Deuce Vaughn looks like untackleable toddler

Cowboys rookie running back Deuce Vaughn is small, if you haven’t heard.

Deuce Vaughn is tiny, not just small.

According to the Cowboys, Vaughn is listed as 5’6 and 176 pounds, about the same size as your average NFL podcaster. But he makes up for his lack of size with speed and agility that would make the biggest defenders question their decision.

Vaughn has been getting reps at Cowboys training camp, and the size difference between him and the other players is striking.

Someone brought their child out to get a few reps with the team.

This video looks like it’s been sped up, but that’s just Deuce Vaughn running and everyone else looking so much bigger than he is.

Do you remember that meme video of Shrek running the dog course?

Do you remember this one?

As I watched video of Deuce Vaughn running through the Cowboys defense, I could only think of that.

There’s nothing else you can take away from the video outside of that. They’re not wearing pads because training camp just started, and players are running half speed. But Vaughn getting reps could mean good things for his snap count this season.

Dodgers trade for Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly in latest additions

With the acquisition of starter Lance Lynn and reliever Joe Kelly from the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers bolstered their short-handed rotation and bullpen.

As part of the trade, the White Sox received outfielder Trayce Thompson, originally drafted by Chicago in 2009, along with minor league starter Nick Nastrini and minor league reliever Jordan Leasure.

As part of this week’s acquisitions, Lynn and Kelly join shortstop Amed Rosario and utilityman Enrique Hernandez, all of whom could become free agents after the season. Lynn and Kelly both have club options for next season and are earning a combined $27.5 million.

The 36-year-old Lynn, who signed a two-year, $38 million extension with the White Sox in July 2021, has struggled mightily through his second season, posting a 6.47 ERA in 11923 innings while allowing 28 home runs. In order to accept the move to Los Angeles, Lynn waived his no-trade clause.

His under-the-hood stuff is not that different than it has been in the past, Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. Besides doing some digging, we have some suggestions with pitch usage that should be helpful. So getting him in our environment with our pitching guys and the energy that guys will have around him is really exciting.”

Like Hernandez, Kelly, who won the championship with the 2020 Dodgers in the COVID-19-shortened season, has posted a 4.97 ERA in 29 innings, striking out 41 batters and walking 12. A groin strain and elbow inflammation have caused the 35-year-old right-hander to spend two stints on the injured list this season.

The people of Los Angeles know Joe, and I would argue that his stuff is even better than it was when he was with us – velocity, curveball, all that stuff,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. For Joe, I think there’s been some IL time, some off time, and I think that, like most players, he thrives in a winning environment.”

Despite Lynn’s underwhelming numbers, the Dodgers had been one of the most aggressive bidders for starting pitching at the beginning of the week. Despite issues throughout their rotation, the Dodgers are sitting 15 games over .500 and in first place in the National League West.

Julio Urias has had an up-and-down year, Clayton Kershaw is on the injured list, Dustin May is out for the season, Walker Buehler hasn’t returned from Tommy John surgery, Noah Syndergaard struggled mightily before getting sent to the Cleveland Guardians in the Rosario trade, causing Emmet Sheehan, Bobby Miller, and Michael Grove to take on more work than they intended.

While Dodgers relievers struggled in the early part of the season, they have posted a major-league-best 2.67 ERA this month, with Caleb Ferguson, Ryan Brasier, Phil Bickford, Yency Almonte and Brusdar Graterol contributing late in games.

Four veteran players who are having relatively underwhelming seasons have been acquired by the Dodgers in Lynn, Kelly, Rosario, and Hernandez. Rosario and Hernandez will bounce around the middle infield and not spend most of their time at shortstop, where they played full-time in 2023.

In Los Angeles, all four believe they can improve.

“With Hernandez, there’s a familiarity, there’s something that we feel like we can tap into, essentially giving him some opportunities versus left-handed pitchers, use the versatility on defense. And I think that with Joe, familiarity, and I mentioned the culture part of it. I think there are some things with Lance — the sequencing, the strikeout rates, there are certain things that can raise that ceiling. And then with Amed — his buy-in, his athleticism. He’s now the fastest player on our ballclub, so that speed element, the ability to move around the diamond, to lengthen our ballclub versus left-handed pitching has raised the ceiling.”

As a result of his latest stint in Los Angeles, Thompson hit .155 in 36 games in 2023. He hit three of his five home runs in the first game of 2023 against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 1. Since June, Thompson has been on the injured list with a left oblique strain and had recently begun a rehab assignment with the Dodgers’ Arizona Complex League team.

Despite playing in a weak American League Central, the White Sox are 22 games below .500 and 13 games out of first place. They sent Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, and more veterans are expected to be discarded before Tuesday’s trade deadline. The White Sox had gone into a rebuilding phase hoping to establish themselves as a legitimate contender, but a division title in 2021 followed by a .500 finish in 2022.

A rebuilding cycle could begin on the South Side after the end of the 2023 season, the first under new manager Pedro Grifol.