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With the trading deadline looming July 30, the Milwaukee Brewers are taking steps toward improving themselves internally as well with several injured players nearing comebacks.

The closest of those is centerfielder Lorenzo Cain, who's been on the injured list since June 1 with a strained right hamstring.

"Lorenzos going to be with Nashville through the weekend and then rejoin us if everything goes well the next couple days," said manager Craig Counsell, whose team started a three-game interleague series with the Chicago White Sox at American Family Field Friday.

The Brewers then head out on a six-game road trip that begins Tuesday at Pittsburgh.

Cain was hitting .190 seven games and 21 at-bats into a rehab stint at Class AAA Nashville, and his return would help balance out what's been a left-handed-heavy outfieldin his absence with Jackie Bradley Jr. serving as the primary centerfielder alongside leftfielder Christian Yelich.

More: Haudricourt: With comfortable lead in the division, should Brewers go for jugular at the trade deadline?

Along the infield, third baseman Travis Shaw and first baseman Daniel Vogelbach are closing in on rehab assignments of their own.

Shaw has been on the IL since June 10 with a dislocated left shoulder and Vogelbach since June 23 with a strained left hamstring.

"Shaw and Vogey will not go on the road trip with us," said Counsell."They will both head to Nashville. Travis will start a couple days before Vogey, but theyll both start playing games while were in Pittsburgh."

Whenever Shaw is cleared to return, he might find playing time at third base difficult to come by withLuis Uras currently the Brewers' second-best run producer with 13 home runs and 45 runs batted in while also playing some good defense (plus-2 defensive runs saved through 322 innings entering Friday).

Milwaukee has mostly been utilizing Jace Peterson and Rowdy Tellez at first base in recent games. Peterson has been an on-base machine but doesn't provide a lot of power, while Tellez was hitting .154 with two RBI in just 13 at-bats since being acquired via trade on July 7.

Setup man Devin Williamsis eligible to come off the IL on Tuesday at Pittsburgh and he, too, might be ready to return to action.

The right-hander has been out since July 17 with right elbow discomfort, thinning the Brewers' depth toward the back end of their bullpen.

"Devins doing good," Counsell said."Hes going to throw a bullpen tomorrow. Hes played catch the last 3-4 days. Everythings good.

"Hell take the next step tomorrow."

Milwaukee did get some much-needed depth and experience back Friday with Brad Boxberger getting the all-clear to return.

The right-hander was forced from last Saturday'sgame at Cincinnati with a shoulder issue then was held out of both games against the Kansas City Royals.

"Hes good to go," Counsell said."He was available Wednesday but I was only going to use him in kind of a strict spot, I guess is the best way to say it. But the fact that we were able to get him some more days -- hes good to go today."

And indeed, Boxberger was the second pitcher out of the bullpen behind starter Freddy Peralta, putting up a scoreless seventh inning.

Utilizing a six-man rotation has helped limit the innings of all the Brewers' starters but most important their three horses in Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes andPeralta.

The thinking behind it was, coming off a two-month pandemic season, it would be a way to keep them healthier while also limiting their innings with Woodruff already 2 away from tying his major-leaguehigh set in 2019 (121), Burnes already having nearly doubled his at 96 and Peralta well past his at 98.

More: The Brewers and White Sox have their best starting pitchers lined up for a weekend series between first-place clubs

Milwaukee held Peralta back coming out of the all-star break to give him a breather, meaning his start Friday against the White Sox was his first since July 10 and his first game action of any kind since he pitched an inning in the All-Star Game three days later.

Woodruff was also flip-flopped with Burnes behind Peralta, leaving Burnes to square off against left-hander Carlos Rodon on Saturday and Woodruff against Lance Lynn on Sunday's nationally televised game.

"I think this is a scenario that benefits their health," said Counsell. "We think it benefits their performance, ultimately. And we think it prepares them for something that they didnt do last year, and hopefully prepares them for something pitching seven months that a lot of them havent done in their careers. Thats the thought behind it.

"I think being competitors, they want to pitch because thats what they do. But at the same time, they also understood it because I think weve explained it to them in a way that (emphasizes) that its for them and its for the team. I think theres reasons that it helps them and the team.

"So, to us it made sense."

The Brewers announced Friday they'd signed four more of their 2021 draft picks, including second-rounder Russell Smith.

Smith, a left-handed pitcher out of TCU, signed for a reported $1 million, well under the recommended slot of $1.44 million.

Also signing were ninth-rounder Brannon Jordan, a right-hander out of South Carolina; 16th-rounder Kay-Lan Nicasia, a shortstop out ofChampagnat Catholic School in Miami; and 18th-rounder Ryne Moore, a right-hander out of Old Dominion.

Milwaukee now has all four of its top picks under contract, and nine of 21 overall.

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The Brewers are finally turning the corner with regard to injuries at just the right time - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Dr Paul Wood, who spent over a decade in prison for the murder of his drug dealer, an author, motivational speaker and change manager. He has just released Mental Fitness, which provides practical techniques to flourish through stress and adversity.

At 18, Paul Wood was in prison and his life was completely off the rails. Now, as a doctor of psychology Paul uses his subsequent journey from delinquent to doctor to illustrate the process of transformational change. Here are some insights into the books that have inspired the Wellington author.

Which book do you wish you'd written and why?

7 habits of highly effective people. It takes a number of potentially life challenging ideas and associated practices and communicates them in a very accessible way.

Which book had such an impact on you that you bought it for your friends?

Malcolm Gladwells Outliers: The story of success. This book is a great way to shift mindsets from fixed to growth. In other words, to solidify the idea that success is not about simple talent, but rather a mix of potential, hard-work, dedication, and good fortune!

READ MORE:* How I write: Poet and translator Marco Sonzogni on how language makes a story* How I write: For inspiration CK Stead likes the spirit of Dickens * Lucinda Riley, author of current fiction chart-topper The Missing Sister, has died * How I write: Clare Moleta finds periods of immersion productive

Stuff

Dr Paul Woods latest book Mental Fitness Build your mind for strength and resilience for every day follows on from his 2019 release, How To Escape From Prison.

What books have made you cry?

The Idiot by Dostoevsky made me cry because of Prince Myshkins pureness of heart. I read this while imprisoned and surrounded by examples of the opposite, which can cultivate an outlook of cynicism rather than optimism about the human condition. Yet the most affecting thing I have ever read is the beginning of an unpublished manuscript by a close personal friend on his extensive career working in child homicide for the New Zealand Police. I shed tears while reading this on a plane.

What is your guilty pleasure reading list?

Any of Dean Koontzs thrillers. And Boddy Adairs post-apocalyptic thrillers. So much of my reading is focused on professional upskilling in respect of human behaviour and psychology that its great to just read something I dont have to learn anything from once in a while.

What book do you go back to time and time again to re-read?

Haruki Murakamis Kafka on the Shore. It is easy to go back to something that so sucks you in, yet also leaves you pondering its meaning, and wanting more. It was the first Murakami I read. It prompted me to go back and read everything he has written and make sure I have pre-ordered everything new he puts out.

Which authors would you want in your book club?

Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson, and David Sedaris. Harris is a neuroscientist and one of the so-called new atheists. Peterson is a psychologist and Christian. Both are very smart, opinionated, and controversial, but come from very different perspectives on some fundamentals of life. Sedaris is such a funny and delightfully neurotic author that he would bring an excellent levity and balance to the oh so serious Harris and Peterson.

ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF

Dr Paul Wood, who spent over a decade in prison for the murder of his drug dealer, an author, motivational speaker and change manager. He has just released Mental Fitness, which provides practical techniques to flourish through stress and adversity.

What book did you read as a child or teen that had a profound effect on you?

I read The Feather Men by Ranulph Fiennes in my late teens. It is a story regarding an SAS operation and the following retaliatory consequences. It was around the time one of my brothers gave me an SAS cap badge, and it may have started to sow seeds regarding the relentless pursuit of excellence that would change my life.

What must read book have you not read?

Prison gave me a lot of time to read the standard classics and must reads. So probably any must read books written in the last decade or so since my release would have been missed!

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Author talk: Dr Paul Woods on the books that have affected him - Stuff.co.nz

Politicians are making a big whoop of critical race theory.

People might call me such a theorist judging by a seminar I just taught at Lock Haven University, but I would struggle to explain critical race theory.

I dont use the phrase myself.

If those politicians define it, they are probably not defining it well. It sounds like they just put a foggy label on something they dont like.

It might assuage our fear of the concept, however, if I explain some of the seminar I just taught. Seminars at Lock Haven, by the way, are upper level courses with open topics. It enables faculty to teach a subject without trudging through a convoluted bureaucracy. It makes the university nimbler.

I called my seminar Whiteness and White People.

White people are very important to understand in American society. Not only are there a lot of them, but they have power.

At the start, we wove ideas from two good books: The Wages of Whiteness and Black Rednecks and White Liberals. Look them up.

Slavery was worldwide and much older than our nation. The same philosophies from western civilization that led to American independence, however, also was the beginning of a long fight against that slavery.

The Founding Fathers of our nation wrestled with the contradictions between slavery and their freedom from Britain and they knew it could lead to civil war. The forefathers had foresight.

The Quakers ended slavery among themselves in 1776 not a coincidental date. And Britain ended slavery in 1808.

In North America, racism did not so much lead to slavery. Slavery led to how we constructed race and racism.

I will forgive you for freaking out over the term socially constructed. It has gotten some bad press from folks such as Tucker Carlson and Jordan Peterson, but it is rooted in old and sound Symbolic Interactionism. Centuries ago, the English saw the Irish as a different race and acted upon them as though they were. And that is how it happens. The Irish later became white.

You should look up that good book too, How the Irish Became White.

So to make ourselves OK with slavery in the free world, we worked on whiteness and blackness.

This was made worse by Irish immigration. That group was oppressed by the British and immigrated with few skills at a time when it was becoming difficult to own land or start a shop.

They could have seen themselves as also unfree and chosen to side with slaves.

Instead, they played up the racial differences and took whiteness like a paycheck. We often associate black faced minstrels with the Irish during the 19th century. Many stereotypes of blackness crystalized during this time.

We failed our ideals also after reconstruction when northerners did not have the political will of presidents Lincoln or Grant.

Grant created the department of justice to crush the Ku Klux Klan and it did.

The Klan was much larger 50 years later because by then nearly all European immigrants were claiming whiteness.

It was a short circuit to citizenship.

Damn Democrats.

Just a few decades ago, whiteness remained an emotional thing. It meant you were a good American without needing to do all the work of being a good American.

That was valuable.

Many whites obsessed about stereotyping blackness.

Watermelon is good to eat. Why did we snicker in my youth like Beavis and Butthead about blacks eating watermelon?

See there?

Whites are weird when you study them.

We read one of my favorite ethnographies by anthropologist John Hartigan called Racial Situations.

He studied three different groups of whites in Detroit. Whites are a minority there and their experiences give whiteness some clarity.

We learned that rednecky whites often appear racist when they are actually inclusive of others.

We learned that wealthier whites can be both colorblind and exclusive of others. Wealthier ones are a tad slicker.

Its complicated.

Our university library put it on the shelf.

Students appreciated looking closely at Amish culture or at how Germany embraced a black sociologist a few years before they murdered millions of Jews.

My students did not become anti-American.

They pointed out the spaces between who we say we are and who we are.

Such self-examination is a very American thing to do.

Greg Walker is professor and chair of Sociology, Anthropology and Geography at Lock Haven University. Those books are available in Stevenson Library at Lock Haven University.

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David Petersons stay on the injured list could be an extended one, perhaps underscoring the need for the Mets to acquire starting pitching depth.

Manager Luis Rojas revealed Saturday that Peterson, who departed his last start with right side discomfort, was diagnosed with an oblique strain graded between one and two that will keep him sidelined for up to eight weeks. Rojas added he was told Petersons shutdown period could be a lot less and the left-hander will be evaluated on a weekly basis.

Peterson had pitched effectively in his three previous starts before allowing six earned runs over three innings against the Braves on Wednesday, but overall he has pitched to a 5.54 ERA in 15 starts for the Mets this season.

Even with his struggles, he had become a needed piece to a rotation scraping for pitching depth, with Noah Syndergaard, Carlos Carrasco, Joey Lucchesi and Jordan Yamamoto on the injured list. Lucchesi will not return this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

At the top of the rotation, Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker and Marcus Stroman have all pitched at an All-Star caliber level.

[Peterson] was giving us what we needed, Rojas said. We were getting a lot of consistent starts from three of our starters and we needed that to follow up with the next two, be more consistent, so the bullpen didnt get overused.

We had a lot of moving parts as we did at times, so for Peterson to bounce back and throw the way he was throwing, it was a relief for everybody. You could see the bullpen more efficient. I think we connected more games, I think we started winning more games in a row because of that.

With less than a month until the trade deadline, acting general manager Zack Scott will have to weigh the cost of adding another proven arm to the rotation against mortgaging too much of the future.

Minnesotas Jose Berrios and Cincinnatis Wade Miley and Luis Castillo are just some of the names that could be appealing to the Mets.

Of the IL pitchers, Carrasco is the closest to returning, with a late-July or early-August timeline. Rojas suggested Carrasco, who is throwing side sessions and still needs a minor league rehab assignment, might return even before he is fully stretched out to work deep into games.

There is a possibility he would join us not even being at the six inning mark, Rojas said. He can join us before that if we have somebody we want to [piggyback] him with at the major league level.

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Mets' David Peterson expected to be sidelined up to eight weeks - New York Post

New York Mets (42-36, first in the NL East) vs. New York Yankees (41-40, fourth in the AL East)

New York; Sunday, 7:08 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: TBD Yankees: Nestor Cortes Jr. (0-0, 1.02 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 25 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: Pete Alonso and the Mets will take on the Yankees Sunday.

The Yankees are 22-21 on their home turf. New York is averaging 3.8 RBIs per game this season. Aaron Judge leads the team with 43 total runs batted in.

The Mets are 18-25 on the road. New Yorks lineup has 76 home runs this season, Pete Alonso leads the club with 13 homers.

The Mets won the last meeting 8-3. Taijuan Walker recorded his seventh victory and Dominic Smith went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs for New York. Jordan Montgomery registered his third loss for New York.

TOP PERFORMERS: Judge leads the Yankees with 30 extra base hits and is batting .281.

Smith leads the Mets with 64 hits and has 34 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Yankees: 3-7, .251 batting average, 5.79 ERA, outscored by eight runs

Mets: 5-5, .239 batting average, 4.73 ERA, outscored by 14 runs

INJURIES: Yankees: Luis Severino: (elbow), Clarke Schmidt: (elbow), Wandy Peralta: (back), Corey Kluber: (shoulder), Zack Britton: (hamstring), Aaron Hicks: (left wrist), Clint Frazier: (vertigo).

Mets: Jordan Yamamoto: (shoulder), Noah Syndergaard: (elbow), David Peterson: (side), Joey Lucchesi: (elbow), Tommy Hunter: (back), Robert Gsellman: (lat strain), Carlos Carrasco: (hamstring), Dellin Betances: (right shoulder), Johneshwy Fargas: (shoulder), Jonathan Villar: (calf), Jose Martinez: (knee), J.D. Davis: (hand).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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Mets to take on Yankees on the road - Associated Press