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Esmerlyn Valdez may have had a short first stint in the Major Leagues, but he showed signs of what could be to come for the Pirates outfield.

Valdez made his MLB debut on May 22 against the Toronto Blue Jays and reached base on a walk.

He didn’t record his first career hit until two days later, notching it in style.

The 22-year-old power hitter smashed his first-career home run on Sunday, a two-run shot off Chase Lee. Valdez displayed opposite field power and helped the Bucs to a 4-1 victory and salvaged one game in the three-game set.

Valdez homered again two days later against the Chicago Cubs, his first long ball at PNC Park. 

That home run was even more impressive, taking Jordan Wicks deep to the Cubs’ bullpen in the first inning. 

Valdez became the seventh Pirate in the Modern Era (since 1901) to hit two home runs in their first four career games.

The last to do so? Former first-rounder and top prospect Austin Meadows in 2018, who was dealt at the trade deadline to Tampa Bay in a package for pitcher Chris Archer.

Meadows was the first to achieve the feat since Dick Stuart in 1958. Valdez joined Meadows, Stuart, RC Stevens (1958), Dino Restelli (1949), Wally Westlake (1947), and Walter Mueller (1922), per Luke Henne of Pirates PR.

Valdez was sent back to Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday. With Konnor Griffin dealing with a low-grade muscle strain in his forearm, the Pirates recalled infielder Tyler Callihan and demoted Valdez to create room on the roster.

In 16 at-bats, Valdez only hit .125. He earned two home runs and five RBIs in a small sample and displayed the immense power he has in his frame.

Valdez hit 10 doubles and 10 home runs in the minor leagues before being recalled.

The No. 9 overall prospect in the Pirates system also has pro experience playing at first base.

This is likely not the last we hear of Valdez this season, and his rapid rise through the minors. 

Pittsburgh continues to fight through a tough NL Central race, with all five teams over .500 on Saturday. 

If you enjoy playing Immaculate Grid, well, the Mets really are the team for you. The Mets have optioned right-handed pitcher Tobias Myers, who’s worked out of the bullpen and as an opener for them since joining the team alongside Freddy Peralta, to Triple-A Syracuse. And they’ve called up left-handed pitcher Cionel Pérez, yet another fringe major league arm, to take his place on the active roster.

To call up Pérez, the Mets had to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, and they’ve designated fellow left-handed reliever Anderson Severino for assignment.

As has been the case with plenty of other relievers in the David Stearns era, you figure Pérez isn’t long for the major league roster. In 16.0 innings with the Nationals this year, he has a 6.19 ERA with an awful 15.1 percent walk rate and more walks than strikeouts. Having spent most of this season with the Washington organization, he’s put up a 2.57 ERA in six appearances with Syracuse since joining the Mets, but his 16.1 percent walk rate in that limited sample in the minors is even worse than what he had done in the big leagues.

Myers, meanwhile, has been highlighted as a significant addition in the aforementioned trade with the Brewers that was headlined by Peralta. But it’s been a relatively rough go of it for him in his first 20 appearances as a Met, as he has a 4.05 ERA and a 4.47 FIP, both of which are worse than his career norms.

Last but not least, Severino has a 1.31 ERA and a 3.31 FIP in 20.2 innings with Syracuse this season. His only major league experience came in 2022 with the White Sox, and before this season, the 31-year-old has spent the entirety of his professional career in the Yankees and White Sox organizations.

This week, the MLB Player’s Association and the league submitted their preliminary proposals to formally kick off the much-anticipated (much-dreaded?) collective bargaining agreement negotiations. Not surprisingly, this has sparked a lot of discussion, as fans dissect not only the proposals themselves, but the statements issued by both sides in response to the other’s proposal.

Already, a lot of digital ink has been spilled about the two proposals, highlighting the vast distance between the two sides. What I want to do instead, though, is not to talk about these pitches themselves, but rather how they compare to the original proposals that kickstarted the negotiations five years ago.

In both years, the Player’s Association began the negotiations. Five years ago, in May 2021, the MLBPA submitted their initial proposal to the league. While the exact proposal was never published, Evan Drellich reported the following later that year:

But the union has proposed that players become eligible for arbitration after two years, instead of three. It also has again proposed a change to draft order, increases in the minimum salary, raises in the CBT, changes to revenue sharing, changes to the way service time is calculated, and bonuses for players who have yet to reach arbitration. Under certain circumstances, some players would be able to reach free agency sooner than six years, as well.

This time around, we have a bit more specifics (this list has been compiled from The Athletic’s and MLB Trade Rumors’ posts on the subject):

• changing revenue sharing that guarantees small market teams receive $240 million in revenue, but simultaneously incentivizes winning by offering financial bonuses for on-the-field success
• increasing the first level of the luxury tax, which in essence serves as a soft cap, to $300 million, and eliminating non-monetary penalties for going over
• creating a competitive integrity tax, set at $150 million, that in essence serves as a soft floor
• doubling the minimum salary to $1.5 million
• setting a minimum salary for arbitration-eligible players at $3 million
• increasing the pre-arbitration pool from $50 million to $180 million
• allowing players to hit free agency at the age of 30 if they have five years of service time; teams would be able to get a sixth year at the current qualifying offer, in a manner similar to the NFL’s franchise tag
• doubling the number of players who receive Super-Two status
• eliminating the qualifying offer

Conceptually, nothing has changed from the last go-round — which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, considering the fact that the last round of CBA negotiations ended up primarily making minor tweaks to the system.

On the other hand, the league has, for the second round of negotiations in a row, proposed to completely overhaul the league’s financial system. In the same article from September 2021 posted quoted above, Drellich outlined the league’s initial proposal, which was never formally published, but whose details were leaked to the press:

The league proposed to effectively send the luxury-tax threshold in the other direction, to $180 million; to increase the penalties for exceeding it as well; but to also implement a soft floor, a penalty for teams who do not spend at least $100 million. The league also proposed to eliminate salary arbitration in favor of a predetermined pool of money to be distributed to players. Under MLB’s proposal, players would become free agents once they hit age 29 1/2, which might help some players who would otherwise have become free agents later, but hurt the best players who presumably would, under the current system, become free agents younger. (Players would also be walking out into a market where teams might be less inclined to spend than they are now, because the CBT threshold would be lower and the penalties for exceeding it would be higher.) The league this year also proposed that a team could not pick in the top five of the draft three years in a row, and has again has proposed an international draft.

Unlike the players’ union, the league did not publish their initial proposal, but according to The Athletic and MLB Trade Rumors, it looks something like this:

• a 50/50 split of the revenue between the league and the players (player salaries would be increased/shrunk proportionally depending on end-of-year revenues)
• a salary cap set at $245 million, with a floor set at $171 million
• the centralization of local broadcast revenue, distributed equally among teams
• no apparent changes to free agency, service time, or other related issues

The details may differ, but in the end, the league is fighting for the exact same thing they were five years ago: the elimination of the free market and the lowering of salaries, using competitive balance as a cover. There are two big differences, though. First of all, the league is dropping the charade and asking for a hard cap, instead of proposing prohibitively intense luxury tax penalties designed to let it serve as a de facto hard cap while technically being a soft cap. Second, and arguably more interesting, is the fact that the owners made a proposal at all.

Five years ago, the players submitted their initial proposal in May, while the league waited until August. The MLBA then followed up after the World Series, and while the two sides did meet a few times over the month of November, the league not only never budged from its initial proposal, but inserted last-minute demands designed to guarantee that the CBA would expire without a deal. Ultimately, the details didn’t really matter: the league wanted a lockout, and so they engaged in delaying tactics, because they thought they could break the power of the union. This time around, though, the league has taken more of the initiative, which tells me that they would like to avoid a lockout.

Over the next six months, we’re certainly going to have more detailed analyses of the CBA negotiations as they go on. For now, though, we’re pretty much back to where we started in May 2021 — just with a tiny bit more urgency from the owners. Where will we end up? Only time will tell.

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Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jesus Sanchez has been on fire at the plate, and the books haven’t fully adjusted to his recent production.

With the Baltimore Orioles sending Brandon Young to the mound, Sanchez is positioned to extend his hitting streak and cash his hits prop once again, as my Blue Jays vs. Orioles predictions explain.

Read on for my top MLB picks for Saturday, May 30.

Blue Jays vs Orioles predictions

Blue Jays vs Orioles best bet: Jesus Sanchez Over 0.5 hits (-155)

The betting market still hasn’t adjusted to Jesus Sanchez’s consistency at the plate over the last few weeks, making his hits market mispriced in comparison to his teammates'.

I’d bet this prop to -170. 

He leads the Toronto Blue Jays with a 201 wRC+ and a 1.080 OPS over his last 18 games, while consistently eclipsing his hits total in 14 of the 18 outings.

Sanchez's hitting profile matches up well to Baltimore Orioles starter Brandon Young, who’s a contact pitcher that relies on his four-seam fastball to get lefties out. The Jays outfielder is crushing the fastball, with a .500 average over this 18 game stretch.

Additionally, Sanchez has owned Young throughout their respective careers, going 4-for-9 against him with a 1.000 OPS. 

COVERS INTEL: Sanchez leads Toronto with a 9.4% solid-contact rate, while Young ranks among the Orioles’ worst starters at limiting quality contact.

Blue Jays vs Orioles same-game parlay (SGP)

Young pitches to contact to get his outs and only owns a lowly 16% strikeout rating, while ranking in the 22nd percentile in whiff rate. Give me Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to go Under 0.5 strikeouts tonight.

He’s seeing the ball well and has struck out only twice in his last eight games. 

I’ll also bank on Trey Yesavage having another efficient outing. He is nearly unhittable, ranking in the 99th percentile in opponent xBA, while owning a 2.00 xERA.

He’s also eclipsed this total in three straight starts now that he’s worked up to his regular pitch count. 

Blue Jays vs Orioles SGP

• Jesus Sanchez Over 0.5 hits
• Trey Yesavage Over 17.5 outs
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Under 0.5 strikeouts

Blue Jays vs Orioles home run pick: Jesus Sanchez (+475)

Brandon Young has been hit hard this year, allowing a 40% hard-hit rate, but he’s kept the ball in the yard, surrendering just five home runs. 

We’ll make this a half-unit wager. 

Young’s fastball has accounted for three of the five home runs he’s allowed this season. Sanchez has been destroying the four-seamer lately with an .813 SLG over his last 18-games. 

Blue Jays vs Orioles odds

• Moneyline: Toronto -122 | Baltimore +104
• Run line: Toronto -1.5 | Baltimore +1.5
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Blue Jays vs Orioles trend

The Blue Jays have covered the run line in 13 of their last 17 games (+11.10 Units / 49% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Orioles.

How to watch Blue Jays vs Orioles and game info

Blue Jays vs Orioles latest injuries

Blue Jays vs Orioles weather

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Another full slate of games across the big leagues means plenty of value in my latest home run props and MLB player props, headlined by Eugenio Suarez, Matt Olson, and Ben Rice.

Read more in my MLB picks for Saturday, May 30. 

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Eugenio Suarez	+402
Matt Olson	+254
Ben Rice	+336
💲Today's HR parlay	+6876

Home run pick: Eugenio Suarez (+402)

Although Eugenio Suarez has just three homers this season, tonight's matchup heavily plays in his favor.

Suarez will face Atlanta Braves' left-hander Martin Perez, and he's 6-for-11 lifetime against him with a bomb. 

Perez is also far from a ground-ball pitcher. The southpaw has a 55.5% air rate on contact, and 63% of Suarez's contact has been in the air. 

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FOX

Home run pick: Matt Olson (+254)

Matt Olson has smacked 15 home runs in 2026, including six in May. He'll face the struggling Brady Singer tonight, who has given up a mind-boggling six homers across his last two starts.

Left-handed hitters are batting .385 against the Cincinnati Reds starter, and 10 of his 14 bombs surrendered are against lefties as well. 

That’s good news for Olson, who happens to be 4-for-12 lifetime off Singer with a pair of long balls. Singer sits in the fourth percentile in xSLG at .535, and his hard-hit rate is 44.3%, one of the worst marks of his career.

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FOX

Home run pick: Ben Rice (+336)

Ben Rice's power surge has been fueled by elite quality of contact, and the New York Yankees' first baseman is scorching hot right now, going 9-for-14 across his last three games.

Rice left the yard on Friday against the Athletics, and he’s hunting the fastball, hitting .371 against the heater, with 10 long balls coming off that pitch.

A's starter J.T. Ginn is substantially worse at home, sporting an ERA over 5.00. Opponents have a .551 xSLG against Ginn's sinking fastball, and lefties also own a .617 xSLG vs Ginn in May. 

• Time: 10:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: YES Network, NBC Sports California

Today’s HR parlay

Eugenio Suarez	Bet Now +6876
Matt Olson
Ben Rice

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LOS ANGELES — Justin Wrobleski added another strong start to a season replete with him, though his seven innings to beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night at Dodger Stadium added a new wrinkle.

Wrobleski didn’t allow a hit until two outs in the sixth inning, when major league home run leader Kyle Schwarber took him deep. It was the second straight game the Dodgers flirted with a no-hitter.

In his seven innings — the fourth time Wrobleski has pitched that deep into a game in 2026, matching Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the team lead — Wrobleski struck out nine batters, two more than his previous career high.

“Everything clicked for me. I feel like my mechanics are good, and I was throwing a little harder,” Wrobleski said. “Everything felt like it was in sync again, and I felt back to normal.”

Wrobleski allowed 14 runs in his previous three starts after a nearly spotless April. He said he found something mechanically in the final three innings in his previous start in Milwaukee on May 22 which helped find his fastball. Wrobleski averaged 96 mph on the four-seam fastball last season, and on this year he’s at 93.8 mph. But against the Phillies the left-hander averaged 94.9 mph on the pitch, with 11 clocked at 96 mph or higher.

“It’s a missing piece I know I have in me, and it would make me better,” he said.

“It was the uptick in fastball velocity, and those guys had to honor it. When you can reach back for 97, it makes life a lot easier,” manager Dave Roberts said. “When you can get the swing and miss in the zone, that’s a separator for any pitcher.”

Through 10 games, nine of them starts, Wrobleski has a 2.87 ERA and 3.82 xERA, the latter inflated due to his low strikeout rate (16 percent), ranked 69th among 73 qualified starters in MLB. On Friday, his nine strikeouts were two more than his previous career high, and he induced 16 swinging strikes, more than any other outing of his career.

“It just gives him way more margin. Early on, his first four of five starts, there were a lot of balls in play, some soft contact, balls right at guys. Obviously you’re bringing the fielders into play,” Roberts said. “Tonight was probably his best outing. When you can take out the fielders, get the swing-and-miss, the strikeouts. He had nine strikeouts tonight, a really dominant performance against a good ball club.”