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MLB News & Moments You Should Know: 8/7/2025

Jen Pawol blazes a trail, and a pair of pitchers almost make headlines.

Asher Dratel
MLB Morning News 8/7/2025

Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.

I realized on Wednesday afternoon that at some point this season, every fanbase has had a good reason to truly and completely freak out about their team. I know usually every fanbase loses their minds multiple times every year, but this is the first time in a while I can think of how they all had a good point when they did it. A related fact: Did you know the current largest division lead is the six games the Tigers have over Cleveland? The AL Wild Card teams are all separated by less than three games, and the NL Wild Cards by four. August is going to be dramatic, I can tell you that much.

Don’t forget to watch every game with the Pitcher List community on Playback!

 

Today’s Headlines

 

Jen Pawol Called Up

Jen Pawol is set to become the first woman to umpire a game in Major League Baseball when she works games this weekend between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

— The Press Democrat (@pressdemo.bsky.social) 2025-08-06T17:15:15Z

Umpire Jen Pawol is getting called up the bigs for the Miami/Atlanta Doubleheader on Saturday, which will make her the first female umpire to work a regular-season game in MLB history. Pawol’s been an umpire since 2016, when she started in the Gulf Coast League, and she’s been officiating Triple-A games since 2023. She became a crew chief last season, which The Athletic notes is a “significant step toward reaching the major leagues.” Pawol umpired a Spring Training game in 2024, making her the third woman to do so. She was also the first woman to officiate the International League Championship game and the first woman to umpire in Triple-A in the last 35 years.

Pawol’s promotion will mean that MLB joins the other Big Four in having women officiating at the highest levels (via The Athletic):

The NBA had its first female referee debut 28 years ago, while the NFL has had female officials for the past 10 years.

(The first woman to officiate at the NHL level did so in 2019, from what I can find, although it’s a little bit confusing?)

Pawol is being promoted specifically as the umpire equivalent of the 26th man MLB teams have for doubleheaders, so I assume the plan is for her to return to Triple-A on Sunday. Hopefully, she gets a chance to work more permanently at the highest level, and at least she gets behind the dish at some point on Saturday, as some photos I’ve seen make it look like she has a very animated punchout.

Almost a GaviNo-No

There’s been a malaise over New York baseball for a couple of weeks now, as both the Yankees and Mets go through some extended rough stretches (some more extended than others). And Gavin Williams wasn’t about to make anything easier for the Mets on Wednesday night.

That lone hit and single run? Those came in the ninth inning, as Juan Soto smacked a solo shot over the center field wall (because, of course, he would break up the no-hitter with a laser dinger.)

As you can see, that dinger only meant that the Mets weren’t getting shut out, as Williams then got Pete Alonso to fly out before he walked Brandon Nimmo, and then Hunter Gaddis was brought in to get the final out. Williams ended the day with 126 pitches thrown, although only 75 of them were strikes. Still, there’s something to be said for one of those true chaos no-hitters where you never knew if it was gonna be an out or a walk. I guess there’s no use fretting about it since it wasn’t a no-hitter regardless.

Williams has heated up with the weather, as he’s having a heck of a summer, going by the topline numbers at least…

Gavin Williams has a 2.36 ERA since June 1 with a 9.3% K-BB%. That's extremely funny.

— Chris Towers is a small sample size All-Star (@cptowers.bsky.social) 2025-08-07T02:27:48.909Z

Meanwhile, the Mets’ losing streak extends to four games, and they’re 2-8 in their last 10 games. They’re still only two and a half games behind Philly, even with all of that!

Put A Springs In Your Step, Cade’s Back!

While Gavin did work in Queens, it was another AL pitcher who held down an NL East offense down in the nation’s capital. The Athletics were in town to take on the Nats, and Jeffrey Springs threw five perfect innings against the home team, which is somehow both much more and much less impressive than Gavin’s start.

https://twitter.com/Athletics/status/1953257585681088972

Springs’ bid was also broken up by a solo home run, off the bat of Riley Adams, to kick off the sixth inning:

The Nats ended up winning the game thanks to a CJ Abrams walk-off single.

Wednesday also featured the return of Cade Cavalli, a Top 10 Nats prospect who last pitched in the bigs in 2022:

Neither starter would get a decision, but it was an encouraging return for the oft-injured Cavalli and marks the third excellent start from Springs in a row.

20-to-1 Conversion Rate

Toronto came into Denver and did what good teams are supposed to do against the Rockies (sorry, Colorado fans): Beat them very badly. They completed their sweep with a 20-1 victory on Wednesday.

But it wasn’t just one day of being dismantled for the Rox, and Skyler Timmins has the gory details over on Purple Row:

Toronto became just the third team in the modern era to have 55+ hits and 10+ home runs in a three-game series. They had a .453 AVG and scored 45 runs on 63 hits, including 13 home runs and 28 total extra-base hits. In total, they had 75 base runners and struck out just 15 times.

Those 63 hits set the modern record for most hits in a three-game series, and the win marks a league-best ninth sweep for the Jays:

The Red Sox lost to the Royals, so the Jays added to their AL East lead, which sits at four games right now.

Roman Reigns

This is our Roman Empire.

— Red Sox (@redsox.com) 2025-08-06T21:18:16.899Z

Boston locked up another young talent on Wednesday, signing Roman Anthony to an eight-year, $130 million contract. Depending on several escalators, the deal could be worth as much as $240 million:

The 79th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Anthony is a consensus top 5 prospect in all of baseball, and so far with the big league club, he’s authored a .283/.400/.428 batting line over 47 games.

This marks the third extension Craig Brewslow has signed this season, the other two being with Kristian Campbell and Garrett Crochet. Along with Campbell, Anthony also joins Ceddanne Rafaela and Brayan Bello among 26-and-under players that Boston has extended early in their careers.

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

Tungsten Arm O’Doyle, Dodger?

You’ll never believe this, but Shohei Ohtani hit a remarkable milestone yesterday. Shohei made his eighth start of the season, this time getting up to four innings pitched on 54 pitches. He struck out eight, didn’t walk anybody, and only gave up a single run on a pair of hits. He threw six fastballs of at least 100 mph, and he topped out at 101.1.

But that’s all pretty ho-hum expected stuff at this point, right? The real milestone came in the bottom of the third inning, when he collected his 1,000th MLB hit:

Of course, it would be a two-run shot to put LA into the lead. Why wouldn’t it be?

Most home runs in a season, made multiple pitching starts, MLB history:2021 Shohei Ohtani: 462023 Shohei Ohtani: 442025 Shohei Ohtani: 392022 Shohei Ohtani: 34

— (@slangsonsports.bsky.social) 2025-08-06T22:30:02.445Z

It took Shohei only 988 MLB games to hit the 1K mark, which makes him the third fastest to get there among active players, behind Ozzie Albies and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Fun fact, did you know Amed Rosario has 1001 MLB hits in 992 games?)

Unlike how these updates usually end, though, Ohtani’s heroics weren’t enough to save the day for the Dodgers, who ended up falling to the Cardinals by a score of 5-3. They are holding onto a slim two-game lead over the Padres going into Thursday.

To Witt, Ichiro

The Royals took down Boston 7-3 on Wednesday, and Bobby Witt Jr. joined some august company:

For whatever it’s worth, Witt has also almost quadrupled the number of home runs Ichiro hit over his first four MLB seasons.

Immaculate Kittception

Andrew Kittredge on Tuesday against the Reds: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB

Andrew Kittredge on Wednesday against the Reds:

You gotta have a selective memory to make it as a pitcher, that’s for sure.

Rolling Stop

The Mariners held on to take a win over the White Sox 8-6, and part of that is thanks to an incredible diving play and toss from J.P. Crawford:

Watching it in real-time, it almost looked like Crawford lost the ball as he rolled, and it just happened to be going in the exact right direction.

 

Injuries and Other Moves

 

⚾ Zack Wheeler’s next start is getting pushed from Friday to Sunday due to shoulder stiffness. He got an MRI, and Rob Thomson reported that it came back clean.

⚾ The Astros activated Spencer Arrighetti from the IL. AJ Blubaugh was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move, and Isaac Paredes was moved to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot.

⚾ Arizona transferred Kevin Ginkel to the 60-day IL, which means his season is over.

 

Articles You Should Read

 

Is it Possible We’re … Underrating Paul Skenes? – Mike Petriello, MLB.com

 

Fantasy Baseball Coverage

 

Starting Pitcher Roundup

Hitter Performances

Waiver Wire Picks

Starting Pitcher Streamers

 

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Asher Dratel

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Asher hails from Brooklyn, wears a 2008 Joba Chamberlain jersey to every Yankees game he attends, and pronounces BABIP funny. Appreciator of Beefy Lad dingers and beers. @asherd.xyz on Bluesky.

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