Mickey Moniak, the Colorado Rockies’ top offensive player this season, was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday due to a right ankle injury.

The transaction opened the door for Sterlin Thompson to join Chad Stevens as unlikely game-winning heroes.

The two players who were Triple-A teammates at mid-week will look to help the Rockies win for the second straight game on Saturday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.

Stevens, a 27-year-old infielder, was recalled from Albuquerque on Thursday and started the past two games. Thompson, 24, was recalled Friday to fill the roster spot of Moniak.

Both Stevens and Thompson stepped up in the ninth inning of Friday night’s 3-2 win over Arizona. Thompson doubled with one out in the ninth for his second career hit, and Stevens followed with the tiebreaking single, his third major league hit.

“It’s crazy getting the hit and then Chad bringing me in,” said Thompson, who served as the designated hitter while playing in his fourth big-league game. “It’s a great moment. Playing Triple-A together this year, it’s just find a way to win, and both of us did that in the top of the ninth.”

Thompson will get some at-bats in the short term, but there’s no telling how long his second stay in the majors will be. He played in three games earlier this month and was sent back down to Albuquerque when outfielder Tyler Freeman was activated from the paternity list on May 19.

Of course, the Rockies also don’t want to play without Moniak for long. He is batting .280 and leads Colorado with 12 homers and 28 RBIs in 43 games.

“Mickey never wants to go on the IL,” Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s a warrior. He’s a battler. It’s just honest, man-to-man conversation about what’s best for him, what’s best for the team. He agrees.”

Colorado rallied from a 2-0 deficit on Friday to halt Arizona’s season-best five-game winning streak. The Diamondbacks beat the Rockies 2-1 in Thursday’s opener of the four-game set.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drove in both Arizona runs on Friday but departed in the sixth inning with left hamstring tightness after making a sliding catch on TJ Rumfield’s fly to shallow left.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said Gurriel is “day to day” and will undergo imaging on Saturday.

“It’s unfortunate and we’ll try to figure out what that means,” Lovullo said.

Gurriel said the injury occurred while he was running.

“It doesn’t seem to be too serious,” he said through an interpreter.

Right-hander Zac Gallen (2-4, 4.78 ERA) has had success against the Rockies and will take the ball on Saturday. Gallen is 9-1 with a 3.41 ERA in 18 career starts vs. Colorado.

Gallen ended a seven-start winless stretch in his last turn when he defeated the San Francisco Giants 12-2 on Monday. He gave up two runs and four hits over six innings.

Gallen, 30, allowed 17 runs and 19 hits in 14 1/3 innings over his previous three starts, losing each.

Ezequiel Tovar is 6-for-13 with a homer against Gallen. Hunter Goodman (2-for-8) also has taken Gallen deep.

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen (2-6, 7.03 ERA) will start for the Rockies on Saturday. He will look to halt a four-start losing streak. He has allowed 19 earned runs and 29 hits in 20 innings during the span.

The 34-year-old gave up seven runs (six earned) and nine hits over 4 2/3 innings in an 8-6 loss to Arizona last Sunday in Denver. He served up homers to Corbin Carroll and Gurriel.

Lorenzen is 3-2 with a 3.77 ERA in 11 career appearances (three starts) against the Diamondbacks. Carroll (2-for-8) has homered twice against him.

–Field Level Media

In all of college football this upcoming season, it’s highly doubtful any team is expected to take more of a leap than LSU.

After missing the College Football Playoff for the sixth straight season, the Tigers ended Brian Kelly’s ineffective tenure and paid out to the tune of seven years and $91 million to bring Lane Kiffin over from Ole Miss to take over as head coach.

LSU also paid up for its roster, landing the No. 1 high-school recruiting class and No. 1 transfer portal class according to 247Sports’ rankings.

They brought in one of the best quarterbacks in the portal in Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt and a host of other top players who should immediately improve the roster drastically.

LSU hasn’t won more than 10 games since its last national title in 2019 — high standards, I know — but this roster looks poised to break through with a playoff berth this fall.

Here’s four other teams that appear ready to make the leap in 2026:

Auburn

Elsewhere in the Southeastern Conference, Auburn is also introducing a new coach this season in Alex Golesh, who left South Florida after a successful three-year stint to helm the Tigers.

Perhaps the biggest immediate win for Golesh is that his USF quarterback, Byrum Brown, followed him to Auburn. Brown arrives as one of the most experienced quarterbacks in college football, throwing for 7,286 yards, rushing for 2,086 yards and scoring 84 total touchdowns (56 passing, 28 rushing) over the last three seasons.

That’s the production the Tigers have been badly missing the last decade. At the least, it should lead them to their first eight-win season since 2019.

UCLA

The move from the Pac-12 to Big Ten has been challenging for UCLA.

The Bruins are a combined 8-16 (6-12 in Big Ten) in their two years in the conference. They’re coming off a 3-9 season, tied for the least wins in program history since 1971. They’ve made just two bowls in the last eight years.

Bob Chesney is hoping to fix that. The new Bruins coach has a 132-52 career record as a head coach over his unique career, which has taken him from D-III Salve Regina to UCLA. He led James Madison to a 21-6 record the last two seasons and a 2025 CFP appearance.

It may take some time for UCLA to peak under Chesney, but his track record indicates an immediate improvement is coming.

Wisconsin

It’s not that long ago that Wisconsin was a perennial fringe Big Ten contender.

The Badgers, like UCLA, have fallen on hard times of late. After making 22 straight bowl games from 2002-23, Wisconsin has finished the last two seasons below .500.

While Luke Fickell was seen as an ace hire from Cincinnati ahead of the 2023 season, something hasn’t clicked yet as expected. Instead of firing him this offseason, the Badgers announced they would be giving the football program more money to improve its roster.

We’ve seen a similar move pay off for other schools. We’ll see if it does in Madison.

Boise State

Boise State is finally getting what it’s been after for decades in 2026.

It is joining a conference which could increase its legitimacy. Given, the new-look Pac-12 the Broncos are joining isn’t the Pac-12 of two years prior given the vast and recent conference realignment.

But still, it’s an upgrade in conference branding and a conference the Broncos could have immediate success with as a competitor.

They’re less than two years removed from a CFP berth and followed with nine wins last season despite significant roster overhaul.

Memorial Day, which is the unofficial first major mile marker of the Major League Baseball season, arrives next Monday — which is May 25, the earliest possible date for the final Monday of May.

Of course, the Major League Baseball season started earlier than ever this year, so Memorial Day remains a pivotal point for everyone — especially those who are struggling. Here’s a look at nine players for whom it’s no longer too early to get worried.

—Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres 3B & 2B/RF: A 2-for-1 deal here for the Padres, who are in the thick of the National League West race with the Los Angeles Dodgers despite their franchise players batting a combined .209 with seven homers — all by Machado — and 37 RBIs. The slow start for Machado, whose .178 average is the fifth-lowest amongst qualified batters, is a reminder he’s going on 34 and hasn’t posted an .800 OPS since 2022. And Tatis possessing a .590 OPS — the 11th-lowest in the game — is a reminder his post-PED bust OPS of .781 is nearly 200 points lower than his pre-PED bust OPS of .965. Oh and Machado is signed through 2033 and Tatis through 2034. Gulp.

—Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles SS, and Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies SS: It’s not good when the AL and NL leaders in at-bats (209 for Henderson, 201 for Turner) are both posting an on-base percentage below .300. Henderson (10 homers, 24 RBIs) is providing some pop, but he’s got 14 walks and 63 strikeouts after entering the season with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of a little more than 2:1. Plate judgment has never been a strength of Turner, who has walked more than 45 times just once in nine full seasons, but the defending NL batting champ is hitting just .236, which would be his lowest mark since a 27-game cameo as a rookie in 2015.

—Bo Bichette, New York Mets 3B/SS: Of course one of the game’s most consistent and clutch hitters forgets how to hit and hit in the clutch upon joining the Mets. Bichette, who took to third base pretty well before shifting back to shortstop following injuries to Francisco Lindor and Ronny Mauricio, is batting just .225 overall and .200 with runners in scoring position, well below his career marks of .290 and .322, respectively. His three homers in back-to-back games Monday and Tuesday were two more than he had in his first 46 games combined.

—Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants 3B: The Giants, whose 173 runs are the fewest in the majors, have no shortage of disappointments in their lineup. But nobody’s struggles are as jarring as those being endured by Chapman, who has one homer, 13 extra-base hits and a .312 slugging percentage in 186 at-bats after averaging 23 homers, 54 extra-base hits and a .458 slugging percentage per season over his first nine years.

—Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners P: Gilbert entered this season with a 3.58 ERA while allowing an average of one homer every 7.5 innings over his first five seasons. But he has a 4.45 ERA in 11 starts this year while surrendering 11 roundtrippers, tied for the most in the AL. The Mariners have no shortage of quality starting pitchers, but they need something close to a peak Gilbert to make another run at that elusive first pennant.

—Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies P: Nola was one of baseball’s most reliable pitchers from 2015 through 2024, when he ranked amongst the top five in wins (fifth with 104), strikeouts (third with 1,779) and innings pitched (fourth with 1,621 1/3) while posting a 3.70 ERA. But the mileage might have caught up to Nola, who posted a 6.01 ERA while being limited to 17 starts due to ankle and rib injuries last year and has a 6.04 ERA this year, the second-worst amongst qualified starters.

—Framber Valdez, Detroit Tigers P: The Tigers thought they were getting one of baseball’s best No. 2 starters when they signed Valdez, who led baseball with 68 wins and ranked fifth with 902 1/3 innings pitched while posting a 3.20 ERA from 2021 through 2025. But Valdez is 2-3 with a 4.58 ERA for Detroit, which is without ace Tarik Skubal and tied for last place in the AL Central. Valdez also got suspended five games for throwing at Trevor Story, which raised familiar questions about his maturity level.