A look at what’s happening around the majors today:
STEPPING AWAY
The Chase Utley retirement tour is underway. Utley announced Friday that he will retire at the end of the season
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WELCOME BACK
Jon Gray is set to return from Triple-A and start for Colorado against Seattle. Gray was expected to be the Rockies‘ ace, but he’s been hit hard this season, going 7-7 with a 5.77 ERA before being demoted to work on mechanics and clear his head at Albuquerque. Gray will face emerging left-hander Wade LeBlanc (5-0, 3.39), who is having a breakout season at 33 years old.
NOLA’S STAR
Phillies righty Aaron Nola (12-2
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COLE RETURN
Houston starter Gerrit Cole will come off the bereavement list when the Astros host Detroit. Cole (9-2) was placed on the list Tuesday following the death of his grandmother, a day after throwing six scoreless innings in a loss to Oakland. In his first season with Houston following an offseason trade from Pittsburgh, Cole is sixth in the AL in ERA (2.57) and second in strikeouts (169).
HAMMY WHAMMY
The NL Central-leading Brewers are hoping for good news on slugger Eric Thames a day after he left a game with a tight right hamstring. Thames was making a rare start in right field and was injured while playing a ball hit into the corner. Milwaukee has asked Thames recently to handle more outfield duties to make space for All-Star Jesus Aguilar at first base, but now the Brewers may be without their hulking leadoff hitter, who is batting .250 with 13 homers and a .344 on-base percentage. Milwaukee has a doubleheader scheduled against Pittsburgh.
CC IN CLEVELAND
CC Sabathia pitches at Progressive Field as the Yankees and Indians continue a four-game series. Sabathia is 51-41 in 123 career starts at the stadium, including during his run as Cleveland’s ace from 2001-08. The Indians will counter with Mike Clevinger (7-4, 3.34) as they try to stretch their AL Central lead heading into the All-Star break.
VOTH’S TURN
Nationals right-hander Austin Voth has been promoted to the majors four times this season
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Minkah Fitzpatrick dressed right for his role Thursday at the NFL draft in Dallas, wearing a white double-breasted suit that looked like it was straight out of "Miami Vice."
Next stop: South Florida.
The Dolphins selected the versatile All-America safety from Alabama with the 11th overall pick. Fitzpatrick was widely projected as a likely top-10 pick and said he had no inkling he would wind up with Miami, which made his eye-catching choice of outfits a happy accident.
"I was just trying to do something that wasn't too bright, wasn't too flashy, but also stood out a little bit," he said with a laugh.
What the Dolphins liked most about Fitzpatrick's look were the two national championship rings he wore. He became a starter as a freshman and helped the Crimson Tide win titles in 2015 and 2017.
He had a school-record four interception returns for touchdowns at Alabama and gives the Dolphins a playmaker in the secondary, where he'll be paired with Pro Bowl safety Reshad Jones.
"My dream wasn't just to make it to the NFL, but to be a great player in the NFL
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The Dolphins need the defensive help. They allowed 24.6 points last year to rank fourth-worst in the NFL, and salary cap concerns then led them to release their best defensive player, five-time Pro Bowl tackle Ndamukong Suh.
At Alabama, Fitzpatrick ranked among coach Nick Saban's favorite players. Last season he won the Bednarik Award and Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive player and defensive back.
In Miami he's expected to be deployed on occasion as a linebacker, as a blitzer or against big receivers.
"He's like a Swiss army knife," Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said. "He does a lot of things really good. His skill set gives your defense a chance to be flexible and do a lot of different things."
Miami took Fitzpatrick over Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea despite glaring needs at those positions.
With the addition of Fitzpatrick, veteran T.J. McDonald might be moved to linebacker. He started the final eight games at safety last year.
There had been speculation Miami might devote its first-round pick to a quarterback for only the second time since 1984, but four QBs were taken in the top 10 picks .
"We didn't think any of the quarterbacks would make it to us
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The Dolphins will instead wait until a later round to draft a potential eventual successor to Ryan Tannehill 鈥?if they do so at all 鈥?and Luke Falk of Washington State might be the choice.
They'll also try to address needs at linebacker, defensive tackle and tight end in coming rounds. Their picks in the second and third rounds Friday are Nos. 42 and 73 overall.
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