The Philadelphia Phillies are heading into Saturday night’s home game against the Atlanta Braves as losers of seven of their last nine games. The Phillies’ pitching staff has been struggling, and the team revealed hours before first pitch that it won’t have its closer for a while longer.

The Phillies announced that Jhoan Durán has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactively to April 15, with a left oblique strain. He hasn’t pitched since April 11, when he recorded a save in a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Durán, whom Philadelphia acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline last year, has made seven appearances for the 8-11 Phillies this season, notching a save in each of his five save opportunities.

The flame throwing righty’s posted a 1-1 record so far with a 1.35 ERA, piling up eight strikeouts without issuing a walk in the 6 2/3 innings he’s pitched.

Durán’s spot on the roster will be taken by right-handed reliever Seth Johnson. The Phillies recalled him from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Johnson has made one relief appearance for Philadelphia this season, and that was on Monday in a 13-7 win over the Chicago Cubs.

When the 27-year-old entered the game, the Phillies were ahead 12-2. He made it through the seventh inning unscathed before allowing five runs — three earned — in the eighth.

Johnson logged 10 appearances for the club last season, clocking out with a 4.26 ERA.

The Phillies’ bullpen has been nipped by the injury bug so far this spring. Jonathan Bowlan and Zach Pop have also spent time on the IL.

Durán won’t be eligible to come off the IL until April 30. With him out, it’s possible Philadelphia looks to another right-hander in closing situations, Brad Keller. The Phillies signed Keller to a two-year deal in free agency this past offseason. He served as the Cubs’ closer late last season, collecting a trio of saves.

Keller has a 4.70 ERA through 7 2/3 innings of work this time around.

Regardless whom the Phillies pick to fill Durán’s void, their bats will have to come to life in his absence. Philadelphia’s offense, which has been shut out three times in this forgettable nine-game stretch, has also been lacking the juice it was expected to bring in 2026.

Senior linebacker Daymion Sanford had to be carted off the field on Saturday during Texas A&M’s “Maroon and White” spring game with a left-leg injury.

The injury reportedly occurred while Sanford, a team captain, was making a tackle on a run play late in the first half of the exhibition. Play was stopped, a cart came out and the Aggies’ medical staff put a cast around the lower part of his left leg before driving him off the field, according to On3’s Texas A&M site, AggieYell.

While there was still about two minutes remaining on the clock before intermission, Texas A&M called halftime early.

Travis L. Brown of KBTX Sports captured the aftermath of the injury on video:

Sanford was the fourth-leading tackler on a Texas A&M squad that made the program’s first-ever College Football Playoff appearance last season. Along the way, he took a sizable step as a junior.

While rising to the occasion in the absence of an injured Scooby Williams, Sanford went from starting just three games the season prior to becoming a defensive fixture for a unit that ranked 36th nationally with 21 points per game allowed during the 2025 campaign. That group stepped up in the first round of the CFP, holding eventual national runner-up Miami to a mere 10 points on a windy day in College Station.

Sanford recovered a fourth-quarter fumble and matched a team high with seven total tackles in that game. He finished the season with 57 total tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 1 interception.

Sanford was one of five Aggies players named a captain on Friday. The others are quarterback Marcel Reed, tight end Micah Riley as well as safeties Dalton Brooks and Marcus Ratcliffe.

It doesn’t look like a farewell tour will signal the beginning of the end of LeBron James’ illustrious NBA career.

The four-time league MVP and four-time league champion isn’t interested in one, anyway, according to The Athletic’s Dan Woike and Sam Amick, who published a report Friday detailing the Los Angeles Lakers superstar’s potential next steps and the uncertainty about which one he’ll take.

James, 41, is reportedly undecided about his future. It could still include a retirement after this season, per The Athletic’s report, which cited team and league sources who spoke to the outlet about James anonymously.

After making his 22nd All-Star team in his NBA-record 23rd season, though, James reportedly could very well keep playing, either with the Lakers or elsewhere.

Sean M. Haffey via Getty Images

James clearly still has a high-level impact on the game. He’s the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, after all. Granted he was starring against a Golden State Warriors team that was resting Stephen Curry, a Phoenix Suns team that didn’t have Devin Booker and a ghastly Utah Jazz squad, but James averaged 24 points, 9.7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals over those three wins to round out the regular season.

He returned to the forefront of the Lakers’ nucleus after thriving in a complementary role for an L.A. group that had been headlined by standout guards Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, both Dončić and Reaves are out “indefinitely,” according to head coach JJ Redick, meaning James will likely need a Herculean effort to propel the No. 4 seed Lakers past the No. 5 seed Houston Rockets to the Western Conference semifinals.

But, even if the Lakers suffer a first-round playoff exit, the promise of what the team can be with Dončić, Reaves and James could encourage James to re-up in L.A., where general manager Rob Pelinka has said he'd "love if LeBron's story would be to retire as a Laker."

In fact, according to The Athletic’s report, a strong March changed the franchise’s landscape. The winning the Lakers enjoyed that month reportedly increased the chances of James staying in purple and gold.

More specifically, L.A. went 15-2 in March. Along the way, James played 14 games, shooting 56.2% from the field and averaging 18.5 points, 7 assists and 6.9 rebounds while Dončić made a head-turning MVP push, and Reaves stacked eight 20-plus-point performances, including three 30-pieces in a row.

In other words, James gave way to Dončić and Reaves, still produced and the trio spearheaded some of the best Lakers basketball in recent memory.

James is in a contract year with the Lakers. Before the season started, there were legitimate reasons to believe it’d be his last with the team.

Although he picked up his $52.6 million player option last June, the next month news broke that L.A. didn't offer him an extension. Also, James was reportedly not given a heads-up about the sale of the Lakers from the Buss family to Mark Walter, whereas new franchise centerpiece Dončić was reportedly clued in about the transaction.

The transition of power couldn’t be ignored, and it created a good bit of hoopla.

Yet, even after missing the first 14 games of the season due to sciatica, James picked up where he left off the year before, and the Lakers managed their stars effectively. Throughout it all, James has relished the chance to play more extensively with his son, Bronny.

“Me being on the floor with him,” James said this week, “is the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my career, above everything that I’ve accomplished.”

Where else could James play next season?

While the Lakers reportedly have the clearest path to sign James this offseason, other teams are expected to be in the mix if James doesn’t retire.

Back in January, ahead of James’ noticeably emotional road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a report from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin came out, revealing the Cavs would welcome the Akron, Ohio, native back for his 24th NBA season and his third stay with the franchise that drafted him.

One last hurrah in Cleveland remains a possibility, according to The Athletic’s Friday report, which mentioned James linking up with Curry in Golden State next season is plausible as well.

But, per The Athletic, luxury tax obstacles could get in the way for both potential suitors. If James wanted to pursue playing for either of those teams, he’d reportedly have to be more flexible financially, something of course he can do if he wants, given his net worth, which Forbes currently measures at $1.4 billion.

The Athletic’s report states that, given the pull L.A. the city has on James now, a move to the Clippers could become part of the conversation. The Clippers are coached by Tyronn Lue, James’ coach when he and the Cavs staged a 3-1 comeback against a 73-win Warriors team in the 2016 NBA Finals.

If James plays next season, he reportedly wants to be somewhere he can help a team contend for an NBA title.