Worldwide Sports News

There are little bits of Jays news today.

Tanner Andrews has cleared waivers and is on his way back to Buffalo. Not really a surprise, but it’s good to keep some pitching depth.

And it sounds like we will have Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer back this week. They have a couple of open spots coming up (and an off-day Thursday). I’d love to see us get out of the ‘two bullpen days out of five’ cycle they have been in. As much as I’d love bullpen usage to return to the days of the 1990s, but that’s not happening. The game has changed.

Of course, I’m not sure that Scherzer will pitch much deeper into game than your average reliever. But having Spencer Miles in the pen to be a long man, as well as Simeon Woods Richardson, who we might see on the mound one day. Getting Yimi Garcia back will help with the pen too. And Tommy Nance should be back soon too. That will make the back end of the pen much better (back end? front end?). Add in that Alejandro Kirk should be back sometime around the end of the week, the team will look a fair bit different soon. Hopefully better.

---

The big story of yesterday’s game, from the Orioles side, was the lack of a call on Ernie Clements avoiding a potential tag.

I don’t think this explanation is going to help:

Crew chief Hunter Wendelstedt and 2B umpire Nic Lentz explained the Ernie Clement call to a pool reporter and said Gunnar Henderson was still in the act of fielding when Clement established his wide base path.

“It was actually a very gentlemanly thing to do,” said Wendelstedt.

— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) June 7, 2026

The gentlemanly thing to do line doesn’t help.

This is the sort of thing that Orioles fans will think he should be out and Jays fans will think they got the call right. Or at least, we’ll be happy that we got the benefit of a bad call.

It didn’t help that they called Jackson Holliday out for leaving the base path, when they should have called him out for the tag, in the ninth inning.

---

Who figured Brandon Valenzuela would be one of our best players. They are going to have to find a way to keep him in the lineup when Kirk comes back.

Vali’s Last 30 Games:

🔹 .301 AVG
🔹 5 2B
🔹 6 HR
🔹 14 RBI
🔹 15 Runs
🔹 15 BB
🔹 .982 OPS pic.twitter.com/p9r6bPnEtv

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 8, 2026

---

This won’t make the Orioles fanbase any happier. Hunter didn’t have a great day calling balls and strikes.

Phillies fans can be complicated. As we saw this past offseason, “running it back” with players who have failed in previous seasons – particularly the playoffs – is not a popular strategy. On the other hand, there was a lot of angst about the team allowing Jeff Hoffman to leave as a free agent after 2024.

Hoffman was a very good reliever for the Phillies, but many people seem to have memory holed his performance in the 2024 NLDS when he may have been as responsible as any player for the series loss.

Despite that, I would have wanted him back at the right price, but not for the contract the Blue Jays offered him. They gave him three years and an opportunity to be the closer, despite several red flags about his health.

In the early part of the 2025 season, there was a lot of complaining when Hoffman was racking up a ton of saves, while the player the Phillies seemed to peg as his replacement – Jordan Romano – was dreadful. Hoffman was generally good in 2025, but in the biggest save opportunity he’ll ever have, he couldn’t get it done.

Jeff Hoffman vs. Miguel Rojas with the World Series on the line.

Tom Verducci and Bob Costas break down the pitch-by-pitch sequence leading up to Miguel Rojas' iconic game-tying home run in the 9th inning. pic.twitter.com/K50C04F0Hi

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 11, 2025

In 2026, on the surface he has been awful, and was removed from the closer role. But looking at most of the numbers, you wouldn’t think he’s been all that bad. He’s walking fewer batters, striking out more, and giving up less hard contact than last season, giving him a FIP of 2.99.

The biggest problem for Hoffman may simply be bad luck. He’s got an amazing .492 BABIP against him, resulting in a 6.26 ERA. Of course, after a guy blows a World Series, many fans aren’t all that interested in hearing that the poor on-field results are due to bad luck.

“This is up there for one of the weirdest years for a pitcher”

Jays’ Manager John Schneider on Jeff Hoffman’s season.

Schneider also spoke about fans booing Hoffman after he gave up a home run against Baltimore on Saturday: pic.twitter.com/pRqk1SnZNT

— 6ix Inning Stretch Podcast (@6ixinningpod) June 6, 2026

Hating on the Blue Jays

Obviously, the 1993 World Series is a good place to start if you want to work up some animosity against the Jays. The Phillies had one playoff appearance between 1983 and 2007, and Paul Molitor and Joe Carter had to ruin it. It’s perhaps even more galling that they missed the playoffs for the next 21 seasons after that. It’s like they said, “We ruined childhood for a bunch of Phillies fans. We’re good for a while!”

October 23, 1993

Mitch Williams delivers to Joe Carter pic.twitter.com/HoVyLtuVgB

— OldTimeHardball (@OleTimeHardball) October 25, 2025

Aside from that, there’s not much to dislike. The Toronto fans are great, and the fact that they have only one non-Jackie Robinson number retired (Halladay) sits well for an elitist like me. (Some franchises would have retired Dave Steib’s number about ten times over.)

But if you do want to hate on these guys, you can bring up the fact that they had a chance to put a stop to the Dodgers’ reign of terror, and they blew it. They had a 3-2 lead in the series and then lost two straight at home. And in game seven, they were two outs away from victory! (Oh, I’m sorry, Blue Jays fans. It must really suck to have your closer blow a save in a decisive World Series game, huh?)

Random guy who played for both teams

The pennant year song battle has run its course. Now, I’m going to start highlighting a former Phillie who you might not have realized also played for the opponent as well.

When thinking of players who suited up for both the Phillies and Blue Jays, Roy Halladay is probably the first name that comes to mind. And if that square comes up in Immaculate Grid, Scott Rolen or Jose Bautista probably get used quite a bit. But did you realize that Mickey Morandini played for the Jays as well?

It’s hard to think of Morandini as anything but a Phillie. A “Harry Kalas special,” Morandini was a member of the 1993 Phillies team that fell to the Jays in the World Series, and after a two-year stint with the Cubs (TIL that Mickey Morandini received an MVP vote as a member of the Cubs in 1998), returned to the Phillies in 2000.

At midseason, with the Phillies comfortably in last place, and Morandini not doing much at all, the Phillies traded him to Toronto so they could give more playing time to younger players like Marlon Anderson and Kevin Jordan.

You're a hardcore Toronto Blue Jays fan if you remember Mickey Morandini playing his final 35 major league games with the club in 2000.

(Visual evidence below)

Happy 53rd Birthday to him! pic.twitter.com/MpOQSUMLfX

— Kevin Glew (@coopincanada) April 22, 2019

Morandini didn’t do much in Toronto, being worth -0.2 wins above replacement in 35 games. Meanwhile, the player sent to the Phillies was Rob Ducey who had been traded by the Phillies to the Blue Jays two weeks earlier.

😍⚾️STRANGER THAN FICTION: Phillies traded OF Rob Ducey to the Blue Jays for a Player To Be Named Later on 7/31/2000 (John Sneed). Then on 8/7/2000, he went back to the Phillies as the PTBNL in the 8/5/2000 deal for Mickey Morandini. (Getty Images) #philliespic.twitter.com/cNyQtMF3s6

— Larry Shenk (@ShenkLarry) August 11, 2020

Additional thought about the series

The Phillies’ starting pitching was bad against the White Sox, but with Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler scheduled for this series, that figures to improve. The bigger question is whether or not the recent offensive surge can continue.

The first starter they’ll face this series is familiar: Patrick “Flags Fly Forever” Corbin. Formerly the unofficial holder of the “Worst Contract in Baseball” title (unfortunately, the Phillies have a pitcher who might be the current title holder), he’s surprisingly having a decent season for the Jays, with a 3.98 ERA in eleven starts.

The Jays have yet to announce starters for Tuesday and Wednesday. There’s a chance that Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer will return from the Injured List to make those starts., but the Phillies could also get to go against a bullpen game. (At this point of his career, a game against Scherzer is likely more enticing than facing the bullpen.)

The Phillies should have an opportunity to keep scoring runs as long as players like Adolis Garcia and Alec Bohm (great career numbers against Corbin) don’t fall off a cliff after their recent hot spells.

It was another slightly disappointing week, with the Twins splitting a four-game series with the White Sox, and then losing a series to the Royals. The team will now face Detroit and St. Louis this week. Royce Lewis returned to the team on Saturday after lighting up St. Paul with homer after homer, and he started at second base on Saturday and first base on Sunday, going a combined 1-for-8 over the two games. The Twins also said goodbye to Simeon Woods-Richardson, who was traded back to the Blue Jays. Oh, and Byron Buxton left Friday’s game after crashing into the wall and has not come back to the team yet. The team is now 30-37, still somehow only 3.0 games out of the last wild-card spot, but that’s maybe the only silver lining here.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• Game threads and recaps are back! Commiserate with your fellow fans as we experience the season together.
• Aidan O’Brien updates the Twins Top-40 Prospects for the month of June.
• Zach Koenig looks back fondly at a pitcher who gave fans a little bit of hope in the dark 2016 season.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Dan Hayes at The Athletic checks in on the status of a bunch of injured Twins pitchers.
• Matthew Leach at MLB.com looks at the Twins’ roster construction and how it’s full of player versatility.
• Tom Schreier at Zone Coverage evaluates whether shortstop Ryan Kreidler can be the newest former cast-off turned key utility player for the Twins.
• Austin Martin has found a new home in center field and Betsy Helfand at the Pioneer Press checks in on how he’s been adjusting to the new position.

In the World of Baseball:

• The Rays and Yankees are now neck-and-neck in the AL pennant race, although the Yankees suffered a big loss last week with Aaron Judge going on the IL with a stress fracture. The Guardians and White Sox sit third and fourth in the race, and the Mariners and Rangers are fifth and sixth.
• Nothing has really changed in the National League. It’s Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Milwaukee in the top three spots. The Phillies, after going on a historic losing streak, have managed to climb their way back to fifth in the NL standings.
• Tarik Skubal rumors have been flying around, and Kiley McDaniel at ESPN evaluated a bunch of mock trades.
• Jeff Passan at ESPN previews the early 2026 MLB trade deadline.
• Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs looks at whether Yordan Alvarez of the Astros could potentially win the Triple Crown this year.

1908
Here’s all you need to know about how close the pennant race started, as in just four days, with four wins, the White Sox leaped from sixth in the American League to a tie for first place. All in all these wins came as part of a 13-game winning streak that still stands as the franchise’s third-longest. The hot run swung the White Sox five games in the standings, from 2 ½ down in the race to 2 ½ ahead, in first place. However, the White Sox remained there for just 11 games, as the club dropped as far back as 7 ½ games in the race before a furious finish that found them falling just short: 88-64 and 1 ½ games from meeting the Cubs in a second Crosstown World Series in three seasons.

---

1937
The final win of a 10-game streak (which remains tied for seventh-longest in team history) pushed the White Sox into a tie for first place in the American League. This time, it was the Yankees as victim, falling at Comiskey Park, 5-4. Thornton Lee gave up homers to both Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig in the contest, but went the distance and otherwise scattering nine hits total. The firepower from the top of the White Sox lineup — the top five hitters all had at least two hits,with leadoff man Rip Radcliff clocking in with three — was the difference in the game

At the time the 10-game winning streak started on May 30, the White Sox sat in sixth place in the AL, six games out. And the team the White Sox tied, for just one day, atop the American League? The Yankees, whom they’d just toppled! Both clubs possessed 25-17 records by game’s end.

---

1947
Luke Appling Day was celebrated at Comiskey Park. The future Hall-of-Famer was among the all-time Sox leaders in numerous categories and won a batting title in 1936, hitting a remarkable .388, and repeated as batting champ in 1943 with a .328 average. He went 1-for-6 in the first game of a doubleheader against Washington, as the Sox lost, 1-0, in 18 innings. (The 18 innings is tied for the 10th-longest game in White Sox history.)

Appling sat out the nightcap, an 8-2 White Sox win.

---

1951
Chicago-area native Marv Rotblatt became the first pitcher to enter a game while being driven in from the center-field bullpen. Rotblatt relieved starter Ken Holcombe in the eighth inning of Chicago’s 4-2 loss to the Yankees — who stood in their dugout and watched the pitching change in amazement.

And the White Sox picked a great time to unveil this innovation, as a franchise-record 53,940 fans packed Comiskey Park (the record was later broken, but this game remains the third-highest attendance ever in Chicago for a White Sox game as well as the biggest night game crowd ever). The crowd represented 4.1% of the entire season’s attendance (1,328,234), over 77 home dates. And in just two days, another 52,054 fans would watch a doubleheader against these same Yankees.

In the 1960s, Sox pitchers were brought into the game in golf carts, and in 1966, a converted snowmobile that was fitted with special skis so as to not harm the grass, performed the task. 

---

1969
The White Sox proved to be polite guests at Yankee Stadium, dropping a doubleheader (3-1 and 11-2) on Mickey Mantle Day. A crowd of 60,096 showed up to see Mantle’s No. 7 retired.

Also on this day, the White Sox traded reliever Bob Locker to the Seattle Pilots for Gary Bell. It was the first and only trade the White Sox had with the Pilots, who moved to Milwaukee in 1970 to become the Brewers. Locker was suffering a horrendous start to the season, with a 6.55 ERA/5.51 FIP over 17 games on the South Side. However, he was revitalized in Seattle and settled in as Pilots closer over 51 games, with a 2.18 ERA/2.94 FIP and six saves. The rebirth extended Locker’s career, as he would pitch effectively until 1972; in fact, Locker would never have a full season ERA of worse than the 3.15 he spun as a White Sox rookie in 1965.

By contrast, Bell was just as bad in Chicago as Locker had been and would never again pitch in the majors after 1969.

---

1981
The new-look White Sox found themselves on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Slugger Greg Luzinski was featured with the headline, “The Sox’ New Sock.”

The White Sox beat Toronto that day, 8-2, moving to 28-22 and starting a six-game winning streak.

---

2001
White Sox outfielder Carlos Lee became the first player to hit a walk-off, extra-inning grand slam in interleague play (including the World Series). His blast in the 10th inning came with two outs, and blew up the Cubs 7-3 at Comiskey Park, in front of a record-setting 45,936 fans. The shot was off of Courtney Duncan. Lee had five RBIs that evening.

It was the fifth walk-off grand slam in White Sox history.

---

2008
The White Sox tied a major league record when they scored 10 or more runs with 15 or more hits in three consecutive games. The Sox powered past Minnesota three straight times, on their way to a four-game series sweep. The record-setting scores were 10-6, 11-2 and 12-2. The Sox hit eight home runs in the three games, with four coming off the bat of Joe Crede. He had two home runs in consecutive games, tying the team record.

It was just the 24th time in American League history that a club scored 10 or more runs with 15 or more hits in three consecutive games. The White Sox also accomplished the feat in 1920.

The Red Sox had fewer than two innings to go Sunday afternoon while tied 1-1 and the game ended in a 6-1 loss. A split against the Yankees isn’t the worst possible outcome. Losing two of three would have been worse and the extra day of rest for Payton Tolle is, if anything, a boon. There’s a chance that the Red Sox have a better team when they play “third game”, now scheduled for August 29. But the season doesn’t stop. The Sox have three games against the Tamps Bay Rays. The first place Rays, now tied with the Yankees atop the AL East, thanks to that 8th inning comeback.

All things considered the Sox are catching the Rays at the right time, they’re just 3-7 over their last 10 games. Since ending a five-game winning streak they’re 3-9. But it won’t be a walk in the park.

Connelly Early had a rough start to his outing against Baltimore and gave up 4 runs in 5.1 innings. But he was also let down by his offense, which put up just 2 runs. Over his last five outings though he’s got two 7.0 inning shutouts. Including against the Rays. On May 8th he held them scoreless for 7.0 innings while striking out 8. Ian Seymour is facing him as an opener, which he’s done once this season. Normally a middle reliever, he’s likely to stick around for an inning or two at most. Against the Marlins, Jesse Scholtens was the bulk reliever but he’s now on the IL.

If Early can’t act as the “stopper” tonight, Tuesday night features the man, the mustache, Payton Tolle. Tolle kept the Orioles scoreless for 6.0 innings last time out and has an extra day of rest. Plus the Red Sox road offense. When he faced Tampa in May, he allowed 3 runs (1 earned) in 5.0 innings. This will be his second time facing a team a second time. It didn’t go well with the Atlanta Braves but don’t count out Mass Pike just yet. Nick Martinez, the Rays veteran addition, has been mostly lights out. Except for the last time out against the Tigers. Martinez allowed 6 runs in 4.0 innings. When he and Tolle dueled in May he held the Sox to just a single run at Fenway Park for 5.2 innings.

Wednesday is day baseball and a tall order. The likely starter replacing Brayan Bello is Jake Bennett. The southpaw made two starts earlier this season and went back down to AAA. In Worcester this year he has a 1.60 ERA in 39.1 innings. He’ll be opposed by Drew Rasmussen. He didn’t face Boston in Fenway. Rasmussen has two “bad” starts on the year. He gave up 4 runs in 3.2 innings to the Pirates in April and 5 runs in 4.0 innings to the Angels at the end of May. He missed large parts of the 2023 and 2024 seasons so the Rays want to keep him healthy on the mound. Even in an All Star season in 2025 his outings against the Red Sox were 2.0 and 3.0 innings. He only gave up 3 runs across those outings but the Rays did lose both games.

Junior Caminero has hit 14 home runs.

Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda have 11 homers each.

Chandler Simpson has stolen 14 bases this year but has been caught a league-leading 8 times.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Monday, June 8: Connelly Early (3.26 ERA / 4.63 FIP) vs. Ian Seymour (5.23 ERA / 3.65 FIP)

Tuesday, June 9: Payton Tolle (2.28 ERA / 2.66 FIP) vs. Payton Tolle (Nick Martinez (2.29 ERA / 2.66 FIP)

Wednesday, June 10: TBD (— ERA / — FIP) vs. Drew Rasmussen (3.00 ERA / 3.33FIP)

When/Where to Watch

Monday, June 8: 6:40 PM ET on NESN

Tuesday, June 9: 6:40 PM ET on NESN

Wednesday, June 10: 1:10 PM ET on NESN

The Dodgers had a winning week, taking four of seven games, by splitting with the Diamondbacks in Arizona, then winning two of three at home against the Angels. But they both started and ended the week with losses, frustrating in different ways.

On Monday in Phoenix, they were burned by a lack of offense. On Sunday at Dodger Stadium, the offense was there but the pitching staff had a rare clunker. Pitching has carried the Dodgers this season, but the offense this week fell a little short averaging more than three quarters of a run less than their average.

Put another way, a Dodgers pitcher had a scoreless start of at least six innings three times last week, but said starter only got the win in one of those games. But that same offense scored nine runs in the first inning on Saturday for their biggest frame in five years. This team contains multitudes.

Batter of the week

Shohei Ohtani carried the offense during the week with 12 hits in 25, including two doubles, a triple, and a home run, all part of a 1.312 OPS. He had five multi-hit games in his six games played this week

Ohtani has been humming along in top gear at the plate for the last four weeks, hitting .419/.510/.721 over his last 23 games.

Couple this week at the plate with his six scoreless innings on the mound on Wednesday in Phoenix, it’ll be time to open an investigation if Ohtani doesn’t win National League player of the week.

Honorable mention goes to Dalton Rushing, who started four games behind the plate this week as Will Smith dealt with neck stiffness on Saturday and Sunday, and had four hits on Sunday, including a double and home run.

Pitcher of the week

It feels like there have been several weeks like this in 2026, in which this section could simply be a list of three to five starting pitchers, any one of them deserving of the honor. We’ll go with Roki Sasaki here, his progression culminating with 10 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings on Friday night against the Angels.

Honorable mention also goes to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who retired 22 straight batters in his eight-inning gem on Saturday, Justin Wrobleski with his six scoreless innings on Thursday in Arizona, and Ohtani’s six shutout frames on Wednesday.

Week 11 results

4-3 record
31 runs scored (4.43 per game)
27 runs allowed (3.86 per game)
.563 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

42-24 record
345 runs scored (5.23 per game)
212 runs allowed (3.21 per game)
.709 pythagorean win percentage (47-19)

Transactions

Saturday: Pitcher Nick Frasso got added back to the 40-man roster but remained in Triple-A Oklahoma City. To make room, Tyler Glasnow was moved to the 60-day IL as he’s been shut down from throwing due to his back injury.

Game results

• Monday: D-backs 4, Dodgers 1
• Tuesday: Dodgers 6, D-backs 5
• Wednesday: Dodgers 7, D-backs 0
• Thursday: D-backs 3, Dodgers 2
• Friday: Dodgers 1, Angels 0
• Saturday: Dodgers 9, Angels 2
• Sunday: Angels 13, Dodgers 5

Player	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	BA/OBP/SLG
Rushing	15	4	7	2	1	4	1	.500/.533/.857
Ohtani	29	7	12	2	1	4	4	.480/.552/.760
Freeman	30	4	10	0	2	6	1	.345/.367/.552
Ward	15	3	3	2	1	4	1	.214/.267/.571
Pages	28	2	5	2	1	3	1	.192/.214/.385
Tucker	25	2	4	0	1	3	3	.182/.280/.318
Freeland	21	2	4	0	0	3	2	.235/.350/.235
Muncy	23	2	6	1	0	1	0	.261/.261/.304
Smith	16	1	2	1	0	0	3	.154/.313/.231
Rojas	12	0	2	0	0	0	1	.182/.250/.182
Espinal	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	.200/.200/.200
Betts	25	2	3	0	0	1	3	.136/.240/.136
Call	19	1	2	0	0	0	1	.118/.211/.118
Offense	263	31	61	10	7	29	21	.256/.321/.395

Pitcher	Record	IP	H	R	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
Sasaki	0-0	7.0	2	0	2	10	0.00	0.571
Ohtani	1-0	6.0	2	0	1	6	0.00	0.500
Wrobleski	0-0	6.0	6	0	0	4	0.00	1.000
Yamamoto	1-0	8.0	2	1	0	4	1.13	0.250
Lauer	0-0	4.7	5	2	1	1	3.86	1.286
Sheehan	0-2	7.7	6	4	2	5	4.70	1.043
Starters	2-2	39.3	23	7	6	30	1.60	0.737
Henriquez	0-0	3.7	1	0	0	6	0.00	0.273
Scott	0-1, Sv	2.0	3	1	0	3	4.50	1.500
Dreyer	0-0	4.3	3	3	0	3	6.23	0.692
Vesia	0-0	2.0	2	2	2	3	9.00	2.000
Klein	0-0	1.7	5	2	2	2	10.80	4.200
Treinen	2-0	1.7	2	2	2	1	10.80	2.400
Hurt	0-0	3.0	4	4	3	6	12.00	2.333
Hernández	0-0	3.7	7	6	2	4	14.73	2.455
Bullpen	2-1, Sv	22.0	27	20	11	28	8.18	1.727
Totals	4-3	61.3	50	27	17	58	3.96	1.092

Previous reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10

Up next

The Dodgers run the Bobby Bonilla gauntlet, hitting the road to face the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox. Chicago’s rotation for the weekend is more of a guess.

Mon, 6/8	Tue, 6/9	Wed, 6/10	Thu, 6/11	Fri, 6/12	Sat, 6/13	Sun, 6/14
OFF	at Pirates	at Pirates	at Pirates	at White Sox	at White Sox	at White Sox
	3:40	3:40	3:40	4:40	1:10	11:10
	Lauer	Ohtani	Wrobleski	Sasaki	Yamamoto	Sheehan
	Skenes	Jones	Keller	Burke	Sandlin	TBA
	SNLA	SNLA/MLB	SNLA	SNLA/MLB	SNLA/MLB	SNLA

If you had told me back in March that during the week where the Atlanta Braves are scheduled to play the Chicago White Sox and the New York Mets that the White Sox would be a bigger (and legitimate) threat against the Braves, I would’ve laughed in your face and/or rejoiced in the fact that if the White Sox are better than the Mets then the Mets must be in some serious trouble.

As it turns out, the White Sox are actually one of the surprise stories of this season so far. It’s June and they’re over .500 — this is the first time that they’ve been over .500 in any season past April since 2022! They’ve been fun and now the Playoff Odds over at FanGraphs are actually giving them a little bit more respect! Back on Opening Day, Chicago only had a 1.1 percent chance of making the Postseason in any form. Now, those odds have skyrocketed to 17 percent — that might not look like a lot and they’re still very much favored to fall off eventually but it’s still impressive that the Pale Hose have gotten this deep into the season without face planting. Those fans deserve something to cheer for after enduring the past couple of seasons and I hope they’re enjoying it.

The White Sox have been an enjoyable story so far and I can also imagine that a lot of y’all have been enjoying what’s going on on the blue-and-orange side of New York as well. The Mets and Phillies both got off to nightmarish starts and New York is still recovering from their disastrous April. New York’s Playoff Odds have taken a freefall since Opening Day, which is when FanGraphs gave them an 80 percent shot of playing in October. Those odds are now down to just over 21 percent — it’s not exactly over for the Mets but they have a lot of work to be done if they’re going to have any hope of really making waves in the NL Wild Card race, let alone the division. So we’ve got one team that has a positive outlook and another team that’s dealing with some more disappointment. Let’s talk about what lies ahead for the Braves this week.

---

June 9-11: Chicago White Sox

Current Record: 34-31 Projected Record (via FanGraphs): 77-85

As a neutral fan, I am very, very sad to not be able to watch slugger Munetaka Murakami during this series, as he’s on the IL with a hamstring strain. I’ve followed Murakami since his days of playing with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and his experiences with Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic so I’ve personally been thrilled to see him thrive in Major League Baseball so far. As a Braves fan, I’m still sad about the injury but I’m not going to complain about Atlanta not seeing him during this series since he’s been crushing it and I don’t want to see him crush it against the Braves.

With that being said, it’s not like this White Sox lineup has slowed down without Murakami. Murakami’s last game was on May 29 and ever since May 30 (heading into June 7’s action), the White Sox as a team have hit .270/.335/.500 with a wOBA of .364 (expected wOBA of .332) and a wRC+ of 131. For comparison’s sake, the Braves have hit .233/.310/.443 with a .328 wOBA (xwOBA of .342) and a wRC+ of 109. While the Braves have been better over the course of the season so far (team wRC+ of 111 heading into Sunday), the White Sox aren’t far behind with a team wRC+ of 107.

The South Siders might be missing Murakami but they’ve still got guys like Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery and Tristan Peters getting the job done for them at the plate. Chase Meidroth has been reliable as well, Sam Antonacci has made it happen for them when called upon and they’ve even gotten solid production out of Randal Grichuk when he’s gotten the nod. This is an exciting lineup at the moment and it’s a far cry from what this club was up to for the past couple of years when the futility was overwhelming.

With all of that being said, if this team has a soft underbelly then it might be their pitching staff. The proof of this is that the White Sox are starting Erick Fedde on Tuesday. With all due respect to our old friend Fedde (who actually pitched five shutout innings against the Twins in his last outing) having him in the rotation isn’t exactly a good sign for the quality of the rotation.

Sure, Davis Martin has been great so far and guys like Grant Taylor and Sean Burke are young and exciting but outside of those two, there’s not a lot to get excited about in either the rotation or the bullpen. It is nice to see old friend Sean Newcomb having a successful season but again, if you’re having to rely on guys like that then that’s not exactly conducive to overall team success. With the way Atlanta’s lineup has performed so far, they should be able to do some damage and we might see a slugfest or two break out at the place they used to call New Comiskey.

Tuesday, June 9 at 7:40 p.m. ET (BravesVision, Gray TV)
Wednesday, June 10 at 7:40 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Thursday, June 11 at 7:40 p.m. ET (BravesVision)

June 12-14: New York Mets

Current Record: 29-36 Projected Record (as of June 8): 80-82

Oh great, it’s these guys. You know ‘em and you (probably) hate ‘em but there’s a less familiar feeling to this particular ball club in 2026. Old “favorites” like Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte have all moved on to greener pastures. Francisco Lindor is still around and it’s no fun to hate him since he’s pretty cool (and also unfortunately on the IL). Instead, the Mets are going through a bit of a retooling period that has yet to bear any real fruit at the moment. They’re sitting in dead last in the NL East and are far, far in Atlanta’s rearview mirror at the moment.

They have bounced back a bit after their moribund start to the season where they lost 12 straight games at their absolute nadir but it’s been nowhere to the level of what’s gone on in Philadelphia where the Phillies are actually back over .500 and have clearly gotten their season back on track. The Mets are still stuck in the mud and a lot of that has to do with the fact that their offense has been pretty terrible so far this season. They currently have one of the worst team wRC+ marks in all of baseball (they went into action on June 7 with a team wRC+ of 87 with only the Rockies and Padres being worse).

Juan Soto is still Juan Soto so he absolutely has to be taken seriously whenever he’s at the plate but outside of that, he’s the only guy on this team that has been a real threat to do damage on a nightly basis. The only other regulars who have been anywhere close to consistent at the plate are MJ Melendez and Francisco Alvarez since they’re the only other Mets regulars with a wRC+ over 100 — and they both are only just barely clearing that mark. New York’s new keystone combination of Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien has been very disappointing for the Mets so far and their underperformance has gone a long way towards setting a tone of mediocrity for this team at the moment. Jared Young has been trying his best to provide a spark but yeah, outside of him and Soto, there is not a lot going on with this team at the plate.

As far as the pitching goes, they’ve been a lot more consistent with their production on the mound but as evidenced by this team’s record and position in the standings, it still hasn’t been enough to lift them up and carry this team. Clay Holmes is on the 60-day IL and until this weekend, he was still the sole leader in fWAR (1.2) for the Mets’ pitching staff. The trio of Freddy Peralta, Norm McLean and David Peterson has been pretty solid so far but outside of that, the rotation hasn’t really been imposing at all. New York’s bullpen has been pretty effective, though — Huascar Brazoban is on track for his best season yet (and has served as a good opener on a few occasions), Luke Weaver has been turning back the clock with his efforts, then Brooks Raley and Devin Williams have both done fine so far.

Again, it still hasn’t been enough to lift the Mets out of the mess that they’re currently in but the Mets can at least take some solace in knowing that they won’t be absolutely terrible. On paper, the Braves should head into this series expecting at least a series win but we all know that no matter what the record is for either team, these games will likely be hard-fought. This is the first time the Braves have seen the Mets all season and hopefully Atlanta will take this opportunity to kick them while they’re down. The entire season series between these two will be played between this week and mid-August, so this is a chance for the Braves to set the tone with these dudes here in this portion of the season. We’ll see what happens.

Friday, June 12 at 7:10 p.m. ET (Apple TV)
Saturday, June 13 at 4:10 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Sunday, June 14 at 1:40 p.m. ET (BravesVision, Gray TV)

In baseball, there is the game that’s played on the field, and then there are the games within the game. One of those games has to do with handedness. While only about 10% of the general public is left-handed, about 25% of big league innings are tossed by lefties. 

This presents an interesting reality: batters perform better against the opposite-handed pitcher–and vice-versa–the vast majority of the time. When you see a player’s batting or pitching line, then, you can think of it as being split between right- and left-handed opponents. Differences in performance versus same and opposite-handed opponents are so common and often so stark that it really should be at the top of our minds more often than it is.

So what is the reason why this is the case? There are a slew of them. But surely big leaguers would agree why they perform worse against opposite-handed players, right?

“I think it’s mostly angle,” Michael Massey told me about why righties are easier to hit for him.

“I don’t know if I have an explanation,” Lane Thomas replied when asked why he hits lefties better.

“It’s just reps and it’s also kind of mental for me,” Carter Jensen said about doing better against righties.

Hm. Well. Maybe it’s a little more complicated.

Different release points, different angles

The most obvious difference between right-handed pitchers and left-handed pitchers is where the baseball leaves their hand. Since our arms are on the side of the body and human throwing motion is not perfectly overhand, the average release point between different-handed pitchers can be pretty stark. 

Thanks to Statcast, we can see this relatively easily. Pitcher release angles vary widely, but generally speaking there’s about a four-foot distance between the release point of the average right-hander and the average left hander. That’s a pretty big difference.

Isaac Collins is one of the few remaining switch hitters in the league, and he’s the only switch hitter on the active Royals roster. He says the angles of pitches coming to the plate are the primary reason he’s a switch hitter.

“Since I was about 13, 14, I’ve only hit right-handed off lefties and I’ve only hit left-handed off righties,” Collins said. “It’s really just the angle of balls coming in. You see the ball better…It’s just kind of like a visual thing.” 

Do lefties and righties have different arm angles compared to each other? While the sidearming lefty reliever may come to mind, the reality is that fewer left-handers throw at extremely low arm angles than righties. Across both lefties and righties, the median arm angle is 39.1 degrees. But while 45.5% of lefties throw at an arm angle below 39.1 degrees, 51.2% of righties do. 

There is another factor here, Carter Jensen mentioned: release-point distance. The difference is small, but you have a little more time against opposite-handed pitchers. “[With] left on left heaters, you’re going to have less time against the [lefty] than you would have right on left here just because of the angle and the extension,” Jensen said. “[The] left-handed extension from a guy throwing a heater is a lot closer than a right-handed.”

Pitch movement

Arm angles and release points are important, but when you combine angles with pitch movement, you start to get to some interesting combinations. Identifying pitch types can be tricky for even seasoned baseball fans, but one of the key differentiators is horizontal movement. Pitches have either arm-side movement or glove-side movement. These can be called “run” or “cut” or “sweep,” but keeping to arm or glove movement is clean (and it’s what Statcast does). 

While some pitchers throw funky pitches that don’t follow the standard movement, in general you can categorize types of pitches this way:

• Arm-side break pitches: Four-seam fastball, changeup, sinker, splitter
• Glove-side break pitches: Curveball, cutter, slider, sweeper

Of course, “arm-side” and “glove-side” mean opposite things to the batter’s perspective depending on which side of the plate you stand. Against same-handed pitchers, arm-side movement breaks towards you and glove-side movement breaks away from you. But against opposite-handed pitchers, arm-side movement breaks away from you and glove-side pitches break towards you. 

Can arm-side pitches like a changeup or sinker move a lot horizontally? Sure. But it’s the glove-side pitch types that are the ones with a lot of horizontal movement. Lane Thomas identified that as the biggest reason why it’s more comfortable to face opposite-handed pitchers. 

“I just think you don’t have anything breaking away from you [against opposite-handed pitchers],” Thomas said. “Everything starts away and it’s coming into you…a lot of the breaking balls just start right at you to be a good pitch to hit.”

And for Michael Massey, the vertical movement is another factor to consider.

“For me, at least lefties that kind of have the ‘X’ game and make it sink and sweep, make it a little bit tougher because they can really stretch the plate,” Massey said. “The lefties that are more foreseeable are where nothing’s coming in, probably a little bit easier of a matchup for a same-side guy, just because you don’t have to worry about anything coming into you.” 

Practice, practice, practice

There are certainly some very real impacts on platoon hitting, but just about the only consistent thing mentioned was the impact of experience on hitting same-handed pitching. The more you do it, the better you get. 

“Part of playing this game right is physical mechanics and the swing and all that stuff, but the other part is your decision making and your decision making is built through the reps,” Massey said. “Every time you see a right-hander that throws from this angle with this type of spin, it goes into your database. And the next time you see that, you’re a little bit more familiar with it. And so I think obviously when you don’t get as many reps at doing something, you just don’t build that database as much and that database isn’t as advanced, which makes it tougher to be able to lay off certain pitches or see certain pitches because your mind hasn’t seen it enough.”

Jensen agreed. “I think I see the ball perfectly fine with both sides,” he said. “I think that against righties it’s just easier because I have so many more reps against righties.”

“I haven’t really gotten as many at-bats off righties,” Thomas said. “So it’s obviously harder to do something I haven’t done consistently. But that just seems to be the trend in the game or splits wouldn’t even be a thing.” 

There’s something to be said here that players shouldn’t be shoved into a platoon-only role too early as pros, because that just reinforces the issues at play with getting enough reps. However, there are only so many plate appearances you can get against left-handed pitching in particular. Left-handers are over-represented in the pitching world, but when only 10% of the population is left-handed, opportunities to face them regularly are inherently limited.

At the end of the day, there are so many factors in play that the mental side of things is nearly as important. “I think it’s just a tricky subject,” Jensen said. “I feel like it’s different for everybody. Or for me, it’s just reps and also kind of mental.”

“I don’t dislike hitting lefties…at the end of the day hitting righty or lefty, if I stick to my plan, I’m in a good spot.”

After spending the first month and a half of the 2026 season in Triple A, Dylan Crews has now played 16 games at the big league level this season. In that time, the results haven’t quite shown up for him, with a .197 batting average, 1.5% walk rate, and 58 wRC+, but it hasn’t been all bad either. Let’s take a look at everything going right, and wrong, for Dylan Crews since he returned to the majors.

Starting with the good, Crews has torn the cover off the ball since his return to the bigs, with an average exit velocity of 90.8 MPH, ranking in the 83rd percentile of all big league hitters. He had been roasting the ball in Triple A, with a 99th percentile average exit velocity of 94.7 MPH up in Rochester, so it’s great to see that part of his game still translating.

Crews has also cut down his strikeout rate 5.1% from 2025 to 2026, down from 23.6%, in the 49th percentile, to 18.5%, in the 75th percentile. While his chase rate has gone up from 29% to 38%, he has cut down his whiff rate from 30% to 24%, meaning he’s getting the result he wants more often when he swings the bat. While he’s been more aggressive on pitches outside the zone in 2026, Crews has also been more aggressive on pitches inside the zone, taking his Z-Swing% from 66%, the 45th percentile, to 69%, in the 71st percentile.

Dylan Crews’ Statcast metrics from 2025 to 2026
The good:
Average EV: ⬆️1.3 MPH
Whiff Rate: ⬇️6.2%
K%: ⬇️4.3%

The bad:
Chase Rate:⬆️9.3%
BB%:⬇️5.7%

Needs to be working the counts more and laying off pitchers pitches so to earn himself strikes to hit pic.twitter.com/gpzza8We33

— Paul Cubbage (@PaulCubbage23) June 6, 2026

Crews has been hitting the ball harder, making more contact when he does swing, and has been more aggressive on swinging at good pitches to hit, so what has been going wrong for him that his numbers are still lacking? The primary issue for him at the moment is his chase rate, which, as mentioned before, is in the 38th percentile, ranking in the 11th percentile in MLB. The free-swinging approach has led to a lot of hard contact so Crews so far, but it has also put him behind in a lot of counts, as he goes fishing for breaking balls out of the zone.

Crews has also continued to struggle to pull his flyballs in the air consistently, an issue that has plagued his power potential for a few years now. His 8.7% pulled flyball rate is in the 13th percentile of big league hitters, and plays a large role in why his slugging percentage of .322 is .145 points under his expected slugging percentage of .467. Crews’ exit velocities are encouraging enough to suggest he could hit 20+ home runs per year eventually, but not if he is limiting his ability to get the ball over the wall by hitting it to center and right field.

Dylan Crews sends one many, many rows back 😳 pic.twitter.com/BNt0w6xa2p

— MLB (@MLB) June 6, 2026

Crews has also not been taking many walks in his return to the bigs, with 1 walk in 65 plate appearances, resulting in a 1.5% walk rate. Crews hasn’t struggled drawing walks in his first 2 big league stints, so his low walk rate shouldn’t be too much of a concern yet with such a limited sample size, but it is interesting how much of a point Crews has made it to be aggressive in the box, swinging early and often in counts looking to do damage.

Overall, the surface numbers don’t look great for Crews in what is now his 3rd big league season, but the under-the-hood metrics suggest he is making some improvements, which could result in success in the near future. He needs to make some adjustments, such as cutting down on the chase rate and lifting the ball more to the pull side, and he may never be elite in those categories, but Crews certainly has the tools to be a productive big league hitter over a large sample size one day.

Welcome back to Monday Stat Party, a weekly series showcasing some of the most curious and nostalgia-inducing statistical developments from the past week of Mets baseball. What unites each entry is the sense of intrigue which they aim to spark, and the unbridled love of the game’s anomalies from which they arise. Without further ado, let the stat party begin.

MONDAY

The Mets played their 12th extra-inning game of the season. No other team in MLB has played more than nine this season. Only the 1971 Mets and 1978 Mets experienced more extra-inning affairs through their first 60 games of a season.

The Mets mustered just two hits in ten innings. It’s the fourth time in franchise history they’ve managed two hits or fewer in an extra-inning game, joining: October 1, 1982 at Philadelphia; July 6, 1972 vs. San Diego; June 14, 1965 at Cincinnati. Somehow, the Mets’ record in these contests is now an even 2-2.

The Mets made five outs on balls hit with an exit velocity of 100+ mph for a second consecutive game, and their fifteenth game this season. The Mets are tied with the Braves for the most such games in the Majors this season.

In the Mets’ 13th game at T-Mobile Park, Marcus Semien became the first Met to homer from the right side in Seattle.

Jared Young’s 424-foot homer off Emerson Hancock is the longest home run hit by a Met at T-Mobile Park in the Statcast era (since 2015).

TUESDAY

Carson Benge recorded his first multi-homer game, becoming the youngest Met with a multihomer game since Francisco Alvarez had one at 21 years and 315 days old on September 30, 2023 against the Phillies.

Benge, Juan Soto, and Brett Baty all recorded hits with an exit velocity over 109 mph. It’s the first time that three Mets notched hits at 109+ mph in a game since September 17, 2025, when Baty, Pete Alonso, and Starling Marte did it against the Padres.

Cionel Pérez set the Mets’ record for fastest pitch by a left-handed pitcher this season on four separate occasions, dialing it up to 97.8, then 98.2, then 98.3, and then 98.5 mph. As of May 29, no Met left-hander had thrown a pitch above 95.0 mph this season. Since then, Pérez has thrown 19 in three innings of work.

Logan Gilbert generated 21 swings and misses against the Mets, trailing only a pair of Dodgers in Yoshinobu Yamamoto (23) and Shohei Ohtani (22) for the most in a game against New York this season.

WEDNESDSAY

The Mets won at T-Mobile Park, snapping a seven-game losing streak in Seattle dating back to July 29, 2017, when a 23-year-old Edwin Díaz secured the save against the Mets.

Bo Bichette’s four-hit game was the 19th of his career. Since his rookie season in 2019, only Luis Arraez (23) has more four-hit games, while Freddie Freeman and former Met Amed Rosario are tied with him for second place at 19 four-hit games.

Carson Benge became just the ninth Met to record 10 stolen bases before their 60th career game. He will surely have company in that club soon, as A.J. Ewing already has 7 stolen bases in just 25 career games.

Freddy Peralta generated 18 swings and misses over his six innings of work. That’s the most whiffs in a game for a Met this season, and the most for a Mets right-hander since Kodai Senga racked up 22 at Coors Field on June 6, 2025.

The Mariners’ Dominic Canzone recorded two batted balls with an exit velocity of 112 mph or higher. He’s only the fourth player in the Statcast era to pull off that feat against the Mets, joining Yordan Alvarez and Oneil Cruz — each of whom have done it once — as well as Giancarlo Stanton, who has done it a whopping six times.

FRIDAY

A.J. Ewing became the youngest Met to steal two bases in a game since Fernando Martínez, who at 20 years and 234 days old was the youngest Met ever to do it on June 1, 2009 during an 8-5 loss in Pittsburgh.

Ewing also recorded his sixth game with at least one hit and at least one stolen base. That ties him with Ronny Mauricio for the most such games through a player’s first 23 career games in Mets history.

Bo Bichette hit his one triple of the season. I say “his one triple of the season” since in five of Bichette’s past six seasons, he has finished the year with exactly one triple to his name.

Luis Torrens hit a home run to center and a double off the left-center-field fence. It’s the second time in Torrens’ career that he’s recorded two batted balls which traveled a Statcast-projected 375+ feet in the same game. The other time came exactly two years earlier, on June 5, 2024 in Washington.

Torrens recorded back-to-back multi-hit games for the first time this season. Jared Young…also recorded back-to-back multi-hit games for the first time this season.

The Mets earned their third win with zero runs allowed and three or fewer hits allowed this season. The only teams in MLB with more such wins this season are the Brewers (4) and Dodgers (5).

Since the start of May, only one Mets pitcher has finished a game with at least 5.2 scoreless innings: Christian Scott, who has done it twice.

The Mets earned their eighth shutout win against the Padres since 2012. Six of the previous seven were started by Cy Young winners, with one started by Johan Santana, one started by R.A. Dickey, one started by Max Scherzer, and three started by Jacob deGrom. The other was started by Noah Syndergaard on July 28, 2015 — one night before the Mets nearly made a franchise-altering trade.

SATURDAY

A.J. Ewing put together a seven-pitch at-bat against fireballer Mason Miller with two outs in the ninth, eventually drawing a walk. That ties the Nationals’ Luis García Jr. and the Angels’ Yoán Moncada for the longest at-bat from the left side against Miller this season.

To make that at-bat against Miller more impressive, the 103.3-mph fastball that Ewing fouled off was the fastest pitch a Met batter has seen since April 12, 2025, when Luis Torrens fouled off a 103.7-mph fastball from none other than A’s closer Mason Miller. That pitch also came with the Mets down to their final strike.

Nolan McLean threw a career-high 101 pitches. He had previously reached exactly 100 pitches on three separate occasions this season.

Padres catcher Freddy Fermin hit his first home run of the season, and his first home run since September 16, 2025…against the Mets at Citi Field. Combined with his three-RBI performance on Sunday, six of Fermin’s last eight RBI have now come against the Mets dating back to last season.

SUNDAY

Carson Benge became the third-youngest Met to record a five-hit game. Only John Milner (22 years, 255 days on September 8, 1972) and José Reyes (22 years, 328 days on May 5, 2006) did it younger. Benge was the first Met with a five-hit game since Francisco Lindor on July 6, 2023, and the first Mets rookie with a five-hit game since Pete Alonso on August 15, 2019 (Amed Rosario also had five hits that day, marking the only time two Mets have accomplished the feat in the same game).

The Mets recorded eight base hits with an exit velocity of 100+ mph, tying their record for most in a game this season. A.J. Ewing, MJ Melendez, and Brett Baty each had one, Bo Bichette had two, and Benge had three.

Miscellaneous Mets stat of the week:

Here are the Mets’ all-time leaders for hits out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order:

Tom Seaver (146)
Dwight Gooden (144)
Tomás Nido (102)
Jerry Koosman (98)
Sid Fernandez (94)

(If you’re wondering, Francisco Alvarez is currently tied for 10th place with 57.)

Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma’s been in a major rut as of late. Down a large portion of their offensive fire power due to a variety of reasons, the already depleted pitching staff has been struggling to buoy the lineup and has subsequently led to some rather tough losses. Dropping four of six this week, the Rainiers fell to 25-38 on the season and will look to flush their first half woes come midsummer.

Longtime farmhand Spencer Packard missed a couple weeks earlier this season, but he’s back and producing consistently for this lineup as a left-handed masher. Up to a .342 average this season, Packard had 10 hits on the series and currently stands with an OPS of .868 at the Triple-A level. The 28 year old has a tough path forward as a defensively limited corner outfielder that’s behind both Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone on the depth chart, but perhaps another team looking for some balance to their lineup will be inclined to give him a shot in a minor trade package at the deadline.

Arkansas Travelers

The Travs had a fantastic series against Corpus Christi this week, taking five of six from the Houston affiliate in their home ballpark. Despite their success, the Travs remain in second place within their division, unable to pace with the red hot Dodgers affiliate from Tulsa. Just a game and a half back with plenty of time left to make their move, the Travs remain well positioned to take the first half title should they be able to maintain this level of play.

Michael Arroyo having a monster series. 4 hits & 2 home runs in his last game & starts today with a solid single. Average up to .276 with a .784 OPS. pic.twitter.com/nOBOdSlyFq

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) June 6, 2026

Hello, Arroyo! After a middling start to the season, top prospect Michael Arroyo broke out this week and was absolutely on fire at the plate. Logging nine hits across five games on the series, Arroyo posted a slashline of .429/.500/.714 and raised his season OPS up to .772. Arroyo’s general peripherals aren’t too far out of line to where they’ve been in the past, and though we’re out of pure “small sample” nonsense, a few months of deflated play is far from the end of the world for a 21 year old nearing a promotion to Triple-A. Context here is key; Arroyo is still wildly ahead of the bulk of his peers, and should he maintain this hot streak for a few weeks, he’ll be right back to where evaluators and fans alike expected him to be from the get go.

Not to be outdone at the dish, Lazaro Montes showed his distaste for Dickey Stephens Park by launching another five homers on the road this week, raising his season OPS up to .885. Montes is running some extreme splits this year, with the hulking slugger owning a home OPS of just .515 compared to a monstrous 1.206 mark on the road. Furthermore, his left/right splits have been far more pronounced than in years past; A .542 OPS vs lefties is considerably lower than his career averages, though with just 73 PA on the year, sample size is likely more of the driving factor than anything else. Considering his K% and BB% are nearly identical regardless of handedness, it feels like there’s likely some positive regression toward the mean left for the season. Off to a fantastic start to his year, look for Laz to light up the PCL as soon as he gets his shot at the Triple-A level.

Kade Anderson was unreal again. Final line: 5IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 9K, 16 whiffs, 73 pitches, 47 strikes.

In 10 professional starts:
1.29ERA, 49IP, 27H, 7BB, 76K. pic.twitter.com/UlXZgYIcE3

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) June 6, 2026

Rounding out the week of outlandish performances, Kade Anderson spun an absolute gem this week, allowing just one baserunner across five innings and punching out nine. With four above average offerings and unprecedented command of each one, Anderson is dominating opposing hitters in the zone despite average velocity from the left side. There’s really not much more to say about Anderson that hasn’t been said already; Anderson is unquestionably one of the best prospects in all of baseball, and if he were asked, he could probably pitch in a major league rotation tomorrow.

Everett AquaSox

The Frogs managed a series win against the league-leading Eugene Emeralds this week, taking four of six from one of the best teams in all of minor league baseball. Now back over .500 for the first time in a while, the AquaSox will look to build upon this fantastic series win and carry some momentum into the second half.

Jonny Farmelo blasts a 2-run HR. pic.twitter.com/wKM6zVXjAI

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) June 5, 2026

Jonny Farmelo built on his solid series last week and turned in perhaps his best week of the season. Totaling nine hits against Eugene, Farmelo launched a trio of homers this series and collected six extra base hits. Better still, Farmelo continues to draw walks at an excellent clip and raised his season mark to 16.67%, a truly outstanding figure for someone with a relative lack of plate appearances due to injury. He’s still not back to his old self on the basepaths just yet, but with his topline speed looking positive, there’s plenty of reason to believe he’ll regain his prowess at stealing bases and continue to ascend toward his sky high potential.

Brandon Eike has continued his hot hitting and looks to be due for a promotion to Double-A in the coming weeks. A natural third baseman, Eike has split time at both corner infield positions this season and has pummeled the baseball all season. Sitting presently with an OPS of .876, Eike’s power stroke will need to carry him throughout his career as he ascends through the minor leagues; his walk rates are roughly average and his less-than-stellar contact skills make him a “TTO” type of player long-term. Hopefully he’s able to prove himself at the Double-A level and prove he’s a real candidate for the big leagues down the line.

Inland Empire 66ers

The 66ers split against a very solid San Jose team this week, a Giants affiliate currently sitting in first place of the North division in the California League. Inland Empire has had a rough go of it through the first couple of months this season, but perhaps a second half surge is somewhere on the horizon.

Korbyn Dickerson crushes a 2-run HR! pic.twitter.com/4wNloZ24cH

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) June 7, 2026

Outfielder Korbyn Dickerson has been on a really nice stretch of late. Missing a few games early this week (though unconfirmed, it looked as though it was a precautionary measure), Dickerson continued his hot hitting and collected four hits across three games this weekend. With both a homer and a triple under his belt, Dickerson is in the middle of an eleven game hitting streak and has raised his season OPS up to .835 with 12 stolen bases. Dickerson is one of the strongest prospects outside of the “upper tier” that features the organization’s first or second rounders in recent years, and though his draft position ended up being several rounds lower, Dickerson’s upside remains on par with many of the players drafted ahead of him. He’s a name to monitor over the coming weeks.

Another week, another Mason Peters gem. Now sitting with a 1.59 ERA on the season, Peters is tied for third in all of minor league baseball (with top prospect Seth Hernandez) with a 31.8% K-BB% among pitchers who’ve thrown as many innings as he has, only trailing Toronto’s Nolan Perry and the aforementioned Kade Anderson. Peters’ ascent has been hard to understate this season; he’s increased his prospect pedigree in a very real way and should consistently find himself on the cusp of the organizational top ten when mid-season rankings become public.

ACL Mariners

The top prospects residing on the Baby M’s roster have been on something of a skid as of late, but it’s still rather early to be drawing any conclusions right now. We’ll see where they stand come the end of the season, but right now, both Becker and Bautista haven’t produced as well as you’d like to see.

DSL Mariners

The DSL squad kicked off their season with a bang this week! Currently on a four game streak of scoring in the double digits, this iteration of the DSL team looks far more competent offensively than we’ve seen in recent years. It should be a very exciting season down in the DR!

Seattle Mariners prospect Juan Rijo, who signed for $2.2M in January hit his first professional home run. pic.twitter.com/68tyZsN2oJ

— Dmoney #ElijahWilliamsFC (@JoshCaronIsHim) June 3, 2026

Top prospects Juan Rijo and Gregory Pio are the top two names to know on this roster. Both receiving hefty bonuses this past cycle, the pair of outfielder have produced well over the first handful of games in their professional career and feature tantalizing potential. They’re both batting .333 or better and have shown off impressive slug to boot. Both figure to fit somewhere inside the top 20 prospects organizationally.