The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.

Good morning! Take your kid for a jog today. Coming up:

Measurables: Welcome back, Freaks

Every day now seems to bring another harbinger of football. Today’s: Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List, another annual rite of passage, which highlights the best athletes in college football, as informed by coaches and staff across the sport.

It’s fun for the premise alone, but also for what it’s become over 20-plus years. It’s not just an early top NFL prospects list; there are historically Division II and III players on this list, as the entire college football community tries to get their guys noticed.

I pulled two big names and one unheralded guy for us:

1. South Carolina WR Nyck Harbor
Again, the Gamecocks are loaded with talent and will be on your favorite pundit’s Playoff sleeper list. Harbor was already the first player in the history of the Freaks list to occupy the top spot for two straight years, and now he’s back here again after dropping to No. 3 last year. He’s 6-foot-6, around 240 pounds and runs for the track team. Bruce reports Harbor hit 23.8 mph during offseason workouts this summer. His fundamentals need some polish, but the talent is there.

• The Gamecocks actually have three players on this list: Harbor, edge Dylan Stewart (No. 14) and quarterback LaNorris Sellers (No. 36). If Carolina is on and you’re around this fall, just watch.

2. Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith
I almost didn’t include him here, because the excellence is so assumed. Smith has arguably been the best wideout in college football since he arrived on campus in Columbus. Bruce calls him the best player in the country, bar none. He’s the linchpin for the preseason No. 1 team and said he’s gotten faster this offseason, which feels unfair.

92. Harding University FB Andrew Miller
These are my favorite people on the Freaks List. Miller is a fullback who ran for 2,000 yards last year and clocked a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash. The fullback title may be misleading for a team that runs the wishbone formation, but I still love it. Miller has the size and talent to make an NFL roster. He also catches snakes in his free time.

See more Freaks here. Let’s move on:

News to Know

Ronald Martinez / Allsport

Nelson dead at 86
Legendary NBA coach Don Nelson died yesterday at 86 years old, his family announced. Nelson won five titles as a Celtics player and, as a coach, pioneered a style of basketball — “Nellie Ball” — that looks right at home in today’s NBA. He favored fast pace and smaller players to outrun opponents. He is the second-winningest coach in league history. Read the tributes to him here.

McBride sets record
Lynx guard Kayla McBride hit 10 3-pointers in Minnesota’s 103-90 win over Dallas last night, giving her the WNBA record for most triples in a game. She scored 43 points, which also sets the franchise record for most points in a game. McBride has a great story, too.

More news:

• Lions backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater left the team. Read more.
• Braves ace Chris Sale got ejected yesterday … a day he wasn’t starting … before the first pitch.
• Out of the FedEx Cup playoffs: Brooks Koepka. In: Michael Brennan, who won the Wyndham Championship yesterday.
• Seen at LIV’s tournament yesterday: PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, which is curious, as PIF pulled funding for the league. More here.
• Hezly Rivera repeated as U.S. gymnastics champ yesterday. She’s the first woman since Simone Biles to do so.
• It was a tough day for big tennis names: Jannik Sinner withdrew from the Cincinnati Open, Aryna Sabalenka got upset at the Canadian Open and Alexandra Eala’s magical run through the Canadian Open fell short.
• American soccer wunderkind Cavan Sullivan, the 16-year-old set to join Manchester City when he turns 18, scored a goal and assisted on another for the Philadelphia Union last night. Watch them here.
• Demi Vollering won the Tour de France Femmes thanks to a stunning attack on the final stage.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Things You Need to See: A stroller sprint for the books

A man named Stephen Biebelhausen ran a mile in just 4:17 over the weekend in Cleveland as part of the Guardian Mile race. The time alone is impressive for anyone running a mile. But look at what Biebelhausen was toting:

4:17 MILE WHILE PUSHING A STROLLER‼️ HISTORY MADE IN CLEVELAND ⚡️

The world record for the fastest mile with a stroller was set by Stephen Biebelhausen and his baby at last night’s Guardian Mile 👶🏃 pic.twitter.com/mCpCkOg59S

— CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) August 9, 2026

With his cute daughter in tow, Biebelhausen set the men’s Guinness World Record for fastest mile run with a stroller, something I didn’t know existed until now. Way to dad-shame me, dude.

Almost done:

Watch Guide

📺 MLB: Phillies at Cardinals
7:45 p.m. ET on FS1
Philly clings to the final NL wild-card spot at the moment, which always makes for good drama. St. Louis is 59-59, 3 1/2 games back of that final wild-card spot. This game will alter the NL playoff math.

📺 WNBA: Tempo at Dream
8 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBC Sports Network
Toronto is out of the playoff race for now — the eight postseason teams are pretty set at this point — but Atlanta is worth a gander here. The Dream are 7-3 in their last 10 and sit in a glut of teams from seeds Nos. 3-8 all within three games of each other. As we always say: Every game counts.

Pulse Picks

Scott Strazzante / Getty Images

Mike Trout brought his Angels teammates to his private golf club in New Jersey on Aug. 3 for a round of team bonding. Four of them got traded during the outing. Incredible story from Ken Rosenthal today.

Mike Vorkunov has a fun list of NBA Hall of Fame tiers, in which Jalen Brunson jumped a level this year. Huh.

There have been some really, really good — even legendary — players who have worn No. 88 for the Cowboys. So why won’t the team retire it?

Cooper Lutkenhaus is a track phenom who just turned pro. He’s also still in high school.

If the college sports bill passes Congress, we could be in for another — and more final — version of conference realignment. See the possible new conferences here.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Caitlin Clark’s tech Saturday, which got rescinded.

Most-read on the website yesterday: Tom Burrows’ incredible interview with Brandon Williams, the former Manchester City player who wound up in jail. Read it here

Wales’ top tier, formed in 1992, has been revamped for its 35th edition with games predominantly switching to Friday evenings.

The number of clubs has been increased from 12 to 16 with the promotion of Llandudno, Airbus UK, Holywell Town, Trefelin BGC, Cambrian United and Ammanford.

Jack Sharp, FAW head of domestic leagues, said: “I am delighted to welcome the BBC back to Welsh domestic football through this new three-year partnership.

“This agreement represents another significant step in growing the profile of the Novira Cymru Premier, enabling us to reach more supporters across Wales and the wider UK through increased free-to-air coverage.

“By doubling our free live broadcast offering compared to last season, we have created a comprehensive broadcasting portfolio where Cymru Football TV and free-to-air coverage work together to serve different audiences.

“Whether supporters choose to watch every match through Cymru Football TV or enjoy selected fixtures on free-to-air television, more people than ever before will have the opportunity to connect with our clubs and competitions.

“The BBC’s commitment to Welsh domestic football will play an important role in increasing awareness of the league, attracting new audiences, and supporting our wider ambition to continue growing the game.”

“Self-deception isn’t a lie; it’s a survival mechanism.”
—“Spring,” Karl Ove Knausgaard

We’re starting to get a sense of what the 2027 Mets could look like.

There are still 43 games to play and much for the Mets to learn about their roster entering the offseason. But in the wake of the trade deadline, we have a better idea of what New York’s needs will be this winter. Let’s examine the lineup, the rotation and the bullpen with an emphasis on the club’s payroll, followed by speculative thoughts on the shape of the roster.

The lineup

The Mets could conceivably enter next season with pretty much all returning players on the position-player side.

• Bichette’s player option will be the first domino to fall in the week following the World Series. It sure looks as if Bichette will stick with the Mets for 2027; he’s having the worst healthy season of his career by a wide margin, and the upcoming labor uncertainty probably mitigates any desire to enter a weak free-agent class. Maybe the performance changes significantly in the next several weeks — Sunday looked awfully good — and maybe Bichette decides it’s just not working in New York for whatever reason. But for now, he’s penciled into the 2027 roster and budget.

• It would be very difficult for the Mets to carry the trio of Baty, Mauricio and Vientos as bench players with all three out of options. If none of them stake claim to a regular role next season — and Baty pretty obviously has the best chance to — then the Mets would almost certainly have to move on from at least one of that group. Nick Morabito could end up as a fourth outfielder, though he doesn’t have to be in that role from Opening Day on.

• Young has had a nice year for the Mets this season. I do not think it’s the type of year that makes you comfortable writing him and Polanco in as your tandem first basemen/DHs.

• As mentioned last week, Semien’s season has been rough enough to wonder if he should be handed the everyday job at second base again next spring.

• The offseason priorities are therefore likely to center on a first baseman/DH, a second baseman to potentially push or replace Semien, and reserve pieces.

The rotation

• Just as the outfield has the emergence of Ewing and Benge, the rotation has the solidification of McLean and Scott as top-half starters. Having two good, pre-arbitration starters is a great foundation for a rotation. If Zac Thornton continues to look as good as he has, that only puts the Mets in a better spot entering the winter.

• After his standout performance Sunday, Manaea owns a 3.50 ERA in 11 starts this season. His rebound from the first month of the season, when I admittedly was one more bad relief outing away from writing that the team might be forced to move on, is another of the quiet positives of this season for the Mets.

•  The same can’t be said of Senga. I have him listed here as a starter, but he has about the same amount of chance to end up in the bullpen, if he’s on the roster at all.

• I was surprised earlier this summer by how much the Mets had statistically missed Megill since his injury in the middle of the 2025 season. He shouldn’t be counted on as anything more than a depth starter (or perhaps another relief project) entering next season, but he could still be a useful piece.

• This rotation is crying out for an anchoring piece at the top. An ace followed by McLean, Scott, Manaea and Thornton et. al could constitute one of the stronger fivesomes in the NL.

The bullpen

• This is where the Mets will need to do a lot of work this winter. The makeshift, replace-Met bullpen had a really nice run this past week; we’ll see how many of those names emerge as legitimate candidates to be Opening Day relievers next season. But we know Stearns churns through relievers as much as anyone else in baseball, and New York will need to add multiple established relievers in front of Williams in the ninth.

That 26-man roster would count more than $250 million toward the luxury tax. Throw in Luis Robert Jr.’s $2 million buyout, the $6 million the Mets will pay Luke Weaver to be a Pittsburgh Pirate in 2027 and more than $20 million to cover benefits, the pre-arbitration bonus pool and minor-league salaries for players on the 40-man roster, and you’re talking about a luxury-tax payroll of more than $280 million. This past season, the initial tax cutoff was $244 million.

No one knows what rules will be in place for next season and beyond. In MLB’s initial proposal for a salary cap and floor system, the 2027 salary cap would be set at $245.3 million. One imagines a phase-in period of some length or perhaps a single-use amnesty clause like the NBA has provided to help teams in the Mets’ situation to get under the cap number. But until we know the specific rules, it’s hard to simulate much more than this.

The exposition

The Mets took two of three from the Pirates to polish off their best week since the middle of June: five wins in six games against solid competition. New York is 52-67.

Atlanta dropped two of three in the Bronx, a series loss that came on the heels of an eight-game winning streak. At 71-47, its lead in the NL East is 8 1/2 games, and its lead for a bye in the National League postseason is one game over Los Angeles.

Washington swept the Reds at home, a series win that came on the heels of eight losses in a nine-game stretch. The Nats’ 59-61 record has them 4 1/2 games behind the Phillies and Diamondbacks for the final two wild card spots in the NL. The Cubs come to the capital for three starting Tuesday.

The pitching possibles

at Atlanta

RHP Christian Scott (3-3, 3.15 ERA) v. RHP Bryce Elder (8-6, 3.69 ERA)
RHP Nolan McLean (8-7, 3.51) v. LHP Martín Pérez (7-6, 3.14)
LHP Zac Thornton (3-2, 2.52) v. RHP Tyler Mahle (3-9, 4.83)

vs. Washington

RHP Robert Stock (0-2, 10.13) v. LHP Andrew Alvarez (2-3, 3.76)
LHP Sean Manaea (4-5, 4.13) v. RHP Brad Lord (5-2, 3.79)
RHP Christian Scott v. RHP Jake Irvin (2-5, 5.37)

I looked up a stat

One of the first reactions for the unfamiliar to Jefry Yan’s strikeout celebrations was some variation of: “This guy’s gonna get his teammates hit.”

So I wondered: Did Yan’s teammates get hit by a pitch any more often after Yan appeared in a game in the minor leagues?

The tl;dr answer: Nope.

I looked at Yan’s 41 appearances at Triple A over the last two seasons. (Triple A is a lot easier to look up than Double A, which is why I limited it to the higher level.) Once this season and once last season, when he pitched for the Rockies affiliate in Albuquerque, was one of Yan’s teammates hit by a pitch after Yan had appeared in a game.

This year’s can’t be connected to Yan: It happened in the only Triple-A game this season in which Yan did not strike a batter out.

The one last year happened after Yan made his only Triple-A start of the season. He went two innings, striking out four, and a teammate was hit in the bottom of the third by a cutter from Edgardo Henriquez. I can’t find video of it. In his professional career, Henriquez has hit opposing hitters at twice the rate of the average pitcher. Maybe it was retaliation. Maybe not.

In either case, it does not appear that opposing minor-league teams were taking consistent umbrage with Yan’s behavior on the mound.

Injury updates

Red = 60-day IL
Orange = 15-day IL
Blue = 10-day IL

• Carson Benge returned Sunday after missing Saturday’s game with wrist soreness.

• Soto has begun light baseball activities. The basic idea remains to reevaluate him in September to see whether a return this season is possible and warranted.

• Vientos has started hitting off a tee.

• Warren has made five rehab appearances now and should be closing in on a return within the next two weeks.

Minor-league schedule

Triple-A: Syracuse at Jacksonville (Miami)
Double-A: Binghamton at Portland (Boston)
High-A: Brooklyn v. Jersey Shore (Philadelphia)
Low-A: St. Lucie at Jupiter (Miami)

A note on the epigraph

Keen observers will note that this is the third of Knausgaard’s seasonal tetralogy that I’ve read this year, all of them just a little behind the actual season itself. Whereas “Autumn” and “Winter” (and “Summer” from what I understand) are all structured as brief comments on individual, disparate topics, “Spring” contains an actual narrative structure about the time leading up to the birth of Knausgaard’s daughter. I thus found it the easiest of the three to pick up on a consistent basis.

Trivia time

The Mets’ sweep of Cleveland pushed their record to 10-2 against the American League Central this season, with three games left to play against the first-place White Sox later this month. Three of the Mets’ four best head-to-head winning percentages are against opponents from the AL Central.

New York is under .500 all-time against only one AL Central team — but it is above .500 against this team during that team’s years in the AL Central.

Who is it?

(I’ll reply to the correct answer in the comments.)