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Young allrounder in a hurry to succeed, and ready to take the expectation in his stride

David Hopps13-Sep-2022The man who must replace Darren Stevens was relaxing on the boundary edge at Canterbury. Joey Evison has the ability to make his own headlines as the seasons go by. But for the moment he is consigned to a supporting role in a Royal London Cup final that will be billed as Stevo’s Kent farewell.”No questions about Stevo,” joked a passing Kent team-mate as Evison took time off from 12th-man duties during a Championship match against Essex to tell his own story. It is an impressive one, too, the joint fastest half-century ever scored at U-19 level, a record he shares with Rishabh Pant, and now a one-day cup final back at Trent Bridge after Nottinghamshire loaned him to Kent ahead of a full-time transfer at the end of the season.This weekend, though, Stevo’s shadow spreads large. How could it not be when, at 46, he has propelled Kent into the 50-over final with successive scores of 49 against Lancashire in a must-win group game; 41 against Leicestershire in the play-offs, on the ground where his career began, and then, most astonishingly of all, an unbeaten 84 from 65 balls against Hampshire in a semi-final that Kent edged by three wickets with an over to spare? After 26 years, he still refuses to accept that the final might be the end of his journey. A cricketer who is adamant he deserves a player/coach role, if not at Kent then elsewhere, and who appears to live by Arthur Schopenhauer’s age-defying dictum that once you are over the hill you begin to pick up speed.So maybe just one Stevo question? Evison is happy to oblige, as best he can – he has only been at Kent six weeks. If he is feeling the pressure of being identified as Stevens’ successor, he is managing it nonchalantly enough.”Obviously, he is an all-rounder like me, but I’m just starting out whereas he’s a Kent hero, isn’t he? I don’t know him too well, but he’s been so supportive and nice to me for the last couple of weeks I’ve been playing with him.”He’s a Kent legend, just a great guy to have around the dressing-room. To keep playing as he is at the same level for a number of years now. It’s just really inspiring. I don’t know what I’ll be doing when I’m that age. That’s 26 years away.”Stevens knows every undulation of the Canterbury ground and has advised Evison how to cope with its particular challenges.”There’s a big slope and people struggle bowling at that end.”Evison’s opportunities at Nottinghamshire were limited but he made them count when he could•PA Images/GettyStill finding his way around, he conceded he didn’t know what the end was called. The Nackington Road End is not the sort of uber-cool name that sticks in the mind. He has been spending time getting to know Canterbury (he was raised in Stamford, a similar sort of place, and loves it) and advancing his career step by step while bellows of “Stevooooo” sound across the grounds.Joeeeeey’s move to Kent (okay, it’s a bit early for the chant) will have surprised many. He is a genuine allrounder (Kent have used him as an opener in the Royal London Cup) and Nottinghamshire valued him highly, but not enough to play him often. Peter Moores, their coach, called him “a player of immense promise” and described his departure as “bitterly disappointing” and “hard to take”.Nottinghamshire were well stocked with allrounders, not least their highly-respected captain Steven Mullaney, 35 now but still a major influence on a winning side. When Evison did get a game at the start of the season it was because the overseas fast bowlers had not yet turned up and he found himself plugging holes (my words, not his) as a fourth seamer, batting at No.9. He responded with a maiden Championship century, but was briefly loaned out to Leicestershire in search of greater opportunities before Kent came calling.Related

• Steven Mullaney, Joey Evison hundreds make Sussex supporters sweat

• Kent bring in Joey Evison from Nottinghamshire

• 'Bittersweet' – End of the Kent road for ageless cult hero Darren Stevens

• Darren Stevens vows to play on next season after 'gutting' Kent release aged 46

• Evergreen and inevitable: Darren Stevens plays his greatest hits one more time

“It’s just about opportunity for me at this stage of my career,” Evison said. “There really wasn’t a fit. I’ve been waiting for a couple of years now. When I’ve got my opportunity, I’ve taken it. That’s all you can do really. And that’s why I’ve come to Kent. Notts said they’re disappointed, but I wasn’t getting played. And that’s the past now. I just want to move on with the new club. And I’m very excited.”He joined Notts via the Lincolnshire development pathway and, at 15, he became one of the youngest players ever to strike a hundred in the Nottinghamshire Premier League. He soon followed his father, Gareth, a wicketkeeper-batter for Lincolnshire, in winning an England U-19 call. His father has been a big influence as was Dean Headley, the former Kent and England quick, the director of cricket at Stamford School. Although not blessed with great pace, he has proved himself adept at moving the ball both ways and has a presence with the bat.He is still technically a Notts player, so found himself in the awkward position of wanting them to do well, but not so well that they faced Kent in the 50-over final. “If they had got to the final, I wouldn’t be able to play against them. Obviously, I like to see them do well, but…”It’s going to be weird playing for a different team at Trent Bridge, but as a player you play to win trophies. If I can do that in the first month or so of me being here, that would be amazing. We didn’t have a great start to the competition, but we’ve just got so much momentum now. We won the last five games in the competition and they were all must-win games. And they were all close ones.”Darren Stevens takes the plaudits after guiding Kent into the Royal London Cup final•Getty ImagesStevens’ story began in 1997, an optimistic age of Britpop and first-term Tony Blair. Evison’s professional career began amid the loneliness and anxiety of Covid lockdowns. “We were all in the same boat,” he said, philosophically.He had just come back from the 2020 U-19 World Cup in South Africa and was involved in grass-wicket practice under a giant marquee when instructions were given to isolate at home. His lockdown routine was a lot of running and long dog walks back at the family home, for a couple of King Charles Spaniels no less – the dog breed that is expected to become suddenly popular after the death of the Queen. When he returned for the Bob Willis Trophy, against Derbyshire, it all went wrong.”I went through the whole of lockdown gagging to get back out there and then the first game I got injured. That was lockdown running. When you are not playing cricket, you have to keep your fitness up and you don’t know how much to do to keep on track. I did an awful lot of running which was the only thing you could do.”He didn’t play again for the rest of that truncated summer, and by the time he was loaned out to Leicestershire midway through 2022, Evison had been limited to nine first-class matches in four seasons – albeit his figures of 395 runs at 30.38 and 21 wickets at 25.28 backed up the sense of a player in a polite hurry to succeed.One unexpected benefit of his loan deal, however, was a friendly against the India tourists at Grace Road in which several India players, Pant among them, took the field for Leicestershire in one of these meaningless practice matches that have regrettably become so prevalent.Pant kept wicket with Evison in the field. And they had a connection because, in the warm-up matches for the 2022 U-19 World Cup in the Caribbean, he had equalled Pant’s record 18-ball half-century at U-19 level. It came against Sri Lanka at the Coolidge ground in Antigua, the ground famously bought by the American businessman Allen Stanford, whose brief attempts to become a big player in short-form cricket ended in criminal charges for him and embarrassment for England.Modesty prevailed. It might be seen as a bit crass to tap a worldwide star on the shoulder and, as an ice-breaker, tell him you share his world record at junior level.”I was thinking about mentioning it, but in the end I didn’t. I didn’t really get the opportunity. He’s got a bit of an aura about him but he’s such a nice guy, funny man as well.”Evison might get another chance for that conversation one day. Sport has dominated his life. He was at Leicester Tigers academy, as a 16-year-old fly half, before he had to choose between cricket and rugby. Impatience to progress led him into cricket just as it has now brought him to Kent.”When you’re 16 you can play ahead of your years in cricket, but not in rugby. Rugby is such a physical game; you can’t play with 24-year-olds because you just get physically damaged. I was just further on cricket. That was the route and I’m happy that I took it.”

Sunil Gavaskar recounts hugs, tax exemptions and is pretty sure he cost Chauhan two centuries

Sunil Gavaskar16-Aug-20201:18

Chetan Chauhan: Gavaskar’s longtime opening partner

” [come here and give me a hug], after all we are in the mandatory overs of life,” was the usual greeting of my opening partner Chetan Chauhan whenever we met over the last two or three years. The meetings were invariably at his beloved Feroze Shah Kotla ground, where he was in charge of the pitch preparation. As we hugged, I would say to him, “No, no. We must have another century partnership,” and he would laugh and say, “Arre baba, you are the century maker, not me.” Never in my wildest nightmares could I believe that his words about being in the mandatory overs of life would come true so soon. It’s so hard to believe that his laughter and cheerful banter won’t be there the next time I go to Delhi.Talking of centuries, I firmly believe that I was responsible for him missing out on two occasions, both in Australia in the 1980-81 series down under. In the second Test in Adelaide he was on 97 when my teammates pulled me out of my chair in front of the TV and dragged me to the players balcony, saying I must get there to cheer my partner. I was a bit superstitious about watching from the players enclosure as then the batsman would get out. So I would always watch on the dressing room TV. Once the landmark was reached, then I would rush to the players balcony and join in the cheers.A magazine page about the tenth century stand for the first wicket between Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan, achieved against New Zealand in Christchurch during the 1980-81 series•Clayton Murzello Magazine CollectionHowever, here I was in the Adelaide balcony when Dennis Lille came in to bowl and – would you believe – Chetan was caught behind first ball. I was livid and told the players off for having got me to the balcony but that wasn’t going to change what had happened. A few years later, I didn’t make the same mistake when Mohammad Azharuddin was approaching his third consecutive hundred in Kanpur, and as soon as he got to the coveted mark, I was out of the change room and applauding him from next to the sightscreen. Some of my friends in the media, who had the knives out for me then, made a big story of my so-called absence. Amazingly, they had had nothing to say about the absence of some when a year earlier I got my 29th century to be level with Sir Don Bradman in Delhi.The second occasion that I believe I was responsible for Chetan missing a hundred, was when I lost my head after being abused by the Australians as I was leaving the pitch after a terrible decision. Trying to drag Chetan off the field with me must have disrupted his concentration and he was again out short of a century a little later.There’s one thing that few players of my generation and the one immediately after don’t know – his contribution in getting tax exemptions for them. Both of us first met up with the late Shri R Venkataraman, who was the Finance minister of the country then, and requested him to consider a tax exemption for fees received for playing for India. I must add that it wasn’t just for cricket but for all sportspersons who played for India. We explained how, when we were junior cricketers, we had to spend a lot of money on equipment, travel, coaches, etc. when we had no income at all.

“Chetan always said that if we are asked what was our best contribution to Indian cricket, we should say that it was getting [tax] exemptions for the cricketing fraternity”

Shri Venkatramanji was most considerate and in a notification, he passed a ruling that gave us 75% standard deduction for a Test match fee, then an exemption on 50% of the tour fees which we received before leaving for a tour. The cherry on the cake though was the total exemption on the one-day match fees of INR 750 which we received those days. Mind you, we barely played a game or two of one-day internationals then. That notification was in place till about 1998, by which time the number of one-day internationals had increased dramatically as also as the fees which were around INR 1 lakh or so. So around the mid-90s, players were getting about INR 25 lakhs or more free of tax. Even after my retirement, I would give a copy of the notification to the newcomers in the Indian team for them to give to their accountants.Chetan always said that if we are asked what was our best contribution to Indian cricket, we should say that it was getting the exemptions for the cricketing fraternity. His desire to help others manifested in him joining politics, and right till the end he was a giver, not a taker.He had a wicked sense of humour too. His favourite song as we walked out to face some of the most hostile bowlers in the game was [smile little boy, smile]. That was his way of easing the nerves while confronting challenges.Now that my partner is no more how can I ? May your soul have everlasting peace, partner.

MatériaMais Notícias

Após acerto com o atacante Clayton Silva, do Casa Pia, o Vasco ainda não considera encerrada as movimentações nesta janela de transferência. O clube Cruz-Maltino fez uma proposta pelo volante Marlon Freitas, do Botafogo, por empréstimo até o fim do ano. A informação foi publicada primeiramente pelos jornalistas Lucas Pedrosa e Venê Casagrande.

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Apesar da negociação, Marlon Freitas está confirmado no confronto contra o Bragantino nesta quarta-feira (6) pela Libertadores.

➡️ Siga o Lance! no WhatsApp e acompanhe em tempo real as principais notícias do esporte

O Cruz-Maltino entende que o jogador possa encaixar na posição de primeiro volante e reforçar a equipe nesta temporada, mas o clube alvinegro não deve facilitar nas negociações.

A janela de transferência para o mercado internacional se encerra nesta quinta-feira (7), mas isso não deve impactar na negociação entre clubes nacionais. A data limite para o mercado interno será até 19 de abril.

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Marlon Freitas tem sido um dos jogador mais criticados pela torcida do Botafogo após a perda do título em 2023. No primeiro jogo do Campeonato Carioca, o volante recebeu vaias na entrada em campo no Nilton Santos.

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Wednesday night's game between the Mariners and Blue Jays was a slugfest from start to finish. Ultimately, it was Toronto's offense that had the upper hand, leading the charge for a 13–4 road victory.

In total, there were eight home runs hit between the two teams, which ties the MLB postseason record. Previously, only two playoff games in league history had as many home runs; Game 2 of the 2017 World Series between the Astros and Dodgers, and Game 3 of the 2017 NLDS between the Cardinals and Cubs.

Despite the loss, it was Seattle that struck first on Wednesday night. Julio Rodriguez opened up the scoring with a two-run home run in the first inning. Toronto answered in the third inning when they racked up five runs, including a two-run shot from Andres Giménez. George Springer added a solo shot in the fourth inning and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did the same in the fifth.

Also homering in the game for the Blue Jays were Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger, while the Mariners got late home runs from Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh, though it wasn't enough to mount a comeback.

Toronto ended the night with a franchise-record 18 hits, the most in a postseason game by any team since 2021, and 37 total bases.

The two teams will meet again Thursday night for Game 4, with the Blue Jays hoping to even up the series at 2–2. First pitch is slated for 8:33 p.m. ET.

James Anderson, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker, has received his knighthood from Princess Anne during a ceremony at Windsor Castle.Anderson, 43, was named in former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list in April for services to cricket, having brought the curtain down on his 21-year, 188-Test career at Lord’s in July 2024.He finished with 704 Test wickets, the most ever taken by a pace bowler, and behind only spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708). He claimed a further 269 in ODIs – still an England record, despite playing his last white-ball match in 2015.After his international retirement, Anderson continued to play for his county Lancashire during the 2025 season, and excelled on his return to T20 cricket after a decade-long absence, as he helped take his club to Finals Day at Edgbaston.He also earned a wildcard contract with Manchester Originals in the Hundred, and is in talks to continue his county career into the 2026 season.

Arsenal star Eberechi Eze joined Adebayo Akinfenwa on the latest episode of the Best Mode On Podcast, where he revealed that he preferred watching Chelsea legend Eden Hazard over Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar while he was growing up. Eze, now a central figure in Mikel Arteta’s evolving Arsenal side, said Hazard’s unique blend of flair, freedom and fearlessness left a deep impression on him.

GOAL’s Beast Mode On Podcast, hosted by Adebayo Akinfenwa, welcomes guest Eberechi Eze to chat through a whole host of topics including those players who impressed the England international the most on his journey to becoming a Premier League star.

Eze may have swapped Crystal Palace for Arsenal in the summer, but it was one Chelsea star in particular that caught his eye as a youngster, impressing the winger even more than some of the biggest names ever to have played the game in the modern era.

Hazard’s reign at Stamford Bridge

Despite pledging his future to Arsenal, Eze remains unabashed in his praise for Chelsea great Hazard, who amassed extraordinary numbers during his seven-year spell in west London. Across 352 matches, he delivered 110 goals, 92 assists, and a level of creativity unmatched in the league at the time. BBC statistics show he produced 595 chances, attempted 1,441 dribbles, successfully completed 909, and drew an extraordinary 638 fouls, often leaving opponents grasping at thin air. Hazard’s influence went far beyond statistics. His title-winning strike against Crystal Palace in 2015 and his equaliser against Tottenham in the fiery ‘Battle of the Bridge’ became defining moments of an era. For many young players, Eze included, his style existed in a category of its own.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportEze lavishes praise on Hazard

Speaking exclusively to GOAL's Beast Mode On podcast, Eze said: "Eden Hazard was my favourite player to watch. You had Dinho (Ronaldinho), Neymar (Lionel) Messi, (Cristiano) Ronaldo… these guys, you know. Eden Hazard, man."

Asked what elevated Hazard above his contemporaries, Eze added: "Freedom. Freedom. Freedom. He done what he thought was the right thing in that moment. He's not thinking, he's just expressing himself. And you can tell he enjoys…he enjoyed being effective as a player, but also his style of playing football. So, yeah, for me, that's my guy."

When Hazard waxed lyrical about Chelsea

Hazard himself has repeatedly spoken lovingly about his time in west London. Reflecting in an earlier interview with , he called it the standout chapter of his professional career.

"I spent seven years there… it was the best memory of my football career," said Hazard. "My best season was the second season with Mourinho when we won the Premier League and League Cup. The manager was the Special One and it's so hard to explain the feelings after games with the fans all happy."

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With Arsenal flying high in the Premier League and looking imperious in the Champions League, the narrative from rival fans has been that the North Londoners are boring to watch.

Now, it’s undoubtedly true that set-pieces have been an essential source of goals for Mikel Arteta’s side so far, but the suggestions that the Gunners are unusually dull fall apart when properly scrutinised.

For example, according to FBref, they take the second most shots in the league, play the second most passes into the penalty area, play the most through balls, and take the most touches in the opposition’s penalty area, all per 90 minutes.

Moreover, while Arteta has his fair share of physical monsters in the side, he also has an abundance of brilliant technicians, including one player who’s showing shades of Santi Cazorla in his game.

Why Arsenal fans love Santi Cazorla

Being the massive club they are, Arsenal have had plenty of brilliant midfielders play for them over the years, many who went on to win far more at the club than Cazorla did.

So, why is the Spaniard still one of the most beloved to wear red and white?

Well, there was that free-kick that started the side’s fightback in the 2014 FA Cup final.

There is also the fact that he played for the side during a rather barren spell, and so fans were desperate to see some genuine quality in the team.

However, while both of these factors certainly contribute to the high esteem in which the fans hold him, they remain secondary to the primary reason: his style of play.

The former Malaga gem was the epitome of an Arsene Wenger-type player, someone who was brilliantly effective yet also a crowd pleaser and a genuine magician on the ball.

The 40-year-old was seemingly able to do it all with a ball at his feet.

Ping a ball from one side of the pitch to the other? He could do it. Carry the ball through the middle of the park, beating four players in the process? Easy. Play the perfect defence-splitting pass to set up his striker with a one-on-one? Piece of cake.

Cazorla might not get the respect he deserves from rivals, but Arsenal fans correctly hold him up as one of the most entertaining players to grace the Emirates.

So it’s undoubtedly exciting to see one of Arteta’s signings begin to show shades of the Spaniard in his game this season.

The Arsenal star with shades of Cazorla

When considering who in the current Arsenal squad could be compared to Cazorla, most might look to Martin Odegaard, Martin Zubimendi, or perhaps even Eberechi Eze.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

However, while there are certainly arguments to be made for those three sharing some traits with the Spaniard, it’s Riccardo Calafiori who is showing shades of him in his game this season.

Now, the Italian obviously plays a totally different position to the former Gunners ace, but he still shares several similarities with him.

For example, and this is a negative one, the former Bologna star has had terrible luck with injuries since his move last summer.

In fact, he ended up dealing with six injuries last season, which resulted in him spending 175 days on the sideline and missing 30 games for both club and country.

Fortunately, the 23-year-old also shares a couple of extremely positive characteristics with the 40-year-old, including the freedom he is allowed on the football pitch and the incredible entertainment he brings.

While Arteta can often be quite regimented in his tactics and instructions with the rest of the team, it has become increasingly clear that he wants and allows the Italian to maraud all over and cause as much chaos for the opposition as possible.

This has become obvious from simply watching him play, but it’s even more evident when examining his heatmap from this season, which shows him popping up all over the place.

Crucially, though, the Rome-born “wild horse,” as dubbed by the Telegraph’s Sam Dean, is making excellent use of this freedom, helping out attacks by stretching the opposition’s backline, popping up in the box and interchanging with his own attackers.

Amazingly, the £120k-per-week maverick has taken the second most shots in the league for the Gunners this season, and his underlying numbers only further show his attacking prowess.

According to FBref, he ranks in the top 1% of full-backs in the league for shots, the top 4% for expected goals, the top 7% for goal-creating actions, the top 12% for touches in the opposition’s penalty area and more, all per 90.

Shots Total

2.11

Top 1%

GCA (Defensive Action)

0.12

Top 1%

xG: Expected Goals

0.24

Top 4%

npxG: Non-Penalty xG

0.24

Top 4%

SCA (Fouls Drawn)

0.24

Top 4%

Goals + Assists

0.35

Top 7%

SCA (Shot)

0.35

Top 7%

Goal-Creating Actions

0.59

Top 7%

GCA (Shot)

0.12

Top 7%

npxG + xAG

0.29

Top 9%

SCA (Defensive Action)

0.12

Top 12%

Touches (Att Pen)

3.29

Top 12%

Assists

0.24

Top 15%

npxG/Shot

0.11

Top 15%

GCA (Live-ball Pass)

0.35

Top 15%

Touches (Mid 3rd)

29.73

Top 18%

Ultimately, this combination of freedom to express himself and the ability to make the most of it is why journalist James Benge described Calafiori as “the most electrifying man in sports entertainment” and why he’s the most Cazorla-esque player in Arteta’s squad.

Arteta can fix Gyokeres blow by starting Arsenal gem who's "shades of Isak"

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ByJack Salveson Holmes Nov 4, 2025

Jadeja scored his fourth successive half-century to leave England frustrated

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2025

Ravindra Jadeja notched up a fourth straight half-century•Getty Images

India had two wickets standing at the end of lunch on day five, and still 81 runs away. But Ravindra Jadeja refused to let them buckle, scoring his fourth successive half-century and from the fact he didn’t bring out the sword celebration, it was clear that he had other priorities.Ben Stokes was in the middle of bowling himself into the ground, a 10-over spell leading England to tea after an 9.2-over spell had made them favourites in the morning. Neither man deserves to come off second best in this battle, which also included a bizarre moment when Stokes, in addition to figuring out where to set his fields and whether his body could take the workload he was putting himself through, had to sign off on Jadeja’s bathroom schedule. He did. Begrudgingly. India were nine down at the time and 33 runs away.Tea was pushed half an hour back when England broke an eighth-wicket partnership that was stubborn enough to last 132 balls and eke out 35 runs. Jasprit Bumrah faced 55 balls. Only twice has he faced more deliveries in a Test innings. His new-ball partner Mohammed Siraj showed just as much heart, standing up to a short-ball barrage with two short legs and a leg slip crowding him. Jadeja’s leadership helped India’s tail survive and now they are tantalisingly close – 30 runs from victory.Earlier, Jofra Archer picked up Rishabh Pant in the third over of play. Stokes struck from the other end to dismiss India’s best batter in this game, KL Rahul. Nitish Kumar Reddy stemmed the England tide and it looked like they would be able to go through to lunch with both of their allrounders standing firm but Chris Woakes took the ball and broke through. “Only a matter of time,” Harry Brook said while he was trying to unsettle the batters. He remains correct, but England are definitely starting to feel the pressure now.

There are plenty of appetizing matchups for both hitters and pitchers on Tuesday, and I'm using the player prop market at FanDuel Sportsbook to cash in.

Jose Berrios has been pitching above expectation all season, but it's time for a setback to come, and I'm fading his strikeout prop on Tuesday against a surging Astros team.

Find out why I'm going against Berrios on Tuesday as well as my two other favorite prop bets on the card.

Best MLB Prop Bets for Tuesday, July 2nd

• Kyle Gibson Over 4.5 Strikeouts (-128)
• Jose Berrios Under 4.5 Strikeouts (+102)
• Dylan Cease Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-102)

Kyle Gibson Over 4.5 Strikeouts

Gibson has some underlying regression coming for him, but he has been more than capable at striking batters out of late. 

He has punched out five or more batters in eight of 15 starts this season and in four of the last five starts. 

The righty will face a Pirates lineup that swings freely, fourth in strikeouts this season, and are going to chase Gibson’s offspeed pitches.

This number is a tad too low not to bite at Gibson’s over. 

Jose Berrios Under 4.5 Strikeouts

Berrios is a prime regression candidate, and it may come as soon as Tuesday against a streaking Astros team. 

Houston is full of capable hitters, but also disciplined ones. The team strikes out fewer than any team in baseball this season, and that can keep down Berrios’ strikeout marks. 

The right hander has a Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) of 4.96, far higher than his 3.38 mark, indicating he can see his performance decline with some negative variance. Against an Astros team that doesn’t strikeout much to begin with, I expect Berrios fails to get to five strikeouts, something he hasn’t done in four of his last five starts. 

Dylan Cease Over 6.5 Strikeouts

Cease is one of the premier strikeout artists in the big leagues, sitting down 32% of batters he has faced this season. 

Against a struggling Rangers lineup that is bottom 10 in the big leagues in batting average against right handed pitchers, this matchup should set up nicely for Cease to get to his quote of seven strikeouts. 

Cease has cleared this in 10 of 17 games this season, which translates to 58%. For what it’s worth the implied probability of this prop hitting is 50.5%. Given we need a near-average outing from Cease, I’ll bank on it at these odds. 

MLS Decision Day lived up to expectations as teams learned their playoff fates and Messi sent a warning with a hat-trick

For about 120 seconds, it seemed as if the Colorado Rapids were on their way to the MLS postseason. Denver native Darren Yapi scored an 88th-minute goal to put them up 2-1 against LAFC, and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park erupted – with good reason.

Their Rocky Mountain rivals, Real Salt Lake, were unexpectedly trading goals with St. Louis City SC – a team that finished 13th. All Colorado had to do was hold firm. But their luck ran out in the 90th minute, when Andrew Moran and LAFC hit the Rapids on the break for a deflating equalizer. Despite a late push, the match ended 2-2 – and with it, Colorado’s season.

The cheers in Commerce City turned to boos.

That’s the magic of Decision Day. Up until midnight on the East Coast, teams in the West were fighting for playoff positions. In the Eastern Conference, Lionel Messi emphatically sealed his first MLS Golden Boot with a three-goal night against Nashville SC, while San Diego FC climbed back atop the Western Conference after edging Vancouver in their season-long duel.

GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from the 2025 MLS Decision Day.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WINNER: Lionel Messi

  Messi scored his first hat-trick of the 2025 campaign on the final day of the regular season to finish with 29 goals. His closest contenders for the Golden Boot – Nashville's Sam Surridge and LAFC's Denis Bouanga – each notched two hat-tricks this year. 

  It was Messi's best performance of a remarkable season, and secured another first for the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner: the league's Golden Boot. Last season. Messi led the league in goals per 90 minutes at 1.08, but due to an injury at the Copa America final, he was limited to just 19 MLS appearances. He still managed 20 goals, but D.C. United's Christian Benteke finished with three more. 

  Picking up his first Golden Boot in MLS could mean more history awaits the 38-year-old. He is also tied at the top of the league for assists at 19, pointing to an all-but-certain second MVP award. Miami manager Javier Mascherano is convinced.

  "The reality is that Leo has been exceptional, as he usually is," he said. "I think if anyone had doubts about his regular season, he has cleared them all. He will surely be awarded the MVP."

  Messi would be the first player in the league's 30-year history to win MVP in back-to-back seasons. 

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• LOSERS: Paxten Aaronson and Zack Steffen

  The Rapids will rue letting a late lead slip against LAFC, especially since RSL dropping points meant they would have secured a play-in spot against the Portland Timbers. But the reality is they shouldn't have gotten to this position in the first place. 

  Colorado sat in seventh place on Aug. 17, just four days before they announced their blockbuster signing of Paxten Aaronson. Since that point, the team won only one game, and that's with Aaronson putting up decent numbers. More concerningly is that this rut wasn't the result of an entirely brutal schedule.

  The team dropped six points to Sporting Kansas City and the LA Galaxy, two opponents who were well out of the playoff picture. Aaronson and Steffen both played well on Saturday, with the former scoring and the latter making an impressive seven saves. Yet with the loss, the two USMNT hopefuls won't play in a club game until next February.

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  WINNER: San Diego FC

  Kudos to San Diego FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps for going back and forth in an entertaining race in the Western Conference. In the end, it was San Diego who held firm in their final game of their expansion season, demolishing another playoff team, Portland, 4-0. Much of the credit has to go to Anders Dreyer. 

  The Dane didn't garner the hype Hirving "Chucky" Lozano did on his arrival in MLS this season, but he's been more impactful. Dreyer finished the season with 19 goals and 19 assists. In any other year, including Messi's MVP campaign, Dreyer likely walks away with the MVP. And on Saturday, he was at it again, scoring a brace along with an assist to power the team's win. 

  San Diego are arguably MLS's most intriguing team heading into the playoffs. They topped MLS's most competitive conference in their inaugural season. In theory, they should be playing with house money at this stage, but with the top seed, this could be an unprecedented postseason for Mickey Varas' team.

  Outside of Bob Bradley's upstart Chicago Fire in 1998, there hasn't been another expansion club to win MLS Cup. San Diego could change that this season. 

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  LOSER: Wilfried Zaha

  This has been a roller coaster season for Charlotte FC's Wilfried Zaha, who has impressed in flashes but also created several controversial headlines off of it. 

  Zaha finished the campaign with 10 goals and 10 assists, but won't look back fondly on his final regular season match. Zaha, who scored the opener in a 2-0 win over Philly, got into the face of a Union player and made contact. He was booked for his second yellow of night – thus a red card. 

  Charlotte fought hard the entire campaign to secure a home seed in the playoffs. Now, they have to contend against a NYCFC side who have been in good form without their best player for the opening game of a three-match series.