Don’t panic | Sports Daily Newsletter
Hurts’ non-answers about Sirianni have been overblown.
Last Thursday, Jalen Hurts was short with his answers regarding how Eagles coach Nick Sirianni has handled the takeover of his offense by new coordinator Kellen Moore.
He said, “I don’t know that I know the answer to it.” Some media members were puzzled by the 25-year-old quarterback’s response. The topic has now been beaten to death for a week. Hurts hardly ever compliments anyone or gives the media the answers they’re looking for, so maybe this is backlash.
Or was Hurts trying to shade his head coach? Columnist Marcus Hayes believes otherwise.
— Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
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Jerry West, the legendary Los Angeles Lakers player, coach, and executive, died Wednesday at 86. He’s known for making the late Kobe Bryant into a Laker. The Lower Merion graduate entered the 1996 draft as a mystery. But what did teams around the league really think of Kobe and his potential?
The Lakers had won just one postseason series in the five years since they had advanced to the 1991 NBA Finals. In the offseason, West, an executive at the time, said, “I’m about to shake up this team this summer. I’d like to have Kobe and build around him,” Mike Sielski writes in an excerpt from his book, The Rise.
When J.T. Realmuto is healthy, Garrett Stubbs is lucky if he can get one start a week. He took 121 at-bats in 2022 and 125 in 2023. That changed on Tuesday when the Phillies revealed that Realmuto will miss about a month after knee surgery. Of course, Stubbs is excited to get some more playing time, but he said “having it happen like this is not ever something that you want.” Still, the veteran backup will get his chance, and it comes at a time when he is seeing results after just trying to relax.
The Phillies started fast against the Red Sox, but their lead quickly evaporated. Christopher Sánchez and the Phillies bullpen allowed eight runs over three innings in Wednesday night’s loss.
Next: The Phillies wrap up their series in Boston at 7:10 tonight (NBCSP). Aaron Nola (8-2, 2.77 ERA) will start opposite Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck (6-5, 1.91).
The Boston Celtics held a 2-0 lead heading into Game 3 of the NBA Finals, which inspired The Inquirer to hearken back to 1977, when the 76ers had the same advantage over Bill Walton and the Portland Trail Blazers. While Boston appears on pace to close out against the Dallas Mavericks, the Sixers were not so lucky as they lost four straight games and let a title slip away. Neil Paine takes a closer look at their Finals collapse.
When Philadelphia won a spot as a host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, many soccer fans dreamed of the United States playing in the nation’s birthplace. But the recent announcement of FIFA’s 2026 schedule has all but dashed those dreams. If the U.S. men’s national team finishes first or second in its group, it wouldn’t even play on the East Coast at all unless it makes the final or third-place game.
After an embarrassing loss on Saturday is in the rearview mirror for the USMNT, thanks to an impressive effort in their final tune up game against Brazil before the Copa América begins.
Worth a look
‘Best self’: Pitcher Matt Augustin, a Bishop Eustace grad, is contributing in Virginia’s College World Series run.
Stepping up: The Flyers donated $200,000 to save these girls’ community rink in Montgomery County.
Final goodbye: Mathematics Civics and Sciences athletes discuss what it meant to represent the school one last time.
Co-owners: Jason and Travis Kelce are teaming up on their first joint business venture — and it involves beer.
What you’re saying about J.T. Realmuto
We asked you: How do you think the Phillies will fare with the loss of J.T. Realmuto? Among your responses:
Well I think it will have a big impact. I have every confidence in Stubbs, but know nothing about Marchan — Bill M.
This is bad news, but perhaps not as bad as it might be for a lesser team. First, they have enough offense and good-quality defensive catching to take up the slack, especially with Mr. Turner scheduled to be reactivated any day now (though it would be unfair to expect Mr. Turner to come back and immediately start hitting at an .850 OPS clip again). Second, this is a golden opportunity for Mr. Marchan, and one hopes he’ll make the best of it; and I expect there’s a good chance of that. His LHV slash is actually better than JT’s at the MLB level (his OPS is actually .777; lucky?). Mr. Marchan’s career has been slowed by injuries but he’s still only 25 and still has tons of upside; if he can carry even a .700 or high-.600′s OPS to the Show, he might actually earn the first-string-catcher role temporarily while JT’s on the mend. — Marty M.
JT Realmuto is the hardest Philly to replace. Stubbs has the heart of a lion, but he is hitting ..179 with no home runs and 3 rbi’s. At Lehigh Valley Marchan was hitting .233 with 2 home runs and 8 rbi’s. And of course replacing JT is more than stats. He is the heart of the Phillies that everything revolves around. He will be sorely missed. I asked my big Angel fan daughter Beth if we could have O’Hoppe back and she said, “No way Dad.” Also, while JT is out I think they should replace Rojas with a stronger hitter. It will not help to have two guys of nine with little offensive contribution. — Everett S.
This is a tough loss in many ways. From what I read, it looks like he was playing thru a small meniscus tear. It is the right decision to get it fixed now. He is a proven warrior behind the plate. He has already had one knee surgery (?which knee) and other injuries that prove how brutal being a catcher is. All that being said, he is irreplaceable in the batting order. Castellanos showed that yesterday. Stubbs played well yesterday but he is no JT. And Marchan has had multiple stints on the IL, one just recently. Getting any available catcher out there would still be a downgrade. Hopefully, our 10 game lead and great offense will mitigate this loss. I am hoping these two rise to the occasion but as a Philly fan, I’m very skeptical that will happen consistently. I hope I’m wrong. — Kathy T.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Marcus Hayes, Mike Sielski, Neil Paine, Benjamin Istvan, Alex Coffey, Lochlahn March, Isabella DiAmore, Jonathan Tannenwald, and Gabriela Carroll.
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Thanks for reading my first Sports Daily Newsletter. I’ll be on the controls every Thursday. Jim will be back on Friday for more. Stay cool! ― Isabella