USI's Cameron Boyd named OVC Co-Player of the Week
This comes after Boyd led the Screaming Eagles to a 3-2 week. The week included three home runs, four stolen bases and 12 runs batted in.
The sophomore moves his season batting average from 0.245 to 0.306.
Boyd and the Screaming Eagles will be back on the diamond on Wednesday at Illinois State University.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago baseball report: Final City Series of 2025 between the Cubs and White Sox begins Friday at Rate Field
The City Series returns with Part 2 beginning Friday at Rate Field. The Cubs swept the three-game series May 16-18 at Wrigley Field, outscoring the Sox 26-8. This round arrives as the July 31 trade deadline nears. The Cubs are in a position to buy while the Sox will be looking to sell. Every Thursday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what's ahead — for the Cubs and White much as a player goes through the mental pre-pitch preparation on defense, there are moments when instincts take over. Or, as Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson put it, backyard baseball kicks in. Swanson made a nifty double play in Tuesday's win against the Kansas City Royals to help starter Matthew Boyd escape a tough spot. In the fifth inning with one out and the bases loaded as the Cubs led 2-0, Kyle Isbel lined a ball up the middle that Swanson snagged, then made a diving tag on the runner at second base, Freddy Fermin. Initially called safe, the inning ended when the replay review overturned the call and ruled Swanson successfully turned the unassisted double play. 'Defense is always such a big part of this game and can bail you out in such big moments,' Swanson said. 'And for Boyd to be able to maintain his composure and continue making good pitches in that moment, you're always thinking of situations beforehand and prepared for anything that could happen, and instincts take over after that.' Swanson's stellar defense again this season is part of a collectively strong defense. The Cubs' 50 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) ranks third in the majors while fourth in Outs Above Average (OAA) with 19 and second in Defense (Def) at 22.8. Cubs pitchers know their defense is an asset, and that being aggressive in the zone and potentially allowing more balls in play can be to their benefit. 'He was so good out there that, man, that play was huge at that point of the game, and it could have been a tipping point,' Boyd said of Swanson. 'And he continues to make great plays when the game is on the line. And this is why he is who he is, right? He's kind of the heartbeat with this ball club, and it's pretty cool to see him do those things.' The Sox recently played their 100th game of the season. With fewer than 60 contests remaining, assistant general manager Josh Barfield wants to continue to see how players are progressing. 'We have a lot of young guys on this team and you see the ups and downs of young guys,' Barfield said Saturday in Pittsburgh. 'You want to see them make adjustments, continue to play with energy, play hard. 'We've been in a lot of games, finding ways to close more of these games, whether that's the offense continuing to pile on or the pitching coming in and shutting down, I think those are things we look at actively. We have a lot of guys that, while this year is really important and we need to finish it as strong as we can, we've got guys who are shooting for next year as well.' The list of young players includes shortstop/third baseman Colson Montgomery, who had a .261 average in 15 games coming into Wednesday. 'He's done a really good job of slowing the game down,' Barfield said. 'Some guys, when they get to the big leagues they just feel like they belong here. I've talked to a lot of guys that have come up here for the first time. A lot of good players. They felt like, 'When I was in the minor leagues, I was grinding, but when I got up to the big leagues this is where I belonged,' and they run from there. 'So far, it looks like that from our vantage point. From Day 1, it's never sped up on him, he's had really good at-bats, he's not trying to do too much. Just a calmness about him, which is encouraging because early in the season I think he was trying to press and prove to everybody that he was ready to come up here. Now, he's starting to settle in.' Montgomery hit his first major-league home run in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. 'You just have to keep a level head and stay neutral with a lot of things,' Montgomery said Tuesday in Tampa of some of his early lessons learned. 'And I felt like my coaches and my teammates and some of the veteran guys have helped me with sometimes you're just not going to get pitches to hit tonight and sometimes you are. And you've just got to be ready for those opportunities and if you're not seeing the ball well, you've just got to be ready for the situational hitting. And everybody here's been doing that.' The Sox scored 35 runs in their first four games after the All-Star break, matching the 2000 club for second-most in franchise history. The 1977 Sox scored 37 runs in their first four games coming out of the break. Justin Turner has never been much of a threat to steal bases, especially now at 40 years old. But in the third inning Wednesday, Turner's steal of third base off Royals 45-year-old lefty Rich Hill is the first instance of a 40+ year old runner stealing a base off of a 40+ year old pitcher since Craig Biggio did it against David Wells on July 26, 2007, according to ESPN Stats and Info. 'I've never seen him move that fast,' shortstop Dansby Swanson joked after the game. Turner's swipe was one of seven steals the Cubs recorded in Wednesday's win. Only one other team — the Milwaukee Brewers on April 20 versus the Athletics (nine) — has stolen seven bases in a game this year. It marked just the second time the Cubs have tallied seven or more steals in a game since 1924. The other time: Last season, when the Cubs stole eight bases at Pittsburgh on Aug. 26 in an 18-8 win in which they had 21 hits (12 singles) and seven walks. The Cubs lead the National League in stolen bases with 118, trailing the Tampa Bay Rays (133) for the major-league lead. Their 118 stolen bases through their 101 games to start the season are the Cubs' most since 1985 when they recorded 120 steals. Three Cubs rank in the top 10 for stolen bases in the NL: No. 2 Pete Crow-Armstrong (28 steals), No. 6 Kyle Tucker (23) and No. 9 Nico Hoerner (19). Chase Meidroth doubled in the first inning Monday against the Rays. He singled and scored in the third. The infielder doubled again leading off the seventh and collected his third double with one out in the ninth. Meidroth had a career-high four hits in the 8-3 victory. 'Hit balls hard over the plate,' Meidroth said on Monday about the key to success. 'That always goes back to the approach and swinging at good pitches. Trusting myself, trusting the guys behind me. I think over the course of 162 games, if we all believe in each other, it's going to have a lot of success for all of us.' The rookie's average had dipped to .238 before a two-hit outing Sunday in Pittsburgh. He followed that up with the four hits Monday and an RBI single on Tuesday, raising the average to .251 coming into Wednesday. 'It was a good (All-Star) break,' Meidroth said. 'But I was itching the entire time to get back here and finish out these last few games on a strong note.' 'For him to just show up every day with the professionalism he does, with the work ethic that he has, the ability to talk to anybody and everybody, to help bring young guys along, to help keep some of the veteran guys, continuing to make them as good as they can be, he just means a lot to this clubhouse. And I think that's something that people probably don't see all that often.' —
Chicago Tribune
15-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Column: For Chicago's MLB All-Stars in Atlanta, a chance to show they belong
ATLANTA — An assignment to cover the All-Star Game is a privilege I've happily accepted since my first one at Wrigley Field in 1990. They've all blended together after a few years, from the 15-inning affair at Yankee Stadium in 2008 to the 2016 game at Petco Park in San Diego, where seven Cubs players were invited to participate. The one that sticks out took place in 1995 in Arlington, Texas, in a ballpark that was deemed obsolete a couple decades later because it lacked an essential part of modern life, air conditioning. That All-Star week was made memorable by the scorching Texas heat; a BBWAA meeting at which my Chicago Tribune colleague, Hall of Fame writer Jerome Holtzman, asked the BBWAA president to put it on the record that a fellow New York writer was a 'no-good (S.O.B.)' — and because the player I was assigned to cover, White Sox slugger Frank Thomas, ditched the media by leaving during the game to fly home. It's now acceptable for All-Stars to depart soon after leaving the game, one of many changes that has made the event less fun to cover than back in the day. All-Star week still thrives despite the best efforts of MLB, which on Monday allowed ESPN clown Pat McAfee to host its media day news conference, an obvious attempt at capturing the 'bro culture' that usually tunes out the game. But this year's Midsummer Classic is fascinating for many reasons, including the introduction of Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong on the big stage, the starting matchup between Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, the mashing of catcher Cal Raleigh and the continued dominance of Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, the best players of their era. Unfortunately, after consultations with the office, I was asked not to work this week to save my brain cells for the second half. 'Relax and enjoy the festivities,' I was told. 'We need your brain, or what's left of it, to be refreshed and ready for the Cubs stretch run and the Sox trade watch. Just go have fun.' 'Can I still make fun of Manfred?' I texted. 'Save it for later,' came the reply. There are 16 replacements for the All-Stars selected by fans, players and the leagues for this year's game, which makes it seem like the game itself is no longer a big deal. I empathized with Cubs starter Matthew Boyd and the many other All-Stars who wanted to participate but won't play for health or other reasons. It's 'team first,' even if this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for some. 'I wouldn't say it was a hard decision,' Boyd said Monday on media day. 'It's one of those things that it's just a smart decision. I want to play. It doesn't mean I don't want to play. I want to pitch in this game so badly. It's one thing like, hey, you've got to be smart with. The goal is to pitch through October, and I've already thrown more innings than I have the last two years combined. 'It's a time to be smart, and because of that, I do get to enjoy this experience still, and I'll be soaking it all in.' Hopefully the 34-year-old Boyd can get back to the All-Star Game, but nothing in life is promised. Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker remembered his first one in 2022 at Dodger Stadium when he played for the Houston Astros. 'It's a cool experience and everything,' he said. 'You never know if you're going to have this opportunity to be here again. You just try and have some fun with it.' But Tucker understood Boyd's reasoning, pointing to his eight-inning masterpiece against the New York Yankees on Saturday. 'At least he can fully have fun and not worry about getting ready and prepared,' Tucker said. 'I'm sure he's having a blast right now.' It might have been the same story for White Sox starter Shane Smith. On Friday at Sox Park, manager Will Venable told the media the team would have discussions about whether Smith would be able to pitch in the All-Star Game. The Sox are trying to limit his workload this second half to keep him healthy. But Smith is the only representative for the Sox, and there was no obvious replacement if he was told not to pitch. Those discussions apparently didn't last too long. 'I'm ready to throw,' Smith said Monday. 'Whatever that looks like. Whether it's an inning or an out. Give me the ball. I'm gonna go.' For a Rule 5 draft pick who wasn't even sure he would make the team in spring training, Smith is trying to take in this journey, from pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers Double-A team in Biloxi, Miss., one year ago to being chosen by the Sox in December to participating in an All-Star Game as a rookie. 'Things change over time. It's kind of what you do with that change,' Smith said. 'You've just got to keep at it as it comes. Rule 5 happened and then spring training and the next thing you know you're 18 starts in and you're in Atlanta.' Life goes by fast, and you have to enjoy the ride while it lasts. Crow-Armstrong was already up with the Cubs last year at this time. But at the All-Star break he was hitting .203 with three home runs and 17 RBIs, just trying to prove he belonged in the big leagues. 'I don't remember what I was doing last break,' Crow-Armstrong said Monday. 'I think I was just staying in Chicago. At that time I was just focusing on picking up the pace in terms of how I was playing. It's always nice to think about what you could do a little bit better, but I wasn't quite here (as an All-Star) in my brain.' Now he's the starting National League center fielder with a chance to be a rare 40-40 player in steals and home runs. It's almost like entering an alternate universe in the same body. 'I'd be lying if I said I didn't know what my stats are, but I don't translate that into, 'I want to hit 40 homers and (steal) 40 bags,' or whatever the mark is,' Crow-Armstrong said. 'If I'm playing well, that usually translates into a better chance for the Cubbies to win ballgames. 'We've got a lot of guys that could be worrying about these benchmarks but don't. We're a good club that only worries about winning every day. … What's cooler is winning the World Series and playing in October. The 40-40 and any other accolades, it all comes second to me.' The All-Star Game has changed over the decades. To some fans, it's just not what it used to be, and I can't argue with them. But don't tell that to players who've survived some tough times to make it here in Atlanta for the first time. The struggles were worth it. Now it's time to relax and have some fun.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Yahoo
Guardians React to Jose Ramirez News on Monday
Guardians React to Jose Ramirez News on Monday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Third baseman Jose Ramirez is in his thirteenth season as a member of the Cleveland Guardians after making his big-league debut in 2013. Advertisement The 32-year-old superstar has established himself as one of the best third basemen of his generation, accumulating 1,602 hits, 273 home runs, 914 RBIs and 272 stolen bases over 1,543 career games. He has been the face of the Guardians' franchise for the last decade, collecting five Silver Slugger awards and seven top-10 AL MVP finishes, while being the most important player in their postseason runs. This season, Ramirez has yet to slow down. Over 92 games, he is batting .295 with an .869 OPS, with 18 home runs and 29 stolen bases. Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images Ramirez has been particularly excellent as of late, and MLB announced on Monday that he had won American League Player of the Week after posting a 1.163 OPS, four home runs, 11 RBIs and seven stolen bases. Advertisement The Guardians reacted on X and wrote, 'No surprises here. Hosey is your AL Player of the Week!' Ramirez was selected to his fifth consecutive All-Star Game last week but chose not to attend in order to focus on rest and recovery for the second half of the season. The Guardians entered the All-Star break with a 46-49 record, which is disappointing given last year's appearance in the ALCS. With Ramirez once again providing elite offensive production, the pressure will be on his supporting cast to step up in the second half if the Guardians want to return to the postseason. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
