wilson and Yankees superstar Aaron Judge, could not be more different.
• Chad Jennings, Aaron Gleeman and Tim Britton rank the teams into tiers heading into the trade deadline. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Michael Baumann watched the Paul Skenes/Jacob Misiorowski pitching matchup this week and has (facetiously) had it with really big pitchers. He looks at the history of really tall and really short pitchers.
• Eno Sarris projects the future careers of several young, elite pitchers, (The Athletic sub. req.) including Misiorowski and the Reds’ Chase Burns.
• Bradford Doolittle has an idea to update the pitcher’s “Win” statistic for the 21st Century.
• Michael Rosen examines Phillies left-hander Ranger Suárez with an eye to how big a contract should the upcoming free agent get on the market this winter.
• Jonathan Mayo has an updated mock draft.
• Keith Law has seven first-round prospects who could reach the majors quickly. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Theo DeRosa looks at how Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña has taken his game to a new level in 2025.
• Kyle Feldscher has a story on how the Tigers’ Javier Báez has gone from free agent bust to potential All-Star this year.
• Davy Andrews notes that while the Mets are a slow team, they know how to pick the right spot to run.
• The Giants will erect a Barry Bonds statue outside Oracle Park.
• The Yankees announced a new George Costanza sleeping bobblehead giveaway.
• Despite missing all but one game this season with injuries, Yakult Swallows third baseman Munetaka Murakami is still expected to be posted to MLB this winter.
• Bobby Witt Jr. has agreed to play for Team USA again in the World Baseball Classic.
• Michael Clair visits Rouen, France for a baseball tournament and to check in on the Rouen Huskies, the best baseball team in France.
• Steve Gardner profiles the MLB Network’s “MLB Central” show as it celebrates its 1000th episode.
• And finally, the Cubs’ Michael Busch became the first player named “Busch” (or even “Bush”) to hit a home run at any Busch Stadium in St. Louis. So Sarah Langs examines other players who have homered at parks that share their name.