The Atlanta Braves are suddenly red hot.  After dropping six of seven matches out of the All-Star break, the Braves turned things around with a 4-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night. This marked their fifth win in six matches.  The Braves got to Marlins starter Max Meyer early with three runs in the first and one in the third. Third baseman Austin Riley started things off with a solo home run in the bottom of the first.  First baseman Matt Olson contributed to the first-inning lead with a two-run shot following a single by designated hitter Marcell Ozuna. Olson has been trending for the right seasons, securing five homer runs and six RBIs in that aforementioned six-game stretch.  Shortstop Orlando Arcia extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a solo homer off Meyer in the bottom of the third. That was adequate support for Braves starter Charlie Morton, who allowed one unearned run on five hits over six innings while striking out six and walking two.  Over the past six matches, the Braves have outscored their opponents 31-14 while hitting 15 homers.

Mack Celebrini is finding it hard to wait for his first NHL training camp with the San Jose Sharks next month. “I couldn’t be more excited,” the 18-year-old center and No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft said at the Hobey Baker Memorial Tournament at Royal Golf Club on Thursday. “I was actually thinking about their prospect pool and how they made those additions, and how great of players those guys are. And the people they have in the front office, I couldn’t be more excited.” Celebrini, who won the Baker Memorial Award for top player in NCAA men’s hockey, signed his entry-level contract with the Sharks on July 6, forgoing his sophomore season at Boston University. Since development camp in San Jose from July 2-4, he has been training at home in North Vancouver, British Columbia. “I feel like they’re really going in the right direction and I’m just excited for what the future holds,” he said of his new team. The Sharks want to flip the script after finishing last in the NHL (19-54-9) in 2023-24 and failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth straight season. Besides Celebrini, they also added forwards Tyler Toffoli (four-year contract) and Alex Wennberg (two years) on July 1 and claimed two-time Stanley Cup winning forward Barclay Goodrow off waivers from the New York Rangers on June 24. San Jose also signed Will Smith, chosen with the No.4 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Smith led the NCAA with 71 points (25 goals, 46 assists) in 41 matches last season. As a freshman at Boston College he set a program record for a first-year player and helped the Eagles win the national title game.  “We met up at a development camp and he’s great,” Celebrini said of Smith. “He’s a great guy and we got along very well. It’s going to be fun together. We both have the same goals and that is just to help take this team and organization as far as we can, so that’s going to be great.” Celebrini had 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 38 matches last season, and at 17 became the youngest player to win the Hobey Baker Award. He was second in the NCAA in points per game (1.68) and goals, and third in points. Fresh out of development camp, he said he is working on his 200-foot game and a lot of wall play. Celebrini knows there will be a large amount of pressure trying to turn San Jose around, but he said he could not be more ready. “You never really think about failing before you even start,” Celebrini said. “I mean, we’re going to try to win as many games as possible. You never want to go into a season thinking that you’re going to lose games. I feel like that’s the mindset we’re going to have. We have the group to do it, and we’ve made some great offseason moves. “It’s my first training camp, so there’s definitely a lot of nerves and a lot of excitement as well. I just feel like not letting it consume you, but kind of fuel you. At the end of the day, you’ve got to take care of what you can control and the rest will take care of itself, so I feel that’s what I’m focusing on.”

The MLB Trade Deadline ended on Tuesday with some ruckus just before the clock struck 6.p.m ET. Teams worked round the clock to add impact bats and arms to their Major League rosters as part of their projects for the postseason.  Others fought to bolster their farm systems with talented return packages that could brighten the future of the franchise.  A total of 56 prospects were dealt who made their new clubs’ MLB Pipeline Top 30 rankings. This post seeks to rank the top 5 prospects at the MLB Trade Deadline.  1.  Connor Norby, 2B/OF, Marlins (No.5) Dealt from the Baltimore Orioles in the Trevor Rogers trade. Norby gets a nod for being a finished product. The Orioles’ crowded position-player group allowed Norby to basically build a second full year at Triple-A where he slashed .297/.389/.519 with 16 homers in 80 matches. He also has the chances to hit for a strong average with selective aggression and at least average power. He could step in swiftly and clinch the Miami Marlins’ second-base job with the chance he never got with the Orioles.  2. Augustin Ramirez, C, Marlins (No.6) Bought from the New York Yankees in the Jazz Chisholm trade. There is no doubt that Ramirez can hit for power. The right-handed slugger has combined homers over the last two campaigns, and slugged .570 over a 58-game spin at Double-A earlier his season. Ramirez has struggled some in an introduction to Triple-A (hurt by a low BABIP), and his defense is still rough enough that he might be a first baseman long term (He’s thrown out only two of 33 attempted base stealers, for starters.) He would still have upside at the cold corner if the Marlins cannot fix his issues behind the plate.  3. Jake Bloss, RHP, Blue Jays (No. 3) Bought from the Houston Astros in the Yusei Kikuchi trade. Bloss has been one of the breakout stories of the Minor League season, graduating from third-round pick out of Georgetown last year to the Majors this summer.  Paul Skenes and Hurston Waldrep are the only pitchers from the 2023 Draft class to witness The Show to this point. Bloss’ 92-94 mph fastball and multiple above-average breaking balls give him a well-loaded arsenal, which should give him enough shots at the Toronto rotation.  4. Thayron Liranzo, C/1B, Tigers (No.5) Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Jack Flaherty trade. Liranzo showed spectacular pull side power, and that helped him launch 24 home runs for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga last year in his age-19 season. He has hit a speed bump with the move to High-A this year, slashing only .220/.344/,356 with seven fingers in 74 matches. So it is an opportunity for the Tigers to buy low. Thayron’s plus arm strength gives the Tigers something else to build around, and they should have an interesting debate of Detroit’s catching situation with Liranzo. He will be judged alongside Dillion Dingler and Josue Briceño. 5. George Klassen, RHP, Angels (No.3) Dealt from the Philadelphia Phillies in the Carlos Estevez trade. The last pick in the MLB Trade Deadline is Klassen. Severe control concerns at the University of Minnesota caused him to go in the sixth round last year. The Phillies hit the ground running while harnessing his powers; an upper-90s fastball and two above-average breaking balls, and the results have been astounding.  Klassen delivered a 1.97 ERA with 89 strikeouts and 21 walks in 59 ⅓ innings between Single-A and High-A this season at the time of the trade. He still needs to be tested in the upper Minors and over deeper outings, but he might have the biggest up arrow next to his name of anyone on this list. 

The New York Yankees announced on Saturday evening that they had acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. from the Miami Marlins in place of three prospects. Voted as the National League’s starting second baseman for the 2022 All-Star Game, Chisholm has spent most of the past two seasons in center field. He moved in to create space for Miami’s All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez. Arraez joined the San Diego Padres in May, but Chisholm recently returned to second a couple of times a week to reduce how much he was running in the outfield. Trade Details Yankees get: OF/INF Jazz Chisholm Jr. Marlins Get: C Agustin Ramirez (Yankees No. 20 prospect), INF Jared Serna (No. 19 prospect), INF Abrahan Ramirez After New York’s 11-8, 10-inning win on Saturday, the team showed extra joy for its latest signing. “He’s a dynamic player,” said a grinning Aaron Judge. “You can throw him up at the leadoff spot or wherever, he’s going to definitely lengthen this lineup. He’s a weapon. You can put him on the outfield, anywhere in the infield. He’s got speed, he’s got power and all of us are pretty excited to have him on board.” “We’re excited to get a talent like his,” said manager Aaron Boone. “We think his skill set will play at Yankee Stadium. He’s got power, he has tremendous speed, he’s got position versatility. He plays with a lot of energy and a lot of pizzazz.” Entering the 2024 season, Chisholm had two big questions concerning him, which were his ability to remain healthy and hit against left-handers. He has proven himself on both ends. Chisholm, who is a left-handed hitter, has already surpassed his total number of matches from ‘23 with 101. He has a better average (.254 to .246) and on-base percentage (.324 to .323) vs. southpaws this campaign.  Although his home run rate is down, he has double-digit taters (13) and stolen bases (22) for the fourth season in a row. Chisholm has one of the best improvements in whiff rate, from 35.7% to 28.6%, in baseball despite seeing fewer pitches to hit. He also demonstrates elite baserunning run value, according to Baseball Savant.

Chris Kreider took a leave to rest his body after the New York Rangers were knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on June 1 before going back to the gym and on the ice to prepare for a new season.  Kreider’s mind never stopped playing the match after the Florida Panthers eliminated New York in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final. “I just don’t think you ever downshift after that,” Kreider said from the Shoulder Check Showcase at Terry Conners Rink on Thursday. “Personally, I haven’t really been able to, so I just think you roll right into next season and continue to get better as a team and as individuals.” The next campaign for Kreider and the Rangers seems like it cannot come fast enough. “We know what we have in that locker room,” goalie Jonathan Quick said. “We know how good of a group we are. You lose and obviously you soak that loss a little bit, that stings for a little bit until you realize you have another season here to look forward to and build into, so you start preparing for that. That’s the mindset.” Before they could pay attention to what is to come, the Rangers watched the Panthers, the team that beat them after their Presidents’ Trophy-winning season, go ahead to win the Stanley Cup. Kreider, said he rarely watches the Stanley Cup Final, but he did this season. “For whatever reason I just wanted to suffer through it,” he said. It was clearly not easy on him, but he did anyway.  Could the Rangers have lifted the Cup in late June if they did some things differently in late May? New York held a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series after a 5-4 overtime victory in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena on May 26. They lost each of the next three matches by one goal. What was the difference? “I think that was the best team we played all year,” Kreider said. “I think they had absolutely zero ego to their game. They got to their game quicker than any other team. They had complete buy-in up and down their lineup, and to a man we all knew we were right there with them. It’s a game of inches so we’ve got to do the things right now in the offseason going into camp to make sure we come out on the other side of those close ones.” Kreider said the biggest lesson from that series is that the Panthers established their playing style early in each match because it was a no-nonsense, straight-line, puck-to-the-net, method. “It’s that simple playoff style,” Kreider said. “It works. It works. We’re capable of doing those things and the more consistently we do those I think it just becomes the law of averages.” It is that lesson they learned from Florida, that the Rangers should take into training camp. They added a player who knows about having the law of averages on his club’s side. Reilly Smith won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2023 season. They beat the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. Quick was the backup goalie. New York got Smith in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 1 for a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in 2027. Smith was not right for the Penguins, which is why the Rangers got him without losing any player on its roster. But they hope he can be a fit with them, possibly as the right wing on the top line with Kreider and center Mike Zibanejad. The Rangers also signed center Sam Carrick to replace Barclay Goodrow, who was waived and claimed by the San Jose Sharks. Additionally, Erik Gustafsson (Detroit Red Wings), and forwards Jack Roslovic (Carolina Hurricanes) and Alex Wennberg (Sharks) through free agency. But the center is expected to be back and in training camp on Day 1. If everyone else is anything like Kreider, Day 1 of camp will be like an extension of last season.  “It’s a super-close group, obviously not a lot of turnover, so I think everyone is in the same frame of mind,” Kreider said, “just champing at the bit, ready to go.”