Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce has been added as an assistant coach for USA Basketball this summer, when the Americans will compete in the FIBA World Cup in China and try to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Pierce is replacing Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan, who withdrew because of scheduling conflicts. Pierce, the Golden State Warriors' Steve Kerr and Villanova's Jay Wright will be the assistants under head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs. The World Cup stretches through Sept. 15. The demands of the schedule and the travel would have likely been too daunting for McMillan -- whose Pacers are scheduled to open training camp not long after the World Cup gold-medal game, and will then travel to India for a pair of preseason games on Oct. 4-5. "It's an honor to receive this opportunity to represent our country and to work with such great coaches and staff,'' Pierce said. "My family and I are excited about and committed to enjoying this journey.''

Pierce has history with U.S. men's national team managing director Jerry Colangelo. When Colangelo was working for Philadelphia, Pierce was an assistant coach there.

"He has demonstrated the ability in particular to be an outstanding defensive coach,'' Colangelo said. "Also, it was evident during our time together in Philadelphia that he was a strong leader, players respected him a great deal. I think we're fortunate to have someone of his abilities. I think he's really a good addition.''

The U.S. is ranked No. 1 in the world and will face the Czech Republic, Japan and Turkey during Group E games in Shanghai. The Americans will hold training camps in Las Vegas and Los Angeles in August, then have exhibition games in California and Australia before arriving in China.

The U.S. is seeking its third consecutive World Cup gold medal.

Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce has been added as an assistant coach for USA Basketball this summer, when the Americans will compete in the FIBA World Cup in China and try to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Pierce is replacing Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan, who withdrew because of scheduling conflicts. Pierce, the Golden State Warriors' Steve Kerr and Villanova Wildcats 's Jay Wright will be the assistants under head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs. The World Cup stretches through Sept. 15. The demands of the schedule and the travel would have likely been too daunting for McMillan -- whose Pacers are scheduled to open training camp not long after the World Cup gold-medal game, and will then travel to India for a pair of preseason games on Oct. 4-5. "It's an honor to receive this opportunity to represent our country and to work with such great coaches and staff,'' Pierce said. "My family and I are excited about and committed to enjoying this journey.''

Pierce has history with U.S. men's national team managing director Jerry Colangelo. When Colangelo was working for Philadelphia, Pierce was an assistant coach there.

"He has demonstrated the ability in particular to be an outstanding defensive coach,'' Colangelo said. "Also, it was evident during our time together in Philadelphia that he was a strong leader, players respected him a great deal. I think we're fortunate to have someone of his abilities. I think he's really a good addition.''

The U.S. is ranked No. 1 in the world and will face the Czech Republic, Japan and Turkey during Group E games in Shanghai. The Americans will hold training camps in Las Vegas and Los Angeles in August, then have exhibition games in California and Australia before arriving in China.

The U.S. is seeking its third consecutive World Cup gold medal.

CAMDEN, N.J. -- Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown warned his team heading into Tuesday's potential closeout game against Brooklyn to not let the Nets' physicality derail their goal of getting out of the first round.

"There's no secret how this game tomorrow will be played, given the complaints that have surfaced in regards to refereeing and what inevitably will be sort of the reaction to the game," Brown said Monday about Game 5 in the series that Philadelphia leads 3-1. "I want to get ahead of that as the coach. Anticipate different things like that. Share stories with my team so we can just stay very linear, very straight line. Just play through noise, and that's what interests me the most in how to close out a series."

The Sixers' 112-108 win in Game 4 was marred by ejections to Brooklyn's Jared Dudley and Philadelphia's Jimmy Butler when a skirmish broke out after Joel Embiid fouled Nets center Jarrett Allen, bringing the 6-foot-11 big man to the floor.

Then the league, in its Last Two Minute Report released Sunday, determined that Tobias Harris should have been called for a foul on Allen before Allen turned the ball over with the Nets trailing by two in the final seconds. The report also detailed a carry by Spencer Dinwiddie that should have been called.

"I mean, the game's over," Harris said Monday. "And really, who is to say he'd make both free throws anyway? I mean, I understand the league report came out and whatnot, but it is what it is. There was also something on Spencer Dinwiddie and a carry or whatnot. So, it is what it is. The game is finished. We got the win. I ain't going to say I shouldn't have done it or whatever. I was hustling. Clearly, they said it was a foul. So, it is what it is. I don't feel sorry."

The no-call on Harris, coupled with a previous foul by Embiid in Game 2 -- when his elbow to Allen's face was determined to only be a flagrant 1 instead of a flagrant 2 -- prompted Nets general manager Sean Marks to confront the officials after Game 4 by entering the referees' locker room.

Marks was fined $25,000 by the league, suspended for Game 5 and docked a game's pay.

"You see how much he's invested with the team," Dudley said Monday about the GM. "You've got to think about this: Sean was an ex-player too. ... He still has his competitive juices at all times. Just shows you his personality, a fiery guy. A guy who doesn't like to feel like he's disadvantaged. Wants to be on the same playing field. And for the most part, we're trying to set the tone for what he wants."

Embiid wanted his flagrant foul on Allen in Game 4 to be rescinded. Instead, he now is saddled with two flagrant foul points in the playoffs. If that total reaches four, he'll be suspended for a game.

"It's tough," Embiid said. "You just got to play basketball. If it happens, it happens. Like I said, I'm mature. I know what I'm doing. Although the last one, I don't even know if it was even a foul. I feel like I got all ball. So I don't know why it can be a flagrant foul, which doesn't make sense, but I'm just going to play basketball and just be myself."

When asked if he is concerned that players might try to bait him the rest of the postseason to add to his flagrant point total, Embiid said, "I don't care."

Brown has tried to drill to his players, Embiid included, that they still have to finish the job and getting in any sort of extracurriculars beyond executing the game plan will only jeopardize the team.

"It's the discipline that we have to have," Brown said. "I've told this group candidly, I sat on the bench in San Antonio [in 2007] when Robert Horry hip checked [Steve] Nash into the stands and Amare [Stoudemire] and Boris [Diaw] walked onto the court. And we weren't beating them. I think they were winning the NBA championship.

"We remember Draymond [Green] stepping over LeBron [James]. And they're up 3-1 and they lost the series [in 2016]. So it's not holding your breath. There are reminders that I owe my players as the coach to have them be adults, be big boys and navigate through this. It's not our fault at times we're 20 pounds heavier and 3 inches taller [as is the case with Embiid versus Allen]. And so, in the meantime, we just got to be smarter and that's my job."

And it's Embiid's job to play, as JJ Redick calls him the "focal point" and "anchor" for the Sixers' organization. After sitting out Game 3 with left knee soreness, Embiid was dominant in Game 4.

He wouldn't confirm that he will definitely be in the lineup for Game 5.

"Got to keep 'em guessing," Embiid said. "But if I do play, I'm going to be aggressive. We got to close them out tomorrow night. We don't want to go back to Brooklyn, so we got to do whatever that's necessary to close it out tomorrow."

ESPN's Ian Begley contributed to this report.

The NBA fined Brooklyn Nets minority owner Joseph Tsai $35,000 on Monday for making a public statement that was deemed detrimental to the league, commissioner Adam Silver said.

On Sunday night, Tsai offered support for Nets GM Sean Marks on Twitter after Marks was suspended one game without pay and fined $25,000 for entering the referees' locker room after the Nets' Game 4 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

My partners and I have spoken and the entire Nets ownership group support our GM Sean Marks for protesting the wrong calls and missed calls. NBA rules are rules and we respect that, but our players and fans expect things to be fair.

— Joe Tsai (@joetsai1999) April 22, 2019

In a statement issued by Silver, the NBA noted that Tsai's comments criticized the integrity of officiating.

The Nets and Marks believed Joel Embiid's flagrant 1s in the first-round series against Philadelphia should've been deemed flagrant 2s, a source told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. More than sending a message to the league by challenging the referees, Marks intended to send a message to his team that the franchise is determined to support the way the players are competing in the series, the source told Wojnarowski.

Nets players on Monday expressed appreciation for Marks and Tsai's actions.

"It shows we're all one organization -- we're not separated in different parts," Jarrett Allen said. "We're all together as one."

Added D'Angelo Russell: "Right is right, and wrong is wrong. In this situation where you feel like Sean had to step up, and Kenny had to step up and say things like that -- speak on it -- lets you know what's right and what's wrong. Simple as that. However you guys view it, whatever you guys saw or thought was necessary, I thought we handled it the best way we could."

The Nets lost 112-108 on Saturday in a game in which Brooklyn's Jared Dudley and Philadelphia's Jimmy Butler were ejected after a scuffle broke out following Embiid's flagrant foul against Allen in the third quarter. It was Embiid's second flagrant 1 in the series.

The call will remain a flagrant foul 1, sources told ESPN's Tim Bontemps, which means Embiid will remain with two flagrant foul points for the postseason. If a player reaches four, he earns an automatic one-game suspension.

Embiid's flagrant fouls weren't the only issues on which the Nets disagreed with referees. Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson also said after Game 4 that he thought the 76ers held Allen before he turned the ball over on the Nets' last chance to tie the game.

The league confirmed Atkinson's stance on Sunday when it stated in its 'Last Two Minute Report' that Sixers forward Tobias Harris grabbed Allen, preventing him from rolling from his screen and releasing to the basket sooner.

If Harris hadn't grabbed Allen, he might've had enough time to dunk the ball and tie the game.

On Monday, Atkinson stated emphatically that he didn't believe Brooklyn lost because of that missed call.

"The Nets lost because we weren't good enough quite honestly," the coach said. "We weren't good enough. We didn't make the plays. We didn't make the shots. We didn't execute. There were many things. I don't look at that. (Sunday) when I really reflected on our loss. I didn't think about that play."

Game 5 of the Sixers-Nets series is in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Only one first-round NBA playoff series (Celtics-Pacers) is over, but six more teams are on the brink of elimination.

Which players and teams have been the biggest surprises and disappointments so far? And what does this mean for the rest of the postseason and the future of these franchises?

Our NBA experts break down the notable teams in each conference, including the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers. Plus, they make predictions for what will happen the rest of the way.

1. What has been the biggest surprise so far in the East?

Kirk Goldsberry: Boston's sweep. Just when I was about to give up on the soap-opera Celtics, they had the exact series they needed versus Indiana, and they suddenly look like a dangerous opponent for anyone. Of course, the Pacers were short-handed, but Boston did everything it needed to do to gain confidence going into a likely second-round series against the vaunted Milwaukee Bucks. If the Celtics coalesce, look out.

Kevin Pelton: I don't think any of the teams have been particularly surprising, so I'll go with something I mentioned on Monday's Hoop Collective podcast: the ability of Boban Marjanovic to stay on the court for extended minutes. Marjanovic already has logged more playing time than he did in the 2016 playoffs for the Spurs, when his pick-and-roll defense was an issue. Boban's role has been crucial for the 76ers given Joel Embiid missing a game and the team needing to limit Embiid's minutes when he is active.

Tim Bontemps: Jared Dudley's leap into the national consciousness. Dudley has had a long, fine career in the NBA, taking Shane Battier's place as one of the league's premier advanced-stat-darling role players. But in this series against the 76ers, Dudley has become a huge factor, both because of his ongoing feud with Ben Simmons (though that began with his initial comments about Simmons being taken a fair bit out of context) and for his role in the Game 4 fracas after Embiid's second hard foul of the first round on Jarrett Allen. The playoffs always create surprising storylines and personal battles, and Dudley's emergence in this way in Brooklyn is no different.

André Snellings: The way that the Magic and Nets both came out and punched their more powerful opponents in the mouth on the road in their opening games. The East is very stratified, especially since Victor Oladipo's untimely injury, with four teams that are head and shoulders above the others. It wouldn't have surprised me if all four series were sweeps, so it was startling to see the Magic and Nets come in and win. It appears that the more powerful teams have since taken control, but those we're-coming/we-ain't-scared first impressions bode well for the future in Brooklyn and Orlando.

Bobby Marks: The play of Tobias Harris. After the Game 1 loss to Brooklyn, in which Harris had four points, people were ready to label him a regular-season player. Now heading into Game 5, the forward has become the 76ers' most consistent option. Not only has Harris averaged 24 points and nine rebounds and shot 50 percent from the field in the three straight wins, but the 76ers are plus-19.3 when he's on the floor. Without the play of Harris, Philadelphia would be looking at a 3-1 deficit, on the verge of being eliminated in the first round.

2. What has been the biggest surprise so far in the West?

Pelton: How Portland has controlled the series against Oklahoma City. The Blazers have had answers for everything that ailed them in last season's sweep by the New Orleans Pelicans. When the Thunder have forced the ball out of the hands of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, fellow starters Al-Farouq Aminu, Enes Kanter and Maurice Harkless have made big plays. And Lillard and McCollum have been forces without forcing the issue.

Snellings: I am probably higher on the Rockets than just about anyone, and it's still shocking how easily they've handled the Jazz so far. The Jazz were considered almost dark-horse contenders after finishing the season 30-11 in the second half, but the Rockets are dismantling them. The Jazz lost the first two games in the series by a combined 52 points, then returned home and couldn't win even with James Harden having a historically awful shooting night. The gap between the No. 4 and 5 seeds in the West wasn't supposed to be this large.

Marks: The resiliency of the young players in Denver. It is rare that we are writing about a No. 2 seed as a surprise with the series tied 2-2, but the Nuggets have played their best basketball when backed into a corner. We saw it in Game 2 when Jamal Murray scored 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets came back in a must-win game. After dropping Game 3 on the road, facing the possibility of returning home in a 3-1 hole, Denver played its most complete game of the season. Out of Denver's 117 points scored, 97 were from players who had never won a road playoff game.

Goldsberry: The Blazers. Coming out of last year's epic playoff debacle, Portland looks like a completely different animal this postseason. Lillard has been brilliant. McCollum has been strong. But they've managed to survive the Jusuf Nurkic injury in part because Kanter has been solid, even on defense. I did not see that coming.

Bontemps: I thought Oklahoma City would beat Portland, mostly because I thought Portland was sunk after the devastating season-ending injury to Nurkic. Instead, the Blazers look like they're going to make it to the Western Conference semis, and I would pick them as the favorites on their side of the bracket to make the West finals. Lillard has completely outplayed Russell Westbrook, and the always-underrated Terry Stotts has done an excellent job of coaxing better play out of Portland's supporting cast. After years of playoff failures in the Pacific Northwest, a combination of Portland's play and the bracket breaking in the right direction could lead to the kind of breakthrough for which Lillard and the Blazers have been dying.

3. What has been the biggest disappointment so far in the East?

Marks: Indiana. The disappointment is not with the Pacers getting swept by the Celtics but what might have been had Victor Oladipo not suffered a season-ending right knee injury in late January. At the time, the Pacers were rolling. Though Indiana stayed afloat, winning 48 games, the playoffs showed the challenge of manufacturing offense without Oladipo on the court. The Pacers averaged 95.8 points per 100 possessions, down from 109.3 in the regular season.

Snellings: The status of Joel Embiid's knee. Though he has played in three of four games thus far, the fact that he has missed time and been listed as questionable or doubtful is very concerning for a team that otherwise could have legitimate championship aspirations. The top of the East shapes up as a slugfest, and Embiid should be right in the middle of it. If his knee issues persist, it could rob us of what should be some classic basketball over the next few weeks.

Bontemps: As a neutral party, I view the biggest disappointment as the Nets failing to win Game 4 and make sure this series with the Sixers -- easily the most entertaining one of the first round, regardless of conference -- goes at least six games. Nets-Sixers has had it all -- drama on and off the court, big individual performances, contrasts in styles, strategic adjustments; you name it, this series has had it. Now, though, it is likely to end Tuesday in Philadelphia, where the Sixers can close things out on their home court in Game 5.

Goldsberry: The Pistons. They showed some intriguing signs of competence late in the season, but they simply haven't looked like they belong in the playoffs. Yes, Blake Griffin missed the first two games with injury, but even with him available, they couldn't put anything together in Game 3. This once-proud franchise now has lost an NBA-record 13 playoff games in a row. If that's not a disappointment, I don't know what is.

Pelton: Nikola Vucevic, so good during a regular season that resulted in both his first All-Star nod and his first playoff appearance in Orlando, has been unable to reach the same level during the playoffs. He's averaging just 12.5 points on 37.5 percent shooting and was largely a nonfactor in the Magic's Game 1 win. Granted, playing against Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka is a challenge, but Orlando has needed more from Vucevic.

4. What has been the biggest disappointment so far in the West?

Bontemps: I'll give this as a tie to Utah and Oklahoma City (and specifically Russell Westbrook). Utah losing to Houston is one thing; Utah getting annihilated in the first two games of this series is another. The Jazz were much better in Game 3, but they still couldn't find a way to win a game at home in which James Harden went 3-of-20 from the floor, and now they could get swept out of the playoffs. Westbrook, meanwhile, is shooting 36 percent from the floor, and the Thunder look like they're about to lose in the first round for a third straight season. When the bracket broke the way it did, with Golden State and Houston on the opposite side, that's not what the Thunder were expecting to happen.

Marks: Russell Westbrook. Though there is plenty of blame to go around (including the lack of shooting on the roster), all eyes are on Westbrook. After shooting 5-of-20 in a Game 2 loss on the road, Westbrook scored one point in the second half at home in Game 4. That loss has Oklahoma City down 3-1 and on the verge of losing in the first round yet again.

Pelton: The Utah Jazz failing to win a game thus far against the Houston Rockets. I expected this to be the closest first-round series, but the Rockets dominated at home and pulled out a win in Salt Lake City despite James Harden missing his first 15 shots, putting them a game away from a sweep. Utah could join the 2004 Memphis Grizzlies and 2008 Denver Nuggets as just the third team since the first round went to best-of-seven to win at least 50 games during the regular season and none in the playoffs.

Snellings: The two best teams in the conference won't face each other in the conference finals. Last season's Western Conference finals -- between the defending champion Warriors and the top-seeded Rockets -- was the de facto NBA championship due to the inequity between the East and West. This season, that matchup appears destined to occur in the second round, too early and with the stage not fully set to appreciate the magnitude. Of course, the cynic might point out that having the Rockets and Warriors play in the second round could be a benefit due to the history of health issues on both sides, so perhaps playing earlier can prevent any more major injuries from marring the outcome.

Goldsberry: Utah, Utah, Utah. The Jazz played terrific basketball after the All-Star break but have looked terrible in the first round. Not only has their great defense failed to show up, but they have the worst offensive rating of any West playoff team. One big problem: 3-point shooting. They've made only 25.5 percent of their 3s against Houston, and Jae Crowder, Thabo Sefolosha and Joe Ingles have each been worse than that. Yuck!

5. What is your bold prediction for the rest of the postseason?

Snellings: The dominant Warriors, winners of three of the past four NBA championships, will not win the title this season. There is a very good chance that they don't even make the conference finals, as the Rockets appear poised to take them down. The team that represents the East also has a very legitimate shot to take down the representative from the West. Said another way: If given the choice between the Warriors and the field, this season I'm taking the field.

Goldsberry: The Larry O'Brien Trophy is moving East. Like Andre, I think the Warriors are vulnerable, but I also think whoever comes out of the East will take home the title.

Pelton: Nikola Jokic, currently 0.7 assists per game away, averages a triple-double.

Bontemps: That Golden State beats Houston in five games in the Western Conference semifinals. For all of the growing belief that the Rockets can beat the Warriors in a series, I think that the Warriors -- if healthy -- will end that series more quickly than many would expect. And here's a bonus one: Toronto will win the East.

Marks: A Joel Embiid flagrant foul will cost Philadelphia a chance at reaching the conference finals. After picking up flagrant fouls in Games 2 and 4, Embiid is two points shy of serving a one-game suspension.

The Colorado Rockies placed left-handed pitcher Kyle Freeland on the 10-day injured list on Monday with a blister on his left middle finger.

Freeland (2-3) threw six scoreless innings last Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies but left after 85 pitches because the blister started forming on his finger.

Freeland has a 4.23 ERA in five starts this season. Last year, he went 17-7 with a 2.85 ERA in 33 starts.

In another move, the Rockies reinstated lefty Tyler Anderson (left knee inflammation) from the 10-day IL. Anderson will start Monday's game against the Washington Nationals.

PITTSBURGH -- Gregory Polanco couldn't get the awkward slide into second base last September that dislocated his left shoulder out of his head. The Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder pored over the video during his lengthy rehab to the point where it simply got to be too much.

"It was terrible," Polanco said. "I watch it a lot of times and it was not a good feeling to watch it, so I stopped."

He focused on the long road back, one that reached a significant milestone on Monday when the Pirates activated the 27-year-old off the injured list and put him in the lineup in time for the opener of a four-game series with Arizona.

Polanco was legging out a double against the Miami Marlins on Sept. 7 when he tried an unorthodox slide to avoid a tag. He appeared to leap in the air before extending his left leg toward the bag, tumbling forward and starting a sequence that ended with his left shoulder dislocated and the labrum in his throwing shoulder torn. He had surgery on Sept. 12, ending a season in which he hit a career-high 23 home runs.

Pittsburgh estimated Polanco could be out up to nine months. He made it back in a little over seven, a testament to the way he pushed himself even while spending time back home over the winter in his native Dominican Republic.

"They ask me to do extra, I do extra," Polanco said Monday. "My homework too. Back home they would ask me to do exercises, and I did it."

Polanco joins a club off to a 12-7 start despite having a lengthy injury list that includes outfielders Starling Marte, Corey Dickerson and Lonnie Chisenhall. Polanco hit .300 with five RBIs and two stolen bases during a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis. He has also worked extensively on his sliding, a portion of his game that he struggled with before getting hurt.

"Unfortunately the collateral damage that he incurred from a poor sliding technique, I think that got his attention," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "And sometimes pain can bring specific attention to an immediate area, and I think in this case it was sliding. He worked very hard to tighten that up and get that in a better place."

Polanco will be prohibited from sliding headfirst and he still isn't near 100 percent arm strength, though Hurdle noted Polanco's velocity is up significantly from the end of spring training. Pittsburgh will try to help Polanco by pushing cutoff men farther into the outfield.

Though Polanco pledged to stay aggressive both on the field and on the bases, he will also do what he can to avoid another mishap like the one that led to the first significant injury of his career.

"When you make mistakes like that, it costs you," he said. "It cost me a lot of games for me and you know, maybe my arm wouldn't be the same this year. I'm here. I'm happy that I'm back here and I'm able to join the team and enjoy it with my guys."

To make room for Polanco, the Pirates optioned left-handed reliever Steven Brault to Triple-A.

NEW YORK -- New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom remains on track to start Friday night after an MRI on his right elbow showed no damage.

New York general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said the NL Cy Young Award winner had a test Monday morning that came back clean.

"No problems whatsoever,'' Van Wagenen said, later adding: "We got the answers we were hoping for.''

DeGrom threw a 30-pitch bullpen session Monday. He is lined up to come off the injured list and start the opener of a weekend series against Milwaukee at Citi Field.

DeGrom reported soreness last week, and the Mets put him on the injured list while the team was in St. Louis. The move followed two shaky starts by deGrom, leaving him 2-2 with a 3.68 ERA. Later, the team said deGrom had been slowed by strep throat.

DeGrom and the club said his elbow trouble likely was a result of altering his routine during the recent bout of strep throat.

The Mets made a series of roster moves before opening a series against Philadelphia. Third baseman Todd Frazier was activated from the injured list and set to make his season debut after recovering from a strained left oblique. Lefty Justin Wilson was put on the injured list with elbow soreness, right-hander Paul Sewald was sent to Triple-A Syracuse and infielder Luis Guillorme was called up from the minors.

Also, second baseman Robinson was out of the starting lineup a day after being hit in the right hand by a pitch, and shortstop Amed Rosario was out with flu-like symptoms.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi will have elbow surgery on Thursday and will be out of action for 4-6 weeks, a source confirmed to ESPN.

The Athletic first reported that Eovaldi would have surgery.

The Red Sox placed Eovaldi on the injured list Saturday because of a loose body in his right (throwing) elbow. Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski said then there was a chance the loose body, described as cartilage, was there when Eovaldi underwent surgery while with the Tampa Bay Rays in March 2018 and missed two months.

Eovaldi said he didn't experience any symptoms after his start against the New York Yankees last Wednesday, when he tossed six innings while allowing one unearned run, walking one and striking out six.

The 29-year-old knew something was wrong when he could not straighten out his arm during the team's off day in Tampa Bay.

Eovaldi signed a four-year, $68 million deal in December. He is 3-3 with a 4.08 ERA in parts of two season in Boston. So far this year, the hard-throwing righty has a 6.00 ERA in four starts, allowing 14 runs in 21 innings pitched, striking out 16 and walking 11.

When Christian Yelich showed up for the 2018 All-Star Game as a reserve, we all thought we knew who he was: above-average power, above-average speed, above-average defense, pretty good but unexceptional at everything. Yelich wasn't a superstar but certainly good enough to be, say, the fourth-best player on a championship team.

Then in the eighth inning of that game Yelich homered, and in the 400 plate appearances since then he's been the National League's best player. It's easy to overstate 400 plate appearances, even 400 plate appearances as good as Christian Yelich's past 400 have been. Good players go through long and surprising hot streaks. Even mediocre players do sometimes. Careers last 20 or 30 times that long, and a player's 400 best plate appearances get consumed by the much larger record.

But what Yelich has done is different. What we've seen the Milwaukee Brewers slugger do since July 2018 isn't necessarily unprecedented, but it is historic, because we've most likely just seen a player make the Hall of Fame.

A few years ago, I looked at how many WAR a player needed to produce by each age level to be more likely to make the Hall of Fame than not. In other words: Of all the players who had at least X WAR through each age, half made the Hall and half did not. We called "X" the 50 percent probability.

Through age 25, Christian Yelich was right on the bubble. The 50 percent probability mark for 25-year-olds was about 18 WAR, and Yelich had about 19. For 26-year-olds, the mark was 20 WAR. Through the All-Star break last year, Yelich had 21.

He was narrowly on the right side of the line, but you'd have probably been wise to bet against him. The probability mark is a bit of a logical fallacy, generously lumping in those bubble players with the surefire Hall of Famers who had many more WAR at that age. (If 50 percent of players with 18 or more WAR through age 25 make the Hall, far, far, far fewer than 50 percent of players with 20 or fewer WAR do.) The 50 percent probability is less a promise than a guide for figuring out which players' chances are most in flux, like Yelich's.

But Yelich's skill set was also not one likely to be recognized by future voters. He'd never led the league in any statistical category, never hit more than 21 homers or stolen 21 bases, never finished higher than 19th in MVP voting -- itself a good proxy for the sorts of things these same voters would reward a decade or two hence. The 2018 All-Star Game was his first appearance. His most comparable player through age 25, according to Baseball-Reference.com, was Chet Lemon, followed by Johnny Damon. Only one of his 10 most comparable predecessors (Dave Winfield) made the Hall.

Then the All-Star Game happened, and the players came back for the second half, and less than a year later the bubble candidate isn't really on the bubble anymore.

To understand how much Yelich's case improved requires a quick rundown of before-and-after snapshots. At the All-Star break last year, Yelich was hitting .292/.364/.459, and for his career he was a .288/.365/.435 hitter. By OPS+, he was around the 350th best hitter of all time (minimum 3,000 plate appearances), tied with Mike Greenwell, Shane Mack and Chili Davis.

Since then, he has hit .364/.451/.792. In just 400 plate appearances, his career OPS has gone up by 51 points, and those 51 points -- those 400 plate appearances! -- have moved him up more than 200 spots on the career OPS+ leaderboard. He's now ahead of Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Gwynn, Winfield and Eddie Murray. There are still plenty of non-HOF hitters around him, but remember that Yelich was always a do-everything player, and his raw offensive stats now join his baserunning and defensive value to make a player with elite value and bold-ink stats. He ended his age-25 year as the 143rd best player ever through that age by WAR. He ended his age-26 season 88th, with 26.5 WAR, ahead of dozens of non-controversial Hall of Famers. He's not a lock to make the Hall by any means; his career will also have to be built on longevity, as any Hall of Famer's does. But he's now on his way.

This year, he's third in baseball (behind Cody Bellinger and Mike Trout) with 1.9 WAR through Sunday. Just three more WAR this year -- in line with his pre-explosion career levels -- would push him past 31 career WAR, even further ahead of the Hall of Fame pace, which is about 23 WAR through age 27.

If Yelich truly has transformed himself, he'll blow past even that, and all indications are he has. Before last year's All-Star break, he was a hitter who tended to hit the ball to the opposite field and who tended to hit the ball on the ground or on a line. Since then, he has increased his fly ball rate from 12 percent to 24 percent. Most hitters tend to pull ground balls but hit fly balls the other way; Yelich has managed to increase his pull rate at the same time he has increased his fly ball rate, from 38 percent pre-2018 All Star break to 43 percent since.

And almost every fly ball he pulls is hit hard and far. Before last year's midway point, he had slugged .935 on flies. Since then, he has slugged 2.136. He has pulled four fly balls this year, and they've all been home runs. Before last summer, he had never had an OPS over 1.000 in a month. April is all but certain to be his fourth consecutive month over 1.000.

Was there a single swing, a single day, when Yelich became a probable Hall of Famer? Probably not. Maybe it was that swing in the All-Star Game that launched this torrid streak. Maybe it was the seven-hit series he had against the Dodgers coming out of the break, which set the tone for a historic second half. Maybe it was the two-day stretch he had against the Reds in August: two homers one day, six hits the next. Maybe it was September, to that point the best month of his career, when he hit .370/.508/.804 to clinch the MVP award. Maybe Game 1 of the NL Division Series, when he homered to break a scoreless tie and then, in extra innings, walked and scored the winning run.

Maybe it's this month, when he's as hot as you've ever seen a player and the league is finally giving up and starting to just walk him.

But if you can't tell your grandkids about one game, you'll surely be able to recount this four-month stretch, when we've all started watching every Yelich at-bat. We've realized that until 400 plate appearances ago, we didn't know Yelich at all. How grateful we should be that now we do.

We’ve teamed up with NN Running Team and have three copies of their stunning photo-led world record celebration publication to give away

On September 16, 2018, history was made.

Running the BMW Berlin Marathon in 2:01:39, Eliud Kipchoge obliterated the world record.

“No human is limited.”

In celebration of Kipchoge’s incredible achievement, NN Running Team and his management agency Global Sports Communication worked with photographer Dan Vernon to create a stunning photo-led publication which highlights the journey and work that went into the world record from Kipchoge and all those around him.

Starting with snapshots of Kipchoge training in Kenya, the book includes insight into his life and motivation and goes on to show the 34-year-old in world record-breaking action on the roads of Berlin.

Each page lists a kilometre of the marathon along with Kipchoge’s time at that mark in Berlin. His average pace was a jaw-dropping 69.19 per 400m, 4:38.4 per mile and 14:24.9 per 5km.

Kipchoge inspires many with his words as well as his performances, and the publication also features quotes from the Kenyan as he describes the importance of teamwork and the power of the mind.

“Nothing is stronger than a peaceful mind.”

“100 per cent of me is nothing compared to one per cent of the whole team.”

The book isn’t available to buy but we’ve teamed up with NN Running Team and have three copies up for grabs for AW readers.

How to enter

For your chance to win one of three copies of the book ‘Eliud Kipchoge – 2:01:39’, simply complete the form below, correctly answering the competition question.

Terms and conditions

Competition closes at 12 noon BST on Monday April 29, 2019. One entry only per person.

Click here for AW’s competition terms and conditions.