🦅 Making the cut | Sports Daily Newsletter

The season doesn’t start until next Friday night, but these next few days are going to be important for the Eagles — especially the players on the back half the roster, the ones clinging to spots in the hopes that they’ll make the team’s 53-man roster. The Eagles will need to make those cuts before Tuesday’s deadline.

Prior to the Birds’ preseason finale against the Vikings, Olivia Reiner took a final crack at naming each of the players who will make Howie Roseman’s initial roster. Then, after the game, EJ Smith laid out his most likely outcome. Now, it’s Jeff McLane’s turn to unveil his one and only 53-man roster projection. With several players floating around the bubble and some jobs still left undecided, which players will be running out of the tunnel when the team opens its season against the Packers in São Paulo, Brazil?

Check out Jeff’s roster projection here.

We also continue to follow the Phillies, who took two of three from the Royals this weekend, outscoring Kansas City 22-5 over the last two games. They are currently 76-54 and lead the Atlanta Braves (70-60) by six games.

— Matt Mullin, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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A lot has been made of the Phillies’ starting pitching depth, or lack thereof. It makes sense. Taijuan Walker hasn’t been pitching like a No. 5 starter, and there aren’t many options behind him.

But the Phillies did add some pieces at the deadline, who could help at some point soon. In exchange for Gregory Soto, who they sent to the Orioles on July 30, they acquired two right-handed starters: Moisés Chace and Seth Johnson. Johnson, 25, was added to the 40-man roster, and is currently pitching at triple A. Chace, 21, is pitching at double-A Reading.

Alex Coffey caught up with minor league pitching coordinator Travis Hergert to discuss their similarities, differences, and where they fit in the Phillies’ future.

The big-league club, meanwhile, wrapped up its weekend with an 11-3 win over the Royals, thanks to a four-for-four day from Garrett Stubbs.

Next: The Phillies open a big seven-game homestand on Monday against the Astros. They’ll play three against Houston before the Braves come into town for a four-game set.

Shamar Williams is still grieving the loss of his Chester High football teammate, 17-year-old Zaheem Sabree, who was shot and killed on June 30.

“Me and Zaheem, we were close,” Williams said during a recent practice. “He was my dude in school. Out here, without him … it’s more than just football for me now, I’ve got to be out here for him.”

The team has dedicated its season to Sabree, who is the third member of the school’s football program to be killed by gunfire in the last seven years. Coach Dennis Shaw, who has been with the program for 11 years, said it has been difficult for everyone.

“I just wish we’d stop killing each other,” Chester quarterback Jalen Harris said. “Teens don’t even get to grow up.”

Lafayette Hill native Michael Rubin is well known as the billionaire founder and CEO of Fanatics and one of the founding forces behind the REFORM Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to parole and probation reform. And while his more recent ventures — including last weekend’s Fanatics Fest — have been successful, it didn’t start out that way.

At 14 years old, Rubin found himself in a $100,000 hole with creditors. Several lawsuits followed.

“The first couple weeks, I was like, ‘I’m done, I suck. I’m a failure.’ But I just found a way out of it,” Rubin told The Inquirer.

The former part-owner of the Sixers talked more about his business roots, the growth of Fanatics, why he won’t be returning to sports ownership, and much more during a rare break at Fanatics Fest.

When Patrick Sharp retired in 2018 after 15 NHL seasons and three Stanley Cups, the former Flyers forward tried his best to stay off his skates. He became a household name as a television analyst, but the game kept pulling him back. Except this time, the pull was coming from an outdoor roller hockey rink minutes from his home in Connecticut.

“Slowly I got back on my rollerblades and I found that it just reminded me of how I felt when I was a kid, skating in my backyard,” Sharp told The Inquirer.

So last June, he stepped away from the camera and took a job with the Flyers as a special advisor to hockey operations. His new gig has him involved in all aspects of the department, namely player development.

Jackie Spiegel spoke to Sharp about taking ideas from the concrete to the ice — and what he misses most about hockey.

Ups and downs: Trinity Rodman and other new USWNT stars are adjusting to life as Olympic champions, and finding out not everything is golden.

Owls flying blind: Temple heads to Oklahoma for its season opener on Friday — and Stan Drayton still hasn’t named a starting quarterback.

An empty Cup: The Union dropped their third-place game in the Leagues Cup in a penalty shootout. Apparently they don’t do well in PKs against local goalkeepers.

Here’s a place to access your favorite Philadelphia teams’ statistics, schedules, and standings in real time.

In Saturday’s 11-2 win over the Royals, J.T. Realmuto drove in seven runs to tie the Phillies’ franchise record for the most RBIs by a catcher in single game. Which former Phillie did he tie?

A) Darren Daulton

B) Mike Lieberthal

C) Carlos Ruiz

D) Bob Boone

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jeff McLane, Olivia Reiner, EJ Smith, Alex Coffey, Isabella DiAmore, Christian Red, Jackie Spiegel, Jonathan Tannenwald, Kerith Gabriel, and Declan Landis.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

Thanks for hanging with me as I fill in as your substitute newsletter guide. Be sure to check back tomorrow for more great stories on Philly sports and more. — Matt