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Morning Edition

May 28, 2025

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The Dodgers don’t really need help. But they seem bound to get it from within, as Shohei Ohtani faces live hitters in preparation for a return to the mound.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Dodgers’ Biggest Deadline Pickup Might Already Be in L.A. [[link removed]]

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Dodgers’ biggest pickup at the upcoming trade deadline could be a star player already on the club roster.

Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani faced hitters earlier this week in a practice pitching setting, the first time he has done so since undergoing major ligament surgery in September 2023, while still with the Angels. Three months after that procedure, Ohtani signed a record-setting, $700 million deal [[link removed]] with the Dodgers, since eclipsed by Juan Soto [[link removed]], premised heavily on his highly rare status as an elite hitter and pitcher.

The hitting has certainly been there, and then some [[link removed]], as Ohtani won the National League Most Valuable Player award last year as a designated hitter en route to the Dodgers’ first full-season title since 1988 [[link removed]]. He’s off to a hot start again at the plate in 2025, currently leading MLB in home runs and runs scored. The practice pitching session, however, brings Ohtani a significant step closer to being back on the mound and fully reflecting his unique value.

Both Dodgers coaches and players raved about Ohtani’s 22-pitch simulated session, during which the superstar reached a peak velocity of 97 miles per hour.

“He looks good. He looked healthy,” said Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior. “That’s always the main thing with facing hitters, that he feels confident, his endurance is good, and he maintained his stuff. From that standpoint, it’s a success. Pitch movement-wise, it looked good, too.”

A specific timetable for Ohtani’s return to pitching has not been finalized, and Prior cautioned there is “still a long way to go.” There is a hope, however, that he could be ready for a return soon after the mid-July All-Star break and around the July 31 trade deadline.

The next steps for Ohtani will be to throw another bullpen session Wednesday and live batting practice this weekend.

Ohtani is already one of MLB’s biggest stars, but a return to pitching will only expand his notoriety more, and provide the league another sizable boost as it continues efforts to make its standout talents into major national and international figures.

“I’ve gotten so used to seeing him as a hitter. So to see him on the mound just solely as a pitcher, it was different and certainly exciting for all of us,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “If it kind of works as it should, he’s a top-end starter, so that’s kind of all our expectation.”

SPONSORED BY GOLDIN

The Holy Grail: Connecticut Wagner

Goldin’s Spring Vintage Auction features one of the most desirable collectibles [[link removed]] in history.

The T206 Honus Wagner, long considered the “Holy Grail” of sports cards, blends unmatched rarity, iconic history, and staggering investment potential. The “Connecticut Wagner,” graded PSA 1, is one of only 60 known copies and boasts rich provenance. Its value has skyrocketed, outpacing major stock indices with no market corrections. Revered across the globe, this legendary card represents more than just collecting—it’s a timeless symbol of baseball history and a cornerstone asset for elite collectors and investors alike.

Goldin’s Spring Vintage Auction opens May 28. Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of history.

Visit Goldin.com [[link removed]] or click here [[link removed]] to bid now.

Projected NBA First-Rounder Picks Michigan Over Entering Draft [[link removed]]

Chris Jones-Imagn Images

For an aspiring professional basketball player, getting selected in the first round of the NBA draft is more than just an honor. It comes with millions of dollars in guaranteed money.

So it was a surprise on Tuesday when ESPN reported that projected late first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg will withdraw from the 2025 NBA draft [[link removed]] to return to college and transfer to Michigan. Lendeborg, who played his last two years at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, was No. 26 on ESPN’s NBA draft projections and was No. 28 in The Athletic’s mock draft in March [[link removed]].

The 22-year-old is theoretically risking a four-year contract worth more than $14 million with two years, $5.6 million guaranteed. The last pick of the first round of the 2025 NBA draft [[link removed]] is expected to sign for $14.1 million, according to Spotrac.

It’s unclear how much in NIL (name, image, and likeness) money Lendeborg will receive from the Wolverines, but there is a notion that college programs could begin to offer deals that would rival NBA salaries, given that projected 2026 top pick AJ Dybantsa reportedly received $7 million per year [[link removed]] from BYU. While Lendeborg was the No. 1 projected big man in the transfer portal per ESPN and is expected to start for Michigan, he likely does not command close to as much as Dybantsa.

What makes leaving for the NBA immediately enticing for top prospects like Dybantsa and projected 2025 No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg is that they can get to their second contract as soon as possible [[link removed]]. Those deals can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But for potential late first-round picks like Lendeborg, there is still a risk of falling out of the first round, where contracts are no longer guaranteed. Even if he stays in Round 1, the likelihood of a massive second contract isn’t a guarantee, either. For example, Kansas center Udoka Azubuike, who was selected No. 27 in the 2020 NBA draft, earned $6.3 million over four years in the NBA but has since moved overseas.

According to ESPN, Lendeborg’s background played a factor in choosing to stay a little longer in college to mold his skills before going pro. The Dominican American player played just 11 high school games in his senior year and said he was “more into video games than basketball” for most of his life.

Other Withdrawals

Lendeborg wasn’t the only player to withdraw from the 2025 NBA draft Tuesday.

ESPN reported Tuesday morning that Milos Uzan will also return to college [[link removed]], staying with Houston, which he helped lead to the national championship game last year. The 22-year-old guard was a projected second-round pick.

Hours later, Australian center Alex Condon, who was also projected for the second round, announced he’s withdrawing his name from the 2025 NBA draft [[link removed]]. Condon helped Florida defeat Uzan and the Cougars to win the national championship last month alongside Walter Clayton Jr., who ESPN has listed at No. 27 in this year’s NBA draft class.

SPONSORED BY GOLDIN

Mr. November: Jeter’s Iconic Walk-Off

Part of Goldin’s offering in their exclusive Goldin 100 is a significant piece of Yankees and baseball history [[link removed]].

On Oct. 31, 2001, Game 4 of the World Series entered November for the first time ever, a result of the Sept. 11 postponements. With the Yankees trailing in the ninth, Tino Martinez tied the game, and Derek Jeter’s dramatic 10th-inning walk-off homer earned him the nickname “Mr. November.” The ball landed near a Yankees vendor who caught it amid chaos. Now signed by Jeter and showing clear game use, the ball symbolizes a legendary moment in baseball and a powerful chapter in New York history.

Visit Goldin.com [[link removed]] or click here [[link removed]] to bid now on this once-in-a-lifetime collectible.

U.S Women’s Open Will Play on Courses Once Reserved for Men [[link removed]]

USGA/Kathryn Riley

The U.S. Women’s Open tees off Thursday from Erin Hills, as the USGA continues the trend of hosting the major championship at prestigious golf courses once reserved for its men’s counterpart.

This marks the first time the U.S. Women’s Open is being played at the Wisconsin course, which was the site of the 2017 men’s U.S. Open won by Brooks Koepka.

Over the next two decades, the U.S. Women’s Open is scheduled to be played at nine more courses that are also hosting men’s U.S. Opens—many of them multiple times.

It’s a trend that kicked into high gear in 2023 when the U.S. Women’s Open was played at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links for the first time [[link removed]]. The famous California course will host the women’s major again in 2035, 2040, and 2048, while hosting the men’s in 2027, 2032, 2037, and 2044.

Next year’s U.S. Women’s Open will be held at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, the site of the 2031 men’s U.S. Open and the host of the golf competition at the 2028 Olympics. In 2028, the U.S. Women’s Open will go to Oakmont Country Club, the difficult Pittsburgh course that is hosting the men’s championship next month, and return in 2038.

In 2029, the women’s and men’s U.S. Opens will be played in consecutive weeks at Pinehurst No. 2. It will mark the first such instance since 2014 at the same course.

Other courses hosting both the men’s and women’s championships include Oakland Hills Country Club, Los Angeles Country Club, Merion Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, and The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

Taking the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens to so many of the same courses is made possible in part by the USGA’s new “anchor sites” strategy [[link removed]] that allows it to build permanent infrastructure at many sites it plans on returning to on a regular basis.

Money Talks

Once again, the U.S. Women’s Open is offering a record $12 million in prize money, which is the same amount as last year’s edition and still the most lucrative event in women’s golf. The winner will pocket $2.4 million, also equal to what Yuka Saso made for winning at Lancaster Country Club in 2024.

That’s not the biggest winner’s check in women’s golf, though, as last year’s CME Group Tour Championship, the LPGA’s season-ending tournament, paid out $4 million to Jeeno Thitikul [[link removed]] from an $11 million purse.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS NETWORK

Pregnant on the Track

A seven-time U.S. champion in the 800 meters, an Olympian, and a World Championship medalist, Alysia Montaño joins Leslie Osborne and Arielle Houlihan to discuss breaking barriers on and off the track. She made headlines—and history—when she ran a national championship race while eight months pregnant, challenging outdated perceptions of motherhood in sports. As the founder and CEO of the nonprofit &Mother, Montaño is a driving force behind the push for equitable treatment of athlete mothers in sponsorship and sport.

Redefined is a Front Office Sports Network show that celebrates the stories, experiences, and realities of multidimensional women in sports who are redefining success. New episodes release every Wednesday and can be found on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and the FOS website.

Watch the full Redefined episode here [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters The cover of EA Sports College Football 26 dropped, and it features Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Alabama’s Ryan Williams. Take a look [[link removed]]. Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty said he paid kicker Daniel Carlson [[link removed]] so he could wear the No. 2 jersey for Las Vegas. In 2022, Paige Bueckers used an NIL deal with Chegg to launch food banks in struggling communities. Three years later, she met the people she had impacted. Check out the emotional interactions [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Where Do the Mystics Fit in a Rapidly Evolving WNBA? [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]The WNBA is increasingly divided between the new- and old-guard owners. Napheesa Collier Is Odds-On WNBA MVP Favorite After Caitlin Clark Injury [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]Collier and Clark had been close in the odds. Russia Still Banned From 2026 Winter Olympics, IOC Confirms [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Russia men’s hockey won gold and silver in 2018 and 2022, respectively. Question of the Day

Do you plan to watch Shohei Ohtani’s first game as a starting pitcher since his injury?

YES [[link removed]] NO [[link removed]]

Tuesday’s result: 68% of respondents follow leagues outside of the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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